-5-

Edited by Slightly Dazed Bystander

Spade snaps his tongue in anger as he watches Milla fight. He shuts off the infirmary television with a flick. He can't mask his disappointment. Sash's stupidity really did rub off on her, and now look at this mess. If only I was there, I could've done something, instead of being stuck here in this pathetic state, Spade thought to himself as he observes the strange ruby that Kai left in his pillow, They're all foolish, they're only children. For a smart-ass, Kai chose a pretty simple place to hide something as dangerous as this.

The cavy is sitting up on top of a bed in the Shang Tu Palace infirmary. Across from him is a television one of the nurses set up for him, so that he can watch the annual tournament as he recuperates. He gets off his bed and cavy feels mild pain from the side of his stomach,where Jai had stabbed him, feeling the cloth which had remained wrapped around his torso for the past week. According to the nurses, not even health petal water could fully heal the injury. He sighs in response to his current situation, then muses to himself.

"I shouldn't be so ungrateful, if it wasn't for those kids, I'd likely be dead."

As the cavy exits the infirmary he notices a white panda girl strolling the palace halls, wearing a distinctive red dress with a yellow dragon design. To Spade's surprise it was Ming Zu. Ming eventually notices the cavy, who at the moment wore only brown pants and had bandages where he was stabbed. "Would it kill you to wear actually clothing? Anyways, what are the likes of you doing here?" She demands.

"I should be asking you the same question." Spade counters, "What business could you possibly have here at Shang Tu?"

"It's none of your business." Ming says dismissively, She continues after a moment of silence, "If you must know, I came here on an important diplomatic mission."

"Bullcrap. You're the least likely person for Shang Mu would send as an envoy, besides, why would they do that during the annual tournament when almost everyone is watching from the battlesphere anyway." Spade notes.

"Well…" Ming stumbles, failing to devise a proper excuse for her presence, "Fine, I came here because I didn't want to watch the tournament on my own. The Shang Mu City Hall is barren…"

"Don't have many friends, it seems." Spade retorts.

"I have plenty of friends! They're just all at the battlesphere, watching the tournament. I would go with Zao, but he told me I couldn't."

"So why don't you just go watch with your 'friends'?"

"Psh, like I would stoop as low to go into that filthy arena and sit amongst commoners!" Ming argues.

At that point Spade ignores the panda girl's banter and walks away from her, "To think you actually wonder why no one likes you."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Ming calls in disbelief.

Several hours later, Spade sits on top a stone bench at the palace courtyard after training, which mostly involved improving his accuracy, technique and basic exercise after a whole week of inactivity. Despite his efforts, the injury at the side of his stomach prevented him from performing more rigorous training. It only added to his frustration. No matter how much he tried he couldn't continue. As Spade slowly gets up from the bench, he notices a figure across from him roughly twenty feet away. He can't distinguish the person in front of him. All he can tell is that the person is female and wears a scarf. "Who are you?" the cavy demands.

"Just a fellow red scarf. I should be asking you that question, Spade." The person counters. "Didn't you say that you wouldn't associate yourself with these royals again?"

"What does that have to do with anything, and how do I know you're really with the scarves?"

"You don't believe me."

Spade slowly backs off, eventually bumping into the stone bench he previously sat on. "I have no reason to, for all I know you could be here to kill me."

"You know better than that. Scarf or not, I wouldn't be sent here just to kill some rogue."

The cavy quickly lifts his left leg on top the stone bench. As he does so, he's able to observe his assailant in more detail. The woman appears to be a ewe, but her horns and claws are visibly draconic. So, she's a dragonblood then.

Spade briefly observes that she is wearing a tank top and a pair of pants. He notices she is barefoot. Strange, on one hand that would make it easier to maneuver, I never understood Sash and Jai's fascination with boots. On the other hand, it does leave her feet defenseless.

What catches his interest the most is her weapons of choice, a pair of pistols, one is silver and the other is gold, which didn't seem practical. "Care to inform me why you're here then if it's not to kill me?" he continues. Whatever her intentions are, he has already realised that she is going to attack him anyways.

"How disappointing, you could've been a nice addition, sadly I can't tell you."

