Tigress stood stunned still as her foster brother still had her within his embrace. She didn't know how or why he was all the way out here, of all places. She just happened to sort of need this place in order to proceed onward. A simple passing through the city, and to free it if need be, in order to gain more progress. Though this was much more than she expected, and she'd be lying if she said that a part of her was actually happy to see him. But the other part of her was still angry at him for what has transpired due to his actions, how deeply it affected her, as well as affecting the Valley's perception of her. And that's not even taking Shifu's emotional damage and initial coldness towards her for two years until she met Po and Fung. Even though she was officially adopted, she was still on her own.
Brother...I...I don't know how I'm supposed to react...what should I do?
Tai Lung let go of her and stepped back to get a view of her face again. It was still understandably filled with shock at his appearance, and heavy confusion on what to do next. Her emotions decided to make the next choice for her. She took a deep breath, raised one of her paws up, slowly closing it and tightening it into a fist. And then...
"GRGH!"
The snow leopard felt the air leave his lungs as he hunched forward, his foster sibling having forcefully driven her fist into his gut with absolutely no warning whatsoever. On one hand, he was actually even prouder of her because of how much of her power she's begun to tap into. On the other hand, he knew he was perfectly capable of countering that strike if he really wanted to...which meant that he unconsciously and willingly took the punch. She removed her fist from his stomach as he held it with one paw, dropping to one knee as he tried to get air back into his lungs. He let out a few coarse coughs, as well as a small chuckle in-between. The reality of what she did caught up with her, and she blinked her eyes in concern.
"S...Sorry. I reacted on a sudden angry impulse without even thinking about it."
"Okay...to be fair...I deserved that..." he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "I give you a hug. You have no idea what to do, so you listen to the first angry thought that enters your head, and slug me in the gut. Heh...you're definitely my little sister."
"I just...I mean...that wasn't what I meant to do..."
"Tigress, save it. You don't have to lie to yourself, I know you're still pissed with me deep down. And I honestly can't blame you." Tai Lung sighed as he stood up fully, the blow to his stomach now mostly forgotten. He looked forward and chose not to make eye contact with her. "Tell me...how bad was it?"
"What?"
"I know how the Valley's villagers worked, Tigress. They've seen and endured some horrible stuff over the years despite Oogway's best attempts to keep it peaceful. I just know that what I pulled had some adverse effects on your growth. So tell me...how bad was the damage before it all got wiped out?"
At first she was hesitant to answer. But she could hear the sincerity and concern lacing his voice despite it also emitting a sense of power, so she found herself telling him her experiences. She began hating the concept of the Dragon Warrior, since he reacted badly to not being chosen for the title. Then after his rampage through the Valley, with his enraged and feral face being one of the last things she's seen of him, it plagued her younger self with many nightmares. He seemed to stiffen when she told him that his outburst has left Shifu a colder husk of his former self to go with his now newly formed limp, and he regarded Tigress indifferently for two years.
Then two years later, prior to the Winter Festival, she's met Po and Fung, the very first two people who weren't afraid of being around her despite the immense physical power she wields. They bonded together nicely for a week...until being nearly killed by a Lin Kuei spy had forced the two of them to go their separate ways for 15 years, once again leaving her alone. But they swore to her that they'd return when the time suited them best, and her patience was well awarded. But before then, she had to endure the constant scrutinizing glares of her villagers, and the harsh, hitter judgement of Master Mugan that heavily aggravated her more than hurting her feelings. And when she gathered the first half of their friend group and returned to check on the Valley...there was nothing left but ashes and corpses. Had Oogway not passed away at one of the worst times imaginable, he could have stopped the massacre himself.
Tai Lung's heart became heavy at the revelation. And the fact that he could have prevented that massacre from happening, had he chosen to return much earlier than he actually did. Now there was nothing left to return to. Tigress and her friends have been roaming the lands for an awfully long time now, and it seems that they won't be settling anywhere anything soon. If there was any comfort he's taken in any of this is that she had friends waiting for her and actually came back for her, something he failed to do earlier. He was eying her scarf closely, seeing how protective-looking she was over it. He made an accurate guess that was the present one of the friends that left for 15 years had given her. She hangs onto it as if it was her lifeline, very rarely taking it off regardless of the weather. It was the first official present she's ever gotten, and she refused to let it go.
Tigress sighed as she stopped herself. "I'm rambling on..."
