With one turn of the key Emperor Xian was separated from the others, with his paws still cuffed in front of him. "What are you doing?" He asked as calmly as possible.
"We're leaving. And you're coming with us." Izumi said. "The rest of the prisoners will stay here."
"Where are you taking me?" Xian asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." The masked panther said as they took him out the room, leaving his family and Mr. Ping to watch fearfully from their column.
"If you do anything to hurt them, I'll personally drag you all to hell." Xian said the moment he lost sight of them. Izumi and the masked panther remained silent. Instead of taking him right out the building, Izumi and her cohorts led him down a corridor, heading deeper into the building. With a sinking feeling Xian realised they were heading in the direction of one of the secret passages that led out of the palace. They were planning to take him out of the city. And away from my family, those sons of rats.
"Keep an eye on him." Izumi said to the masked man, who swiftly went over and placed a firm grip on Xian's shoulder, leaving him with no choice but to keep moving. They passed through a green corridor, crossed a hall full of artefacts such as the Sacred Scroll and the Giant Sword of Giantesses, then another corridor. Xian was aware of how quiet it was. The only other signs of life were the patrolling guards in hall of artefacts, whom Xian recognised with great pain. Before their subjection to the elixir, they were once his own men.
Infuriated, Xian thought of Long Feng, Sao, and Tujiu. One of them was dead, the other two apparently too cowardly to face him. What all three had in common was treachery. Tujiu had confirmed it himself before his horrific but well deserved death at Ember's hands. Tujiu and the other two had betrayed his father to the Children of Nuwa, leading to the Great Fire and everything that came with it. It was their fault his father, wife and son were dead. They deserved the same. Xian wished Tujiu was still alive so he could tear his heart out.
If only you hadn't gotten there first, Ember. At least you made sure he suffered.
Soon they'd reached the other side of the building, entering a wide storeroom with stacked crates lining the walls. Even Xian didn't know what was in them. It was one of the lesser-used, dark rooms where the only light came from the corridor outside. A single table with several chairs stood right in the centre, where every now and then inventories would be written on scrolls. Opposite the open door, was a door hidden in the stone wall where the passage could be accessed. Izumi pushed a secret button on the wall, and the hidden door slid open. She waved a paw. Instead of dragging him into the passage, the masked panther planted Xian in one of the chairs and chained him to it by the waist. "You watch him while we check the coast is clear." Izumi said.
"You got it." said the masked panther.
Xian's political instincts kicked in, and told him that this last exchange sounded rehearsed. What was going on? The masked panther stayed at Xian's side while three soldiers disappeared into the passage, which sealed shut behind them. Izumi and her men, meanwhile, scattered across the room and pressed themselves against the towering crates. Xian watched with suspicion as they put on strange looking crowns, vanishing into thin air in an instant. Shadow Crowns? Looks like they helped themselves to the hall of warriors before burning it down. What the hell are you doing, Izumi?
The gorilla guard at the entrance to the library never saw the nerve pinch coming. Mantis jumped off his shoulder as he fell like a sack of bricks and waved to Po, signalling that it was safe to come out. Po came out from behind the flower bush, crawling on all fours until he and Mantis were literally inches from each other's faces. "Any more inside?" Po asked.
Mantis took a peek through the crack in the door. There was nobody in the entrance hall. "Empty. So far, so good."
"It wasn't that far. The garden's only thirty feet and-"
"Get inside."
Woah. Probably not a good time for jokes. Po quickly slipped into the building, followed closely by the bug.
Xian tested the chains. They were too strong to break. He looked around for signs of the soldiers that surrounded them, but the darkness and the crowns had completely concealed them. He looked straight ahead at the open door leading into the empty corridor outside. He looked behind at the hidden entrance to the passage. By now he was convinced that they weren't coming back. At least not to take him out of the city.
"What is going on here?" Xian finally asked.
"Quiet." Was the panther's response. It sounded shaky. It was the first time he had shown anything close to fear. "We're just wasting time."
