Twin Dragons
Chariot To Heaven
In the center of a large room where there were multiple pillars and a large gong plated in gold stood Sanzu who waited patiently.
Soon, enough the doors opened up to reveal Scorpion, Po, and all the others.
"I'm happy to see you've arrived," Sanzu walked towards them.
"No more pretenses, Sanzu!" Scorpion told him. "And no more games! You need to finish Po and finish him quickly!"
"And why would I want to rush things?" Sanzu raised an eye ridge.
"Because the situation is dire!" Scorpion informed him. "Mugan, Hui, and Lei Dian have all been defeated!"
At once, there was a look of surprise on Sanzu's face.
"Three down and just a few more to go," Po smiled.
"That… is very concerning," Sanzu admitted.
"Good, you see reason then," Scorpion nodded.
"If I were any of them," Sanzu sneered. "But I'm above Lei Dian and all the others so your concerns ring hollow to my ears, Scorpion."
"What?" Scorpion was aghast. "Take this situation seriously, Sanzu!"
"You are a mid-ranking member of Northern Wudang at best, Scorpion," Sanzu warned her. "I seriously suggest you know your place!"
Scorpion looked like she wanted to argue further but suddenly decided against it after realizing just how formidable Sanzu was.
"So," Sanzu looked at the group. "I assume Po will be my dance partner again? Or will it be someone else this time?"
"No Sanzu," Po stepped up. "It's time for a rematch."
"Remember what we discussed, Po," Shifu told him.
"And remember," Tigress reminded him. "Oogway's staff has been made even better than before. This time it should not bend or break before any force."
Sanzu noticed the staff Po held in his hand and how it had been repaired.
"How many times am I going to have to keep breaking your toys before you learn not to keep bringing them," Sanzu mocked.
"This isn't a toy, Sanzu," Po told him. "It's something else but I doubt someone like you could ever understand that."
"Po's going to kick your butt for good this time," Bao told the pangolin.
"We shall see about that," Sanzu hardened his body. "Are you ready to begin?"
Po twirled his staff around multiple times and got into a proper fighting stance.
"Let's go."
Sanzu powered up as a golden chi and multiple electric currents surrounded his body. Turning himself into a whirling ball of destruction, he launched himself at Po as Po swung the staff, this time connecting with Sanzu.
Fortunately, the staff did not break as it held Sanzu back, glowing with ever-increasing amounts of chi as Po held the pangolin off.
oooo
Inside of Pai Mei's inner chambers, he sat down on his chair while looking directly into a crystal ball.
At once, an image of a figure in a hood appeared. Though she was largely covered up, she still had a snout with fur, betraying some mammalian characteristics.
"Greetings esteemed Pai Mei," the figure told him in a female tone of voice.
"Your timing could use some work," Pai Mei told her. "My stronghold is in the middle of an invasion. However, I do owe you the time of day since you have been my benefactor."
"I am sorry to hear that," the mysterious benefactor told him. "But I have no doubt that you will defeat those interlopers and crush Emperor Qianlong once all of this is over."
"That is my plan, yes," Pai Mei nodded. "All the information you've given me on the Emperor and his forces have been most useful. And the map you sent me long ago detailing all the hidden corners of the imperial palace has been very helpful as well."
"It is my hope that this diseased royal lineage comes to an end," the female benefactor said to the monkey. "And who better than you to burn down that which is decrepit and rotted to the core?"
"You've done so much to help me," Pai Mei told her. "And yet I know so little about you. Tell me, why do you wish to see Qianlong fall so much? Not that I'm unwilling to oblige your reasonable request."
The image of the figure on the crystal ball seemed to tense up as if recalling painful, bitter memories. Pai Mei took special note of that and realized this person had very personal grievances that needed to be worked out.
"Well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you now," the figure put her hands on her hood to try to take it off. "You see, it started with the current Emperor's father—"
Before she could finish her sentence, the wooden window burst open as Tai Lung leaped into the chamber to the shock of Pai Mei.
