Before Setting Sail

Midnight Conspiracy

"Oh man," Po woke up with his tummy rumbling.

He looked around as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Right now, he, Colin, and Luthera were staying at the palace awaiting the further trial of Klaus tomorrow when the Dragon Knights would arrive.

"Time to get me a midnight snack," Po got out of bed.

Po left his bed chambers, waving to some rhino guards who waved back.

"The kitchen that way?" Po pointed.

"Correct, Dragon Master," the rhino soldier nodded.

"Thanks," Po walked off towards the direction of the kitchen. "Just one bean bun and I can get more beauty sleep."

When he arrived at the kitchen, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

"Oh hey Colin," Po yawned. "Couldn't sleep?"

The deer was at the window, looking up at the moon and sketching something.

"Po, what a surprise,"

Po grabbed some food from the cabinets for a night time snack.

"Watcha working on?" asked Po.

"Err," Colin looked up uncertainly, not being able to put away his picture in time.

He was sketching a picture of Luthera, standing under the moonlight with a sword and a dress.

"Whoa, that's some good artwork," Po told him.

"Really?" asked Colin. "You think so?"

"Yeah, you got her right exactly," Po told him. "You can really draw!"

"Why, thank you Po!"

"So you stayed up late to draw that?" asked Po. "That takes some serious dedication."

"Um, yes it does," Colin admitted, not knowing whether to admit he had a crush on Luthera or not.

Colin then realized that Luthera and Po had been hanging out for the past few weeks when she joined him for his food tour.

"Say Po," asked Colin. "Could you tell me more about Luthera? Her likes… dislikes… you've been around her more recently than I have."

"Well sure… let's see," Po scratched his head.

Before Po could answer, the door opened up, revealing a rhino and a large water buffalo with tied up hands.

"Are you sure where it's kept?" demanded the loud water buffalo.

"Patience is the most virtuous of virtues," the rhino, with what looked like a broken horn, told his partner. "I assure you the powder is here somewhere. Junjie told me it would be in this area."

"Temutai?" Po's mouth gaped open. "Hundun?"

Both rhino and water buffalo turned to Po, realizing right there that they'd been identified.

"Well, so much for you pretending to be a guard taking me in," Temutai told his partner.

The water buffalo quickly broke the ropes that tied his hands together.

"What're you doing here?" demanded Po.

"Do you know these people, Po?" asked Colin, noticing Po's defensive stance.

"Dragon Warrior," Hundun told him. "What a surprise to see you here. We thought we'd never see you again."

"Aren't you the Dragon Master now?" asked Colin.

"Yeah, the guys back in my hometown never got caught up on the latest developments or title changes," Po replied.

"I had that happen to me when I moved out of my hometown as a child," Colin admitted. "When I came back to visit, everybody was shocked to see I was grown up with bigger antlers instead of a small fawn."

"Okay guys," Po told the two interlopers. "Fess up. Why did you guys come here?"

"We don't need to tell you anything, Dragon Warrior!" Hundun told him. "Temutai, keep him busy!"

The large water buffalo attacked first as Hundun fumbled in the kitchen counters.

Po dodged one of Temutai's hits and struck him with an uppercut, sending the water buffalo stumbling back.

"You guys must've missed my graduation day," Po declared. "It's Dragon MASTER now!"

oooo

Luthera woke up in the middle of the night. Rubbing her eyes, she swore she heard muffled screams from somewhere.

"What in the blazes is going on?" Wandering Blade got up and grabbed her sword.

She opened the door and saw a trail of unconscious rhino soldiers.

"What's this?!" Luthera clasped her sword.

She followed the trail of bodies until she saw a loris, a fox, a warthog wearing a strange contraption, and two crocodiles holding the Emperor hostage.

"Your majesty!" Luthera cried.

The hamster turned around and gave her a pleading look.

"Who's this?!" Junjie turned around.

"Unhand him at once!" Luthera ordered.

"I don't know who you are or where you've come from, missy," Tong Fo told her. "But the Emperor is our prize!"

"Taotie, take care of her!" Junjie ordered.

"Yes sir," Taotie pressed down on a button on the gauntlet he was wearing.

On his back, four elongated robotic metal tentacles stretched out.

"What?" Luthera looked quite surprised.

At once, one of those tentacles flew at Blade who was forced to dodge.

"Whoa!" she cried.

Another metal tentacle struck at her but Luthera swung her sword, deflecting it.

"Better make it easier for yourself and us, girl!" Taotie told her. "Give it up and let us take the Emperor!"

"I think not!" Luthera told him angrily, deflecting another tentacle in the process.

After deflecting multiple tentacles coming at her, Luthera went on the offensive, slicing at Taotie.

"Whoa!" Taotie cried, blocking the swing which nearly caved in his head with two tentacles in front of him.

Using his two free metal tentacles, Taotie wrapped one of them around Luthera's throat and the other around her waist.

"What?!" Luthera cried.

"Sorry to do this but we're on a mission!" Taotie told her.