"No no, don't feel like you're saying too much. It sounds like you'he had quite the adventure. An adventure that I wish I'd have been a part of earlier." Tigress saw the regret in his eyes...which quickly turned fierce. "Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation later."
She turned to where he was facing, seeing that more rhinos have taken over the streets, and more of the civilians are taking cober indoors. All of the rhinos were armed. They immediately recognized Tai Lung, and they tried to look as fierce as possible. Though their eyes clearly radiated immense fear at the large powerful feline before them.
"There's...this is insanity! How did Tai Lung of all people get in here?!"
"'Impenetrable City' my ass, that's how." Tai Lung smirked. "Your security is piss-poor at best."
"W-Well...it doesn't matter! We just have to refocus our efforts so we'll be able to eliminate both him and the panda!"
And just like that, Tigress was peeved. Her fists clenched and a low growl rumbles her throat. Tai Lung raised an eyebrow as she stepped forward. "Eliminate who?" They seemed to hesitate to answer, shivering under her fierce gaze.
One of them made the horrible mistake of answering her truthfully. "T-The panda-"
The fist of a furious tiger made contact with one of their faces, knocking him clean out and sending him flying into a wall. The others were unnerved by this, but they recovered and raised their weapons towards her. Her eyes shifted towards them after retracting her fist, and she backflipped once. During the flip, she grabbed one of them by the head, and when she finished the flip, she slammed him into the ground with heavy force. She turned back and pushed an incoming mace away with her paw, which caused it to go smashing into another rhino's face, breaking his jaw somewhat. She swiftly grabbed him and swung him into the other attacking rhinos, knocking a majority of them down. One was about to come down on her with an axe, causing Tai Lung to begin to move to stop him. Though he found that it wasn't necessary.
The axe stopped abruptly before it could reach it's target, courtesy of Tigress catching it with her paw, but she was a couple feet off from grabbing the handle, and caught it by the blade instead. Tai Lung winced slightly, expecting her to be reeling in pain...but was surprised to see that her steeled expression didn't shift in the slightest. Her attacker was also speechless at how calm she was, even with the blood dripping from her paw. He was about to voice his disbelief, but was silenced by a swift blow to the skull, effectively knocking him out. She huffed a little as she stared at the cut on her paw with annoyance rather than pain. However, Tai Lung was slightly less calm about it.
"Tigress, are you okay?!" Tai Lung runs up to her, holding her paw. "How the hell are you able to just shrug off a deep cut to your paw? Not that I'm not proud of that, you know."
"I've been punching Ironwood Trees for a decade and a half. I can no longer feel pain in my paws." She stared at her slashed paw with an annoyed pout. "That cut ruined this glove. I'll have to get this stitched up."
"What about the cut on your paw?"
"A minor inconvenience. One which I will deal with later."
"...Wow. I'm both concerned and proud."
"Don't be concerned. I've taken worse damage on multiple occasions. As I said before, this is merely a minor inconvenience. I don't have time to waste here, regardless. I have to regroup with the others. We separated when I got too busy chasing you down."
"Yeah, I'll take the blame for that one. But watch as I fix it." Tai Lung turns his head, noticing yet another large group of rhinos heading their way, this time wearing heavier armor...as if it's going to make a difference. "You go on and regroup with your pals, sis. I've been relieved enough just by seeing you. Besides...I could use a workout." He says while casually cracking his neck, eying his incoming punching bags...er...enemies. Tigress eyed her brother for a couple moments, contemplating his offer to keep the rhinos at bay. After that, she nodded and took off in the other direction, on all fours.
He smiled softly at her retreating form, before turning towards the rhinos. They each pointed their weapons at him...but they were all shaking in fear. "Alright fellas. I've just begun to reconcile with my sister, and I plan to do the same with my father next. So let's make this quick, shall we?" They all shivered even harder at his casual demeanor. He rolled his eyes. "Good grief. Every single one of you look like you're gonna piss yourselves. Fine. I'll be the sporting type." He clasped his paws behind his back. "I won't use my paws at all. Feeling confident yet?"
They all thought he was bluffing, but after a moment of not moving, they couldn't take the tension. They all charged at him with their weapons raised and looking to strike. He simply bent down and jumped up high, allowing them to charge right under him. Then he came back down with a kick to the ground, which picked up large amounts of earth debris. He then jumped slightly and kicked every piece of debris in rapid succession without ever bring his paws away from his back. Every heavy piece of debris hits them in the head, hard enough to knock them out upon contact. Their armor meant nothing, as they fell to the ground unconscious. He sighed, bringing his paws out in front of him.
