After twenty minutes of training, I took another short break and decided to leave for the barracks to return my tail blade. Luckily the rain had now died down giving me the chance to quickly slither out. I made my way to the barracks with ease and past the kitchen where everybody was still finishing off their breakfast. Po looked to be on his fourth bowl. I left them to eat and made it to my room where I put my tail blade back into the cupboard, ready to use for the next time I needed it, whether it was for training or a life threatening situation. After placing the weapon down carefully into the far back of the cupboard, I left to return to the training hall. Only to be stopped by Monkey.
"Hey Mike, come here a sec"? The primate asked. I complied and slithered over to see what he wanted. As I did, I noticed Crane shake his head in disbelief.
"Everything alright Monkey"?
"Settle a bet would you? What were you and Viper doing in the training hall"? Seemed like a weird question to ask but even so, I answered.
"Training of course. What else would we be doing"?
Instead of getting a reply straight away, Monkey shot a smile over to Mantis who in return, gave an angry glare before handing over five yuan.
"Another bet Monkey? Really"?
"Really. How much many bet have you lost now Mantis? Hmm? Eight? Nine"?
"Ah forget you guys"! Mantis yelled angrily before hopping off of the table and into his room to sulk.
"So what did he bet on"? I asked Monkey. Before I got the response, everybody else seemed to groan or roll their eyes making me regret asking at once.
"He thought that perhaps you and Viper might have taken your relationship to the next step". The primate smiled.
"What"?
"You know, you. Viper. Together alone"? After a moment of trying to work out what he was talking about, I blushed.
"Oh Jesus Christ! No! For Gods sake! Don't tell me that's what he actually..."!
"Fraid so".
"Bloody hell Mantis". I sighed while putting my tail over my face to symbolize a face palm. I couldn't believe that Mantis would have really thought that me and Viper would really be doing it in the bloody training hall. Wait, actually I can. This IS Mantis I'm thinking of.
"You okay Mike"? Crane asked.
"I'm good. Just... nobody mention anything like that ever again please". I spoke, shaking the disgusting thought from my head before getting myself a drink of water. Everything went silent again.
"See you guys in the training hall then"? I asked after taking a gulp of water.
"Yeah sure, we'll meet you over there". Po spoke for the first time since I had re-entered the barracks.
I nodded and left. I don't think I'll be mentioning any of that... little talk to Viper. And I don't mean for my sake, for Mantis's. I mean, Viper is a sweet snake, but even she has limits. As I continued my slow walk back, I heard a muffled sound from far away. I stopped to listen. Again I heard it, louder than the last one. It seemed to be coming from the training hall and sounded as though they were... explosions.
Without thinking, I raced up to the training hall, listening to the muffled booms grow louder and louder until at last I made my way into the training hall and down the stairs where another explosion happened to the left of me, showering me in pieces of splintered wood from the destroyed catwalk. As I opened my eyes, the entire training hall was in pieces. As I looked to the middle of the room, I saw Viper dodging the explosions while trying to attack two gorillas with their backs turned to me. Before I had time to react, one of the explosions set off close to Viper, throwing her backwards and into the wall.
"VIPER"! I yelled without thinking, grabbing the attention of the two gargantuan creatures. As they turned to face me, I saw that the both of them were covered in heavy black armor from head to toe, apart from their palms and feet. Even their heads were masked in metal, showing only their lower jaws and necks which revealed several sharp teeth sticking out even with their mouths closed. In the middle of their masks were several slits to allow them to see me, but I was unable to see their eyes. They were both identical in every way but with one difference. The one on the left had the right side of his mask covered in red paint while the other had the left side of his mask painted in orange.
Upon seeing me, the red masked gorilla screeched loudly before pulling several miniature bombs from a belt stretching round its hips and chestplate which carried perhaps thirty of the things, and threw them at me once he was somehow able to light them by striking it against the painted side of its mask. I quickly jumped from the catwalk I was standing on to the arena just before the bombs made their mark and exploded, tearing the catwalk to pieces. I looked back to the catwalk to see that the front part of it was no more, then back again to see the red masked monster growl and screech at me, slamming its heavily armored fists into the ground, shaking it. The orange masked one, further back grunted before leaving me to deal with its brother. Viper seemed to be knocked out so I couldn't expect any help from her meaning I was on my own to deal with this... red mask freak.
