Before Setting Sail
Invincible Part 2
Kim swung at the giant otter who disappeared in a flash of lightning. From the side, Acatl swung his tail across Kim's face, startling him.
The hippo grabbed at the otter again but once more, King Acatl got out of reach.
Kim roared and took out his chain, swinging it at Acatl. The king swiftly ducked as the chain destroyed a food stand behind him.
"Stop this madness, warrior!" King Acatl told him.
"I have my orders from the queen and I will not rest until they… you are completed," Kim replied.
"The queen?" King Acatl's face looked worried, realizing the possibility that Zuma wasn't the person he always thought she was.
Kim charged at the giant otter but Acatl vanished as Kim crashed straight through a temple pillar, destroying it. As the pillar fell, Kim grabbed it and swung it at Acatl who leaped over it and activated the Storm Wheel again.
Kim was struck from behind with superhuman force and speed combined, knocking him down the steps of the temple. As the hippo got up, King Acatl continued his assault, striking at the hippo from all sides with super speed and lightning attacks.
"Could he… could he actually do it?" asked Alfred as he sat up next to Akna.
"Maybe… maybe he really can," Akna said hopefully. "Kim can't even touch him at this rate."
After being sent stumbling again, Kim braced himself, holding his feet firmly to the ground and raising his hands to protect his head.
From all sides, Kim Acatl continued his super speed assault, hitting Kim and then retreating, striking Kim in all sides of his body where he could see an opening.
Blow after blow, Kim began to sense a pattern. His eyes also darted around as the giant otter hit him multiple times. Although he could not move as fast as the Storm Wheels, he was beginning to see through King Acatl's attack patterns.
Finally, Kim swung his fist out, timing his attack right and striking King Acatl in the face just in time, knocking him down to the floor.
"Agh!" the giant otter cried.
As the otter fell, so did his Storm Wheel, which rolled a fair distance away from him.
Before Acatl could get up, Kim kicked him in the ribs, shattering them and sending the otter flying into the side of a building.
"Oh no!" Akna realized. "This isn't good!"
The colorful bird tried to fly and aid the giant otter monarch but was stopped by Alfred.
"Akna, no!" Alfred held her back from flying towards the battle. "You saw how strong Kim is. I won't lose you in such a senseless way!"
"This is the end for you," Kim walked over and stood in front of the fallen king.
"Is it?" King Acatl smiled as his eyes along with his mystical staff began to glow a strange yellow hue.
Kim brought his fist down but Acatl avoided it, leaping up. As his staff overflowed with power, Kim Acatl raised it high into the air.
"I call forth the power of the gods!" Kim Acatl cried.
With that, he brought down the staff on Kim, striking him with all his might and enveloping the massive hippo in a bright golden explosion.
"Whoa, what was that?" asked Akna.
She noticed Alfred had shielded the two of them with a foot cart.
Finally, the smoke cleared and King Acatl stood there victorious but looking tired.
There was also a crater where Kim's body lay. The giant hippo's body remained motionless and it appeared that he had finally been beaten.
"It was something my father taught to me," Acatl told her. "In times of great need, I was told it could vanquish even the strongest enemy."
"I'm afraid it's not quite over, your majesty," Sir Alfred told him. "Zuma was the one who instigated Kim into coming after you and even after this is over, I'm afraid she may attempt regicide through other means."
"I'm starting to think you may have a point," Kim Acatl confessed. "Perhaps it is time I paid Zuma a visit and see—"
A tremendous roar startled all three.
Kim lunged from the crater, still alive but heavily damaged, with glowing veins running down his face and neck from the damage Acatl did to him. The attack had severely injured him but it did not put him down.
"No!" Acatl cried, attempting to raise his weapon again but it was too late.
Kim slammed into him, crashing through a building as Akna and Alfred had to get out of the way.
Raising King Acatl to eye level, Kim roared as he began strangling the King. Acatl tried to fight back by using his tail to whip Kim's heavily scarred face with hits that would've knocked out or severely injured a normal opponent. However, Kim did not even let those physical attacks stop him.
"My job," Kim grabbed the king's head with both hands.
Kim twisted King Acatl's neck, snapping it and ending the giant otter's life immediately.
"Is complete!" Kim screamed.
