"So how do we proceed? We don't really know where the prison itself is." Viper questioned as she sliters up and around Po, until she was nearly coiled around his arm, her head atop his shoulder. "Any ideas, Po?"
"Hm. Maybe we can ask around?" Po hummed while rubbing his chin. The gang had been exploring for quite a while, and was at a brief loss on how to get things truly started.
"Uh...I don't think these folks are willing to give an upfront and honest answer." Mantis pointed out as they could see numerous shady citizens either hurriedly passing them by or turning to glare at them. "Kinda feels like they sense how lost we are in a shady city like this."
"Hopefully they don't try and take advantage of that. We have enough problems." Crane mumbled while slightly tilting his hat upwards. "To heck with it. I'm getting an aerial view. I'll be right back, guys." With this, Crane flapped his wings and soared into the sky, causing several passerbys to hold onto something due to the resulting gust.
"A little faster warning next time, man! I nearly got blown away!" Mantis shouted with an aggravated glare.
Crane soared through the side until he reached far enough to get an overview of the whole city. He took a breath. "Whew, it's seriously hot up here. Now let's see, which one of these buildings look the most prisonlike?" Crane looked upon nearly the entirety of Jinzhou, seeing how truly dark it was outside, and made the numerous lanterns, candles, torches, anything to provide light outside of homes. From afar in the air, it actually looks kind of nice. "Aha! Over there!" He managed to find Jinzhou Prison in the distance. He descended back down to the earth with a graceful how, tucking in his wings. "Alright, I can see the prison in the distance. Monkey's brother had gotta be there."
"Great work, Crane." Tigress rubbed her chin with closed eyes. "Now, we have two paths to take. We can either head there together all at once, or we have Crane fly Monkey ahead of us and start the rescue straight away. Time is at the essence, depending on how Chairman Qing chooses to proceed."
"There might be a chance that they'll be waiting for a bunch like us. But again, we don't exactly have time to take any chances." Mei Ling folded her arms. "If we're gonna go with the second option, we'll just have to trust that Crane and Monkey can handle themselves while separated from us."
"I'll go with them." Mantis hopped atop Crane's hat, saluting everyone. "It may be a prison break kinda thing, but we're only gonna bust out Monkey's bro. No one else has to be let out and no one else has to get hurt."
"Though given our track record, I don't expect a silent entry or exit." Monkey scratched his head. "Still, are you guys okay with this? I wanna rescue my brother, but I don't wanna risk you guys too much or too badly in order to do so."
"We wouldn't have come this far or be willing to go this far if we weren't prepared for the risks. Any consequences that comes from this, we'll deal with it." Tigress lightly placed a paw on Monkey's shoulder, kneeling to his level. "Find your brother, and save him. We'll be fine. We have to trust each other with this, as this place is too dangerous for doubt to take hold of us. You are aware of this, right?"
"...Yeah, I am." Monkey scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this, boys!"
"Yeah!" Crane and Mantis cheered as the former flapped his wings. Monkey quickly leapt and grabbed onto his legs and the trio proceeded to fly off into the direction of the prison.
"Good luck, boys!" Mei Ling cheered after them, waving her paw as they proceeded to fly off into the distance. Once they were far enough, she clapped her paws. "Alrighty then, Boss. What do we do in the meantime?" She didn't sound very worried. She was confident in their success. It was only a matter of how long it would take.
"Maybe we can take a better look around. Get some information on several things. Like, what's the current state of Jinzhou overall?" Po hummed as he briefly took a look around. Several houses looked slightly wrecked, people in hoods appeared and walked around in shady manners, and the overall darkness of it all. As in, it was really hard for him to see on his own. "Current state. It's really dark. Really hard to see, kinda."
"Yes, we can see that P-" Tigress blinked. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I did not mean to do that. That was an accident."
"I thought it was funny, Tigress!" Viper smiles supportively. "Anyways, there's no need to worry, Po! We can help you move through the darker places. You can trust our eyes to guide you through those parts that aren't lit by torches, candles or lanterns. Can't light up every single part, I guess."
"Heh, I guess I'll have to rely on you guys for a little while, huh? I'm okay with that's though. Builds a bit of the teamwork." Po hummed as he tilted his hat upwards. He still didn't feel all that comfortable due to that bad feeling he had before, but he'll have to put it to the side for now.
"Right. Soooo, how are we gonna find somebody who's trustworthy enough to be heeded?" Mei Ling placed her paws behind her neck as they moved at a brisk pace, with the two felines on either side of Po, and Viper coiler around his arm. "Shady is shady, and I doubt that some of these nice room here are gonna be straightforward and honest with us right out the gate."
