Okay, so we're not...quite at the final battle yet. Don't hate me.

Chapter 14: Instincts

"Why are you still here?"

Hui glared at his unwelcome guest, but Jin the Assassin was not one to be intimidated. "What? Can't a guy stick around to see the big show?"

"There is no show. It's over. I've won. Your job is finished and, as of now, only wolves are allowed in this city. So get out."

"Wolves? Is that what you call this mob of yours? Ah ha ha ha ha!" Jin doubled over in a fit of laughter, slapping his side. He stopped laughing and rose back up again, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "These are no wolves. They're just mindless sheep under yer command. Which would make you a sheepdog."

Hui's gaze darkened considerably. "I won't say this again. Leave. Now."

"Or what?" Jin challenged. "Ya gonna kill me? Just like the last guy who stopped putting up with yer crap?"

Hui took a step forward, considering just that, when a loud noise of splintering wood stopped him. Both canines looked up as the academy's front doors came flying over the upper ledge and onto the floor. They were soon followed by Masters Ox and Croc, landing on top of the doors and destroying them further. Ox looked up at them. "Hope we're not interrupting anything."

Any serious composure that Jin had before was lost as he burst out laughing again. "Ha ha, not at all! In fact, yer right on time!"

Hui's eye twitched. "You again? How many times do I have to beat you before you realize you've lost?"

"As long as we're still alive, we haven't lost."

"You, on the other hand, are going down," Croc smiled.

"Is that so?" Hui looked between the two masters, then crouched down and dashed straight at them using Fleetfoot.

Ox and Croc readied themselves to counter him, but the Alpha passed right through them and reappeared at the lower door behind them. He turned his head towards Jin. "If you want to kill them so badly, fine. Just get them out of my way!" He ran out the door.

"No! We can't let him get away again!" Ox growled. He looked between Jin and the open door, desperately trying to decide on a course of action.

Croc made the decision for him. "Go. Take him down. I'll handle fox boy."

"But-"

"Remember what Master Rhino told us? We both promised to lay down our lives for this city if we had to, and I fully intend to keep that promise. What about you?"

Ox gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but he could come up with no counterargument. "...Alright. But don't you dare die!" Ox dropped to all-fours and took off after Hui.

"Very noble speech," Jin said. "I just hope ya really are prepared to die."

"I am," Croc dropped into his fighting stance. "But that doesn't mean I intend to."

"Good." Jin brought up both crossbows and started spinning them around in his paws, getting faster and faster. He looked at them almost affectionately. "Because against my partners 'Zei' and 'Lang' here, yer gonna need to be at yer best if ya want any chance at all." He stopped spinning the crossbows and pointed them both at his target.

"Now come on! I could use a new pair of boots!"

As soon as he got outside, Ox jumped up onto a roof and honed his acute eyesight towards the sole purpose of finding Kai Hui. By now, the city was nearly a ghost town, which made this job much easier. After scanning past a few of the lesser Lang Qun, he caught sight of the Alpha tearing through an alleyway. Jumping across a few more rooftops, Ox dropped down into the alleyway, attempting to cut him off. Hui noticed his descent at the last moment and promptly used Fleetfoot, dashing underneath him before he hit the ground. "Obnoxiously persistent as ever, Master Ox. Let's see if you can keep up."

Ox wasted no time and was after him again as soon as his hooves touched the cobblestone. He charged after him on all-fours while Hui stayed on two legs, but his Fleetfoot technique kept him well out of reach. Even with his keen eyes, he could barely see him at all, the wolf appearing only as a series of brief flashes. It was only by using Hui's bushy tail as a focal point that he managed to keep sight of him.

As they passed by a group of four Lang Qun, Hui gave a whistle and they jumped in between them to block Ox's path. "Out of my way!" He titled his head to the right and rammed the leftmost wolf in the side, sending him into the other three and knocking them down like dominoes. Before they even landed, Ox had left them in the dust and continued after Hui.

He knew that he couldn't possibly keep running like this for much longer, but he continued to push himself just to make it long enough. The fate of the entire city rested on him catching this wolf and he wasn't about to let anything stop him.

Hui clearly didn't understand how the bovine could still be keeping up with him and his attempts to lose him got increasingly more desperate. Dashing through a marketplace, Hui struck out at the stalls around him, spilling their goods onto the road. But mere produce did little to slow Ox down. It was very fortunate for him that there were no people around, the result of Hui's own ambitions working against him.

