Emmanuel_Capricorn
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MTADW : Chapter 54
🕑 Added 2024-04-06 17:55:57 +0000 UTC[3rd POV]
"We need to act fast and complete our mission. We must find out more about the weapon and report back to Master Shifu." Tigress said to her fellow prisoners in a serious voice.
They were currently in the largest suite of Baoxiang Inn, held as prisoners of war with every exit tightly guarded by Gorilla soldiers.
As the name would suggest, the suite they were in was built with all the luxury that ancient China could afford. So the Furious Five and Po were enjoying their stay even if they were prisoners in name.
"Are you even listening to me?" Tigress asked with a helpless sigh as she watched her fellow students enjoying the luxury they were given.
Monkey was sleeping lazily on a hammock and he was using bananas instead of a blanket to cover himself. Viper was currently receiving a massage from a small and nimble rabbit that cracked and adjusted her spin much to her comfort.
Crane was standing in one corner and was surrounded by different books of novels. He was contently reading them while plugging his ears so he did not hear what Tigress said at all. Mantis sat on top of Crane's hat, idly reading the book as well since it was about romance.
Po was a little further away from them and he was eating from the table which was filled with different dishes from all across China. They were made by different Chefs and Po didn't forget to ask or the recipes of any dishes he liked more than the others.
"Guys!!" Tigress yelled out and finally caught the attention of everyone in the room. They looked at her with questioning eyes.
"We can't just stay here forever and simply wait to be rescued! We have to do something!" She said in frustration. It felt like she was the only one taking the mission seriously while her friends were easily distracted by everything Lord Shen threw at them.
"Ummm..I mean, what else are we supposed to do?" Mantis asked with a shrug to which everyone else agreed.
From what they could see, Shen was not enslaving the people of the city or starving them. And he was also not trying to deploy his armies to launch an attack on China like he did in the movie since he waited for Tai Lung.
So there was really not much to do.
"I-I don't know." Tigress began, "But what I do know is that we can't stay here forever."
"Po!" She called and turned to the Panda who froze midway through putting the steamed bamboo shoot in his mouth.
"You are the Dragon Warrior, so you should decide what we are going to do." She said and every eyes suddenly turned to him. Even the rabbit who was massaging Viper.
Po slowly put the bamboo shoot in his mouth and swallowed loudly. "I mean, we can stay here for a few more days and wait for Master Tai Lung to come. If we leave so soon, we'd be thowing away his efforts of saving us right? That would be rude." He said and got the nod of agreement from the others.
"What? We can't just sit here like ducks and wait for him. Besides, how do you know for certain that he is going to come to our rescue?" Tigress asked.
"Oh, the old goat lady told me. She said Shen has been waiting for Tai Lung so he had not made any moves yet and I trust her." Po said, "She can do these Vodoo, looking into the future thingie."
"But still, we can't just do nothing." She said, feeling a little ashamed already at the thought of Tai Lung coming to save them without them doing anything.
Would he be disappointed in her?
"Orrrrr...maybe we can." Monkey said, "I am pretty sure Shen will not do anything stupid as long as big brother Tai Lung exists."
Viper laughed, "Yeah, did you see the way he froze when he learned Tigress was his sister?" she hissed.
The others laughed remembering the almost panicked look on Shen's face and the way he ordered his soldiers to release her from her chains immediately.
"Man, I wish I was his brother too." Mantis said, "Or maybe I can be his son? You know I never really knew my father. It was because my mom ate his head before I was born."
"Next time we get interrogated, how about I tell Shen that I am Tai Lung's secret son? You guys will support me. Then maybe I will be allowed to get out of this inn and search for my own fair lady." Mantis said.
Gongmen City was known for its ladies and resort. He thought that if he were to find a wife of his own, there was a high chance of that happening in the city.
But alas, he was a prisoner. Although it was luxurious and had you could get any material thing you could dream of, you couldn't get love in a room.
"Mantis, I don't think anyone is going to believe that," Viper said.
