A/N: Welcome back! It's been too long, I know... if you want a quick refresher on this fic, go down to the A/N at the end of the chapter (no spoilers, I promise) ... or just-re-read old stuff. Also, hope everyone - in today's world - is safe, healthy, and keeping faith closer. We'll beat this. :)
11
"Crescendo"
Tigress roared angrily at the sky, seeing the clouds offer absolutely zero response.
She turned down to the ground, completely disappointed over nothing happening.
It had been a few weeks on XX-0. She was a bit - lost, to be quite frank with herself.
The biggest grudge she had against Po was that he perhaps - had started all this. She was with a comfortable routine - albeit a boring one, but comfortable on XS-211 - a gift she was given after years of slaving away on a production planet, losing a husband, and acquiring all kinds of bodily and mental scars. Yet, once she had made it to XS-211 - it had been peaceful. Almost - transient. It wasn't the most amazing life, but she had a home, a relative amount of peace, and of course - her friends, Naja and Han. Now Han was dead, and Naja was actually considering helping out "the Revolution", the "Resistance", or whatever else idiotic term Po was concocting.
But truly, the biggest thing was that Po actually spoke of things returning to "normal" - as if there was hope that this ragtag group of misfits - mostly freed slaves from production planets, some exiled humans from former Alliance colonies - could ever hope to overthrow A.G.E - a body and governmental authority so vast and comprehensive, it had conquered over fifty galaxies and countless planets. And everything proceeded via a clear, almost unquestionable chain of command - from the four Designators at the top of the order, to everyone below - and these four literally controlled quadrillions of lives.
It was a rock solid, impenetrable system. There was no "normal" to return to.
Even more irritating was every time Po spoke of their previous life, their home back on - she couldn't even remember the planet's name - and brought up concepts like kung fu, the Jade Palace… Tigress had to repress a snort. Truly, the only thing that really kept her tied to that ancient life was her name - and even that was only a vague blur, a fleeting glimpse of eons that had passed.
So again, she was sitting in her bunker - hoping very much that one of these days that an Alliance ship would come and blow this entire planet to smithereens. A useless journey's end - but at least a quick one.
"Tigress?"
She startled, still surprised to be in her new body given how quickly it reacted to threats now. She growled, seeing a panda enter in dark-golden armor.
"Just kill me," Tigress begged, turning away from Po. "I won't do anything for your stupid Resistance, so just end it and - "
"You will," Po breathed heavily.
Tigress snorted. "It's good to know that ages of life under A.G.E haven't diminished your stupidity, Po. When I said no, I mean - "
"We can win this."
Tigress laughed uproariously, approaching Po to slam him with a vicious paw swipe.
"Agh, dammit Tigress we can!" Po noted. "We have a plan - "
"Everyone's got plans!" Tigress screamed. "Sigma's got plans! You've got plans! A.G.E has plans! And you know whose plans will end up winning?"
Po gulped.
"The plans that have the resources of galaxies," Tigress spat. "You've got this rust-bucket of a planet, some guns, and some idiots stupid enough to follow you. You've got nothing."
Po let Tigress walk away from him, taking a moment to fix his cracked armor before breathing in deeply again. This time, he walked closer to Tigress, narrowing his eyes with almost deathly intensity.
"We're going to siege Earth."
Tigress whipped back, looking at the panda as if was insane. And Po - in trademark fashion - flashed a broad grin back at her.
"You've lost your mind," Tigress breathed, shaking before grasping Po by the shoulders. "Listen Po, it isn't too late. If we surrender to the Alliance now, there's a good chance they'll pardon a lot of the freed animals working under you right now. You'll have to escape of course, while - "
"And what, live out my days as a fugitive, until they catch me and kill me too?" Po asked back, angry. "You want me to abandon my people? Abandon everything we've been through?"
"These people are not your people Po!" Tigress roared back. "They're barely people! They're brokens souls and former, disgraced APs and occasional humans who think fighting this will give them validation - it'll just lead to death, and misery."
