I decided to do one more chapter of this before my other story. I didn't want to leave you on that cliffhanger for too long and more people seem to care about this story anyway.

Chapter 6: Escape

Ox and Croc found themselves unable to move. The shock of being caught and the dawning realization that they were hopelessly trapped left them frozen for several moments. The Lang Qun surrounded them from above like a circle of sharks, all brandishing weapons at them. This was one fight they knew they absolutely could not win. Kai Hui seemed quite aware of this as he stood on the end of the platform, calmly staring at them with complete confidence. It seemed impossible to them that he could have found them so quickly until they finally put it together. "This was a trap," Ox realized. "You knew where the blueprints were all along!"

"No, but I had my suspicions," Hui said, smiling darkly. "Thank you for confirming them. With both you and the blueprints in our control, Gongmen City is ours for the taking."

"You want to use us as hostages?" Croc asked. "Then why sic an assassin on us?"

"I did want to kill you at first. It was only after I hired that idiot fox that I realized you may be more useful to me alive. No one would dare stand in my way with the lives of the city's leaders at stake. Now then..." He brought one paw out from behind his back and extended it forward. "...hand over the blueprints."

Croc looked nervously at Ox, who stared down at the blueprints in his hoof. He knew what would happen if Hui got his paws on them and he couldn't allow that. No matter what. "I don't think so." Ox took a step back and held his arm over to the side, dangling the blueprints over the lit fire pot. There were several gasps from the wolves around him.

Hui narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I think I would. Master Thundering Rhino gave his life to protect the city, and if I need to do the same, I will."

He was dead serious and Hui could tell. "Alright then. What are your terms?"

"I have none."

"What?"

"I told you, protecting this city is more important to me than anything else." He saw Croc smile at him and knew that he would've done the same thing in his position. Master Rhino had taught them well. "Say goodbye to the blueprints, Hui."

He dropped them.

"No!" Ox watched the blueprints fall towards the fire, smiling in satisfaction. Suddenly, he saw a black and gray blur pass in front of his vision and the blueprints were gone. They reappeared back at the end of the platform, Hui clutching them in one paw. All of this happened in less than a second.

Ox's jaw dropped, as did Croc's. "How did you do that?"

Hui smiled at them again. "Wouldn't you like to know? Now, to claim my other prize." He turned away and whistled to the Lang Qun. The wolves started to climb down to the platform, closing in on them.

Ox and Croc looked back at each other, now only having one option: to fight. Luckily for them, the wolves were off-guard now, confident in their victory, and they still had one more trick up their sleeves. "Croc, it's time for Maneuver 26."

"Ooooh, that's a fun one. I'm ready when you are."

As the wolves got closer, Ox suddenly leapt forward, landing on all fours and going into a charge. At the same time, Croc jumped onto his back and grabbed his horns, the two looking like a demented rodeo act. Needless to say, the Lang Qun were not expecting this at all and only stood there in shock as the duo charged through them, Ox bashing them aside with his horns and Croc doing the same with his tail. They charged straight for Hui and the blueprints. The Lang Qun commander performed a back-flip, letting the masters pass underneath him as their momentum carried them through the wooden railing and right over the side.

Hui landed gracefully back on his feet and glared after them, the slightest hint of a snarl on his lips. "Perhaps you aren't worth the trouble, after all."

Ox landed hard on the floor of the factory, but didn't let this slow him down as he continued his mad dash, Croc hanging on his back. They soon heard the thunderous pounding of many footfalls behind them as the Lang Qun gave pursuit.

"What about the blueprints?" Croc yelled down to his friend.

"It can't be helped! We need to get out of here and warn the city!"

At first, it seemed like that might be easier than expected as Ox proved to be faster than the wolves in this state, even with Croc's weight on top of him. Their pursuers soon realized this and started to fall back. But before the masters could even tempt fate, they heard a sharp whizzing noise as an arrow notched itself into the ground next to them.

Ox growled in frustration. "Oh, they have archers too! Of course! Why wouldn't they?!"

The next arrow to come at them would have hit Ox in the leg had Croc not spotted it and knocked it out of the air with his tail. "Just keep going! I'll tell you where to move!"

The arrows continued to rain down while Croc shouted directions to avoid them. "Left! Right! Left again! Up!" Ox jumped a large piece of metal in front of them. Croc looked back, rather pleased with himself, when he saw a huge volley of arrows coming down, too close for him to give a shout in time. Instead, Croc roughly yanked Ox's head to the right, forcing him to make a sharp turn and avoid the arrows. This action caused him to let out a loud, undignified moo.

"Did you just steer me?!"

Croc chuckled. "Was that a pun?"

"No!"

"Oh...then yes. Sorry."

Thankfully, that was the last of the arrows as they finally got out of range. The only thing standing in their way now was the factory's large metal gate. There were few opponents who could withstand Ox's charge and he decided that this gate would not be one of them. He lowered his head and snorted, charging full speed ahead as Croc closed his eyes and hoped for the best.

Whether or not Ox could bust down the gate turned out to be irrelevant as they found it opening in front of them. A small crowd of wolves stood at the other end, all looking bruised and battered. "Boss! It's those masters! They're he-" The unfortunate wolf's eyes widened behind his mask as said masters plowed right through them and kept going. As soon as they passed over the ridge and left the factory grounds, the rest of the Lang Qun poured out of the building behind them, ready to continue the chase.

"Let them go!"

The wolves all stopped in their tracks as Hui walked out. He only spared a quick glance over the ridge before looking down at the blueprints held in his paw, an evil grin forming on his muzzle. "We have more pressing matters to deal with."

As soon as they entered the city again, Ox and Croc returned to their normal method of travel and walked the rest of the way home in complete silence. They headed into the academy building, went into their separate rooms, and lied down on their cots, still not saying a word. Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, the full impact of what just happened finally hit them. A good five minutes passed of them just lying there, staring up at the ceiling, when Ox finally broke the silence. "We're not cut out for this, are we?"

Croc said nothing, not having any good response to that question. Ox continued, his voice quiet and sullen. "If Master Rhino were there, he would've stopped Hui from getting the blueprints. If the Furious Five were there, they would've done it too. Hell, even the Dragon Warrior would've pulled something out of his butt and saved the day." He gave a deep sigh. "But because it was us, the city is doomed. Some protectors we turned out to be..."

Seeing his normally cocky and boisterous friend like this was really starting to get to Croc and he could keep silent no longer. "It wasn't our fault. There's nothing more we could have done." Even as he said those words, he knew they were hollow.

Ox made no response and just turned away from him on the cot. It was a clear sign that their brief conversation was over. Croc sighed and turned away as well. It wasn't like he was feeling much better anyway. They had failed. That much was undeniable. So far, everything was going according to the Soothsayer's vision. If they didn't do something soon, Gongmen City would burn.

But that didn't mean they should give up hope. They had done that once already, back when they gave in to Shen's demands and stayed in this pitiful cell while the warriors of the Jade Palace were out fighting for the city, fighting the battle that should have been theirs. How bitterly ironic that they now had no choice but to fight that battle themselves.

He just hoped that they could pull off a miracle too.