"They couldn't handle it...what a bunch of chumps. Oh well." He said with a shrug. "I as well do something else. I can't exactly run into Shifu yet, and Tigress needs to help her friends." His ears shifted as he noticed a distinct sound of sniffling. He turned towards the sound, and noticed a small goose sitting in a corner which provided views from the conflict. His eyes softening, he walked up towards the child and kneeled slightly. "Where are your parents?" He watches as the child shakes his head fearfully. The chaos must have separated him from his folks. Tai Lung gently reached one paw out to scoop the child up, holding him in one arm. "It's alright. You have nothing to fear from me. I'm a friendly kitty."
"Friendly...Kitty...?"
"That's right." He smiled and began walking down one of the paths, awaiting if someone would be brave enough to come out of their homes and reclaim their lost child.
He looked at a couple slightly opened windows where a couple of them peeked a look at him in confusion. He couldn't blame them. For all intents and purposes, they knew perfectly well who he was, yet they couldn't understand what he was doing and why. That was perfectly fine with him, he didn't have to explain anything to them. After a short amount of time passed, he was able to locate his parents when he pointed them out, wondering where their son went. Though they didn't see Tai Lung, so he set the boy down gently and allowed him to waddle back to his parents, who embrsced him with immense relief appearing on their faces. When they asked who had brought him there, he mentioned the 'large friendly kitty' taking him out of danger. They never saw him for themselves, as he vanished before they could properly see him.
He appears on one of the rooftops, sighing. "Okay, got that outta the way." He looked to the side, then to the other side. "Alright. Wonder what I should do next about this whole thing?" Looking up, he saw a single owl flying through the sky, a cloak flowing along her back. He managed to recognize her from one of the scrolls he read about his father and the Furious Five. This must be the one that split off from the group. He wasn't sure what she was doing here.
But he was sure about the look on her face. Fury.
Fenghuang grew rather frantic with her flying, more than she probably should be. She didn't care too much at the moment, not when she's been provoked in such a manner. Learning that her student was being singled out for death for whatever reason really put her in a grumpy mood. Once again, she does not care for the reasons. Her main concern was to get to Po as soon as possible.
She narrowed her slitted eyes as she scanned the city multiple times, trying to gain sight of her panda student. For the sake of his pursuers, he better not be harmed in the way that they intended. This was different than someone targeting the entire party. Po was the single, direct, priority target. That's the only thing that can cause her to be immensely concerned for him, because the Lin Kuei is a group that's most likely keeping Po as a priority target along with the wolf in their own ranks. She was still worried about that subject.
During her search, the panda in question was currently trying to evade the wolves pursuing he and Viper, taking for the rooftops in an attempt to gain his master's attention. She's most likely in the sky looking for him.
"These guys really take business seriously!" Po said while leaping across the rooftops, with Viper securely wrapped around his arm. "I'm still really curious as to who I made angry enough to want to kill me outright. I consider myself a pretty likeable guy!"
"They're just being mean, Po! You're totally likeable!" Viper reassured with a small shout over their fleeing, and the wolf arches firing arrows that whizzed by them every couple of moments.
"Aww...thanks Vi. Though I still gotta get these guys off our tails!"
Viper tilted her head slightly at the last word...then she nodded. "Po, thrust your arm out!" Po tilted his head just as much as she did, but complied. She coiled even tighter around his wrist, as he lashed his arm out. She uncoiled quickly enough for her tail to lash out and strikes one of the wolves in the head, knocking him off balance and falling off the roof. Po pulled her back, and she wrapped around her arm again.
"Woah...whip mode...Awesome!" Po beamed lightly. He then skidded to a stop as the wolves approached him and began surrounding him. "Okay, here's our Po-Viper combination!"
"Right!"
They stared down the wolves attempting to overwhelm them. Po would swing his arm a couple moments, then thrust out so Viper would lash her tail, smacking them in the face. He pulled back again and they again lashed out, this time hitting one in the eye. Both of them winced as he howled in pain and also fell off the roof. They continued on like this, constantly whipping the wolves in mutliple places in somewhat rapid succession. Though they realized that their progress was lacking as the wolves continued to come from many directions. Po was thinking over finding a way to make them stay down, and hopped off the roof to return to the streets. The canines followed them easily, earning a groan from the panda.
