Chapter 1: A Legendary Warrior A stranger wearing

Chapter 1:
A Legendary Warrior
A stranger wearing a straw hat was running across a pond and then started jumping up from building to building until he reached a crescent moon and sat down as a gong sound was heard.
HannaS_01’s SEGA, Disney and CN Fanfic Story Presents
A HannaS_01 and Cherry Pop Productions Gaming Fanfic Production
KUNG FU HUMAN
Leaves glided on the blowing wind, ruffling the robe of a light girl. Her face was concealed by an oriental straw hat, protecting her from the wind’s cold kiss. She walked along a path leading to a damaged building. As she walked, she could not help but imagine a narrator speaking in her mind, her voice powerful and grim, like she was narrating a high fantasy…
“Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose Kung-Fu skills were the stuff of Legend,” The voice in her head said
“She traveled the land in search of worthy foes,”.
The girl let the door slam open, revealing the various scum and villainy that such a damaged establishment would host. Wolves and boars and bears watched her every move as she marched inside, unfazed she set herself down at the table, as if she were a frequent customer there, and opened a phone. All too soon, the boldest of the bandits stalked his way towards her, regarding her like a fresh piece of meat.
“I see you like to watch…” the bandit commented.
“How ’bout you watch the phone…Of My Fist!” The bandit slammed his fist into the table for emphasis
“The Warrior said nothing. Mostly because she had to scroll her phone,” the narrator commented.
Which the warrior did promptly.
“Then she closed her phone,” the narrator declared, as the warrior did what the narrator said, “And then she spoke…,”.
“Enough talk. Let’s fight!” She declared.
And with a cry for battle, the girl kicked the table at her opponents. As her hand punched and her legs bucked like a wild lady, sending bandits in every direction, the voice in her head grew louder with passion.
“She was so deadly and fast that her enemies would go blind… from her mastery of flash-bang hands!”

Emphasizing her point, she unleashed a blast of light from her hands. So bright that the few bandits who had been smart enough to stay back were left scrambling for any sort of cover for their burning eyes.
“My eyes!” A female Cat Bandit cried.
“She’s too powerful!” A male Crocodile-like Bandit shrieked.
“And attractive…” a small voice commented. Spinning to the source, the warrior found herself gazing upon a pair of battered humans, looking up at her as if she was the Master Shey reborn.
“How can we repay you, kind one?” one of them asked.
The warrior turned,
“There is no charge for greatness. Or attractiveness,” She declared, winking at the Man of the two.
Some seemed to take that expression the wrong way, for the walls soon darkened with more foes. But, as her narrator was quick to point out…
“It mattered not how many foes she faced; they were no match for her mastery of the martial and magical arts!”
Indeed, foe by foe was flung aside by spells, kicks, and punches. A thousand foes leaped into the air, forming the dark impression of a snarling, gaping wolf’s jaws. But with a flash from her hand, the warrior sent them plummeting back to earth like rain. And kept going about her busy day as if it was just a rainy day.
“Never before had anyone been so feared, and yet so loved”
The warrior smiled as her gaze turned to the Falaknuma Palace, where five animals stood in various poses.
“Even the most heroic heroes in all of Universe, The Furious Five,” the voice breathed with a hint of awe.
“Bowed in respect of this great master!”
And indeed they did.
Launching from the palace and landing in front of the warrior, the girl’s heart soared as they inclined their heads in the sacred show of respect.
For… about five seconds. Then the light blue one of the group bounced up with a cry of glee.

“We should totally hang out!” Master Gumball declared. “We should chat and sing songs and…” he gasped in delight.
“GAMES!”
“Er…” the Warrior grimaced as the light blue cat male danced around her.
“Maybe but hanging out would have to wait.” the voice in her head declared.
To her delight, an army of a thousand bandits appeared.
“After all…” the voice cried with delight, while the warrior summoned the pink sword of heroes and animals.
“When you’re facing the ten thousand demons of demon mountain! There’s only one thing that matters! And that’s…. ”
And as the warrior and her fellow warriors leaped to combat them, ready to find out what mattered… a new male voice cut through the dream…
“Hanna! Time to get up! You’ll be late for work!” It said as the Warrior turned to see Master Gumball and even Shadow talking to her in the new voice.
“What?” Hanna asked before finding herself falling and screaming…
Chapter 2:
Hanna’s Lucky Cat Cafe Life
Hanna bolted up with a gasp of alarm. Instead of facing the ten thousand demons of demon mountain, she was sitting in front of her writing desk, with a paper stuck to her cheek. Pulling the parchment from her face with a sigh and a yawn.
“Hanna! Get up!” The same male voice called out. A less urgently, but still forceful.
Hanna gazed sadly at the words, depicting the proper techniques for Uro and Redirection. Rolling up the paper with a shake of her head, Hanna pushed herself away from her stories of adventure and tries a technique to get up on her feet, but hasn’t quite succeeded.
“Hanna Sophia Hamada! What are you doing up there?” The voice called out, now growing impatient and wondering what was going on in her room.
“Uh, nothing.” Hanna assured as she tries to flip off her stool again, but yet hasn’t succeeded.
Hanna went up to her window where her collection of action figures of the Furious Five is standing.
“Gumball!” Hanna exclaimed, pointing to the action figure of Master Gumball.
“Darwin!” Hanna exclaimed, pointing to the action figure of Master Darwin next.

