The daily task of cleaning the barrel of the cannon had been a scary one at first for Shan, the sentry who stood watch at the northern tower of the wall that surrounded the black fortress. He used to hate it when he stuck that brush-on-a-stick into the that big gaping hole where the cannonball came out of, a terrified voice in his head telling him that it could go off at any second. After two years and no explosive decapitations, he got over it. On the downside, what was once a scary task had become a boring one.
The wolf finished cleaning the cannon for the umpteenth time, he left the brush leaning against the side of the cannon and wandered over to the parapet. It was a full moon tonight. He could make out individual rocks that dotted the lifeless landscape. The most interesting thing was always that purple streak not too far away from the wall. It was the purple engravings that covered each big stone that Lady Hei Nuwang had built hundreds of years ago. They were the first and most effective defence, forming an invisible ring that prevented anyone getting through. It did have one flaw however, in that they only worked one way. People couldn't get in, but they could get out. Only Hei Nuwang could allow access, though there were a couple of exceptions. So far as Shan knew, Long Feng and Izumi had been exempted from the stones' power.
That was why it had been a serious problem when Shan spotted Long Feng staggering right through the ring of stones and disappeared into a pile of boulders. Having been informed that Hei Nuwang had branded the general a fugitive, Shan had immediately rushed to inform his superior. Judging from the worried whispers of his comrades, the warning had come too late for Sutoraiki and the two soldiers guarding his workplace. No big loss there. The soldiers' deaths were horrible, but Sutoraiki was a creep.
Shan narrowed his eyes and leaned forward over the parapet. The glow of the stones was changing colour. It was turning from purple to red. The glow grew bigger. The stones started to shrink. Shan's jaw dropped when he realised that they were melting.
The stones. The shield! Shan grabbed a flaming torch from the bracket and tossed it into the giant bowl of kindling that stood in the center, far from the cannon. Once the signal was lit he sprinted to the side of the parapet facing the eastern tower, praying that the guard there had already seen it.
Seconds passed. The signal did not light.
Nearly panicking, Shan looked to the ring of melted stones. His ear twitched when he heard a scream from the eastern tower. When he looked, the tower was still dark. This was bad. Shan spun round, looking to the western tower.
An unnaturally strong gust of wind knocked him down and put out his signal. Before Shan could shout, a pair of talons slammed his head into the stone floor.
Once he'd gotten past his happiness at seeing Po safe and sound, Shifu noticed something not quite right about the panda. When he touched Po's arm to make absolutely sure it was no longer broken, his skin was almost feverishly hot. Yet the panda hadn't even broken a sweat. He would have questioned Po about it if there weren't a more pressing matter to attend to. Namely taking down the Children of Nuwa and rescuing Su, her parents, and his adopted daughter.
As it turned out, Po already had a plan, which he laid out on an ancient map of the small mountain range where the Palace of the Body rested.
"If we want to even get close to the fortress, we need to get past this ring of stones." Po drew a purple line around the palace with a paintbrush. "Luckily Yujin knows a way."
"How?" Xian asked eagerly.
"Using alchemic techniques, Hei Nuwang powers the stones using chi. All I gotta do is heat up the chi within the stones so much that they can't take it. They'll literally melt."
"How?" Shifu asked, tilting his head. "You are not a master of chi."
"Maybe not, but Yujin is. She gave me a boost."
"Where is she?" Xian asked.
"She's... hiding." Po said, eyes twitching back and forth. "She needs to stay hidden until she fully recovers and gets all her powers back." He looked down at his stomach and patted it. "She hopes you understand."
Xian eyed the panda's ample belly and sighed. "I do. But she can't keep away from me forever."
"Hopefully she won't have to." Po said. "Anyway, once the stones are melted and we can get through, the sentry towers are our next target. Mantis, Viper, Crane, Eagle, you get a tower each."
"It's Eagle Jr., you bloody buffoon."
"I knew that. Just making sure you're paying attention."
Hei Nuwang stormed into the entrance hall, her emotions more turbulent than ever. The meeting had not gone planned at all.
Another one, gone. Izumi is the only one left who I trust, now. I must find her.
Hei Nuwang found the bobtail debriefing a group of soldiers in the middle of the massive room. She crossed the hall to interrupt, putting on a mask of cold apathy before speaking.
"Izumi." She said. "Report."
Izumi quickly bowed. "My lady, there has been no sign of Tigress since her escape, but they're still looking. However, Sutoraiki's killer was spotted near the prison."
"Who is it?" Hei Nuwang paused as she remembered those who were exempt from the stones' shield. "Is it Long Feng?"