"I spent a lifetime under misery," Po growled. "Did my stint like everyone else on a production planet. Got scars. But now - now Tigress, I'm brave enough to ask for freedom."
Tigress sighed, moving back to her bed. This was a futile conversation.
"In any case, I'd like you to come to the meeting," Po noted. "The - the guy's the one who had the idea of sieging Earth. And I hafta say this plan - actually just might work."
"Guy?" Tigress wondered out-loud. "Which guy?"
Po sighed. "The terrorist."
Tigress breathed heavily, moving back and getting into an instinctive fighting stance, although it seemed pointless in this age.
"No, no, NO!"
"Tigress, listen to me!"
"WHY THE HELL SHOULD WE LISTEN TO HIM!? DID YOU FORGET WHAT HE DID TO US!?"
"Of course I - "
"No, Po you really don't," Tigress mentioned, gulping a bit to hold back a sob before she grasped Po's chest plating. "You - you didn't see what they did to him."
Po narrowed his eyes. "Did to who?"
"Alf."
Tigress gasped.
There it was.
Decades of repression. Of pushing the memories out. Of pushing feelings. Of everything.
Everything just came back in one swoop.
And for the first time - perhaps in a long time, longer than Tigress could fathom - she felt the world move uplifting a bit.
Saying the name let it finally go.
Saying his name finally put that side of her heart to rest.
It was over.
She had processed everything.
Po on the other hand, shuddered, kneeling down to bend his head over.
"I never forgot," the panda whispered.
"I saw what the Alliance did to him, Po," Tigress spoke up, shocked at how suddenly she had the strength to speak about this. "One of their own. A human…"
Po chuckled. "Heh - what did we call them back in our time - uh - Sectors?"
"Seekers," Tigress noted, smiling. "He was - always so - sweet."
"Nothing like what the stories told about humans," Po noted. "Well, I guess the stories are right now, in today's time… but Alf wasn't like that… was he?"
"No," Tigress mentioned, mind still a bit hazy. "He was - I dunno - he was just - kind. Smart. Friendly…"
"Remember the shock collar?" Po noted, smiling.
Tigress laughed genuinely for the first time in years. "Heh, yeah, Shifu's thing… but what I don't get is how - how despite the whole Valley trashing on him, Shifu, even us right - at first… he was still just Alf…"
Po nodded, tears welling up just a bit before he wiped them away. "His - his humanity made him inhuman."
"Only person who was nice to him was his girlfriend, Yu," Tigress coughed.
Po chuckled. "Heh - can't believe he had a girlfriend well - before she was - you know."
Tigress shuddered. "I remember it now - he was just eighteen, we were trying to get away, escape into space on some escape vessels…"
Tigress blinked, letting the rush of painful memory hit her. It would hurt, but she knew now that it was part of the healing process, part of processing the last, persistent part of her grief.
The fire.
Omega.
Tossing his body in.
Blinding him.
The shot.
"They shot down our vessels," Tigress blinked, sliding down a metal wall while wrapping herself in her arms. "Alf was - he was caught in some wreckage… Omega came over and said it was time for Reformation…"
Po sniffled, moving down to gently rest a paw on Tigress' shoulder.
"He - he called Alf a traitor…" Tigress noted, eyes blank. "S - Shot him point-blank, through the chest. Po - it - it was like nothing was left anymore."
Po gulped again, limbs a bit wobbly.
"I saw him get tossed into a spaceship furnace," Tigress emphasized. "Saw him just for a few seconds before they - you know - closed it…"
Tigress took a moment to pause, speaking heavily. "It was just weird, seeing him. His eyes looked so… empty before they closed the door like - like nothing he had did ever mattered anymore."
Tigress steadied herself. "My point is Po - no matter what your terrorist friend things - he can't win. And sieging the most - heavily guarded planet in the universe - that - that's just…"
"Stupid, I know…" Po cut across. "But Tigress - "
"I was gonna say worth it."
