"For the Valley (II)"
CLANG.
THOK.
WHUMP.
BOOM.
"AH!"
"OWW!"
"OOF!"
"HEYAH!"
The Five went sent flying back, colliding through the front gates of the Jade Palace courtyard to smash into firm, rocky ground.
In a few moments, Po came flying through in the exact same manner - but his considerable body weight forced him downwards quicker, bashing him against the steps leading to the Training Hall.
And in the vague, glittering moonlight - two figures danced with each other at the Palace gates, motions in perfect unison as the larger snow leopard smashed down on the defensive red panda.
"Son! Please - don't - do - th - ERGH!"
It was Shifu's turn to fly back, force of the hit causing the air to ripple around him as he was pushed back into center of the Courtyard.
Tai Lung grinned, watching the Five reorient themselves and forcibly return Po to his feet. Shifu kept still on the ground, clutching at his now injured sides with regret.
"Master - ergh - " Po gasped, feeling a bit of blood trickle down his lip. "What was the point of letting him chase us all the way here?"
Shifu's gaze was stern and unrelenting. "Far from the villagers."
Tigress sprang into the air, Crane following her as they oscillated upward. With a mighty flap from his wings, Crane sent Tigress throttling down as she extended her foot downward.
Solid contact.
Tai Lung's head was forced to the ground, eyes going hazy for just a while. Tigress wasted no time, flipping backwards to send the snow leopard stumbling back.
"MANTIS!" Tigress roared. "MONKEY!"
A green and yellow blur - moving so fast that they could barely be seen - rotated behind Tai Lung, flipping into the small of his back.
"ARGH!"
Tai Lung was sent surging forward, colliding into the center of the Courtyard. The Five instantly encircled him, keeping an eye on Shifu as he stood up alongside Po.
The snow leopard merely grinned. "Amusing. Impressive."
Shifu ran immediately. Po grabbed his Master by the feet, swinging him around with incredible velocity - flinging him at Tai Lung.
Mantis and Crane swerved upwards. Tai Lung dodged slightly to the right, grabbing Tigress by the arm mid-flip - swinging her like a sword to smash into Crane and Viper. With a slight lowering of his head, Mantis flew right over him - missing the attack. As Tigress counter-punched, Tai Lung quickly deflected the blow with his forearm, headbutting Tigress into the ground.
A red and green blur. Tai Lung growled.
He flipped high upwards, intercepting Viper and Shifu mid-attack to flail them around - spinning for a good few seconds before throwing them down into the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Tai Lung saw Monkey charging at him with two bamboo sticks.
Fool.
He broke the first stick effortlessly, ripping the other one from Monkey's grip to smash into his face - watching the master fly in the air and burst through the wooden doors of the Training Hall.
He growled. Tai Lung leaped with all his strength, contorting his body in the wind.
The panda was back, meeting him mid-air at least fifty feet above the ground.
Po swung his leg, quicker than normal. Tai Lung dodged, sending a vicious counterkick aimed at Po's head.
The panda swiftly dodged, ramming Tai Lung with his shoulder.
"Not - ergh - bad," Tai Lung agreed, still in mid-air with Po. "Not - enough."
Tai Lung flipped even higher, bringing his foot down onto Po's face. The panda came crashing down to the ground, crushing Viper and Shifu.
Tai Lung spun himself like an arrow, zooming down to the ground with a primal roar.
"RAAAAA!"
BOOM.
A silence of dust and coughing. The Courtyard flooring now had multiple cracks in it.
The next few moments were slow. Viper, Shifu, and Po lay next to Tai Lung - grasping their bodies in pain, some of them twitching from the impact. Monkey - body limping and shaky - tumbled down the steps of the Training Hall entrance and back into the Courtyard.
Tigress stood up, wincing as she cracked her neck. Monkey moved closer to her, assuming a nervous ready stance.
Tai Lung's perfectly sharpened fangs glistened in the moonlight. "How much longer do you plan to go on - sister?"
Tigress tugged at her red vest, pulling it tightly around her. "As - long as it takes."
"Until the end," Po noted, wheezing as Tai Lung viciously stomped down on his chest. "Ergh - to make sure we can save - eh - as many people as possible - from a freak like you."
"I'll take all of your lives…" Tai Lung growled, punching Shifu savagely into the ground. "... every - single - one."
Shifu smiled, whiskers twitching. "That's - that's the plan."