"Your reign ends here, Pai Mei!" Tai Lung yelled as Pai Mei was taken completely by surprise.
The snow leopard struck Pai Mei with multiple nerve strikes and hit the monkey with a powerful palm strike that sent the tamarin flying through a large column. As soon as Pai Mei hit the floor, the female figure on the crystal ball could only look on in shock before deciding not to reveal herself.
Tai Lung turned briefly to the crystal ball but the benefactress quickly vanished from his sight, cutting the mystical connection she had with the object.
The snow leopard walked towards the fallen Pai Mei.
"So far so good," Tai Lung smiled as Pai Mei did not move.
Soon, the smile on the leopard's lips disappeared as the old master's body suddenly began to glow white.
"Don't tell me," Tai Lung frowned.
At once, Pai Mei leaped back to life, kicking Tai Lung and sending him flying back onto the floor.
"Thought you had me, did you?" Pai Mei got up and dusted himself off. "Sorry to disappoint you but it takes more than a couple of cheap shots to do me in."
Tai Lung leaped back up.
"I suppose it really wouldn't have been this easy," Tai Lung admitted.
"You may have gotten your hits in," Pai Mei admitted. "But I see from some burnt hair on your body that Lei Dian also left his mark on you. You must be fatigued and injured after your battle with him."
"Make no mistake," Tai Lung replied. "The eel was a formidable opponent but didn't leave any debilitating injuries on me. I can still fight around ninety percent even with the challenge Lei Dian presented."
"You've got some nerve attacking me when I was occupied," Pai Mei told him. "But I'm also flattered you wanted to fight me first and left your friends behind. In that case, I'd be honored to oblige you!"
Pai Mei struck Tai Lung with a palm strike so powerful it sent the snow leopard flying back.
"Aaaahhh!" Tai Lung crashed into a wall.
"How does it feel to be thoroughly outclassed?" asked Pai Mei.
Tai Lung shook his head and leaped out of the way as Pai Mei attacked him again. The snow leopard then slashed at Pai Mei with his claws. The tamarin avoided the slash and kicked Tai Lung in the knee.
"Agh!" Tai Lung yelped.
At once, Pai Mei leaped up, punching Tai Lung back with tremendous power, sending the leopard skidding across the floor.
Tai Lung launched himself at Pai Mei again, unleashing a flurry of attacks.
Dodging and weaving past all the hits, Pai Mei smiled and leaped over Tai Lung, kicking him in the back to send him stumbling forward.
The monkey kung fu master then attacked again but this time, Tai Lung swung with a backfist, catching Pai Mei across the face and sending him flying into a column.
"Agh!" Pai Mei cried in pain this time.
Tai Lung came in, hitting Pai Mei with a flurry of punches as the Emperor tamarin cried out in pain. Finally, the snow leopard grabbed Pai Mei by the uniform, lifting him up and kicking him across the room.
"You are quite formidable," Pai Mei acknowledged as he got up. "But there's a key difference between you and I."
"And what is that?" Tai Lung demanded.
"Your history is known to me," Pai Mei informed him. "While you are quite skilled, you've spent decades being imprisoned. No matter how good you are now, that's got to have an effect on your kung fu. Whatever potential you could have achieved as the Dragon Warrior and as a free man was never going to be fulfilled. I, on the other hand, have been free for a lifetime to practice and master my craft. The difference between you and I is a vast gulf, almost as big as an ocean between two continents."
"There's no denying that," Tai Lung snorted. "I wasn't free to take my training any further than a certain level before Po ended my life the first time. But that doesn't mean I can't give you the fight of your life to soften you up for my friends."
Pai Mei frowned. "If you feel that way, then feel free to die for your friends."
Pai Mei pressed his hands down on the floor, activating the Five Fingered Blast Punch, sending his chi through the floor towards Tai Lung. In an instant, a huge portion of the floor exploded as Tai Lung quickly got out of the way.