Spade instinctively lifts himself over the wall behind the stone bench, using all of his might to launch himself to the other side, landing on his back. Seconds later, a powerful projectile blasts a portion of the stone wall apart, adjacent to Spade. What was that?

The cavy slowly gets up and peeps through the hole the projectile created, and notices smoke emanating from her golden pistol. The lamb snaps her tongue in disappointment.

"You're smarter than you look. I suppose I made myself too obvious. I bet you're curious about what the silver one does too." she taunts.

"Actually, I'd rather n-"

A barrage of bullets rain from the silver pistol, slamming into the wall and cutting Spade off mid-banter. They are weaker than the shot from her golden pistol, but the impacts are wearing down the wall that is protecting Spade. The moment the sound of gunfire ends is the moment Spade runs as fast as he can.

With a slight limp, Spade darts through the wide, recently waxed floors of the palace. Although the wax makes it hard for the cavy to make turns, the dragoness behind him has noticeably more trouble. She has to use the claws of her feet to create more friction, and every time Spade makes a corner, he hears the sound of the woman's claws as they scratch at the marble flooring. It is easy for him to judge his current distance from the dragoness without slowing down or looking back. To his surprise and relief, he finds that the woman is slower than most draconic people. Despite clearly being faster than him, each sharp turn slows her down just enough, and he slips into a nearby bathroom without her noticing. Now in one of the bathrooms, Spade quickly locks the door and dim the lights.

He hears another voice behind him, a rather agitated and clearly embarrassed voice. Spade sighs. The voice is coming from Ming, who is wearing only a towel.

"What on Avalice are you doing here you perverted cu-" Ming scolds. Spade launches forward and covers her mouth until all that can be heard from her is muffling.

"Be quiet. Your personal issues are the least of our problems." Spade inform, maintaining his calm demeanor. The cavy is able to hear the sound of claws meeting the ground, Spade didn't have an amazing sense of hearing, but years of training had taught him to remain as observant as possible. "We have an intruder in the palace," Spade whispers, "I'm sure even you can hear her footsteps."

Ming stops struggling as her aggression becomes fear. Noticing this, Spade lets go of the panda girl and tries to calm her, "You need to stay calm. She's doing this on purpose. She's simply trying to intimidate, waiting for us to snap"

Ming only nods in agreement.

Spade observes the bathroom and notices a ventilation shaft by the shower about six feet from the ground. At first he tries to pull the vent open himself, but to no avail. "Tch, care to actually help me?" Spade asks, with his voice still.

"What?! First of all, I'm not going into that… dirty place like this, and certainly not with you!" Ming protests.

"Well I'm sorry your highness, but unless you want to be dead, I'd help if I were you." Spade retorts.

Ming thinks hard but ultimately concedes, "Fine, only because of your current condition."

Spade ignores the panda's comment, holds on to the vent with Ming holding on to his waist, and starts pulling. I know I've done a number of really bad and stupid things. Though I really don't think my sins are worth this.

Both Spade and Ming pull the vent as hard as they could, but as they slowly pull the vent off the wall, which was thankfully loosened due to years of oxidation and neglect, the bolts start falling to the floor. Thankfully the noise wasn't enough to attract the woman just outside the bathroom door. Eventually they succeed in breaking the vent open. Both of them tumble to the ground as the cover comes away. A metallic clang rings through the room. This time, they do attract their assailant's attention.

"So that's where he's hiding." The women mentions to herself as she turns towards the bathroom door.

Bullets suddenly bursts through the door. Fortunately both Spade and Ming are down against the floor as a swarm of bullets pass above them. Ming covers her mouth and her expression of mortal terror, while Spade is overwhelmed by the large quantity of bullets whizzing overhead. Whoever this dragoness is, she's no fool. Though she's clearly insane. he thought. As the bullets cease and the dragoness approaches, Spade quickly gets up. He pulls Ming up with him and then pushes her into the vent before crawling after her.

At that moment, the woman shoots the door open and notices the open vent. Instead of following them however, she put her hands to her hips in disappointment, "I'll see him again. What matters now is the mission," The ewe looks at herself in the mirror and observes herself, then proceeds to leave the room, "I guess I'll report this to Akairo."

Ming crawls through the vents with Spade behind her, mildly embarrassed by her current state, as in her lack of clothing. At first she had no words to describe her situation, but begins to murmur, "This is absurd, inconceivable… indecent…"

"Please keep your thoughts to yourself, at least until we're safe." Spade warns.

