The Ticking Contingent: The Countdown vo.2

Smoke and Mirrors

In the dark depths of the Onyx palace, the Komodo guards were busy having fun laughing and playing cards in one of the hallways when Kai burst in with a furious expression.

"Quiet!" he scolded in an undertone. "You'll disturb her concentration."

"Sorry, General," one of the Komodos whispered in terror. Kai shut the door behind him and walked down the hallway, leaving the guards to stand quietly before very slowly sitting down in their chairs to silently continue the game. As they did so, Kai made his way down another hallway and peeled into a training room where Tai Lung was reading a scroll about chi.

"And how are you progressing?" he asked.

Tai Lung glanced at him but then turned back to the scroll and said irritably, "I can't do anything if you keep interrupting me."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Allegedly you mastered chi blocking in twenty years without a scroll," he mocked. "I was expecting you to instantly get the hang of this with all the instructions oh so clearly written out."

"I've been here for a week. What are you expecting? Master Oogway level chi?"

Kai snorted furiously and stormed out of the room. Tai Lung kept reading. "Well he's touchy," he muttered to himself. He took a quick sip of tea from a cup in front of him, rubbed his eyes, and continued on with his studying.

While Kai was walking around trying to see how all aspects of the plan were going, Chameleon had finally gotten all the chi she could manage together and formed another glowing orange light, from which emerged a peacock who looked incredibly disoriented but who stiffened upon seeing her.

"Sorceress Zoza?" he asked immediately.

Chameleon chuckled at the reaction. "A pleasure to see you too, Shen," she told him. "You've grown quite a lot since I've last seen you. How long has it been? Forty years?"

"Long enough," Shen told her flatly. "What are you doing here?" He glanced around the room he was in, paused, and then corrected himself. "Or...perhaps, what am I doing here?"

"Actually, you should be asking how am I here?" Chameleon stated with a smirk. "Though all of the above I can answer with a simple: you are of extreme value to me, so I have taken it upon myself to painstakingly put your chi back together. You're very welcome."

Shen just blinked and looked around, then looked back down at his wings. "How is that possible?" he muttered.

"Don't concern yourself about that," Chameleon told him, waving a hand. "I have a proposition for you."

Lord Shen glared at her with suspicion and disdain. "And why should I trust you?" he asked in a low voice. "Maybe time has put a balm on our history for you, but it hasn't for me."

"Your apprehension is understandable," Chameleon promised. "But I believe you'll find our partnership to be most intriguing. Especially since it involves a second round with a certain panda master."

Shen's eyes opened in surprise, then irritation. "Does it?" he asked.

"I've done my homework while in exile. Do you remember Thuyarkar?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Fair enough. You were small when he retired. He used to be royal taste tester. He's the reason my plan fell apart. By coincidence, his grandson, the famed warrior of black and white, has a mystical artifact that can pull power from other realms. And I intend to have it."

Lord Shen blinked, then narrowed his eyes at Chameleon in intrigued reflection. "You mean to tell me that our family had pandas within the walls of the palace?!"

"Don't be surprised. Their village wasn't far from Gongmen City."

Lord Shen sighed, but then straightened himself up to his full height and looked the woman in the eyes with a serious expression. "And why have you taken all the trouble to bring me back?" he questioned.

"I need an army. One that can defend my fortress while I and General Kai take as much chi as we can. And of course it'll be used to serve and protect me. There's a nearby factory at the base of the mountains where you can commandeer the workers for your purposes. You'll be compensated, of course. Returned to the city of your birth. But just remember that I am the one who holds the cards."

"And how do I know you won't use me and then betray me? It wouldn't be your first time doing so."

"I enjoy watching the strong fall and the weak prosper. Having people needing to rely on me is addictively delicious. I promise you, in your position, there will be no need to fear me. For now."

"Hypocrite. When you've obtained all the power you could ever wish to hold, someone's going to want to take you down and we both know you don't take well to falling from grace, let alone falling into the gutter."

Chameleon immediately thrust out her tongue and absorbed Shen's chi, causing him to crumble to the ground in a weakened heap.

"You're right," she agreed. "But I've also learned a thing or two since being in exile. And since the world will forever rotate who beneath me is strong and weak, I will never get bored. If you wish to not go to the gutters yourself, I highly suggest you take my offer. I suppose I don't need you. But I know obtaining my power will be so much easier with your cooperation." She bent down and used the fake staff to raise Shen's chin to meet her eyes. "Am I understood?" she asked.

Shen grumbled in reply, trying to catch his breath. "I understand perfectly," he muttered.

Chameleon let him go and returned his chi to him. Shen took a few deep breaths and stood up, straightening out his crinkled robe. "I suppose working with the gunpowder will make me feel at home," he remarked. "Regardless of the location."

"Glad to hear it. Come come. I'll have my guards show you where you are to stay. I have plans for an attack on the valley in the near future and I can't wait to see the destruction your...whatchamacallits will create."

"They're called cannons," Lord Shen corrected irritably.

"Noted."

Shen followed a few Komodo guards out of the room as Chameleon laid down on her large chair that had been waiting on the other side of the room. As she sat down, Kai walked into the room.

"Three for three," he noted. "Not bad."

"Thank you," Chameleon said. She reached her tongue out to Kai's arm, returning the chi she had taken from him earlier.

"Thank you for letting me borrow that," she said, flipping into the chair with a weak sigh.

"Thank you for returning it."

"Not at all, dear."

Chameleon then snapped her fingers and had the Komodos carry her out of the room with General Kai following close behind.