"You see this?" Pai Mei taunted. "This is what pure power looks like!"
Pai Mei then grabbed a couple of marbles from the table. Tai Lung tensed, realizing that the old master's actions didn't spell good things.
The monkey activated the balls with his own chi and then rolled them across the floor to Tai Lung.
The snow leopard quickly ran away from them as each marble exploded, one after another, taking out huge chunks of the room as Tai Lung did his best to avoid the blasts.
Finally, one of the explosions managed to hit him from the back, sending him flying.
The old monkey struck Tai Lung, knocking him down on his back. As Tai Lung looked up, Pai Mei had his Five Fingered Blast Punch activated again. The leopard quickly dodged as Pai Mei brought it down, destroying the portion of the floor where Tai Lung previously lay.
Tai Lung got up but this time he was the one who had to take evasive action as Pai Mei struck as Tai Lung repeatedly with his Five Fingered Blast Punch-activated palm strikes. If Pai Mei hit him just once with those glowing palms, it would be the end for him.
Finally, Pai Mei pulverized a pillar as Tai Lung leaped out of the way and grabbed a spear from a suit of armor in the room. He twirled it around and thrust it towards Pai Mei.
The old monkey dodged all the thrusts skillfully before finally catching the spear before it could strike him. However, the monkey felt a sudden pain across his cheek. Despite the fact that he caught the spear before it would skewer him, Tai Lung still managed to cut him across the face with the pointed tip.
The two struggled with the spear as rage built up inside Pai Mei that Tai Lung was able to draw first blood.
"You draw MY blood?" Pai Mei roared. "How DARE you!"
Pai Mei activated the Five Fingered Blast Punch into the spear. At once, Tai Lung realized what this meant and dropped it before Pai Mei's explosive chi could reach him.
The tamarin timed his move perfectly and hurled the spear just as Tai Lung flipped away and landed on top of a table. The spear then pierced the floor right in front of the table.
The spear then exploded, flipping the table over and knocking Tai Lung on his back.
"Aaagh!" Tai Lung cried.
"Your death will be made as agonizing as possible," Pai Mei promised, walking towards the snow leopard menacingly.
oooo
"Feel the wrath of Heaven's Chariot!" Sanzu screamed.
The pangolin bounced around the room in his armored ball form.
"Be careful not to hit us, Sanzu!" Scorpion cried out as Sanzu struck the floor a few feet away from her.
Sanzu struck at Po from multiple sides but the panda repelled all of the blows with Oogway's staff.
"I see that staff is made of sturdier stuff this time," Sanzu noted. "But when I put my mind to it, anything can break!"
As Sanzu bounced around some more, Po gathered most of his chi into his stomach. Then as Sanzu spun at him again, Po unleashed his stomach, striking the rolling ball of armor and electricity with the same move he used against the Chameleon when she took on Po's form.
Everyone in the room covered their eyes as a huge explosion of chi erupted into the air. Once everything cleared, Sanzu fell back down to the ground.
"Omph!" Sanzu landed on his back.
"I've learned since our last battle," Po told him. "You may have beaten me the first time but this time I had to look deep inside myself for the answers on how to beat you after Shifu had a talk with me."
"You look inside yourself for the answers?" Sanzu got up. "Don't make me laugh. You don't know what it means to reach down deep for things you never thought you were capable of to attain power."
"I know that you focus only on power and destruction," Po told him. "But those things aren't the only part of being a kung fu master."
"Oh spare me your drivel," Sanzu spat. "Do you know what I had to do to become the kung fu prodigy that I am today?"
"Do I want to know?" Po frowned.
"Might as well tell you since you don't," Sanzu smiled. "You see, when students come to Pai Mei, they're required to grant him money or any kind of expensive gifts so that he'll take them on. But I was poor and had nothing. I was a mere thief with a band of child orphans who obeyed my every command. Because I had nothing to offer Pai Mei when my band and I arrived at his locale, he demanded that I prove my loyalty to him in some other way."
