Just finished Chapter 14! YES! ANOTHER CHAPTER DOWN! WOOOHOOOO!...I'm sorry...I am just having a REALLY good day! You ever wake up one day and just feel, "This is gonna be a good day..." And then it actually is!? Yup that's me right now! Enjoy the chapter folks!
Chapter 14
And….GO!
Po and Ming were positioned just outside the door to the storehouse as they watched Monkey and Tigress make their way onto the roof. There were no bandits outside so as long as they stayed out of the line of sight from the windows they were fine. Ming looked back to where the guards were as they all gave her curt nods indicating that they were in position and ready to go. She then turned her attention to the Dragon Warrior next to her, who had his back to the wall of the building as she asked "You ready?" The Dragon warrior nodded his head saying "Just say the word…" as Ming mentally counted down the remaining five seconds in her time limit as she cried out "Go!" as the Dragon Warrior whirled around and with a powerful kick he busted the door clean off its hinges as the two rushed inside the building. Each entering a fighting stance of their own, with Ming shouting "Nobody move!"
The room was filled with Bandits, mostly Boars and Crocs with a few Warthogs here and there, all huddled around one bandit in particular, a Boar Bandit, like they were just discussing something, when a Croc from the back shouted "It's the Dragon Warrior and that Master Ming!" while another asked "What are they doing here!? How did they find us!?" the lead Bandit then hollered out over the rest "You idiots! It doesn't matter how they found us! Just get them, quick! Once they're gone, taking over this village is pretty much guaranteed!" Ming then shouted to the bandit "Not gonna happen scumbag!" The bandits then all laughed. "You might be a Kung Fu Master leopard, and you may have the Dragon Warrior as backup, but you two have no chance at taking all of us alone!" Just then about a dozen bandits came into view from up above all leaning over the railing looking down at the two warriors, Ming took a quick head count, and there were nearly thirty bandits in total. She was beginning to feel uneasy when the Dragon Warrior roared next to her. "And just what makes you think WE'RE alone?"
The Bandit looked at the Dragon Warrior slightly confused when a loud roar was heard from above. "AAAAHHHHH!" they heard as Po cracked a smile. One of the bandits in front of them asked "Is it that other leopard!? That Master Kai fellow? I thought he was gone!" Po then chuckled "You wish it were buddy…" another scream was heard from above "It's a Tiger!" followed by "That's not a Tiger! That's Master Tigress from the Jade Palace! And she's got Master Monkey with her too!" another Bandit was screaming as the sounds of a struggle were now being heard, with Monkey laughing slightly. Po and Ming both smiled as the Bandit turned on the two warriors in front of him. "Don't just stand there you idiots, Take them!" and with that the Bandits charged the Dragon Warrior and Ming, while Po shouted "Let's go!" and the two began to get to work.
Tigress and Monkey had already taken down four of the twelve bandits on the second floor as they continued plowing through the boars and crocs showing no signs of easing up. Tigress continued to evade sword and spear strikes while Monkey was literally jumping from bandit to bandit as he delivered kick after kick, stunning the bandits while Tigress would finish them off with powerful punches. As they were thinning out the bandits on the second floor, more came rushing up the stairs while Monkey shouted "And here I was starting to get bored." Tigress growled at him "Focus Monkey, we need to-" But at that moment Tigress brought her arms up to defend against a Boar with a large hammer as he slammed her with it, sending her flying through the railing and down to the floor below them.
Po looked up to see Tigress sailing through the railing and acted on instinct. He happened to be rather close, so he jumped off the nearby wall and soared at Tigress in a dive as he caught her in mid-air, Po flipped and landed on his feet as he held Tigress in his arms. "You okay?" He asked worriedly as Tigress was merely staring at him for a brief moment "How did he move so fast? This is like a completely different Dragon Warrior than before…" as the Red Warrior set her down "Fine…just fine…" Just then Ming shouted "Look out!" Po and Tigress whirled around to see a Boar bandit aiming a cross bow at Tigress, and without thinking Po shoved Tigress out of the way as the bolt was fired at them. Time slowed as the bolt soared in the air at the Dragon Warrior, Tigress was flying back from his shove, and Ming was watching in horror as the bolt soared towards the Dragon Warrior, But he never backed down, instead Ming's eyes widened as he brought his paw forward, spreading his fingers wide. "No way…" Ming thought as she watched the Dragon Warrior.