Po stood back, confused. "Wh - what the hell? What happened? Just a second ago you were all screw the Resistance and…"
"We will fail," Tigress noted. "I don't have any doubt with that, it's just… I dunno. After all this time, I guess I wasn't really afraid of dying, I was just… reluctant."
"Reluctant?" Po noted. "Why?"
"I never forgot Alf," Tigress emphasized. "What he did, who he was… I kept wishing that I could have forgotten him but… now I realize there's only one way to deal with his memory… to acknowledge it."
Po nodded. "You think all this would be what he would have wanted?"
"I dunno about that," Tigress emphasized. "But I do know that now - for me - I've lived a long enough life. Seen everything and - I just - I dunno. I feel - at peace now. Like I'm - ready to go out with a bang."
Tigress was beside herself. It was shocking how much had changed over the course of her conversation with the panda. Perhaps it was how long it had been, perhaps it was seeing everyone together again, hell - it might have just been the noxious gases on this ridiculous planet, but all Tigress knew was that once she mentioned Alf's name - she felt at ease. Like she had finally put a side of her to rest that had been weighing on her for the last fifty something years.
"We're all going to die, Po," Tigress noted. "But since we've all lived enough… I'm ready."
Tigress smiled again, feeling her heart lift. Po returned it - not perhaps quite feeling her words as much - but a small part of him knew the mission was bound to fail - but like herself - he was ready.
The end was coming.
. . .
The peacock strode down the mellow hallway, feeling his slender legs hit the edges of the cramped grey space with a clanging boredom. Hatrix was - perhaps - grateful that neither himself nor his team were invited to the meeting that was about to happen in this Citadel. It was called on emergency from Commander Po, who wanted to assemble a really select group of individuals - notably, the three former APs - Sigma, Henderson, and Wang, and the panda himself along with Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, Shifu and - most controversially, the newcomer Tigress, and the terrorist.
Hatrix smiled to himself, as he kept walking down this impossibly large hallway to the dormitories on the other edge of the Citadel. Of all the Resistance members he had seen, he was most confused about Tigress - he had heard her names plenty of times before, but he had never seen her… rumor was that Commander Po had known these "five" - Mantis, Monkey, Viper, Crane, and Tigress - perhaps even Shifu was involved - but to Hatrix, these were just names. It meant inherently nothing - but his crew on the other hand…
"Be careful, you don't wanna trip."
Hatrix fidgeted in surprise, instincts kicking in as if an AP had broken into their base. He instantly pulled out his plasma rifle and engaged his visor, but both were stopped by a large, muscular, armored man in front of him.
White arrows on his shoulder pads.
The terrorist. Formerly known as Scout Zero.
Hatrix settled down. "Ah - Commander Zero, I… I didn't expect to - "
"See me walking to a meeting?" the terrorist gently reminded me. "I know - I'm usually a lone wolf like that."
"Aha, not that sir," Hatrix noted. "It's just… it's an honor to meet you in-person. You - along with Commander Po - you two are probably the only ones who actually tried fighting the Alliance."
"Well - our methods," the terrorist began. "Well - my methods at least… seem kind of polarizing, if I'm being frank…"
The immense bass behind the man's voice made Hatrix simply nod and agree.
"I've seen you around with your own crew, right?" the terrorist re-stated. "You guys do recon and spy missions."
Hatrix smiled, remembering his friends. "There's six of us. There's me, Hatrix the peacock, hehe - then Loki, he's a brown bear, Jazz - a snake, and Bing and Bong - they're a beetle and a monkey. We're all sort of following Anna's lead - she sorta keeps us in line. She's the oldest member too."
"I remember seeing that leopard do a couple of spy missions," the terrorist noted. "She's smart. But how are you all connected?"
Hatrix giggled.
"Something funny?" the man replied back gently.
"Oh nothing it's just - it's weird to see superior officers actually care about their foot soldiers," Hatrix bluntly put. "We were all on a production planet once. Until that is - Po saved our behinds."