"Easy for you to say, I'm sure you're enjoying the view." Ming taunts.

"No, I'm more concerned about staying alive than your ass."

"Oh…" Ming again murmurs, but with disappointment.

"What? Are you that much of a narcissist that you expect any guy to enjoy seeing you naked? Besides, aren't you married?"

"Didn't think someone like you would actually have morals."

"You don't know anything about me," Spade lashes, "I'm no saint, and like the rest of the Red Scarves, we actually have more honor than what you give us credit for. And yes, this is indecent, but decency can only get you so far."

Ming falls silent, thinking over what she just heard for a few moments. "W-who do you think you are?" She outwardly regains some of her bravado, but Spade realises instantly that it is nothing more than a façade.

"I used to be a Prince of Shuigang, I learned some things and already knew plenty that proved beneficial to the Red Scarves. That's all you need to know."

"What could've possibly made you quit being a prince?!" Ming responds in surprise.

"You must be either ignorant or stupid if you think being royalty is all about being pampered and rich," Spade retorts, "Heh, if anything, it's a royal pain in the ass, though frankly not like my current career choice is any better."

"I mean, I can-"

Spade kicks open the vent from below and drops into the hallway near the foyer where the stairs to the second floor is located. The sudden action shocks Ming, but she quickly relaxes upon realizing it was the cavy behind her. The panda slowly crawls down the vent from behind until she was hanging down from the vent she crawled from. As she falls, Spade grabs her and then lets go. He leads the way.

"I can surely help, I can, er…"

Spade grabs Ming's mouth, once again, and puts her against the wall with him. "Stay quiet for a moment." he urges.

Both panda and cavy can hear loud footsteps walking down the stair, unaware of whether it is friend or foe. The closer the footsteps come, the tighter Spade's grip on Ming gets. He knows she is beginning to panic. The approach of the footsteps concerns Spade. In his current condition, he can't fight hand-to-hand. He needs some kind of weapon at the least. The cavy frantically looks around himself for something, and the only suitable thing he can find was a vase. Ming begins to move frantically, likely cursing Spade for either holding on the her mouth for so long and tight or for using such a cliche and insufficient weapon. The footsteps become breathing, which can be heard from around the corner. Out of pure instinct, Spade darts around the corner and throws the vase at the person.

Suddenly a bulky figure dashes towards Spade, pinning him to the wall. Ming gasps in surprise, but after observing the figure closely it is only General Gong. "Gong! What are you doing?!" Ming demands, still visibly in shock.

"What... Ming?" The hulking panda responds. He turns in Ming's direction and then turns back to Spade, who remains pinned to the wall, "Spade?!"

"Let… go of me… you bastard…" Spade commands, barely able to breathe.

Gong loosens his body, freeing Spade. "If you weren't injured, I would've gladly kept you pinned. I thought you were that damn bat."

Spade rubs his neck where the edge of the general's shield had pressed against it. "Bat? The intruder is a dragonblood."

"Impossible, I saw that woman roaming the halls. When I called out to her, asking what she was doing here, she fled." Gong explains.

"It's possible that there's two intruders, and I have an idea who the other intruder is. First, can we both get actual clothing?"

Gong observes both the panda and cavy, and notices that they are half-naked, "Uh…"

"Say a word about any of this, and you're dead." Ming threatens.

Spade shrugs, "I'd heed her advice if I were you, if she's anything like the type of women I've met." He warns as he walks past the general.

Gong sighs heavily, "I'll take that into consideration."

Meanwhile back at the courtyard, a bat female, with slate grey fur, copper eyes, black cropped hair and black wings is leaning adjacent to the destroyed stone wall. The woman wears a midnight blue military-spec body glove, black calf-length military boots and gloves. She waits for her assigned partner with impatience, wondering to herself where on Avalice she can be. After about fifteen minutes, the bat sees a figure approaching her. It was the same dragonblood who attacked Spade earlier, "Glad to see you stood at the rendezvous point." the dragonblood notes.

"At least I still followed the mission. Tell me, where on Avalice were you Gen?" the bat interrogates.

