Just to clarify, the Undercity is not my original creation. It actually comes from Kung Fu Panda 2: The Game. I don't know why I keep referencing that game, since I've never played it and heard it kind of sucked, but I felt that it would fit nicely with the story. That said, I only had a few game clips to work with and I've already made some alterations to make it fit better, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't count as canon anyway, so whatever.

Chapter 9: The Undercity

It was mid-morning the next day as the Lang Qun continued to work away in their tunnel. It was intentionally constructed in the middle of nowhere, so it was unlikely that anyone would stumble across it anytime soon. That was good, because even with such a large force, it was taking a while.

Kai Hui stood back, carefully observing the wolves digging into the walls as the wrong move could easily cause a cave-in. Jin the Assassin stood next to him, tossing one of his twin crossbows into the air and catching it over and over. Hui kept a close eye on him too, in the very good chance that the thing accidentally discharged.

"Bit of an overly complicated plan, don't ya think?" Jin asked. "I mean, couldn't ya just invade the city from the surface? Doesn't seem like it would be much of an issue."

"We could, but not without a fight. And that would only damage the city further, possibly even to ruin. My aim is to get inside and force a quick surrender without any casualties."

"Clever." Jin went over to a nearby wolf taking a break and nudged him in the side. "It's a good thing you've all got a good head on your shoulders, huh?" The wolf snarled at him.

"Silence," Hui ordered. He instantly stood up straight and made no other sound.

"A good head indeed." Jin laughed. "So how long's it gonna take for yer little slaves to bust through to the Undercity?"

"They are not slaves," Hui hissed. "They are my brethren."

Jin waved a paw in front of the masked wolf's face and snapped his fingers a few times. No response. "Uh-huh. So how long?"

Hui glared at him, but answered anyway. "Another few hours at least."

He pouted. "Seriously? But it's so dull out here!" He threw and caught his crossbow again and the inevitable finally happened when it went off, sending a deadly bolt straight at Hui. Quick as lightning, the Alpha's paw caught it inches from his muzzle.

"Don't forget your job," he said, tossing the bolt aside as if it were merely a thrown pebble. "You're here to take care of Masters Ox and Croc should they interfere again."

"I think ya mean when they interfere again," Jin said, his ever-present smirk even more pronounced.

Hui turned his attention back to the workers, slowly making their way further and further towards their destination, then towards the half-dozen large crates that sat behind them. "Yes."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Ox asked.

"Ready," Croc answered.

"Ready," Chou responded only a second later.

"Good. Then let's get going."

The Undercity was remarkably easy to find once they knew where to look. In fact, it's entrance was buried directly beneath the academy building. This was no coincidence, as it was decided that if anyone should have access to the place, it should be the city's kung fu masters. That only peeved them more that they had no idea it existed until now, but the Soothsayer's justification was that the Undercity was ancient history and they really had no use for the knowledge anymore outside of this specific situation. It was hard to disagree with her.

Despite all the secrecy, the unlocking mechanism was nothing more than yanking down a specific torch on the wall. A child could have figured it out. But again, only if they knew anything was hidden there in the first place. There was a loud scraping noise and Croc and Chou had to jump back as the floor suddenly started opening up beneath them. The giant taijitu (yin yang symbol) that marked the ground opened along it's "curve", creating an opening about five feet wide before it stopped. The area below was dark and gray, a stark contrast to the well lit academy building. A stale, musty scent wafted up to their noses, telling them that it had been a very long time since someone last opened this.

"Woah," Chou said, echoing what they were all thinking.

"Let's not waste any more time gawking," Ox said sternly. "We have to move quickly."

They all jumped down into the opening, prepared for whatever awaited them down below. This time, they had the foresight to bring along some weapons. Ox had traded out his giant battle axe for two smaller ones that he could dual-wield. Croc had gone with a tri bo yao, a difficult, but very effective weapon in his capable claws. As for Chou, he insisted that he was better in bare-pawed combat, but Croc lent him his dual dao swords anyway. Better safe than sorry.

As they landed on the dusty floor, they looked back up through the opening, wondering how long it would be until they saw the light of day again. Ox turned to Croc. "Hey, this is the only entrance to Gongmen from the Undercity, right?"

"According to the Soothsayer, yes."

"Then here's an idea. Let's just bring down the walls up ahead and seal it off."

"That would be a good plan if it weren't for the fact that the Lang Qun have cannons now."

"Damn," Ox swore. "And here I thought we might actually get off easy for once."

"What, you're not afraid of the big scary Undercity are you?" Chou teased.

He soon learned that Master Storming Ox did not like to be teased as the giant bovine was now looming over him menacingly. "What was that?"

"Um...n-nothing."

As soon as that was settled, the trio started making their way through the Undercity. From what they could tell, the place looked less like a city and more like a giant underground prison, where the 'houses' more closely resembled prison cells. It was made up of a series of corridors that connected to each other through centralized rooms, making the whole place very labyrinthine. They were grateful they had Chou's powerful nose with them, or else they could have easily missed the Lang Qun entirely.

