Hibernal Jujitsu

The group shivered as the Cerulean Countess stepped towards them.

"Run…" Rahim said.

The gang ran towards the opposite side of the library. Master Oreic crossed his hands, extending his palms at the Countess to launch fireballs at her. The flames darted at the girl, dispersing into snowflakes before they could reach her. She walked casually as if nothing happened.

Oreic made a series of Tai-Chi moves, spreading his arms into a Fak Sao. His arms released a fiery barrier that extended left and right across the library.

"Will that hold her?" Nashura asked.

"Um… I don't know..." Oreic scratched his head.

Naphthien signaled to the group, telling them to stop. They heard booming engines from the other side of the library. The same hammerhead gunship from earlier looked at the group with its one eye. It grinned, firing at them with its mounted cannons.

Naphthien thrashed her long whips across the lobby, protecting the group from the attack. Rahim fired his shotgun at the shark droid as Nashura helped Naphthien block the laser fire with her two sabers.

"Oh, crap," Oreic noticed the Countess slowly moving her body in Tai-Chi stances behind his fire.

The girl looked at the group through the fire with her dark blue eyes, curling her fingers like claws. She lunged a clawed hand at the flames with her knees bent. Her hand released a roaring panther made of icy mist. The animalistic entity pounced through the fire, freezing the flame wall into crystals. Oreic launched a whirling fireball at the flaming creature. The ice panther rammed right through it.

"Get out!" Oreic pushed the Shuruukos and Isrina away.

He jumped at the Murhavs, pushing them away with his body. The panther rampaged through the circular receptionist desk and the bookshelves. Quartz crystals erupted wherever its paws touched. The hammerhead gunship flew out of the way, letting the panther run outside. It dispersed into snowflakes as it hit a tattered hotel. The hotel exploded into giant quartz.

"You guys, alright?" Oreic got up.

"Alive..." Rahim breathed heavily on the floor.

"What... the heck... was that?" Niode lay on the ground, holding Mivangeline, Tetsuyin, and Lansen. "How… did that girl do that?"

"Panthereal Shiva. No doubt, that's Sychrom's daughter, Kyrinna," Isrina brushed her hair off the rubble. "My little chickadee… Shien? Where are you?"

Shien was nowhere to be seen. Isrina frantically turned her head left and right, running around the quartz crystals to find her son.

"How can that be?" Oreic helped Isrina look for Shien. "Wasn't he with you?"

The Murhavs looked about the lobby filled with frosty quartz.

"The Cerulean Countess!" Rahim pointed at the front doors. "She has Shien!"

Everyone looked to find Kyrinna walking outside with Shien on her back.

"My little chickadee!" Isrina dashed towards her. "Give him back!"

"What the hell?" Oreic ran with her. "She's after Shien?"

"Why would she take Shien?" Nashura flipped up.

The group dashed across the misty lobby filled with jagged crystals. The shark gunship darted through the hallway from behind, chomping its fanged mouth at the gang. Naphthien used her whips to protect the gang from the gunship's cannon fire.

"Waah! It's gonna eat us!" Niode panicked.

Master Oreic threw his spinning saxophone staff at the incoming sphyrnidae gunship. The shark robot chomped on the flaming staff, which exploded inside it. The gunship roared in pain, thrashing its head onto the floor full of books and crystals. It squirmed, slashing its tail at the bookshelves. The gunship vomited smoke from its fanged mouth until it finally stopped moving with its red eye fading black.

"Haha! Chew on that!" Oreic formed a new fiery saxophone staff in his hand.

As the gunship's one eye blackened, its side doors above the fins opened. Siganus crusader droids jumped out. They flipped about the library, firing at the gang with their rifles.

"Ugh, these guys again," Rahim fired at the droid soldiers.

"My little chickadee!" Isrina jumped out the front doors.

"Dr. Niang!" Oreic ran after her.

A crusader droid jumped over the Murhavs, firing its rifle at Oreic. As the Vultau master used his staff to block the projectiles, Naphthien used her chain claw to grab the droid, throwing it at the other crusaders.

"Go help Dr. Niang!" Rahim fired at the acrobatic droids. "She can't deal with the Cerulean Countess alone!"

Naphthien gave a thumbs up to Oreic, who nodded back.

"Nashura! Watch over the Shuruukos!" Rahim ordered.

Nashura nodded, spinning her sabers to protect Niode's family from the plasma bolts. Niode and Tetsuyin huddled, clutching onto Mivangeline and Lansen. They didn't understand the chaos that was happening around them.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Nashura led them away from the fight. "You're safe with me. I'll protect you all."

***

"Dr. Niang!" Oreic chased after Isrina across the misty street. "I'm coming too!"

Isrina growled, running up the wall of a hotel, launching herself at Kyrinna. The Countess jumped back as Isrina's feet stomped onto the ground. Isrina immediately swiped her leg at Kyrinna's feet, making her fall. Shien rolled onto the ground.

"I got him!" Oreic ran to Shien. "Woah!"

