And another fic bites the dust. Thanks once again to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. In particular, I want to give a shout out to The Assassin of Xion, who started following me during this story and who has graciously invited me into his community. Thanks for that.

One last thing I'm going to do for this story is to add bios of all my major Kung Fu Panda OC's (from both this and Always Together) to my profile. After that, I'll finally get back to finishing the long-neglected No More Turnabout.

Enjoy the final chapter.

Chapter 17: Rebuilding

It had been one week since Gongmen City was freed from Lang Qun control. The royal guard helped to return the civilians to the city as best they could while Ox and Croc remained confined to the hospital, slowly going mad from being unable to help out at all. But just this morning, they learned that the Imperial Army had arrived to assist in the effort.

"Oh, so now they want to help," Ox grumbled from his hospital bed. "After we had to deal with the actual threat by ourselves."

"They're probably going to try claiming all the credit for this too," Croc said, just as bitterly.

"Don't be so sour," the Soothsayer chastised. The old goat stood by their beds, drinking a cup of tea to calm her nerves. She needed it around these two. "The important thing is that the city is safe once again and recovering as we speak."

"Uh-huh," Ox said, not any less sour.

"Speaking of the Imperial Army, their captain is waiting in the lobby. He wants to speak to you about the incident."

"We've already relayed all the information to the royal guard. He can ask them," Croc said.

The Soothsayer sighed. It was probably for the best that they didn't meet, to be honest. "Very well. But they do want to know what you're doing with the Lang Qun. They're all sitting in Gongmen Jail for the time being, but the army offered to take them off our hands."

"Like hell they are!" Ox snapped. "The Lang Qun are our business, and if the captain has a problem with that, tell him to go shove it."

She cleared her throat. "I'll try to put it a bit more politely than that, but as you wish." She bowed and left the two masters alone.

Croc looked over at Ox curiously. "What are we going to do with the Lang Qun?"

"I think I have an idea."

Outside the hospital, a small platoon of Imperial Army rhinos stood around waiting for the go-ahead to arrest the Lang Qun. Eventually, the captain walked out of the building, an annoyed look on his face. "Time to go everyone. We're not wanted here."

"What do you mean?" a soldier asked.

"For some reason, these guys want to handle the Lang Qun themselves. Seems like it's just putting more work on them, but there's nothing we can do about it if they won't give us permission."

Most of the soldiers grumbled to themselves and walked away, but the one who spoke before remained, not yet done complaining. "So we came all this way and we don't even get to arrest anyone?" He snorted in frustration.

The captain looked strangely uneasy. "Well...there is one we're taking with us, but..."

"But what?"

"...I think you'd better see for yourself."

He signaled to the guard to follow him away from the hospital and over towards another street. He could see a few of Gongmen's royal guard hanging around the area, carrying the same level of unease that the captain possessed. The source of that unease seemed to be a large cart in the middle of the street, upon which sat a giant metal box, completely sealed off on all sides except for a single barred window. "Seems a bit excessive for only one prisoner, don't you think?"

The captain stayed silent, only gesturing to him to take a look. He was starting to get pretty uncomfortable himself, but his curiosity got the better of him and he went up to the box anyway. He peered in through the window and squinted, able to make out a moving shape in the darkness, but not able to tell what it was. He brought a fist up to the side of the box and knocked twice.

There was a loud snarl and the guard jumped away from the window as a pair of jaws came out and snapped at him. Whatever was inside the box continued snarling and started to bang itself against the sides in a vain attempt to get free. The poor guard nearly wet himself. "Holy crap...what happened to him?!"

"He went feral," the captain answered solemnly. "It happens when an animal's mind is broken to such a degree that they regress to a primitive state, guided solely by instinct. We're taking this one to an institution that specializes in these cases. He'll be in good hands there."

The guard edged over to the window again and chanced another look. He gulped as he saw the creature inside look back at him, a pair of icy blue eyes shining in the darkness. There was no hint of recognition in those eyes, as if he couldn't comprehend where he was or what was happening to him. They were soulless. Empty.

"Yikes."

"You're telling me. Grab onto that cart. The sooner we get this beast away from civilized society, the better."

"...Right."

The two rhinos got on the other end of the cart and began to pull it. The movement startled the feral wolf, and he began snarling and banging inside the box again as it left the city.

Ox and Croc, against the advice of all members of the hospital staff, chose to visit the Lang Qun themselves. This required the use of crutches to move around and a rickshaw ride across the city to Gongmen Jail.

The first thing they noticed about the wolves was that they were almost unnaturally friendly to them, all the more apparent without their concealing masks. Most greeted them politely or cheered while others settled for just smiling at them, but there wasn't a single Lang Qun who didn't seem happy to see them. Some of the more cynical guards thought they were just sucking up, but they knew the real reason. They hadn't just saved the city, but the pack as well.

"Masters Ox and Croc!" Lu called out from one of the larger cells. The green-eyed wolf bowed to them respectfully. "What brings you here?"

The masters walked over and stopped in front of him. "We came by to tell you all what's going to happen to you guys," Ox said. Instantly, the happy mood in the room dissipated. The wolves all looked away or down at their feet, ears and tails drooping.

"I understand," Lu sighed. "Even though most of us were brainwashed, we still attacked the city, and we were all working for Shen even before that. We will accept whatever punishment you see fit."

"Well, Ox? What did you come up with?" Croc asked, just as interested as they were.

Ox took a deep breath, knowing that this was going to cause an uproar. "How would you guys feel about...community service?"

"What?!" Croc shouted.

"What?!" The wolves were just as shocked.

"What?!" As were the royal guard.

"Guys, guys, relax," Ox raised a hoof to silence them. "Look, the Lang Qun did a lot of bad things, but I know now that that was partially our fault for mistreating the wolves in the first place. I think they at least deserve a second chance." He looked down at his crutch with disdain. "And frankly, we need all the help we can get putting Gongmen City back together. Not to mention keeping it safe from anything else dumb enough to mess with it."

He heard a few nervous murmurs from behind him and turned around to face the antelope guards. "Don't worry, they're not replacing you. Just think of them as backup." The murmurs quieted down, if only slightly. He wasn't sure if there was any actual speciesism present here, or if they were just nervous about being grouped together with a bunch of large carnivores. Either way, they would have to get used to it. He was going to make damn sure these wolves would be treated with respect.

He looked back at Lu, who was still speechless. "Serving the city again. That's what Chou would've wanted, don't you think?"

Lu smiled, the slightest hint of tears in his eyes. "...Yeah. I think so too." He turned around and projected his voice to the other wolves. "What about you guys? You up for bringing this city back to its former glory?"

He was met with a chorus of cheers. It didn't surprise them in the least to see them so quick to agree, and not just because it kept them out of jail. "Looks like the Lang Qun have a new Alpha," Croc noted. "You know what? I don't think this will be so bad after all."

"Glad to hear that. Now how about we go back to the hospital and actually relax this time?"

"Fine with me. We've done enough crap on our own. Let's leave the rest to them."

With that, Ox and Croc shuffled back to their hospital beds for some much-needed rest, knowing that Gongmen City would soon be prosperous once more.

THE END