Gen is much younger than her partner. She wears black a pair of tight pants and a tank-top, a crimson scarf, a pair of crimson gloves and has a pair of black holsters for her dual pistols. As an ewe, she has white wool as well as grey skin, but as a dragon she bears claws and horns of the same color with silver eyes. "I don't mean any disrespect Akairo, but it seems your choice of location wasn't a very good one." She taunts.

"Your point?" Akairo urges, clearly unamused.

"I simply bumped into some trouble in the form of a certain cavy-panda chimera."

"I see. So the former prince of Shuigang is here."

"You could just call him Spade, much easier to remember when making reports. Though would it kill you to loosen up?"

"Unlike you, I actually take these missions seriously. Besides, I'm not doing this for you or your group."

Gen suddenly holds her golden pistol in front of Akairo, aiming directly at her. Akairo remains calm, but on guard. "I apologize, I just took offense to that. Just so you know, I do take these missions seriously. Since Spade was here and thankfully injured, I simply took advantage of the situation. He simply proved more clever than I gave him credit for." Gen warns, casually walking closer to Akairo. "You wouldn't want to hurt Regashi's feelings, he takes such treachery personally." She whispers into the bat's ears.

"You don't threaten me." Akairo counters.

Gen changes her demeanor, "I wasn't trying to. I was giving advice. We're all friends here, right?"

"Hmph, right." Akairo agrees, then changing the subject. "Regardless of Spade's whereabouts, we should focus on finding what we came here for."

"Of course!" Gen responds, as she says that Akairo flies up to the rooftop and disappears into the palace's upper floors, leaving Gen to explore the lower floors. The dragoness grins as her pistols seemingly move by themselves as though they are attracted to a magnet. My bullets can do more than just mutilate my opponent. All it takes is one small scratch, besides I already have an idea where one of those crystals is, and with it I can easily find the rest. I'm sure that Regashi would be pleased!

"Akairo is her name. Although no one has caught her yet, what we do know is that she used to work for the Jade Alliance, likely was a secret agent for Aquila Kawaguchi. She's as mysterious as she is cautious." Spade explains.

All three pandas are in the second floor hallway.

"I know of her, though from what you've described of that dragoness, it's a rather strange pairing." Gong notes.

Spade is now wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with red, white and gold patterns, white pants, black shoes with red laces and golden patterns with his signature red scarf and shades. "It is rather strange, but honestly, it probably doesn't matter to them. They're both agile and stealthy, the only reason why the dragon attack was likely because she didn't expect to see me."

"So you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I know the feeling." Ming comments, wearing an azure sleeveless dress, pants and shoes. "I know it's casual and not really my color, but it was the best clothes I could find." She then explains, noticing Spade and Gong observing her, surprised by the lack of grandeur she typically wears.

"The courtyard was likely their rendezvous point, if I had to guess. It's secluded and has the least soldiers. Of course most of the soldiers are either home or at Shang Mu, watching the tournament, so we should also assume that this was planned."

"Indeed, it was." All three hear another voice from across the hall. "I believe I didn't introduce myself properly last time, the name's Gen." The person they hear is the same woman who attacked Spade and Ming.

Gong immediately takes out his shield, defending both Spade and Ming behind him, "So you're the dragonblood who infiltrated the palace!"

"No need to be so paranoid. I'm here to make a deal." Gen assures.

"A deal?"

"Spade. Hand over that crystal and I'll spare you and these two idiots."

Spade remains calm, "I don't know what you're talking about." He corrects.

"You can't lie to me Spade. you see, every time my bullet hits a target, it leaves an energy signature that I can track for two hours. My pistols also attracts to the strongest energy signature in a fifteen foot radius, and can absorb said energy and track anything with a similar signature." Gen explains.

"Hmph, so they're basically dowsing rods, just with energy," Spade clarifies. "Why exactly are you telling me this?"

"In case I'd have to convince you. Granted this ability does have one weakness-"

"So that's what you were hiding," Akairo appears behind Gen, "I'm no fool, I know when someone is being dishonest."

Gen looks behind herself, "You're one to talk, especially when you used to be Aquila's agent."

"I have my reasons for siding with him."

"Please enlighten me."

"Hey, do you guys trust me?" Spade asks Gong and Ming as Gen and Akairo argue with one another.

