"The Death Machine"


"Gather around!" Wang barked out loudly, waiting for the refugees to listen. "Come quickly - everyone!"

The refugee camp was in panic.

Although the lion wasn't sure who had leaked the information - or perhaps a citizen was listening in - the camp was in a frenzy. There were already rumors of an army of Seekers coming to destroy the world, and there was also the notion spreading that Team Jade and the Yongshi had no recourse towards defending everyone. Adding to this was the cramped confines of the refugee tents - approximately a few thousand former Valley citizens, displaced by the explosions - were all jammed into perhaps thirty tents alongside several hundred Yongshi assassins and Team Jade. One particular absence was there - Alf, who remained in his tent with Yu's body despite several calls to come outside. Fortunately however, the camp's location - in the mysterious and well-hidden nook of the Wu Dan mountains, enveloped by fog and thick sunlight - offered them some protection stealth-wise, but everyone acknowledged nothing could prevent a Seeker invasion. So, it was up to Wang and Team Jade - who stood at the head of the encircled refugee group, grassy perimeter carefully covered by black-robed Yongshi - to start the "plan" the Soothsayer emphasized as quickly as possible.

"Is the Valley really gone?"

"I can't find my son!"

"Rations are running low…"

"Are we under attack?!"

The crowd of angry voices was easily dominated by Wang's, whose deep tones silenced everyone else's.

"ORDER!" the lion roared, earning quiet in the camp for the first time in days. The old goat stood behind him, who nodded at the Five and Shifu behind her to make sure they understood.

"We are - indeed, under attack by a Seeker army," Wang emphasized.

The crowd of murmurs and anxious whispers grew. Some female pigs audibly gasped, while others held onto their loved ones a bit closer.

"We all saw what happened to the Valley - there's no going back now," Wang announced, trying to ignore the mild sobs that were also starting to emerge from the crowd. "But - we do have the advantage of making it all out - alive - if we just proceed according to the plan."

This was a giant promise that both the Soothsayer and Shifu had urged Wang not to give, but it helped stabilize the crowd a bit. Wang himself didn't seem to be bothered by the dubiousness of making this promise.

"What's the plan?" a sheep asked, pushing his way to the front of the crowd.

"We do this in steps," Wang emphasized. "Some of my men and Team Jade, will start by recalling the Dragon Warrior, and start sending messages to every kingdom and province - from China to Europa - about the situation at hand."

"What are we supposed to do?" the sheep fired back, gaining mild applause from the rest of the crowd. "Just sit here and wait for the fleshlings to massacre us!?"

Wang waved powerfully, urging silence again.

"The rest of my men and Team Jade will escort you all to a secretive location," Wang cut across. "Here, we will all get onto a erm - ship of sorts… a transport vessel, that will take us all to a safe haven - away from this world."

This earned jeers and anger from the crowd, who started the protests once more.

"A ship?! Where is this damn thing?"

"Off-world… will we ever come back here?"

"Where would the ship take us? Right into Seeker hands?!"

"How do we know - "

"SILENCE!" Wang roared, growling ferociously as even Shifu and the Soothsayer recoiled a bit in fear - the crowd practically ceased all talking. "These are our options! If you do not like them - feel free to stay here and get slaughtered!"

The crowd held the lion's aggressive words. They looked at each other nervously, unsure of how to respond to the bluntness of this statement.

"But anyone who wants to live…" Wang started, stressing the words. "Do. As. We. Say."

This went over the crowd's minds - they really had no choice in the matter. Gradually, the massive group of citizens started to break up and talk to each other - some headed for the tents, clearly trying to pack as much as possible - while others talked to the Yongshi soldiers guarding the refugees, scared and still confused.

"We need to act quickly," Wang privately noted, walking back to the Five, Shifu, and the old goat. "Zeng!"

A mild, scared bird ran into the group from the crowd, bowing his head. "Yes?"