Po focused as he watched the bolt soaring right at him. His Master's words echoing in his mind. "You need to picture the path of the blade with your mind's eye, know where it goes before it gets to that point and grip the blade with your fingers. Use its momentum as your own and fire it straight back." Po pictured the path of the bolt as he saw it flying between his fingers before it happened and he began to close his fingers around the shaft of the bolt. Ming watched wide eyed and so did Tigress, as the Dragon Warrior Brought the bolt around in a twirl, and fired the bolt straight back at the Boar, as it was sent flying straight clean through the boars shoulder as he cried out in pain, "GYYYAAAHHH!?" as the Boar fell back and Po re-entered his stance.
Tigress was dumbfounded. "What a technique…he managed to redirect the bolt right back at the Bandit and with even more force…I've never seen anything like it!" As Tigress got to her feet and began fighting a nearby bandit her eyes constantly darting back to the Dragon Warrior. "Just who is this guy!?" Ming was stunned, she almost never saw a croc coming at her with an axe swinging down at her, but she managed to get out of the way just in time and subdue him. "There's no doubt about it…that was the Razor Rebound Technique…But how did the Dragon Warrior pull it off…Only Po and Brycen know it...Unless…!" as Ming began to remember several things. She flashed back to several moments just then. The first time she met the Dragon Warrior, "What, Whiskers? No, things are alright between us at the moment" Then to the first day she met Po, Po was sitting on the porch saying while holding his amulet "My best friend Tigress gave it to me the night before I left home to come here with Coach." "Yup she's my Best Friend." Ming then remembered the other night with the Dragon Warrior. Ming had asked "What made you come back?" The Dragon Warrior replied, "I never left…" Ming then remembered she had asked him, "Why do you do this?" And the Dragon Warrior answered "To be completely honest…it was a total accident…but…it later became something more… The first time was an accident but after that…I kept this up so that I could help out a friend…But if that friend found out who was really under this hood…well…I don't know what would happen."
Ming thought about it for a second and the more she thought about it the more it made sense. "I don't believe it…But it's the only thing that makes sense…Po…Po, is the Dragon Warrior!" Ming thought to herself as she watched him deliver a powerful spin kick landing in his fighting stance. "The stance…the technique…that style…it's Bear Style! How did I not recognize it before!? I should have noticed it immediately; after all, I've been sparring with him all this time now! And there's no way it's Brycen under that hood, he's much too small for it to be him…The Dragon Warrior has been missing from the Valley of peace all summer. The same amount of time Po has been here in the mountains…Po is the only one who makes sense…but if he's here…Is Brycen aware of it?...Oh gods…Po snuck out…there is no way Brycen would let Po out here doing this…If Brycen shows up no doubt I'm gonna get hell for letting him near here…even if I say I didn't know who he was."
Suddenly there was a loud cry up above. "Um…guys…I could use a hand up here!" Monkey shouted as he was surrounded by about five boar bandits. The Dragon Warrior turned to Tigress as he yelled "Whiskers get me up there!" Tigress scoffed, "Seriously, are you ever going to quite calling me that!?" as she grabbed the Dragon Warrior's arm and swung him around as she sent him flying up above onto the next level. As Po reached the top he landed on the railing and leaped over to Monkey as he delivered a powerful Body Slam on about three of the boars as he spun on his back kicking the remaining two in the face. "Just like old times…" Po thought to himself, remembering his wrestling days at the Academy. As he stood up, Monkey said "Wow, thanks…" The Dragon Warrior just nodded his head saying "No problem, I got things up here, go help the others." And with that Monkey mad his way over to the railing and was about to jump down onto the bandits down stairs when Po saw a Croc aiming a cross bow at Monkey. Po rushed the bandit and with a powerful kick, he managed to knock the crossbow away just far enough away so that the bolt missed Monkey by several inches, but what Po didn't count on was the bolt to get fired straight at a hanging glass lantern down below
The bolt pierced the lantern and the lantern shattered immediately setting the building on fire. Smoke was beginning to obscure everyone's vision. Po cursed under his breath as he knocked the Bandit out and threw him down the stairs, as he watched the fire beginning to eat its way around the building. Po tried to get out of there, but he found that his legs weren't quite working right at the he continued to stare into the growing flames. "Oh no..." Po whispered "Not now…" as the screams from his nightmares rushed him in no time flat...