"That's a good point. This might be a bit harder than we thought." Po hummed, rubbing his chin while taking one more look around. "What to do, what to do..."
Tigress's ears flicked slightly as she turned towards the sound of what appeared to be fighting. People we gathering around and cheering as she heard thrown punches and kicks being thrown with the impacts causing pained cries. She pointed in that direction. "Perhaps that commotion can give us something to start with. Better than starting out completely blind."
"Its worth a shot. Let's see what's going down." Viper nodded as she uncoiled from Po's arm, before they all made their way towards the gathering. As they were getting closer, they were slowly able to make out the sounds of the commotion, specifically nthe words being thrown back and forth.
"Ngh! I didn't think she'd be this strong!"
"How can she, though!? Just look at her!"
"Back off! I'll have you know that my people back home ADORE big and beautiful women! You guys are just shallow! Get outta my way!"
Mei Ling tilted her head as she felt the brawl getting more intense, with several bodies being tossed about while screaming in pain. "I do believe that someone in one corner is a fellow gal. And a tough one, at that."
"We should give her a hand." Po decided with narrowed eyes. The girls nodded as they made their way towards the commotion, but stopped suddenly as something slammed into the ground.
"You're the one who needs to get outta the way. Know your place!"
They heard the feminine voice briefly yelp in pain, and suddenly something broke through the crowd and was sent flying outwards from a heavy blow. Mei Ling and Tigress narrowed their eyes as they both jumped out of the way, with Viper quickly slithering to the side.
Po...wasn't so quick to react.
"AW-!"
The speeding projectile slammed into him, causing both of them to roll away from the scene, crashing along the streets in the process. Tigress briefly gasped at this, before turning and snarling at the one responsible. One of the hefty gorillas was laughing at having launched the person, and by extension, Po.
"Hah! Little girl-"
Tigress pounced towards him and buried her fist into his cheek, before pushing forward and sending him flying even further than he launched the other two, crashing into a wall and bringing it down on him. She growled as she turned to everyone else who just saw her raw power.
"...Did she just KO a gorilla in one punch?" One of them asked.
"Pfft, forget the guy. I wanna bet on her!"
"Clear. Out." Tigress snarled each word out. When no one obeyed immediately, she chose to roar: "NOW!"
All of the shady folk were terrified into fleeing. While the more honest citizens, as few currently in the area as they were, thanked Tigress for clearing up the commotion, before going about their business. Mei Ling whistled, seeing the wreckage the gorilla was currently buried and groaning under.
"Bet he didn't see that coming." Mei Ling chuckled.
"Girls, we'd better check on Po, he might be hurt!" Viper urged, slithering in the direction he flew in. Both felines nodded and followed the trail of panda destruction, picking up speed on all fours and keeping up with Viper's lead. She eventually made it to where he landed, along with the person who crashed into him. "He's here! I found...oh dear."
"Viper, what is it?" Mei Ling blinked, seeing the serpent bring her tail up to her mouth and blush heavily from the sight. Mei Ling climbed over a rock to see for herself, and her eyes widened. "Uh...Tigress? I dunno whether to tell you that you should come see this or not."
"Why? What's the matter? Is Po alright?"
"I mean, he's not too badly injured. But..."
Tigress sighed as she too climbed over to see what made her friends so hesitant. Once she actually did, however, her own eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She wasn't seeing things, and she could understand one reason why the duo was shocked at the sight before them. It was hard not to be.
It was a female panda.
Putting aside the question of how or why she was here, it was shocking enough for the trio to take a long look at her, and privately admitted that she was extraordinarily pretty. And obviously quite big, given her species. Never did they expect to see another panda all the way out here, and she's the one who crashed right into Po.
Which leads to the second reason for their shock.
"Owwww...that jerk. That was a cheap shot! That's no way to treat a magnificent gal like Mei Mei! And did he call me little?! There's NOTHING little about me!" The feminine panda grumbled as she shook her head, nursing a slight headache. She then saw the trio staring at her with surprised glances. She chuckled and waved her paw. "There's no need to worry, ladies! I'm totally okay!" She then lowered her paw and wondered. "I didn't crash nearly as harshly as I thought I would. What broke my fall?"
"Mmh."
She blinked at the sound, and turned around towards the source. Po was there, with his hat having briefly fallen off his head once he landed on his back. He couldn't exactly get a coherent word out, as his face was muffled and buried her sizable rear, which he gently tapped the side of with his finger to let her know where he was.