“Anais!” Hanna exclaimed, pointing to the action figure of Master Anais.

“Sonic!” Hanna exclaimed, pointing to the action figure of Master Sonic.
“Shadow!” Hanna exclaimed, pointing to the final action figure of Master Shadow.
Hanna was about to do one of Master Shadow’s moves, that is, until when she looked to see her next-door neighbor looking at her with a bewildered look while watering her flowers. Feeling a tad a bit embarrassed, Hanna tried to explain but instead decided to duck under her window to avoid more embarrassment.
“Hanna! Let’s go! You’re already late for work!” The voice called out to her again. This is time becoming annoyed with the young tweener.
“Coming, Hiro!” Hanna said, as she requires going on said adventure and went downstairs to her actual life.
“Morning, Big Brother.” Hanna greeted as she made it to the bottom of the stairs.
“Morning Sis.” a Black-haired boy with brown eyes greeted back from behind a stack of plates and cups, “You sleep alright?”
“Good as usual, Bro. How about you?” Hanna replied, yawning as she lifted the stack of cups from his large arms.
“Alright. Once you passed out.” Hiro replied, shooting her a knowing grin.
Hanna rubbed the back of her hair sheepishly, “I, uh, wasn’t that loud, was I?”
“Hanna, you stay up late every night studying Demon Slayer Corps and its integration with magic.” Hiro chastised, taking one of the plates from Hanna’s aura.
“I’m surprised we haven’t gotten more complaints about the noise those spells make.” He added.