"Fly as far as you can in the Southern and Western directions - deliver one of these scrolls to each kingdom you see," Wang emphasized, handing the bird a bag with at least fifty scrolls. "Most importantly, link up with the Yongshi of that kingdom and ask them to send their own birds in all directions - we need as much coverage as possible."

Zeng nodded, gulping. Team Jade noted a black-robed Yongshi suddenly appear at Zeng's side, evidently another bird who would help deliver the message.

"Best luck to you, Zeng," Shifu honestly stated. "Fly fast, friend."

The bird nodded in earnest dedication, launching off into the blue sky as the Yongshi beside him followed with an effortless jump.

"You have Yongshi in other places too?" Mantis asked atop Monkey's shoulder.

"Eyes and ears everywhere," Wang noted with a smile. "Crane."

Crane stepped forward, having already guessed his role - given his capabilities. "I'm guessing I'm going to cover - North and East?"

Wang smiled, handing him a similar bag of scrolls. "Don't worry if the local governments seem - disbelieving - of what's happening, at first. Just make sure the Yongshi of the area know about it… my men will take care of the evacuations."

Another Yongshi soldier arrived from the crowd, standing beside Crane.

"Good luck Crane," Viper noted earnestly.

"Come back in time," Tigress emphasized, shaking the bird's shoulder.

Crane nodded, launching into the sky like Zeng. After a moment of pause, the black-robed Yongshi also similarly flew up - both birds departed in the opposite direction Zeng had his Yongshi company had left.

"What tasks are left?" Tigress asked.

Wang scratched his impressive mane. "Notifying the Dragon Warrior, finding the ship, and taking everyone there."

"What about the death bot and the scout?" Tigress asked. "Not to mention the Seeker army…"

"We'll deal with those as they come," Wang noted. "But our priority isn't fighting anymore - that option is suicide. It's survival."

Wang nodded at the rest of the Five and Shifu, making sure they absolutely understood the mentality everyone was supposed to be in.

"I'll go after Po."

The new voice both delighted and saddened the group. From out of the corner of their eyes, Alf had just appeared - walking to the Five, Wang, the Soothsayer, and Shifu with the slowest of walks - gaze downcast and voice very quiet.

"Boy," Shifu started in hesitation. "Are you sure you're - ready to - "

"Yes," Alf interrupted simply. "Where's the panda village?"

Everyone felt mildly suspicious. Alf hadn't even bothered to listen to the rest of what everyone was trying to tell him - so they weren't even sure how up-to-date he was with what was happening. There were so many questions on everyone's minds…

Did he know about how he got here?

About Earth?

About what was truly happening?

"It's a big camp, yanno," Alf let out, clearly trying to soothe everyone's hesitation. "I - I understood - a lot. All of it."

Alf suddenly turned his attention to Wang. "Thanks for leading me on all that join the Yongshi bullshit, by the way."

The lion turned his head to the ground, embarrassed.

The Soothsayer chose to interrupt now, walking forward to gently clasp Alf's shoulders, shaking it mildly.

"What persuaded you to change your mind?" the Soothsayer asked gently.

Alf watched the Five and Shifu observe him. Wang was watching him with a realm of suspicion - almost as if he was ready to fight Alf in a moment. Regardless, he stayed calm and avoided everyone's stares, choosing to focus on the old goat's amusing features.

"Maybe after listening to all the evil shit my - my kind did," Alf interrupted, voice firm but emotional. "Maybe this is my big chance - to prove that I'm one of the good guys."

The Five collectively smiled at him. Even Shifu gave a half-proud smirk, aged whiskers and cheekbones lighting up in admiration. Wang nodded slowly, as the Soothsayer smiled broadly at Alf. The Seeker himself did nothing but remain firm and confident, and perhaps even a bit excited - even though the circumstances were very grave, and the odds near impossible - there was that sense that it was no longer "himself" vs everyone else anymore - now everyone felt united.

And he was a part of it.

"I'll go with him," Tigress mentioned, walking over to Alf's side.