Mei Mei blinked once. Twice. Then thrice. On one paw, she had a pretty good idea who it was she landed on, and was feeling somewhat accomplished that she not only found him, but she found him first.
On the other paw...
Mei Mei looked at him, then towards the trio. Back and forth for at least three times, before reality caught up to her and a huge blush spread across her face as she held her paw out in a panic.
"Wait, hold on! This is completely, totally accidental! I-I was just thrown into him and all of a sudden we ended up like this! I didn't even know he was literally right here!"
Tigress was the first to recover, coughing into her fist and awkwardly looking away. It was a sincere accident that the panda didn't even cause, so Tigress wouldn't make a bigger deal out of it. Overreacting will only make it worse. "I-It's quite alright. Though, I don't suppose you'll mind getting off of him now?"
"G-Gah!" Mei Mei gasped, as she immediately hopped off of Po, and began bowing multiple times. "S-Sorry about that, Lotus! So very very, VERY sorry! This is not how I wanted to start things off!"
Lotus? The name stuck out to the girls, briefly confusing them on what it meant. Meanwhile, Po finally managed to sit up, gasping for breath. After he collected himself, he simply tilted his head with a curious look.
"Huh. So that's what that feels like." He took the incident in stride, picking himself and his hat back up, blowing the dirt off the latter and placing it on his head. "I'm okay, guys."
"T-Thank goodness you're not hurt." Mei Mei resisted the urge to be proud of the comment, as now wasn't the time. There was a much more pressing subject at paw. "Lotus, it really is you."
"Lotus. You called me that twice, now. And you said it like you're familiar with me." Po wondered as he shook his head and scratched the back of it. "Sorry, my reaction is all messy. I didn't even first mention that you're a panda just like me. Except, you know, a lady."
Mei Mei smiled sweetly towards him, shaking her head. "You don't remember me. That's not very surprising. We were both only babbling, crawling cubs, after all."
Po blinked. They knew each other as cubs? As in, way back then? Before that fateful day that Shen laid waste to their home? That feels like it was the case, and the sincere look in Mei Mei's eyes convinced him that she spoke truthfully, not that he actually thought she was lying. And with a few seconds of briefly flashing memories, he did seem to remember playing with several other panda cubs without a single care in the world.
And yet, he felt closest to the one who always liked to play with ribbons.
"...I do remember you." Po said quietly, gazing into Mei Mei's eyes. "It's all really foggy and stuff, but I think I remember you. I was always getting tangled up in ribbons that you would take from neighbors houses."
"Yep. That was me. Mei Mei, resident troublemaker, aspiring ribbon dancer." Mei Mei chuckled to herself, though Viper noticeably perked up at the mention of ribbon dancing. "We definitely played with each other a lot. I don't think it was enough for us to be really considered official friends, but I'd like to believe that we were really quite close regardless."
"Oh, really?" Po cocked his head to the side, before standing up straight and nodding. "Well, maybe we can be official friends now. We're both older and can remember more things and all that. Shouldn't be too hard to consider each other friends."
Mei Mei looked surprised by how accepting he was of all this so far, though she smiled pleasantly. "I would like that. I'd really, really like that, Lotus." Unable to help herself, she moved forward and pulled Po into a hug. Po took a moment, before he slid his arm around her to gently return the panda cuddle. During the embrace, Mei Mei noticed for the first time, the lack of the panda's right arm, seeing that it was indeed gone, just like she heard. She pushed the incoming distressed reaction down, as she didn't want to ruin the moment. Soon, they pulled away from each other, Mei Mei taking a few steps back. "So, uh, we can forget about our literal first physical contact being me landing on you butt-first, right?"
"It was an accident. No big deal."
Not if Fenghuang has anything to say about it. Tigress could already hear the owl's loud cackling. She'd definitely get a kick out of this, because of course Po's first physical contact with a female panda was with her butt, of all things. Heck, it definitely wouldn't get away from Monkey and Mantis, who were even less mature than Fenghuang.
"You keep calling me 'Lotus'. Was that my old name, or something?" Po questioned, snapping everyone out of their thoughts for a bit.
"Your birth name, yes. Sorry, I heard your friends before. You go by 'Po' now, don't you?"
"Yeah. Po Ping. My Dad gave me that name."
"I see, your foster father. He must have taken very good care of you. I'm sure Li Shan would love to meet him, too." Po tilted his head. The name immediately reached out to him, but he didn't know why. Already seeing his confusion, Mei Mei cleared things up: "He's your birth father, Po. We came a long way just to see you for ourselves. We thought you were dead for the longest time, but Li Shan always had a feeling that you weren't. And that feeling recently became so strong that he needed to see for himself. And he was right to do so."