Red mask lit yet another bomb, its fuse crackled as it was chucked directly at me in which I had to dive forwards under it only to dodge several more of the black balls coming at me. I dived and dodged in any direction I could, barely avoiding the radius of the bombs explosions as they threw up sand into the air as they detonated the instant they touched the ground. After dodging the majority of bombs that red mask had, in which he only had three left on each side of his belt, the ape began to charge straight at me on all four limbs which I countered foolishly with my own charge. As soon as I was close enough, I jumped into the air towards the armored brute and spun round whacking the side of its head with my tail, forcing the creatures head to shift to the side, knocking it slightly off balance as it stumbled. I didn't allow the gorilla to recover as I slithered round its throat and grabbed one of its arm with my tail before pulling it, making the ape punch itself in the face several times, dazing it as well as making its hand sting from punching its metal mask over and over again. Red mask had had enough for the second I had let go, he used his good hand to grab my tail and began to slam me into the ground as hard as he could, doing a great deal of pain to my ribs as I tried to endure the attack. Once the gorilla thought that it had done enough damage, it threw me into one of the few wooden spinning posts that hadn't been blown to pieces by its bombs. What Red mask hadn't realized was that the posts could spin as I soon showed him by grabbing onto the top part of the post and made it spin extremely fast due to how hard I had hit it. Red mask had no idea what I was doing as I could hear a grunt of confusion before hearing its massive footsteps walk closer. It was hard for me to tell due to how fast I was spinning but I could make out that he was raising his arms into the air, ready to bring them down on top of me.
"Perfect" I thought as the beast was doing exactly what I wanted it to. I had to wait until both his arms were positioned above his head. Once they were, I released my grip on the post at the right time and slammed myself into red masks unprotected neck. Hard. This was enough to make the beast yell in pain and shock as it put one hand onto its neck to try and heal itself as it violently coughed while the other hand did what it could to keep it from falling onto the floor. I quickly recovered from my dizzy state before the gorilla could and did what I could to attack any of its weak points such as under its arm or its feet. Eventually the gorilla tried swatting me away once it had found the strength to suddenly push itself back onto its feet. I had no choice but to jump backwards, not realizing that it had lit yet another bomb with the red side of its mask and chucked it at me. As soon as I had noticed, I tried to jump back again but I was too late. I got caught in the bombs blast radius which sent me back into the wall of the arena. My muscles were starting to burn with how much I was starting to put them through and I was struggling to defeat this thing. Before I could lift my head back up, I found that Red mask was already in front of me, and as its mouth formed a wicked smile with its sharp teeth scraping against themselves, he lifted one of his feet up before trying to bring it down on top of me. I barely managed to dodge it but again and again, Red mask kept stomping the ground until I, out of my remaining strength, pushed myself off of the ground and hit the gorillas mask lightly as I jumped over his shoulder. Even so, a light whack was enough to enrage the brute once again. This was a chance to use it to my advantage. Quickly I slithered over to one of the large wooden posts at the side of the arena and turned round to see Red mask roaring with rage as it slammed one fist into the ground , and then slamming the other one before charging again. I only had to wait a few seconds until the gorilla was close enough to take a swing at me. Using what adrenaline that still ran through me, I jumped into the air, avoiding the hairy fist by spinning round it, and then twisted my body a second time around to the back of Red masks head where I tried to pull my tail around in a 360 motion and slammed it into the back of the gorillas large head hard enough for it to crash forwards face first into the wooden pillar. As I landed, I turned to see the gorilla stumble and groan, fighting itself to stay awake until at last, it fell to the ground unconscious.
I panted and gasped as I tried to inhale as much air as I could from having to put all of my energy into such a tough foe. I looked the gorilla over. I had no doubt that this was one of Fennus more elite soldiers. That much was obvious due to how much easier the other ones were during the attack on the Jade Palace some time ago.
I touched the red side of the gorillas metal mask and instantly pulled back feeling how rough and sharp it was, like sandpaper. That must have been how it was able to light those fuses for the bombs.
Before I got too caught up, I almost forgot about Viper! Damn it how could I be so stupid? I quickly rushed over and was careful to help her up as she started waking up. She seemed to be okay. I didn't see any cuts or bruises on her. The only thing that seemed to be wrong was that she was still a little light headed, but then again who wouldn't after being blown back and slamming head first into a wooden wall?
"Uhh... My head"... I heard her moan to herself, not realizing that I was keeping her from falling over.
"Nice of you to wake up just as I've dealt with the problem". I joked. The instant I said that, the front door opened and the rest of the furious five rushed down the stairs and froze as they saw the state the training hall was in. I looked around myself seeing that almost all of the equipment had been destroyed. The only thing that still remained was the tipped over Jade tortoise, two of sixteen spinning posts and the fire pit. It was going to take ages to fix it all back up.