“Sorry.” Hanna apologized sheepishly. She really wasn’t trying to cause Hiro any problems.
“Eh, no need to apologize. Just help me get these back on their proper cabients.” Hiro replied with a grin.
Hanna was quick to obey, and for a few moments, the only sound was of Hanna’s aura as she slotted the plates and cups into their proper places in the Lucky Cat Cafe.
“What were doing up there with all that noise, Hanna?” Hiro asked her.
“Oh, nothing. I just had a crazy dream.” Hanna replied, still placing the plates and cups into their proper place.
“Oh, yeah? What were you dreaming about, Sis?” Hiro asked again.
“What was I…? Uh…Well, I was dreaming about…Uh…Bowls.” Hanna tried to explain but then lied to Hiro, instead.
“Bowls? You were really just dreaming about Bowls?” Hiro asked, a little bit confused about Hanna dreaming about Bowls.
“Well, yeah. I mean what else would I’ve been dreaming about?” Hanna assured, using her hand to place the plates in different categories.
“Oh, what a happy day! My little sister finally had a cafe dream! You don’t know how long I waited for this moment! This is a sign, Hanna.” Hiro said in an excited tone.
“Uh, a sign of what, Big Brother?” Hanna asked.
“You are almost ready to be entrusted with the secret ingredient of my Secret Ingredient menu. and then you will fulfill your destiny and take over the cafe! Just as I took over from my big brother, who took over from our father, who won from a friend in Japan.” Hiro explained, pointing a staff at the picture of his big brother, his father, and a friend who came before him.”.
“Hiro, there’s no need to get excited. I mean, it was just a dream.” Hanna said with a nervous chuckle.
“No, Hanna. It was the dream. After all, we are Hamada folks. Coffees and beans run through our veins.” Hiro corrected as he passes a food to a customer.
It didn’t take long for thoughts to overcrowd Hanna’s already large mind.
“Hey, Onii-chan. Have you ever had a dream of wanting to do something else?” Hanna asked curiously.
“Well… Yeah, there was a time when I wanted to…Wanted to sell robots. Y’know, fix out my own making their chips. Set em up against each other and sell the results, ya know?” Hiro admitted, pondering the question, and chuckled sheepishly.
“And, why didn’t you?!” Hanna asked.
“Well, that’s all it was. Just a dream.” Hiro replied.
Hanna looked down in defeat, quickly wiping the expression away when Hiro glanced at her with a curious expression.
“Why do you ask?” Hiro inquired.
“I just… want more than all of this.” Hanna admitted, motioning towards the entire Lucky Cat Cafe. Hiro followed her gaze, his eyebrow ruffling.
“I thought you enjoyed working here.” Hiro replied.
“I do, it’s just I…” Hanna sighed, lowering her head.
“Forget it. I’m just speaking nonsense.” She said, turning back to the plates.
“Don’t worry, Sis. We all have our place in this world. Mine is here and yours is…” Hiro assured her.
“I know Hiro. Is here.” Hanna said, guessing what he was going to say next.
Hiro smiled at her and went back to work as so did Hanna, herself.
Yet Hanna couldn’t help but gaze at the scrolls of Demon Slayer Corps. And beyond… just at the edge of one of the highest windows, Hanna could glimpse the Falaknuma Palace. Where the greatest heroes trained to defend Universe.
Chapter 3:
The Falaknuma Palace and Kagaya’s Vision
In the gardens of the Falaknuma Palace, Master Shinobu Kocho sat crossed-legged next to a tree as she played a soft melody on a flute. As her eyes shut, apparently lost in the music, five figures moved within the shadows.
The first to charge was a light blue cat male with blue eyes and tail coming from behind with a cheerful, “Surprise!”
As his cry broke the still peacefulness of the melody, four others launched for the Master; blurs of pink, black and red, orange, and blue shot for the Master.
Yet even with their skill, they were not good enough. Practically becoming a blur herself, Master Shinobu deflected their strikes, her flute turning from a simple musical instrument to an arc of pure deflection.
In seconds, the five younger masters were left panting, having surrounded the master but failing to land even a single scratch on her. Shinobu spun her flute and planted it into the ground like a sword.
“Well done, students. If you were trying to disappoint me!” Shinobu commented coldly.
She spun to the black and red hedgehog, “Shadow The Hedgehog, you need more ferocity,” Shinobu declared, eliciting a grim nod.
She spun to the pink bunny, “Anais Watterson, greater genius,” Shinobu demanded, eliciting a soft groan.
She spun to the blue hedgehog, “Sonic The Hedgehog, speed,” Shinobu declared, eliciting a moan of stress.
She spun to the light blue cat, “Gumball Watterson… subtly,” Shinobu grumbled, eliciting a nervous giggle from the male.
She spun to the orange goldfish. “Darwin…” she began before a voice cut her off.
“Master Shinobu!”
“What?!” Shinobu barked, whirling on a dark blue male cat with blue eyes, who grinned despite the flute being pointed at him like a sword.
“Master Kagaya wishes to see you.” the dark blue cat male said happily.
The cold look faded from Shinobu’s eyes before practically running to the Moon Pool of the Falaknuma Palace. Though it was really a quick run as she no longer could do magic.

Kagaya was waiting for her, balanced perfectly on top of his staff as he gazed wistfully into the shimmering waters. Shinobu took a moment to calm herself, bowing with her fist placed into her palm. She was trying to be respectful of Kagaya’s title even though the two of them were academic.. She learned the hard way what happened if she let her emotions get the better of her.
“Master Kagaya, you have summoned me. Is something wrong?” Shinobu declared.
Kagaya smiled softly, climbing down from his staff.  He was older than his student, more of a father figure really, and his age slightly showed, but Shinobu didn’t think much of it.
“Why must something be wrong for me to want to see my younger student?” He asked, striding over to the dozens of candles lit around the mirror pool.
“So… nothing is wrong?” Shinobu asked curiously.
Kagaya chuckled, “Now who said that?” He asked coyly.
Shinobu attempted to wait patiently as Kagaya carefully blew out one of the candles. Then another. Then another. Shinobu’s eyes began to twitch with agitation. before blowing out another candle.
Shinobu’s jacket flared with her anger, and with a quick flap, she extinguished the remaining candles, plunging them into soft darkness.
“You were saying?” Shinobu said, as her jacket dusted off against her back once more.
Kagaya stared at the extinguished candles, the coy grin fading from his features.
“Shinobu. I wished this couldn’t be happening. Especially with everything you’ve gone through. My fame prevented me from seeing what I was doing to you. You were imprisoned for a thousand years before I freed you at the cost of your magical ability. You’ve loved and lost your only son. So, with a heavy heart, it pains me to tell you this…,” Kagaya began.

