One year later. Wow. Can you believe that? Well…probably. Just an answer to everyone who asked, no, I won't be doing a decoy thing. Lupa, Lily and Zan are dead. Like, dead dead. But the only glimmer of hope for them will depend on what ending you choose at the end of the finale ;) . Yep, two different endings that you get to choose from. But I don't wanna give away too much now, do I? You're here for the first chapter. Well, as usual, the first chapter will be a recap of everything important that has happened so far. But since that's been narrowed down a lot since a lot happened in the first part of the finale, unlike the past stories in this series, it will not solely be a recap chapter. After everything has been sorted through, some new material will start.

AND NOW, OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION!

(P.S. I also like the timing of this since this chapter will release one day after the new KFP movie. All aboard the hype train! Toot toot!)

*Previously on KFP Next Gen*

With that, Kiro closed his eyes, and after thirty more seconds of agony, the white tiger master slipped away.

Dega collapsed to his knees in awe while Mei Ling and Lupa began to cry. Viper had tears welling up in her eyes, and Po, Tigress, Crane, Mantis, and all of the other students bowed their heads in respect.

Their master, their friend, and their brother, was gone.

Kiro was dead.

"This guy seems to know almost everything about us, our moves, our fighting styles, our weaknesses, and we know almost nothing about him or his team," Skyler said.

"Not necessarily," Dega muttered. "A little while back, Catherine came by again asking for help from us to free her parents. In the briefing she gave us, we did, in fact, find out that Overlord is an actual person and not a ghost, Xin is indeed a pawn for Overlord and the son of Tai Lung, Zina works for Overlord also, of which we already know, and there's a guy named Jaguar X who can see in the future and summon portals on command."

"Hey guys! I think I found something!" The avian called. "It looks to be…orange paint?"

"Orange paint?" Lupa repeated, walking over to where the bird was along with Lily. "Nothing in this room has even a tinge of orange in it. Why would the Fox brothers need orange paint in here?"

"They wouldn't, unless they didn't originally have it. Maybe one of Overlord's men forgot to take this with them," Lily theorized.

"I mean come on! Think it through, man!" Xin sighed. "I could run this show better than you!"

"Tread carefully. I'm finding you tedious, and people like you are expendable," The figure in black barked.

"I'm allowed to speak my mind aren't I? Or is that too harsh for you to take?" The snow leopard sneered.

Overlord growled and chucked the throwing star at Xin. A sickening thwack echoed throughout the building as the weapon collided with Xin's skull, and the leopard sank down in the chair, dead. A trail of blood began to stream down his face, and it slid down the left side of his nose and stopped at his mouth.

"Well, come on. Spill it," The young panda pried.

"Fine," Zina stated with a glare. "I'll start from the beginning. After Jow was killed and Japan was sent into a new age under the rule of his wife, I went underground. I became an assassin for hire and made my living that way for many years, living off rations most of the time and sleeping with the homeless. I came across Overlord one day, who instead of offering me money for a kill, offered me a better life here, along with revenge against your parents. That last part is what hooked me. I wanted vengeance against the Dragon Warrior and my cousins, Tigress and Kiro."

"You're a horrible aunt," Dega stated.

"Yes, yes. I suppose, from your perspective, I am. I did try to murder your family after all. Anyway, I signed on to be a part of Overlord's gang. He has connections all over China. With a little bit of money, minds sway. He keeps all entries in a small book. Where, I don't know. What names are in there as well, I have no clue. Resources and supplies are being shipped in from foreign countries through the black market. As for Xin, you already know why he signed on as well as what happens when you don't do as Overlord says. Jaguar X is puzzling. He and Overlord have some sort of bond, because I was the first one recruited, and X was with Overlord when they came to me. That jaguar has been there longer than I have," Zina explained, looking around at the heroes. "I'm telling the truth. The identity and species of Overlord? I don't know that. He always keeps his face wrapped up in a cloth, and only shows it to Jaguar X. It's like they're brothers or something."

"What about the bombs from Gongmen?" Tang asked. "I wanna see if I'm right about this."

