Chapter Six- Surprise!
Chao kept running and didn't stop until he reached the camp. The rest of the army was there, treating their wounds. Tigress spotted him first. "Master Chao!" she called. Everyone looked towards the lizard master, stood, and bowed. Chao slowed as he approached them, wearily walking through as the group parted ways for him. The Five and Po stood at the end. Of all the concerned faces, theirs stood out the most, especially Po's.
"Master Chao?" Viper piped up. "Are you hurt?"
Chao shook his head slowly. "I am fine."
"Where's Shifu?" Monkey asked worriedly. At this, Chao looked away. He refused to look into anyone's eyes as he walked to his tent, his tail dragging in the dirt.
"Chao." Po's voice was strong, but filled with fear. "What happened to Master Shifu?"
Chao stopped at the entrance of his tent. He wouldn't turn to them. "He pushed me through the gate before it could close. But he was trapped inside."
Silence.
Not a single soul said a word. Everyone just stared at Chao as the lizard master sank to his knees.
"He's still in there?" Po repeated softly. "Alone?"
"How is he supposed to survive?" Song asked. "Jiao-long will kill him for sure!"
"Then we should go back!" Tigress said. "We can help him!"
"Tigress, let's face it." Crane protested. "By the time we get there, it may be too late. He could be in prison, or-"
"He's not dead!" Tigress screamed. Everyone recoiled, and Chao turned and stared. "He. Is. Not. Dead." Tigress snarled. "Shifu's stronger than that! He can take Jiao-long any day and win! But we have to go help him fight Jiao-long's men!"
"Tigress-" Mantis tried to say.
"I won't lose him again!" Tigress yelled. "If you won't come with me, I'll go fight Jiao-long alone and tear him limb from limb!"
"Master Tigress, be still!"
Tigress turned to Chao, who was walking up to her. He was one who had snapped at her. Looking at him now, Tigress could see a fire being rekindled in his eyes.
"You aren't going anywhere." Chao said. "Not alone, at least." He turned to the rest of the warriors present. "We won't waste any time thinking about Shifu's odds of survival. We will think about how we will make Jiao-long pay." Everyone listened closely, their interests sparked. "I will go through the plans. We will attack again very soon. If Shifu is alive, we'll bring him back. If not," Chao paused, a pained look in his eyes. But he regained his composure and glared determinedly. "If Jiao-long has truly killed Shifu, then we will make sure that our fallen is avenged!" The army cheered. Though they still mourned for this supposed loss, a single thought ran through their minds:
Jiao-long's going down.
STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR
The wings parted, and Shifu looked up at a familiar owl.
"Fenghuang!" Shifu snapped. The owl jumped in front of Shifu. She spun around fast and shot a wing out, launching the Thundering Wind Hammer at a couple elephants.
"Good to see you, too." Fenghuang smirked. She turned and started shouting orders. "Su! Go in with your parasol! Scorpion, cover her! Taotie, secure the master and help me take out Jiao-long's machine!" Fenghuang flew off, leaving Shifu to stare at what was happening. He saw Scorpion and Su, the former leader of the Ladies of the Shade, fighting with Jiao-long's army. He got up to help, but he was suddenly lifted off his feet when something grabbed his belt and hoisted him into the air. He was dropped onto something hard and wooden. Looking around, Shifu found himself on another one of Taotie's machines. At the controls was the warthog himself and his son.
"What are you doing here?" Shifu demanded, getting to his feet.
"Oh relax." Taotie waved his hand, not taking his eyes off the battle. "We're actually on your side this time."
"Why should I trust you?" Shifu growled. "You almost killed me twice!"
"And we saved your life this time." Taotie explained. "Take that you stupid apes!" He blasted fire in said apes' direction. "Just sit down and we'll take you back to camp once we're done here."
"I don't trust you." Shifu said. He took a stance, ready to fight.
Taotie sighed. "I knew this would happen. Bian Zao, will you please restrain him?"
Bian Zao turned in his chair. "Sorry about this." He said sincerely. He pulled a lever and the floor disappeared from under Shifu. He fell down into a cage at the bottom of the chute. The door closed before he could stand.
"Taotie!" Shifu shouted. "When I get my hands on you, you're going to wish we never met!"
