Notes From The Underground
Gates of Diyu
"So what happens when we get there?" Master Shifu asked his former comrade Fenghuang. "Do we just enter the gate to the underworld?"
Fenghuang paused as she scanned the mountain pass and her map at the same time.
"I admit it's been a while since I last came here," Fenghuang told Shifu, Po, and the Furious Five. "But at the bare minimum, you should have a guardian at the gates who will greet you."
"Who is that guardian?" asked Po.
"Who knows," Fenghuang shrugged. "That title could've changed hands since I last came here. We could have someone new on our hands."
"So will the guard let us in?" Po went on. "I mean, I do kinda have a serious problem here."
"Well, depending on who the guardian is, you may have to prove yourself some way," Fenghuang informed him. "Either defeat him in combat or prove your worth in some test of character. The standards won't usually be uniform."
"I want to know," Shifu asked. "Have other people from the world of the living been here before?"
"They have," Fenghuang confirmed. "Not many people, mind you… but there have been those mortals over the centuries who have journeyed to the underworld. Kung fu practitioners who lost their masters… heroes who wanted to bring back their loved ones…"
The owl kung fu master glanced at Po.
"But in all this time, I don't think I've heard of a single person being haunted by ghosts who needed to get rid of voices in his head," she admitted. "Normally people who journey down there want to bring someone back to life."
"Well, you know," Po admitted. "For all we know, these may be people we should be reviving."
"I've seen a lot in my lifetime," Fenghuang shook her head. "But never a case like yours. If these voices aren't your past deceased enemies, then who would even bother haunting you?"
"Well, I've given it some thought," Po confessed. "Maybe it was during my first fight with Tai Lung or during the Battle of Gongmen City. Maybe I accidentally wrecked some poor guy's shop and he died because of going into debt from of all the damage. You never know."
"Ah, we're here now," Fenghuang made her final turn past the convoluted mountain road.
"You better not be leading us into a trap," Tigress warned her.
"I sense a distinct lack of trust!" Fenghuang chuckled.
"I wonder why," Viper also looked at Fenghuang suspiciously. "We do have history after all."
"Be quiet now," Fenghuang knocked at the gates. "Allow me to conduct business."
After a short while, the gates opened.
"State your business," a male water deer appeared with a kwandao.
Seeing the deer reminded Po of his past dealings with Jade Tusk. He had met female water deer in the past but never a male one.
"Fenghuang, is that you?" the water deer asked.
"It is I. I know it's been many years since we last met but we are here on business," Fenghuang told him. "I have a… an associate who is being haunted by the spirits."
"Oh?" the water deer seemed to calm down. "What is the nature of this haunting?"
"Alright Po, the floor is yours," Fenghuang stepped aside.
"Hi, I'm Po," Po stepped forward, waving nervously.
"Dragon Master!" the water deer bowed. "It's a great honor to meet you! My name is Chou, the mortal guardian to the Gates of Diyu in the earthly realm."
"Hi Chou," Po told him. "For a while now, I've been haunted by ghostly voices who accuse me of ruining their lives and I almost guarantee it's not the voices of my deceased enemies, of whom there are a few."
"Hmm, that's strange," Chou acknowledged. "And you don't recognize any of these voices?"
"Not a single one," Po nodded.
"That's unusual," Chou replied. "Normally if one is being haunted, the spirits should be associated with the living target."
"That's what's so strange about what I'm going through," Po told him. "I literally don't know any of these people!"
"Hmm, I don't usually get many visitors," Chou finally conceded. "But I believe your unique case warrants some investigation. Please, come inside. We'll discuss this matter further and try to find a solution."
"Oh thank you!" Po smiled.
"On second thought…" Chou suddenly noticed something in the air, sensing a distinct hostile presence.
Chou stepped past Po and threw a rock towards one of the boulders on the cliffs.
"Awwwoorr!"
From the rocks, a wolf bandit fell down.
"We may have some company," Chou brandished his weapon.
"We were followed?!" Po got in a defensive stance.
"You led us into a trap, didn't you?" Tigress looked at Fenghuang.
From the rocks, multiple wolf warriors appeared. There were about fifty or so.
"Don't look at me," Fenghuang told the distrusting feline. "These aren't my men."
"Po, I would gladly help you in your endeavor," Chou told the Dragon Master. "But first the sanctity of this place must be preserved. Will you help me?"