"Argh! Can't these guys just leave me alone!?"
"I don't think they're interested in that prospect." Viper noted.
"Still...it'd be nice if they did..."
"I don't think they're nice either, Po-WATCH OUT!"
"Watch out for whaAAAH!" Po gasped ahead as he saw one of the wolves jump ahead of him and swing his hook sword towards his neck, which he dodged by sliding under it just slightly. He stood back up as the assault was relentless, constantly swing the hooked blade in multiple directions towards the panda. "Sharp! Pointy! Deadly!" He ducked an overhead swing, clinging to his hat while shaking his head rapidly. "Not cool! Totally not cool!" Viper hissed and lashed her tail again, striking at his muzzle, while Po kicked him into a wall. "Bad wolf!"
"They're still coming after us!"
"Seriously?!" Po jumped up high to avoid a flurry of arrows that stuck into the wall in front of them. He turned to see the wolves closing in on them, and he sighed. "Alright fellas...it seems like you're not gonna stop chasin' me...what's it gonna take for you to get you guys off my back...uh, besides death? I don't like that option very much."
"Sorry, Panda. Orders are orders. Our official needs you dead before word can get out. No exceptions.'
Viper raised an eyebrow. "Is the official your boss that wants him dead?"
"Hehe...good try. But that's not something you need to know."
"Fair point. But I would like to thank you for giving us directions anyhow." She smiled softly while turning around to where their believed corner was. But in truth, all of their dodging and jumping during their chase, lead them right to the palace. The wolves finally realized their folly and paled considerably. "Wonder who's making life seem like a prison for these poor people? Let's find out, shall we?"
The wolves eased towards them slowly, growing more hesitant by the second. "H-Hey now...let's not be hasty...y-you don't want to mess with the official. If something happens to him...the main man in charge will get really pissed when he doesn't get the supply he needs that the official gives out...then you'll really be in trouble, more than you already are..."
Po thought over this for a couple moments...then shrugged. "Cant be worse than what we've dealt with already. And I'd say you have bigger things to worry about than what your bosses might do. Luckily...I don't care too much about what happens to you guys." He shrugged. "Welp. See ya." He raised his paws in the air with a confident smile on his face. A couple moments later, the paws were grabbed by a pair of talons that swiftly took him into the air with no effort at all. The wolves were dumbfounded, jaws comically agape to see that an owl has taken Po and Viper into the air and above the palace. "Hey Master! You've come at quite a good time!"
"I'm gonna tear their throats out..." Fenghuang snarled angrily. "Singling you out like that...the cowards!"
"Master...calm down. No need for all of that." Po pouted lightly, noticing the owl was gravely upset. "Now, just get drop me into that palace, I got stuff to do there."
"You want her to just drop you in there? Are you sure?" Viper said nervously.
"Yeah. We've got this covered. Master, drop us in."
Fenghuang looked down at the panda for confirmation on his request, and he nodded quietly. Sighing, she released her grip on him and allowed him to fall. Her eyes then turn to the wolves below her, and they turned to slits once again. The wolves felt ice cold when she suddenly sped towards the ground and hit the ground, cracking it in multiple places, talon-first. She raised her head and glared at them with extreme hostility.
"You tried to gang up on my student. It's different than simply going after he AND the party, but you solely singled him out for death. That's a definite no-no."
One of the wolves barely gained the bravery to speak, and he did it shakily. "W-What happens n-now...?"
"What happens now, you ask?" She repeated sarcastically, as she raised one of her wings, and they formed a blade. "Your asses are mine, that's what."
The wolves were terrified beyond recognition, but they steeled their nerves and charged at her for an attack.
The streets were then filled with the agonized yelps of wolves, as well as slicing sounds and grunts of pain. Though to her credit, she left them all alive.
...she almost didn't.
Within the palace, the fox behind the operations, Qinchu, was looking out his window with extreme wariness, unsure of what he should do next. By the looks and sounds of thing, everything was most certainly not going his way. His soldiers were going down one after another, and in multiple places. Instead of just eliminating the panda, they were spread thin and being taken out in multiple locations without much of a hunch, due to their shorter number factors.
If things continued going this way...it won't end well for anyone involved.
His crow minions suddenly entered, slightly out of breath. "Sir...things aren't going the way they're supposed to."
"Gee, you think I don't know that? How hard is it to take out a panda?!"