"Sorry!" Taotie shouted down. "Can't hear you!" He turned his attention on the battle. He approached Jiao-long's machine, which looked just as deadly as his. "Alright you overgrown bag of scales. Let's see what you've got." He started pulling levers and pushing buttons, sending everything he had towards Jiao-long's machine. Fenghuang swooped down when it was clear and grabbed at parts, pulling them off. She would go to the ground and unleash her skills with Seven Impossible Moves. Jiao-long found himself fighting to defend his machine against the attacks. Taotie tried sending blast after blast of fire in hopes of burning the wooden machine, but it only scorched the wood. He swung a hammer around and knocked the top of the machine clean off. Jiao-long had to duck to avoid the debris. Fenghuang dived down with a screech and swiped her talons at the Komodo dragon. Jiao-long hissed and swung his sword, narrowly missing Fenghuang.
"We need to blow it up!" Fenghuang called as she circled back around and landed on Taotie's machine. "Can you distract him?"
"Leave it to me!" Taotie nodded.
Fenghuang looked around the machine. "Where's Shifu?"
"Below deck." Taotie said, tapping the floor with his foot. Shifu's muffled shouts and banging came from the floorboards. Fenghuang rolled her eyes. She flew up as Taotie moved forward, shooting arrows and shurikens from his machine. Jiao-long ducked to avoid them and moved in with his attacks. Meanwhile, Fenghuang discretely landed behind Jiao-long's machine. She did a couple moves and created the Mongolian Fireball in her wings.
"Taotie!" she shouted. "Brace yourself!" She launched the fireball at Jiao-long's machine. Taotie and Bian Zao braced themselves and Jiao-long abandoned his machine. The fireball connected with the wood and metal. Instead of sucking things in, like the Mongolian Fireball usually does, it exploded on impact. Wood, metal, flames, and smoke went everywhere. Fenghuang flew up high.
"Fall back!" she ordered. "To me!" She flew off. Taotie turned his machine around to follow. Su and Scorpion followed.
Jiao-long shouted in frustration. "Blast it all!" He breathed hard as he stared at his destroyed machine and his fallen soldiers. He cleared his throat and straightened. "No matter. My plans are unfinished. You there!" The two gorillas he was pointing to stood up straight. "You gather what remains of my men and clean up this mess. You fetch that blasted soothsayer and bring him to my study. Now!" The gorillas rushed to do their orders.
Fenghuang kept flying with Su, Scorpion, Taotie, and Bian Zao right behind her. They kept going until they reached the other side of the mountain, at the base. Fenghuang landed and led the group on foot to a small campsite. Suddenly, a rhino came running up to them. He stood as mighty as he could.
"Who goes there?" He shouted. "None shall pass except friends! If you are enemies I shall rip you open with my horn and gouge you as I rip you apart and-"
"Hundun, it's us." Fenghuang droned. "Stand down."
Hundun recognized them. "Oh. My bad." He went to sit by the fire. "You guys are no fun."
"Why don't you go to sleep?" Su suggested. "You'll need your energy for the attack tomorrow."
"Alright!" Hundun smirked. "That stupid lizard will fall!" He ran to his tent. In a few seconds, he was snoring.
"We aren't attacking tomorrow." Scorpion said.
"I know." Su nodded. "But I wanted him to shut up."
"You're back!"
Fenghuang turned and smiled when she saw a small mouse lemur come out from the main tent. "Good evening, Tong Fo. How are the plans coming along?"
"Very well." Tong Fo said. "Victory shall be ours! How's our little guest?"
"Still trying to break out!" Taotie called from his machine. "Can we release him so he doesn't break my machine?"
"Can't he stay in there a little longer?" Fenghuang asked. Suddenly, she heard cracking wood. "Guess not. Alright, every stand around the exit; we can't have him escape just yet." Su, Scorpion, Fenghuang, Taotie, and Tong Fo stood around where Shifu would come out.
"Alright, Son!" Taotie called up. "Release him!" Bian Zao pulled a lever and a door opened, dropping Shifu unceremoniously on the ground. Shifu groaned, but when he saw who was surrounding him, he jumped to his feet.
"If you don't let me go this instant, so help me-"
"Shifu, calm down and listen." Fenghuang almost pleaded. "We're here to help you."
"Why should I trust you?" Shifu demanded. "You are my enemies."
"But we saved your life." Scorpion pointed out.
"I would've been fine." Shifu protested.
"Oh please!" Taotie huffed. "You would've been dead if it weren't for us."
"Besides, it's not our decision on whether or not you die." Su told him. "If it were up to us, you'd be chucked into a river to drown."
"If it's not your idea, whose is it?" Shifu asked.
"Our generals." Scorpion said. "Fenghuang and-"
"Me."
They turned towards the voice. Shifu would've taken this moment to run, but he was frozen in place. He stared at the person that walked up to him. The person was a fox about his height with orange eyes and a smirk on his face.
"Junjie." The fox introduced. "General of the Rebel Army."