With that he swung her into a wall with those metal tentacles.

"Agh!" Luthera cried.

As Luthera got back up after being slammed, the wall next to her broke open as Temutai tackled both Po and Colin through it.

"Guys!" Luthera cried.

"Hey Blade!" Po waved. "Oh great, Taotie is here too. Is the whole gang back together again?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Taotie admitted.

Seeing that Taotie was distracted, Blade slammed into the warthog with her stomach.

"Ursa Major!" Luthera cried.

"Aaaahhh!" Taotie got sent flying back.

Temutai attacked Po again who dodged multiple hits of his. In return, Po punched Temutai in the stomach, causing him to wheeze. Again and again he punched and kicked Temutai, sending him flying back into a pillar.

"Sheesh, what's taking you guys so long?" demanded Tong Fo who came back to the scene to retrieve his comrades.

"You there!" Colin pointed his antler swords at Tong Fo. "Surrender at once!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Tong Fo sighed.

Colin went after Tong Fo who leaped immediately into action. The loris quickly dodged one of Colin's swings and sent Colin reeling back with an upward dropkick across the chin.

"Agh!" Colin cried.

The deer swung at Tong Fo more but his target was too small and nimble to hit. Additionally, the loris was also quite strong despite his smaller frame and hit a lot harder than what his size would indicate.

Tong Fo struck Colin from all sides, with the deer being hardpressed to keep up with him.

"Hang on guys, I'll be right there!" Po told Luthera and Colin.

Taking advantage of the distraction Temutai punched Po, causing him to see stars. The water buffalo came in, striking the Dragon Master over and over again.

"You've grown soft in all these years!" Temutai shouted, pummeling Po over and over again. "DISAPPOINTING!"

At once, Po caught one of his punches.

"What?!" Temutai demanded.

"Not soft," Po told him. "Well rounded. URSA MAJOR!"

Po struck Temutai with his stomach, sending the water buffalo flying back into a wall. At once, Hundun showed up after having found what he was looking for in the kitchen. As Po still had his attention on Temutai, Hundun opened up his horn to reveal a miniature cannon fueled by some of the powder he had gotten from the royal kitchen.

"Hey panda!" Hundun shouted.

As Po turned around, Hundun opened fire. The blast struck Po, sending him flying through a pillar.

"Po!" Luthera cried, blocking another swing from Taotie.

Smiling, Taotie launched one of his metal tentacles past Luther and struck Colin, and sending him flying back.

"No!" Luthera turned back to Taotie with rage in her eyes.

Before Luthera could attack the warthog, Tong Fo attacked her from behind, striking her in the back with a powerful kick that sent her crashing into the wall and knocking her to the floor subsequently.

"We finished here?" Tong Fo looked around. "Let's go already!"

Temutai got up and followed the rest of the rogues.

"Ugh," Luthera was the first to get up, rubbing her head.

She looked over towards Po and Colin who were knocked down.

"Guys!" she cried, rushing over to help her companions.

oooo

"Help!" the Emperor cried to no avail.

All of his guards had been dispatched and with the element of surprise, the Brotherhood of Malfeasance had also gotten past Po, Luthera, and Colin.

"It's no use your majesty," Junjie told the hamster as the Brotherhood led him out. "Consider yourself in my power now."

At once, a door opened up. The head of a weasel peeked out.

"What's all this?" Klaus demanded as he realized suddenly that all the rhino soldiers in the hall had been taken out.

"Oh it's nothing you should be concerned about, visitor," Junjie took notice that Klaus was from another country based on his dress. "Go back inside and don't concern yourself with trivialities."

"I think I should be concerned alright!" Klaus left his room and got in front of the Neo-Brotherhood of Malfeasance led by Junjie. "What matters at this point is that I do the right thing and that's save the Emperor no matter what my fate may be!"

Klaus leaped into the air, firing a powerful wind blast that knocked down all the members of the Brotherhood, save Junjie who protected himself with his own chi power.

"Ow, what was that?!" Taotie asked.

"It would appear that our gusty new friend is a wind magician of windy talents who controls air and the element of wind," Hundun noted.

"All of you stay back," Junjie pushed the hamster towards Tong Fo who didn't appreciate being treated as an errand boy. "I'll deal with this one."

"Klaus, if you save me, I'll be much more lenient on your sentence!" the hamster cried.

"You just made a big mistake!" Junjie leaped into the air, powered by his own chi.

Klaus leaped up at him as the two clashed. The weasel punched at Junjie who dodged his blow and kicked Klaus across the face before palm-striking him in the chest to knock him to the floor.

The weasel got up, hitting Junjie in the chest with a powerful air blast that sent him tumbling back.

The fox leaped back up to his feet and bounced from pillar to pillar, striking Klaus from multiple angles.

"Give it up, son," Junjie told him. "You're out of your depth against me."

Junjie grabbed Klaus by the arm and twisted it behind him.

