An old abandoned warehouse.
That was why Chufai was informed that their Plane had been found, as well as where the Red Scarves which took it were probably hiding out. Unable to get much sleep either, she was itching for some action.
However…
The scene was swarming with cops upon Chufai's arrival. Crowd control barriers were put up, although there was really no need for them. It was in a deserted area of the forest, where no innocent soul would usually go lurking to. The place would seem like a haunted house if not for all the cops moving around.
"You sure got here fast, miss." The same cop from before had called out to her. "We just arrested the thieves, and your plane's going to be transported to the town's airport."
"So I guess I missed all the action, huh?" The young panda girl sighed. "But from the number of cops here… did you guys bring the whole force or something?"
"Haha… Almost, this isn't the first time the Red Scarves committed a crime in Song Town. They always managed to evade us, but I guess trying to sneak a plane out of town was hard even for them. We couldn't afford letting those thieves get away this time."
Behind the cop, several red-hooded handcuffed individuals were being lead out of the warehouse. One of them tripped and fell flat on his face, while the escorting cops just shouted at him to get up.
Chufai felt no pity for them.
"Oh right, the mechanic is here too." The cop pointed at the direction opposite the warehouse, where a truck was parked next to their stolen plane. "He came over to check on the plane's condition, you should head over."
'He came over? Despite this just being another customer's stolen goods?' Chufai was starting to respect that ragged warthog.
And on instinct she ducked. A piece of metal flew at her as she walked over.
"WHY ARE YOU DISMANTLING IT HERE!?"
A 'bonk' came as a reply, and Plump rubbed his head as he pushed himself out. "Oh calm down, I'm just checking to see if those jokers done anything to it."
"I can see you're doing plenty to it yourself already. Did you even actually fix it?"
Chufai ask with her arms cross.
"Isn't that just rude… I'll have you know I was almost finished before those thieves stole it. I'm just adding the finishing touches. Once all these parts go back in, she'll be good to go."
"Really now? Well, since you're going to bring the plane to the airport, mind bringing me back to town too?"
"Hup~"
She helped herself onto the truck as Plump before Plump could say anything else.
...
The plates were laid neatly along the table, with the cutleries placed in a professional fashion. Similar to the way it was placed during the dinner time of the Royal Family.
"Whooo, the young lady has experience." The Inn manager, laid the hot dishes onto the table, impressed at the sight. Ting's table etiquette was clearly different from a commoner.
"Oh, it's nothing, I used to help out back at home when preparing dinner too." She always had, despite being told it was not needed. Her status with her behavior had always caused the servants to be worried of having their young lady hurt herself, but her innocent attitude had always won them over into letting her help out.
Her hands clutched her head. The remembrance was triggering another headache.
"Uhm, are you okay? Are you having a headache? I've got some painkillers at the back-"
"No, it's alright, I just need some fresh air, that's all…"
Stumbling like she who forgot how to walk, Ting managed to find her way out of the inn.
This pain and dizziness was familiar. Was the Shrine calling out to her again? Turning over to its direction, her world distorted again…
...
"Here's my stop, thanks for the ride!" Hopping off the truck, Chufai ran towards the Inn.
"Just remember my payment! I'll back be at the workshop once I delivered the plane!"
"As long as it still remains in one piece!" She turned back to joke without stopping.
"Hey.. hey. Watch where you're going or you'll-"
The warning came too late. Chufai sat on the floor, rubbing her head.
"Silly girl" Plump mumbled as he started the engine and headed towards the Shan Yun airport.
A large form stood in the doorway of the Inn.
"Whao, be careful. You should watch where you're going." The gruffy voice extended paw similar to her towards her. Chufai accepted it and it pulled her back up on her feet.
"Oh my, you're Ting's roommate, aren't you?" The Inn manager, Mr Yeow, stepped out from the entrance. "You're just in time, then. This gentleman here is looking for Ting."
He directed her attention to the owner of the gruffy voice.
From Chufai's height, her eye level only could see up till the form's shoulders, she had to raise her head to see what his face really look like.
A rough looking yet familiar face. The face of another panda.
But the familiarity of being another panda, as there were many pandas on Avalice. She had seen it before, but not this close up. She could recognize this particular one. She had seen him leading the guards of Shang Tu on patrols before, as well as being on the Magister's side during his speeches.
