When Yuè came to he felt a horrible throbbing in the back of his head. He tried to reach his hand up to rub the area and relieve the pain, but his hands resisted as if they developed a mind of their own and refused to obey his command. His daze was short-lived after that and he quickly looked down to his hands to see his wrists bound in iron shackles chained to the ground. He tugged at the chain in a futile attempt to free his hands, but as he moved, he felt more cold iron, but around his neck. An iron collar was placed around his neck and chain to the floor like the shackles, preventing him from standing and being able to move his head around much. If there was anything a wolf hated most, it was being trapped, and even worse, leashed. To make matters worse, he was stripped of all of his weapons and his cloak was gone. As he struggled his ear perked up at the sound of a voice to his left, "Stop trying Yu. The chains are too strong." He turned as much as he could to see Fan restrained in a similar way but without the collar. "Where the hell are we?" he asked. Another voice came from further to his left, "We're in the palace." He tried to look further to his left but the collar only allowed his neck to turn a certain amount. However, in his peripheral, Yuè could see the rest of the warriors all chained up like him be with slight differences in the way Crane, Jian, Viper, and Mantis were restrained. Crane's shackles kept his wings to his sides and his feet firmly planted on the ground. Viper's restraint was three shackles around her neck, midsection, and the base of her tail, preventing her from being able to slip free. Mantis was kept in a small metal cage on a small table, and Jian was restrained on the ground like everyone else, but his jaws were muzzled and his tail was restrained to keep from swinging and breaking the other restraints.
"Damn. So who woke up first?" Yuè asked down the row. A muffled 'I did' from Jian answered his question. He muffled something else but it was too unintelligible to understand. Yuè was about to ask a question, but the large doors to the room creaked open and stopped him in his tracks. Several figures walked in, most of them soldiers. The soldiers trailed behind two other figures, one Yuè recognized as Zhuo and the other was someone he was less familiar with, a large Komodo dragon that was larger than Jian and taller by around one and a half heads. He was clad in black iron armor bearing the red eye emblem on the pauldrons. But the emblem was somewhat different than what he'd seen before. The eye was crossed out with a single red line. Yuè's thoughts were interrupted when the reptile began to speak, "Here they are! The collective pain in my a** that's been snooping around my city." he announced to himself as he looked down at the captured warriors. He strolled down the line of prisoners to have a look at each one of the warriors, basking in his victory over them. He started at the far end of the line and looked into Mantis' cage, "Master Mantis. Quick, small, but very strong for someone of your stature. But not strong enough to break free from this cage." he said before moving to the next prisoner, Master Monkey. "Master Monkey. Clever and agile." then he move to the next, Master Tigress, "Here's thief one." he said brushing a claw roughly against her cheek and looking down the line at Fan, "And you are thief two. You have very sticky fingers. I will get rid of them later." he said with a deep growl, getting in Tigress' face before moving on. "You, I'm not familiar with." he said to Jian. The crocodile tried to say something but the muzzle caused his words to be muffled. "Right. Moving on." Jūnfá said moving farther down the line and coming to Master Crane. He tapped his claws on the shackle that held his wings to his sides, "That must be very uncomfortable. Especially on the wings." he taunted. Then he stopped in front of Po. He growled lowly and stared deeply into the panda's bright green eyes, "You...I look forward to the time I have with you 'murderer'." he snarled before taking a deep breath and returning to his nonchalant demeanor. He crouched down to look Viper in the eyes, "How does it feel to know that the famed Furious Five couldn't save the people of this city? Hmm?" he asked and waited a moment for a response from the serpent. She remained silent and scowled at the larger reptile, "Silent treatment, eh? Don't worry, I have ways to make you talk." he threatened. "What do you hope to learn from me?" she asked, anger tinging her normal kind voice. Jūnfá chuckled, "Oh I'm not after information. But you will talk. And scream. And beg. Then... you will be silent." he said coldly before moving to his last prisoner.
His gaze finally came across Yuè, causing him c*** an eyeridge. He flicked his tongue in the air, the taste of the scent causing his amber colored eyes to widen, "I know the taste of that scent, wolf." he said, something more hidden behind his words. "The scent of a wolf? Something tells me you know it pretty well." Yuè said as he gazed at the wolf soldiers behind Jūnfá. The lizard followed his gaze and turned back to him, "You misunderstand. I've had many dealings with your kind." he said before taking a closer look at Yuè, looking deeply into his dual colored eyes. "Your eyes...They remind me of The Ghost." he said almost nostalgically. Before he got any closer Yuè snapped at him in an attempt to bite his face, but Jūnfá quickly backed away. "And your breath reminds me of rotting meat. Ever heard of a mint?" he asked tauntingly. Jūnfá chuckled, "You have a smart mouth. Be a good dog and shut it for me." he said patting Yuè's head condescendingly. "How about I be a good 'dog' and bite your throat out?" he asked with a snarl, baring his fangs, "Unfortunately, it's a trick I can only do once." Jūnfá smirked and looked down at Yuè's left hand. The bleeding from the wound had slowed to a trickle and the edges crusted up with dry blood that matted his fur. "I knew I tasted the scent of blood. That's a nasty gash there. Would be a shame if someone, say, kicked it." he said before kicking the hanging limb, his toe claws sinking into the wound momentarily before pulling out and causing the blood flow to start again. Yuè slightly winced in pain but his face returned to the angry scowl it had been before. "You done pissin' me off? 'Cus when I get outta these chains, I'm gonna rip your head off." he threatened. Jūnfá frown at the wolf disappointedly, "Resilient little mongrel aren't you? Well, I have something that'll stop that right in its tracks." he said before reaching into a small satchel on his hip. He pulled out a small bamboo reed that was carved into a whistle. "Lord Shen had this. It's a whistle that supposedly created a sound that only wolves and canines can hear. He never used it. I believe he had too much compassion for the wolves. From what I'm told about it they can't stand the noise... Let's put that to the test." he said before putting the whistle to his lips and blowing.