Xian twitched when Izumi's voice came out of nowhere. "Stay where you are, wuss puss." The panther growled but did not leave Xian's side. "Anyway, it shouldn't be too long, now. We're the only soldiers left in the building. If it thinks we won't be coming back after we evacuate the emperor, it will be wanting to take this opportunity while it still has it."
It? Xian wondered but stayed silent.
"You have the weapon Hei Nuwang gave to you?" The panther asked.
"Yes. Buck up before it gets suspicious." Izumi said no more. The panther folded his arms and kept his eyes on the open doorway.
Xian turned as far as he could in the chair so he could look at the masked panther without straining his neck. "Alright, I've had enough. What are we really doing here?"
"I said shut that hole in your face."
"Tell me. Now!" Or I'll do everything I can to ruin whatever you're planning.
The masked panther seemed to understand the meaning behind Xian's glare. "We've got a big fly that needs catching. If you want to see your family again, you will not mess this up."
And I'm the big hunk of meat in the centre of the spider's web. If it's Master Shifu, his students or some other master, what did Izumi mean by 'it'?
A shadow crossed the light that poked into the dark room, drawing Xian's tea coloured eyes to the doorway. On the far corridor wall, harshly lit with a dull yellow light from the hanging lanterns, he saw the approaching blurry shadow of something... something... what in god's name? A soft, guttural growl emanated from the doorway, chilling the tiger's blood.
"Izumi, it's heading this way." The panther said softly. His shoulders were tense, his eyes like saucers behind his mask.
"Stay calm. You know what to do." said Izumi. "Maintain your positions, everyone. Do not move until I say."
Xian had frozen stiff. What had these people dragged him into?
At first, Mantis felt great relief when he and Po burst into the main library to find the royal family chained to the column, alive and unharmed. Then with a sinking feeling he realised that Emperor Xian was not with them.
Po, meanwhile, gaped when he saw his father. "Dad?!"
"Po?!" Mr. Ping's eyes lit up at the sight of the son he had been worried sick about for two months. "Po, you're okay!"
Po ran right over. "Dad, I can't believe this! They got you involved, too?"
The chains clinked as the goose shrugged. "It is an occupational hazard, being the Dragon Warrior's father and all."
"Pingy, dear, I don't think that's helping." Haoxin said. "We knew you would come, Dragon Warrior."
"Even if you weren't blue blooded, we'd still come." Po replied.
"Hey, our blood's not blue!" Zan said, giggling. "Only octopus's blood is blue!" He wiggled his legs. "Do our feet look like tentacles to you?"
"It's just a figure of speech." Po said, turning a little red. "Where's the emperor?"
"They took him away!" Haoxin said. "I think they're taking him out of the city!"
Mantis and Po looked at each other. "They couldn't have come out the front door, we would have seen them. Are there any other exits?"
"There's only the escape passage on the other side of the building."
"I'm going after them." Po said immediately.
"But Po!" Mr. Ping struggled against the chains. Po grabbed his shoulders, stopping him.
"Dad, I promise I'll come back to you, but I've gotta help Emperor Xian. Mantis, can you free them?"
Mantis lifted his arms. "Viper showed me how to pick a lock. I can manage. Once they're free I'll take them to the passage in the guard tower."
"But we're not leaving the city without Xian!" Haoxin said sternly. "We'll wait in the tower."
Po didn't doubt that for a second. "Oh, by the way, if you see Tigress, tell her I love her and I'm counting the days until we meet again!"
With that he took off, leaving Mantis to start working on the padlock holding all the chains together.
"I love Tigress, too!" Zan pouted. Despite their best efforts, all the grown-ups started sniggering. "What?"
Tigress couldn't blame Xian for looking so terrified when the creature merged in the doorway, almost completely silhouetted by the corridor torches.
"Okay, boys." Izumi whispered farther along the wall. "It's showtime."
Tigress had been rendered completely invisible by the Shadow Crown she wore, but even though the creature couldn't see her she was afraid. So far she hadn't been able to work out a plan to get Xian out of this, and now she had just ran out of time.