"I don't need help," Alf emphasized.

"Somebody's gotta be around to strap your bra up," Tigress let out with a smirk.

Alf growled. "Seriously?"

"It's settled then," Wang concluded. "The boy and Tigress will go after the Dragon Warrior… the rest of us will stay here and find the ship - and start the move, as soon as we can."

Alf nodded, turning to get a map from Monkey's paws. He scanned the directions gingerly with Tigress standing close - the panda village was fortunately not too far away, with Shifu having scrawled on 3 days, fast pace in miniscule handwriting near the pathway leading from the Valley to the panda village.

"Let's hope Po doesn't freak out after we tell him everything," Alf noted to Tigress, who grinned back at him.

Alf turned to leave the group, acknowledging that the time they had to do these series of impossible tasks - was very, very little.

He turned back suddenly. "Soothsayer?"

The old goat turned to face him, staring straight into Alf's eyes.

"You - not killing me thirteen years ago," Alf reckoned. "I'm gonna prove that it wasn't a mistake."

The Soothsayer watched the young boy walk off with Tigress, smiling to herself.

"I dearly hope so," the old goat simply remarked.

. . .

"ARGH!" Li screamed, although he was too far from the panda village to alert anyone.

The voice in his head had compelled him to move far away from the village - down rocky steps that led into thick grassland, sitting underneath fog that hid the mountain's craggy sides. Here, among bushels of foliage and wild plants - the only one for the next few miles was just Li. The impenetrable, hazy sky above him did nothing to help his case - it stifled and bounced back all the sounds that Li had made in an attempt to call someone to his aid. The panda could see nothing for miles except the grassy terrain, and feel nothing behind and above him except the foggy mountainscape leading up to the panda village.

"Please… please… whoever you are…" Li begged, shaking in his green robes and straw hat. "Please leave me alone."

You don't remember me - panda?

Li thought back desperately. "I - no…"

Hmm.

Perhaps restoring your consciousness inadvertently scrambled your hippocampus.

Allow me to fix this.

Li understood none of what the voice said, but he felt a burst of pain ride through his head. It was an awkward, searing pain - almost like burning - yet it didn't actually injure him, just made his mind go haywire and start to almost faint. After a few seconds of this, Li had the chance to clear his head…

… and what he started to remember terrified him.

The blade.

The bull.

The blades going into his chest.

Pain.

Then nothing.

Then everything went back to normal again.

"I - " Li breathed, gasping. "I - I was stabbed…"

Yes - by a rather idiotic former thrall of mine.

Well - I suppose it was in exchange for him being able to destroy the Valley.

But, Kai was the last of my - experiments with your world's lifeforms.

Li understood the bull to be Kai. "Wait - this - guy - after he stabbed me - you - you saved me?"

He killed you.

Stopped your biological function.

I am merely reanimating you through via intergalactic reanimation.

You're not alive.

Li shook his head. "No - no… I feel alive! I remember every - "

You are nothing more than a consciousness restored to its body.

Kept alive by my connection.

And when my use for you runs out - you shall die.

Li shuddered. "Use - what use?"

There is only one way the lifeforms on this planet can escape colonization.

Epsilon-4.

The escape vessel.

The ship that your planet's human - Seeker - arrived in.

"Alf?" Li questioned, thinking back to the young man he had met back in the Valley. "I - I don't understand… why even - reanimate me if you - cared about something else?"

I had hoped Epsilon-4's location was with the other panda.

But now - it seems no one properly knows.

No matter.

Continue walking.

And Li was forced to walk, watching the village and mountain fade behind him as a single tear escaped his eyes.

. . .

The refugee tents had been hastily abandoned.

