Through the Looking Glass: Penance: Chapter 7-B
Crane: Chapter 7
The bird flew on in the day, Mantis riding on his head as they both tried to see through the fog.
"I sure hope things are going okay with Po and the others," said Crane as they both navigated through the fog in the early morning sun.
"Trust me, man, I'm sure they are," replied Mantis as he looked around him. "At least he's been going quietly."
"Yeah, but what about that friend that was supposed to be with him?" asked Crane. "Won't he be coming for Tai Lung?"
Mantis looked down to the bird beneath his legs. "If he does come, it'll be as much a surprise to him as it is to us," replied Mantis. "His chi seemed to tell me that..."
Crane simply rolled his eyes. "Leave it to the acupuncturist to sense something like that," he observed.
"Well, he did look rather morose," replied the insect. "I swear, Crane, when I checked his aura I noticed he wasn't faking anything."
"Let's just hope his foot is all right," said the bird as he continued flying along. "That's the least we can do for him."
The insect nodded in agreement as they continued flying on in silence. The insect tried to concentrate on his surroundings after this brief conversation, noticing that the cliff face seemed to be lowering itself.
However, Mantis suddenly noticed a strange sound coming from the ground.
"Wait, I think the kid freed him," said Mantis, holding one of his pincers to his head. "Listen in, Crane!"
The kung fu master suddenly tuned in, and indeed he heard the sound of footsteps on the ground of the Devil's Mouth. The insect then hummed a little, croucing on Crane's back as the bird looked back to his companion.
And without much warning, Mantis leapt off of the crane, and then a hit and a dull thud was heard followed by a groan of pain.
Crane turned around and dove to the ground after hearing this. Concerned for his friend, he found that Tai Lung and the two-tailed fox that they had seen in the plains had been knocked back against a tree, with Mantis in a fighting stance in front of them. Slowly, Tai Lung stood up, Miles groaning as he felt the pressure released.
"Should've figured we'd run into you," said Tai Lung.
"Can it," replied Mantis. "I can't believe you escaped!"
"Well, unlike some people, I did something right for once," replied Miles, coming out from behind the leopard and pointing at himself. "I pulled through for a friend. And that's a lot more than I can say for my actions during the past two years."
Crane looked at Miles, indeed seeing Mantis' point. The insect simply growled at the two in front of him.
"So it looks like you won't be telling the emperor much, then," said Tai Lung as he placed his fists on his hips. "I'll tell you what; you can go to the Furious Five and tell them that you found the both of us dead while we escape from China. I'll never, ever return, and things will be fine."
"And what, wreak havoc elsewhere?" asked the bird. "Maybe we can search for that flying thing and take you to the emperor ourselves.
At this, Tai Lung's eyes widened considerably. Noticing this, Mantis dropped his fighting stance. Crane took a little longer to drop the fighting stance he had subconsciously taken when he saw that Tai Lung was not even preparing to take a stance.
"So you noticed it too," the snow leopard mentioned.
"Well, Tigress did," corrected Mantis. "She wanted us to go investigate that as well as tell the emperor..."
Miles was confused by this. "Noticed what?" he asked, looking up at a friend.
"Shortly before I was attacked by the Dragon Warrior, I saw something flying in the fog," replied Tai Lung, closing his eyes as his ears flattened against his head. "I thought I was just seeing things. Apparently I wasn't. Did she know what it was?"
Crane and Mantis both looked at each other and shrugged. "She said it looked like a bird holding a girl in its talons," continued Mantis. "A rabbit girl. She looked like the one that asked us to find Tails, too..."
The kitsune stiffened considerably, a chill racing down his spine as these words proccessed themselves in his head.
"Oh my god..." he said. "Cream got kidnapped!?"
"Yeah," Crane said, suddenly noticing the look of concern that Tai Lung gave to his friend. "She came to the palace to see if we could find you. But Shifu was supposed to be there guarding her..."
Before much else could be said, however, Miles shook his head. "No..." he said. "Do you know what might've happened to her?"
"Ain't got a clue, man," replied Mantis with a shrug. "But knowing most kidnappers, she's probably still alive."