Po was looking a bit overwhelmed, taking a moment to step back and lightly nurse his head. "Woah woah, I need a moment. You're saying my birth Dad is here. And you came with him to look for me after strongly feeling that I was alive?"
"Of course we had multiple sources to help confirm the sightings of a panda running around in China. It couldn't be anyone else but you." Mei Mei turned towards the Lakers of the group. "Are these your friends?"
"Yup!"
"Is this all of them?"
"Not at all. Po has a lot of friends!" Viper raised her head with a smile.
"He's really good at befriending people." Mei Ling folded her arms with a smirk.
"Every one of us cherishes Po." Tigress declared resolutely.
Mei Mei kept her eyes on Tigress a moment more, before she smiled pleasantly. "I see. Looks like I didn't have anything to worry about regarding him."
"Worry?"
"This is my very first time venturing so far out of my village, you see. And as I made my way across China, I came across more than a few who don't really take too kindly to Lotus, and went out of his way to make fun of his weight. Some say the same about me. Well, screw those guys!" Mei Mei perked up and smacked her belly twice, then her butt once. "Among pandas, our plumpness is not only one of our biggest weapons, but our biggest pride! A big panda is a healthy panda!"
"I-I can see that." Tigress blinked. Mei Mei's sudden burst of energy took her by surprise, to the point where she barely reacted when the larger female scooped her up into a bear hug.
"It sounds like you've all been very good to Lotus, so I have to thank you for that! I'm sure Li Shan will appreciate it too!"
"I, I guess?" Tigress blinked, somewhat dumbfounded about how bizarre this encounter has become. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. Bizarreness usually comes to them, or they cause it. Except this time, it was critically important, at least to Po.
Also, it feels like Mei Mei is quite a cuddler herself. She briefly wondered if bear hugs and cuddling is a common greeting for pandas making new friends. It doesn't seem like it's limited to just Po anymore.
Mei Mei soon snapped out of the situation, dropping Tigress to the ground as she shook her head and laser he cheeks. "Oh crud! Mei Mei, what are you doing, girl?! You need to stay focused!" She yelled at her self, then quickly turned to Po and held his paw in both of her own. "Lotu-Po. Honestly, as much as I wanna take you to Li Shan right now, I need to find Lei Lei, first. She's still in danger!"
"Lei Lei?"
"A precious panda cub who snuck with us on our adventure, and it was too late for us to take her back because we already come so far. We let our guards down and now she's been separated from us. We've been desperately trying to find her, ever since. We split up to cover more ground, but I've still got nothing! There's too many people giving me false directions and trying to lead me into traps!" Mei Mei grumbled, while holding and shaking her head. "This place is full of jerks taking advantage of my inexperience here! Not to mention a select few of them tried groping my butt when I kept telling them paws off, and I broke the teeth of those that actually succeeded. It's taking me a lot of inner strength to not beat them ALL into a pulp! And as you just saw, I was failing!"
Po blinked as the female panda working herself up from the time she was having so far in Jinzhou. Seems her beginning tour of the place was a lot less pleasant and smooth than theirs. He was still hanging onto the fact that there was also a panda cub somewhere lost in this troublesome city.
"Another panda? And a cub, at that?!" Viper gasped.
Mei Ling stretched her arms and her paws, resting one around her staff. "Well, this is definitely gonna give us something important to take care of while the other boys go and save Monkey's brother."
Tigress looked to Po and Mei Mei, seeing the genuine distress on the latter's face. The decision wasn't too difficult at all, since she's already placed her faith in Monkey, Crane, and Mantis. "Very well. It seems we have another objective to focus on. Help save Lei Lei. The boys can handle Wu Kong and Wu Kong can no doubt handle himself. But this is a cub we're speaking of, all alone with no one she recognizes by her side." She turned to Mei Mei once more. "How did you get separated from her?"
"Again, we were tired from our long journey. Our guards were down. Two horses kidnapped her right from under our noses. Li Shan and I split up to find her, but I don't have luck on my side, sadly."
Tigress turned to Po, who proceeded to adjust his hat atop his head. "A decision has been made?"
"A decision has been made." Po narrowed his eyes. Truthfully, his curiosity went into overdrive at the thought of his birth father being somewhere in the city and coming all the way here to see his son was indeed alive. But Lei Lei would have to come first, as she's the most defenseless of the bunch. She can't be left on her own for long. "Viper. We're gonna need you on this one."
"I'm on it." Viper slithered up to Mei Mei, smiling gently. "Pardon me. This will only take a moment." Viper warned, before she slid up and around Mei Mei's body, making her briefly shiver.