"The heck happened here"? Monkey asked as he, and everybody else helped me out with Viper.
"I don't know. Maybe THAT. Has something to do with it". I spoke sarcastically, pointing to the knocked out gorilla. "There's still another one out there somewhere. We need to find him and stop him before he does as much damage to the Valley of Peace"! I warned them.
Tigress took charge at once. "Very well. You stay here with Po and look after Viper and the rest of us will track down the other one".
"Why do I have to stay here"? Po whined.
"Yeah, why does he have to stay"? I repeated, not out of rudeness but because Po wasn't exactly the most helpful guy when it came to dealing with injured patients.
"Po, that gorilla was most likely here for you and Mike. If you go then the both of you might be killed".
"Um, excuse me". I spoke up. "Do you not notice the knocked out gorilla that I, by myself, took care of"?
"And look at yourself now. You can barely stand. You're staying". Tigress challenged. I kept my own glare until Crane begun to break the silence.
"I agree with Tigress Mike. Perhaps you should sit this one out".
"Why"? I asked a little annoyed. At least I was until Crane pointed out that Viper was still fighting herself to stay awake.
"If not for us then... at least do it for Viper".
That got me to calm down as I looked back to Viper, then back to everyone else before nodding. Tigress spoke up giving out orders again.
"Good. Mantis, see if you can find any rope to restrain our intruder from escaping, then follow us down to the village. Crane, as soon as he wakes up, try to get any information on him that may aid us in taking down Fennu, or at least of any future attacks they may be planning. Monkey, you're with me".
Everyone understood their role and at once, set off to do what Tigress expected of them. Seeing how the catwalk was little more than firewood, I had to take her round the back of the training hall in order to reach the barracks. Once I had reached the barracks, in double the normal time it would have taken me to walk alone, I put Viper on top of her bed and just sat there, feeling like there was nothing I could do but wait for her to regain her senses. After a few minutes, she started to show signs of feeling more like herself. She seemed to realize what had happened and almost leapt out of the bed if I hadn't been holding her down.
"Hey hey hey, easy Vipes. It's just me, Mike". I said soothingly. The second her brain registered that she was back in her room, she calmed down enough for me to release her.
"How are you feeling"?
"... I... I've been... better". She spoke slowly, slurring her words but that was to be expected.
"I'm not surprised after taking on two gorillas. Good thing I showed up when I did". I continued speaking soothingly, trying to make her feel calm. My only response was a smile which made me feel that much better.
"listen, is there anything you need? water or anything like that"?
"I'm fine. Thank you".
I just let her rest again as she closed her eyes. Seems she was still recovering from dizziness. I left her to rest but before I could, I gently kissed her on the head.
"Stay safe Vipes".
Twenty minutes passed. Tigress had yet to return. Po had already told Shifu everything, and by that I mean that he told him that I knew the whole story which meant that I was the one who had to tell Shifu everything. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as I finished the story, stating that several members were till searching for the second gorilla. The only thing he told me was to remain focused and to watch over Viper with Po. But every second I waited was another second of doubt and worry. Once Shifu had left I had to think carefully about what I had- what I needed to do. I opened the door to the barracks.
"Going somewhere"?
Shit. I turned to see Po with his arms crossed.
"Uhhh"... I started out before Po seemed to catch on.
"You're disobeying Shifu". He spoke with awe as I was probably one of the last people he would have expected to ignore an order from Shifu.
"And you haven't at some point"? I replied with a smirk, knowing all too well that Po has broken more rules and orders than possibly all of the furious five combined.
"Well... maybe one or two"...
"Or a thousand"?
"Okay, maybe a little more than the average student. But, umm... Don't you think Tigress has this handled"?
"Better to check up on them. In case something has taken a wrong turn, right"?
Po twiddled his thumbs.
"It's for the best. Just... look after Viper while I'm gone, no matter what okay"?
"I"...
"Po. I'm not asking you as a warrior. I'm asking you as a friend. Please, promise me you'll look after her".
Po looked down to the floor for a few seconds and thought it over before looking back at me, giving a smile and a thumbs up.
"You got it buddy".
"Thank you Po".
I slithered out of the barracks, knowing that I could trust Po this time round, and headed down to the Valley of Peace, where in the middle of the town, I could see black smoke rising.
...
This was a tough chapter to write. This in probably the longest fight scene I've had to write out so I'm glad that it's over, at least this part anyway. Now things will become that more serious, so no more messing around now. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Cheerio!