"Number one bomb-making city in China. Shen revolutionized that industry, creating benefits for the Chinese army as well as those looking to make a quick yuan with anyone. Saves money and time," The villain stated.

"Yeah. I was right," The panda sighed. "Any idea why Sin lied about his age?"

Zina fell quiet. "I've said enough. Do what you want with that information."

"Hm." The tiger lion said, nodding his head. "Do you want to start redeeming yourself? Quit being a bad guy?"

Zina walked over to the son of Kiro and knelt down before him. "I may not be good or even close to that, but I've made my mistakes and bad choices when I dealt with your father. The only thing I can do for an apology is to make sure his two children stay safe. Whether you like it or not, I have a debt I need to pay, and I'll be watching over you two now."

Dega looked up at Zina and blinked a few times. "Okay then. Wasn't expecting this to go in that direction. I figured it'd be you and I talking and then fighting it out, probably ending up with you escaping and me either dead or defeated."

"Are you always gonna do this? You could just knock!" Dega whispered, turning to face his aunt.

"And get spotted by the other students and masters so they attack me and capture me again? I think not," The Japanese soldier replied. "Listen, while you and your band of misfits—"

"—Friends."

"—Whatever. While you all are continuing to investigate Overlord, you're overlooking the big picture. Overlord has hired mercenaries all over China and has stooges in the political field. Once this goes down, and if you fail to stop him, his army will bring the hammer down on you and the higher powers will tear you apart, making you look like the villains."

Dega sighed and leaned back against a wall. "Well, I always like a challenge."

"You're friends are in danger. Now that you are closer to figuring out Overlord's identity than ever, he will start lashing out sporadically. I'm obliged to protect you and, discretely, your sister, but I can't protect all of you and your friends. That's up to you all. I suggest you tread carefully."

Tang nodded and walked out of the palace. Fifteen minutes later, he was walking through the streets of the valley, heading towards the farm. Dodging the calls and commands from different shops and cart owners to buy their product, the young panda was able to make his way to the farm in no time. The familiar Overlord symbol was still on the door, untouched from when Kai met his fate. Walking up to the small cabin, the panda pushed the door open and began to walk inside.

"Hey guys! The masters want us back at th—"

Tang stopped himself abruptly when he saw Lupa, pinned to the far end of the wall by two swords, sticking out of her chest. She hung to the wall with a surprised expression, but did not move. She was dead.

"Lupa…" Tang whispered, wide eyed. "ZAN! LILY!"

His eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was then he saw the snake markings written all over the walls. Not one piece of wood was bare from the symbol of death. In the far corner of the shack where all the tools were kept, Lily lay in a lifeless heap with an arrow sticking out from the top of her head.

As Tang walked into the room, shaking with every step, he felt a drop on his head, and then another. Stepping out of the way, he looked up to see Zan, lying dead at the top of the rafters with a sword through his chest. His wing dangled over the side as blood dripped off of the tips of his feathers.

"Take that as a 'no,' I guess. Well, Sage would have been quite successful in his taking over China had it not been for the assistance of Kiro Takimuro, who also killed my Uncle Feng; well, not really an uncle but he was like family. Anyway, the two major players in bringing down my stepfather were him and your father, Po. After your father launched mine into the mountain side, I had the pleasure of watching his obliterated body fall to the ground mere feet from me, where I was hiding and watching the battle. After I was done crying, I had the unimaginable privilege of watching as this previous generation of masters cheered at the death of someone I cared for," Overlord explained. "This isn't really about taking over China or power or money…whatever radical ideas have popped into your head. This is about legacy."

"You killed so many people. Your own mother, Mr. Ping, Monkey, Kiro, Xin, Kai and Sin…" Tang growled. "All of that is about vengeance?"

The figure in black chuckled and shook his head. "After all of the clues that I let you find, you still haven't figured it out? Really? I've let you gather pieces, bit by bit of my past all the way to the point of where you could figure it out if you just opened your eyes, but my identity still eludes you! All of this chasing has given me more than enough time to prepare myself for total domination! I've blocked you at every turn, leading you to where I wanted you to go. This is a one-way maze that you believe is open and free to roam around! Did you honestly think that if I didn't want you to find something that you'd find it anyway?"