“Master, please. What is it?!” Shinobu said impatiently.
Kagaya sighed, unable to hide the truth anymore.
“I have had a vision. Tai Lung will return.” She said, turning to Shinobu sadly.
Shinobu’s breath caught in her throat.
The night came back to her. The fury that had taken love. The damage to her heart made the physical blows seem like nothing.
“That’s impossible! He is in prison!” Shinobu declared before she could stop herself.
Kagaya shook his head in defeat, “Nothing is impossible, friend.”
But Shinobu refused to listen.
“Bartleby!” Shinobu yelled as the dark blue cat reappeared.
“Fishy poof crackers?” Bartleby asked.
“Fly with Cumulo to Tokyo Correction Precinct Prison and tell them to double the guards, double the weapons, double EVERYTHING! Tai Lung does NOT leave that prison!” Shinobu ordered.
Shinobu practically screamed the last line, but Bartleby simply smiled and nodded.
“Okie-Dokie, Master Shinobu.” He declared… before promptly running into one of the pillars.
“Huh?” Bartleby commented, gazing at the pillar, like it had appeared from nowhere, “I just don’t know what went wrong.”
Shaking his head he ranned out of the Falaknuma Palace and out of sight.
Kagaya sighed at his student’s impulsiveness.
“One often meets his destiny on the road they take to avoid it.” He warned.
“But, Master. We have to do something. We can’t just let Tai Lung march upon Plaridel and take his revenge. He’ll… He…”

Shinobu protested for she couldn’t bring herself to say more. Couldn’t stand to refer to her old student – no, she couldn’t deny, her own son – as the monster he had become.
Kagaya’s softly touched Shinobu’s shoulder, pulling her from the bad memories.
“Your mind is like this water, Shinobu…” Kagaya said, motioning towards the rippling water of the Moon pool.
“When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But, if you allow it to settle…The answer becomes clear.”
Kagaya grinned and lowered his staff towards the pool. He touched the pool softly, sending a soothing ripple through the agitated waters.
Indeed, it did. As the water settled, Shinobu saw the reflection of the golden dragon above, holding the very thing that had triggered Tai Lung’s descent into madness.
“The Hashira Scroll?” Shinobu asked, gazing upon the scroll with a hint of resentment.
But when Kagaya turned to her, his face became grim.
“Now, my dear friend. It is finally time.” Kagaya admitted.
“But who?” Shinobu asked, resisting the urge to demand why her son had not been good enough. If not Tai Lung then who? She couldn’t resist thinking before saying the rest out loud:
“Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? To become…The Hashira Warrior?”.
Kagaya’s grin returned.
“I don’t know.” He replied coyly.
Chapter 4:
The Hashira Warrior
At The Lucky Cat Cafe…
Hanna was surprised. While Hiro’s cafe was not a failure, it was not normally this busy. It seemed like half of Plaridel was in the library. Everybody wanting either an adventure story or a story of the Furious Five. She was sorting through the books and foods, but her mind was elsewhere. In her mind, she was still having adventures with her heroes.
Then all of a sudden, a brown man with tokyo watch came bursting into the cafe!
“Hurry everybody! We have to get to the Falaknuma Palace! Master Kagaya is finally choosing a HASHIRA WARRIOR!” He said.
It was as if hundreds of fireworks went off all at once! People dropped whatever books and foods they were eating, reading and started joining the throng of people already in the streets heading to the palace!
Hiro who had come out of the upstairs to see what the commotion was about, shook his head.
“What could be so important that people would forget their foods and books?” He asked dismayed at how people just threw everything on the floor.

“Master Kagaya is finally choosing a Hashira Warrior Big Brother. People have been waiting for this to happen for over 500 years.” Hanna explained patiently.

“It’s just a fancy title given to somebody who’s already a Kung Fu Master. What’s the big deal?” Hiro asked not seeing the point in all the fuss.
“Look why don’t you take a nap? I’ll clean up the mess. After all, I know where everything goes,” Hanna suggested.
“All right Sis. Thanks to that Hashira Warrior business, things will probably be slow here for a few days,” Hiro agreed as he started to his bedroom not noticing the mischievous look in Hanna’s eyes.
The hours had passed quicker than Shinobu realized: People were already gathering in the stands surrounding the tournament arena.
“Such a historic day….isn’t it, Master?” Shinobu commented.
“Yes, and one I had feared I would not live to see. Are you students ready?” Kagaya asked.
“Yes, Kagaya,” Shinobu replied. Had Shinobu not had so much on her mind, she might have found Kagaya’s choice of words funny. After all, they were both immortal.
“Now know this friend, whoever I choose will not only bring peace to the land…but to you as well.” Kagaya smiled softly.
Giving a terse nod, Shinobu steeled her shoulders and strode forward as the sound of the gong rang through the courtyard of the Falaknuma palace, drowning out any outside noise.
Meanwhile, outside of the Falaknuma Palace, Hanna finally made it to the top of the many stairs and laid down on her back, catching her breath. Hanna cheered in victory for making it this far up the stairs but her victory was short-lived when she sees the gates starting to slowly close.
“Oh, no! No, no, no, wait! I’m coming! Wait, wait!” Hanna shouted as she made her way to the closing gates.