Tai Lung smiled.
"HEY!"
Tai Lung narrowed his eyes, ears circling around. He began shifting his gaze backwards towards the entrance - where the last of the Thousand Steps lead into the Palace.
Standing at the head of the steps, casually leaning on the broken door hinge leading to Palace Courtyard - Alf was there, wheezing and gasping for breath as he obstructed full moonlight from flowing through the large space.
"Whoo - by the Scrolls - man - these stairs…" Alf noted, standing up with a cough. "Po - dude - you weren't kidding…"
Viper and Mantis - laying on the ground - gasped.
Monkey's eyes went wide. Crane started to regain consciousness - beak falling open.
Shifu frowned, eyebrows tilting inwards.
Po smiled.
Tigress was curious.
"Who - are you?" Tai Lung asked, stepping off Po's chest, making his way over to stare at Alf.
"Buddy," Alf began. "I - am the - "
He paused. What could he say?
Dragon Warrior? Definitely not.
Jade Master? Nope.
Scum of the Valley? Felt too weird to say it.
" - official water boy of - um - the Jade Palace!"
Po inadvertently let out a chuckle. Shifu growled. The Five merely stared - dumbfounded.
Tai Lung breathed heavily.
The tiger wasn't lying back then - intriguing.
Approach him. He must know where the beacon is.
"I'd heard whispers," Tai Lung gently noted, stepping close to Alf. "Whispers of a Seeker being in the Valley of Peace. Whispers that this - creature - furless, hairless, clawless - a true Seeker - had been found. I - I didn't believe it before today."
Alf felt some weird sense of pride come up. "Uh - yeah - cool, dude."
"But seeing you with my own eyes," Tai Lung noted, smiling. "It appears that the myths and legends have exaggerated your kind's ferocity - unless your kind were small, pathetic-looking, and weak."
Alf gulped, nodding his head. "Sorry to disappoint…"
Tai Lung was only ten feet away from Alf now.
He has it.
He. Has. It.
All this time - I was going about this the wrong way.
The beacon isn't with the tiger.
The boy has the beacon.
Wrapped around his neck.
Tai Lung made out the metallic collar firmly wrapped around Alf's neck.
"Fleshling," Tai Lung whispered dangerously low. "Give me that collar."
"Dude, I seriously wish I could," Alf emphasized, readying himself into a running stance.
The boy is playing games with you.
Like they all are.
Kill him - and rip that lying head off.
Bring me the beacon.
The snow leopard launched forward.
Alf's heart fluttered in fear. The speed was incredible. The shockwave that Tai Lung had sent out after jumping - sent the Five and Po stumbling backwards.
Perfect.
Alf ducked his head, revealing the object strapped to his back. In the same ducking motion, Alf struck a piece of flint against a string - attached to a large, cannon-shaped cylinder resting on the boy's back.
A firework.
Tai Lung couldn't realize it until it was too late.
BOOM.
The firework ignited, launching off Alf's back and colliding straight into Tai Lung mid-jump. The snow leopard wailed as it crushed past even his own strength, rocketing them both away and into the open doors of the Training Hall.
BOOM.
CRASH.
Alf reluctantly looked up, smiling at the billowing smoke coming out of the doors of the Training Hall.
Po sprinted over to him, crushing the boy to his chest in a ferocious hug.
"YOU CAME BACK!" Po screamed. "DUDE I LOVE YOU!"
"Bro - " Alf wheezed, feeling his airway constrict. " - you - you're crushing my - "
"Let the boy go, Po," Tigress asked, watching as the panda allowed Alf to crumple to the floor.
Alf breathed deeply for a while, getting back up. "So buddy - how's it going?"
Po smiled back, surprised to see Tigress move to his side. "Yanno - just tryin' to defeat literally the strongest Master to have ever - "
"FLESHLING!"
A bursting noise. Tai Lung charged blindly through a wall of the Training Hall, shattering it easily.
The Five rounded up in front of Shifu, who stood up once more. Po, Tigress and Alf made their way to the front of the line.
Everyone got in their battle stances. Alf merely stared at the angry snow leopard proceed towards them.
"AUGH!"
The force was incredible - almost mind-boggling. In a single, swift, nearly invisible kick - Tai Lung had sent Alf careering out of the Courtyard and into the stony steps laying just outside of the central structure - leading to the dormitories.