"Gene... General Gong!?"
"Hoh, it seems you know me! That saves me an introduction than!" The general let out a smile.
"Um.. Please to meet you, my name is Chufai!" She almost bit her tongue. Being in front of General Gong and speaking to him directly, she was somewhat star-strucked.
"I hear that you're Ting White's roommate, right? I'm actually here to look for her, but the Inn manager told me she had gone out. Do you know where she is?"
Chufai gulped. 'General Gong is here to look for Ting?'
Had her friend done something while she was gone? No, it wasn't Ting's nature to cause trouble, but she would likely be the first to offer help in someone else was in trouble. Although, she became a damsel in distress once when that villainous snake suddenly took her. Now the reputable General is looking for her as well? Maybe her friend was more famous than she think.
"She had a headache while helping me out, and she went out to get some fresh air… I haven't seen her since then, frankly I'm quite worried too." The Innkeeper added.
Her bones tingled. The image of how Ting stood just stood there, not responsive to anything, came to her mind. If Ting was in that state again, this time with no one around to help her if trouble arises…
"In any case, we've got to look for her." Though Chufai was unsure where to start. They could ask if anyone around had seen her, but the street the Inn was on was somewhat deserted. There were no stores or shops nearby, even if any pass-by had seen her, they wouldn't be around here anymore either.
Chufai had a hunch though, "I think I might know where she is." She darted off, General Gong was flabbergasted for a moment, before he followed her.
"I'll be here at the inn, in case she comes back for lunch!" Mr Yeow shouted as the he watch the two pandas disappeared.
"If General Gong is looking for her too, I guess she's no ordinary girl after all… now I should finish the preparations before they get back…" Yeow The Dog Innkeeper said to himself.
The Jade Creek, a creek which passes through the back of the Shang Tu Palace Garden. Naturally decorated with a bamboo forest, small waterfalls, fauna which were big enough for a person to stand on, even the rocks were glowing under the moonlight. This place had quite a history in Shang Tu, being a favourite and treasured spot for one of Shang Tu's previous rulers, as well as leaving a legend behind for another.
It would be quite an experience for one to take a night stroll here while appreciating the scenery during this hour…
If not for being pursued by Shang Tu's Royal Guards.
The four had managed to bust out of the cell, and escaped into the Jade Creek in the early hours. (Carol somehow managed to snagged a bike as well) They had hoped that during this time, most guards would probably be still asleep, while the active ones would be tired from their previous night shift. They were right, despite how much of a ruckus they had caused during their escape, no one was seen pursuing them. Even if those that had responded had not managed to catch up with them.
However, their own escape was impeded as well. Hidden turrets and patrol robots infested the Jade Creek. The group had no trouble with them, leaving debris in their wake. But they were being slowed down for sure.
"These things are quite annoying, how many of them are there?" A scorched turret fell before Pliny.
"They're almost endless!" Carol halved a bamboo pole which a turret was mounted on with her claws.
The turrets continued rising from the bushes, as if attempting to jump-scare them on their every step, though they were always mowed down by one of the four before they could fire a single shot.
"Get away from the bushes! We'll go along the creek!" Lilac dived kick into one of the bushes, sending the leaves flying and revealing a broken turret.
Upon her suggestion, the gang darted out of the bamboo forest and alongside the creek. Few bushes still laid along their new path, but not as much as before.
"Won't they spot us more easily out here?" Carol said while catching up to Lilac.
"From the amount of damage we've done, they should already know where we are. We need to get out of here pronto."
In that instant, fireballs descended from the skies, landing in the path of the group.
"Whoa, Pliny! Be careful with that! Anymore closer and we would've been smoked!"
"That wasn't me!" Pliny retort angrily. Though it would be pretty cool if it was.
Amidst the smoke created, bright yellow lights could be seen from within, followed by the something which sounded like a motorbike start-up.
"Whats happening…?" Milla was panicky, still recovering from the surprise of the sudden fireballs.
Emerging from the smoke, 2-wheeled red robots sped towards the group the group at full speed.
Lilac responded in kind, pitting her Dragon-Boost against them.
The red robots flew like bowling pins as Lilac plowed through.
"C'mon, lets get out here before more of them show up!"