Wang had decided that above all other things - they had to keep moving forward somehow. Neither himself nor the Soothsayer knew when the "death machine" would arrive, but just from common-sense they knew that the more the population moved around - the harder it would be to track them. Wang hoped desperately that the machine wouldn't go after Alf - considering he had the beacon wrapped around his neck - although he didn't want it near his refugees either. Currently, in the voluminous moonlight that flowed over the crooked valleys of the Wu Dan mountains - an enormous group of several thousand animal refugees moved alongside a narrow, elevated precipice hugging the edge of the mountain, dressed in makeshift robes to keep out the fierce, biting cold. Wang had partitioned all of his surviving Yongshi and the remainder of Team Jade on all sides of the civilians - the coordinated group moved along the rocky ledges as quietly as possible, guided forward by a single lamp held by Wang's tall frame. Shifu followed closeby, avidly watching out for anything that could possibly be a threat - scanning surrounding trees, grassy steppes, and the night sky for any signs of an impending attack. Wang had spent the entire walk perusing over his classified scrolls, searching for any indication where the "escape vessel" had been buried. The lion was kicking himself over allowing Alf - indeed, the last lifeform to perhaps step foot in the vessel, even if it was thirteen years ago - to go off in pursuit of Po, although the boy's emotional circumstances were understandable. Adding to the strain, Tigress - perhaps the one master who was on Wang's level of combat prowess - had also left the group with the boy.

The sole exception, perhaps the only bright spot had been Soo Lin and Zhong - the wolf, and the jackal for the (formerly, before it was destroyed) Chinese Daily think tank or news organization. The female jackal was spending much of her time going through the refugee ranks, trying to calm people down and restore order - an irreplaceable debt which Wang now owed her. Although he had assumed she was just doing it because he had agreed to leak the Revolver plans to her - Wang understood right away (after seeing the way she interacted with the refugees) that perhaps, she really did care about them. Zhong followed suit - and although the citizens naturally distrusted him due to his history and intimidating demeanor - Zhong managed to croak out some words of soothing calm to help pacify the hordes of refugees… like Soo Lin, he had spent his time walking through the crowds, comforting families and displaced citizens with kind words, hugs, and occasional reassuring proverbs. And although Wang didn't know the full extent of what Zhong had done under Shen - besides massacring most of the pandas, and perhaps countless more people - he understood that the wolf was clearly trying to turn over a new leaf.

And that made Wang feel slightly calmer.

It was still overall nerve-wracking though, moving through the darkness with a horde of scared refugees - thousands of females, children, and young males all hugging and crying silently as they dove through the unforgiving night air.

"Wang," Shifu breathed next to the enormous lion. "Look."

The lion turned his gaze up to the sky, voice practically seizing on itself.

His eyes began to glimmer.

His frame was paralyzed in fear.

Traveling through the night air - and heading directly for the ledge they were all on - was a metal pod, distinctive insignia on its exterior.

Flames followed behind the pod.

It was clearly entering from beyond the sky.

"Get ready," Wang emphasized, pulling a sword out immediately from his back.

The action worried Shifu, who spoke back with anxiety. "What? Wang! What's happening?"

Wang gulped, trying to displace his fear.

"Stage 1."

. . .

The travel to the panda village had been vigorously brisk. Alf was grateful that it was Tigress accompanying him and not Po (despite the fact that they were going towards him) - with the panda, he might have walked and laughed the whole way there, easily doubling the travel time. But Tigress sprinted and leapt the whole way - across craggy mountainscapes, thick grasslands, dense forests - and when tired, when sleepy, and she relentlessly pushed Alf to keep up.

Although she would never admit it to him, Tigress was proud on how far Alf had come - she had always seen it, but this journey in particular proved that all of the brutal training she had subjected him too was paying dividends. Alf kept up at near-equal speed with Tigress on foot - despite running on two legs instead of four - and he appeared to have much higher endurance, as she needed breaks often while Alf kept the relentless pace going. Conversation between them was minimal, and this had helped increase the pace of the journey.

The threat of a foreign species coming to colonize and massacre everyone also helped increase the urgency.

