Chapter Fourteen- And So It Ends, Right?

There was no reason to worry about archers. All of Jiao-long's men were fighting the two armies that had attacked. Song and Su led the Ladies of the Shade together, all the while fighting off their enemies that kept advancing with spears, axes, and hammers. Temutai's horns were enough to break many of his opponents' skulls. Peng was like a pinball, jumping from guard to guard as each one fell to his strength. The Furious Five worked in unison, focusing on the elephant guards, who were the larger of the two species that attacked them. Po stayed side-by-side with the Mongolian Fist Demon, who kept growing every time a gorilla landed a punch. Taotie threw out everything his machine had to offer to keep the enemy army at bay. Every single warrior fought with everything they had, each only thinking: we will win this.

Chao and Jiao-long were in the fight of their lives. Anyone who watched could clearly see both were experienced swordsmen. Every time their blades connected, the force sent sparks flying. Both were driven by anger: Jiao-long for Chao's interferences and Chao for his daughter being taken. Yet no matter how hard each opponent tried, not a single mark could be made on either of them.

While Po was distracted with taking down an elephant, a gorilla snuck up on him with an axe raised. Po turned just as the blade came down and flinched. But before the ape could move, there was a screech, and he ended up on the ground, unconscious. Po looked up to see Fenghuang on top of the ape. Shifu and Junjie leaped off her back and rushed into battle.

"Try not to die, huh?" Fenghuang suggested as she moved on to fight. Po smiled and kept fighting. Shifu jumped over a guard's head and landed next to the Five.

"Where's Chao?" he asked quickly.

"Fighting Jiao-long still." Tigress said as she punched a guard. "I'd stay away from them if I were you."

"Stay on your toes." Shifu ordered. "I think we're winning."

Suddenly, the ground shook. The doors to the castle were destroyed as Jiao-long's giant metal machine came rolling out.

"Or not." Mantis squeaked.

Jiao-long and Chao turned, their battle paused, to stare at the machine. Jiao-long smirked and sheathed his sword. "Follow me if you dare." He taunted as he turned and ran to the machine. Chao put his jian away and sprinted after him. Shifu saw this and followed. Junjie and Fenghuang were behind him. Suddenly, Fenghuang grabbed the fox and red panda in her talons and lifted them into the air, just as Taotie came barreling past in his machine. Fenghuang landed inside.

"Taotie, wait!" Shifu warned. "Chao's following him to the machine!"

"Don't worry about it." Taotie said. "I'm going to show what a true machine can do!"

"Just be careful!" Junjie snapped. "Get us as close as you can and we'll follow Jiao-long!" Taotie nodded and surged his machine forward. Chao was right on Jiao-long's tail as the Komodo dragon disappeared into the machine. Chao managed to get in just as the metal and Taotie's machines clashed. Junjie, Shifu, and Fenghuang were thrown to the floor upon impact. Inside the metal machine, Chao found that Jiao-long had disappeared. But there were two other gorillas there along with the one at the controls.

Shifu was thrown backwards once more as the two machines clashed. "Can't you get us in without getting us killed?"

"I'm trying!" Taotie grunted as his machine took another hit. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm fighting something three times my machine's size!"

"Then we need a new plan." Junjie said. "We'll get to the ground and climb in; they'll never see us coming."

"Then let's go!" Fenghuang urged. "Quickly!" The three of them went out the backside of Taotie's machine and ran around. Shifu suddenly stopped and looked around.

They were losing. Many members of the Ladies of the Shade had to resort to hand-to-hand combat since their parasols were broken beyond usage. Jong and Temutai's warriors had to join together just to prevent from being killed. Even the Mongolian Fist Demon was getting tired; he was covered in scratches. The rest of the warriors, the Five, Scorpion, Tong Fo, Peng, Hundun, Po, etc, were fighting for their lives.

"Shifu, come on!" Junjie shouted. "We have worse things to worry about."

"But they-"

"Will be fine." Junjie assured. "We have to find Siren and beat Jiao-long." Shifu looked back at his students worriedly, but followed Junjie to the metal machine. Fenghuang was already there.

"There's a door here!" she called. "We can get in!" Junjie and Shifu jumped up as Fenghuang opened the door. The three of them slipped in and Fenghuang shut the door. They stopped as the room became pitch black.

"Nice going." Junjie muttered. "I can't see a thing!"

"Sorry." Fenghuang shrugged (unseen). "Follow me."

"Ouch!" Shifu recoiled. "That was my foot!"

Fenghuang apologized again, but pressed forward. Eventually, she hit another door and kicked it open. Now that they could see, Junjie and Shifu could follow Fenghuang out. They found themselves in a room full of arrows, flammable oil, and shurikens.

"This must be the storage room." Fenghuang said. "We're either at or near the bottom of the machine."