"How anyone could ever live in a place like this is beyond me," Ox said. "It gives me the creeps." While Chou had made fun of him earlier, he and Croc now agreed with him. The dismal scenery combined with the eerie silence was putting them all on edge. They half-expected evil skeletons to pop out of the ground and attack at any moment. There were certainly enough bones for them.

"As much as we have a habit of flying by the seat of our pants, we really need a plan here," Croc said, more to break the silence than anything else.

Ox nodded. "Alright, let's overview the situation and try to come up with something. So, we're dealing with a hundred or so wolf warriors with enough skill to give us trouble individually."

"Then there's Kai Hui, who's most likely highly-skilled and whose abilities we barely know anything about," Croc added.

"And they've got a bunch of cannons now, which each have the power to destroy entire buildings," Chou finished. "So...got anything?"

Croc sighed in resignation. "Flying by the seat of our pants, it is..."

They were fine with silence after that.

Eventually, they found themselves in a very large room. A large taijitu was marked on the floor at the center, just like in the academy building. They walked on to the symbol and used this as a vantage point to get a better look at the place. They could see the ruins of what looked like buildings littering the area around them, as well as several other exits in addition to the one they came in through.

"If this used to be a city, then this must be the 'town square'," Croc deduced. "Wanna bet the Lang Qun are going to be coming through here?"

"I'd say that's a pretty safe bet," Ox agreed. "No matter where their tunnel enters the city, they'll most likely have to cut through this 'square' at some point."

"So now what?" Chou asked, idly kicking a loose stone into the distance. "We just sit around and wait for them?"

"No," Ox said, facing him. "We're going to do something a little more productive that that. We're going to spar."

"Excuse me?"

"So far, our only experience seeing you in combat was a fight that ended before it began. I want to see what you've really got."

Any nervousness Chou might have had at facing a legendary master was quickly overwritten by his desire to prove himself. "Bring it on," he smiled.

Croc backed away and sat himself on top of a broken pillar while Ox and Chou took their positions on top of the taijitu, which would serve as their arena. They unsheathed their weapons and started to circle each other, each looking for an opening in their opponent.

Ox was the first to attack, coming in low with his dual axes. Chou countered with his dao swords, blocking the axes before they could touch him and aiming a strike at Ox's side. The bovine dodged away from it and swung again. Chou ducked the swings this time and came up with his swords, forcing Ox to block.

Croc watched them go at it from the sidelines. He felt obliged to root for his fellow master, but objectively, either of them could win. Ox held the advantage in size and power, but Chou's weapons gave him more range and he was much quicker on his feet. He was actually holding his own better than any of the Lang Qun they had fought previously. He couldn't tell if that was because he was actually better than them, or just a lot more determined.

As the two warriors clashed again, their blades interlocked and they were left at a standstill. In this situation, Ox had the clear advantage and started to push against Chou's blades, slowly shoving the wolf back towards the edge of the taijitu. Ox thought the match was as good as won when Chou suddenly stopped resisting and fell backwards onto the floor. The unexpected move made Ox stumble forward and Chou immediately whirled around to his back to try and kick him out. Ox turned around and blocked the kick with an axe at the last second.

"Nice try," he smirked.

"Dang. I thought I had you there." Chou was clearly enjoying himself and his words showed no real frustration. "But you gotta admit, I'm a lot better than you thought, right?"

"Yeah," Ox indeed admitted. "You're good all right. Especially for..." He stopped himself there before he could say something that might be taken as offensive.

But the damage was done and Chou no longer smiled, now glaring at the large master. "Especially for a wolf. That's what you were going to say, right?"

"I didn't mean it like-"

"Yes you did!" Chou attacked again, swinging his swords furiously at Ox, his words punctuated by the sounds of clashing blades. "You think that most of us are just stupid, savage brutes, don't you?! Just like all the rest! That's how it's always been in Gongmen City!"

"Hold on a minute!" Ox interrupted him, now offended himself. "Gongmen is a peaceful, equal-opportunity city! We do not promote speciesism!"

"Who are you kidding?!" Chou snapped, continuing on his offensive. Ox struggled to keep up with him. "You never cared about the wolves, not even when we were serving as the royal guard! My father told me all about how the people walked all over us, pulled their children away from us in fear, didn't treat us with the slightest respect as we fought for your lives! I may not have been part of the generation that joined up with Shen, but I can see why they did it! At least he pretended to give a damn!"

With those last furious words, Chou pushed Ox onto his back outside the taijitu. "Looks like I win," the wolf said, not sounding the least bit satisfied by his victory. While Ox slowly got back up, Chou walked away and sat himself down at the other end of the room, facing away from them. Ox went over and sat by Croc, who seemed to be having trouble finding something to say. Before he could manage it, Ox spoke up first.

"Croc, we are the good guys here...right?"