The creature growled curiously, its blank blue eyes flashing as it stepped further inside.
The masked man stepped back, his entire body tensed. "Let it get a little closer..." Izumi whispered, sounding worried herself. There was no telling what the creature or Long Feng would do if something went wrong this time.
The creature didn't appear to see them, but even so it looked around the room. After what happened in the prison, it was being cautious. Tigress was both impressed and worried by its intelligence. The Shadow Crowns must have worked, for it turned its attention back to the masked panther, who was still slowly backing away, leaving Xian still chained to the chair. The creature snarled and slowly advanced.
"Easy..." Izumi spoke softly so it wouldn't hear. "Let it get a little closer..."
Tigress went over the plan in her head. When Izumi gave the signal, they would ambush the creature before it reached either Xian or the panther, and Izumi would stab it with the strange knife Hei Nuwang had given her. Apparently there was another one like it in the black fortress. It had the ability to render immortal beings mortal, or at least something resembling mortal. If it worked on the creature, capturing it would be all too easy.
The masked man's back hit the concealed door to the passage, but he made no move to open it. He merely stared at the creature as it inched closer, coming within two feet of Xian. Xian was as still as a statue, not even turning his head to look at the monstrous thing. Good. Stay still, Xian. Don't give it a reason to attack you.
It was passing right by the emperor, eyes fixed on the panther, when one of its inky black tendrils drifted towards Xian. The tiger flinched as it touched his face, and he gave a small grunt of revulsion.
The creature froze and looked right at him.
Uh oh.
The creature bent down, bringing its face right up to Xian's. Xian kept absolutely still, inwardly damning himself for his mistake in not keeping silent. Its stare was like an icicle drilling into his soul.
He had heard rumours of this creature, the one that has been terrorising Long Feng and his army, dragging hapless soldiers through dark shadows to their deaths. To see it for the first time, up close and personal, filled him with terror that he hadn't felt since the night of the fire.
The rumours hadn't done it justice. Pure black all over, with a lean body that resembled no animal he had ever seen, black mist floating away from its flesh and mixing with the air, the creature was awe-inspiring. Xian couldn't stop himself from breathing in the mist. It felt like inhaling fog.
As it continued to scrutinise him, Xian thought of his family, and the terrifying possibility of never seeing him again. I'm in chains. I'm no threat. Please, just leave me alone. Damn you, Izumi. Damn you for dragging me into this! His eyes turned in her general direction as he continued to curse her.
The creature looked where he had looked. It tilted its head, its glowing eyes searching for whatever Xian was looking at. A strange high-pitched clicking sound left its maw. Its eyes widened slightly.
Xian heard the masked panther curse, and knew then that it was over. Without a sound, it gave the panther a venomous look and let itself fall into the darkness that surrounded Xian, disappearing in an explosion of black vapour. Xian let out the breath he had been holding, as Izumi let out a few profanities of her own.
"What happened?!" She hollered.
"It figured it out!" The panther yelled back, punching the wall. "I knew this wouldn't work!"
"If you say 'I told you so, I swear to god I will knife you! Now shut up! It could still be around here, somewhere! All of you, keep your crowns on! We might still be able to form an ambush if it comes back!"
Right on cue, the Dragon Warrior leapt into the room with a karate cry.
"Oh, come on!" Izumi yelled.
Xian merely smirked as Po looked around the room for wherever the bobtail's voice had come from. Seeing nobody, Po shook his head and went right into his stance, eyes on the masked panther. "You again! Let the emperor go or experience my full bodacity!"
"Panda, get out of here!" The panther snarled, advancing on Po. "It could still be around here!"
"Don't try to trick me, you masked marauder!" Po exclaimed. "Your little trap didn't work the first time and it won't work now!"
"Just get him!" Izumi yelled.
That was when several black tendrils slid out the walls and shoved dozens of big stacked crates right on top of them.