"With the kind of friends he has, it might as well be impossible. We can see Master Shifu in the area, Master Yao, Mei Ling from Lee Da Academy, Mei Ling the Thief, Master Fenghuang, Tai Lung-"
"How in the world does he have those kinds of allies on his side?! Who IS he?!"
"We don't know! We all thought he was just some nobody panda, but clearly that's not the case! What do we do?! Should we-"
They were interrupted by the sound of the roof giving way and shattering. Light poured through the hole, as a shadow fell down from it. Unable to move quickly enough due to surprise, the shadow crashed into the three crows and slammed into the ground, picking up a cloud of dust in the room and causing Qinchu to cover his eyes. There was a brief pause, before he heard two voices coughing from all of the dust.
"Uck! Po...maybe you should have focused on achieving a better landing than this. This was a bit poorly prepared..."
"We got inside, didn't we?"
Qinchu looked to see the panda himself swing his arm around in an attempt to clear the dust away, and he showed himself, with a serpent wrapped around his wrist. Po's face became visible, and he could now see the fox in front of him. He stood up and pointed.
"Hey fox! Are you the official of this here city? You might as well resign now before I kick your ass!"
"Um...Po. Speaking of that, might wanna take a good look."
"Huh?" Po turned his head to look at his rear, to see that the three crows were dizzy and confused from the sudden heaviness brought upon their backs. "Oh...that's what I landed on. Uh...lemme just..." Po said awkwardly as he grabbed each crow by the wing and pulled them off one at a time, placing each of them on the ground beside him. "Ah, there we go! Now, where was-" He was cut off as the fox immediately tried to kick at his head, which he immediately deflected with a strike of his paw. "Oh yeah, this poser."
"Do you have any idea what you're trying to do?!" Qinchu shouted at him while kicking at his legs to trip him. Po fell to the ground but recovered easily, then rolled aside.
"Yeah!" Po paused for a moment to look around the room. It was filled with pictures of the fox before him in a variety of puzzles and frames, as well as different perspectives and poses of authority. Po tilted his head. "Being creeped out by the many portraits you have of yourself...no one should have that many portraits of just themselves all over the room..."
"That's because I'm of a higher standard than you, fool." He snarled while standing tall. "You've no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Probably not. But I'm liking my chances so far." Po grinned as he bounded forward and struck the fox in the chest, followed up by a tail slap from Viper, which them wrapped around his wrist and threw him overhead into a wall. "And I have plenty of friends who can back me up. So we'll figure things out as a team, if there's something goin' on."
"Of course there's something going on. Are you really that much of a dolt?"
"You're not one to talk, given the situation you're in now." Viper hissed lightly. "You clearly don't have much fighting experience like you're bluffing to have."
The fox narrowed his eyes as he rushed the duo, intending to strike Po in the head, though he was caught by the wrist, and his paw was pushed down lightly as Po tilted his head. "Dude, let's face facts. The three of us know that you're not gonna win this."
"Don't be so sure!" Qinchu jumped up to knee Po in the chin, causing him to let go of his wrist and step back a bit, thought Viper latched onto his wrist and swung him into a pillar, resulting in a groan of pain. He managed to get up slowly, but the damage was getting to him. "You're both goners, along with your party. If something happens to me, along with the cargo of metal that I send out periodically, my employer will be aiming to take your heads. Especially yours, panda."
"Yeah yeah, I've gotten the context that this dude doesn't like me." Po rolled his eyes. "Though if he wants our heads, he'll have to take them himself instead of hiring someone else to do it. And...why does he want supplies of metal delivered to him periodically?"
Qinchu stood shakily, Viper's tail still wrapped around his wrist, which he was weakly trying to undo. "It's part of something big...something you can't comprehend unless you see it yourself...but then you'll be dead before you can do anything about it. Know this. If your face gets seen in by my emplyer in Gongmen City...there will be orders for you to be killed on sight."
"Seriously? How can Gongmen City call that kind of order on Po?!" Viper hissed, clenched her tail on his wrist, resulting in a pained growl once more.
"I...I don't know what he has against pandas. But if you want to find out...then head to the city yourself...if you dare."
"Um...we were all already heading there anyways...duh." Po rolled his eyes. He then gripped tightly on Viper. "Shutting you up now. Time for a bit of Viper Whip..." Po yanked on Viper as her tail was still wrapped around Qinchu's wrist, pulling him towards them. He smirked. "Aaaaaaand...Belly Gong!" His enemy found himself face-first with his round belly, and was ricocheted across the room and into the hard wall, cracking it lightly before falling to the ground, unconscious. Po adjusted his hat, dusted off his scarf, and allowed Viper to slither back up to his shoulder. "That fox sure was full of himself, wasn't he?"
