Chapter 25 Emu Castle
"Third Squad, I have a mission for you." Apetrully walked into Third Squad's briefing room with a letter.
The new squad had been a team for almost a month; however, they have not found their final member. All the animals they recruited so far were assigned by Woo the Wise to do other jobs. None were suited to be the final member of Third Squad.
"The humans at Emu Castle are being tormented by the Emus. I would go with you, but I have to visit Sea Bass Castle. The Sea Basses are harmless and I will be able to negotiate with them. I know you four can handle the Emus." Apetrully explained.
"We won't let you down, commander." Yan assured.
"However, the Emus are quite hostile." Apetrully warned, "Be very cautious, but try not to hurt them."
Qiao responded with a smile, "We'll be careful, commander."
"We're known to be the gentle ones." Lu added and then giggled.
"Third Squad, deploy." Yu ordered and all four members leaped into their chutes.
Each member of Third Squad landed on a Turtle Cannon and the Turtles raced off through the waters and across land. Luckily, Emu Castle was only a twenty minute drive and within those twenty minutes the squad members contemplated a way to peacefully negotiate with the Emus.
"Commander Apetrully stated that the Emus are violent. A peaceful negotiation may not be an option for us." Yu argued.
"It doesn't mean we can't at least try. No animal has ever injured a human." Qiao responded.
Lu added to Qiao's response, "Big Green is peaceful. If we go around conquering each animal castle, we'd be no better than that scum, High Roller."
"So, even if the Emus attack us, we must respond as peacefully as possible." Yan defended.
Yu grew up believing that hostile enemies should not be taken lightly, but his comrades were sure that violence was not necessary. In defeat, he responded, "Alright then."
Once arriving at Emu Castle, it was suspiciously quiet. Lu and Yu were the first to dismount the turtle cannons and approach the castle gate. The castle was like a massive fortress prepared for war, not very inviting at all. The girls wanted to join the men on approaching the castle, but they told the girls to stay back.
The men slowly opened the castle gate and peered into the dark halls. They could not see a thing further than what the sun shined on, but they suddenly heard a sound of something being hit. After a split second, a ball smacked Lu hard against his face. "My face!" the vain man fell back and held his face in pain, "My beautiful face!" His face had a red mark in the shape of the ball from the hit and it became redder as he seethed, "THOSE EMU'S ARE GOING TO PAY DEARLY!" "So much for peace." the rest thought.
He leaped up back onto his feet and dashed into the darkness with his claws ready for revenge. "Brother!" Yan called out, but he was already gone, "We have to go get him before he does something crazy." Yu, Qiao, and Yan quickly raced after him into the pitch black castle, but about a few meters into the castle, all of the sudden, all the lights flicked on and Third Squad found themselves ambushed by the Emus.
Each Emu had its own color, but they all shared the same physique and the same hair-do, a flat Mohawk. The Emus that were in the front had a cuju ball under one of their foot. Qiao, Yu, and Yan remained perfectly still, but Lu, who was rash in the beginning, was on the ground with ball marks all over his body.
The Emus parted to make a path and another Emu, who was just a tiny bit different from the rest, walked up to Third Squad. This Emu had a spiked blue Mohawk and his body was green; plus, he had a pair of pointed sunglasses. He stared at the squad members and then made a few drum-like noises as if he was telling them something. The members stared at each other wondering what he was saying.
"Emu King." Qiao bowed and spoke slowly, "We are from Big Green. We want to make peace with you and hopefully have you and your people join us to fight for peace."
The King sneered and made more drum like noises. He then took a ball from one of the Emus and juggled it with his knees. He then lightly kicked it towards Qiao, like he was challenging her.
Yan lifted Lu from the ground and said to Qiao, "I think Emu King is challenging us, Qiao."
Yu picked up the ball, "He's challenging us to cuju. I haven't played that since I was a boy." He smiled at the end.
Qiao bowed to the Emu King, "We accept your challenge." Third Squad had been challenged by many animals and the wager was always the same: if they win, the animals will join Big Green, and if they lose, the animals will remain on High Roller's side.