…
Further behind them, on the creek, a hovering vehicle was hot on the pursuit of the group. Neera stood on the top of it, unfazed by the oncoming wind.
"Fire more Meteor Rollers! We must not let them get away!" Upon her command, the top of the vehicle erupted several times, sending out fireballs.
Despite her composure, she was holding back her anger. Having foiled the group's first attempt to escape, she had not anticipated they would attempt it once more… and this time, in a more destructive manner.
Though that was no surprise, having two ex-Red Scarves members, a criminal from Shang Mu and an unknown girl who had managed to sneak out of the cell. This catch was too big to allow it to escape.
Her grip tightened on her magical staff. If it were to come to it, she would need to apprehend them herself, seeing how the rest of the guards have no yet caught up at this point.
…
"More of them are coming!" Milla's ears twitched as they heard the explosions behind them.
"Don't look at back, just keep going!" Lilac, being the fastest, was at the front, tearing through whichever obstacles, turrets or robots, which came into their way.
None of them look back, but if they did, they would see an army of wheeled robots, chasing them like a herd of bulls on a stampede. And this herd was growing as more and more fireballs landed. The sound of the roaring motors was enough for them to imagine how many of them were on their tail.
The reflection of the moon upon the Creek gave Lilac an idea.
"Into the water! They shouldn't be able to follow us in there!"
"Uhm, did you forget I'm on wheels as well?"
"You'll be fine, Carol!" With that, she dove in, followed by Milla and Pliny.
Carol gulped. Unlike other cats, it was not the water she was afraid of, it was something else entirely. It was her little shred of doubt. Her doubts on the bike; it was red, it felt similar to the one she owned, but she wasn't sure if it really was a functioning Red Scarf Bike.
"Here goes nothing!" With that, the bike somersaulted into the water, creating a larger splash than any of the first three did.
A 'clunk' sound was heard from behind the bike.
She turned back to see a mini-propeller had appeared from the exhaust pipe. She would have given a sigh of relieve if she wasn't underwater.
Red Scarf bikes were specially designed and made, by the Red Scarves, of course. Apart from being able to perform acrobatic moves, scale walls and run faster than normal bikes, it also had a function to perform underwater. This was the result of the Scarves choosing to use red bikes as their signature vehicle.
She increased her speed to match Lilac's speed, giving her friends a thumbs-up sign.
Under the blue of the night, the environment underwater seemed calm and serene, unlike the ruckus they encountered above land. They would be safe from turrets and those wheeled robots for the moment.
However, it was a bit TOO peaceful. Jade Creek was a natural landscape, however currently there were no fishes in the creek. The gang was swimming by themselves along with the current, there were no other creatures in their presence. There were aquatic plant-life along the riverbed, there should be suffice food to support other life too. The lack of fishes made the environment eerie.
Lilac and Carol seemed to have noticed it, though Milla was still somewhat oblivious to lack of fishes. Pliny, on the other hand, was quite tense, which was probably because she might have problems trying to conjure most of her magic under water.
Her breath was running out too, she did not know how these three was still able to hold it. She gave Milla, who beside her, a tug, and fingered upwards.
Two heads emerged from the water, gasping for breath.
"Whao, I didn't know you guys were professional swimmers too! How can you guys hold it for so long?"
"I don't know about Carol and Lilac, but I did go through a lot of swimming before all this and-"
*BAM BAM*
A few explosions on the bank interrupted them, with their wheeled pursuers emerging again. However, they came to an immediate stop at the edge of the river.
"They're really persistent.. I guess we'll just have to swim through all of this." Pliny did not like being in the water for so long, but those robots seemed endless.
As she was about to submerge again when Carol and Lilac flew out, as if they were fishes caught on a hook. While landing, they conveniently knocked over the wheeled robots.
"We'll have to go by land again! There's some sort of strange glowing jellyfish blocking the way!" Carol warned.
"I'm pretty sure they're some sort of robots too." Lilac added.
Pliny groaned as she swam to the bank with Milla. Once again, she was drenched.
"Hmph, I'm going to need a fresh change of clothes again… and Milla, you're shaking off the water onto me!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Though the way Milla did it, she did seem adorable, Pliny couldn't help but forgive her.
Pliny then noticed something else.