"Not really." Gong answers.

"If it keeps us alive, sure." Ming reluctantly responds.

Suddenly, Spade uses the elemental crystal he kept hidden in his pocket, and creates a wall of fire separating both groups from each other. The sudden amber catches Gen and Akairo off guard. Gen curses underneath her breath, while Akairo snapped her tongue loudly in disappointment.

"We're out of here." Spade commands.

"What?! How? When? What on ancient's name is going on?!" Gong stutters in confusion. "Why do you have that?!"

"Shut up and run." Spade growls.

"Did you have to catch the palace on fire?!"

The group run through the hallway and down the foyer stairs, into the throne room, where both Spade and Gong close and barricade the large entrance doors.

"Ok, that just happened, but at least we're alive. Now what is really going on? What are those 'elemental crystals'?" Ming demands.

"You're so annoying," Spade hisses, "Seriously, can you just shut up for once, you useless bitch!"

Ming backs off farther from the raging cavy. "Hey, I-"

"You what? You don't have the right to complain. You're just a spoiled brat who look down on anyone who doesn't meet your 'social status'. Don't you see we're trying to get out of here alive?!" Spade rants, growing more hysterical. "Waste of sp-"

Gong grabs Spade's arm, forcing the hand, which held the elemental crystal, open. Then snatches the ruby from him. "Enough! This thing is dangerous and it's already affecting you." he scolds, put the crystal away in his person.

Spade covers his face in pain, "What…" The cavy looks up and sees the terrified panda girl in front of him, "What happened? Why do you look so terrified?" For a moment the cavy's mind was blank, but then he remembered what happened as Ming keeps her distance, "Crap…"

"There's no time, we need to secure the rest of the elemental crystals, I'm the only one that has the clearance to enter where they're being held, so I'm going alone."

"Fine, though how do I know you're not going to leave us here?"

"That would be dishonorable, and even you know better than to expect any less from me. Besides, you need to look after Ming, and perhaps to make her feel better."

Spade turns and sees the panda girl sitting against the balcony balustrade. The cavy sighs, "I suppose you're right." He reluctantly agrees.

Gong nods and exits the throne room through the entrance across from the barricaded one.

Gen and Akairo rush towards the direction the group escaped to, leading them to the foyer. Both women observe the area looking for anything out of the ordinary, when the dragoness notices that the entrance to the throne room is now closed. "Wasn't the throne room open when we infiltrated this place?" Gen asks.

"It appears they've taken refuge in there. Honestly, let them stay in there, they're not our mission." Akairo urges.

"For all we know, they could be heading towards the other crystals to secure them."

"Perhaps, though I highly doubt Gong would allow Spade to know of the location of the other elemental crystals, regardless of whether that was the fire crystal."

"Spade still has one anyways, so what do you propose we do?"

"If you really want to pick a fight, then there's another entrance to the throne room via the Magister's bedroom, I'm sure that's the exit Gong would've taken. I won't stop you, I'll just pursue the general myself and have him lead me to the other crystals."

"Fine by me, though I wouldn't underestimate him, at least that's what Regashi told me."

"I'll keep that in mind." Akairo notes.

Gen and Akairo exits the foyer and rush down the hallway in pursuit of General Gong.

Spade approaches the distraught panda as she sat against the balcony railing. "I'm assuming just apologizing isn't going to cut it." Spade notes.

"It's fine, not like someone like you would understand." Ming counters.

"Try me."

"For starters it's not easy having to live up to your family's reputation. When I learned I was going to marry the mayor, at first I was reluctant, but I had a reputation to uphold. Honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I won't deny that Zao is… flawed, and perhaps somewhat eccentric, but he's no monster. Though I guess I'm no better." Ming explains.

"Is that all?" Spade asks, clearly unmoved by the panda's plight.

"Huh?" Ming responds in confusion.

"Sounds like stereotypical aristocrat drama to me." Spade notes.

"What, you can do better?!" Ming lashes, audibly offended by the cavy's nonchalant reaction.

"You asked why I joined the Red Scarves, right?"

"I might have."

"It's because as a Red Scarf I was able to make a difference. Alienated by my family and society because of my mixed-blood and alienated by some of my own comrades because of my royal blood. Most of the people I cared about and actually cared for me back, were either killed or brainwashed. Not exactly the best life to live."