All the wolves in the room yelled in pain as the piercing sound rang in their ultra-sensitive ears. The soldiers held their ears with their hands to try to keep the noise from destroying their eardrums. Yuè, however, was left to suffer the sound, his hands chained and kept restrained, only able to fold his ears against his skull to try to rid himself of the sound. To the other non-canines in the room, the whistle was silent and all they saw were wolves being driven insane by an imaginary sound. Jūnfá stopped blowing the whistle for a moment and looked down at the angered wolf. Yuè looked up with anger and disgust, his eyes tinged more red than green and gold, his fangs bared as he growled, "I swear when I get out of these chains I'm gonna shove that whistle right up your–aaaaaahhhhh!" he said before stopping, wailing in pain as Jūnfá resumed blowing the whistle, the other wolves joining in the yelling as well. Jūnfá paused again and smirked at Yuè, "I'm not sure about you but I think this whistle's broken. I can't hear a thing. Can you hear it?" he asked tauntingly. Yuè growled loudly, "You blow that whistle again and I'm gonna–aaaaahhhh!" he shouted as Jūnfá commenced blowing the whistle again, but stopped sooner. This time Yuè didn't say anything and only stared up at the komodo dragon with resentment. "Was that so hard? All I wanted was for you to shut your muzzle. Good boy." he said before walking to the far side of the room next to a rhino guard. "Now onto business." he said before grabbing the soldier's large battle axe, "Do you know why you're here?" he asked the warriors. "Because you had some guy drug us and dragged here?" Mantis asked, half answering and half questioning Jūnfá. The reptile deadpanned, "Well, that's why you're here, in the palace. I meant why you're here, in Tan Jin city?" he asked more specifically as he slung the axe on his shoulder and began sauntering toward the warriors. Yuè was about to answer, but Jūnfá spotted him and promptly put the whistle close to his lips, causing the wolf to close his mouth and quietly whimper with a low whine. The other warriors were silent as well to keep from letting Jūnfá know about the distress call. "Seriously? Not one of you know why you're here? Or did you forget about the very nicely worded letter Zhuo sent you?" he asked, standing in front of his prisoners while leaning on the axe planted firmly on the floor.
He eyed Po and the Furious Five, particularly Po, as their expressions went from disdain to surprise, "You sent that message?!" Tigress asked angrily. "Ah, so you do remember? But would you like to know why I summoned you?" he asked again more cryptically. They remained silent. "If I wanted I could've continued my campaign of destruction across China, but I wanted you here for some reason. Aren't you the least bit curious?" he asked, his voice sounding more teasing as he taunted the kung fu masters. They continued to be silent, not wanting to give in to his attempts to throw them off with taunts. He pointed a claw at Po, "The Dragon Warrior knows. In fact, it's his fault that you all are going to die here." Everyone gasped and looked at Po, wondering what he could've possibly done to incur the wrath of the warlord standing before them. "It's because, he killed my master. Murdered him in cold blood." Po cocked an eyebrow, "Your master? I didn't kill your master. I don't even know who your master was." he said. "Oh really?! A year and a half ago! Gong-Men Bay! Ring any bells?" he asked. Po realized who he was talking about. The explosion at Gong-Men Bay that killed Lord Shen. He looked at the emblem on Jūnfá's pauldrons and remembered that it was the same emblem Shen had his soldiers wear on their armor. "I didn't intend for that to happen to Shen. I wanted to help him. Convince him that he didn't have to be that way but he was consumed by hate and fear. If anything he killed himself." Po said. Jūnfá chuckled coldly, "Don't try to give me that self-righteous b***! Don't try to tell me that you were the good guy in all of that! That you gave him a chance to change his heart! A great man is dead and a lesser man stands in his place! ...A wrong that I'm going to correct!" he said as he swung the axe vertically, aiming for Po's neck. Just before he had a chance to connect and end the panda's life, a voice interrupted him, "Lord Jūnfá! The soldier are awaiting your order to march on the city, sir. You are needed downstairs." said a wolf soldier that had entered the room. Jūnfá looked at the axe that had just made it to Po's neck, creating a small cut that dripped a bit of blood. He moved the axe and planted the blade in the ground before looking the panda in his face, "We are not finished." he hissed at the Dragon Warrior before marching out of the room to tend to his forces, leaving two guards to watch his captives, one a water buffalo and the other a wolf whose ears were still recovering from the assault from the whistle, both armed with axes.
With Jūnfá out of the room, the captured warriors had a chance to speak with one another and formulate plans of escape. They kept their voices low enough to be out of range of the soldiers in the room, "Any ideas on how to get out of here?" Mantis asked before being shushed by Yuè. "Did you just shush me?" Mantis asked offendedly. "Yeah I did, now sshhh. Those guards are talking and I wanna know what they're saying. It might help us get outta here." he said, his ear perking up to hear the conversation across the room. "...said something about 'The Ghost'. You think he's talking about an actual ghost?" asked the water buffalo. "What? No. The Ghost was this wolf with snow white fur and these haunting eyes, like the kind a ghost would have. He was the greatest assassin and thief in China." the wolf replied. "White fur, eh? Like that wolf pup we got locked up?" the bovine asked. "Yeah. The one two floors down. Her fur does look like The Ghost's..." At that point Yuè stopped listening and began tugging on the chains restraining him. "Yu, what are you doing?" Fan asked. "Trying to get out. Those guards say that they have Li locked up here and I intend to get her back." he said, tugging harder on his chains. "Well if you keep pulling on those chains like that you're only gonna hurt yourself." Fan warned. Yuè flashed her a grin, "That's the plan." he said, and pulled one last time on the left shackle. With the last pull came a cracking sound, and his left hand went limp. The wolf howled in pain, calling for the guards' attention. "Go check on him." groaned the wolf, commanding the other guard to see what the problem was. "What's the matter?" the buffalo asked in an uninterested voice. "My wrist...I think—I think I broke it." Yuè groaned. The guard kneeled down to get a look at the dangling left hand, "Hmph, Serves ya right for pullin' on the chai–mmmph!" he said before his words became muffled.
Yuè clamped his jaws down over the buffalo's muzzle, sealing his mouth closed and blocking his nose from taking in oxygen. The guard struggled to loosen his grip, but the wolf's jaws were like an iron vice, holding on as the bovine's lungs were being deprived of more and more oxygen, and with that, consciousness. After a few short minutes, the guard was knocked out, but his partner wasn't and ran to his aid. "What's goin' on?!" he asked just as Yuè dropped the water buffalo's muzzle from his mouth. The wolf was about to slam the butt of the axe handle into Yuè's face, but the shackle for his right hand flew open and he punched the attacking wolf in the groin, ending the assault and sending him to the ground whining and curled in fetal position holding his injured pride. With a claw, Yuè picked the lock to his collar and left shackle, unlocking both. He stood from his constraints and rolled his muscles to get rid of their stiffness. Yuè held his hand and, with a swift pull, his wrist cracked back into place, leaving only a slight throb of pain.
He went to Fan's shackles first and picked the locks with a claw, releasing her from imprisonment, "You get the others free. I'm gonna head down stairs to find Li." he said. "Alright. Good luck Yu." Fan said as she began to pick the other locks. Yuè walked over to the large double doors of the room and sighed heavily as he prepared himself for what lay outside the door. He pushed one of the doors open and was met by two more guards on the other side. They looked to see who was leaving the room, but was met by two swift punches that knocked them out. Yuè dashed out of the room into the hall and looked down a nearby rail. The palace was more massive on the inside than it was outside. The interior was built like a tower with multiple levels, each floor with a number of rooms. The wood work of the entire building was crimson red with accents of gold. A yell coming from ahead of the wolf interrupted his sight seeing. A troop of wolf soldiers approached him. The front line of soldiers had spears drawn and the lines behind them were armed with swords. "Halt prisoner! How did you escape your bindings?!" the soldier leading the troops asked, demanding an answer. Yuè smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know? I'll tell you how I escaped if you tell me where you're holding that wolf pup." he said teasingly but with a slight growl. The soldier growled and charged at Yuè, the other soldiers following behind.