But by the time she got there, the gates have already closed and Hanna only ran into them.
“Ow,” Hanna said with a dizzy look as she fell to the ground while the crowd cheered in the courtyard.
“Hey! Open The Door!” Hanna yelled, banging her hands on the door but her shout and knocking is drowned out by the banging of the drums.
“Let Me In!” Hanna cried as she looks for a way to get in and see the tournament.
“Citizens of Plaridel. It is my great honor to present to you Shadow, Gumball, Sonic, Anais, Darwin…The Furious Five!” Shinobu declared in her Japanese voice while Hanna manages to climb and look through a round hole in the wall.
Hanna laughed excitedly as she watched the Furious Five make their entrance. A light blue blur shot out from the palace, making a lightning bolt-shaped cloud in the sky. A stream of confetti blasted into the air, as the light blue cat Master of Mischevious held a pose in the air.
“Ta-da!” He declared.
A silhouette of the blue Master of Quick-witted drew across the sun, before gliding down closer to reveal Sonic, a blindfold around his eyes not stopping him from catching Gumball before he fell.
The sun was once again blocked out, but this time by a pair of pink ears, attached to the back of the pink Master of Cunning Strategist.
The orange Master of Positive lunged from a nearby water, hitting the ground hard enough to leave a small crack.
As he rose, the other four descended around him; Shadow hitting the ground hard enough to leave a larger crack, grinning at Darwin even as the goldfish gave him a disapproving look. Gumball leaped from Sonic’s arms and fired him cannon to slow his descent. Anais descended like an elegant dragon, detaching the legs like she was sliding out from a robe. Finally, Sonic glided to a stop just above them.
Shinobu allowed herself a small smile of pride. They were no Tai Lung, but they would do. All of her students were gifted, and she had to admit to herself, she was a bit excited to see which one of them would be the Hashira Warrior.
As the citizens applauded and cheered, Sonic gave his legs a strong stomp, the gust of wind subtly giving the audience the cue for silence.
“Yay! The Furious Five!” Hanna cheered, waving at them.
For a brief, shining moment, Gumball spotted Hanna waving at him. But the light blue cat only waved back at Hanna before turning back to the audience, and the wind from Sonic’s leg caused the gate above the hole Hanna was looking through to close in front of her.
Hanna was tossed back and slumped down with a moan.
“Warriors Prepare! Ready for battle!” Shinobu announced.
Hanna quickly got up and looked around to see how she could watch the tournament now. That’s when she spotted a little hole between the gates and peeked through it. Through the hole, Hanna could see Master Sonic preparing himself to do a move that Hanna recognized…
“The Thousand Tongues Of Fire! Whoa!” Hanna cheered in excitement, ready to see the battle in action.
“Whoa, look at that!” A Citizen said, getting in front of the hole and blocking Hanna’s view.
“Hey, get out of the way!” Hanna shouted, trying to see through the hole.

