Chapter 25

The door slowly creaked open, and the wolves spilled into the Hall of Heroes, nun-chucks, swords, and fists at the ready, greeted by complete silence. The Alpha's ears flickered once or twice, before signalling his men to follow, after one of them howled at the open sky, to tell the others down below to make their way up.

Clump by clump they piled into the hall, scanning every inch of the room for the hosts. No one was around. "Do ye think they left for the Valley sir?" One wolf asked, which only made a smile creep along the alpha's face, which slowly unveiled his razor sharp teeth.

"Must of," barked another, cracking his neck by twisting his head from one side to another. "But where is the expectant-"

"Very well safe from your jaws, if I do say so myself." Said a voice, causing them all to jump, and look around quickly. There was a clearing of a throat, and there stood Crane, Mantis, Lok, Jun, and Shifu. Tai Lung and Shang weren't back from dropping off the others to their hiding spot, so they had to make do on their own for now; while Mantis, Crane, and Shifu had their bodies as their strength, Lok and Jun were equipped with nun-chucks and vet shields, seeing it was their first fight and... they wanted to be protected as much as possible.

"State your business." Shifu said, eyes narrowing at the Alpha in particular, who just smirked at him, and said nothing. "No one needs to get hurt, Alpha."

"And no one will," Alpha replied simply, folding his arms. "Unless we get what we want."

"And that is?" Lok asked, tightening his grip on the nun-chucks.

"We want to pay the Mother-to-be a visit." Jun and Lok blinked in confusion and the Master's got into their stances. "See, we know the Dragon Warrior, Master Viper, and Master Monkey are currently absent." Shifu's ears lay across his head, while the other's eyes widened slightly. "And with four of your best down, including her, in no condition to fight off danger... and seeing you're out numbered, we felt we could aid in protection..."

"Your charity isn't needed." Jun snarled through gritted teeth. "Now leave."

The Alpha cackled. "Make us," and with a howl, all the wolves behind him leapt for the Masters, while he stood back. Immediately, Shifu, Mantis and Crane jumped straight into the battle, while Lok and Jun glanced at one another, before running head first yelling 'YAHHHHHHH!' Swishing the nun-chucks here and there.

As the song of fists, grunts, chains and swords clanking together out of tune, the Alpha looked around, amongst the chaos from behind a pillar. There was about twenty wolves in total; Shifu was preoccupied with three wolves, Crane just swept about four of them away with a strong swipe of air commenced by his wings, Mantis was just throwing one off towards Jun, who was being closed in on by two, who were knocked away. That allowed Jun to assist Lok, who almost screamed like a girl when he swung the nun-chuck at one of his men's faces. Chuckling evilly, he wordlessly instructed two more wolves, towards one of the entrances the Master's could've came out of. He would take another exit...

Back in the hiding spot, the noises from the Hall of Heroes were echoing off the large stone walls, giving Lotus, Tigro, and Chang more of a reason to get into their stances; each not too far off their parents. "What if they get past them?" Chang asked worriedly, speaking the words that were floating in everyone's minds. Sapphire was squatting against the wall beside Tigress, who could barely peel her head off of the wall. Woo eyed the entrance sharply each time he paced towards it, and then back at Tigress when he turned the other way.

"With a bit of luck he will be some use." He commented, eyes rolling towards Sapphire, while the three boys glanced at one another.

"Uncle Tai Lung?" Lotus questioned

"He is in no position to be called that."

Tigress glared at Woo warningly, while Tigro turned to her. "Mama? What is he saying that?"

"Your 'uncle' isn't a good man, my boy." Woo scoffed before Tigress had the strength to talk, motioning towards Sapphire, whose claws latched onto her knees. "Surely your cousin told you the details." The three young boys slowly turned, giving Tigro and Lotus the time to express their shock. Sapphire blinked slowly, before moving her head to the side. "Got nothing to say now girl?" Woo's nose rose in triumph, while Li and Mr. Ping shared their annoyance and anger with their daughter-in-law.

"Shut up Woo!" Jasmine barked, not like her character at all.

"That's good of you..." Her demand fell on deaf ears, "he's only useful for the worms down under."