The fox could not help the shocked and concerned look on his face. However, he seemed slightly relieved to hear this. Shaking his head, he waved his hand.
"I've gotta help her," said the kitsune sternly. "It's my fault she's in this mess."
Tai Lung was caught greatly off guard by this statement. "W-what?" he asked. "I thought you were done with the self-guilt episodes!"
"I am," Miles replied determinedly. "Thinking about it now, there was nothing I could've done to save Sonic. This is different. This, I can do something about. And no matter what you say, I'm going with these guys to help my friend. It's my fault she's here, and it's my duty to get her out of there."
This stance caused a small silence to pervade the small portion of the forest they were around. All eyes were on the kitsune as he felt a strange determination in his soul that he had never felt in a very long time. Tai Lung was not sure how to feel about this new mindset while Crane and Mantis were both spellbound, keeping an eye on the two of them in case Tai Lung tried anything.
Finally, however, the cat patted Miles' head in a sort of fatherly fashion.
"Then I'll be coming along with you," he said.
This shocked both Crane and Mantis beyond words, such that Crane stuttered for a few seconds. "Are you serious?" asked Mantis as the bird struggled to find his wording. "Tai Lung, the most infamous criminal in all of China, helping us? Have you lost your mind?"
"I'm being completely serious," said the leopard. "I won't abandon Miles now. Not after he saved my life and rescued me from you guys. If helping him save his friend means that much to him, I'll be more than happy to help. And if it means I have to join you guys as well, so be it. My criminal life can go rape itself; that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that I have a friend, and I'm going to help him."
Crane and Mantis both looked at each other with a shocked expression on their faces. They then turned back to face the predatory cat and his friend as they both looked at the members of the Furious Five. They then looked at each other and shrugged tenatively.
"I guess we could use all the help we could get..." said Crane, shrugging.
"My only question is, how would we--?" began Mantis.
"Mei Ling!"
All eyes went to Crane as he held a wing up as if an idea had suddenly come to him.
"Mei Ling?" asked Miles curiously. "Who's that?"
"She's a friend of mine," replied the bird. "She's a really, really good friend of mine. Actually, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be a kung fu warrior. She's got a dojo in Beijing that she can hide you in, and I'm sure she'll trust me enough to take my word for it and help."
"W-what?" asked Mantis. "You're dragging her into this?"
"We're going to have to, Mantis," replied the bird. "You'd be crazy to think we can let Tai Lung wander around freely if we took him straight to the emperor. And since he's gotta be free to help Miles..."
Mantis nodded at this, seeing Crane's point. "Well, okay," he said. "I hope you guys can keep up with a flying bird, though."
"Don't worry," offered Miles as he began to spin his tails around. "I've got it covered."
And with this, the kitsune grabbed a hold of Tai Lung's wrists, and the two of them lifted off the ground.
"Whoah," said Mantis as he hopped onto Crane. "I never knew foxes could fly!"
"Natural talent, I guess," replied Miles with a shrug as the bird took off into the sky. "Being born with two tails does that to you..."
Mantis nodded at this, and then the bird and kitsune flew the insect and leopard through the fog quickly.
With nearly an hour of solid flight (and alternating between running and flying for Miles), the group finally saw the thick mist of the Devil's Mouth dissolve into nothing as the gates of the imperial city of Beijing lay sprawled out before them. Miles landed with a small thud, Tai Lung looking on as Crane stood beside them.
The four looked into a grand city, crowds of people running around throughout the day. The architecture was rather simple, but a ways off Miles noticed a grand building kept under incredibly tight guard a long distance away. The city itself was rather pleasant to look at with its grand simplicity, and Miles found himself rather awestruck.
He was quickly snapped out of it when Tai Lung rubbed his head, though.
"So, this is Beijing, eh?" he asked.
"Yeah," replied Crane. "Today's market day; perfect."
"Means we can get him in without the guards noticing," said Mantis as he pointed out to the assortment of people.
"Okay then," said Miles. "Let's get to wherever this 'Mei Ling' person is staying and stick around there."
The group of four nodded, and then they entered the imperial city slowly, checking their surroundings constantly.