The man smiled broadly. "He's a great leader, trust me…"
Hatrix nodded. "Uh, can I ask you a question - sir?"
"Fire away."
"What's up with those marks around your neck?" Hatrix asked, pointing to the circular, old burns around the terrorist's exposed neck. "It looks like you got electrocuted. Did the Alliance put a shock collar on you?"
"Someone did," the man cleverly responded back, smiling - although he immediately sealed up the exposed skin with a tap on his armor.
"Zero."
Hatrix startled, recognizing Commander Po's voice instantly. And almost bizarrely, a panel had opened up inside the grey hallway they were just in - showing a hidden room of about ten figures - newcomers Karla and Naja, alongside Sigma, Henderson, and Po - then the other ones, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, Zhong, and Wang - and even Tigress and Shifu. They all looked squarely at the terrorist expectantly, seated around a massive circular holodesk, before Hatrix realized what was happening.
He had just stumbled into the "meeting".
"Leave us, Hatrix," the terrorist responded. "Remember that meeting I've gotta get to?"
The peacock felt the glares of the other figures in the room - all the big wigs of the Resistance - and quickly scurried away, sprinting back to the dorms to inform his own crew about everything that was happening.
Po watched the terrorist walk in gently, immediately sealing the metal-plated doors behind him. He beckoned him to remain standing, whilst he seated himself. Then, with a quick finger point at his white-arrow shoulder pads - he asked the terrorist to start.
"We're all at this meeting because of the plan you told me," Po noted. "Now's your chance to elaborate."
The terrorist looked around at his compatriots, seeing all the usual figures - Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, Wang, Zhong and Shifu seated close to Po - while newcomers Tigress, Karla, Naja, Sigma, and Henderson were seated close to himself. It was certainly an impressive crowd, but he wasn't preparing to deliver his plans to all thirteen of these people at once.
"We're going to siege Earth," the terrorist simply responded back.
"That's obvious," Shifu spoke up, voice gravelly and tired. "Question is - how the hell are you gonna do it?"
"It's the most heavily guarded planet for A.G.E," Viper spoke up.
Claps and noises of agreement came from one end of the room. To Po's surprise - the other end - Tigress, Karla, Naja, Sigma, and Henderson - were surprisingly quiet. Soon however, Sigma raised his hand, silencing everyone.
"Even if we do siege it, what happens then?" the old AP questioned. "How the hell are we supposed to free all the animals - and humans - imprisoned under threat of AP force?"
"I'm an AP myself," Wang spoke up. "He's right. They outnumber us many times… trying to take Earth from them would be suicide. We wouldn't even get past the atmosphere."
"Plus, we don't care about the humans," Karla spat. "They've tortured our kind for long enough."
Po was disappointed to see everyone clapping again, which made Sigma and Henderson - the only full humans at the table - nervous. Naja - the only hybrid - felt this was partially an insult to her other half, but she also remained quiet.
"The point isn't to take Earth from them," the terrorist fought back. "We're going to force the Designators to order a Designation."
This silenced the entire room. Only Po looked straight back at the terrorist.
"What kind of Designation?" the panda asked in surprise.
"Terminate all human life," the terrorist coolly stated back.
Again another silence.
"Your plan… is to force the Designators to make a designation that urges everyone to kill themselves?" Zhong asked back, shocked.
"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Monkey growled back, standing up. "Come on guys, we don't need this - "
"How are we supposed to expect such an idiotic command to be fulfilled?" Crane fired back, slapping his metal wing on the table.
"I agree," Henderson sounded off. "According to my A.I assistant - A.N.N - the chances of that working at 0.00 - "
"Listen to yourselves!" the terrorist raised his voice above the crowd. "Listen to how human societies have been for millenia! We - we've out-evolved free will… just some time back, the Designators blew up twenty-something galaxies! You think anyone batted an eye?"
"That's why you did that attack on the mayor?" Po fired back. "As a test to see what the Designators were capable of?"