"I'm starting tonget very worried, Po." Viper said with a sigh. "These guys seriously want you dead just because you're here, and that you're a panda. What could warrant such a reaction, and why?"
"I dunno..." Po's belly rumbled a little, and he rubbed it gently. "But I'm in the mood for some grub."
"Po! This is serious! We have to-" Viper's eyes widened when her own belly begins to grumble in protest, and she blushed lightly while looking into the side, her scarf following her movement. Ooooh...alright. We'll get something to eat, first."
"Awesome idea, Vi." Po smiled as he opened the doors and ventured around the palace, in search of food.
(Meanwhile)
"Okay, so far so good. Everything seems to be going smoothly so far." Tai Lung gazed as his cloak once again shaded his face as he jumped large bounds from rooftop to rooftop, searching for signs of Tigress's comrades. He sighed in amusement. "What are you talking about, Tai Lung? This isn't at all how you planned out your day." He skidded to a stop and looked on as he saw another group passing by. A crane was leading the way of yet another party, and quite a large one. "That must be them. Gotta admit, not a bad-looking bunch." He huffed slightly.
...only for his eyes to widen when they caught sight of Peng alongside them. Bells rung in his mind, as if saying 'You're missing something important, figure it out!' Or something along those lines. Regardless, now he felt the powerful urge to follow them from a distance and see what they were up to. Especially Peng.
"How do we lose a tiger? I mean, seriously!" Monkey sighed in exasperation while following Crane, who was flying low so they could keep up with him. The scarves of he, Monkey, and Mantis flowed with the wind with their speed.
"That really doesn't matter right now!" Crane insisted, flapping his wings steadily. "I have full confidence in whatever she needs to do. We should head towards that building I saw in the distance! It's unlike anything I've ever seen before."
"Now that Ya mention it, I don't think I've ever seen a building like that either. Why do you think it's here?"
"Obviously it's not for anything good. Did you see those rhinos trying to mess with us? We're clearly not welcome here."
"That just means we're on the right track." Song added. "The more they resist, the more certain you are about going in the right direction. Or at least...finding something they don't want you to find."
"What does that mean?"
"Think about it for a sec." Song hopped onto one of the rooftops, with Mei Ling by her side while gazing at the building up ahead. "The building is much different than any building we've seen, yes. And the closer we get to it, the more resistance we come face to face with. Whatever is ther, .they don't want anyone from outside the walls to find out. Which only hastens our need to figure out what the big deal is, and expose it. Whenever there's some kind of place that's being locked up as tight as this place, with the purpose of isolating the outside world...it usually means that something's going down."
Lian huffed. "And their cover-up is poorly executed. 'Perfect Paradise' my ass!"
"Lian, let's relax a bit, okay? Can't go into this too hot-blooded." Peng tried to cool her down, which was most likely barely effective. He sighed at his wasted efforts, but only slightly. He also noticed that Bian Zao has become mostly silent, which was also not missed by Lian. They both stopped in order to get a better view on his thoughts. "Bian Zao, what's wrong?"
"That building looks somewhat familiar..." He observed. "The steam and smoke coming from the roofs and vents...they're making something in there, and it's in mass production. It most likely isn't something good. It looks like something that Dad would..." His understanding of the building seemingly increased, and he pulled out the Shadow Crown he kept around. They grew closer to the building, stopping right in front of it. "I'm gonna sneak in and see what's up."
"No. You're not as sneaky as he others." Ànyǐng said as he gently took the Shadow Crown from the warthog. "Certainly no offense to you, I promise. I just think I might be more prepped for recon." The wolf apologized softly as he turned invisible via Shadow Crown, and jumped up through one of the windows to sneak inside. Xuě watched him curiously, then shrugged it off. They all waited patiently for him to come back out. Being a former mole for the Lin Kuei has much more advantages than one would think, their sneaking techniques are not lost on him. After a while of tense waiting, the wolf came back out and undid his invisibility, handing it back to Bian Zao. "There is a lot of metal material in there. Pots, pans, things of that sort. And there's some underground passage that leads out of the city and into the outside. They form caravans in order to transfer the metal cargo somewhere else. Specifically Gongmen City."