"Ergh - oh by the - " Alf groaned, feeling the side of his face swell up. "Wow does that hurt…"
Po came crashing next to him afterwards. Alf tried to regain composure, watching through the hole in the Courtyard walls.
Mantis and Monkey were laying on the floor, injured. Tigress and Viper were sparring with Tai Lung - but his movements were too quick, too vicious to correctly counter with - and everytime Shifu would try to sneak up behind him, Tai Lung would hear the master's movements and sidekick him away.
"We need to draw him to a smaller area," Alf noted. "Where he doesn't have as much vision. Small, dark spaces."
"Like we did with those rhino assholes all those years ago?" Po recalled, clutching his sore belly. "You know that ended with us getting beaten up.. And this is Tai Lung we're talking about."
"We've gotta try," Alf desperately motioned, watching Po sigh and nod his head. "HEY - OVER HERE YA BIG - STUPID - LEOPARD - UM - DUDE!"
"YEAH AND YOU WERE NEVER MY FAVORITE MASTER!" Po called out, watching Tai Lung smack Crane and Viper outside of the Courtyard as well. "I JUST SAID THAT SO I WOULDN'T HURT YOUR FEELINGS - BUT YOU'RE KINDA A DOUCHE ANYWAY SO I DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!"
Shifu spun around, being snatched in mid-air. Tai Lung threw Shifu back up and leaped into the sky, punching the smaller master away and down the Thousand Steps.
Po was growing infuriated. "HEY! TIGRESS!"
Tigress - about to re-spar with Tai Lung - elected to gracefully leap outside of the Courtyard, landing near Po and Alf.
"WHAT?" she yelled.
"We need to draw him somewhere else," Po emphasized quickly, wincing as Tai Lung brutally broke Viper's tail mid-strike and threw her against a nearby clay wall.
"Like higher up, with less land so we can just sort of push him off," Alf emphasized, shocked at a sudden idea. "The Pool. The Pool of Sacred Tears."
"What?" Tigress animated, desiring to go back to sparring. "Being that high up - he could just as easily kill us from that height, if we get kicked off!"
"It'll get us even farther away from the direction the villagers are heading," Po broke in. "And - we'll have a better chance."
Tigress frowned, looking at Po. The panda turned his head down, muttering something incomprehensible.
She looked at Alf, his lip just bleeding in silence.
"It's a chance," Alf stated. "It's worth it."
Tigress sighed.
"I'll draw him up," Tigress acknowledged. "Po - get the rest of the Five and Shifu, and meet me up there."
Tigress leaped over the low Courtyard wall again, running at full force to tackle Tai Lung straight down to the ground.
"She can buy us some time," Po agreed. "I'll get the supercool totally not injured Masters. I'll see you up there, Alf."
Alf nodded, watching the panda rocket away. He eyed the peak of the mountains in the distance, pulling out a small string and the flint hiding in his pockets.
He sprinted.
The path upward the mountain was closer than what he had always made it out to be. Within a short few seconds, Alf found himself at the base of an enormous pillar of rock - with a single, winding path leading upwards. The peak of the mountain was much narrower than the base, yet it had a few trees and a solitary pool of water - reflection just beginning to dance as the moon waned over the long night. The mountain itself, however - was scraggly and littered with scarce footholds, a constant sense of foreboding danger, and -
WHUMP.
"AHH!"
Tigress' body flew right past Alf, soaring up the mountain. Alf hid himself behind a large rock, watching Tai Lung chase her up with awe-inspiring speed. The two Masters effortlessly made their way to the top of the mountain.
Alf began climbing, sprinting down the winding path. To his great surprise, Crane - carrying Po, Mantis, and Viper - flew straight up the large peak. Shifu and Monkey moved with each other suddenly, leaping on narrow wedges of rock embedded in the mountain to push themselves up with dizzying urgency.
Alf continued his sprint, hearing many of the same noises coming from the peak.
WHUMP.
BOOSH.
BOOM.
POW.
CRUNCH.
"AGH!"
"ERGH!"
"NO!"
"AAAAAHHHH!"
He sprinted harder, hearing Po's scream of agony come in full force. The entire world was just a blur of brown and red images now.
The path winded more.
"ARGH!"
Alf pushed himself.
SQUELCH.
As hard as he could.
SNAP.
As long as he could.
"AUGH!"
Until the end.
And he tripped.