Yuè flipped over the soldier, grabbed him by the head, and tossed him at the other soldiers, knocking them down like bowling pins. He grabbed a fallen spear and broke off the bladed end, leaving a small portion of the shaft as a handle for the makeshift knife. Behind him he heard the doors to Jūnfá's chambers open as Po and the others quickly exited, "You guys look for Jūnfá and stop him. Then find a way outta here. I'll come for you when I get Li back." he said before jumping onto the railing. Ahead of Po and the others, the wolf soldiers began to recover and get back to their feet. Approaching behind them were reinforcements, heavily armored rhinos, and Komodo dragons wielding bows. "Have fun guys. I softened them up for you." Yuè said with a grin before dropping backwards off the edge of the railing. Jian cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, "You heard the wolf. Lets get some payback." the croc said before charging into battle, striking the lead wolf with a shoulder charge. Flanking his sides were Po and Tigress, both attacking the soldiers defending the sides of the hall. Viper and Mantis struck from below, stunning soldiers with lightning fast strikes and nerve attacks. Crane and Fan attacked from the air. Crane flew outside the crowded hall and tossed Fan into an opening behind the soldiers. The soldiers turned to face the weasel and was surprised to see just her, "Hey there boys." she said in a playful tone before rushing at the warriors. She attacked a rhino soldier armed with a spear, jump kicking him in the face. The strike caused him to toss his spear into the air. Fan caught the pike as it fell back down and spun it in her hands before pointing it at the line of astonished soldiers. Their expression turned more aggressive in a split second and the soldiers charged at her. Fan wasted no time in defending herself against the combined force of warriors. She spun the spear in disciplined and controlled strikes. Meanwhile, Crane assisted by giving her backup. Soldiers began to attack from the opposite end of the hall, coming in to reinforce the troop being decimated by Po, the Five, and Jian. In almost no time at all, the soldiers were down and the warriors proceeded through the palace. "Let's split up. Me, Tigress, Viper, and Jian are gonna search for Jūnfá. Mantis, Crane, Monkey, and Fan. You guys search for a way out." Po ordered. Everyone agreed and the group spilt up to take on separate objectives.
Two Floors Below...
Yuè had fallen two floors down in search of his now captured daughter. Upon falling the distance necessary, he stabbed his makeshift knife into the wooden railing of an opening to the floor. With one hand, he swung himself onto a perching position on the handle before cartwheel jumping into the corridor. He looked around and saw several doors lining hall. Had he been relying on probability and sight he'd be searching for hours, but instead the wolf decided to follow his nose and tracked his pup by scent. After several minutes of running down the hall, he came upon a door where Li's scent was strongest. Before opening the door he looked down at the large gash in his left hand, still untreated and bleeding. He licked the wound clean, despite the stinging pain that came with it, and began looking around for anything nearby to cover the wound. He spotted two lit torches on either side of the door frame and grabbing one. He blew out the fire, leaving only embers and residual heat on the burning stick. Yuè took a deep breath and grabbed the still burning head of the torch with his left hand, cauterizing the wound. He tossed the torch aside and tore off a piece of his pants leg to use as a makeshift bandage, covering the sealed gash.
Just as Yuè placed a hand on the door knob, a sword came down toward his wrist. He pulled his hand back in time to keep from losing the appendage and turned to his right to find the wielder of the weapon. Just as he turned the sword came back, this time aimed at his head. Yuè dodged with a backflip and stood in a ready stance to face his assaulter. Three snow leopards stood with swords ready to attack the wolf. "Just three? Easy enough." Yuè said before hearing a deep growl from behind. He turned to see three wolves, fangs bared and swords ready. "Alright, six then. I can take 'em." Yuè said to himself, his confidence waning slightly. The snow leopards charged him all at once, slashing at him with their swords. Yuè quickly backed, dodging their swipes. But he'd forgotten about the wolves, and almost backed into one. Just as a snow leopard slashed at him, Yuè back flipped behind the wolf, and just before landing, drop kicked the canine, sending him right into the snow leopard's blade and impaling him through the stomach. Yuè landed the drop kick with a backwards roll before getting back into his ready stance, just in time to intercept the two other wolves' sword swipes. He caught the arm of one wolf and used his sword to block the swipe of the other. He pushed the opposite sword away before punching the wolf he was holding in the forearm and taking his sword. Before the wolf could retaliate Yuè slammed the butt of the sword's hilt into his head, knocking the opposing wolf out cold.
Just then the snow leopards attacked. Using their natural agility, the felines bounced off the walls and, all at once, brought their swords down on Yuè. The wolf blocked the combined attack, but struggled to keep the blades away as they pushed their combined force on him. Unbeknownst to Yuè, the last wolf soldier was approaching him from behind with a dagger in hand, prepared to stab Yuè. Just as the soldier got within range of stabbing Yuè, an arrow flew from behind him, striking the soldier in the back. Yuè heard the soldier cry out in pain and shoved with all his strength against the snow leopards' swords, pushing them back and staggering them. Yuè took advantage and performed a triple tornado kick, striking each leopard in the face and knocking them out. He turned back to see the wolf soldier on the ground with the arrow in his back and stared further down the hall. He saw someone dressed in all black with a bow in hand several doors down, "Kuo?" he said before walking toward the she-wolf, "What are you doing here?" he asked, calling out down the hall. "Stop! Don't get any closer!" she called back. Yuè stopped in his tracks, cocking an eyebrow in confusion, "Why?" he asked. Moments later, a room two doors down exploded, bursting into flames and destroying a full half of the corridor Yuè was in, leaving a gaping hole where the room used to be, and a destroyed walkway, preventing him from going in that direction. The shockwave of the explosion pushed him back, sending him to the floor. He got back up seconds later and looked across the hall through the flame. Kuo was missing. 'Did she blow up the hall? Why would she do that?' Yuè thought before dismissing the case. For the moment, he needed to think about getting Li out of the palace and to safety.