Po frowned, not liking where the story was headed.
"The only thing I had on me at the time was a knife which wasn't worth much," Sanzu smiled. "Do you know what I did to my former band of child thieves with that knife?"
Tigress, Shifu, Bao, Li Shan, and Mr. Ping gave Sanzu a mortified expression, realizing just what he did to attain great power and become Pai Mei's strongest student. Po also stared at him in shock, realizing just what Sanzu did.
"Pai Mei saw that I had nothing else to offer him," Sanzu explained. "He told me to prove my absolute loyalty to him by cutting all ties with the worldly life I once knew. And so, I took the lives of all the urchins who followed me so that I could become Pai Mei's student."
"He's sick," Tigress growled.
"Because when you come from nothing and you have nothing," Sanzu raised his claws. "You'll do anything for something."
Po was aghast, trying to process the level of evil and depravity Sanzu had committed in his path to power. He was reminded of Han, another criminal pangolin living in Juniper City, who used to be the adoptive father of Zhen and the leader of the Den of Thieves. Unlike Sanzu, Han didn't betray the people under his care and showed that he still cared for them despite being an infamous criminal. Sanzu, on the other hand, had some outward similarities with Han but showed himself to be a completely different person… for the worse.
"You… you're a monster," Po realized.
"Po, I don't think I need to repeat myself," Shifu said in the distance. "Take him down."
"What's the matter, Dragon Master?" Sanzu taunted. "I see that look on your face. Are you going to cry?"
Immediately, Sanzu ate those words. Po was onto him like battering ram, swinging his staff and striking Sanzu across the face, knocking him clear across the room like a ball.
"Agh!" Sanzu cried as he smashed through a statue.
"Those kids trusted you and you betrayed them!" Po growled.
"You'll join them soon enough," Sanzu said with great anger in his voice as he began powering up again.
In an instant, a powerful explosive ball flew at Po, knocking him on his back.
"Omph!" Po grunted as his head hit the floor.
At once, Sanzu, in his Heaven's Chariot form, bounced all around Po, smashing through walls, ceilings, and pillars as he unleashed his full destructive potential.
"Think you have the right to judge me?!" Sanzu screamed. "You think you have the right to thumb your nose down at me because you were chosen and I made sacrifices to GET TO WHERE I AM TODAY?! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT JUDGMENT LOOKS LIKE, PO! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO GIVE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT TO ACHIEVE POWER!"
As Sanzu continued bouncing around Po, Shifu and Tigress analyzed the situation carefully.
"Sanzu is dangerous and powerful," Shifu noted. "But he does have a pattern in his fighting style."
"And Po also needs to remember what got him to victory in some of his past battles," Tigress crossed her arms. "Because there are some old lessons to be re-learned in the fight against this Sanzu character."
"Really?" asked Li Shan. "What does Po need to do?"
"Sanzu is in a state of rage right now," Shifu smiled. "What Po needs to do is find that inner peace inside himself."
Sanzu bounced around Po, all across the room, striking him from different sides.
One hit struck Po in the back, sending him stumbling forward and then another hit him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back.
At once, Po steadied himself, recalling his first fight with Tai Lung and the last battle against Shen where he used the environment, his natural advantages, and the weaponization of achieving inner peace to clear a path to victory.
"Inner peace," Po said to himself.
"What was that?!" Sanzu screamed. "I can't hear you!"
Sanzu attacked Po, slashing at him with his claws. For each and every blow, Po deflected the hits with Oogway's staff.
Falling back, Sanzu transformed into a ball of destruction once more. He hurled himself at Po, attacking from multiple angles as Po watched him carefully. Finally, as Sanzu came at him from the side, Po leaped across the air and caught Sanzu as if he were a cannonball being fired.
"What?!" Sanzu cried.
Po spun Sanzu around multiple times before hurling him into a wall.