"S-Sheesh. Ooh! Careful, I'm ticklish!" She chuckled, the serpent's slithering around her large frame feeling slightly ticklish.
Viper briefly stuck her tongue out multiple times, several around Mei Mei's head and paws, then her pack, before she slithered back onto the ground. She closed her eyes and memorized the scent that lingered on Mei Mei that wasn't her own, bringing visualization to a scent trail that distinguished itself apart from all the other numerous scents around them.
The scent of a small panda girl, which took the smoky, colorful silhouette image of what size and shape she imagined her to be. She opened her eyes and nodded.
"Okay, I have her scent. I'll be able to track her directly."
"W-Wait, really?" Mei Mei blinked in astonishment. "I thought you would be up for something like that." She turned to Tigress, who shook her head in denial.
"My nose is better than most of my species due to my training. But if there's anyone who's going to be able to accurately track someone via scent in a whole city of good and bad scents, it's going to be the one who's eventually grown the strongest sense of smell out of all of us. Viper is our best bet." Tigress nodded back to Viper. "Lead the way."
"Follow me!" Viper soon slithered in the direction of the scent trail, occasionally flicking her tongue out several times. The others followed after her, with Mei Ling and Po in the front, Tigress and Mei Mei in the back.
"So, Lei Lei. Apparently she smells like flowers." Tigress commented, to which Mei Mei nodded.
"Flowers were in exceptional bloom when she was born. She really loves flowers, and I tend to take her to dance with me. I've even worn flower ribbons for double the beauty!" Mei Mei chuckled, then she looked to the side. "I should have kept a better eye on her. Or rather, I should have made sure she didn't sneak and come with us in the first place. Guess the thought of meeting Lotus again seriously messed with my judgement skills, and I don't consider them very good to begin with."
"It will do you no good to descend into depreciation. Focus on rescuing her." Tigress advised, and Mei Mei faintly nodded, making their way around a corner as some tried to shout at them.
"Lei Lei looks up to me, more than everyone else in our village. I want her to grow up big, strong, kind, and confident in herself, just like I am. And if possible, I'd like for her to eventually do it her own special way. I like ribbon dancing, she loves flowers. It's a start."
"I see..." Tigress trailed off, lightly gazing to the side.
"I say all that to say this. Those two jerks think they're slippery, cubnapping Lei Lei when I wasn't paying attention. That's my fault, and I'll make up for it soon enough. I've already decided to smash their faces in for daring to think I'd let them get away with that scot-free. I usually just brush things off and laugh, but that's not gonna happen here."
Tigress blinked, sensing chi spiking within Mei Mei's glowing pink, and it was incredibly intense. But she didn't change her expression, which was nothing short of determined.
"Lei Lei will be okay. Lei Lei better be okay. For their own sakes."
"Up ahead!" Viper called out with a raise of her head.
"There, huh?" Mei Mei looked up towards the large structure, which certainly seems like a prison. "Another prison? Aren't the other boys heading to one?"
"Considering the Wu Sisters once made Jinzhou their personal playground, which was already a cesspool of crime and villainy, I'm not too skeptical of the possibility that they simply had more than one prison built to try and hold them." Tigress pondered. A brief look back, that might very well be the case. An entire city of possible troublemakers who could cross the line at any time. Why settle for only one prison?
"Hold on. I think this is Jinzhou Palace! Su Wu herself was kept here!" Viper gasped.
"We're at the center of the city, then. That means Chairman Qing must be here as well." Tigress hummed. If she recalled correctly, Shifu and the others were the ones supposed to find Chairman Qing while she and the others looked for Monkey's brother. But with this quest to rescue Lei Lei with Mei Mei, they might have just found him first.
Tigress was beginning to wonder if pandas are just naturally capable of upending all plans in their presence, intentional or not. There's no way she would have been able to predict and plan for this! Mei Mei really threw a notch in that setup with her literally crashing into Po and requesting help. She's known Mei Mei for all of five minutes and already, their previous plan has been left in the dust.
Oh well. This is what improvising was used for.
"Girls? And Po, of course. We've got a warm welcome ahead of us." Mei Ling pointed ahead, seeing the gates opening, and the guards were pulling out.
"I don't see any warmth here." Mei Mei muttered as she was the first to step forward, and the others could see what appeared to be a ribbon sliding out of her sleeve. The closing chi around her body, soon traveled down to her paw, infusing into her ribbon.
"Hold it right there!" One of the rhino guards held up his spear, and the rest did so to follow his lead. After briefly narrowing his eyes, they widened slightly. "Woah, Chairman Qing was for real! There is a panda here!"