He quickly ran back to the room he found her scent in and kicked the door open. "Daddy!" Li called out. The wolf pup was chained in the same way her father was but with smaller shackles. Yuè dashed into the room and to his pup's side, "I'm gonna get you outta here, give me a second." he said as he picked the locks on the shackles. He'd gotten the collar and left wrist shackle before he heard a gruff sounding growl come from behind, "About time you got here." Yuè turned to find the source of the voice and immediately caught a fist to the face, stopping him from getting to the last shackle. Zhuo stood over the canine. His hood was lowered, giving Yuè a good look at his face, "Been waitin' here since I dragged your tail ta this palace. I figured you'd break out eventually." Yuè stood and spat off to the side, "How'd you figure that?" he asked as he scowled at the white tiger. Zhuo drew one of his hook swords from his back and pulled out another sword sheathed in its scabbard, a sword Yuè recognized as his liuyedao. Zhuo tossed the sword to Yuè before drawing his other hook sword, "You're different. Not like the usual guys I bring in ta Jūnfá. Same with the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. You guys gave me a run for my money. And I'm gonna make sure every last yuan was worth it." he said. Yuè growled at the tiger and drew his blade from its sheath before discarding the scabbard, "As much as I love a good fight, we really don't have time for this." he said as he and Zhuo began to circle each other. "Why do you say that?" the tiger asked. "There's a fire in the palace a few doors down. It could spill in here any time now and I'd rather my daughter was nowhere near it."
Zhuo sniffed the air and detected the smell of smoke entering the room, "So there is. Too bad. I'm not letting you get away. I was paid ta do a job and that's just what I'm gonna do." he said before lunging at Yuè, swiping his swords at the wolf's throat. Yuè dodged backwards, out of the range of Zhuo's blades, "Li, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes for Daddy. Don't open them until I tell you to." he told his daughter. Li obeyed and shut her eyes tightly, "That's a shame. She'll miss out on the show." Zhuo taunted. Yuè growled and lunged back at the tiger, slashing diagonally down. Zhuo blocked with his swords but the force of the blow made him take a few steps back. "Don't worry about my pup. Just focus on the wolf with the sword." Yuè said before lunging at him again. Yuè swung his blade horizontally, but the strike was blocked again. Zhuo retaliated with a diagonal strike, but when Yuè blocked, he used the hook sword to yank the wolf toward him, knocking Yuè off balance. The canine stumble forward as Zhuo swung his other sword at his neck. He rolled under the strike and quickly recovered. Yuè took a second to examine his opponent. The tiger was using hook swords which gave him a clear advantage in combat. He stood with one held in front with one hand and the other raised above his head, the hooks interlocked. The stance was sturdy and without fault. Before Yuè could finish his observations, Zhuo charged at him, blades parted and out to his sides. Yuè leapt over the tiger but was soon brought back to the ground. Zhuo caught him by the collar of his vest, stopping his momentum and sending the wolf crashing down on the hardwood floor.
While Yuè was stunned from the fall, Zhuo leapt in the air and brought both of his swords down on the wolf. Yuè blocked the strike with his sword before kicking the tiger off. He stood up and took another moment to examine Zhuo, searching for some sort of weak spot. His fighting style was very aggressive but had a solid defense as well. His weapons were versatile and could be used in a number of ways. Yuè came to the conclusion that he'd never be able to defeat Zhuo in a fair fight, but who said he had to fight fair? Looking closer, Yuè noticed that Zhuo had his satchel of bombs. All he needed was the right explosive and the scale would tip in his favor. However, feeling an intense heat, Yuè turned to see the fire from the hall had crept into the room through the door and was growing quickly. He flipped his sword into a reverse grip and charged at Zhuo. He did a spinning jumping punch, swiping his at the tiger. Zhuo blocked the attack but was unable to retaliate. Yuè flipped the blade back into a standard grip and brought the sword back for another attack. Zhuo blocked again but Yuè used his own hook swords against him. He hooked his sword onto Zhuo's and twisted them to point downward. The wolf brought his fist up and punched Zhuo several times in the face. With the final punch, Zhuo staggered back a few steps before being struck in the chest with a spinning back kick.
The tiger stumbled back and snarled, "You're gonna pay for that." he said before grabbing a bomb with a wooden casing from Yuè's satchel. Yuè recognized it as a smoke grenade and slashed it as it came his way, releasing a white artificial fog into the air. He dashed through the smoke screen try to catch Zhuo off guard, slashing through with his sword. Upon reaching the other side, he found that the tiger had disappeared. Yuè searched the room for potential spots for the feline to hide. The room was completely empty, save for four support beams holding up the ceiling. Only four walls, an open door, and his daughter chained to the floor. The fire that had crept in had spread quickly. The blaze covered a large portion of the room near the entrance, filling the air with smoke and embers. His ear twitched at the sound of coughing. Yuè turned to see Li coughing from the smoke, "Li, use your sleeve to cover your mouth and nose. That way smoke won't be able to get in." he said. The pup nodded and covered her muzzle with the sleeve of her robe, decreasing the amount of smoke entering her lungs and ceasing her coughing. Though she kept her eyes closed, Yuè could see the tears seeping through her eyelids and could hear a low whimper. He had to finish this and get her out and quick. He looked around the room for any trace of Zhuo, and even tried to pick up his scent but was unable to. The smoke from the ensuing fire blocked any other smell from entering his sensitive nose and burned his lungs.
As the fire progressed, pieces of the wooden ceiling began to drop, though none of them close enough to be a danger to him or Li. Moments later his ears picked up a strange whirring sound from behind. He turned around and was slashed on his right arm, stumbling back from the attack but keeping his balance. Zhuo stood before him spinning one of his hook blades. The tiger took advantage of the hook on the swords and had them interlocked, spinning one with the other and using it as a sort of whip. Before Yuè could ready his sword, Zhuo attacked again, swinging the spinning blade at the wolf. He cartwheel jumped and launched himself into the air, spinning horizontally with his swords slashing at Yuè. The wolf blocked the assault with his sword, but the mercenary was pressuring him heavily. Zhuo landed and swept his hook sword whip at Yuè's legs, making the wolf to jump in the air to dodge. Zhuo anticipated the maneuver and side kicked Yuè in the gut, sending him flying back and sprawling on the ground near a pile burning debris. The tiger growled savagely and stalked towards the downed wolf just as he began to stir. He stood over Yuè and raised his blades, striking down just as the wolf looked up at him.
Meanwhile...
The fire had come out of nowhere as Po and the others searched the large palace. Parts of the buildings structure fell as the blaze burned through supports and singed wood. The palace had stood for more than sixty years and was built by some of the best construction workers in all of China, but now it was crumbling like the shack of a poor commoner. As they tore through another wave of soldiers, Po spotted the entrance to a very large room down the hall as well as a large daunting figure standing inside with their back turned. The figure looked back for a second, their haunting amber eyes 'glowing' in the darkness of the room. "Guys, I think I found Jūnfá." he said as he kicked a wolf soldier into a lynx behind him. "You go for him. We'll keep these chuckleheads busy." Jian said as he slammed his metal fist into the face of a gorilla soldier, knocking out several teeth and breaking his nose as the primate toppled out of the flaming corridor through the side railing. "We'll clear the way." Tigress said running at Po. The ursine anticipated the maneuver she was about to pull off and springboarded her from his hands, launching the feline into the crowd of enemies. Tigress flew forward at breakneck speed before getting within striking range of a soldier. She struck the rhino in the chest with a tai chi double palm strike, pushing the pachyderm into his comrades and clearing the hall. Po was able to charge forward into the dark room Jūnfá stood in with ease.