The Emu King walked away and the rest of the Emus shoved the squad members to where their king was heading. They were pushed into a large open field within the castle walls. The ground was dry and a little sandy but was smooth enough to run through. Two Emus drew borders with a white chalk to form the game grounds, and two more Emus set up the goals. Each goal had a hole the size of the cuju ball in the center of it and the ball must go through that hole to score points.
Each player was positioned and ready to play: all of Third Squad on one side, and Emu King and three of his best players on the other side. The team to score five points first would win. Once the drum was hit, the game began, and Emu King has stolen the ball.
"Yan, cut him off from the right!" Lu called out. The twins were faster than the Emu King, and the King had a long way to go before he could make a reasonable shot.
All of the sudden, the Emu King kicked the ball towards the goal even though he was at a very far distance. Amazingly, the ball went through the picky hole and Lu and Yan stood there awestruck at the maneuver.
"Emu King has incredible eye sight." Qiao complemented, "This is going to be a tough game."
The ball was placed back in the center of the court and the drum sounded to commence the game. This time Lu managed to snag the ball before any of the Emus caught a hold of it. He raced with the ball down the court, and the Emus could not keep up with his speed. Qiao was ahead of him near the goal, and he passed the ball towards her. Qiao's keen accuracy allowed the ball to go through the tiny goal and even the score.
The teams were neck in neck in score; when the Emus scored a point, Third Squad would score the next point. When it was down to the final game, four to four, each player was determined to win that final point.
Emu King snagged the ball once the drum was hit. Yan slid down and kicked the ball away from Emu King and towards Yu. Yu juggled the ball towards the other side of the court towards the goal, but three Emus rammed into the giant causing him to lose the ball. The ball rolled towards Emu King, but Qiao ran up and stole the ball before Emu King did. The Emu King let out an angered drum-like noise and raced after her.
"Qiao! It's all up to you!" Yu hollered out as he and the twins hold back the other three Emus.
The Emu King caught up to her, so Qiao had no choice but to kick the ball to the goal even though she was not reasonably close enough to the goal. The ball curved which made it seem like it was not going to make it into the goal.
"Make it! Make it!" Yan tensely cheered.
But it curved enough to aim towards the goal. However, it hit the net, but miraculously rolled towards the hole and scored the final point for Third Squad.
"QIAO! OH MY GOD, QIAO, WE DID IT!" Lu screamed out and hugged Qiao. "You're a lifesaver!" Yan grinned and hugged her with her brother. Yu said nothing, but the proud smile on his face showed that he was proud of her.
The Emu King walked up to the young princess, and bowed his head towards her. He let out some more drum-like noises and then nuzzled her shoulder with his face.
"Oh! I think he likes you, Qiao." Yan giggled.
"Your beauty attracts animals, too." Lu giggled, "I'm so jealous."
Qiao petted the Emu King and laughed, "Will you join our squad, Emu King?" The king jumped and nuzzled against Qiao some more. Qiao laughed again, "I guess that's a yes."
The last member of Third Squad was found. The Emu King's name was revealed to be Spike Mohawk. Qiao finally felt complete and once arriving back to Big Green, Commander Apetrully made it official.
"Pan Yu, Zhang Lu, Zhang Yan, Spike Mohawk, and Princess Liang Qiao, I now officially make you honorary and active members of Third Squad." Apetrully announced and kowtowed first.
First Squad and Second Squad kowtowed to Third Squad, and then all other members of Big Green saluted them. Feeling honored, Third Squad bowed back.
Qiao walked up to the stand and said, "Third Squad and I will do everything in our power to take High Roller down and bring peace back to the Hidden Kingdom. We will not fail you."
All members of Big Green cheered for Third Squad. Qiao knew that she belonged and from then on she placed Big Green as top priority.
"Brother." She spoke in her thoughts, "I will bring down the perverted toad and restore proper order of the Liang family." Her face twisted into resentment, "I will destroy him even if it's the last thing I do."
The End