Failure

[Tai Lung's POV]

Viper turned into a blur as she slithered towards me in a zig-zag, slip[p[ing between the rocks and rubble.

Like I thought, they were causing her problemsbut not as much as I'd hope.

Honestly, I didn't knowit was possible to slither that fast. She was like a a ribbon, rippling and moving with elegance in the wind.

Monkey also ran towards me on all fours like a baboon while Crane took to the sky with a whip of air.

All four of the furious five rushed towards me, leaving Tigress in a safe distance.

But the first to reach me was Mantis.

He was not only fast but he was also small. Making it look like he was ten times as fast as he actually was.

But my yellow eyes, designed to see prey from many miles away in the white expanse of snow, locked on his small frame.

Due to his small body, he also made a whistling sound whenever he moved fast which my sensitive ears could never miss. With all those indications, it was almost impossible for me to not sidestep and dodge his tiny kick.

I watched from the corner of my eye as he slid on the ground and shot himself at me again. This time, at an even greater speed.

I bent down and lowered my centre of gravity as I moved in a slow yet hurried manner. My movement became a flow as motion became constant yet still.

Like a flow of water.

Viper and Monkey also appeared at my side, their attacks already half executed. I was surrounded from all sides.

Then I burst into action, I leapt into the air and twisted my body. My body seemed to be suspended in the air as I spun around.

I hit Monkey with a kick to the head and grabbed Viper's tail before flinging her towards Mantis.

I also dodged the incoming Crane whose beak was like a spear as it planted on the ground. If that were my back, I would've been pierced.

My feet hit the ground and I had to move away quickly as in a show of impressive teamwork, the Furious Five collected themselves instantly and launched a counter attack.

Viper slithered on Monkey's body and launched herself from his arm which was pointing towards me. She was like a basilic missile.

I stopped her by grabbing her body before she reached me but she tightly wrapped herself around my arm. That seemed to be her plan from the start.

I did not have time to deal with her though as I kicked a rock towards the incoming Mantis which he easily broke through and landed near my feet. Mantis grabbed my leg and in a show of strength beyond his size, he lifted me up and took away my balance.

However, I did not fall as I used my tail to push myself straight up again.

Then the fight intensified, the furious five worked together like a single entity against me. I used my expertise and superior physique but they were coming at me too fast and relentlessly.

We were constantly moving from one place to another as the ground trembled wherever we took the battled. I used my speed to make a gap between one attack from another.

I was constantly moving around the battlefield. If I stayed still, Crane's attack could also be lethal. 

I did everything I could to fight back but it was clear that I was always a little behind them. I was barely keeping up.

I was outnumbered, outmatched, outstrategized, outmanoeuvred. When I blocked one attack, three came my way and when I attack, four defend.

I was losing.

.

.

Or so they thought.

"Truly amusing," I said as Viper wrapped herself tightly around my neck and arm. She was controlling my left arm and tried to force me to punch myself.

I opened my mouth and sank my canines into her body. She let out a painful scream, her body loosened and I tore her off my neck.

She was like a ribbon, extremely flexible and elusive. But as I bit down on her body, she panicked and her flow was disturbed.

She opened her mouth and showed her fangs, she shot towards my neck, trying to bite me and use her venom but it was for naught. I was always looking out for this.

My hand formed a single finger and I attacked the nerve point under her jaw. The attack was lethal as her body froze and became rigid.

She was so elusive and flexible that it was hard to accurately hit her nerve points before, but after she launched at me to bite, her instinct took over and she was rid of her Kung Fu. That was a chance for me to take her out.

I did not end there as I hit four more nerve points on her body before she fell to the ground. I heard Monkey shout towards her, "Viper NO!!"

'Two down.'

Monkey became enraged as he ran at me. He used his long limbs to try and fight me but he was devastatingly outmatched.

An uppercut to the chint lifted him off the ground as I spun and land a backkick at his abdomen. A shockwave exploded as his body was sent flying away from the place.

No more playing around.

Mantis was a blur of speed, a living bullet as he came at me with relentless abandon. He was also the only one who knew about nerve attacks as he was a doctor and could do acupuncture.

My eyes followed him closely as I flipped in the air and did acrobatics to dodge him. After a while, I landed on the ground and stood low, like what a leopard would do before he jump at his prey.

I calmed my beating heart and let out a breath. I closed my eyes and then I experienced something mystical.

The swift sound of the wind came to a halt, replaced by the slow sound of moving air crashing against my body.

It was like I entered a different dimension entirely as I felt the previous running time slow down to a crawl.

I opened my eyes, deep yellow and with a light of something mystical.

Inner Peace.

When one is at peace with himself and the universe, one would be able to perceive the world in a different way.

My body stopped any unnecessary process as my brain worked solely towards one purpose, to locate and defeat Mantis.