Ming stays quiet, before asking one question. "Wait… If the Red Scarves are like a new family to you…"

"Why are they trying to kill me now?" Spade finishes. "Honestly, I've done a lot of stupid things, though strangely, I don't regret any of them. There's only a few things I truly regret."

"I guess, in your situation there's not much time for regrets. So what happened?"

"Apparently I was pawn, not to the Red Scarves, but to one of their leaders. I'm sure the other leaders are unaware of whatever he's planning. In a way you can say I'm trying to regain both the Red Scarves' and my own honor."

"I see, I hope you succeed, consider that an official blessing from the Shang Mu government, er… of sorts." Ming proudly states.

"I suppose being narcissistic is one way of lightening up," Spade taunts, which mildly annoys Ming, "Though, I'd gladly accept."

At that moment a loud thump is heard from the secondary exit, which Gong had locked before leaving the throne room. Spade quickly gets up and urges Ming to hide behind one of the large pillars as he hides in the pillar directly across from the panda. The door explodes into fragments, which scatter across the room as a stray bullet ricochet off one of the pillars. The dragoness walks out from the exit, appearing impatient. "Spade, I know you're here. At least have the decency to show your face." she beckons, audibly trying to hold her frustration.

Spade walks away from the pillar he is hiding behind. He faces the ewe, who wears an infuriated expression. "I can tell that you're not in a good mood, you seem fairly easy to annoy."

"Don't give me that, I'm normally more calm than this, it's just… embarrassing that a crippled assassin and an idiot rich girl somehow out maneuvered me. Also you might have scorched some of my precious wool with that attack of yours. Anyways, I'm going to say this one more time, hand over the crystal or you're dead." Gen explains.

"I'd rather die." Spade counters, She doesn't know that Gong has the Fire Crystal, though admittedly I'd rather not die now.

Gen snaps her tongue, holding tightly to both her pistols. "Fine, I guess I'll just loot the thing off your corpse."

The dragoness opens fire with her silver pistol, spraying a barrage of bullets at Spade. He predicts it, sliding back behind the pillar as the missiles fly past. Spade grabs what appears to be a thin metal pole with a handle and sharp point at the end. He thrusts it at his assailant's right hand, which holds the silver gun. Gen avoids the attack, but at the cost of losing her weapon which the pole had caught and wedged against the wall behind her, effectively disarming her right hand.

"How…" Gen starts.

"You have a habit of holding the pistol you're not going to use more tightly than the other, which is ironic honestly. Also it seems your weapons have to recharge after a few uses." Spade explains.

"So? You think you have a better chance of survival because my golden gun fires at a slower rate due to how much more powerful the attack is?" Gen concludes, "It's a sound plan."

Spade dashes out of his cover. Gen fires her golden gun in response, but he (Spade) dodges the attack, the projectile barely missing the cavy. Taking advantage of the golden gun's slower firing rate, the cavy charges the dragoness. However the projectile that Spade had previously avoided still manifested and darted back towards Gen and therefore Spade as well. Before the cavy could realize what had happened, it was too late the projectile had tore through the side of the cavy's right arm, breaking his dash and balance. Gen then charges a dragon boost into her own right arm and punches Spade square on the face, knocking him back several feet. The projectile had returned into the nozzle of Gen's golden pistol.

"Although it's true that it takes a moment for my pistols to recharge depending on how frequently I use them, I can still attract and detect energy with them, and evidently absorb the energy. It's more practical to wait for it to recharge, but honestly in this situation you were simply at a convenient angle for me to absorb the energy I fired, it's also typically easier and grants me an extra attack." Gen explains, pointing her firearm at the beaten cavy.

Spade tries his best to get up, but the dragoness' attacks had worn him out and the little energy he had to been able to mobilise had run out. Blood can be seen trickling down his face, though he appears to be holding on to something. I should've known she had a trick up her sleeve, and now I'm actually going to die. Though perhaps this one explosive card could get me out of this mess.

As Gen was about to open fire, Ming runs in between Spade and Gen, "Wait!" Ming cries. "If it's the elemental crystal you want, then you can have it!"

Gen lowers her guard, "Is that so? How do I know you're being sincere?"