"The one he's looking for and wanting to kill, just like he said!"
"Someone else wants to kill me, specifically? Sheesh, what the heck did I do?" Po scratched his head, while Tigress glared and growled.
"Wait, so do you think that using the cub as a lure worked? That must be what he came for, right?"
Mei Mei's eyes narrowed dangerous. So Lei Lei IS here. Bait, huh?
"Hey hey woah. Let's not forget about the other panda next to him. Is that a female panda, too?" One of them scratched the back of his neck. "That's unexpected. Do you think they came together? Wait, I know! Maybe they came by to rescue their kid!"
"That's gotta be it!"
Tigress bristled at their words, but took a breath and calmed herself before she broke someone's jaw for less than justified reasons.
Po blinked. "Lei Lei isn't my cub. I am here to rescue her, though. Fellow panda and all. Also, Mei Mei isn't my mate. Tigress is." He casually yet sincerely pointed to Tigress, appearing as if he just gave the most obvious answer in the world. The naïve yet honest nature of the admission once made Tigress blush despite herself. The astonishment on the guards faces was more than obvious, and Po believed if Monkey we're currently with them, he'd laugh.
"That...doesn't seem right."
"Don't you start." Viper hissed at them.
"I don't have time for this." Mei Mei interrupted as she glared towards the guard closest to her. "Tell me. Is Lei Lei here? And did any of you or this 'Chairman Qing' guy hurt her?" She already knew the answer to the first. But depending on the answer to the second, she could justify herself with what she does next. All she needed was that one reason.
Just. One.
Unfortunately for the rhino guards, one of their own stepped up with a smug smirk, and answered. "Yeah, we have her. Don't worry about it though, she's nice and safe in a snug little cage that managed to fit her just fine, despite how big a kid she is. It took some time for her to eventually stop wailing. Now she's sitting quietly and obediently."
A vein pulsed in Mei Mei's head.
"...You put my precious Lei Lei...in a cage?"
"Yeah. And if you wanna-"
He wasn't given the luxury of finishing. Mei Mei lashed her ribbon at him, glowing pink the whole time, and it quickly wrapped around him, binding him in place. Mei Mei soon lifted the ribbon up to do a brief circular twirl, which took the rhino with it on the unorthodox ride. She soon swings back down, and the rhino ended up crashing headfirst into the ground, cratering it greatly and picking up much of the ground in front of her. He ended up buried halfway into the concrete.
"...owwww..."
"Huh. Wouldja look at that." Mei Ling hummed as she rubbed her chin. "She's definitely tougher than she appears."
"She's also exceptionally enraged." Tigress also noticed.
"Oh my." Viper gasped, her tail covering her mouth as the pink chi around Mei Mei's ribbon dissipated. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that Mei Mei must have been using chi to manipulate her ribbon the way that she did, having it be strong enough to wrap and restrain someone, and having it stretch and extend and expand far greater than it appeared. It was completely unexpected a method to fight with ribbons.
If she had hands, and the situation allowed it, she'd applaud her.
"Alright. I have all the reason I need now. I'll say this once and only once: Get out of my way." Mei Mei growled.
"Big mistake!" All of the rhinos soon surrounded the group in a circle, training their weapons on them. They were unperturbed. Mei Mei, Po, and Tigress were the least bothered by this. "We were gonna just take you to the Chairman ourselves, but now we have the reason to execute you all on the spot! You're not getting past here!"
"Tigress." Po called gently.
"Right." Tigress nods, before she raised a tightened fist in the air, and smashed it into the ground.
The earth around them quaked.
The shockwave send all the rhinos flying back in different directions, with several chunks of concrete erupting and being launched with them. Viper, the swiftest of the lot, went with Mei Ling, and either diverted or smashed some of the debris so they wouldn't pose any serious danger to any nearby bystanders.
Mei Mei gawked at the devastation that just ensued, and turned towards Tigress in shock. "That...what the heck?! That's way more than just being strong! How'd you do that?!"
"Training and tenacity." Tigress stretched her arm and lightly cracked her knuckles. Mei Mei looked exasperated at the simple answer, but it seemed to be the honest truth. "To survive and do the things that we do, we have to be strong, skilled, and sedulous." She turned her head to Mei Mei. "And I'm nothing if not persistent."
Mei Mei blinked, shaking her head and lightly slapping her cheeks. I'm looking at a role model for the strength of female determination. That settles it. I'm DEFINITELY gonna be besties with her!
One of the rhinos groaned as he tried to process what happened, only to gasp as he saw Po walking up to him.