Anything else became irrelevant. My past, my thoughts, my dreams and my ambition.

The World waited for me to make a move as in that serene state of mind and spirit, I harnessed the flow of the universe.

Mantis, who was nothing but a green blur of speed before revealed himslef to me. He was slow, almost suspended in a moment.

I could see every minute detail of him. 

I perceived the flow of the universe, the world bore it's secret to me as I found patterns in everything. As I watched Matis, I knew what his next actions would be, there was a pattern in his attack which I did not notice before.

I moved.

Time which had crashed to a stop started breaking free like a broken dam. I moved slowly but with devastating accuracy, as Mantis found himself being stabbed on my finger by his own movement.

How I hit the tiny nerve, in his tiny body, at that blurring speed, was miracle. Only possible by harnessing the flow of the universe.

I had achieved an impossible feat.

"H-How did you-" I did not let him finish his word as in a rapid movement, I attacked his nerve and paralysed him.

"Three down." I said and looked at Matis who lay on the ground, rigid like a statue.

Monkey came at me with a stick which he used as a staff. I leaned back as the stick swung down without making contact.

My muscles twitch and I explode into one attack, quick and ruthless as I hit the nerve located in his abdomen. He let out a monkey scream before he fell down, paralysed.

A Chi master would be able to see how a blue wave rippled throughout his body from the point of contact.

"Four."

"And lastly." I said and looked up to see Crane. He was flapping his wings and looking down at us with a shocked and worried face.

It seemed like he didn't have the intention of coming down and ending up like his friends. He must be considering whether it was wiser to fall back and call reinforcement.

'Well..' I thought as I put out my hand and let out my claws. 

A deep growl vibrated out from my throat on instinct as I aimed towards Monkey, as if I were trying to take his life.

'..and there it is.' 

I could hear him flying down at me. Too heroic to take a chance and see his friend die. 

Though, I would prefer if he didn't attack me. He was like the wind, it would prove to be difficult to catch him.

I just need him to fly down low enough that I could catch him.

I turned around swiftly and picked up the rocks from the ground and toss one up. Crane stopped on his track, pauing his attack and swerved away from the rock which was oddly slow.

I swiftly moved away to another location and this time, I threw the rock as fast as I could, hitting the first rock I threw as they burst into tiny pebbles when they creashed behind Crane.

Crane turned around to shield his eyes as he looked at what just happened. A habit developed after years of being a curious observer who guided his team from above. He simply couldn't stop himself from looking and finding out what and why I did that.

Well, he will soon.

I leapt in the air as the ground cracked and I shot up with a loud boom. Crane was around 30 feet in the air and I nearly reached him.

But he turned back and had enough time to react as he instantly flew higher. But I was holding another rock so I threw it at him in close range.

The rock smashed his face as he was knocked out and we both fell to the ground. I landed with the ease of a cat and immediately rushed at him.

*BOOM!"*

My hand pushed at his neck as he was trying to move. I pushed him to the ground as it cracked.

I looked down at him, he was unable to even breath due the the pressure I put on his neck.

..

"Carry your friends and fly back home. Do not try to stop me again as I wouldn't show mercy twice." I said and pulled away, leaving him to gasp for breath.

I looked around and at all of the fallen masters. The Furious Five had been defeated, quite easily might I add as I was still holding my punches.

I saw from a distance, Tigress's helpless look as she had somehow crawled away from the crater. But she was too hurt to join the fight. She must have a hard time even breathing.

I walked away from them.

"Oh, and tell Shifu to train you in other techniques as well, not just your speciality. All of our were too heavily reliant on each other to compliment your strengths. Your team became significantly weaker after one was taken out." I said.

The only advice I could give them was to train individual strength. They neglect this because most of the time, they moved as teams.

But like what happened with Tigress, their heavy hitter, one of them could be taken out even before the fight.

The team crumbled the moment one of them is taken out. With Tigress gone, no matter how they fought they had no attacks strong enough to defeat me.

I cracked my neck and stared at the mountain. And then with a roar, I leaped up and started scaling up. My claws gripped the vertical wall as I ran up the mountain.

Was it difficult?

No, I was a snow leopard. Climbing mountains and running on impossible cliffs was my speciality. I was born for this. 

I have defeated the Furious Five. Now there was nothing to stop me.

My laugh echoed as I climbed up the cliff.

The Furious Five could only watch with defeated faces.

They have failed to protect their home.

They lost.

.

.

[Image]

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Author : Viper was born without fangs but later on she grew her own.

This is first POV so what Tai Lung knows or what he thinks can be wrong and it do not dictate the world or how the story will progress.

It's one of the disadvantage of writing in 1st POV.

..

Patreon : Emmanuel_Capricorn