"Now he's getting the hang of it," Shifu smiled.
Sanzu got out of the broken wall, shaking his head. In a rage, he bellowed and entered into his spin attack mode once more, bouncing across every wall and column before finally attacking Po from behind.
This time, Po caught Sanzu again as if he were a fired cannonball once more.
Again and again, Po spun Sanzu around before hurling him into the large gong in the room. Sanzu bounced off of the gong and bounced back towards Po. Po struck Sanzu with his staff, knocking him back into the gong and bouncing back to Po. Leaping up, Po kicked Sanzu, launching him back into the gong to bounce him right back a third time.
"Ack!" Sanzu cried, flying towards Po and falling out of Heaven's Chariot mode due to being made dizzy by the repeated back and forth actions and being hit by Po.
This time, Po punched Sanzu, knocking him back first into the metal gong and bouncing the pangolin back once more.
"Aaaaahhh!" Sanzu cried, realizing Po had him exactly where he wanted.
Po stretched out his arm, hitting Sanzu in the jaw with a clothesline meant just for him.
Now dazed, Sanzu began seeing stars from Po's attacks. He needed a minute to recover from the strategy Po employed against him but Po did not give him the required minute. Reaching down, Po grabbed Sanzu and rolled him up into a ball once more.
"Stop!" Sanzu cried. "I will not stand for this!"
Po hurled Sanzu into the metal gong again. Before Sanzu could bounce back, Po steadied himself in the right position. As Sanzu flew back, Po struck Sanzu in the face, using the same move he once used to defeat Tai Lung, launching the screaming pangolin into the air. Sanzu crashed through multiple roofs and flew into the sky before falling back down and creating a crater in the floor.
"This can't be happening," Sanzu groaned, barely getting up. "I can't lose to you… I won't lose to you… do you know all I had to do for ultimate power?"
"Yeah, you gave me a pretty good idea," Po told him. "And here's what I'm going to do to take away that ultimate power from you."
Po leaped into the air before Sanzu could get up and smashed him in the head with his staff, unleashing a massive amount of chi in the process to knock out the pangolin for good.
"You'll have plenty of time to think over what you did in a cell," Po promised him with a solemn look in his eyes.
"Great job, Po!" Bao gave a thumbs up.
"Good work, Po," Shifu smiled. "You played to your strengths like I recommended and used the past as a guide to the present."
"There's just one more opponent after this," Tigress crossed her arms, smiling at Po. "I'll take the lead from here."
"I believe it's the white gorilla in Pai Mei's camp," Shifu nodded. "We know he has some enhanced strength and control over his chi but other than that, we have the least amount of intel on this opponent and what he's capable of."
"I'll just have to figure it out as we go along," Tigress acknowledged.
"Yeah, besides, I just beat Sanzu who's supposed to be the strongest student," Po pointed out. "The last guy before we get to Pai Mei shouldn't be that tough."
"I don't believe this," Scorpion sputtered. "Almost all of Pai Mei's elite students… defeated…"
A slow clap was heard in the room. As everybody turned to the source, they saw the white gorilla, Prophet Yuan, walking towards them.
"I must congratulate you for making it this far," Yuan commended. "But though you have defeated Pai Mei's greatest, some of whom possess far greater destructive power than I do, you will not make it past me. Not any of you."
"Are you kidding me?" Scorpion cried. "Yuan, this situation is dire! Stop fooling around and take care of this problem NOW! Otherwise, you're completely useless!"
"Always so impatient, Scorpion," Yuan smiled. "It's no wonder you never became one of Pai Mei's top students despite your prodigious talents in poison."
"I believe we've yet to be formally introduced," Tigress stepped up. "So I'll give it to you straight. I'm Tigress of the Furious Five and I will be your opponent."
"Yes, my Mind's Eye sees all and right now, I can see how this battle will play out between the two of us," Yuan told her.
"We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Tigress got into a fighting stance.
To be continued.