In an instant, King Acatl's life was over. Finally, Kim dropped the giant otter to the floor and then turned to Alfred and Akna, walking towards them slowly.
"Oh, this isn't good," Alfred backed away slowly.
However, after a few short steps, Kim collapsed and fell to the floor unconscious. It appeared that King Acatl's devastating attack did at least have some effect on the hippo.
Before long, Akna and Sir Alfred heard voices and the sound of troops moving in.
"Kim is here!"
From a distance, Akna could tell they were Zuma's soldiers.
"Akna, we have to leave," Sir Alfred told her as he picked up the fallen Storm Wheel on the ground that King Acatl lost. "It won't take long before this place is overrun."
"But… King Acatl," Akna looked on sadly. "His sacrifice…"
"I'm sorry," Alfred looked down. "But with my injured arm, I won't be of much use and we're outnumbered. It pains me to say this but Zuma has won. And our efforts were in vain."
Akna gave the fallen King Acatl one more sad look before she decided to listen to Alfred. Without another word, the two of them ran off.
oooo
"What… what happened to me?"
Kim the Invincible woke up on a lavish bed. As he got up, he shook his head and looked around. The only person in the room was Zuma who looked delighted that he was awake.
"Kim, I'm soooo glad you're awake!" the jaguar queen told him.
"The last thing I remember was completing the mission and then… nothing," Kim told her.
"King Acatl's got some tricks up his sleeves," Zuma told him. "But you still did quite well and now his kingdom belongs to me."
Kim looked into a mirror and noticed most of his scars from the battle had faded.
"My healers managed to mostly patch you up," Zuma said to the hippo. "You took quite an attack."
"Yes, and I survived," Kim smiled. "My sources have informed me that my next target possesses an attack of a similar magnitude."
"Wow, who else could do something like that?" asked Zuma.
"They call him the Dragon Warrior," Kim informed her. "And he is my next target who resides in the Far East. I was told he is a warrior of tremendous power and the greatest living fighter on the planet. Legend has it he can survive for months on nothing but the dew of a leaf and the energy of the universe."
"Hmm, well, that sounds interesting" Zuma shrugged. "In any case, he's too far away to be on my radar."
Zuma took out an additional treasure chest as Kim's reward for his completed mission.
"Thank you for your hospitality, your majesty," Kim thanked her.
The hippo rose out of the bed.
"No problem at all," Zuma told him. "But if you don't mind, stay and celebrate with us for a few more days. After all, I may be the Protector… but you're the real hero in my eyes."
"Hmm, I suppose you have a point," Kim realized he was still tired and that a few days rest would do him some good.
"This Dragon Warlord can wait," Zuma told him, not even remembering Po's title correctly. "You are a stranger in a strange land and it is my job as Queen to show you the proper hospitality!"
oooo
A few days later.
"Alfie?"
Both Akna and Sir Alfred stood at the pier of the port town as the English ship finally docked and lion knights began to disembark.
"Do you really have to go now?" asked Akna. "Your arm isn't even healed yet."
"I'm sorry Akna," Alfred told her. "I know the timing isn't good and I'm still injured but today is the day I am about to be recalled to England."
"But you could do so much more here!" Akna told him. "We need you!"
"If only that were true," Alfred shook his head sadly. "Akna, I don't regret the wonderful friendship we have but… I've learned some hard truths about life during my time here."
A lion knight walked up to the two.
"Are you ready, Sir Alfred?" asked the knight.
"I will be," Sir Alfred replied. "All I need is some final words with my friend Akna."
The lion knight nodded and walked off.
"As I was saying," Alfred told Akna. "All my life, I was brought up with the concepts of chivalry, honor, and codes that I followed as part of who I am. And I assumed those codes applied everywhere and that simply following them would bring justice. However, in my journeys, I was proven wrong more than once. Zuma and her craftiness in eluding justice have opened my eyes to how evil cannot simply be fought with good behavior and a knight's code of conduct."
"But couldn't you stay and we can overthrow Zuma together" Akna asked.
"I wish we could," Alfred shook his head. "However, I have been called back by my Queen and she needs my services. I am sorry, Akna."
Alfred reached inside his pocket and handed something to the bird. It was the toy that once belonged to his sister.