Upon entering the room Po was greeted by the radiant light of the moon shinning through one gigantic window, illuminating the dark room. The room was nearly empty, only a few sparsely placed furnishings decorated the space. The floor of the center of the room was covered with a large black carpet with Shen's emblem adorned on the center. The far right wall had three racks that held several wooden training weapons. The opposite wall was covered with training dummies, certain parts of their bodies had targets of vital areas to attack. Jūnfá and Po stood in a gigantic training room, most likely repurposed to suit Jūnfá instead of the previous owner he usurped the palace from. "It's over Jūnfá. The time has come for you to surrender." Po said in a triumphant tone. "Surrender? I haven't lost yet, and I don't intend to Dragon Warrior." Jūnfá said in a cold emotionless tone. "The palace is burning and your army is falling apart. You've lost your grip on the city." Jūnfá slowly turned to face Po, his black iron armor glistened with a dull sheen in the light of a crescent moon, "You think I care about an army or even controlling this city? The men were just a means to an end. The city, a lure to bring you to me, so that I may finish what Lord Shen started. Killing you." he said pointing a claw at Po. "What do you mean? This was all for me?" the panda asked. "To put it simply: yes. This was all a ploy. Think of it as a story or a play. The prologue: the death of Lord Shen at the hands of the Dragon Warrior. The intro: a siege on Tan Jin city. Rising action: the coup d'état to control said city and bring you, the Dragon Warrior, to face me, Warlord Hēi'àn Jūnfá. And finally, we reach the climax...the death of the Dragon Warrior." Po was taken aback by how heartless the reptile was and the coldness of his tone, "This isn't some story. These are people's lives you're playing with. Do you even care?" Jūnfá drew two repeater crossbows from his sides and glared at the Dragon Warrior with soulless eyes that burned with hate, "No." he said before raising the crossbows and firing off several bolts at the panda.
Po dove to the side to dodge the projectiles and began running toward Jūnfá, dodging the bolts he fired. When Po got within range of the reptile, he jumped up and attacked with a flying roundhouse kick. The Komodo dragon ducked the attack and pointed his crossbows back at Po, firing several more bolts at the ursine. Po dodged the bolts again, but one grazed his shoulder, clipping no more than just fur. The panda high kicked the crossbows from Jūnfá's hands a followed up with a punch aimed at his face. Jūnfá caught the punch in one hand and looked at Po for a moment, the panda bearing a look of surprise. He punched Po in the ribs with his free hand, effectively bruising them with the iron gauntlet covering his fist. The blow sent Po reeling back to recover, but Jūnfá didn't let up. He followed up by grabbing Po by the side of his face and tossing him to the side before walking up to the downed panda and kicking him in the gut, sliding him further across the room. "At least try to make this entertaining Dragon Warrior." Jūnfá taunted as he walked towards the bear. Po stood back up just as Jūnfá had reached him and attacked with a spinning back kick. The strike connected, staggering the lizard as Po followed up with a bicycle kick to Jūnfá's chest. The reptile was pushed back further but wasn't even fazed by the attacks. Po was sure he had some effect on the warlord but it wasn't visibly noticeable. "I take it that was supposed to hurt and not annoy me right?" Jūnfá asked before rushing Po and front kicking him in the dead center of his chest, pushing him back.
Po stood his ground but coughed heavily from the wind being knocked out of him. He took a knee to catch his breath and looked up to see Jūnfá approaching him menacingly. "You know, it kinda seems unfair for me to be fighting you in this armor. Your hits are barely even making a dent. Perhaps I should level the playing field?" he asked, his voice tinging with insincerity. "It'd be nice if you did." Po said before getting back in his stance. "Hmph, not a chance." Jūnfá said before attacking with a spinning back fist. Po caught the strike and countered with a punch to the elbow followed by a shoulder throw. Jūnfá quickly recovered and got back to his feet in an instant to continue his assault on the Dragon Warrior. He got into a stance where his hands were open but clenched with his claws ready. He lunged toward Po and slashed at him. The panda leaned away from the strike to dodge the claw swipe but was struck across the face when Jūnfá followed up with a roundhouse kick that carried the swipe's momentum. The reptile capitalized on the stagger and lunged at Po again, grabbing him by the throat and slamming the ursine to the ground. He held Po down and, with his other hand, thrusted his claws at the warrior's face. Po caught the hand mere inches from his face and held it at bay with all his strength. "Can you feel it Dragon Warrior? Your imminent demise nearing closer and closer." Jūnfá taunted with a demented chuckle. "Nope. Just the fact that I'm gonna kick your butt." Po said with a grunt as he kept Jūnfá's claws from dealing a fatal blow to end the fight. "Just as foolish and overconfident as ever, even in the face of death. But I'm not simply going to kill you. I'm going to destroy everything you love and have ever cared about. The Valley of Peace, the Furious Five, friends, family. Hell, even that wolf and his pup that seems to have joined you in this crusade of yours to free a doomed city. I must say though, I never expected things to play out like this. Far more entertaining than what I anticipated though." Jūnfá threatened as he pushed his iron clawed hand closer and closer to Po's face. "I can't, nngh, let that...happen!" Po shouted in defiance, shoving Jūnfá's hand to the side. The appendage punched through the floor boards as if it were a sheet of paper, but his hand became stuck in the process. Po rolled out from under the Komodo dragon and stood ready at his side.
As Jūnfá struggled to free his hand, Po began his assault. He punched the reptile in the face with a right hook followed by a side kick, stunning him and pushing him back slightly and keeping him from pulling his arm free, "I can't allow you to keep spreading pain and suffering to innocent people." Po said, double tornado kicking Jūnfá in the face, "You've ruined enough lives," he slammed his knee into Jūnfá's nose, pushing him back further and causing his arm to rip through the floor. "And I can't let you continue." He double palm struck the reptile in the chest, pushing him further and breaking more of the floor, "It's my job as Dragon Warrior to defend the people of China from evil like you," he punched him in the face, loosening the stuck arm slightly, "Like Tai Lung," a left hook, "Like Shen!" the final strike, a right uppercut, sent Jūnfá flying into the air before landing with a hard thud. Po panted heavily. The battle was over. Jūnfá was defeated and the city was free. All that was left was to take him in to Chor-Gom prison. Po walked over to the unconscious reptile and just as he reached down to grab him by the collar, Jūnfá grabbed Po by the arm, digging his razor sharp claws into the panda's flesh and drawing blood. "I'm not done yet, panda." he hissed before pulling Po forward and slamming his shoulder into the ursine, sending him almost completely across the room. Jūnfá used the momentum to stand up and began stomping across the room towards Po. Little did he know, the force split the gap in the floor further, making it more unstable, "I've been waiting a while for this, Dragon Warrior." he began, his every step cracking the floor more and more as he sauntered toward Po, "I'm not going to be defeated by you. A no good, murdering b***! You think you're a hero? You think that what you do makes you so much more righteous and better than what I do? How many lives have you ended in the pursuit of doing 'the right thing' huh? What you did wasn't good! It made you no better than Tai Lung was. Perhaps even worse! You're no hero. You're a killer masquerading as a savior." Jūnfá said as he got closer and closer to Po, the panda stunned beyond words. Jūnfá threw a punch at Po, but the Dragon Warrior caught the attack, "You're wrong. I'm no killer. I don't end lives to make my own better or for personal gain. Tai Lung and Shen gave me no other choice. The things they were doing would've destroyed all of China. I defeated them to save lives. To protect the innocent. What you do and what they did was evil. They killed and oppressed to suit their own selfish needs and they didn't care who was in their way, innocent or otherwise. I gave them a chance. Tried to convince them that they didn't need to continue down their dark paths. But they were too far gone and my hand was forced. ...Don't be like them Jūnfá. Don't be like Shen." Po pleaded.