"Are you seriously asking that question? Does it look like we have a choice?" Ming sasses, frightfully sincere despite her rude response.

"Alright, since Spade is in no condition to hand over the crystal, you're going to deliver it to me now." Gen demands.

"You promise to leave us alone?"

"Yeah sure. Now hurry up, I don't have all night Cupcake."

Ming leans over Spade, digging into his back pocket as though she was trying to retrieve something. "What the hell you think you're doing?! You-" the cavy retaliates.

Ming grabs Spade's mouth and whispers to his ear, "Relax, I'm just giving you the opportunity to attack her with one of those explosive cards of yours. I may be spoiled, but I actually do my research. Though you should still play along, or better yet, don't say anything and wait till I give this to her." she explains, referring to a piece of rubble that formed from Gen's previous attack. Ming's thoughts start rushing through her head as she begins to approach the dragoness. I never seen one up close so I'm not sure how convincing this is, but I'm more worried about those weapons not sensing energy.

As Ming got closer to Gen to deliver the 'crystal', the panda grew apprehensive. Thankfully she could easily use that uneasiness to her advantage, making the act more convincing. To the panda's surprise, she was actually slightly taller than the dragoness when closer, however Gen's serious expression only made her more worried. Letting out a deep breath, she responds with a calm expression. She briefly looks behind herself to see to injured cavy and nods, before giving Gen the piece of rock. The dragoness immediately realises that she hadn't been given the elemental crystal, or at least she didn't think she had. regardless, the dragoness crushes the rock in anger. She tries to attack the panda girl, but this gives Spade the moment he needs to throw the only explosive card he has.. At that very moment, Ming manages to barely avoid the dragoness' attack, backing off as far as possible from her assailant. Gen instinctively dodges the playing card instead of pursuing the fortunate panda, a course that would have led her straight into its path. Unfortunately for her, the card explodes in front of her face instead. Gen is quick to shield herself, but the force of the explosion throws her towards the balcony. She grips the railing for support.

"That was a mista-" Gen growls.

She is interrupted by Ming's fist to her face. The punch lands against her muzzle, causing the dragoness to fold backward and flop over the balcony. Ming stood frozen, dumbstruck by what she had just done. Her shock quickly turns to pride. "That's what you get you rapscallion!"

Spade slowly gets up from his injuries, "I have to admit…" he notes, in mild pain, "you did a good job, though perhaps you should leave the insults to someone else."

Ming rushes to Spade's aid, "Well, I guess being a world famous actress does have it's benefits."

"Also, I'm not that bad of an actor." Spade counters.

"Perhaps, never thought I'd be allies with the likes of you."

"Heh, allies?"

Ming goes silent, appearing somewhat worried.

"Relax, allies is good, and although it may not really be my thing, I guess we can be friends in the near future."

"That would be rather nice."

Spade walks towards the exit Gen came from, "We should find Gong."

Meanwhile, Gong enters a secret chamber underneath the palace. The room, like most of the palace, consists of blue marble floors, pillars and pearl like walls. The chamber is home to several artifacts and ancient contraptions, and at the center of the opposing wall is a large vault, which housed the elemental crystals. The vault can only be opened with identification and a passcode, which only The Magister, General Gong and a select few individuals, typically those in charge of performing research on them, know of. However, upon opening the vault, the giant panda was surprised at what he finds, then footsteps are heard from across the long hall. As the panda turns around, he sees Agent Akairo.

"So this is where you've hidden them?" Akairo notes, walking down the hall and observing the other artifacts in the chamber. "It appears Shang Tu has secrets of their own."

"So you're Akairo." Gong responds, holding his shield at the ready.

"Normally, I wouldn't be as direct, since it's usually my mission to gather intelligence. Though, I'm sure that you can understand that sometimes action has to be taken."

"Of course. It's my duty to protect this kingdom and its people."

"If that's the case, then why associate yourselves with our affairs?"

"You know very well why we had to interfere with your 'affairs'," Gong barks, "I won't let you steal these crystals."

"But not all of them are there, and I don't mean just the fire crystal." Akairo observes.

"How did you…" Gong is surprised by the bat's sudden observation.