Up ahead, the river lead into a cave. It seemed natural enough, however she wasn't sure. But with a roof over their heads and the lack of thick vegetation, they would not have to worry about wheeled robots landing on them or turrets popping out. Though there was a chance that there would be another different type of guard robot for caves, such as the ones Lilac and Carol encountered underwater.
"Well, what do you think?" Lilac stood beside her, having noticed it too.
"We could hide in there, and if the river's flowing through it, there's bound to be an exit at the other end too." The dragon girl was in for it.
"There doesn't seem to be another way either, going back into the forest means more turrets.. so…" Lilac sped off towards to the cave, with the three following.
A siren could be now heard behind them as they did.
…
Neera smiled. The girls had finally decided to show themselves.
"Continue firing the Meteor Rollers!"
"Sorry Ma'am, we're all out!"
"Tch, pick up speed then, we'll corner them in the cave."
The vehicle zoomed fast ahead in front of the escapees, catching them by surprise.
"Not you again!" Carol was still mad at her for getting them thrown into jail.
As they entered the cave, Neera began to spin her staff above her head. The air glaciated around it.
"You will not escape me!" Upon that announcement, ice balls flew from the staff, and began to freeze everything which the landed on.
The walls, the floor, and even their exit.
The group would have been frozen as well, if not for Milla putting up her shield.
"That's some fancy trick, but it won't save you for long." Neera hopped off the vehicle.
"We'll show you! Its four against one-" Pliny stopped the catgirl.
"No, you 3 go on ahead. I'll handle this." Carol wasn't the only one who was angry, Pliny herself had been holding it in since their imprisonment. She could only have herself to blame, first exiled from Shang Mu, then imprisoned in Shang Tu.
She had to redeem herself, and she could do so by first helping out the only friends she still had.
"And how are we going to do that? She frozen the exit!"
"With. THIS!"
A large ball of flames flew from her hand, right towards Neera. The priestess jumped out of the way, resulting in the frozen exit behind been scorched to nothingness.
"Go, quick!" Lilac did not waste this chance, continuing with a Dragon Boost straight towards Neera as she landed, giving her no time to block or evade.
"You sure about this?" Milla asked, but Carol pulled her along.
Carol and Milla disappeared beyond the exit, followed by Lilac, who gave a thumbs-up to Pliny.
Along with a "We'll expect you to catch up" look.
Neera quickly got herself up, the Dragon Boost had did some damage, but she was far from out.
"Now… let's pay you back for the insults back in the palace." Pliny prepared another fireball.
Lilac. Carol and Milla continued their escape from the Shang Tu Police Force.
"I didn't know Shang Tu had a sub!" Carol was awestruck.
"I don't think it belongs to Shang Tu, Carol…." Lilac said.
They had escaped Neera, thanks to Pliny, but now…
Before the group, a giant submarine was partially submerged in the creek. Its ends stretched out far, beyond their sight.
"This thing is… massive! It's even bigger than the ships we seen in Shang Mu! How long is it!?" Carol's eyes were still wide.
"I think the question we should be asking is: Why is it here?"
The submarine was moving rather slowly, towards the direction which led out of the Creek.
Lilac did not like this, but, she had an idea.
She jumped on.
"C'mon, we'll take this out of here!"
Carol and Milla hopped aboard the sub the followed Lilac through the sub. They encountered a three frog like machines with only two legs.
The Frogs attracted the intruders by spitting green acid bubbles, Milla block, with her green block shield directly back at the frog taking out one of them.
Carol use her claws to slash at the 2th frog with her combos, talking out the robot. And lilac use the spinning cyclone to take out the last one.
After that was done they reach the end of the ship. They made it to land and now they have to see if Torque & Pliny are okay. Rain was starting to pour in and thunder rage throughout. They continued down the path suddenly the three heard a loud sound,
"What was that an airplane?" Carol ask surprisingly startled.
"I… I'm not sure but… I have a bad feeling about this…" Lilac grimed.
…
Lilac came up stunned at the site of a bug like robot ship. It's as big as a Pagoda house at the distance. Lilac spot Torque who was unconscious for some reason and was carried by a squid like robot.
Lilac blotted towards the ship as it was about fly away, "No! Stop!" It was too late Torque is captured.
"I've got you now!" Lilac turned to the opposite direction to see serpentine charging at her with a flame thrower. Lilac jumped out-of-the-way she charged back at the snake and did a round.