She still wasn't saying anything, and just took one deep breath... and growled at Woo, making everyone look at her in surprise. That was when she saw part of him in her; hunched shoulder, shrunken pupils burning with anger she had only ever seen at the Bridge... "Sapphire don't-" Tigress began warning her, but it was too late.

BAM!

Woo was knocked back with a punch. He went into the wall, shaking his head to remove the dust when everyone but Tigress and Sapphire cried out in shock. Tigro, Lotus, and Chang sank to Tigress' side, who wrapped her heavy arms around them. "Just shut up about him!" She snarled, rising to her feet. "He's doing a better job than you. Look at you!" Sapphire then proceeded to pace, dramatically leaning forward. "What use are you pacing back and forth, thinking so low of everyone because of their background and their so-called 'mistakes'." The young snow leopard leaned so close into Woo's face Yuki thought they were going to butt-heads (or kiss... whichever's worse), and both she and Yumi turned their heads away. "And you can't even fight back when I punched you. You talk big, but do little!" Backing off, she slowly felt the realization sink in;

She just punched someone, with the strength of...

Her paws shook, slowly contacting with her cheeks. "Talk about- getting a- sack to the nose!" Woo coughed, as Li unwillingly hoisted him up.

"You deserved it." Yuki spat, both sets of twins folding their arms as Woo dusted himself off.

Tigress just remained focus on Sapphire... "Girls, help me up." She asked suddenly. Yuki and Yumi did so without question, and everyone watched her take slow pain-filled steps towards Sapphire, who was staring down at the floor. "Sapphire..."

"I just hit him..." Sapphire whispered, tilting her head over to make eye contact with the striped feline. Tigress saw the fear, and by the gods mercy was it hanging over everyone else. Woo was cradling his nose, Mr. Ping and Li comforting the boys, while Yuki and Yumi glanced at one another worriedly. "I didn't mean to-"

"He was asking for it," Tigress replied quietly, placing a paw on her shoulder. "But that's not what your concerned about..."

"The strength that was within it." They both said, before Sapphire balled her paws into fists.

"I heard about what he had done... I know his strength bar. More powerful than anyone else in the history of Kung Fu..."

"And that same strength bar has been passed on." Sapphire felt Tigress' paw hold her cheek, guiding her eyes back to her. "Sapphire... you're afraid..."

"Of course I am." Pulling her face away from the gentle hold, she held her fists against her chest. "I don't want to fix things up... it's not about him... it'll make it worse..." Tigress shook her head slowly. "What?"

"There's something you and Tai Lung generously share, and that is strength. You don't have to be the Tai Lung that was before." Placing both paws on Sapphire's shoulders, those large brown orbs forbid Sapphire from looking away. "You can take another path."

Sapphire was about to argue, but then she looked back at the entrance... "You're right." Pulling off her paws, Sapphire released her claws. Woo nearly cried out at the sound, but Sapphire had another purpose for them; she slashed the skirt part of her dress, short enough it wouldn't get into the way of her sudden mission. Li and Mr. Ping covered the boy's eyes while turning their head away, not realizing she had black pants beneath. Nodding at Tigress, she made a run for the entrance, with everyone watching on with worry. Tigress had her back to everyone, until Jasmine moved in on her.

"Shouldn't we stop her?" She asked, before turned to see firm eyes, but a smile on Tigress' face.

"No, she needs to do this."

That was when Tai-Lung snaked out of the door, almost nose-to-nose with the Alpha, who in turn froze; how in the world was Tai Lung alive? "It's him!" One of the Omegas cried, immediately backing up when the snow cat glared down at him. Tai Lung released a deep growl, his tail swishing as he kept moving closer, which made the wolves back up, and gave Shang more room to squeeze past, and join the fight.

He came to Crane's aid just before the bird was struck with a fist. Shang slid right in, tripping the enemy, and gained a look of shock from the avian when he stood up and dusted himself off after punching another wolf away. "What happened there?" He asked.

