Before Setting Sail

Dragonfall Part 2

"It's you," Po got up, rubbing his chin.

Before Po could say his assailant's name, Akna beat him to the punch.

"Oh my gosh!" Akna cried. "It's Kim the Invincible!"

"You've met this guy before?" Po turned to Akna.

"It was a long time ago," Akna told Po. "Alfie and I encountered him once back in the day."

The rest of the team had managed to knock out Li-Dong together as they gathered together before the scene.

"I've heard that name," Colin noted. "The knights that I've known had sometimes told tales of this warrior hippopotamus who traveled the world, defeating its greatest warriors."

"Is he really the greatest warrior in the world?" asked Rukhmini skeptically.

"Based on what Alfred and I found out, yes," Akna replied.

"I've waited a long time to be free," Kim the Invincible took one step forward, causing the ground to shake. "And in all this time, I haven't forgotten about you, Dragon Warrior. We have business that is yet to be finished…"

"I freed him with the promise that he would get to meet you again, Po," Junjie told the panda. "And he was just itching to see you."

"We've taken down all your C-List goons Junjie," Po pointed towards the defeated Brotherhood of Malfeasance. "This is where you surrender before you really get hurt."

"C-List?!" Tong Fo raised his head, shaking the cobwebs. "Did you really call us C-List? I resent that remark!"

"What was that, Tong Fo?" asked Po. "Did you say you resemble that remark?"

"Agh!" Tong Fo cried, getting up again. "You're dead, panda!"

"Enough, Tong Fo!" Junjie ordered.

"What?!" Tong Fo demanded.

"You had your chance," Junjie told him, gesturing to Pai Mei and Kim. "Now you stand down and allow a pair of real warriors to handle this."

Tong Fo was seething but at the same time, he decided to listen. In truth, the wind blast that struck him via Klaus took a lot more out of him than he wanted to admit.

"Kim," Akna tried to talk to him. "The two of us have met once before. C'mon, you really don't want to do this."

"Stay out of my way," Kim told her plainly. "That is all I will tell you."

Immediately, Kim took out his chains and whipped it at Po. Po dodged the chain that slammed into the floor with a great deal of force.

Colin took out his antler swords and slashed at Kim. On contact, the blades bounced off of the hippo's near-impenetrable hide without leaving so much as a scratch.

"What?!" Colin looked incredulous.

Immediately, Kim sent Colin flying away with a powerful backhand.

"Take this!" Klaus hurled a powerful blast of wind at Kim.

The elemental blast struck him to no effect.

"You'll need more than that to move me," Kim told Klaus, whipping his chain at Klaus.

Klaus dodged the blow narrowly but the wall behind him was destroyed.

As Kim wrapped his chain around his arm once more, Po came in, punching him as hard as he could. However, to his consternation, his blow had no effect.

"I will enjoy doing this," Kim promised.

Kim threw a punch at Po but the panda was able to dodge the first hit. Again and again, Kim continued to punch at him but Po dodged and weaved before returning fire with a kick to Kim's head that had no effect.

Finally, Kim connected with a solid right hand, sending Po flying back again.

"Stay away from him!" Luthera brought her blade down at Kim.

Kim turned around and caught her blade with his open hand.

"Having allies will not save you, Dragon Warrior!" Kim tossed Luthera into a pillar.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Master Pai Mei flipped across the air and landed in front of Klaus, Rukhmini, and Akna before they could aid Po and Luthera.

Akna raised the giant gauntlet from her backpack as Klaus fired at shot of wind at Pai Mei. The old kung fu master dodged the wind funnel and kicked Klaus back. Rukhmini tried to swing at Pai Mei with her staff but Pai Mei caught it. Akna punched at him with her glove but Pai Mei caught the punch with his other hand as well.

Immediately, Pai Mei channeled his energy into both staff and metal hand before letting to. Out of the corner of his eye, Po saw what Pai Mei had done and realized his friends needed a warning.

"Akna!" Po shouted. "Rukhmini! Throw away your staff and backpack now! Don't let Pai Mei touch you when his hands get glowy!"

Rukhmini and Akna both saw just how much their weapons had been charged up with explosive energy and did what Po told them immediately, throwing away their weapons. In a very short amount of time, both Rukhmini's staff and Akna's gadget exploded.

Po punched Kim in the stomach multiple times to no avail.

"No good," Po realized he needed he needed to fall back from the hippo.

As Po leaped away, Kim whipped out his chain, grabbing Po by the foot with it and yanking him down.

"Oh no," Po realized as Kim slammed him into the floor.