"Then we need to get up to where Chao is." Shifu said. He found a door nearby and shoved it open. Unfortunately, a gorilla was on the other side. Shifu ducked as the ape swung his fist towards him. Fenghuang launched a Thundering Wind Hammer at the ape, and he went flying into a wall. The machine tilted for a moment before crashing back to the ground.

"Now we know how to take it down." Fenghuang noted.

"Let's find Chao first." Shifu ran up the couple stairs that led to the ladder and started climbing. Junjie and Fenghuang were right behind him. They passed one more floor (it was filled with gorillas that, thankfully, didn't notice them) before reaching the control room. One gorilla was at the controls, another was knocked out on the ground, and a third was fighting Chao. Junjie and Fenghuang rushed forward and kicked the gorilla away.

"Go find Jiao-long!" Junjie ordered. "We'll take care of this!" Shifu nodded and pulled Chao away. The two of them went back to the ladder.

"Where could he be?" Shifu asked. "We were just downstairs and didn't see him."

"Then we go up." Chao said. He started climbing as fast as he could, Shifu behind him. Chao reached a trapdoor and shoved it open, jumping up inside. He pulled Shifu up with him. The top floor was a bare room of metal except for the metal box against one wall. Chao and Shifu warily walked up to it. There was a slot near the top, and a light could be seen coming from inside. Chao was about to look through when a cruel voice said, "Don't even think about it." Chao and Shifu whipped around and saw Jiao-long on the other side of the room.

"I can't let you win." Jiao-long said. "Leave or die; your choice." Chao drew his sword. Shifu stood defensively. Jiao-long sighed. "Very well." He pulled out his sword and readied it. "Let's see how long you last."

He lunged.

Outside, Taotie was struggling to salvage his machine from the fury of his metal opponent. The rest of the army was falling back.

"I don't know how much more of this we can take!" Po cried. He kicked a guard's spear away as Tigress leaped over his head to deliver a kick.

"I know." Tigress nodded. "But we have to keep fighting!"

"That metal deathtrap will kill us!" Po whined.

"I refuse to back down over some stupid hunk of metal!" Tigress hissed. "We can do this!"

"How can you be sure?" Po asked.

"Just trust me!" Tigress roared as she barreled into more guards. "We can beat these losers!" Her encouraging words gave the army a newfound energy, and they pushed forward.

In Jiao-long's machine, Chao and Shifu were fighting hard against Jiao-long. The Komodo dragon hissed every time he missed, which unfortunately was often. Chao was the only one that could really land an attack with his jian. Jiao-long relied heavily on his sword and chi attacks. His chi attacks were the reason Shifu was constantly being blasted into the walls. Chao kept looking at the box against the wall. There was something about it that made him uneasy. What exactly was inside?

It was his next look that really distracted him, and Jiao-long was able to get a significant hit in; he slammed the hilt of his sword across Chao's face. He went sprawling onto the floor. Jiao-long moved in for a final move, but Shifu kicked his sword out of his hands. Jiao-long hissed.

"You really think you two can stop me?" he laughed. "You're pathetic. I have the advantage, so why are you still fighting me?"

"I won't let you get away with what you've done." Shifu said firmly. "I'm going to make sure you are defeated."

Jiao-long laughed again, only to be cut off by Shifu's foot to his stomach. Chao was on his feet again, his jian in his hand. He ran towards Jiao-long and swung his jian around. Jiao-long ducked and swung his tail to swipe Chao off his feet. Chao jumped to avoid it. Jiao-long tackled Chao, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him into the wall. He clutched Chao's throat and threw him into the metal box. Chao's head hit the corner, and he slumped to the floor. Shifu was quick to put himself between Jiao-long and Chao. Jiao-long growled and took up his sword once more, his focus completely on the red panda. He swung his sword with such force that, after Shifu dodge it and rolled away, it became embedded in the metal box. Shifu scooped up Chao's jian and held it ready as Jiao-long pulled his sword free.

"You're really coming at me with that?" Jiao-long scoffed. "Are you really as good of a swordsman as Chao?"

"Not a chance." Shifu admitted. Jiao-long lunged, but he was knocked aside. "But I'm good enough."

Jiao-long growled and lunged once more. The two blades clashed with a metallic ring. Shifu swung the jian and left a small cut on Jiao-long's cheek. After that, he had to constantly block Jiao-long's attack as the lizard's anger flared. Jiao-long's attacks got more and more brutal.

"You're weak." Jiao-long hissed. He knocked the jian from Shifu's hands and kicked the master into the metal box. Before he could rise, Jiao-long suddenly slammed a foot on Shifu's tail and put the tip of his sword to his throat. "You cared about that Siren girl, didn't you? You were willing to do whatever it took to protect her." Shifu glared, but didn't say a word. "No, there's more to it; you made a promise." Jiao-long looked over at Chao, still unconscious. He laughed low. "You promised her father you'd protect her. How does it feel, Grandmaster, to know that you won't live to keep that promise?" Jiao-long raised his sword to bring it down on Shifu's head.