But then she heard something and looked up above herself to see Master Super Sonic flying in the air with fireworks zooming around her. Hanna backed up laughing in excitement while watching Sonic do his performance battle with the Thousand Tongues Of Fire. But Hanna should’ve watched where she was walking before finding herself falling down the stairs. The fireworks went off exploding and the crowd cheered as Hanna quickly climbed back up only to find that she was too late.
But the Human wasn’t giving up for she has come way too far to quit. She’s going to see the tournament no matter what.
While the crowd was cheering, Hanna was doing everything she could to get in…
She tried punching through the doors, but that only made her cry in pain when she broke her fingers, “Ow!” She cried.
Next, she tried flinging herself over the wall with a stick of bamboo, which was very bendy, but instead, Hanna only managed to fling herself towards the wall.
For her third attempt, Hanna tied down some Bamboo with a rock and got on as she cuts the rope with her magic to ready to fly over the wall to see the tournament and who’ll be the Hashira Warrior. But after cutting the rope, Hanna found herself not flying into the air nor has the bamboo even moved yet.
When Hanna climbed down to see what went wrong, the bamboo shot up and then back down hitting the woman on the head as she fall to the ground groaning.
Hanna is now sitting on the steps thinking quickly but yet she’s starting to run out of ideas.
“And finally, Master Shadow The Hedgehog!” Shinobu’s voice announced.
Suddenly, Hanna got another idea of how she could see the tournament.
While the crowd was still cheering, the large tree was surrounded by a purple and pink magic aura and was being pulled down while Luna continues announcing:
“Believe me, citizens, you have not seen anything yet!”
“I know!” Hanna shouted, pulling the tree with all her magical might.
“Master Shadow will face Iron Ox and his blades of death!” Shinobu announced as Shadow readies himself for battle.
That’s when Hanna flung herself into the air laughing in victory. Now she can see the final tournament. But that was short-lived when Hanna hits the tiles and landed in a cart, groaning in pain. Kagaya, however, glanced up at the color brown. And among them, he sensed something. Something that made him stand, and raising him hands for silence.
“I’ve sensed The Hashira Warrior is among us,” Kagaya declared.
Shadow paused and left the contraption behind, as he raced to stand before Kagaya, alongside Gumball, Darwin, Anais, and Sonic.
“Citizens Of Plaridel, my friend will now choose…The Hashira Warrior!” Shinobu announced.
Hanna quickly got up from the sound of that.
“Huh? Oh, no. No, no, wait.” She said, desperately trying to figure out how she is going to see who will be the Hashira Warrior now.
But then she found her answer when she noticed she was in a cart filled with fireworks and an idea came to her. It may be crazy and dangerous but to Hanna, it just might work.
Meanwhile, Kagaya took his time descending towards the group while Shadow quivered with excitement and Darwin nudged him.