As Pai Mei advanced on Rukhmini, Akna flew towards him from behind but the tamarin struck her with a backfist before she could touch him and knocked her flat on her back.

"You," Pai Mei told Rukhmini. "I offer you one chance to join me. In this new order Junjie is about to build, I would require a mistress and servant girl by my side. I believe you and I are wholly compatible."

"No way!" Rukhmini replied in a disgusted voice. "You're delusional if you think I'm going to leave behind Diya to be with you!"

"Diya?" Pai Mei's face contorted with anger. "How disappointing. Very well then."

Pai Mei attacked after unleashing a primal monkey cry. Rukhmini dodged his blows narrowly as Pai Mei continued his furious assault.

However, Rukhmini soon realized the disparity between her skill and Pai Mei's with every punch and kick she tried to throw at him that was easily dodged or countered.

Finally, before Rukhmini knew it, she saw Pai Mei's fingers touching her stomach. At once, Pai Mei clenched those fingers and sent Rukhmini flying with a powerful one inch punch, throwing her half-way across the room.

"Ugh," Rukhmini moaned as she looked up, realizing Pai Mei was standing over her.

Pai Mei's hands began glowing as he prepared to execute Rukhmini on the spot.

Suddenly, a wind blast struck Pai Mei, knocking him back.

"Klaus?" asked Rukhmini.

"I've got him," Klaus told her.

"You are no match for me, boy!" Pai Mei's hands began to glow once more as he leaped back up.

Pai Mei charged, striking directly at Klaus with the Five Finger Blast Punch, hoping to take Klaus out with one single killing blow. However, to his shock, Klaus countered it with a powerful blast of airstream from his palm that prevented Pai Mei from making contact with his Five Finger Blast Punch.

"You're making me exert myself, boy," Pai Mei sneered. "But no matter, you'll see oblivion even if it means I have to push myself a little harder!"

Klaus kept up with his wind blast as he held Pai Mei's Five Finger Blast Punch back narrowly with his elemental magic. The two of them were at an impasse with neither person's power overwhelming the other.

In the meantime, everyone else was having their hands full with the hippo warrior.

Colin fired a capture net at Kim but Kim grabbed the net with an open hand, spun it around, and threw it to the side. Kim whipped out his chain and grabbed Colin's gun, yanking it back to him.

Grabbing Colin's weapon with one hand, Kim crushed it into pieces with his sheer strength alone.

From behind, Po leaped onto Kim's back, taking a goblet of strong, hard liquor and attempting to pour it down the hippo's throat.

Kim grabbed Po and slammed him into the ground before he could even try to pour the liquor. As Colin charged, Kim punched him away easily.

"Did you really think I would fall for the same trick twice, Dragon Warrior?" Kim demanded.

With another earth-shattering punch, Kim sent Po flying into the wall. At once, Po felt a searing pain across his back as he realized he might've broken something.

Kim did not let up and charged Po. Po managed to fight out of the pain and rolled to the side as Kim crashed through a part of the wall, destroying it.

Now that he was just a little more desperate, Po realized he had to dig deep and use moves he didn't commonly use against a foe who couldn't be stopped by physical attacks alone, whether those moves came from Master Shifu… or less reputable sources.

"Mongolian Fireball!" Po cried, creating fire in his hands as Junjie raised an eyebrow.

As Kim charged again, Po threw it. The fireball struck Kim, causing an explosion, but the hippo continued charging after the smoke cleared, having suffered seemingly no damage.

Po then realized he had to dig deeper.

Kim punched at Po who flipped out of the way.

"Thundering Wind Hammer!" Po cried.

Po unleashed his own wind attack. It was another attack he learned from Fenghuang and it was a move potent enough to have sent the powerful Temutai flying into a mountain once.

The move struck Kim. Immediately, Kim braced himself, allowing the attack to strike him full force in the chest. The end result, however, was that Kim was only pushed back by a few inches.

"Oh no," Po realized.

At once, Kim backhanded Po across the room.

"My Po," Junjie remarked. "You must be desperate if you're breaking out moves from the infamous Fenghuang."

Finally, Pai Mei and Klaus's impasse ended when the monkey flipped away. By that point, both realized their attacks weren't going to reach.

"Your elemental power is very interesting," Pai Mei told him. "It has the ability to prevent me from reaching you with the Five Finger Blast Punch."

Pai Mei then grabbed the dinner table, charging it up with his energy.

"Fortunately, I do not need to be able to touch you to defeat you."

Once the table was fully charged, Pai Mei flung it at Klaus with the kind of strength one wouldn't expect from a small monkey.