"Why not? It's Tai Lung we are talking about here. Plus, he has inner peace meaning he can do impossible things. His seeds being able to impregnate another species doesn't seem so far-fetched."
"I think you are forgetting the most important part." Crane said and his eyes looked up at Mantis, "How is he supposed to get in there?"
"Oh." Mantis muttered in realization. "You're right. I didn't think about that."
But not a second later, a creepy smile crossed his face and so did Crane's. There must've been something that gave them an idea amongst the romance books they have read.
"Well, he can alwasy ru-"
"Guys!!" Viper hissed, "Could you not!! Po is here."
"Oops, almost said it out loud. Sorry, Po, I forgot that you didn't know about 'that' yet." Mantis said, and Po looked around in confusion.
"What do you mean? " Po said with a fake laugh, as if amused, "I can totally understand what you guys are saying." He could not. Panda was innocent and it hasn't even been long since he learned he was not Mr. Pengs real son.
"We are getting off track here!!" Tigress yelled and brought them back to the earlier topic.
"Crane, any idea on a possible plan?" She asked the main brain of their team. Crane released a sigh and closed his book before taking a few seconds to think.
"We are at the ground floor and the bathroom is directly connected to the drainage system under the city. If we break the floor of the bathroom, we should be able to access that pathway to escape." He said and Tigress's eyes lit up.
"But are we sure that we should do this? What if they capture us again and they don't show us goodwill next time" Crane followed up with another question of hesitance.
Crane had always been a warrior with a heart of gold who was righteous in spirit and heroic in his character. So his show of hesitance meant that he didn't think there was something wrong they needed to stop.
It was true that most of the citizens were in panic and were fearful. But that was only natural after the sudden change of rulers. And Shen had not shown any actions of needless violence or malice.
In his mind, he didn't think there was any need to stir up trouble. Why cause conflict for the sake of it? They were in the city after all and if a fight did break out, the people would suffer in the end.
But he also respects Tigress and if she felt the need to act, there must be something wrong since she had always had a good gut feeling. Crane realizes that sometimes, the most logical thing can be wrong as it is directly based only on present information.
Tigress stayed silent for a while, wondering if she should follow her friend's judgment. But how long exactly were they going to stay here? No matter how nice it was, they were still prisoners.
They have had no contact with the outside world, what if Shen was hiding something? What exactly is happening in the outside world? They have been here for four days now and they need to get out
They shouldn't be supressed forever.
"We have to do this." She said, "Everyone, get to the bathroom. We are busting out of this place."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and the rabbit quickly got out of the room. They got up from their seats and were about to move but a voice from the window suddenly stopped them.
"You guys do realize the waters would be dirty right?"
Everyone paused and looked towards the window. A snow leopard with a robust stature stood in front of the window. He stood at around 6'8 feet tall and he had a muscular upper body filled with muscles that seemed to be carved from jade.
A small smile stretched across his lips, displaying his sharp lower canines and although he had no ill intent towards them, a certain pressure took hold of their heart.
It was an aura only possessed by the strongest, confidence that came from overwhelming strength.
Everyone took a moment to process the situation before they all showed myriad of reaction, mostly shock and relief.
"I am sorry this is the first question I ask, but how long have you been standing there?" Mantis, as the quickest amongst them, asked first.
"A while."
"How much did you hear?"
"I heard everything." Tai Lung deadpanned.
Mantis blinked, "It was Crane. He smiled first."
"Hey!! Don't blame me! And what do you mean I smiled first, you can't even see my face because you are literally standing on my hat- Ouch!" Crane yelped as Mantis stabbed him with his forelimbs.
"How did you do that?" Viper asked curiously as she slithered forward. She meant the way he could sneak up on them.
As a snake, she was very actute to vibrations and could easily sense anyone even if they did not make a sound or are invisible.
So the fact that Tai Lung could sneak up on her surprised her.
"I have mastered the ability to stand so incredibly still, that I became almost invisible to all the senses." Tai Lung said and then everyone finally noticed that he was indeed standing still.
That would explain why Viper couldn't sense him. He didn't move, so there was no vibration.