Alf took a long, running stumble onto solid - level ground. He skidded for a while, forcing himself to stop at a sharp precipice.
He looked down.
Nothingness. Dark fog. He was hundreds of feet above the Palace now.
Alf turned back, seeing a large body of water and a few trees placed around it. And right at the edge of the Pool, clutching Tigress by the neck once more - Tai Lung stood undefeated. Shifu, Po, and the rest of the Five lay down motionless next to him.
Alf stood up, feet slipping a bit on the loose grassland. "TIGRESS! GET DOWN!"
With all the strength she could muster, Tigress planted both feet on Tai Lung's chest - kicking off. The snow leopard stumbled backward, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.
Alf ran forward, pulling out a small firework and igniting it. Just before the fuse could reach, he threw it as hard as he could - squarely at Tai Lung.
Yet the boom never came.
Alf watched in horror, as Tai Lung spiraled cleanly out of the firework's path before landing on the ground - running on all fours at Alf.
He knew nothing could have been done.
BOOSH.
Alf felt like a building had just collapsed on his chest. Tai Lung's fist went straight into his chest - hard enough to nearly blow out Alf's back, making the Seeker cough out fresh blood - but the "push" wasn't there, as if Tai Lung had chosen to deliberately focus all of his energy on the fist, rather than pushing Alf away.
Tai Lung removed his paw, watching Alf fall to his knees.
The snow leopard shoved him to the ground, mounting him with a demented expression.
KRACK.
The first punch instantly shattered Alf's cheekbone. A large gash was left.
KKRICK.
The second punch nearly knocked Alf into unconsciousness immediately. His vision was hazy.
BAM.
The third punch came later than the others.
Which turned out to be a bad sign.
Tai Lung's fist had crushed Alf's skull into the grassland, causing small spurts of weeds and blades of vegetation to come up.
Alf whimpered, seeing three images of Tai Lung in front of him. It took a few seconds to focus them into one.
Kill him now, boy.
Get the collar.
A roar.
Tigress had launched herself at Tai Lung once more, who instantly jutted his elbow out behind, smashing into Tigress' nose with a repulsive crunch.
Tigress fell to the floor.
"Goodbye, fleshling…" Tai Lung whispered, placing his paws firmly around Alf's skull, squeezing inward.
The pressure was intense. Alf's ears began giving out.
CRUNCH.
Alf didn't feel any pain. It almost felt like a light-hearted feeling. As if he was going somewhere else now.
Somewhere more peaceful.
He caught a glimpse of Po out of the corner of his eye.
The panda met his gaze.
"Together…" he whispered.
Alf's mouth shook, feeling the inside of his head just begin to cave in. He nodded back gently at Po.
"Al - Always…" Alf breathed out, making peace with it.
He had tried.
Alf closed his eyes, ready.
THUD.
Alf almost expected to feel Tai Lung's paws finally break through at the sound, but it didn't feel like muscle breaking through bone - it oddly felt softer.
Much softer.
Like - like a dumpling ramming against fur.
Alf opened his eyes.
Tai Lung was off him, clutching at his head in annoyance. Alf turned to see the source of the sound.
Yu stood alone, her bag in hand with a tired expression.
Tigress groaned and brought herself to her feet, staring at Tai Lung's momentarily downed body. Shifu egged Po upwards, calling the rest of the Five to try to get up somehow. Alf kept his gaze on the bag, complete confused.
Yu gave him a look.
A very specific look.
"You came," Alf simply wheezed.
Yu shrugged her shoulders. "What the hell, right?"
Tai Lung growled, ramming into the small fox.
Alf's insides jolted. Tai Lung immediately brought her down to the ground, beginning a savage series of punches that Yu wasn't even responding to. The fox's face merely went from left to right, unbruised to bruised, face progressively becoming more purple with every punch.
"That's enough," Alf begged, seeing the fox's arms lay limply near the bag.
Tai lung intensified the punches. Spurts of grass went flying.
"Enough…"
THUD. KRICK. BASH.
"Enough…"
Yu's head was forcibly punched to face Alf, one of the eyes swollen. She flashed him a small smile.
THUD.
"ENOUGH!"
Something.
It felt like fire.
Like an intense - angry sensation.
Alf sprung to his feet, sprinting at Tai Lung. The snow leopard just grinned, moving a light forearm to block while cocking back his next arm for the counterpunch.