Currently, they were well past the halfway point in the path to the panda village in just under a day, which was spectacular even by Jade Palace standards. Therefore, right now as they trudged through a particularly dense forest filled with marshlands and running streams all around them - Tigress for once had advised to go a bit slower… just walk for a few hours before resuming their frantic intensity. Alf obliged instantly.

Tigress watched him move smoothly a few steps ahead of her, hopping over rocks and boulders ever present in the grassy land around them. A multitude of trees and gentle insect noises made the entire process more isolated and private, which perfectly fit Tigress' real goal for slowing down.

She wanted to know more about him.

Know more about how he was feeling.

Know how Alf felt about all the insane history that the Soothsayer had revealed.

Tigress remembered literally being shocked into silence after hearing it.

She had no idea how Alf had felt.

She could only imagine.

"Allison," Tigress called out, seeking to somehow segue into a healthy conversation with the unusually closed off young man. "Slow down."

And Tigress had to remind herself of that often - he was an adult now.

No longer that gawky, awkward kid back at the Dragon Warrior tournament.

Tigress wondered whether Alf felt that his - background - had precluded him from a having a childhood he could reminisce happily about. Although Tigress herself didn't have fond memories at the orphanage, that suffering ended as soon as Shifu came - whereas Alf's life never seemed to let up on the amount of cosmic "gut punches" it could provide to him. Tigress didn't fathom how Alf could be from the same species - the same species which had grown so greedy and corrupt that they had destroyed an entire world.

Alf smiled gently, slowing his pace so he was now walking alongside her. "That's your favorite, huh?"

"What is?" Tigress asked.

"Allison," Alf mused. "That or Angelina. Those are like - your favorite insults to use against me…"

Tigress appeared downcast. "Insults… that's erm - how you think of them?"

Alf chuckled, perhaps for the first time in days. "Well - I'm a dude and erm - you keep calling me by those girl names."

"Huh," Tigress let out, disappointed. "I dunno - I always thought of them as - kinda nicknames."

"Nah," Alf disputed, smirking. "Alf is short enough as is. You just - I guess you just love torturing me - through the names, or training my ass off…"

He said the words playfully, with a broad grin on his face - but Tigress wasn't interested in that right now.

She wanted sincerity.

Wanted to understand how he was really feeling.

"I don't call anyone else by nickname," Tigress clarified with a smile. "It's just you."

Alf snorted. "Ah… I'm so honored master… thank you for bestowing me the sole privilege of constant emasculation…"

This made Tigress genuinely laugh.

"Leave the names alone - how about let's count up the times you explicitly made a girl joke about me?" Alf let out with a smirk, half-laughing himself. "Strap your bra up, all the times you've said good girl to me, asking me if I'm on my period…"

"Are you?" Tigress interrupted suddenly.

Alf groaned. "By the scrolls… screw off…"

Tigress was ecstatic. This was the first time in days that Alf was just beginning to talk and speak naturally like he usually was - she suspected that keeping his mind off Yu and more on the present was helpful. Yet at the same time, she wanted to press into his feelings and understand them more - Tigress just didn't know a segue subtle enough to do so, at least one that wouldn't make Alf resentful and closed off again.

"You know, for someone who has a reputation for being ultra hardcore and stuff," Alf questioned, shaking his head. "You're pretty darn - well, maybe not soft but I guess - decent to me?"

Tigress smiled. "Yeah - Wang once told me it's because we're kinda similar… you and me."

Alf huffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Yeah Wang's good at saying bullshit…"

Although she agreed that Wang was generally dishonest, Tigress had seen some evidence to his claims of similarity between the two.

"He said - you reminded him of me," Tigress emphasized. "Our histories, our personalities - not to mention our fighting skills…"

Alf held the thoughts in his mind, evaluating them out of curiosity. "Yeah I mean - I guess on the surface, we both got kinda shitty cosmic hands - orphaned and sorta misunderstood…"

Tigress nodded her head.