Outside, Hanna was working on something until she was done and backed up laughing, revealing a chair with fireworks attached to it.
Back in the arena, Kagaya passed Gumball and Anais.
Back with Hanna, she lights up a match and cackles for this idea of hers going to work. But when just when Hanna lit up the chair, Hiro arrived…
“HANNA SOPHIA HAMADA?! I leave you alone for 5 minutes and you disappear leaving plates and cups in the wrong place! Now I find you here?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Hiro asked, seeing his sister sitting on a chair with fireworks attached to it.
The young man heads towards her and starts blowing out the spark.
“What does it look like I’m doing? Hiro, stop, stop! I’m gonna see the Hashira Warrior!” Hanna said, stopping Hiro from blowing out the spark.
Back in the Arena, Kagaya walked past Sonic and Darwin.
“But I don’t understand, Hanna. You said you finally had the Lucky Cat Cafe dream!” Hiro reminded her.
Hanna sighed, she knows she couldn’t lie to Hiro anymore. She had to tell him the truth.
“I lied, I didn’t dream about Bowls or the cafe, Big Brother,” Hanna admitted as Hiro looked at her in shock. Not because it wasn’t her dream, but because she felt she had to lie to him.
Hanna looked down and saw the spark getting closer to the firework, which means it was almost time for her to be blasted off into the air.
“I love Demon SLAYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!” Hanna declared as she closed her eyes and readies herself to be shot right into the air.
But nothing happened so far as Hanna opened her eyes and saw that the chair wasn’t bursting or anything. Hanna only found herself falling to the ground and started sniffling sadly for it was no use for her as she turned to Hiro with a sad look on her face.
“Come on, Sis. Let’s get back to work.” Hiro said.
“Okay, Bro,” Hanna said sadly in defeat as she starts getting up from the ground.
But suddenly and unexpectedly, the fireworks bursts and Hanna screamed in surprised shock before finding herself launched toward the wall while Hiro looked with surprise to see Hanna sliding against the wall.
“Hanna, Come Back!” Hiro shouted as Hanna was then launched into the air screaming. He was scared his little sister would be hurt.
While she was screaming, the fireworks exploded, catching the attention of the audience as they watched with awe.
“Owwwwwoooo, uh-oh!” Hanna whimpered as she saw the chair disintegrate in the air and found herself falling to the arena miles down below her, screaming before slamming into the concrete.
Hanna’s eyes fluttered open, moaning in pain.
“Oooooh, what’s going on? Where-?” Hanna moaned, rubbing her head.
“Ya okay there, Brownie? That was quite a fall,” a brown boy voice asked.
The smoke around Hanna cleared as an orange goldfish stepped forward, looking her over with concern.
“I’m okay, I’m…” Hanna stammered to a stop.
The goldfish was Master Darwin! And behind her, Anais and Sonic were all grouped around, watching her with worry, while Shadow was still in a defensive stance.
Gumball was looking up at the sky, scratching his hair.
“Where’d she come from?” He muttered confused.
But Hanna didn’t have the courage to explain. The Furious Five were mere feet in front of her. And that meant…
Hanna slowly turned to find Master Kagaya pointing his staff right at her.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I… well, I was going to see who the Hashira Warrior was, a-and…” Hanna said, backing up and bowing in profuse regret.
“How interesting…” Kagaya noted, gazing at Hanna with intrigue.
Tilting her head, Hanna cautiously rose to her feet, looking over as Darwin and Gumball helped Hanna to her feet. While they were helping her, Hanna failed to notice Kagaya was still pointing at her, until Shadow moved up next to her.
“Um… Master Kagaya? Are you… pointing at me?” Shadow asked, but Kagaya’s staff didn’t waver from Hanna.
“Her,” Kagaya confirmed.
Hanna paused turning back to Kagaya to find his staff still pointed at her.
“W-Who?” Hanna squeaked, her courage further failing her as every eye fell on her.
“You,” Kagaya said with a smile.
“Me?” Hanna asked, feeling greatly confused.
Kagaya took Hanna’s arm and lifted it into the air as he declared, “The universe has brought us the Hashira Warrior!”.
“What?!” Hanna stammered as she went pale.
“What?!” Shadow, Darwin, Anais, and Sonic all stammered.
“WHAT?!” Shinobu screamed.
“WHAT?!” Hiro yelled.
But then, Gumball jumped in.
“PARTY TIME!” He declared happily.
Following Gumball’s words, the gong man rang his gong, and the citizens cheered, drowning out Shinobu’s attempts to chew out Gumball and then the gong man, and then everyone bringing a palanquin down to the arena. Hanna stood frozen to the floor, utterly flabbergasted and unable to resist as several people pushed her onto the carried platform. And the brown man from earlier smiled to himself as he knew how this would end.
“Kagaya! That Human can’t possibly be the answer to…” Shinobu yelled, racing to her teacher’s side before he paused, glancing around.
Hiro and the Furious Five were still staring at Hanna with mixtures of shock, concern, barely concealed rage in Shadow’s case, or happily conducting the cheerful people, in Gumball’s case. Despite them all appearing distracted, Shinobu still kept her voice high.
“That human can’t be the answer to our problem. You were about to point at Shadow and then… that… she fell in front of him! That was just an accident! ” Shinobu argued.
But Kagaya barely regarded her, walking along as Hanna was carted into the Falaknuma Palace. Her chances of stopping this were fading fast. Shinobu vaguely pointed back at Shadow, who jumped when she mentioned his name.
But Kagaya’s grin remained serene and unbothered. “There are no accidents.” He said calmly.
THUD!
At first, Shinobu spun, thinking Hanna had fallen off the palanquin. But instead, it was only a few wooden boards broken and Hanna struggles to get herself unstuck. Luckily a few more people came and lend a helping hand while Shadow shot Hanna an envious, frustrated look before reluctantly turning back to his master.
“Forgive us, Master. We’ve failed you.” Shadow choked the words out. At his words, the others – even Gumball – bowed their heads in regret.
“No, If that human has not quit by morning, then I will have failed you.” Shinobu said grimly, raising a hand to wave off the boys and girls’ apologies.
Chapter 5:
One Thousand Guards And One Prisoner
Meanwhile, dressed in warm clothing, Bartleby and Cumulo flied through the air, happily riding the wind currents before nearly bopping his head against the doors set into a cavern on one of the snow-tipped mountains. As he banked in the air, the blue-eyed Cat was suddenly surrounded by spears.
“Hello!” Bartleby replied in a cheerful tone. His optimism confused the Minotaurs holding the spears long enough for him to reach into his bag and pull out a scroll, “Special Delivery from Master Shinobu to Captain Iron Will?”.
The Minotaur guards glanced at each other, before lowering their spears, nudging the dark blue Cat through the doors and into the vast cavern that lay underneath the stone.
“Iron Will, sir! This cat has a message for you!” one of the guards bellowed like a bull.
The biggest of the Minotaurs stomped up, his fur cobalt blue in the limited light.
“Oh…” Bartleby whispered, tilting his head in awe at the Minotaurs’ golden horns, which stood out among the other Minotaurs and their normal white horns.
Bartlebu always considered himself to be an optimist; someone who could just look on the bright side of life, and assume everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t as easy to think that when Iron Will read her message. In fact, it would be easy to say that she was frightened. But not just by the guards, but the thought of Tai-Lung himself. What kind of creature was he that he needed these kind of guards, maybe even more?