Serpentine was knocked back but he quickly recovered and charge back at eh squid head again this time he use his blasters. But Lilac doge every shot and did a dragon boost, Serpentine was quick to jump over the upcoming attack and fired a rocket launcher at the creature.
Lilac saw the pending hazard, she kicked back at the missile and back at Serpentine, he didn't have time to avoid it and was knocked out the cliff. She ran over to the cliff only to see a Chopper with Serpentine piloting.
"I have enough of your Kung-Fu Tricks!"
Serpentine launch his missile barrages, Lilac have barely had the time to avoid. She was knocked down by the force of the blasts. Milla came to the rescue with some flower petals and Lilac is recovered.
The more annoyed Serpentine Lunch more missiles at them but Milla blocks them all with her psycho block barrier. The snake was taken back by all of the missiles that flew back at him. Lilac then used dragon boost to launch herself up and down to smash the Choppers canopy windshield.
"Why you- What the-"Serpentine spot a green ferball on a motorcycle in the air. Carol seized the chance for the final blow. The Chopper started squealing down the cliff.
Lilac Carol and Milla took in their victory for a moment.
Milla was the first to speak up. She's worried about Torque and her first idol Pliny Yun. "What should we do?"
Lilac said nothing.
"Lilac?"
"I don't know!" Lilac snaps. "I don't know..." she said sadly.
…
Back at the cave.
"I would have expected more from the great Pliny Yun," Neera Li said mockingly, she walked up to her opponent.
"Shut Up!" the female magician retorts, while she was painting. "I'm more capable than you even- *gasp*"
Neera dashed and swung her fist to her opponent face, before the criminal could even react to it. Pliny is knocked back down. She got up on her knees and rubbed her newly bruised left cheek that the Panda women's fist collided on.
The Magician hand balled to a fist; how was she supposed to beat Neera?
"What's the matter, Yun? Where did your smugness go?" Neera twirled her staff. As if mocking playfully at Pliny.
"I must admit, I was quite amazed that you were able to melt my ice."
She pointed her staff towards Pliny.
The Musician in question glared back at the Panda Women.
"This staff has been passed down from generations to generations in the Li family. The ice it creates is as hard as steel, and can even last for months without melting. Being able to melt it in a single shot was impressive…. But now I sees you had put everything you had in that first attack."
With that, and a swipe of her staff. She sent a rotating energy of ice at Pliny.
At their distance, Pliny had enough time to divide roll away to avoid it.
Unfortunately, as Neera had said, she had indeed used most of her energy in her first two initial attacks, one for breaking the ice, and one for Neera, which was effortlessly negated by her ice techniques. All she had been doing so far was dodging and shielding herself from the relentless amount of ice techniques Neera had thrown at her.
With that little energy left, there was no way she could perform another move strong enough to break through Neera's ice techniques.
"I guess I expected too much from a red party favor like you. Why don't you just surrender?" Neera sneered.
'Red… Party... Favor?'
It was not the first time she heard that insult. Pliny felt her anger rising. She smirked. Pliny stood up, she stared at Neera Li for a few moments before slowly started laughing.
"What are you laughing about?" Neera Li demanded to this bratty Magician form Shang Mu.
Pliny continued to laugh more at the older women question. A small flame appeared in the right hand.
"Oh? You still have enough energy to stand up? And are you honestly thinking a flame that small in your hands is going to be able to-"
Pliny threw it at her before she could finish.
As Neera attempted to nullify it with another ice shot, upon collision, it exploded into a cloud of blackish smoke.
The smoke screen wall blocked off Neera's vision of Pliny.
"A smokescreen? Trying to escape? You seem to forget… that I have this entire cave encased in ice."
She began twirling her staff overhead. "You betray the law!"
With that, shards of ice once again erupted from the staff and rain upon the cave, hitting everything in sight once again…
Or it would have, for another explosion directly above her redirected the ice shards back towards Neera herself.
Pliny dusted off her red skirt with one hand as she walked up to the oversize Popsicle, casting her wonderful smile. Her velvet eyes seem to slightly glow in the dark.
"I guess you just got bested by this… Party Favor." The polar bear slightly tilted her head as she said to the frozen Neera Li as the smoke cleared.
Pliny summoned her rod. She sighed dramatically. "And you're not even worth my time."