Klaus raised his wind barrier again but it was too late. The table exploded from being so charged up by the Five Finger Blast Punch, with the sheer force of the blast knocking Klaus back and rendering him unconscious.

By that point, Po realized that he was losing the battle, as none of his hits even remotely staggered Kim and any attempt to force something disagreeable into his stomach didn't work either.

"Po, are you alright?" Luthera went over, helping Po up.

"I just need a moment to catch my breath," Po told her.

"Come on, we can do this," Wandering Blade told him, though she didn't sound too convinced herself.

"It would be wise of you to surrender," Pai Mei told them as he walked up next to Kim. "And give me Shifu's location so I may exact my revenge."

"I do not desire surrender, Dragon Warrior!" Kim stomped on the ground. "Come at me with all your might!"

"We got no choice," Po looked at Luthera resolutely.

"Right then," Luthera agreed.

The four final combatants in the battle charged each other. As Po dodged and tried to counter Kim, Luthera swung her sword at Pai Mei who danced around her.

"Your skill with a sword is notable," Pai Mei dodged every blow as if he were dancing circles around her. "But it is nothing compared to the Five Finger Blast Punch!"

Suddenly, Pai Mei flipped away as Luthera heard a glowing sound.

"What?!" Blade looked down.

As Pai Mei had avoided her swings, he made sure to strike the ground around her with his energy attack, having created a veritable circle around her filled with explosive energy and setting up a minefield around Luthera.

"As the Dragon Warrior would say," Pai Mei grinned. "Skadoosh."

At once, the Finger Finger Blast Punch- induced mine circle around Luthera exploded, launching her into the air.

The unconscious Luthera's body flew into the air, hitting the ceiling before falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"Blade!" Po cried out, seeing what had happened from the side.

Unfortunately for Po, he still had a deadly foe of his own to contend with.

Pai Mei walked over to the unconscious Luthera.

"That armor saved you, didn't it?" Pai Mei noted, realizing her knight's armor was the reason she didn't get outright killed by his move.

Meanwhile, Po grabbed a chair and smashed it across Kim's face who no-sold it with a cold, emotionless expression.

Po got knocked back by another punch, this one nearly taking his jaw off.

"Your story ends here, Dragon Warrior," Kim promised, hurling his chain towards Po.

Po this time countered by stepping to the side and grabbing Kim's chain with one hand.

"What?!" Kim growled.

Leaping into the air, Po landed on Kim's back, wrapping the chain around Kim's gaping mouth. With that, he leaped to the floor and wrapped the remainder of the chain around Kim's right arm, temporarily trapping him.

Kim's free arm reached for Po but Po caught it in a familiar hold.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Pai Mei, taking note as Junjie joined him.

"It is," Junjie realized. "The Wu-Xi Finger Hold."

Normally, Po didn't pull out a move like this unless it was an extremely formidable fighter like Tai Lung or a supernatural threat like Kai or Jindiao but right now, all of his friends had been taken down and if he didn't do something soon, it was possible that they'd all get killed by Junjie's orders as Emperor.

"You don't give me much choice," Po told Kim before bringing his pinkie down on the nearly unstoppable warrior hippo.

At once, Junjie and Pai Mei were blinded by a brilliant golden explosion. By the time it was over, Kim's body lay on a crater on the palace floor.

"Oh man," Po breathed heavily. "That took the wind out of me."

"You may have defeated Kim," Junjie smiled. "But you forget you still have Master Pai Mei to deal with. And he is far from exhausted."

Po steadied himself as he prepared for the tamarin monkey's assault.

"Wrong!"

Everyone turned around. In the crater, the heavily charred Kim the Invincible rose up from the attack that had once felled Tai Lung.

"I am far from defeated!" Kim bellowed.

"Oh my," Pai Mei looked impressed. "I didn't think that was possible."

"If he could survive the Wu-Xi Finger Hold, then Kim must truly be invincible," Junjie said solemly.

"You are finished!" Kim charged Po.

With almost nothing left in him, Po tried to dodge but didn't make it. Kim drove his fist into Po's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Again and again, he beat and hammered Po with his fists until the panda was knocked to the floor.

Po tried to get up but Kim picked him up by the throat.

"This is for all those years you put me away, Dragon Warrior!" Kim roared. "And this… is to immortalize my victory over you!"

Kim choke-slammed Po into the floor, smashing through the concrete floor. Both their bodies plummeted down several floors, crashing through one floor after another. Finally, after hitting bottom, Kim got up but Po did not.