The panda slowly stood straight up with clenched fists. "Who are you?"

"I…dear and naïve Tang Ping…" Overlord stated, removing his mask and black cloth that covered his face. "…am an old friend."

Tang widened his eyes and snarled in anger and confusion. He didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if he was losing his mind. "YOU! YOU DIED!"

Kai smiled and shook his head again. "I was surprised how easy it was to fool you all. Kill a fox that looks like me and paint him orange. Really? That bucket of orange paint didn't tip you off? You're dumber than I thought."

"You killed your brother and betrayed us all! We were your friends!" The student roared. "Lupa had a thing for you!"

"Yes. Killing her was…quite painful for me. However, since Sin and I are close to the same age, I would be too old for any of the likes of you."

The son of the Dragon Warrior suddenly pieced all of the clues that had been missing together. "In order to set your major plan into motion, you had to fake your own death. The reason why Sin hid his identity that he was older than he said was so that you could use him to get information on us!"

"Yes. Obviously, he didn't know who I really was and objected to lying about our age, but I convinced him that 'we needed younger friends' because we were so secluded from society, and that eventually made him agree with me. My true intentions were concealed," Kai replied. "Any other questions or comments?"

The villain got off the wall and began to walk towards the panda with confidence. I smirk was plastered on his face as he reveled in the fact that he had outsmarted a bunch of Kung-Fu masters and that he had totally caught them off guard.

"Don't fret, Tang, I won't kill you. You're just too much fun to watch!" The orange fox added. "I mean, yes, I want your father dead, and I almost met that goal before your lightening friend brought me down and almost unmasked me. Jaguar X, my other brother teleported me out of there before you could unmask me. And yes, if you are wondering, X was Sage's boy and they both adopted another kid; a tiger; his name is Chao."

Tang recalled the tiger guard back at the royal palace. He had brought up something about a traitor ordeal going on there and had acted quite odd up until their leaving. Looking back, it made sense that he was the culprit, but brothers?

*Two months later*

Things had changed since the deaths of Lupa, Zan and Lily, and not for the better. The heroes and masters agreed not to hold a public funeral so that citizens of the valley didn't lose any more morale than they already had. The students had been buried in the courtyard near the entrance of the palace.

When Mei Ling's cry echoed out when she came upon the gruesome scene in the old tool shack, the masters were distracted just long enough for Zina to throw down some smoke bombs and escape. She hadn't been heard from since, and Dega had been fiercely questioned as to why he had been working with her to find Overload, or Kai as they now referred to him as since they now knew who Overlord was.

About a week later, one night, Dega had went to his room to meditate and calm himself down. His joking and happy attitude he put on in front of his friends masked his anger and frustration he had, and meditating was a temporary solution to control this. His friends knew better, though. They could see right through him, but decided to not bring it up. His father, sister and girlfriend had been taken out in a relatively short period of time. They understood his feelings.

Max shared a room with the tiger lion, and so when he went to go get a clean shirt so he could go out and wander around in the valley, he knew he had to be careful around his friend when he entered. However, when he opened the door to the room, Dega's draws were opened and cleaned out. The window was open and the student was nowhere to be found. He left a note saying that he was fine, but needed to continue the search on his own at the moment with the help of his ex-evil aunt, Zina. The masters still didn't believe his story of her changing sides, so instead of telling everyone his plan, he just left. They searched for him, but came up with nothing.

Po sighed as he looked in the reflecting pool. He knew that this wasn't his fault, but he realized if he hadn't killed Sage all those years ago instead of arresting him, things might have turned out better than now. It bugged him that the other masters and him were playing keep-up with this villain. The panda knew Kai had connections in every major city, and probably had spies and moles inside the army and kung-fu palaces, but the fox's plan was moving rapidly towards its inaction, so the time to uncover all of these operatives was nonexistent.