Clearing a pile of vegetables, Ox stuck his horns under a large pumpkin and flung it at the back of Hui's head. The squash bounced off his skull with a solid "thunk", which didn't stop him, but did piss him off. "Annoying pest!" He whirled around abruptly and struck Ox under the chin with a kick, the blow coming so quickly that he didn't register what happened until he was in the air. Ox caught himself on the ground and charged forward again, only losing a little bit of ground on his adversary.

Hui got to a fork in the road up ahead and Ox watched him closely to see whether he would go left or right. But he did neither, instead running straight up the building in front of him and over the roof. Ox knew that he would never catch up with him if he tried to go around, so he lowered his head, braced himself, and mentally apologized to whoever owned this building as he plowed straight through it.

The shortcut he had just created stuck him right behind Hui when he reached the other side. Hui panicked, as would anyone with an angry ox chasing them, and sped up even further, widening the distance again. Ox pushed himself to keep running, but the strain proved too much and he felt himself finally wearing down. He fell further and further behind until he had to stop, gasping for air. He looked up helplessly as Hui sped away up a large flight of stairs.

And that's when it happened.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!" Hui's bloodcurdling scream was accompanied by the wet sound of tearing muscle. He lost control and tripped, being carried up the rest of the stairs by his own momentum and stopping at the top. Ox could see a trial of blood coating the stairs and its source was Hui's bandaged right leg. "No! I thought that was healed!"

Ox got back up, getting his second wind. "Looks like Chou left more of a mark on you that we thought. That leg of yours may have been fine for a while, but you overtaxed it with all that 'Fleetfoot' nonsense. Too bad." Ox slammed his fists together and growled at him. "Now let's see how tough you are without your cheap trick!"

Hui's eyes widened and he ran away quickly, but much slower than before. Ox took only a moment to catch his breath and rushed up the stairs after him. When he reached the top, Hui was no where in sight, but a familiar gate standing in front of him left little doubt where he was. Ox walked up to the gate and kicked it open.

He was now standing back in the courtyard that he and Croc used for their training. The same courtyard that was once home to the Tower of Sacred Flame. The tower was still in ruins and everything else looked much the same as well, except the intimidating sight of the last remaining Lang Qun cannon sitting off to the side. No doubt Hui kept it here as a symbol of his conquest. The wolf himself stood on top of the sparring platform, facing away from him. He was noticeably putting more weight on his good leg and his other foot just barely touched the ground. He was eerily silent as Ox approached the platform, but he had no doubt that he sensed his presence. Finally, he spoke. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Ox smirked. "Yeah, but your ego got in the way. Can't say I'm surprised. Your ego is behind this whole plan."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "This plan is for the betterment of the wolf species."

Ox shook his head. "I don't get you. You think you're so much better than all the other wolves, and yet you're going through all this trouble to be a part of them. Why even bother?"

"Do you think I want to?" Hui snapped, glaring at him over his shoulder. "You're right. Had I the choice, I would have disowned the rest of my species long ago. But I can't..." He clenched his fists tightly. "It's these damn instincts. They tell me that I must be a part of the pack, no matter how little I want to. Do you have any idea what that's like? To have your very being force you away from the path you choose? Oh, I tried to socialize with them, to satisfy my instincts, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to act like those disgusting, idiotic savages!"

Ox snorted in complete disgust. "So instead, you decided to make them more like you. You just couldn't accept them until they were your perfect little 'brethren'. And I thought Shen had issues..."

He turned all the way around to face Ox now. "Why shouldn't the rest of my kind be more like me? Clearly, I am of superior stock. Chengshi de Lang is going to flourish under my leadership!"

"'Chengshi de Lang' is going to implode on itself, you idiot! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"Idiot?!" Hui's features contorted in madness and rage as he snarled furiously at Ox. He took a few deep breaths and returned to his somewhat calm state. "Enough of this drivel. You wish to challenge me for the city, yes?"

"Yes." Ox cracked his knuckles. "And don't think I'm gonna feel bad about hitting you just because you're a cripple."

Ox started walking up the stairs to the sparring platform while Hui went over to the right side, moving into his stance. "Hmph. Even without Fleetfoot, you will never defeat me."

"Oh yeah?" Ox walked to the opposite side and formed his own stance. "Is that what your instincts are telling you?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "No, but you know what my instincts are saying? They're saying that you have encroached on my territory, Master Ox, and they want me to spill your blood." His body started to shake a little and he formed a twisted grin. "Fine with me! I'll gladly spill it all over this city! Then no one will ever challenge me again!"

The two warriors stared each other down one last time and charged.