Kim looked down at Po's now-cratered body on the floor before unleashing a savage, primal roar.

"Now, I believe I have a tattoo to complete," Kim said with satisfaction.

oooo

"Po?"

Po's eyes looked up groggily. However, he noticed the rest of his body was not moving along.

"Po," Luthera shook his body.

"I can't move," Po admitted to her.

"Why not?" asked Blade.

"I think… I think Kim broke all the bones in my body," Po realized in horror.

As Po looked around, he saw himself and his friends in chains before the throne room. He didn't know how long he'd been out but the only thing that was certain was the fact that he and the others didn't succeed in their coup against Junjie.

"You promised us an execution," Tong Fo told Junjie. "So that's what we demand!"

"Yes, you're right," Junjie made a special note. "I did make a promise and now is as good of a time as any to deliver."

Po also noticed that all of his villains were there with Junjie, Pai Mei, and Kim the Invincible.

"I should have the honors," Scorpion told everyone.

"No, I believe that honor should go to me," Hundun protested.

"This panda trespassed on my land and took my son," Jong Sung Jai Kai Chow proclaimed. "I should have the right to end his life! Oh yeah, and after that, I'll kill Fung since he was involved too."

"Uh… isn't that ancient history between us now, guy?" Fung looked at Jong nervously.

"Not really," the takin told Fung. "You think I forget when people steal from me?"

"Enough," Junjie got between them to stop the arguing. "Jong, we are most certainly not going to execute Fung. Now as for the execution, I believe the right to punish these traitors should exclusively belong to—"

At once, Mr. Ping and Zeng flew through the windows to everyone's surprise.

"Special delivery!" Zeng cried.

"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded Junjie.

While in the air, both Zeng and Mr. Ping threw down multiple smoke bombs, causing smoke to fill the room and making the villains start coughing.

"My eyes!" Gah-ri cried. "I can't see!"

At once, the front doors opened up as Forouzan, the former hamster emperor, and Lucinda entered the room wearing specialized masks to block the smoke.

"Golden Lotus Clap!"

Junjie unleashed his special move which cleared the smoke completely.

"Now I really can't see!" Gah-ri cried, realizing the Golden Lotus Clap had blinded him.

His lips curled into a snarl as Junjie realized the Dragon Knights were now gone, thanks to the two geese interrupting them with the smoke bombs and buying enough time for several other interlopers to make off with the prisoners.

"What now, your brilliance?" Tong Fo asked Junjie sarcastically.

Junjie made a special note that Tong Fo was someone who would be detrimental to his future regime and thus, worthy of elimination later on. However, he chose not to concentrate on Tong Fo for the time being as he had much bigger concerns.

"Declare a nation-wide manhunt," Junjie told one of his rhino guards. "Po and his team are to be arrested on sight and anyone caught harboring them will be declared an enemy of the state… MY state!"

oooo

"Are you alright, Po?" Luthera asked.

"I… I don't think I can walk," Po admitted with some fear in his voice. "Kim broke something in me."

Po, the Dragon Knights, and their other allies were out in the woods, hiding inside a cave.

With whatever resources they could gather, they had placed Po's seriously injured body on a sling, in hopes that he would be able to recover… somehow.

"Is there anywhere we can go to regroup?" asked Forouzan.

"Oh, we can't go back to the noodle shop," Mr. Ping said nervously as he held Po's hand. "Junjie probably has troops swarming all over it."

"Po, you spoke of the Valley of Peace," Luthera told the panda, holding his hand from the other side. "Is there any place there we could regroup?"

"Junjie will probably have the Jade Palace under surveillance, including my dad's noodle shop down there," Po told them. "I also don't want to endanger the Panda Village where my other dad lives."

"Other dad?" Colin raised an eyebrow.

"My panda dad," Po replied weakly. "It's a long story and I'll tell it later once I'm feeling better."

"Is there any other team of heroes besides the Furious Five you know here?" asked Akna.

"There are the Four Constellations," Po told her. "But they're still kids and they live in the village where my other dad lives. Plus, I don't know if they're psychologically ready to fight an Emperor's army that Junjie may bring over there if he finds out we went there. You see, the people of that village and myself as a baby were once attacked by a murderous warlord decades ago and I don't want them to go through the trauma of another invading army when they're finally at peace."

"Are there no other allies we could seek out?" asked Klaus.

"Actually, there is one possible ally," Po told them. "But he and I haven't been in contact for years. I don't know how much has changed with him."

"Right now, I don't think we can be picky, Po," Luthera told him gently. "Especially considering we need to get you treated as soon as possible."

To be continued.