"But you're like - the Legendary Master Tigress," Alf quickly countered. "Your personality is all - aggressive and leader-like, and - I mean I've come a long way but - aside from Wang, I don't think anyone in China, maybe even the world… is on your level of kung fu mastery."

Tigress smiled at the compliment, having received this many times before from different people.

"Plenty of people have shitty lives," Alf sighed. "Some of them - with your kinda personality and drive - become great… like you."

Tigress was growing concerned at the level of pessimism in his voice. "And the rest?"

Alf smiled sadly. "The rest end up like me, I guess."

Just then Tigress realized that she had found her segue.

Her way in to his emotions.

All she had to do was naturally let him vent for a while.

Let him speak.

Tigress stayed quiet, silence encouraging the Seeker to keep speaking.

"Even after all the shit that I've been through, five years living in the Valley… wearing this stupid thing…" Alf noted, fingers aggressively pulling at his collar. "I - I always thought that it was all kinda worth it. I mean - the greatest - accomplishment of my life… finding her…"

Tigress instantly understood who he was talking about.

"Yu was just - the literal best thing in my life," Alf remarked. "The one thing I could always fall back on and say - hey, I managed to do something with the hand I got dealt."

Tigress again just stared at him, watching Alf's face cloud in a sea of negative emotions.

"After what happened to her, and just seeing her face and body like that…" Alf continued, voice quivering a bit. "... I dunno. Maybe - maybe this is my destiny."

This forced Tigress to speak up. "What destiny?"

"Maybe this is the way my life is supposed to be," Alf observed, sighing. "Alone. Maybe I was an idiot to think my life - considering who I am - would turn out any different."

Tigress - despite the greatest urges in her to say something to counter this - kept quiet.

She had to let him vent it all out.

"All I'm saying is that we're not alike," Alf concluded glumly. "Some of us get to be like you - great, and successful - most of us, I guess - end up like me."

Tigress smirked. "Yeah, I'm the Legendary Master Tigress - the twenty-two year old who can't get her own father to approve of her… who's hopelessly in love with a panda… who can never - "

She paused herself, shocked.

Tigress had tried so hard to relate her experiences to his that she ended up divulging too much.

Alf of course - squealed with joy. "WHAT?! YOU TOLD PO YOU LOVED HIM?!"

Tigress tried to shake her head, desperately protesting. "What? No! I never - "

"Don't bullshit me!" Alf squeaked out, jumping up and down like a maniac. "When did you tell him?!"

"Let's just go back to you talking about how pathetic your life is…"

"No no no! Come on! You psychoanalyze me, I get to psychoanalyze you!"

Tigress sighed, realizing that it was inevitable now. "I - I might have - might have told him I loved him before he - he left for the panda village."

Alf's eyes burst open with crazy happiness - a welcome sight to see for her, especially after being in such a low, depressed state - yet Tigress had to add her own explanation.

"But I told him that now was not the right time," Tigress clarified.

"The hell does that mean?" Alf asked, stunned. "You said you loved him… half of the Five and me were making bets on whether you two would get together in Gongmen… I lost that bet, by the way…"

"Tinkerbell," Tigress sternly noted, addressing Alf with a surprisingly never-used name. "Shifu is my father. The world is about to be invaded. You really think now is a good time to go leaping into his arms?"

Alf huffed, voice unusually serious again. "There never is a right time, Tigress - trust me - you wanna say all of the stuff on your chest - before it's too late."

The final words of this sentence hit Tigress with painful gravity.

She watched Alf keep up a melancholy, but persistent smile.

"Trust me," Alf broke in. "I know."

Tigress nodded, choosing to say nothing back - and also choosing to divert the conversation elsewhere. "Okay - so what about Shifu?"

It was ironic that Tigress was taking the pressure off of a highly emotional subject by deflecting onto another highly emotional subject - albeit for her rather than Alf.