In anger, Klaus summoned all his wind magic and powered up a miniature cyclone around his body, throwing Junjie off of him. As Junjie landed on the floor, he looked up as Klaus was still eager to fight.

"I don't have time for this so I'll make this quick," Junjie conceded, realizing he couldn't spend too much time in battle as he still had a mission. "Everybody else, stand back and close your eyes."

"Why?" asked Temutai.

"Just do it!" Junjie ordered.

"Okay fine," Fung agreed as the rest of the Brotherhood did as the old master ordered.

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Klaus.

"Golden Lotus Clap!"

Junjie clapped both hands together, unleashing a powerful golden mist that struck Klaus, sending him flying back and blinding him.

"My eyes!" Klaus cried, getting up.

Moving quickly, Junjie got up close, striking Klaus with multiple kung fu blows until the weasel fell down unconscious.

"Come, gentlemen!" Junjie told the rest of his team as they nudged the kidnapped Emperor to follow them.

oooo

The next morning.

"My eyes… they're better now," Klaus shook his head.

As Klaus got up, he noticed Po next to him. Apparently, the panda had been the one who healed him.

"Yeah, I've had the Golden Lotus Clap done to me before," Po told Klaus. "It's rough but by this point, I know how to counter it and heal it."

"So… any idea where they took the Emperor" asked Luthera.

"I mean, I know my old villains had a few hideouts they went to," replied Po. "We could try going to all of them but it might take us time we don't have."

"Dragon Master," one of the rhino guards approached him. "The guests have arrived."

"The rest of the Dragon Knights are here?" Colin got up.

"Guys!" Po cried.

Rukhmini, Akna, and Lucinda stood there, wondering just what had happened, giving the various states of injury the guards were in.

"So… did Klaus get declared innocent and released?" asked Akna hopefully.

"Not exactly," Po scratched his head. "Though you could say he's a free man at this moment due to lack of any royal sentencing."

"It's good to see you again Luthera," Lucinda hugged her daughter.

"Wait a minute," Rukhmini shook her head. "I came all the way here to testify for this weasel and he's already set free?"

"Well, not exactly," Luthera told Rukhmini. "The Emperor's been kidnapped and now we have a new mission. Rescue him and then we proceed with the trial of Klaus."

"Oh great," Rukhmini complained. "My back wasn't made for this kind of legal proceeding…"

"So now that the gang's all back together, what do you say we take down my old rogues gallery, free the Emperor, and help Klaus walk as a free man?" Po asked enthusiastically.

"I'm in," Colin declared, placing his hand forth.

"I'm going to need to be paid for my services," Rukhmini reminded the gang. "Not from you guys but that cheapskate Emperor."

"Looks like the band is back together again!" Akna said excitedly.

"Let's do this then, Dragon Knights… ASSEMBLE!" Po declared.

oooo

"Feeling comfortable, your majesty?" asked Junjie.

The rogues were in an unknown location but it appeared to be in a cave somewhere. However, the furnishments were nice enough in the area that some of China's deadliest criminals would be able to consider it home.

The hamster did not know how long he had been blindfolded for the journey but now he was fully aware he was in a cage after the blindfold had been removed.

"Let me out this instant!" the hamster demanded.

"I hate to point this out," Tong Fo walked up to the scene. "But you're not exactly in a position to bargain."

"Hmm," Temutai walked up to the cage, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Correct me if I'm wrong… but wasn't the Emperor of China supposed to be Lu Kang?"

"That's right," Fung recalled. "All of us were there when Lu Kang became Emperor!"

"Maybe Lu Kang decided he didn't want the job anymore?" asked Gah-ri.

"Wasn't the Emperor supposed to be a lynx?" Taotie pointed out. "I could've sworn that's who I heard came to power when I was in my jail cell. She was the kind of lady I would've loved to introduce to my son to so he could marry into wealth and not have to be a criminal anymore! Wasn't Xiao her name?"

"I'm sure there's a certain term of categorical terminology we could use to describe this phenomenon," Hundun pondered out loud. "The kind of term we could term as misremembering past events that didn't happen but we as a collective mass think they happened. In terminological terms, I think we would term this term as the Mandela Effect."

"So… Lu Kang and Xiao were never Emperors?" asked Gah-ri. "We just think it happened but it never did and we misremembered everything?"

"That's deep, guy," Fung admitted.

"Or maybe they just stepped down and retired?" Taotie suggested.

"Or maybe our royal hamster overthrew them in a coup and had them executed?" Tong Fo theorized. "I mean, all of us were in prison for quite some time so it's not like we got a lot of news of the outside world."

Before the debate could go on any further, Junjie cut them short.

"Look," Junjie told them, getting the team back on track. "It doesn't matter who the past Emperors were or who you believed them to be. What matters now is that this… royal hamster is the Emperor so it's absolutely essential that he remains in our power."

"So what do we do when the Dragon Warrior comes after us?" asked Tong Fo.

"Worry not," Junjie reassured them. "I have plans within plans and neither he nor those strange foreign animals I saw at the royal palace will be able to keep up."

To be continued.