“WHAT?! Double the Guard? Extra precautions?! Iron Will’s prison may not be adequate?!” Iron Will boomed, his angry voice alone nearly knocking the smile off Bartleby’s face.

Iron Will threw the message aside and bore down on Bartleby, who shivered as he tried to keep up a small smile.
“You doubt Iron Will’s prison security?!” He asked.
“Of course not. Master Shinobu does. I’m just a messenger,” Bartleby assured him, looking around.
Iron Will hummed, the anger fading from his eyes as he regarded the blue-eyed Cat.
“Then let Iron Will give you a message for your ‘Master Shinobu’,” Iron Will declared, seizing Bartleby by the nape and pulling him deeper into the prison.
“Escape from Tokyo Correction Precinct Prison… is IMPOSSIBLE!” Iron Will said as he and Bartleby walked onto a bridge, where Bartleby could see over the edge.
Bartleby swallowed at the height. Bridges crisscrossed below like spider webs, each one stacked with Minotaurs decked out in armor and carrying weapons that looked like they could shear through the mountain itself.
Iron Will laughed at Bartleby’s shocked expression and patted his back roughly, dislodging some of his hairballs and sending some of them drifting down into the pit.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Iron Will demanded.
“It’s very impressive. Very impressive,” Bartleby replied, his voice quiet, but trying to remain cheerful. But he was going more nervous by the Minotaurs’ actions.
“One way in. One way out. One thousand Guards…And one prisoner,” Iron Will continued indicating the rough faces of the guards all around them.
“Right. Except that prisoner is … Tai Lung….,” Bartleby said with a nod as he noticed some of the guards still glowering at him, and tried to grin sheepishly at them. He just didn’t know what she was doing wrong to make them so cranky.
“Take Us Down!” Iron Will ordered as he and Bartleby reached a wooden elevator and descended to the lowest level of the prison while Iron Will was laughing.
“Behold, Tai Lung!” Iron Will declared, opening the elevator to the lowermost floor.
Tai Lung’s ‘cell’ was more of an island in the middle of the pit, barely big enough to stand and move in a circle around. In the middle of the island sat Tai Lung, a large shell encasing his chest, with jade spikes extending from his back. Both his arms were bound and chained to heavy boulders that hung over the edge of his platform. Tai Lung’s head was bowed, his arms limp. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing.
“Very… nice. Can I just stay here?” Bartleby asked, turning to Iron Will with a nervous grin.
Iron Will chuckled at him barely hidden fear.
“Nothing to fear, little cat. It’s perfectly safe,” He assured him.
Despite his soft tone, he still shoved the Cat onto the rickety bridge that led to Tai Lung’s prison. As Bartleby reluctantly walked towards the bound criminal, Iron Will’s voice boomed behind him, “Crossbows at the ready!”.
Bartleby stared around in fear as massive crossbows – more ballista than crossbows – locked into place, aimed at the apparently unconscious snow leopard. Bartleby was already scared beyond belief. As Iron Will joined him on the island, he only made it harder for him to conceal his fear.
“Hey, tough guy did you hear? Kagaya’s finally going to give someone the Hashira Scroll and it’s not going to be you!” Iron Will barked at the bound snow leopard.
Bartleby winced, “What are you doing? Please don’t make him mad!” He pleaded.
“What’s he going to do about it? Iron Will has him completely immobilized,” the Minotaur demanded.
To prove his point, Iron Will slammed his hoof onto Tai Lung’s tail. Bartleby winced, holding his own tail with worry, but Tai Lung didn’t even wince. Not even when Iron Will brought his head closer to the bound leopard.
“Aw, did Iron Will step on the wittle kitties tail? Aww…” Iron Will mocked.
“I… think I’ve seen enough. I’ll tell Master Shinobu she has nothing to worry about …,” Bartleby insisted, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
“No, she doesn’t!” Iron Will confirmed as both he and the Cat left the cell.
“Okay, I’ll tell her. Can we please go now?” Bartleby asked a little nervously.
As they left, neither of them noticed the Cat hairball softly land right in front of Tai Lung
Tai Lung opened his eyes, both golden orbs burning with anger. It had been hard not telling the silly Minotaur off. But that wouldn’t have helped his situation. He was waiting on something that would. Then his eyes flicked down to the hairball that had fallen before him. Moving his tail, he wrapped it around the feather, and pulled it closer. He looked up with a grim smile.