"Don't worry," Po reassured him. "I've got your back."
From the rocks, a leader of the wolf pack emerged, a wolf with fully white fur and a scar across his face.
"So what gives?" Po demanded. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, we're here on special business," the white wolf told them. "I am Jian Ya and I have business with the underworld."
"Most people don't come here with an entire gang," Chou pointed out.
Po noticed one of the wolf warriors holding something wrapped up completely in a cloth. Whatever it was, it was somewhat long but the other details escaped his imagination.
"Listen, we came a lone way to pay our respects for a fallen comrade," the white wolf told them. "And we won't be denied."
"I've been watching over the gates to the underworld for a long time," Chou told them. "And already I sense your hostile intention."
"I see there's no other way of settle this," Jian Ya sighed. "Wolf warriors… attack!"
"Alright, let's do this!" Po declared, getting into a fighting stance.
The wolf bandits charged. Po and Shifu were the first to take out multiple wolves with flying kicks.
"I wonder how these bandits were able to find this place," Mantis wondered aloud, taking out a wolf bandit with an uppercut.
"Yeah, this place should be an extremely secretive location," Po agreed, catching a punch from one of the wolf warriors and kneeing the canid in the gut to knock the wind out of him.
"For once I agree," Fenghuang told them, knocking back multiple wolves with a ranged wind attack. "This place should not be so easily discoverable. Trust me, I've been here before and ordinary bandits have never stumbled upon this location."
"Do you have any theories?" asked Shifu.
"Not exactly," Fenghuang told her former comrade. "But once we defeat them, we can question them."
Viper wrapped herself around a wolf bandit's neck, choking him unconscious as Monkey kicked two of them out with both feet.
Jian Ya took advantage of the situation to move towards the open gate. Before he could get to where he wanted, Tigress leaped in front of him.
"Move aside, kitten," he told her. "I've got official business with someone."
"You're not the only one," Tigress growled. "I have a friend who needs closure with regards to the afterlife and I'm not going to let you ruin it."
"Suit yourself," Jian Ya told her and attacked.
The white wolf swung at Tigress with his sword. She swerved to the side to avoid it and kicked Jian Ya in the stomach to send him stumbling back.
"Ugh, not bad," Jian Ya complimented. "But I have a mission and you won't get in the way."
The white wolf took out a musket and pointed it towards Tigress. Immediately, Tigress realized the danger the weapon presented. While she'd never encountered a gun before, she did have experience seeing Shen's cannons up close in the past and just what they were capable of. Immediately, she recognized the same function of the weapon in Jian Ya's hands.
Jian Ya opened fire as Tigress quickly leaped out of the way. The musket ball destroyed the rock right behind her.
"Stay still!" Jian Ya yelled as he continued to fire at her.
Weaving left and right, Tigress ran past the musket balls being fired at her. Before Jian Ya could get off another shot, she kicked the musket out of his hands.
The white wolf stumbled back and gripped his sword tightly again. He swung at Tigress multiple times but she dodged every blow.
Finally, Tigress caught the sword with both palms before it could strike her forehead as Jian Ya swung downwards at her. The large feline growled as she used her strength to snap the sword in two as the white wolf yelped in shock.
Tigress tossed the top part of the sword aside and struck Jian Ya in the stomach. After that, she kneed him in the jaw to snap his head back. However, the punishment was not yet done as Tigress struck Jian Ya across the face multiple times before finally knocking him on his back with a back elbow to the face.
oooo
"That's the last of them," Monkey tied up what he believed was the final wolf warrior.
"How did they get here?" Chou wondered aloud. "And what did they want?"
"Alright buddy," Po stood over the captured white wolf Tigress had defeated. "Tell us your evil plan."
"Ha, I 'm not telling you anything!" Jian Ya spat on the ground.
"So what do we do with these guys again?" Po turned to Chou.
"I have… an elixir that can remove the memories of people who stumbled upon this location," Chou admitted. "I just didn't expect THIS many unwanted intruders. It may take me some time to brew enough for all of these captured bandits."
"Well, the good thing is they didn't succeed in whatever they wanted to do," Shifu tightened the rope behind another captured prisoner.
"Oh?" Jian Ya smiled. "Did we really fail in what we set out to do?"