The panda's words weighed heavily on Jūnfá. The lizard began to think of the choices he made, the lives he had ended, and the destruction he had wrought. All for the sake of vengeance against a warrior who stopped a tyrant. But they were only words, and Jūnfá valued action above petty words. "Go to hell." he hissed at Po, pulling the panda's arm and opening his jaws wide for a bite of death. Po saw this and struck Jūnfá in the chest with a tiger claw palm strike, shoving the reptile away and causing him to land where the floor boards began to break, shattering what little integrity they had left. The boards caved inward but formed a feeble ledge that Jūnfá clung to for dear life. Po ran over and saw the warlord hanging above a pit of fire, the floors below had crumbled into a burning inferno, sealing the fate of those unfortunate enough to be trapped below. Po reached a hand to the lizard just as he began to slip, using his claws to cling to the falling patch of floor boards, "Grab my hand, I'll pull you up!" Po yelled, reaching for Jūnfá. The Komodo dragon eyed the black furred appendage, his only salvation to keep from dying a fiery death. He looked on with trepidation, looking down at what could be his end and looking up at what could save him. He decided to take his chances with the Dragon Warrior and reached up to grab Po's hand. Just as they were about to make contact, Jūnfá unsheathed his claws and tried to latch onto the flesh of Po's hand, looking to drag the panda down into the flame. Before he could grab on, the floor boards broke away from the rest of the floor, casting Jūnfá into the inferno below. Po watched in horror and disappointment as the Komodo dragon disappeared under waves of flame, never to be seen again.
Meanwhile, Back With Yuè...
Zhuo brought his hook swords down on Yuè, aiming to end their confrontation swiftly. Just as the blades came down Yuè rolled out of the way, leaving them to get lodged in a piece of wood. The tiger snarled as he pulled at the swords to dislodge them. Yuè quickly got to his feet and took advantage of Zhuo's situation, and kicked him in the side of the head with a front kick. The feline forcibly let go of the swords from the blow and was sent tumbling to the side, but quickly recovered and got back to his feet. Yue and Zhuo eyed one another, the canine in the stance for wolf style kung fu and the feline hunched over with his claws drawn. Without a word spoken between them, the warriors charged at each other. Yuè attacked with a flying kick, but Zhuo dodged and retaliated with a high kick. Yuè caught the attack and kicked Zhuo in his other, more exposed, leg. The feline stumbled back before reorienting himself. "Bruised shin." Yuè said getting back in his stance. For the briefest of moments, the wolf looked back at Li to see how the pup was holding up. Her eyes remained closed as he told her and he could tell that she was very anxious to leave by the quickness of her breathing and the low whines coming from her. However, the scene around the wolves became more and more dire by the second. The fire was progressing at an astoundingly fast rate, enveloping anything and everything that could burn and feed its voracious appetite for destruction, causing more and more of the room to fall apart. Yuè needed to end this and quick, for both his and Li's sake. Zhuo struck back at the canine with a spinning back kick that landed on his chest, pushing Yuè back and knocking the wind out of him for a moment. In less than a second he caught his breath and went back on the offensive. The lupine attacked Zhuo with a spinning back punch and followed it up with an elbow strike and finished the combo with a jumping knee. The tiger blocked every attack and retaliated with a front kick. Yuè countered the attack by kicking Zhuo's leg back down and followed up with his own front kick that landed in the tiger's chest.
Zhuo stumbled back from the attack and growled loudly. He unsheathed his claws and charged at Yuè on all fours, leaping up to slash at the wolf's face. The canine dodged to the side but was unable to retaliate in any way. Zhuo continued his assault, savagely swiping at Yuè. Thinking fast, Yuè dodged to the side and grabbed a piece of, still burning, wooden debris and broke it across Zhuo's back, sending the feline crashing to the ground. "Stop this Zhuo. At this rate the fire is gonna kill us before we get a chance to kill each other. If not the flames then the smoke'll get us." Yuè said, trying to reason with the tiger. Zhuo shakily got back to his feet and scowled. He glared at Yuè and the two began to circle one another. "I'd gladly keep going, but right now I want my daughter outta here." Yuè said with a slight growl. "I could care less. Jūnfá paid me ta guard that pup and stop anyone that gets in my way. You're in my way, so now I gotta get rid of you." he snarled. Yuè scoffed, "You got dedication, I'll give you that." The wolf charged Zhuo and attacked with a flying punch. The tiger dodged to the side and punched Yuè in the ribs, causing the wolf to reel back and wince in pain, "Two cracked ribs." he pointed out before getting into the stance for hung gar style kung fu. "Pointing out weaknesses too, huh? Fine. Let's end this." Yuè said, getting into his wolf style stance.