"Wait, doesn't this belong to your sister?" inquired Akna.
"It did," Alfred told her. "But I want you to have it. It is the only thing I can leave as a parting gift."
Before Alfred could turn around and leave, Akna revealed that she had something for him as well.
"Take this with you," insisted Akna.
"You want me to have the second Storm Wheel?" Alfred looked genuinely surprised.
"Well… it's better that you have it than Zuma finds it and gets more power," Akna said insistently.
"Hmm," Alfred took the weapon, ruminating on what to do. "Perhaps this weapon could be of some use…"
"Could you make it into something we could use?" asked Akna.
"It is possible," answered Sir Alfred. "With the right amount of blacksmith work, I believe this could be reforged into a sword."
"When that day comes, will you be back so we can fight the good fight again?" Akna looked at her friend hopefully.
"Rest assured Akna, I will be back one day," Sir Alfred promised.
Akna flew up and gave the bear a hug.
"Safe journeys, Alfie," Akna said to him affectionately.
"Be well Akna," Sir Alfred smiled.
oooo
Present Day.
"So my brother faced Kim the Invincible before," Luthera looked at Akna in surprise.
"Yes, and I think what happened in Central America affected his mindset," Akna told her. "Dealing with Zuma made him grow more cynical and disheartened over time. And the beating Kim gave him might've shattered his self-confidence."
"So what's how Kim was able to survive my Wu-Xi Finger Hold," Po also realized. "He survived an attack like that before from King Acatl and his body got stronger from it."
"He really did live up to his title of being Invincible," Akna confirmed. "Alfie and I didn't even scratch him with our weapons."
"Then after he was done with his trip in Central America, he went overseas again to come hunt me down," Po realized.
After working out the timeline in his head, Po realized that the events Akna described took place sometime during the timeframe when he had faced Tai Lung and Shen but before he got to fight Kai, as Kim was someone he faced before Kai showed up in his life.
"You found out a way to beat him, didn't you?" asked Akna.
"I did," admitted Po. "But achieving the same results twice against him might be hard. The first time, Kim didn't expect my dad and master to show up and I just happened to have the right mixture to make his stomach explode. Getting all that to work a second time might not work and when I tried doing something like that in our second fight, Kim pulverized me for it."
"Hmm," Akna thought carefully. "Maybe we need to try a new variation of an old trick."
"You got an idea?" asked Po.
"I do, but it'll require a team effort against Kim," Akna told him.
"I'm all ears," Po smiled.
oooo
"Uh, your majesty," Constable Hu scratched his head nervously. "I am not sure of the purpose of your visit. I thought your men already investigated this town and found what they were looking for?"
Inside the Jade Palace, Junjie sat smugly in a royal chair as an army of rhinos and the other rogues looked at Constable Hu with intimidating glares.
"On the contrary," Junjie addressed the elephant. "I am here on personal business because in a few days, the Furious Five and Shifu will be back. And I plan on personally greeting them."
"Oh I see," Constable Hu scratched his head. "Well in that case, is there anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable?"
"My men shall help themselves to whatever they need in this town," Junjie told him.
"Er, they will?" Constable Hu frowned, wondering if the townspeople would even approve of that.
"Is that a problem for you?" asked Junjie.
"Yes, is it?" Pai Mei walked past the elephant, looking at his own palms in amusement.
"N-No, it won't be," Constable Hu gulped. "You are the Emperor after all. And the Emperor's Rule is law!"
"Hey Hu!" Gah-ri walked up to the elephant.
"Er, yes?" Hu looked at the croc.
"You did a bad thing once by arresting Mr. Ping on false charges," Gah-ri told him with a stern tone. "Go order us the finest takeout from this Valley and pay out of your own pockets!"
For a moment, Constable Hu balked at the idea. But just as he was about talk back angrily to Gah-ri, Kim the Invincible took one step towards Hu and the elephant felt the ground quake beneath him, putting the fear of various Chinese deities in him.
"I will be on it right away!" Hu promised. "The Emperor and his men deserve only the finest!"
As the bureaucratic elephant slinked away, Junjie took a sip of his tea, savoring the moment because with the political power he now wielded, everything was in place for him to finally put an end to Shifu, the Furious Five, and the entire Jade Palace.
To be continued.