With his staff, Oreic deflected a spinning white staff. It boomeranged back into the hand of a White Death guard. Oreic and the bull-horned droid clashed their staffs, simultaneously exchanging elbow and palm strikes. The Vultau master ducked under the robot's laser edged cape.

The droid arched back to let another droid guard jump over, smacking its electrified staff on Oreic's head. He fell, landing on his hands to backflip away from the White Death droid's spinning staff. Meanwhile, the other droid took Shien away.

"No!" Isrina chased the guard.

Kyrinna flipped herself up, making Tai-Chi moves. She smashed her fist onto the ground. A slush of ice swept across the ruined street under Isrina, making her slip. The icy floor then erupted into a wall of tall quartz, separating her from Oreic.

"Sh… Shien…" Isrina hopelessly stared at the spiky crystal wall.

"I'll get him, Dr. Niang!" Oreic yelled from the other side. "Leave it to me!"

Isrina growled at Kyrinna, charging with her UICA blade. The Countess drew a blue Shin-Kaminari blade, clashing its thin needle onto Isrina's sword.

"What do you want with my little chickadee?" Isrina spat at Kyrinna. "Give him back!"

Kyrinna said nothing but stared at her with a cold glare. Isrina clenched her teeth, pressing her sword against Kyrinna's weapon. Her eyes trembled as she looked at Kyrinna's emotionless glare. Her ominous stare never left Isrina's eyes.

Her swing has incredible force! Isrina felt Kyrinna push her blade away.

Isrina and Kyrinna made another deadlock with their swords. Kyrinna's glaring eyes continued to intimidate Isrina's twitching eyes. Isrina growled at her, forcing her weapon along with her aching muscles to push Kyrinna's sword back.

Kyrinna swung her knee into Isrina's hand, making her flinch and drop her sword. Isrina quickly struck her palm at Kyrinna's wrist, disarming her. Isrina whirled her other hand into a fist to give Kyrinna an uppercut. Kyrinna swiped Isrina's fist away with a palm strike. Her arm then pivoted back to charge her elbow onto Isrina's head.

Isrina winced, quickly swiveling her arms into a Bong Sao for defense. Kyrinna positioned her hands in a Jut Sao. The two glared at each other for a moment. Kyrinna swung her arms around, closing her right fist onto her left palm.

Bao Quan Li? Isrina noticed.

"Qing," She instinctively replied in Mandarin with her right fist onto her left palm.

The only people I know who do Bao Quan Li before a Kung Fu fight are the Vultau masters, my husband, Fanghui, Sychrom, and a few others, Isrina thought.

With the howl of Kyrinna's icy wind, a grand battle of martial arts began.

***

"Ouch!" Oreic felt a white-hot firebolt braze his tail.

As Master Oreic pursued the pale droid carrying Shien, the other White Death chased him, blasting white balls of fire from its staff. The Vultau master swung his saxophone staff behind him to deflect the attacks. Oreic blasted fireballs back at the droid. The White Death guard hid behind its cape, protecting itself from the flames.

A dropship! Oreic turned his attention to the other droid, finding it carrying Shien towards a gray dropship. I need to stop that droid before it escapes with Shien. I don't know why they want him, but whatever the reason is, it's big trouble!

The Vultau Master threw his saxophone staff at the White Death guard holding Shien. The droid bodyguard smacked it away with its staff, making the spinning saxophone boomerang back into Oreic's hand.

The White Death guard behind Oreic ran across the wall of a grocery store, jumping off to hit its staff on Oreic's face. Oreic jerked his head to the right from being hit. He then struck the droid's neck with a flaming palm. The droid's neck sparked with fire and electricity. Oreic jumped onto the White Death guard, giving its cracked neck a fiery one-inch punch. The bodyguard's horned head bounced onto the ground with its red eyes fading black.

I can destroy the dropship! Oreic moved his body in a quick Tai-Chi sequence, ending with Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg.

With his right hand up, his right leg kicked up a bolt of fire from underground. The fireball soared up and collapsed onto the dropship. The aircraft exploded in front of the guard, making it fall and drop Shien.

"Gotcha!" Oreic grabbed Shien, sighing in relief.

As the dropship sputtered in flames, the White Death guard stood up, spinning its staff. Its red eyes stared into Oreic's purple eyes.

"Guess I gotta fight this one too," Oreic placed Shien down, holding his flaming saxophone. "I forgot how hard it is to kill these guys!"

However, a large shadow jumped over the fire. The massive figure stomped in front of Master Oreic, cracking the ground. Oreic fell, dropping his staff.

"What the heck?" Oreic stood up. "Who's this?"

He looked to see an enormous robot loom about two feet over his head. The gray droid had big legs and a huge muscular body with buffed arms. Its hands and fingers were twice as big as Oreic's. The Vultau master trembled as he stared at the four red eyes of the horned head, also double the size of his. The big robot emitted a vibrating roar in Oreic's face, trembling his entire body with the air's pulsation.

"Umm… Hi? Who… are you?" Oreic shuddered until the big cyborg punched him with an icy fist.