Yuè attacked first. He leapt at Zhuo and attacked with a flipping axe kick. Zhuo stepped back and avoided the attack. He retaliated with a high kick aimed at the side of Yuè's head. The wolf raised his forearm and blocked the strike, but felt a painful crack in his wrist, "Sprained wrist." Zhuo said before attacking again with a tornado kick aimed at the other side. Yuè ducked the strike and swept Zhuo's leg, bringing him down to the ground. He jumped on top of the tiger and punched him three times in the face before being kicked off and rolling to the side. The two stood back up, injured and evenly matched. The fire had grown out of control and Yuè could see parts of the room falling apart. In the far right, the wall had collapsed and the ceiling was barely holding up. The floor's structural integrity wouldn't last too much longer. 'If I'm gonna end this, I need to stop screwing around. Looks like I'm gonna have to use 'that' technique.' Yuè thought to himself before crouching down on all fours. He could feel the heat of the burning floor in his hands as well as how weak the floor became as a result of the flames eating away at it. "Don't think you got a upper hand 'cus you crouch. That just makes it easier for me to stomp your head and crush your skull." Zhuo taunted. Without a word, Yuè dashed at the tiger with all of his strength and energy, going faster than he had ever before. Running at that speed made the brittle floor boards beneath him crack and break from the stress. Zhuo barely had enough time to put his guard up when Yuè reached him. The wolf leapt over Zhuo, landing behind the tiger, and slammed his elbow into his back. Zhuo reeled from the strike and quickly turned to face Yuè with a spinning back punch. Yuè caught the attack and slammed the palm of his hand into Zhuo's elbow, causing it to crack loudly. The wolf held Zhuo's arm in place and kicked him in the ribs before letting go and kicking the tiger in the knee. Yuè quickly reached down into the bomb satchel Zhuo had stolen from him and pulled out a bomb with a wooden casing. The explosive mysteriously rattled with its every move. Yuè grabbed Zhuo by the throat and tossed him across the room to a nearby window. He then walked over to a small pile of burning debris to his side and lit the explosive's fuse before tossing it at Zhuo. The tiger looked up at the wrong time and the bomb was no more than two feet from his face when it detonated, sending shards of metal and embers of flame at him.
The shrapnel tore at the flesh of the right side of his face and the embers burned the fur and flesh, permanently disfiguring the tiger and blinding his right eye, turning the blood red into a pale white. He roared out in pain and clenched his face, "MY FACE! MY EYE! I CAN'T SEE!" he said before looking with his one good eye at Yuè. His eye quickly widened in surprise when he saw the wolf running on all fours at him. Yuè leapt at the feline and flying kicked him, sending him crashing through the window and falling down hundreds of feet to the ground below. The wolf took a moment to watch the tiger fall before quickly running over to Li as the fire drew closer to the pup. On his way over he quickly grabbed his fallen sword and proceeded to run to her side. Yuè quickly sliced the last chain holding his daughter in place and pulled her into a tight embrace, deciding to remove the shackle when they got to safety. "You can open your eyes now, pup. Everything's okay." Yuè said reassuringly to Li. The pup looked at her father with watery eyes and tightly hugged him, pushing her face into the exposed fur of his neck. "I was so scared!" he cried out. Yuè chuckled lightly, "Me too, pup. Now c'mon. We need to find a way out of here." he said before carefully scanning the burning room. The door was blocked by fire and fallen debris and the window was out of the question. There were no footholds for him to climb down from and nothing for him to land on if he wanted to jump to safety. He thought about every possible way to escape but every one of them was out of the question because of the fire. The only one that made the most sense was to escape through the ceiling into the floor above them. There was a fifty-fifty chance that the room above was safer than the one he and his pup were currently in, but those odds were dropping by the second.
The new problem was finding a way to go through the ceiling, and the answer came in the form of fallen support beam. Across the room one of the support beams had broken in the middle and fell, crashing through the floor as well as opening a hole in the ceiling just big enough for Yuè and Li to fit through and move up a floor. However, Yuè could see the flames engulfing the room above him through the hole, but had to take that chance. The door may have been clear for him to escape and get Li to safety. Yuè picked up Li and dashed over to the support beam, climbing onto the slim plank of wood. Just as he had jumped on the floor below them began to cave in. Yuè saw this and realized that he didn't have much time to get out of there. Without a second thought he quickly ran up the beam into the room above them. The fire inside wasn't as bad as the one from the previous floor and the door was clear for them to leave. Yuè bolted to the door with Li in his arms, they were almost home free. As Yuè neared the door, a floor board broke beneath his foot, causing him to fall and toss Li in front of the door. His foot was stuck, and to make matters worse, without that support beam keeping the floor stable, the ground began to cave in on Yuè until it left him hanging by the edge of the room. Li ran to him and grabbed his hand, trying with all of her strength to pull him. "No Li, stop! I don't want you to fall in!" Yuè commanded in a stern voice. The pup let go and looked at her father with sodden eyes. Yuè tried to pull himself up, but his injured wrist from fighting Zhuo stopped him and hindered the wolf unable to save himself, "Li, I want you to go out that door and call out to the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. They'll find you and take you somewhere safe." Li's eyes began to water, "And they'll get you too?" she asked. Yuè smiled brightly, "Yeah. They'll find me but you have to go first, okay?" he lied. Li nodded quickly and reluctantly ran into the hall.
Yuè tried one more time to pull himself up, but was once again stopped by his injury. Just as he was about to try again, the floor gave way and he began to fall toward the inferno that awaited him below. In his eyes, time slowed and his life began to flash before his very eyes. All the years went by, his childhood with his father, growing up and becoming a bounty hunter, meeting Lilu, and finally, his time with his daughter Li. Throughout his life Yuè had faced death many times and not once had he faltered or given way to the cold embrace. But he had no way out of this. It would take a miracle to save him from his fate. Just as time sped up, and Yuè began his descent into the awaiting flames, but something tugged on his arm and stopped his fall. He looked up to see another hand holding his, one bearing black fur with grey tips that shone like silver. Kuo had come to his rescue and was trying to pull the wolf up. "Uugh, damn you're heavy." she groaned as she pulled. Yuè pulled up and grabbed the ledge with his other hand, pulling himself up to safety. "For a second there I thought I bit the dust. Thanks, for saving my life. Guess I owe you another one, huh?" he asked with a wry smirk. "No. Just one." Kuo said before pulling Yuè into a kiss. The wolf was caught off guard by the she-wolf. The kiss was unexpected and he was unsure what to do. Should he pull away or should he accept it? Before he had a chance to decide, Kuo had pulled away from the kiss, leaving an awkward silence in its place.
"Uumm... We should probably get going. The whole burning building thing and all." Yuè said, his inner ears getting warmer and more pink than normal. "Right... Let's go." Kuo said as she quickly dashed out of what little remained of the room. 'So that just happened.' Yuè thought before leaving the room behind Kuo. When the two wolves got into the hall a mysterious gust of wind blew through the corridor, sending small embers flying through the air. Yuè looked in the direction the gust came from to see Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Fan, running their way, "There you are. We heard someone shouting for us." Fan said as they reached Yuè, Kuo, and Li. "That was me. I called you!" Li said excitedly, running to hug Fan. "So you did." the weasel said before looking to see Kuo beside Yuè, "What're you doing here? Were you captured too?" she asked. Just before Kuo could answer, a large pile of debris collapsed behind her and Yuè, destroying a majority of that side of the corridor, "I'll explain when we get outta here. For now, RUN!" she shouted with urgency. Everyone followed her advice and dashed down the hall. "So you find a way out?" Yuè asked. "Yeah. But it's downstairs at the main entrance." Monkey answered. Yuè looked down the side of the railing and wondered how he'd make it all the way down there. He could easily jump down and use the railing to slow his descent to a safe speed, but several floors closer to the bottom had been completely destroyed and had no railing for him to land on. Looking more outward, the wolf noticed a long tapestry hanging from a sort of chandelier. The fabric led all the way to the bottom floor, "I got a plan. Crane, take Li and fly her to safety. The rest of you, follow me." he said before vaulting over the side rail. Crane grabbed Li by the collar and took flight, while everyone else followed Yuè.