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at him, waiting for him to magically disappear in their eyes. That was until Po broke the silence.
"Whoa! Is that the stealth technique of Master Chameleon which he developed during the Xianbei invasion so that he could sneak into the enemy's camp and assassinate their commander?" Po asked excitedly with his pupils dilating in excitement.
Tai Lung raised an eyebrow. It was always impressive to see Po's vast knowledge of Kung Fu in person. He was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable in the team when it came to Kung Fu.
"Yes."
"That. is. so. awesome." Po said, "You could've killed us all even before we know it if you wanted to!"
"But I thought it was only possible with the help of a chameleon's special skin?"
"Many things become possible when one attains inner peace." Tai Lung said. It was not hard to pull off the technique since inner peace was basically becoming one with the world. It naturally had a stealth aspect to it if one really wanted to be stealthy.
"Speaking of, congratulations on attaining inner peace." Tai Lung said as he could feel Po's endless Chi constantly leaking out from him.
Unlike Tai Lung who could enter and exit the state of inner peace, Po was constantly in that state. He was leaking out his Chi around him and was constantly affecting his environment.
There was no control over his Chi, Tai Lung noticed.
But unlike what others would have thought, it works well for Po. If Tai Lung were to stay in a state of inner peace constantly, his Chi would inevitable run out after weeks or maybe months even if he did not do anything.
But Po wouldn't have to worry about that because the amount of Chi he had was endless. Literally endless as Tai Lung could not feel the depth of it. He could not tell how much Chi Po had.
He thought he had a huge amount of Chi but compared to Po, it was like comparing water in a lake to an ocean.
Endless versus finite.
Tai Lung was forced to reflect upon the privilege of being the universe's chosen one. Maybe Kai exploding due to so much Chi after Po gave his chi to him was not just a bullshit for writers to make Po win.
That part was always sad to Tai Lung even in his past life. General Kai who had constantly been training his Chi for 500 years, that too in the spirit realm where you could learn a lot of things about Chi than the outside world.
Kai developed different Chi techniques and even invented a way to steal others Chi. Yet he was defeated by a newly awakened Chi user and that too by just the quantity of Po's Chi alone.
He was a spirit warrior, said to be immortal but he was defeated just like that.
"Oh, you noticed." Po said while rubbing the back of his head with a proud smile. It felt great to be complimented by someone you admired.
"Yes, it's quite obvious with all of the Chi leaking out of you." Tai Lung hummed, wondering if that would have an effect on people.
"I will have to teach you how to control it properly." Tai Lung said with a smile. Some selfish people might think that it was not wise to teach Po and make him stronger.
Po already had so much Chi so what would happen if he was taught how to use it properly? Wouldn't his title as the strongest be challenged?
But that thought never even crossed Tai Lung's mind. His mentality was that of the strong, if he was the strongest only because he put other people down, then he didn't deserve such title.
He is the strongest because he is Tai Lung. If others got strong, he would just get even stronger to surpass them.
Besides, he was a Kung Fu enthusiast and would never miss an opportunity to witness the growth of the greatest Kung Fu master that will ever live. Yes, he believes that the future Po can surpass even Oogway. He was the chosen one, after all, the protagonist of the universe.
Plus Tai Lung would never deny a challenge.
"Tai Lung." Tigress finally spoke up before stepping towards him. He cracked a genuine smile while she remained serious.
"What is happening outside?" She asked, "What are going to do next?"
It was two related questions. What is happening outside? Was there chaos amongst the citizens and had Lord Shen made a move? And whatever the answer was, what are they going to do about it?
Were they going to escape? With Tai Lung here they could just break out from the inn, there wouldn't be a need to be discreet. Or are they going to bring down Lord Shen?
"You guys are free now." Tai Lung said, "And about what your next course of action...."
"You will do nothing and return back to the Jade Palace." He said, and everyone nodded at his words.
They put his words on the same level of importance as Master Shifu's.
"And the situation.." Tai Lung drawled and looked at each and every one of them.
"Shen and I have formed an alliance."
!!!!!!
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