Izumi hesitated. "They... couldn't tell."
Something in Izumi's tone worried Hei Nuwang. "What do you mean?"
"You now how most of Sutoraiki's chi samples are missing? We believe Long Feng helped himself to them. It... it appears to have changed him... somewhat."
Hei Nuwang maintained her cool composure even as her heart sank like a stone. When she'd recruited Sutoraiki, she'd warned him of the dangers of mixing different types of chi. Long Feng... you stupid one armed fool...
One by one, Hei Nuwang recalled all the defences of the Palace of the Body. First there was the ring of stones. Then there was the four towers with beacons that were be lit at the first sign of trouble. Of course they had their army should the enemy somehow get past the stones. Should the warriors of flesh and blood fail, there were the warriors of clay. She still had a few dozen waiting in the warehouse, as well as the specialised claymen who guarded the tunnels beneath the palace.
Then there were the last two defences that were to be used as an absolute last resort. The two warriors built using chi from Hei Nuwang herself in the event that both the flesh and the clay warriors failed. And last but not least, the palace's special mechanism that took advantage of the fact that the palace was built on top of the widest and deepest mine shaft in the world. Hei Nuwang had spent half a century altering the palace's inner structure just for this...
The doors opened. A high ranking officer strode towards Izumi. He faltered when he saw Hei Nuwang present, but kept his cool and bowed. "My lady, ten minutes ago the eastern tower fell silent."
"How many have we lost since then?"
"... Four."
Hei Nuwang clenched her teeth behind her gently sealed lips. "And you tell me this now?"
"We didn't want to concern you in case it was a false alarm."
"Have you investigated the towers?" Izumi demanded.
"We've sent several small teams. They have yet to report back." The soldier bit his lip. "There's worse news. There are reports that the stones have been destroyed."
Izumi cursed like a sailor. Hei Nuwang said nothing. Yujin... so you've finally come home.
Another soldier rushed in. "Sir! A possible intruder has been sighted entering the left hand tower!"
Hei Nuwang had heard enough. "Let the claymen deal with it. In the meantime, I want every man armed and ready. We are being invaded." The two soldiers nodded and rushed out with their comrades. Hei Nuwang grabbed Izumi's shoulder. "The throne room. Now."
"... And that's that. We take Hei Nuwang down and it's over. We get our friends back." Po stepped away from the table. "Well, what're you waiting for? Chop, chop!" He clapped his paws impatiently. Though a little taken aback, his allies immediately set out in all directions to make preparations. All except Shifu, Xian, and the two dads.
Po looked at the four of them, and they looked back. "... 'sup?"
"Po, what's going on?" Mr. Ping asked. He waddled forward and put both wings on Po's belly. "Your stomach's like a stove on overdrive."
Po swallowed. "Must be getting a cold."
Xian took a step around the table. "She did something to you, didn't she?"
Po swallowed again and rubbed his stomach. Inside, Yujin's energy swirled alongside his own like tea leaves mixing with water. "She gave me the power to destroy the stones, that's all. It's no big deal!"
"No big deal?!" Shifu started, but Xian raised a paw and silenced him.
"I'm sure whatever the Dragon Empress has done will not prove detrimental to Po. Murderous fugitive or not, she's still my wife. I trust her."
Shifu sighed. "When this is over, I expect a full explanation of what happened to you after you were taken, Po."
Po didn't like the idea of being in the room with him when he found out. "Would you like it in a letter?"
"Panda."
"Okay, okay, I promise!"
When he was finally alone fifteen minutes later, Po travelled to the palace kitchen and began making preparations of his own. Fifteen bowls of dumplings should tide him over until they reached the Palace of the Body. Po gathered his supper, put all fifteen bowls on the big table and starting munching.
After four bowls he felt Yujin stir.
"Is fifteen bowls with seven dumplings apiece really necessary?" She spoke.
"Yes." Po replied as he reached for the fifth.
"You're sure?"
"Yush." Po replied after filling his mouth to the brim.
"Don't complain when you get indigestion. I can already feel the gas building within you as they're dissolving."
Po stopped eating. "You know, it's a little disturbing to have someone in your stomach commenting while it's digesting."
"It is also disturbing to be in your stomach while it's digesting."
Po supposed that it was good that Yujin was acting more like a normal person since their little fusion dance. "Good point."
The claymen did not think. The claymen did not choose. The claymen obeyed.
