Sorry for the long hiatus! Been busy with other fanfics and busy in general, though now that I'm back I plan to finish this series soon. Now I have contemplated doing a sequel featuring some of the other girls who didn't get focused on as much like Esmeralda and Meg just to name a few, but we'll see how I feel by the end.
Chapter 16: Be a Man
At a pond near the Emperor Dojo, Mulan got behind a bush to take her clothes off and dived in. As she surfaced, the cold water made her feel fresher than before. Just then, the sound of footsteps startled her. She looked up and saw a teenage boy standing nearby with short red hair, black eyes, wearing a red short-sleeved robe with a yellow tunic underneath and matching pants as well as red sandals and fingerless gloves. Apart from the red spikes protruding from his back, he also had two small blue horns coming out of his forehead.
"All right, Mulan, time to get out," the teenage boy insisted, holding Mulan's towel.
Mulan sighed. "Mushu, if you're worried—
"Snow sent me," the teenage boy named Mushu interrupted. "She doesn't want you to keep doing this."
"You know, just because I look like a man doesn't mean I have to smell like one."
Before Mushu could respond, the sound of male laughter caused him to hide while Mulan swam to a nearby rock. She peeked out from behind it and saw three men get undressed and jump into the pond without hesitation. The first one was tall and skinny, while the second was big and round, and the third was short and stumpy.
"Hey," the skinny guy said pointing towards the rock. "Isn't that Ping?"
Immediately, Mulan ducked.
"It sure looked like him," the big guy concurred.
"But let's check to be sure," the short guy frowned. "Could be a spy for the Huns."
Meanwhile, Mulan looked for another shore to swim to but a bunch of lily pads blocked her way. Grabbing one to cover her chest, she started swimming around the rock but was intercepted by the skinny man.
"Hold it, Ping," said the skinny guy. "What's the hurry?"
"Oh, nothing," Mulan lied.
"Listen, we…wanted to apologize," the skinny man began. "Since we started training last month to get into Pandemonium, you've proven to be better than the rest of us. So to make up for that brawl we caused in front of the Dojo, let's…start over. For starters, I'm Ling."
As the skinny guy shook Mulan's hand, she tried to back away but almost bumped into the big guy who came up behind her.
"And I'm Chien-Po," the big guy added.
"Hello, Chien-Po," Mulan acknowledged, putting on a fake smile.
"And I am Yao, King of the Rock!" declared the short guy who was now standing on the rock.
Looking at all three men and the nearby shore, Mulan said, "Well, it was nice meeting you all but…I should get going."
Giving her a suspicious look, Ling swam closer and grabbed Mulan's arms. "Aw, come on, Ping, don't you wanna have a little—ouch! Something bit me!"
Flinching, Ling watched as a small serpentine creature with red scales and blue horns emerged from beneath the pond's surface.
While Mulan recognized it as Mushu, Ling cried, "Snake!"
Hearing that, Chien-Po got up onto the rock Yao occupied while Ling did the same. During the commotion, Mulan dived down and found cover in some reeds. She made a dash to the bush where her clothes were and quickly changed before the men noticed she was gone.
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Dressed in her Pandemonium uniform which consisted of a leather jacket and blue jeans, Mulan was about to enter the Dojo when she saw Pandemonium's Captain Shang lingering outside. He was a tall muscular fellow with dark hair pulled back into a small bun, wearing a white tunic and black pants.
"Hi, Shang," Mulan called, getting his attention. "What's up?"
"Still haven't heard anything from my father the General," replied Shang.
"He's still guarding the Tong Shou restaurant, right?"
"Well, not the restaurant itself but the drug-smuggling operation below it."
"That's what I meant."
"I asked my father's advisor about heading out there to see what's going on, but he advised against it."
"Even though we've trained here for a whole month?"
"He thinks the Huns would overwhelm us too quickly with their numbers, and Hades' defection hasn't boosted his confidence in us."
"Oh, yeah. Now why did he defect again?"
"I'm not sure. My father said Hades tried to recruit someone else who was skilled in magic, but they betrayed him."
"That's too bad," Mulan said sympathetically, though on the inside she was glad not having to deal with Hades.
Shang shrugged. "He was giving our gang a bad reputation, anyway, so I say, 'good riddance.'"
Surprised by this, Mulan stated, "You know, Shang, I think you'll make a great Captain."
In response, Shang smiled. "Thanks, Ping. I needed that."
Then Shang went back into the Dojo while Mulan followed. They ascended the stairs which led to the Dojo's sleeping quarters and while Shang went to a room on the right, Mulan went to a room on the left. Inside, she noticed Snow White was already sleeping in the bed they reluctantly shared together while Mushu slithered out of her jacket collar in serpentine form and became human once more.
"So I take you…like Shang?" Mushu assumed.
"Not like that," Mulan claimed, though she felt her cheeks turn pink. "I was just trying to say something nice to cheer him up."
"I'm your Guardian, Mulan," Mushu grinned. "You can't hide anything from me."
"And where's your proof of that? You said my ancestors sent you after I left home, but how come you've never shown up before?"
"Because they…didn't need me until now," Mushu responded, though he sounded nervous.
"And how were you summoned?"
"Your great ancestor Fa woke me up."
"Were you sleeping?"
"As a statue."
"Which one? Because I recall two dragon-shaped statues: one stood outside the family temple, and the other was on the incense burner."
Instead of answering, Mushu said, "Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow. You should get some rest."
"Yeah, you're right," Mulan agreed and looked down at Snow. "I feel bad about her doing all the cooking and cleaning around here in exchange for staying, given what she went through with the Dwarfs."
"She says it's fine so long as she's with you." Then Mushu turned away as Mulan got into bed with Snow wearing nothing but her underwear and chest bandages.
End of Chapter 16