Yet it never came.
Alf didn't know what he was doing, but trusted whatever had just taken control. His right arm lunged at Tai Lung.
The snow leopard's forearm broke in two.
The bone bent inward.
Tai Lung tried to squeal, but Alf's fist cleanly pushed past the forearm to connect with his face.
BOOM.
It sounded like a firework.
It felt like an explosion.
Tai Lung soared away, tumbling for twenty feet in the grass before coming to a grinding halt at the edge of the Pool.
Alf ran to Yu's side, watching her get up. The fox' head swiveled idly.
"Yu, Yu, Yu!" Alf implored, clutching her limp frame. "Please - please wake up…"
"E - E " came the weak response. "E - E - "
"What is it?" Alf begged. "End? It can't be the end, I won't let you - "
"E - Emotional - bitch," Yu let out.
Alf smiled.
"I am done with this."
Alf gasped, seeing Tai Lung rapidly come behind him.
KRACK.
The kick was harsh, as per usual. Alf rolled away and into the Pool - feeling fresh water soak his clothing and hair.
He pushed himself to the surface, coughing out a mixture of blood and water.
"So - so much for the Pool of Sacred Tears," Alf noted.
"I'M SICK OF THIS VALLEY!" Tai Lung roared, approaching Alf with an enraged expression - eyes red and bulging. "I'M SICK OF OOGWAY! I'M SICK OF THE SURPRISES! I'M SICK OF THE METAPHORS! HERE'S A NEW METAPHOR - TAI - LUNG - ALWAYS - WINS!"
Alf didn't feel the same angry sensation anymore - that fiery feeling was gone. He couldn't summon it anymore.
He was too weak to respond. The Five were downed and motionless. Shifu watched the snow leopard with horror. Po was passed out - face down on the ground.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE DRAGON WARRIOR!" Tai Lung went on, fangs and claws fully extended. "IT'LL SHOCK YOU ALL - THAT SOMEONE CAN BE SOMETHING - WITHOUT ANY STUPID PROPHECY!"
Shock.
Alf felt like face-palming.
Duh, he noted internally. Why do I always get these ideas as the last friggin' minute?
"YU!" Alf called out desperately. "When I say now - PUSH THE BUTTON!"
"What?!" Yu returned, just beginning to get into an upright, sitting position.
"EVERYTHING IN THIS DAMN VALLEY… JUST NOTHING… NO ONE EVER RESPECTED ME!"
"Yu - listen to me, as soon as - "
"You'll die!"
"I'LL KILL YOU - FLESHLING!"
Alf felt a set of claws wedge themselves in between his ribs. A dull, piercing pain. He turned his head up, looking past Tai Lung and at Yu.
He begged her with his eyes.
"NOW!" Alf roared.
Yu hesitated. Alf groaned.
But Tigress didn't.
In a second, she had snatched the button out of Yu's bag.
Alf nodded, despite the pain. He pulled Tai Lung deeper into the pool.
Tigress pressed the button.
CRACKLE. CRACKLE. CRACKLE. CRACKLE. CRACKLE.
Pain. More pain than he had ever felt in his life - including the last few weeks.
Tai Lung was frozen to him, unable to remove himself from Alf's electricity-conducting body. The snow leopard shook.
Although Alf didn't understand how, the water was making it worse. It almost seemed to amplify the amount of shock, pulsing through both of their injured, bleeding bodies.
"Don't - don't stop…" Alf let out, vision of the outside world gradually fading.
Tai Lung was shaking, blood already starting to flow from his lips.
Never mind - the beacon has emitted enough of a signal now.
I don't need you anymore.
And Tai Lung - for the first time since he had met the spirit - begged for help.
"Please - " Tai Lung pleaded, shock tearing through his body. " - help me…"
Die now, boy.
You have fulfilled your purpose to me.
Alf shook hard but didn't allow Tai Lung to push away from him. He lost consciousness.
A/N
One LOOOOONG scene. A ridiculous amount of graphic fighting. A finale that hopefully everyone's loving so far. Boy oh boy…
I don't have much to say. I wanna start KFP2. KFP1 is gonna end soon. Wow have we come a long way.
Support is so unfathomable that I should just shut up talking about it.
~TW
P.S: Expect frequent updates until I finish KFP1. After that a brief break - (really just a few days, lol) - then we can jump into the next arc. Hehe...