Clang!

Shifu looked up and saw Chao, on his feet, with his jian between Jiao-long's sword and Shifu's head.

"Get away from him." Chao spun and kicked Jiao-long away. He rushed forward to attack. Shifu clutched his tail, which thankfully wasn't broken. He was about to help Chao when he felt something freezing cold through is robes. He turned to the box and placed a hand on it, only to bring it back quickly. It was so cold, like it was middle the winter.

"Siren….." he whispered. He stood and tried to find a way inside. But there was nothing that he could see; no door and no window save for the slot only Mantis or Viper could fit through. He kept looking and saw the front of the box wasn't fully bolted shut. He needed something to pry it open.

Like a sword.

Shifu turned and saw Jiao-long and Chao fighting fiercely. Their swords sent sparks flying. Shifu waited for an opening and ran forward, aiming a kick to Jiao-long' back. Unfortunately, the Komodo dragon saw him coming, and ducked. Jiao-long punched Chao and sent him staggering back before running towards Shifu. The red panda waited until the last second to jump and kick Jiao-long's hands, sending his sword skidding away. Jiao-long swung his sharp claws, missing Shifu by centimeters. Jiao-long kept swiping his claws at both Shifu and Chao, aimed to kill.

It was Shifu who made the first mistake. He took a hit and dropped his stance. Jiao-long saw an opportunity, grabbed Shifu, and threw him into Chao. The two of them slammed into a wall and almost fell down the trapdoor to the ladder. Jiao-long jumped towards them. Chao and Shifu dived in separate directions and Jiao-long did a face plant into the wall before falling down the trapdoor. Chao shut the door quick.

"I think Siren's here." Shifu panted.

Chao looked shocked but happy at the same time. "Where?"

"In that box." Shifu nodded towards said box. "We have to pry open the front." The two of them rushed to the box. Chao found and opening and stuck his jian in between. He pulled as hard as he could, but the door wouldn't budge. Chao banged on the metal with his fist.

"Siren!" he called. "Are you in there?"

"Why won't she answer?" Shifu murmured. The door to the stairs was being hit. Jiao-long was obviously trying to get in, but Chao had locked the door.

"How long will that lock hold?" Chao asked. There was a cracking sound as the door was continuously banged on.

"Not that long." Shifu said. "Keep trying!" But no matter how hard they tried, it wouldn't move.

Suddenly, Shifu noticed Jiao-long sneaking behind Chao with his sword. Shifu ran forward and tackled Jiao-long. Hissing, the Komodo dragon lifted Shifu by the throat and thrust him into the wall. Jiao-long held his sword ready to kill him. Chao pulled his jian free and ran forward, holding his blade ready to cut through Jiao-long.

Jiao-long smirked. He dropped Shifu and spun around, pushing his sword through Chao's heart.

Chao gasped in pain. His jian slipped out of his hands and clattered to the floor. Jiao-long smiled evilly and yanked his sword from Chao's chest. The lizard master fell to the floor, clutching his chest in pain. Shifu had been staring with shock and finally came to his senses, rushing to kneel next to Chao. He immediately put pressure against the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Jiao-long was still smiling down at them.

"You see?" he laughed. "You're nothing more than pathetic, weak little-"

"Shut up!"

Jiao-long suddenly felt a force connect with his stomach. A hand clutched his throat and he was thrown to the wall. He shook his head to clear his vision and saw Junjie and Fenghuang. The two of them had burst through the door just as Chao had been stabbed. Now, Fenghuang was standing behind a very angry Junjie, who looked ready to murder someone.

"Not one more word." Junjie growled. He turned and ran to Chao's side. Fenghuang stood ready to fight Jiao-long if he attacked. Junjie looked over the wound and knew at once it was over; the wound was too deep and too fatal. But he could prolong the inevitable.

"Chao, don't move." Junjie ordered. "Just calm down; you'll be fine."

"Siren's in that box." Shifu said. "I know she is. You have to get her out here; she can save him!" Junjie remembered and nodded, running to the box. He started pulling at the front, punching and kicking it a couple times. Shifu kept his hands on Chao's wound, but the blood kept seeping through his fingers. Chao was breathing hard through clenched teeth, writhing in pain.

"Chao, don't worry." Shifu assured. "You'll be fine. Just hold still." Chao finally opened his eyes and placed a hand over Shifu's hands. He stared up at him, the light slowly leaving his eyes.

"S-Siren…" he whispered, fighting to stay alive. "You…..p-promised…"

Shifu took Chao's hand. "I intend to keep it." He promised.

Chao smiled. He opened his mouth to speak, but not a word came out. Chao's head sunk to the floor, his eyes closed, and his body went limp. Shifu stared in disbelief. He desperately tried to get Chao to wake up, but it was too late.

Master Chao was dead.