The lupine and his compatriots skillfully made their descent from the top of the palace, leaping from each floor while avoiding the blaze that devoured the historic building. Before long they had made it to the floor that was parallel to their target: the chandelier. Without a second thought, Yuè leapt from the railing to the tapestry. He unsheathed his claws, stabbed through the cloth, and began riding the fabric down to the ground floor as his sharp nails tore through and slowed his fall. The other followed behind but Monkey, Kuo, and Fan all used throwing knives borrowed from Fan and Mantis hitched a ride on Monkey's shoulder. As they neared the bottom of the tapestry, the group saw that the cloth had stopped several feet above their intended destination and braced themselves for a hard landing. They landed with a roll to break their fall and minimize the chance of getting injured. When they reached the ground floor Crane had flown past them and out the front door. The group of warriors had broke out into a sprint and dashed out of the towering inferno. Behind them, they could hear the palace supports buckle and shatter, a sign that the once illustrious building was coming down. Outside, a huge crowd had gathered to watch the building burn. Some watched in horror and others watched with anger, the latter most likely being soldiers. "RUN! THE WHOLE PLACE IS COMING DOWN!" Yuè shouted to the crowd as the building began to buckle and collapse in on itself. The crowd began to disperse, everyone running to take cover from the debris that was sure to follow. Yuè and the others ducked down a nearby alley and took cover behind a stack of crates. As the palace fell, a shockwave blew through the surrounding area, shattering windows and sending dust, ashes, and embers from the wreckage flying through the frigid mountain air. Several moments later, people began to leave their hiding spots to gaze upon the remains of their city's monument. The only remains of the tower were parts of the outer structure and wooden supports that were eaten away by the the flames still burned with faint embers and the occasional small fire. Ashes from the parts of the palace that were completely incinerated coated the once green and beautiful courtyard, and fell from the sky like snowflakes.
In the center of rubble something could be seen poking up. People spotted this and began to climb over the debris to get a closer look but kept their distance. Po, Yuè, and the other warriors left their cover and saw the figure as well and walked toward it. They got closer than the civilians and saw that the figure was a skeletal hand, one with metal claws. Yuè crouched down and brushed some of the debris away to reveal a skull accompanying the hand. The jawline of the skull was lined with small razor sharp teeth, and the shape of the skull looked familiar. "It's Jūnfá." he said softly, looking up at Po. "I tried to save him. The floor gave out and he fell." the panda said in a crestfallen tone. Yuè looked at the skull one last time before a cold gust of wind blew by, turning the bones to dust. The wolf stood and placed a hand on Po's shoulder, "You did all you could. Don't let this get to you. At the end of the day, just know you tried to do the right thing. And that's better than doing nothing." he said with a comforting smile. Po smiled as well and playfully punched the lupine in the arm, "Hey, I thought I was the one who have pep talks around here." he joked. Suddenly the air erupted with cheering and sounds of praise. The people of Tan Jin were free from the oppressive grip of the tyrant Hēi'àn Jūnfá. Whatever soldiers remained in the city had begun to retreat after realizing their leader was defeated. The Furious Five, Jian, Fan, Kuo, and Li all walked to Po and Yuè's sides to stand with them. "Looks like they agree." Yuè said to Po as they waved at the crowd.
Soon, the heroes of Tan Jin began to make their way through the crowd on their way out of the city, occasionally stopping to shake hands or receive hugs of gratitude. Yuè turned to the she-wolf beside him and looked at her quizzically, "So...you blew up the tower." he said with a hint of disbelief in his voice. "Yep." Kuo said nonchalantly. "How many bombs did you use?" Yuè asked, still not believing what happened. Kuo looked up in thought for a moment, "Hmmm, just one." she said with a proud smile. Yuè's jaw dropped, "Seriously? Just one?" he asked incredulously. Kuo nodded, leaving Yuè stunned for a moment, "... God you're so hot right now." he said under his breath. However, he said it loud enough for the group to hear, earning some looks of disbelief and confusion. Yuè's ears folded back with embarrassment and he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Uh... I mean, good job Kuo. Heh, that was pretty cool." he said wryly. The she-wolf grinned smugly, "Thanks." she said with a wink that made Yuè's ears flush bright pink again. Looking for anyway to recover from his comment, Yuè decided to change the subject, "Anyway, why did you set the palace on fire? I'm sure you knew that we were in it too, right?" he asked. It was Kuo's turn to blush, as her ears folded back, "Funny story. The fire was supposed to be a distraction so I could find Li and you guys. I was coming to bust you out. But, I didn't expect you guys to escape as quickly as you did, so things backfired. No pun intended." she explained. "How did you know we were taken to the palace? And an even bigger question: how did Li get captured? I thought you were watching her?" Yuè asked, bombarding Kuo with questions. "I followed the guys that took you. The soldiers ransacked the inn and they found Li and I. I tried to run away with Li but they caught her. I was about to try to free her but they set fire to the inn and burned it to the ground. I managed to get out in time but I don't think the innkeeper was so lucky. Sorry I couldn't keep Li safe." she said glumly. Yuè looked away, "It's okay. You did all you could. In the end what matters is that you tried. And look at us now, Li's alright and the city's saved. Quite the happy ending, if I do say so myself." he said as they approached the gates that led outside the city. Beside them sat a large stagecoach with two muscularly built water buffalo on the pulling end. A small goose approached the warriors, "Hello. My name is Wang Sueh-yen, the former advisor to the late Lord Guiren. On behalf of the the people of Tan Jin, we thank you for your service to our city." he said before putting a fist in the palm of his hand and bowing. The warriors bowed back respectfully. "To make your journey back to The Valley of Peace more comfortable, I've arranged for this stagecoach to take you back. If there is anything else we can do for you, anything at all, do not hesitate to ask." Yuè looked to Po, "It's your call. After all, you did defeat Jūnfá." he said with a grin.
Po looked up in thought, rubbing the fur on his chin, "Well, I am pretty hungry. Maybe some snacks for the road for my friends and I?" he asked. The advisor nodded, "Of course. Anything for the heroes of Tan Jin city." he said. Within seconds several servants brought over eleven woven baskets, all steaming hot with steam rising from the top. The bottoms of the baskets were layered to keep them cool to the touch, as to not burn the holder. The warriors all peeked inside the baskets and saw that they were filled with high-class gourmet dishes, ranging from stuffed dumplings to sweet buns. Yuè could tell he would enjoy the ride back to the valley.