"Gongmen...? THIS is one of the places where they get their metal? And within a city on intense lock down? That metal can't possibly be used for good intentions." Fung narrowed his eyes. "We gotta bring this place down."
"But how? Storming in there in conquest mode doesn't seem to be one of the better ideas." Song pouted.
Bian Zao thought over this and did another quick look around the corners of the factory. He spotted a couple barrels in the distance. Most likely filled with gun powder. He checked his surroundings once more...no civilians nearby. Good.
"Peng. Lian. I need you two to back me up on something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Don't you know? We're gonna blow the place up."
"Eh?!"
"You heard me. And we'll be using those to do so." He pointed to the barrels filler with gunpowder. "A bunch of those things at once would really cause a severe inbalance in the architecture, causing the entire place to collapse in on itself. Or just one large explosion. Either will do nicely."
"Bian Zao...and here I thought you'd be without any intelligent potential!" Lian smirked.
"I'm not totally behind in that department. I don't care too much about it. Having a father all over your back with boring junk...sometimes I really do pay attention. I learn a couple things...I just don't think that I'd ever put any of it to use."
"Well it's being put to use now." They turned to see that Tigress has caught up with them, a piece of cloth wrapped around her cut paw. "I see something that can carry those explosives. A cart. We can load it with the gunpowder barrels and sent it rolling into the entrance."
"Again, that'll create a very large boom."
"Innocents are very far away from the place. No danger will impose them lest they come here themselves, which is unlikely."
Crane sighed as he adjusted his hat slightly. "Well...no use arguing against it. Let's do it. But we'll need to keep the outside guards busy long enough to load them up."
"Distraction time? Leave that to us." Monkey grinned while pointing to himself, as Mantis hopped on his shoulder. "That's a great specialty of ours!" The party nodded to them, and they all split in order to achieve their desired goal.
Rhino guards were sitting outside the main entrance. They remained semi-vigilant, as well as looking slightly lazy, and even a bit close to sleeping. But they were soon wide awake when they felt something impact their faces in rapid succession. With surprised grunts, they wiped their faces of the substance. It was mud. They looked ahead with anger as Monkey and Mantis laughed at their irritated faces.
"Ha! Eat mud, suckers!" Monkey chuckled while Mantis joined in. As predicted, the rhinos brandished their weapons and chased after the duo with enraged faces. This left the entrance wide open for the others to use.
"An opening for the taking!" Crane called out as he flapped his wings, resulting in a shock wave of wind blasting the doors open. After that, came Tigress and the others pushing the cart of explosives through the entrance. They then retreated far away from the blast zone. A couple minutes later, the rest of the hostiles inside the building were scrambling out, jumping through windows as well as out of a couple side entrances and rear exits. What followed as a series of explosions that severely rocked the lower half of the right side of the building, which caused it to collapse due to no longer being able to support the weight of the upper half. And the result was the building falling apart completely and crashing to the ground, along with whatever operations that seemed to be going on inside.
Lian placed her paw on Bian Zao's shoulder as she whistled at the damage. "Sheesh...that was quite a spectacle, dontcha think? That was some damage we did. Though we might have gone a bit overboard."
"The important thing is that the factory can no longer be used. Doubt these people will care about it, especially since they've been trapped here in the city against their will for who knows how long."
"Still...that was an extreme risk we took." Crane said while taking off his hat for a moment to rub his head.
"Yes it was. This factory was not used for good intentions, so taking it out will do more good than harm." Mei Ling nodded. "Though those guys probably won't agree with us."
The rhinos and wolves that just escaped the explosion managed to catch up with them, and they were beyond angry with the circumstances...along with a hint of fear within their eyes. Not of them...but of the ramifications of what they've just done. There was no time to ponder it, as a swift blur of gray swooped upon the remaining enemies and took them down with brutal blows that left splintered cracks in the ground as well as the walls. The party was surprised by the sudden assistance, and unsure of who it was. Except for Tigress, who only nodded to him in acknowledgement, as he disappeared somewhere else.
"Eh. You know who that is, Tigress?" Monkey asked her.
"Yes..." She nodded. "He's someone...very important."
In the meantime, the rhinos that Shifu and Mei Ling were battling are now purely on the defensive, since offensive has now proven to be a mistake. Though defending against them is not doing too much good, either. Their speed was in excellent sync, as they ran around them with matched swiftness and battered then with small strikes to various parts of their bodies, which only increased the damage overtime because of being unable to stop them.