Tigress heard one of the bandits cry out "That's it! I'm out of here!" and with that the remaining bandits began to run out of the building. Ming shouted "We need to get these lowlifes out of here, they may be scum but they can serve for their crimes in a cell not under a burnt down Storehouse." Quickly, the three masters began hauling the unconscious bandits out of the building. Once they were outside Tigress noticed several of the bandits now tied up and sitting in a group as some more of the rhinos were struggling with the remaining bandits not yet subdued. Tigress shouted at Monkey "Help them!" Monkey then raced over to the guards lending a hand. Tigress whirled around and saw that the bottom half of the building was blazing now, as the flames began to climb up the building.
To her left Tigress heard Ming ask "Oh no….where is he!?" Tigress looked over at Ming and was surprised to see her…scared? "What do you mean?" Tigress asked as Ming looked at her saying "The Dragon Warrior…Where is the Dragon warrior?" Tigress looked around frantically searching for the red hooded warrior. But she never saw him. "Where IS he?" Tigress asked as Ming gasped "Oh no…don't tell me…" Ming whispered as she gazed at the burning building. Tigress looked at the Burning storehouse and realized what Ming was thinking "Don't tell me that idiot is still in there!" Tigress spat, as she immediately rushed the door. As she opened it she was met with a blazing inferno, forcing her to step back "Damn" Tigress hissed as she closed the door and stepped back. "Why on earth would he still be inside?" Tigress asked. She didn't want to admit it, but she was getting concerned for the Dragon Warrior, as she began to think of what to do next.
Monkey walked up to her right then, asking "Tigress, what's up?" Tigress then answered still staring at the building "We think he's still inside…The Dragon Warrior…" Monkey went wide eyed, asking "What? Why would he still be inside!?" Tigress shook her head no saying "I don't know…But-" "-We got to get him out of there!" Tigress and Monkey both turned to Ming ad she was looking at the burning building her eyes full of fear "Ming, the place is burning down! We can't get in!" Monkey shouted as Tigress then had an idea. "Not through the front door anyway…But the roof still isn't on fire." Ming and Monkey both looked at her as Monkey started saying "Tigress, don't be- Hey! Tigress, wait!"
But Tigress was rushing the nearest building as she climbed to the nearest roof. Tigress took a few steps back and took a deep breath "I can't believe I'm doing this…" Tigress grumbled to herself as she sprinted to the roofs edge and jumped. Monkey and Ming watched as Tigress cleared the gap between the buildings. "She's completely lost it!" Monkey shouted as Ming was thinking to herself "Tigress…Please… Please get Po out of there!" Tigress landed on the rooftop of the storehouse in a roll. She looked to the door she and Monkey had used earlier to enter the building the first time, and saw dark smoke trying to get through it. Every single bone in her body was telling her not to do this, but she reached for the door and turned her head back, as black smoke raced out into the open air. "I can't believe I'm doing this for that Lunatic!" Tigress thought to herself, as she pictured his Jade eyes staring down at her, full of concern. "This is so stupid…" as she covered her face with her arm and descended the stairs, being completely enveloped in the black smoke…
Ming put it together, Po is the Dragon Warrior. Po is trapped inside, Tigress is going back for the Dragon Warrior (Nothing like rushing into a burning building for a guy you have openly despised in front of others...right?) , and Brycen is getting closer. Can Tigress get the Dragon Warrior out of the blazing inferno!? Check back again!
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