"Oh come on - Tigress, we all saw the way he treated you in Gongmen," Alf scrutinized. "I mean - I guess I didn't see because I was too busy getting tortured in Shen's creepy cave where that stupid metal ship was… but my point is you've gotta stop expecting his approv - "

"Wait," Tigress paused. "The ship…"

An inspiration had hit her like wildfire.

It was satisfying enough that both herself and Alf were getting a kind of therapeutic stress relief by talking to each other…

...but as soon as Alf had brought up those days in the cave two years ago…

… the ship.

The ship.

The only ship that Alf had insisted back in Gongmen - was a Seeker ship…

It couldn't be a coincidence.

Nothing else on this world could explain it.

It had to be the escape vessel.

"Alf," Tigress suddenly asked with seriousness, grasping both his shoulders. "The ship… do you remember where it was - outside Gongmen?"

Alf perused his memories. "I - I mean yeah - if I can get to Gongmen but… I thought it disappeared right? Remember - I - I kept saying it disappeared when you guys saved me - Zhong said so too…"

"I doubt it," Tigress cut across. "I think Wang'll know what to do about that information… damn it! I wish I would have remembered that before…"

Tigress kept pacing, stressed. "We have to get to Po as fast as possible - then send a bird to Wang about the ship's location - then head straight to Gongmen. Time is running out."

"Tigress, I told you back then - the ship disappeared - it couldn't be that - that escape vessel I crashed in!"

"Just trust me. Let's get going."

Tigress started a sprint, waiting for Alf to get into his position. But she paused midway, holding the Seeker back with a genuine look.

"Alf."

"Hmm?"

"You're not like the rest of them. The Seekers."

Alf gave one of the broadest grins Tigress had seen on him. She extended a paw towards his thick dark hair, ruffling it to his mild annoyance.

"Better keep up Angelina."

. . .

Wang was thrown back from the impact.

The lion tumbled down a steep, rocky slope - fear slashing in his eyes as the sounds above him filled him with dread.

Screaming.

Crying.

Flesh tearing.

Wang settled off the dust he had accumulated from the fall, trying to get a sense of his surroundings.

The impact had pushed him down the edge of the cliffside, forcing him to tumble down into a deep, grassy meadow below the crags of the Wu Dan mountain. Although there was significant, green tree cover that nearly blocked his vision - Wang could see just the edges of the cliff he had fallen off of, events unfolding in the basking moonlight.

On the cliff's edge, the formerly thousands of refugees were being cut down with incredible quickness - young, old, females, children, males - everything was being mowed down in a ferocious onslaught of blood and explosive forces. The front of the group were being demolished almost instantly - while the significant majority in the back of the group started running the opposite way in fear, terrified amongst the flashing and chaotic bursts of red lights. The only exceptions were Shifu, the black-robed Yongshi still alive, and Masters Viper, Monkey, and Mantis - this sole group was trying to press their way to the front, but was forced back with more concussive and bright forces no one could even fathom.

And the - thing - responsible for all the killings was sitting right at the front of the group.

Enormous. Metallic. With four crude, spiked, leg-like extensions shoving it head and shoulders above the rest of the refugees - it had a perfectly cylindrical, massive body. At the very center of the body was a large, gaping red hole - which rhythmically pulsed with red light, pausing for a brief second before blowing out of the port in a vicious spurt of aggression. Wang didn't even understand the technology of the death machine - but he did know that whenever that red beam would cross a refugee - the body would be cleanly split alongside the pathway of the red beam.

And the machine was doing this to as many refugees as possible. Wang had estimated that at least a quarter of the group had been cut down already - mutilated bodies laying along the stony cliffside like demented ornamentation. Neither Shifu, nor the Yongshi, nor the remnants of Team Jade - even as they fought their heart out - could do nothing but get thrust back by one of the machine's enormous metal legs.

Wang composed himself, pulling out his sword in a flurry.

He desperately ran up the steep cliffside, trying to get up to the rocky pathway he had been blown off as the machine had landed. Wang's breathing grew more ragged as he heard more screaming and bursts of the red beams of light.