"Ya know...several months ago, I had a pretty intense experience. I won't go into detail, but during that time, I was pretty convinced I was the last panda. Like, anywhere. That was pretty depressing to think about, but there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I didn't let it get me down for too long. I still had my friends and my Dad." Po trailed solemnly, as the rhino crawled backwards. "But now, I'm meeting a girl panda all the way out here, who is not only kind of a childhood friend of mine, but apparently came with my birth father. Which, by the way, still trying to seriously process that even now. And not only that, but they also came with a cub? Someone else who looks like me, but a baby? How cool does that sound? Viper?"
"Sounds adorable, Po!"
"Right?! And now's you're telling me that she's in this building in front of me, stuffed in some dirty cage, alone and scared, probably crying for someone to help her." Po kept walking, until the rhino found his back pressed against a larger piece of debris, much to his great panic. "And what you're also telling me, is that you're willing to place yourself in front of me so that I can't get to her? And that this Chairman Qing guy is using her as bait to get to me?" Po sighed as he tipped his hat downwards slightly. "Ya know, buddy? Pal? Friend? I just wanna give my honest opinion regarding all of that."
"Y-Yes?"
Po lifted his hat back up so he could see his face, specifically his eyes. Po's expression by itself didn't change. However, behind his eyes was nothing short of sheer unbridled fury.
"I don't think I'm the one making the mistake here."
The rhino promptly fainted. All traces of anger left Po's face, replaced by confusion.
"Oh, he passed out."
"I would have been impressed if he didn't." Mei Ling lightly tilted her head with a chuckle.
Po folded his arms with a pout.
"Well, crud. That's the last conscious guard outside. How are we gonna go through this complex to find Lei Lei?"
"Po." Viper lightly tapped his paw so he'd look at her, and she gently pointed her tail herself while flicking her tongue. "Remember?"
"Ah, right. I kinda got carried away and forgot that for a moment." Po scratched his cheek, before he turned towards the complex with narrowed eyes. "There isn't any time to waste. Let's go guys! I mean, er, girls! Ladies? Women? Bah, whatever! Let's just go!"
"Right!" The women shouted with agreement, as they all made their way further into the complex. Po thought back to what he said and what Mei Mei mentioned to him. His birth father was in Jinzhou somewhere, separated from Mei Mei. With this in mind, a father-son meeting was in order, so he could sort out his true feelings on the matter.
Unfortunately, it will have to wait for now. Lei Lei was a panda cub, alone and scared. As far as he knew, she was unable to protect herself in any way. She had to come first.
Po hadn't forgotten about Monkey's own mission, and inwardly wished his friend the best of luck in saving his brother, hoping Mantis and Crane would help get him through it. Because now for sure, Po won't be able to immediately come to his side for backup when needed. Things have quickly gotten far too personal on his side for him to ignore.
Mei Mei was noticeably at the forefront of the charge, just behind Viper, who was leading them by following the scent trail. Her eyes were narrowed and her resolve was steeled.
I'm coming, Lei Lei. I'm gonna crush all the jerks who made you cry!
"Chairman Qing! Did you hear that rumbling outside?!
"I think about half of the city could hear it." The crane muttered to his guard as he lightly rubbed the side of his head. "I have a distinct feeling that the panda and his friends have found us. So soon? They must have been tipped off by someone for them to find their way directly to me so quickly."
"That's not all, sir! Most of the prisoners from Jinzhou Prison have been let loose somehow! They'll be all over the city by now!"
Chairman Qing hummed at this, less panicked of the news as some expected, and more annoyed. "That does indeed sound troublesome. Very troublesome. Fortunately, I've always been cautious of such an event happening. I'll bet the panda is somehow behind this, using this to spite me and distract me at the same time. Well, I have several methods of my own."
"Chairman Qing, sir."
The crane turned towards the entrance, where one specific rhino carrying a battered and bruised croc behind him by the tail, until he closed him in front of the steps before Qing's throne.
"Ah, Bing. You're one of the prisoners that escaped. Perfect timing, I was actually just thinking about you."
"That... isn't a good thing for me, is it?" Bing groaned while trying to pull himself up.
"You are nothing to Chairman Qing, stupid Bing." The rhino huffed. "You may have similar sounding names, but your name is nothing compared to his name, as his name has more worth than your name. Being that he is ruler of this territory, and therefore his name carries more weight than your name...namely, you being a mere terracotta crafter, with only failure to your name."
"...Yes, thank you, Hundun." Qing sighed. He's never met any rhino that spoke as flowery and redundantly as this one, but he did have his uses. "Anyways, it's good for you to be here. Because I wanted to show you a bit of gratitude for your contribution."