Racuous shouts of anger came back. The terrorist silenced them all with another wave of his hands.
"That - that was unexpected," he sadly noted. "But the fact remains - it's our only shot at freeing all animals."
"By sacrificing all humans," Sigma quietly denounced. "Myself, Henderson, even you - former Scout Zero."
"I'm fine with any plan that allows humans to rot," Shifu sounded off, earning more applause from the group.
Henderson sighed. "Theoretically speaking, if an order like that was given by a Designator - we'll all die, yes…"
"Like what?" Viper asked, perking up. "All humans will spontaneously explode?"
Cheers and jeering came again from the entire table. Henderson tried to remain objective.
"All humans - since A.G.E has existed, since Designators - have a quantum marker. It basically determines whether you exist or don't exist - all lifeforms tend to have them, it's just that humans have their own mapped out - and only Designators have control of them."
"We can force them to send all humans into quantum limbo," Karla interrupted. "Fascinating… very fascinating."
This point was being considered by the crowd.
"What about erm - hybrids like myself?" Naja suddenly interrupted. "Uh - will half of me go into quantum - whatever?"
"Sort of," the terrorist denoted. "I'm guessing your human characteristics probably go away, leaving you… full gorilla."
Wang snorted. "And - that's your guess?"
The terrorist sighed, nodding. The crowd around him generally acknowledged what he was trying to say, but didn't understand how a single Designation could wipe out the entire race - although to be fair, the destruction of the twenty-plus galaxies could partially prove that in the end - the Designations were unquestionable - even by those it victimized.
"Here's the truth."
Everyone in the crowd turned to the new voice. To Po's great surprise, it was Tigress - having exchanged her rags (that had been on her for weeks) for fresh new orange clothing, vaguely reminiscent of an outfit she used to wear ages ago.
"The most likely scenario is that we get shot down in the atmosphere," Tigress denoted. "That's the statistics speaking. But that's not why we do it… right?"
The crowd looked at each other. Of everyone, perhaps Mantis, Monkey, Crane, and Viper were the most intrigued - after all, it didn't make sense to hear their former teammate speak, and in such bold tone.
"We lost this fight ages ago," Tigress clarified. "Now it's time to finish it."
"What exactly are you saying?" Shifu spoke up now. "This isn't - Shen, or Tai Lung, or Kai… this is something permanent! We lose our lives now, we lose everything…"
The crowd gasped, but Sigma spoke up with confusion. "Uh excuse me - Shen? Tai Lung? The other dude?"
"We supposed to know who these guys are?" Naja intervened.
"Never mind that," Zhong commanded. "Tigress - what are you saying?"
"I'm saying it's time to stop being afraid and living in the past," Tigress announced, standing up now with gusto. "Things have changed - and everyone here is old enough to know the same. Only thing left is going out - the way we want to, not the way the Designators want us too…"
Karla's voice audibly shook, reaching out to grab Tigress' paw. "Now this is the female I remember being inspired by, so many years ago…"
"She was always there," Tigress smiled back. "She just was too stubborn to come out…"
Po grinned broadly. "Well - unless there's any opposers…"
The panda did a quick scan of the room to make sure no one was overly against the plan. Notably, Sigma, Henderson and the rest of his old teammates were discontent, but not voicing it - and in this case, apathy was enough as an affirmative.
"If we go out," Shifu slowly began. "At least this way - we choose it."
"Choice," Viper reiterated.
"For choice," Monkey and Mantis uniformly announced.
"Choice!" Crane yelled.
"Choice!" Wang and Zhong shouted in unison.
Further cries could be heard all across the table, to the point where even Sigma and Henderson started clapping mildly. Tigress merely stood in the center, completely at ease whilst watching all her old, former teammates - Viper, Crane, Mantis, Monkey, Po - and her father, Shifu - gear up for what was sure to be their last mission. Only the terrorist seemed apart, staring at Po with a fatalistic determinedness.
. . .
"Again."
"I - AHHHH!"