"I had my suspicions, but with that vault open like that, it only confirmed them. Regardless, I suppose three out of five isn't a total failure, I'm sure Gen would have a good idea where the metal and water elemental crystals are. Actually, I think I can figure out the metal elemental crystal's location myself." Akairo explains.

Gong charges at Akairo, who leaps into the air. Soaring over his charge, she uses her wings to gain height and then descends with a brutal drop kick. However, the general lifts his shield and pushes the bat away behind him. Akairo lands on her feet and as she does so, two tambo slide into her hands. She holds her ground as if beckoning the panda, but instead of charging head on against her, Gong throws his heavy shield. It leaves his hands with tremendous force, but Akairo steps out of its way and tries to flank him. As she lunges for his side, the shield ricochets back towards him, and Gong grabs it quickly. The sheer weight pushes him back, causing Akairo to miss by inches and throwing her off guard. With his opponent left wide open, Gong tries to slam his shield against her. She barely manages to jump back and away from the swing. Akairo slowly walks back, drifting closer to the two remaining energy crystals.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gong questions, "Surely you don't believe you'll be making it out with those in hand."

Gong charges at Akairo, and the bat jumps over the attack like before, but the panda predicts the action and throws his shield at the airborne bat, who uses her wings to control her momentum and tambo to decrease the force of the attack. However the shield launches her against the high ceiling, causing her to fall several feet. Seemingly knocking her out. Taking advantage of the situation, the general quickly grabs the wood and earth crystals and exits the chamber, but before he could, he hears movement behind and upon turning around Akairo swings both tambo against his head, causing him to collapse, but still conscious, and to drop both crystals. The panda slowly gets up, witnessing the bat take both crystals, but Akairo turns back to him and kicks him in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious. However not before saying this to him.

"I admire your pride and honor. Though you were stronger than I anticipated, you were also sloppy." Akairo taunts.

After several hours, Gong could hear a voice as he slowly wakes up, "Hey, Hey! I know damn well you're not dead."

The panda fully wakes and sees Spade. He can feel a sharp pain on his head. "How… How did you find…"

Spade sighs, "Took me a couple hours, but the only other place left to check was underneath the palace. Honestly, I'm astonished that even the Red Scarves didn't bother to check this place."

"I'm sorry, Akairo got the crystals." Gong informs. The general had one one knee up as he bowed his head in shame.

"Don't worry, they don't have all of them." Spade assures.

"You know something about the two missing ones?"

"I have an idea, all you need to know is that we can trust whoever has the metal and water crystals."

"Very well. Then take this." Gong reluctantly gives Spade the fire crystal that he kept hidden in his person. "Ironic how we're the ones with three crystals. I take it that you defeated Gen?"

"Barely. You know, Ming has a surprisingly strong left hook."

"Did you say that Ming attacked someone?!" Gong responds in confused shock, "Honestly, I didn't think she had it in her…"

"You're not the only one," Spade changes the topic. "Perhaps you should stay here and trying rebuilding this mess of a palace as well as looking after Ming."

Gong nods in agreement, "Before you head over to Shang Mu, you should know the location where the battle royale will take place in…"

A few hours earlier, Akairo finds the beaten Gen at a nearby garden. After waiting a few minutes, the dragoness awakens. She can still feel a mild amount of pain from Ming's hook, and for a moment she stands confused about her current surroundings and even the presence of Akairo. Then she remembered what happened at the throne room, "Urgh… I feel like a total fool!" Gen grimaces.

"Seems there's a lot of factors we both overlooked," Akairo sighs in disappointment, "It appears there were only two crystals at the vault."

"Only two? Which crystals were missing?" Gen asks.

"Other than the fire crystals, which at the moment we can only assume that Spade has, the metal and water crystals. I think I know who might have the former though."

"No, it wasn't Rob Stiil, if that's who you're referring too." Gen corrects, "It appears we have a traitor, though honestly, it's nothing Regashi didn't expect."

"What's with you people and your lagomorphs." Akairo comments.

"Can't do much about it now, though quick reminder, where is the battle royal for the AAMAT taking place." Gen asks.

"According to my sources, it's set to take place in a large area near the outskirts of Shang Mu, called 'The Wilds', consisting mostly of woodlands but also has surrounding mountains, lakes and swamps." Akairo informs.

"Then we simply head back to base. We'll leave the rest to Regashi and that perverted bastard."