Mei Ling thought to herself as they jumped up and delivered a dual kick to one of their faces, knocking him into the ground unconscious. They both landed and moved swiftly to jump up to another rhino and struck him with a dual double palm strike to the midsection to send him flying. Once again they landed on the ground as the rhinos grew ever more hesitant to attack them. Shifu remained in stance, while Mei Ling turned her head to him with a smile.
Even when we've spent years apart, our combination is still in amazing sync. Just as I expected from us, Fufie~
Another well placed combo kick down another rhino into unconsciousness. So far, most of their forces were battered and beaten, while the two of them hasn't taken a hit yet. Realizing at last that they were hopelessly outmatched, they cut their losses and picked up their unconscious men for an unceremonious retreat. Shifu sighed as he relaxed his stance while seeing them off.
"They've retreated...they're unlikely to bother us again."
"Haha! That was amazing, Fuzzy! You pack just as much punch as I remembered!" Yao said with glee, seeing the rhinos retreat. "Overwhelming them with swift strikes that wear them down was quite an impressive feat! Though I don't think they appreciate how amazing you are though."
"I most certainly do~" Mei Ling purred affectionately, prompting Shifu to try and find something to distract himself from her. Taotie provided one, but only because he was curious about something.
"That metal factory I saw...it suddenly exploded and collapsed on itself." He observed while sighing. "I bet the kids are responsible for that."
"You saw the boom too?! I certainly did!" Yao noted while turning to the site of the destruction. "Quite the loud and large boom it was! It even shook the ground a little bit. And look, the smoke makes it look like a mushroom!" He cheered while waving his arms around slightly in a noodle-like stance. "Hello, friendly mushroom! My name is Master Yao! What's yours?"
"I'm starting to support Fenghuang's opinion of leaving him behind..." Taotie muttered.
"I still like him." Mr. Ping smiled. "I wonder if everything's alright with the others. We've stirred up quite the ruckus, I must say. Hopefully these people don't think too badly of us..."
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Mei Ling said casually while hugging Shifu's arm, her tail wagging playfully. "Meanwhile, I simply have to praise you for acknowledging that our combination is still going strong!"
"Mei Ling, stop fooling-" Shifu was shocked silent when Mei Ling leaned in and kissed his cheek, her eyes closed and her tail wagging even faster. His eyes widened a bit, and he blushed lightly. "...around..." Mei Ling snickered at his reaction.
"I knew she would be the one to make the first significant move. Shifu is much more shy about this than we anticipated." Taotie whispered to Mr. Ping, who nodded agreement.
"Oh my, look how adorable you two are!" Yao smiled while wrapping arms around both Shifu and Mei Ling. The latter smirked widely at this, while the former seemed to blush even brighter than he was supporting them as well. The blackbuck sensed something amiss...and familiar. Then he unwrapped his arms and rose his arms up cheerfully. "Big Fuzzy Kitty!"
"Big Fuzzy wha...?" Shifu looked where his eyes went, only for them to widen in deeper shock.
Tai Lung lowered his good before he got there. He found himself unable to hide from the man he antagonized a long time ago. The man that tasked himself as his father without question...and he had betrayed that love and compassion for his own selfish desires. He's wronged his sister terribly, and he wronged his father even worse. They were both at fault, he just didn't accept his part in it initially. Now that he does...he wants to fix what he can. The Valley was no longer an option, so he could only hope to reconcile with Shifu and Tigress. The latter was a start. Now for the former, who was standing mouth agape at his foster son standing before him. He took a deep breath and made the first move.
"I have come back, Mas..." He paused for a moment, and he shook his head after a few moments of thought. "No, that's not right." He stepped forward to the small Master, kneeled down to pick him up, noticing he was offering no resistance and therefore took it as a sign to continue, and pulled him into a genuine hug, closing his eyes once again, like he did Tigress.
"I have returned to you, Father..."
With the Valley of Peace burnt to the ground, and Master Oogway perished earlier than expected, Tai Lung's connections to Shifu and Tigress, and the memories they share, are all he has left of his past there. This realization is one of the major things that have drastically changed him...
...and Master Yao plays a significant role in this change. It will be my personal test in how well I can get his occasional wisdom down. Something I shall do...in the next chapter! A chapter in which, Po won't be struck with more hallucinations.
...hopefully.