"C-Contribution...?"
Qing gently waved his wing, and most of the torches were suddenly lit, and Bing could better see what was in the room with him. His eye-the one that wasn't currently swollen shit from his beatdown-widened as he could see what was there.
Terra Cotta warriors. Dozens of them.
"Those..those are..."
"Don't worry. There's far more." Qing smiled as he descended down the steps, standing before Bing. "Up to a hundred, at least. That should be enough to quell this prisoner escape and thwart the panda and his cohorts at once. I know they won't be easy for mere guards to handle. And besides, if that fails, I always have my best. Lei Kung is my greatest bet."
Bing could see the large gorrila in the corner, who suddenly grinned, as he briefly coated himself in flashes of lightning. "Can do, Boss." The Croc could hear him say. He also heard the sound of sniffling just next to him. A small cage just off to the side. Something was crying.
Wha...why do they have a kid in here...?
"Splendid. I do thank you for your contribution, Bing."
"W-Wait. If you send them out like this...won't stuff get destroyed in the chaos...?"
"Things can be replaced. Besides, it's better for some areas to be swept clean in that chaos, than for people to live in paranoia of the criminals being loose, until it's too late. Some risks need to be taken, in order to reap the reward. One day, they will appreciate this. Rip off the bandage, they say." He then gently leaned forward. "You have a son running around. Fung, right?"
Bing's eye widened.
"You've always been calling him a loser whenever he's mentioned. You seem to be so dedicated into believing that he's been a disappointment from the very beginning." Qing smiled. "Since you've contributed so much to my operations, I'll repay the favor. You'll never have to see, hear, or think about him ever again."
"H...H...Hey! Whaddya talkin' about! Leave him outta this!" Bing coughed, forcing himself to look at Qing. "He ain't done nothin' worth your attention! Why are you botherin' with a loser like him? Just ignore him completely!"
"Desperation in your voice. Is that what we hear?" Hundun grinned.
"I do believe it is. Unfortunately, your son appears to have fallen in with the wrong crowd, and that cannot be ignored. So you see, my wings are tied on that aspect." Qing pulled back and returned to his throne, then stopped. "Oh. One more thing." Qing pointed to a nearby Terra Cotta warrior. "Warrior. Smack this one around."
"W-"
Bing was smacked by the Terra Cotta warrior, crashing hard enough against the wall to crack it, until he slumped to the ground.
"Ugh..."
"Thirty years ago, you terrorized China with these very creations. It's only fitting that you end up suffering and being beaten black and blue at their hardened fists just like countless citizens were, right? I think that's pretty fair." Qing seated himself back on his throne again, smirking. "In fact, that sounds like justice."
"F...Fung..." Bing grunted, his vision getting dizzy as he tried to look at Qing, spitting blood out of his jaws. "Leave...leave him...outta this..."
"Aw, you seem sincere. Unfortunately, this is the dangerous risk of becoming a father. Your son will have to suffer for your actions. I can't have him mimicking you at some point in the future, can I? No no, can't chance that. But to think, once he realizes that what he's being targeted for? Due to your attempt at playing conqueror? My my, he might just hate you forever."
"Such a sad tale for you, filled with tears." Hundun smiled, folding his arms.
"Sad indeed." Qing grinned maliciously. "That's the worst path for your story to take, both as an ambitious conqueror, and as a father. With your failures being used to laugh at you. And your only son, whom you've shunned and abandoned, cursing your name."
"D-Darn it..."
The warrior punched him again. He could feel his skull cracking, his ribs breaking, and the bones in his tail snapping. And yet, there was only thing he could think about through this malicious beatdown, which Qing watched with a chuckle.
"D...Darn...Darn it..." Bing coughed, his head constantly rattling. "Leave...you leave him...leave my boy alone, darn...you..."
Another Terra Cotta fist to his face.
Bing completely lost consciousness.
I might have asked this question about Po once upon a time, but how's my handling of the Furious Five, specifically? The newer ones we know and love the most? Character and combat wise?
Lemme know, if ya feel like it. Curiosity drives this. Just ignore the sound of Bing getting beaten into a bloody pulp by his own creations. He's fine.
Fung probably won't agree though...
Meanwhile, Po and Mei Mei meet first!
Monkey, Mantis, and Fenghuang will absolutely not allow exactly what happened to go un-teased and not laughed at. Of course, Mei Mei is slightly embarrassed. Po being Po, took it in stride and is only thinking about his silent curiosity about being on the other end of his fighting style.
...Okay Imma leave now before I say something even more lame. XD