Obeying the order to intercept and kill the Dragon Warrior without question or fear, they marched across the cavernous warehouse towards the great double doors of the southern wall. The warriors of flesh and blood had deduced that the Dragon Warrior would attempt to infiltrate through those doors at any moment. The claymen did not know how they came to that conclusion, and they didn't care either. They stopped twenty feet from the doors, all thirty terra cotta warriors forming three rows stretching all the way across the space between the great wooden crates, which to them contained nothing of importance. In the front row, ten warriors formed a barrier of circular shields and swords. In the middle row, ten warriors poked reloadable crossbows through the gaps in the shields. In the back row, ten warriors waited with spears. They stood still as statues, all weapons aimed at the doors, and waited.
Five seconds passed. The doors remained closed and silent.
Ten seconds passed. A warrior of flesh and blood would have begun to feel a sense of unease by now.
Fifteen seconds passed. Two soldiers from the front row stalked forward to open the doors themselves.
The rest kept their swords, shields, crossbows and spears pointed at the doors. They knew no instinct. Only obedience. They had been ordered to guard the doors, so the doors were their only focus. They did not possess the instinct to look behind. If they had, they would have seen a hole melt into the ceiling, and a panda dropping out of it.
The two warriors reached the doors and yanked them open. The wide corridor ahead stood empty. The panda pulled the Sword of Heroes from the sheath on his back.
It's go time.
Po went into a sprint, the sword shining like sunlight. With his other paw he sent out four heavy-duty knives. Each one found their mark, shattering the clay heads of four warriors of the back row. The other six spun round, but by then it was too late. Po split the sword in two, a short broadsword and a dagger of similar length, and started swinging. He decapitated two in one double stroke. Bisected another two. With a third stroke he shattered the remnants of the back row. The warriors of the front row charged as the middle row aimed their crossbows. Po crouched and spun like a top, becoming a vortex of death that obliterated the legs and lower torsos of seven front row warriors. Then he rebounded off the shield of the eighth, somersaulting over the middle row towards the remaining two front row warriors who had opened the doors. He rolled in mid-air, his momentum sending the two segments of the sword slicing through their clay skulls. He landed on his feet, his knees bending on impact with the hard floor, just as he heard the twang of twenty crossbows. Po ran for cover as the arrows soared past his body. He had no need to deflect any of them. Any arrows that flew too close burned and disintegrated before they touched him. So far, Yujin was holding up her end of the deal.
As the claymen of the middle row began to reload, Po lifted a shield from the severed arm of a front row warrior and swung it like a Frisbee. It obliterated three warriors before embedding itself into a crate twice his size. Clay shards peppered the floor of the warehouse like chilli powder. The remaining seven prepared to fire again. Instead of waiting for the arrows to incinerate again, Po had the sudden urge to show what he'd learned from agility training with Viper. Using an upright shield propped against the torso of its owner as a springboard, Po propelled himself to a tower of crates just as the warriors fired. The bodacious power of momentum and inner peace thrust him upward as a trail of arrows followed his path. Becoming the first kung fu master in history to perform the newly christened Ultra-Tahlia Leap, Po travelled thirty feet straight up the stack of crates. As he flipped backward toward the seven warriors far below, he swung his blades and gouged the top crate. Plummeting head first, Po rolled so he was right way up just as he reached the ground. He landed in front of the claymen sending dust flying in all directions. The seven warriors reloaded again, unaware that Po had just weakened the wood of the crate. They did not possess the instinct to look up as the crate's contents, iron bells the size of boars, fell and crushed all seven into a fine brown dust.
Po grinned, glad that he wasn't fighting real people, and turned to front-row-number-eight, the one Po used to reach the last two front row warriors. A broken spear tip flew into its head and put a final end to the battle.
Or so he thought. When Po looked to the open doors, he saw twenty more clay warriors charging down the wide corridor.
Screw it. Yujin?
On it.
Within his body, Yujin's chi began to move. The sensation was like hot water running down his throat as the red-hot energy rose up his torso, reaching up his neck, collecting in his head. The feeling of tremendous power coursing through him sent chills running up his spine. He focused his eyes on the fast-approaching threat, just as Yujin had told him to.
Everything turned red.
The air before Po shimmered and trembled before his glowing white-red eyes before Yujin sent it hurtling towards the claymen like an invisible gassy bullet. Everything the air touched felt the great heat of a volcano's heart. The wooden doors incinerated into nothing. The floor and walls glowed red and became lava. Po reached out with the Hero's Chi, releasing a golden shockwave that sent the lava flying at the claymen in a tsunami of fiery destruction.
They never stood a chance. The lava settled, and Yujin reached out to cool the molten rock until it was safe to walk on.
Silently congratulating himself and Yujin on a job well done, Po crossed the slightly steaming volcanic rock, which did a pretty good job of warming his feet, and wondered how his friends were doing.
