Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108.
Chapter 9:
"If we can attack them from the left, right and front, we can take them by surprise." The representatives and respective animal kings and queens were gathered around a large table in the largest tent that they had in the valley.
After they had won the round, they had retreated back into their camp in order to plan what to do next.
Yen sighed. Battle for a few years in the war humans against animals and no extensive damage. But battle in a few months in the war Big Green against Twin Masters and nearly the whole of Hidden Kingdom dies.
Yen nodded at Lin Chung's plans.
"And the enemy will be forced to retreat to the back, where we will already be waiting for them. With their tanks." Lin Chung nodded at the jaguar-raised human. Yen looked down at the map of East Citadel, wondering how on earth they were going to hack into the tanks. A descriptive diagram of it was beside the map of East Citadel, and he studied it intently before realising how they could turn it.
He nodded at Lin Chung's raised eyebrow, asking a silent question.
"But don't get overconfident. We have to make sure that we do not underestimate them."
Yen nodded as Lin Chung turned to him, and he turned to the group assembled. "I would say that it would be better to overestimate them, but that will just get your worry up. For now, don't panic, and fight like you had fought." Yen turned back to Lin Chung.
"The clones are about as strong as the original, but harder to kill or, in our case, harm. Unless absolutely necessary, none of us will try to kill them, no matter how much they kill us. There is no point." His steely gaze forced them to compel.
Yen agreed with what Lin Chung was saying.
Too much damage had already been done to both sides. If the animals were at East Citadel, then trying to make peace with them after the War was over wouldn't be easy.
They nodded, obedient as they retrieved their weapons and waited until nightfall, checking over weapons, armour, healing the wounded, making sure that they were ready before they had to head out.
This was probably the only day where there was no battle ever since the War started.
And hopefully, it won't be the last.
The groups all split up and moved silently to their positions, either east, west, centre, back or ambush. The ambush members consisted of some of the best fighters, so most of First Squad, Lady Green, Yen, and some other Jaguars and Panthers.
The Cheetahs were in charge of the left flank. The Elephants, Gorillas, Kangaroos and some other Panthers and Jaguars were covering the back, going to get the tanks. That left the remaining ones on the right, where the enemy were most likely to escape through than the left, and some other ones being the centre team, first causing the alarm and distress and chaos.
It was without argument that they agreed that Lin Chung would be the one to face Twin Masters, and everyone else would stay out of his way.
Only some nervous or apprehensive looks at him proved that they knew this and were worried for him.
This was something Lin Chung was aware yet grateful of, before he stood up, looking at the centre team, who nodded. His hand glowed purple, and he closed his eyes, focusing.
This was something that Tien Kwan had taught him, but he hadn't had the chance to properly use it yet.
He knew it worked the moment that all three sides charged silently into the East Citadel, causing commotion as the enemy struggled to raise the alarm and get prepared. They ran over Bears, animals, Birds, and everyone that they could see.
Highroller was in charge, and was once again attached to Bearstomp and fighting off the centre team, though it was obvious that even though they were on their home ground, they were hopelessly outnumbered. Therefore, the plan worked beautifully. Anyone who tried to escape to the right or the left or even the back had no idea of the ones who waited for them.
The tanks started firing into East Citadel.
The ambush team waited until the chaos was not at it's highest, but somewhere near it, before they entered as well. Lin Chung had been careful not to go at the highest point of chaos, which would ensure Twin Masters the powers to last the night. The best thing to do was to get somewhere near it so that no one was spotted.
Big Green's forces all attacked from the behind the enemy lines, with the enemy scrambling to the back, only to be faced by another force.
Meanwhile, Lin Chung headed off on his own to find Twin Masters, splitting up from the ambush group.
Twin Masters was waiting for Lin Chung when he arrived. With a cruel and twisted smirk and without any words, he changed form, becoming smaller, until he stood in height with Lin Chung, a mirror duplicate of the Harmonic Energy user.
A fair fight. Quite unusual in Twin Masters' case, but he wanted to see how far he could push Lin Chung.
Sandy grey hair. Black hair, dark as night.
Dark eyes, that glared at their enemy. White eyes, that somehow danced in amusement.
Pale skin, contrasting sharply against the night. Tanned skin, somehow helping blend him into the dark.
Twin Masters was the first to act, drawing out his weapon, a dark purple duplicate of Lin Chung's own staff.
Lin Chung responded quickly, blocking any blows, and dodging the rest, Twin Masters not letting him have time to strike any blows. For a while, there was nothing but dodging, striking, none of each using their powers, each silently taunting each other, trying to provoke the other.
At last, when Twin Masters struck with an accidental move, Lin Chung struck as well, only to get pushed back by the Chaotic Energy before he could land a proper strike.
Lin Chung growled as he stood up, eyes dark and dangerous as he, too, activated his Harmonic Energy.
Jumpy looked around, his gaze slowly becoming panicked. The enemy had finally, finally surrendered, and Big Green was now rejoicing in the fact that, finally, they could sleep at night without worrying about any attacks at night.
East Citadel had all of it's lights on, and the animals were resting there with the humans, each tending to one another's wounds, but too happy to care about it.
No more casualties, no more deaths.
But where was Lin Chung? Panther Queen seemed to have the same idea as she looked around. "Where's Lin Chung?"
Her voice resonated over the hall where all of them were gathered, the room which had formerly been the throne room of the lost Emperor.
This silenced most of the crowd, who all looked around, but spotted no sign of the teenager in black, who had gone into battle with Twin Masters not too long ago. An explosion from the right side of East Citadel that rocked the ground and caused some of them to panic before an eruption of the volcano nearby (The one that Twin Masters had first tried to erupt) followed.
This had all of them scattering or hitting the dirt, with the enemy thankfully doing the same instead of trying to escape.
Over the din, Panther King shouted orders out, Jaguar King helping to keep the order. They split into groups, all running off back to Big Green in a different direction to try and avoid being hit by any of the crumbling and starting to fall debris.
However, First and Second Squad along with Panther King and Queen stayed behind, rushing into East Citadel, leaving Jaguar King and Queen in charge of leading the groups safely back to Big Green, where they would join them as soon as they found Lin Chung.
They reached the room where the explosion had happened.
Ruins lay everywhere. Dust was still clearing as Panther King called out Lin Chung's name. They wandered around for a while, looking in shock and horror. Mighty Ray let out something like a yelp or a shriek, pointing at a body in the dirt. Immediately, Panther King and Queen joined him. Lin Chung, or at least, a Lin Chung look-a-like was lying, grinning like a mad-man, eyes wide and unseeing, and blood trickling out of his mouth.
"God." Sonia gagged.
Panther King shook his head. "This isn't him. Hair too dark, eyes too white, and skin too dark."
Panther Queen heard something moving, and turned to look, her eyes helping her look in the dark better than the humans or Jaguars. Lin Chung, the real one, was trying to sit up, head bowed as he pushed himself up. His head turned in the direction where his staff, broken and useless, lay at the corner.
"Lin Chung?" Panther Queen gently asked, to which Lin Chung looked up, his eyes completely white. There was no colour in them anymore.
"I can't see." He murmured, but Panther Queen could see him trying not to show his shock or horror.
She knelt beside him, and slowly helped him up, Lin Chung stumbling around carelessly, unable to sense what was happening. She exchanged a look with Panther King, who was observing the reactions of the two squads. Both looked horrified and stunned, but desperately trying to hope for something better.
They had to get him back to Big Green.
AN: And how he lost his sight!
16/02/14 - Longest chapter so far…