It was bloodcurdling. The yell. There was something almost feral about the level of pain being emitted through the roar - almost as if it had come instinctively.
Commander Delta surveyed his prisoner, watching his skinny, but youthful frame fidget painfully. As per standard Alliance torture interrogation cells, there was no sense of time or space within these white, opaque walls - clearly aesthetically designed to maximally detract from any sense of order of purpose of the prisoner.
The only that they would know - is that they were being tortured.
"Again," Delta breathed.
Strong, convulsive bursts of electricity fizzled. The prisoner - a tall, thin, shirtless jackal with fur singed and strapped to a large metallic harness - squealed in pain. It was such an isolated state - just himself and Delta were present in the mysteriously white room, culling all sense of connection to the outside world.
"Intriguing how such a primitive species can be so mentally resistant," Delta scorned, slapping the jackal harshly in the face. "You know - when we subjugated your kind so many eons ago… we realized quickly that we had been given command over a kind with high pain tolerance…"
Delta snapped his fingers again.
The bursts of electricity fired back. The young jackal roared again, powerless to stop it.
"... yet low intelligence," Delta finished with a smirk, wiping some blood off his black armor.
The Commander roughly grabbed the jackal's ears. "Listen you dog… we've been at this for nearly four hours… stop wasting my time."
The jackal could only mumble back. "Sc - sc - screw… you…"
"We know about your little Resistance movement," Delta fired back. "The same idiotic movement actually stupid enough to send five of their ships to spy on an AP squadron…"
The jackal coughed out blood. "We - we were betrayed… someone amongst our ranks… broadcasted on our private frequency… and alerted the APs…"
"Ever think about switching sides?" Delta asked. "Whichever Commander you serve… your little movement is bound to implode. Give us the planet the Resistance is on… and we'll spare your peoples' lives… as long as they revert back to designated production planets, of course."
"That's - that's a death sentence," the jackal cried back. "Give us… liberty… or give us… de - "
ZRAP.
The jackal stopped talking. An emission of glowing energy permeated through the young male, growing brighter and brighter until it gradually disappeared… along with the jackal.
Only the metal harness remained.
Delta smiled, turning on his forearm panel to send a brief message.
Recipient: Commanders - Omega, Gamma
Priority: Ultra
Message: Captured five of their ships. Understaffed and under-resourced. Killed insurgents. Might be able to break into their comm. Frequencies. Estimated time of destruction of Resistance - 141 hours.
. . .
Tigress paced around in her room, heart feeling at ease for the first time in forever. She observed her surroundings more closely - aside from the grey metal walls, she had taken the time to browse the Armory Citadel, taking back a few choice weapons - notably, twin plasma rifles and a neutron grenade. She hadn't fired a weapon back since her days on SD-77 - the production planet - and even then it was a mistake, because it quickly lead to her and her husband, Angel getting whipp -
She gasped.
Angel.
Memories flooded through her.
Tigress closed her eyes. "I'll be with you soon - my love."
"Uh - is this a bad time?"
Tigress whipped around, confused by her lack of recognition of the newcomer - a young peacock clad in black-golden armor.
"Wow, the Crystal Essence really helped you out, huh?" Hatrix denoted, smiling. "You look - healthy! Not aged at all, like the rumors go… sorry, I just had to see for myself… I can leave if it's bothering you…"
"And… you are?" Tigress asked. "Wait - what rumors?"
"Hatrix," the peacock quickly responded. "I'm part of a spy/demo team that Commander Po put us under…"
"Hehe," Tigress chuckled, turning away. "Commander Po…"
"Something funny about him?" Hatrix asked, shaking his head.
Tigress turned back, smiling. "No it's just - well, you don't know him like I do, kid, so believe me - Commander Po really, really doesn't suit him."
"He's the best chance we got anyway of beating this," Hatrix sounded off resiliently.
Tigress smiled back as genuinely as she could try. "I'm happy you believe in him… he's gotten us out of rough spots before."
"But not like this?" Hatrix replied, winking.