In a few moments, he reached the edge.

Shifu flew back in Wang's direction, landing near the lion's feet.

"R - r - run…" the red panda gasped, blood trickling down his mouth.

Wang gently picked up the comparatively tiny master, putting him a distance away from the action. He turned to his left - the crowd of refugees were still anxiously running past him, seeking to escape the red death beams the machine was emitting, although their numbers had perhaps halved. To Wang's right, a number of figures were actively trying to fight the machine - Viper, Mantis and Monkey were circling around its legs uselessly, trying somehow to disable its hold - while the few remaining black-robed Yongshi oscillated around the red beams, narrowly missing death at every second.

Wang lunged forward in the moonlight, sword extended.

He needed to end this now.

The machine's "eye" saw him.

A burst of red light.

Wang dove to the side, but the beam casually cut through his defensively-oriented sword, cleaving it in two - and the beam rushed past his shoulder, burning off half of the flesh. The lion fell to the ground in a yelp of pain.

"GO FOR THE EYE!" Wang roared. "THE EYE! THE EYE!"

This seemed to register in the rest of the combatant's eyes. Viper swung behind the machine to pounce on its balled "head", seeking to pull it away from massacring the fleeing refugees - while Mantis kept a somewhat useless barrage of attacks against the machine's impenetrable metal legs. The Yongshi soldiers - perhaps just twenty left - danced around the machine's circling red death beams, eventually managing to chuck a few projectile knives into the machine's eye. Unfortunately, it merely blasted the knives into nothingness with more beam bursts.

"DISTRACT IT!" Wang begged, trying to pick up his broken sword, knowing the jagged end could still do damage.

Monkey smashed into the machine's legs powerfully - impactful enough to force its balled head to oscillate down. The machine elegantly picked up one of spiked legs, driving it down in cruel aggression. The movement was simply too quick for Monkey to evade - he howled as the spike wedged itself into his ribs, effortlessly tearing through bone and muscle. A pool of blood began spreading immediately.

"NO!" Viper roared, still circled around the machine's head.

Wang groaned, beginning a fierce sprint forward. The machine detected him instantly, blasting yet another red beam of light at him. Wang knew there was no other option.

He jumped straight up.

And took the brunt of the blast.

He had been lucky. It managed to just clip his abdomen - although a solid chunk of flesh and waist had been instantly disintegrated by the red beam. Wang let out a feral roar - mixed with both pain and anger - as he shoved the broken sword end into the machine's red eye.

A cracking noise.

Wang fell down, finally losing consciousness.


A/N

Note: remember this planet isn't Earth, so there's only two continents - China and Europa, both kind of homages to China and Europe on Earth, but it's safe to say the geography of this planet is considerably different.

What a tense chapter! Hehe… I really wanted to drive home how powerful the death bot was - it's already killed half of the refugees, and we don't know how effective Wang's last minute tactic was against it… Shifu's injured, Monkey's injured, things lookin' pretty grim… and remember, they still have to fight the Seeker scout, and the army!

Second, the Omega-Li connection was finally revealed! So he's alive yet not alive… and Omega clearly is trying to use him to find the ship and destroy it before it can be found. Note that the big "reveal" that the ship was near Gongmen wasn't much of a reveal at all - Tigress just put together the pieces from the torture chapters in KFP 2!

Speaking of Tigress, I loved writing her dialogue with Alf (who btw, surprise surprise - is back in). I intended it to be a kinda honest look into how Alf perceived himself after five years living under the Valley, as well as it reflecting on Tigress' own insecurities. I also wanted to show that even if their relationship is strained a lot, there is some genuine care underneath that… and Tigress' playful ribbing (girl's names, etc.) are really just that - playful ribbing with a dude she perhaps feels comfortable with - perhaps the only guy she feels comfortable with aside from Po.

Anyway, more to come. (Still on that writing high baby!) Just 8 chapters left in KFP 3!

Support breaks down my hard heart.

~TW