Shang shurgged, before pushing Crane out of the way of a sword, and the two pummeled the owner to the ground. "I slipped... improvising maybe?" He suggested, which Crane also shrugged to, before they resumed focus on more uninvited guests; the wolves that were invading the village just came running in, dumping their load at the door. Shang jumped into a stance, closing near Jun and Lok to lend them a paw, while Crane jumped up into the air, scoping from above for his next target.

"The Dragon Warrior killed you!" The same Omega claimed, immediately dropping his weapons. Alpha said nothing; it was like he was having a staring contest with Tai Lung, who hasn't laid a finger on anyone (possibly) yet. If he was here...

"Clearly he hasn't." Then he let out a ferocious roar, and jumped for the Alpha, claws unleashed...

Up until now, Shifu didn't realize that Tai Lung was in the battle, once he sounded off a call as his fist went out for Alpha. Shifu turned to help Crane, but a Wolf made a grab for him from behind, and he suddenly had other plans. With a swift turn, he took a leap, recoiled one leg, and extended with such power, the wolf flew back, letting out a howl as he went straight into the wall.

Big Mistake.

When Shifu hit the ground, there was a sickening crack that came with the soft thudding of the rest of his body. He was ready to cuss for all he was worth when Sapphire burst in, unnoticed by any one in the chaos. She scanned the room left to right, seeing Crane leap into the air to jab at a wolf with a stolen butterfly knife, Mantis bouncing another wolf of the ground by the foot, Tai Lung and Alpha snarling as they both went in for a punch, Lok and Jun back to back with their weapons, baiting the wolves away from them as the circle that surrounded them were dispersing from conscious wolves. Shang was just diving into a group close to Crane when she noticed Shifu. He was on the ground, struggling to get up, when a shorter, stumpy wolf smirked as he closed in on the injured Master.

Plucking a random sword off the wall as she broke into a run, she rammed into the wolf before he could even bare a fang. Shifu watched in shock as she moved around him, thrashing her sword towards any one that came near them, her eyes fixed with anger. "Sapphire?" He managed to say, the acidic feeling of nausea collecting in his throat. At first she said nothing, before she jumped, spun with one leg open, her foot in contact with a jaw. Landing on two feet as they slammed into the wall, she cringed at the impact that followed the whine, before turning and helping Shifu up. "I told you to-"

"You need help," she replied, keeping him behind her as she moved closer to the exit.

"How do you know-"

She smiled down at him. "When becoming a travelling musician, I had to defend myself from being mugged... RAH!" She swiped the sword at an on coming mutt, making him jump back and scamper. "Right now, we gotta get you out of here... you're injured."

She started moving him towards the exit, but Jun came running. "You keep fighting Saph, I'll get him back to the others." Before Shifu could argue, she passed him to Jun, before running back into the fight.

Alpha was oblivious to what was going on around him, with his mind only wrapped around the fact that Tai Lung was somehow alive. Didn't the Dragon Warrior kill him all those years ago? How could he...

Tai Lung through punch after punch, kick after kick, and attempted to give the immobilization technique he used on the Five at the bridge battle, but each time, Alpha's head got back around to reality just in time..

"RAH! HA, YAH, HWAH!" He turned around to see who was being so vocal; and his eyes widened at the sight of Sapphire, taking on three wolves. Her dress was ripped up til her hips, but the black pants beneath made it look like a it was part of a grand design. Tai Lung felt the room's volume was being over taken by his heartbeat, while every move she delivered was in slow motion. Alpha leapt back, noticing the leopardess admist the mayhem. It took a moment for him to realize this was his chance.

When she took the last one down, Sapphire turned in his direction, before gasping. "LOOK OUT!" She yelled, catching Jun and Shifu's attention just as they were moving through the exit. Shang, Lok, Mantis, and Crane turned to her voice just as Tai Lung felt a fist to his face, knocking him to the side. He hit the ground as the Alpha grinned evilly as he jumped. Sapphire went to prepare for the attack when Alpha jumped for her, but he was too quick.

Alpha grabbed the sword, and soon stood behind her, with the weapon to her neck as Tai Lung stood up. All of the Alpha's men were down, but he was not defeated.

"Move any closer, and she dies."

Hope you liked this chapter guys! Please let me know what you think!

Ciao!