Tigress grinned. "Not anything like this…"
"It's just that damn terrorist I don't trust," Hatrix noted, sighing while pacing around the small room. "I - I heard he did some bad stuff to you guys… back on… on your original planet. He was - a part of the Reformation, wasn't he?"
Tigress ordinarily would have yelled and screamed, perhaps fought Hatrix - but ever since she had uttered Alf's name, everything felt easy - as if the world finally made sense to her.
"If it's okay kid," Tigress fired back. "I know you wanna know old stories from some ancient relic like me but - I'll tell you them later, alright?"
"Seems fine by me," Hatrix grinned broadly back. "I wish I just had the stones to ask the terrorist the same thing… he looks like a man with a lot of stories… scars, even."
"Oh please," Tigress sighed, yawning. "That coward. He hides in his stupid armor all day - he doesn't have a single scar on him, mental or physical…"
"Nah, he does," Hatrix remarked, remembering his encounter with him in the hallway. "He has some weird circular cuts - I guess you could them scars - around his neck."
"Yeah, that was probably just - wait," Tigress swiveled around. "What?"
Hatrix was confused by how interested Tigress suddenly was. "Anyway, I wish I had the st - "
"No what did you say before that?" Tigress breathed, walking closer to the peacock, heart pounding. "Scars?"
Hatrix shrugged his shoulders, confused. "Yeah. Scars. Looked like burn marks… all around his neck. Looked like something was placed on him for a long, long time. Like a - "
"A shock collar?" Tigress winced, heart beating more anxiously now.
Hatrix felt thrown off, completely at a loss why the focus of the conversation had shifted so suddenly. "Yeah… that's what I think too…"
Tigress was motionless. She kept staring at Hatrix until he awkwardly bid goodbye and traipsed outside of her room, leaving her alone to slowly slide down a nearby wall, clutching her knees as her mind was forcefully put through memories, realizations, and painful thoughts. She tried her best to ignore it.
Coincidence.
It had to be.
But her mind wouldn't let it be, torturing her with possibilities that she had confirmed as impossible decades ago.
A/N
I said he'd back, didn't I? ;)
First of all, given everything that's happening in the world right now - hope everyone's doing well and healthy. No need to elaborate on that.
But gee it's been way too long of a time, heh! Sorry again for the lack of posting… life gets in the way.. But rest assured, there's only 7 chapters left. Yep - just seven more in this grand, big ole effin saga… and I promise (even though that may mean little now, lol…) to update more frequently - this time in weeks, not months. :) And please for the love of goodness if you're lost go back and re-read stuff - I had to do this multiple times XDXDXD
So again, in case you've forgotten stuff:
Setting: Apocalyptic Future
Plot: All animals enslaved by humans. Designators control everything. Omega is a police/AP guy trying to kill them all. Resistance headed by Po and mysterious terrorist (guess not so mysterious now, eh?). Trying to free all animals.
Cast:
Terrorist (mysterious, not so much - co-leads Resistance alongside Po)
Po - leader of resistance
Omega (big bad guy)
Delta (secondary big bad guy)
Gamma (tertiary big bad guy)
Tigress - changed her mind, wants to go out with a bang now
Karla (old lion friend of Tigress)
Naja (hybrid friend of Tigress)
Zhong
Shifu (was former slave, but then saved by terrorist killing mayor - who enslaved Shifu)
Wang (lion - old cast who survived A.G.E by becoming an AP, one of the few animals to do so)
Crane
Mantis
Monkey
Viper
Sigma (former AP commander, left his wife to join resistance)
Henderson (former AP scout, has A.I companion named A.N.N)
Hatrix peacock, part of new "demo/spy" team
Loki - bear, goofball part of team above
Anna - leopard, serious leader of above
Jazz - snake, part of team above
Bing - beetle, part of team above
Bong - monkey, part of team above
I know it's a large cast, with a lot of new names but trust me - they'll become more important. :)
End is coming. :)
Forge on,
~TW