"What do you mean by that?" Po glared at him.
Po looked at all the captured wolf soldiers.
"Hey, let's take a head count again," the panda looked around.
After a while, Mantis was the first to come up with a number.
"I got forty nine," Mantis pointed out.
"Wait, I thought there were fifty," Po recalled. "Oh no…"
It was then that Po realized one of the wolves had slipped past them. And before the battle began, he saw one of them with some kind of strange, long contraption wrapped up in cloth.
"There's been a breach in security," Chou turned towards Po with a grave expression.
The male water deer quickly entered the mountain abode that housed the gates that led to Diyu as everyone else followed him.
"It's worse than I feared," Chou gasped.
Inside the entrance chamber was another large gate, presumably the one that led to the underworld. This gate was left open, as if someone had recently infiltrated the area and entered.
"Oh no, this is very bad," Chou dropped his weapon.
"One of those wolves made it to the underworld, didn't they?" Shifu asked nervously.
Putting away all pretenses at rank or station, Chou dropped to his knees before Po.
"Dragon Master, I humbly ask you for your assistance," he pleaded.
"That's what I'm here for," Po promised. "What do you need?"
"Someone made it into the realm of Diyu without going through proper vetting," Chou told the Dragon Master. "I would gladly go down there myself to capture the intruder but I have too many captives up here that I must attend to and make elixirs to wipe their memories of this location clean. What's more, we don't know if there are more of these bandits on their way here. Someone had to have tipped them off to this place."
"Don't worry," Po told him. "I'll go down there and get 'em for you."
"Take Fenghuang with you," Chou told the Dragon Master. "She has been here before and she can be your guide."
"You can't be serious," Tigress interrupted. "Po, are you looking to get backstabbed and left behind? Fenghuang said it herself you risk your soul getting trapped in purgatory. What if SHE is that risk?"
"It's a risk," acknowledged Po. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, you, Shifu, and the rest of the Five are needed up here so Chou can brew up his elixir and keep watch in case this place is attacked again."
"I don't like this plan," Tigress shook her head.
"You didn't like it either when I got picked as Dragon Warrior," Po reminded her. "How'd that one turn out again?"
"Good point," Tigress finally cracked a smile. "Alright, I'll trust you on this. But be careful, Po."
"Alright Fenghuang, you ready to do this?" Po asked.
"Ready?" Fenghuang walked past Po. "I'm your only chance of making it. Show a little more deference."
"Fenghuang's got a checkered past but she might be right," Shifu told Po. "If she's been here before, she could properly guide you on the path."
"So Fenghuang, you've been here before," Po asked her. "What was your reason for coming here all those years ago?"
Fenghuang swallowed nervously, looking at everyone in the area. She had not expected to be asked such a question.
"That's a topic I'm not ready to discuss," Fenghuang told them. "Now mind your own business, Po, and let's be on our way."
"Well, okay," Po looked at her uneasily and followed.
Chou held the gate open for them both.
"Remember, once you go past these gates, you'll no longer be in the mortal realm," the water deer reminded them. "Be careful. Should either of you lose your lives, your souls will be forfeit to the realm of Diyu."
"I've been through this song and dance once," Fenghuang told him. "Rest assured I know what I am doing."
"We'll get the intruder and bring him back as soon as possible," Po promised Chou.
"Good luck Po," Shifu called out.
"Yeah, we'll all be counting on you to come back," Viper waved with her tail.
"We'll hold the fort up here," Tigress promised, crossing both arms.
After Po waved to them, he entered the massive gate that led to the underworld with Fenghuang. Ahead of them was a dark road that led down a creepy tunnel.
"Just stick with me and we'll both get through this," Fenghuang told him.
"So what do we expect to find down here again besides the guy we need to capture?" asked Po.
"Well, for one, plenty of ghosts who will make your remaining black hairs go white and turn you into the first albino panda in the country," Fenghuang told him.
Po took a step back nervously, not liking the sound of that one bit.
"I was only kidding," Fenghuang shook her head. "Sheesh, you're quite gullible."
"Oh whew, thought you were being serious again," Po chuckled nervously.
"Our first visit will be to King Yama, Ruler of Diyu and overseer of deceased souls," Fenghuang told him. "If he hasn't already captured that stray wolf, he may certainly have the answers to what you're looking for."
To be continued.