The only dent they had put in Overlord's plot was the confirmation of Chao as the traitor in the Emperor's royal palace. The other guard had been released and after a hard interrogation turned up with nothing, the officer had been sentenced to execution a week from yesterday. Po knew that Kai wouldn't allow his step-brother to be killed, though. The tiger would be broken out no matter how tight security was.

The Dragon Warrior shook his head.

*With the students*

The students had their own little groups that they had been a part of. Max, Musaki, Summer, Arizona and Sierra were all one group, though they had no official name for themselves, unlike the Elemental Hazards. The Hazards were made up of Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Kiba, Kovu, Hope, Faith, Kaizer and Kidduo, though most called him Kidd. Then there was Tang. Just Tang. It used to be him, Dega, Lupa, Zan and Lily, but three were gone and one was missing, so it was just him. Because of this, the others tried to include him in on more things, which was nice, but didn't fill the empty spaces next to him where his friends once stood.

The masters had the same issue. Tigress' brother and niece were dead and her nephew had vanished. Mei Ling had no husband or kids with her anymore. Crane and Lily were without their children as well. Po was lucky, if you called it that. His wife and kid were still with him, but that was little consolation considering all that had happened. On top of all this, they had lost Master Monkey not too long ago due to a bomb one of Overlord's minions planted.

"So…how 'bout that weather we're having?" Kiba asked the group, breaking the silence and receiving a bean bun to the nose from Summer.

"That's the most generic and boring conversation starter I've ever heard," The female panda groaned. "Aren't you supposed to be the funny one of your team?"

"Yeah. Supposedly," Ryo stated with a snort, rolling his eyes.

"I actually never thought any of his jokes were funny," Kaizer added.

Tang chuckled. "The one-two punch. You're down for the count."

Kiba sighed and shifted his gaze over to Kaizer before smirking. "I'm sorry, Spooky. If you think you're funnier than I am, the let's hear a joke."

"You're fighting abilities," Came the deadpan reply, followed by a roar of laughter from the others.

They had already done their training for the day, so they really had nothing else to do. They had headed advice given to them by Zina a while back, which had come true. Because they had pried and pursued an investigation, devastating consequences followed. For now, they hung back.

Max wiped some tears of laughter from his eyes. "Remember when we were at a club a while back and Dega used Zona and I as backup dancers for his song to ask out Lily? Kiba, you ended up as the chef for Ryo's dinner because you made a scene afterwards!"

"It was awkward and I didn't know how to respond!" The student whined, trying to drown out the second round of laughter that filled the room.

*With Dega*

The tiger lion sat on a table in the now closed down noodle shop of the late Mr. Ping. After the goose had passed, nobody could pick up the mantle of his shop and carry on the business, so now it sat there as a relic of what once was. Dega examined the new weapons in his hands. Thanks to Zina's help, his power swords and Kiro's staffs had been fused into one. The end of the sword was combined with the end of the staff, making it a double weapon. The power of the two that was now forced together made it easier to summon larger and more powerful objects, and when elongated became two deadly Naginata.

The hero hopped down from the table and went into the shop, making his way up the stairs into Po's old room, where Zina was examining the place.

"It's trashed," She stated. "Kai's people have already been here. Not surprised."

"Another lead down?"

She nodded. "I'm getting tired of searching for clues as to where to find my old boss. Figured something may have been in here, but no. Of course not."

The assassin turned to face Dega, who was clanking his swords together and making "pew, pew" sounds.

"The next stop we should make should be Gongmen City. That's where the explosives are being made for Overlord's upcoming takeover. We find what factories are under his influence, and we burn them to the ground."

The tiger lion smirked and nodded.

"Then let's have some fun," She finished, and the two hopped out the bedroom window and disappeared into the night.

So there we go! Things have changed since the end of the last story. But where's Kai? What's gonna happen next?

Let me know in the reviews if you're happy the stories back and if you liked the new chapter!

I'm not gonna do an upload schedule because now that I'm in track training, my uploads are gonna be a little sporadic (however, not far apart. No more one year disappearances).

Been a while since you've read this outro, but as always, more to come…