Chapter 2! From the feedback I'm getting, I'll keep that in mind and not rush this series as it has some "potential", according to the reviewers. (It made my day whenever I got around to reading them btw. Thought I'd let you guys know that I do appreciate them, 'cause positive reviews are like my stimulants/coffee in the morning for lack of a better analogy.) Anyways, enjoy :D

(The Student Barracks)

"Ummm, are you positive that this is such a great idea?"

"Course it is! The better question: why has no one has ever bothered to come up with this until now!"

Viper worriedly glanced at the panda who was attempting to balance on the wooden kitchen floor using only a pair of chopsticks sloppily glued to the sides of each of his feet for balance. The key word is "attempting". Monkey and Mantis were secretly placing bets on how long the thin supports would last before the panda's rather large weight would snap them completely in half. Crane shook his head disapprovingly, but his eyes clearly betrayed a hint of his inner amusement towards the Dragon Warrior and his latest "innovation".

"See how cool these are? With these, I'll constantly be practicing my coordination and stability training in my Kung Fu, annnnnd I'll still be able to serve you guys your meals as well as do everything else that I usually do! It's almost as if nothing even happened! Master Shifu is gonna be so proud of me when I tell him about this! I can already see the look on his face! Pure gold!"

The Furious Four were gathered around the only table in the kitchen with the panda in his usual spot at the stove cooking their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The panda was awkwardly cutting off the leaves of a bok choy all the while with his chopstick supports precariously creaking and shuddering in protest. The Four snickered at this, and Monkey spoke up with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Hey, at least it's better than your other idea of playing kickball in the Hall of Heroes! Now that was a nightmare!"

The Four couldn't hold it in any longer and they all burst out laughing, much to the panda's dismay.

"I got to agree with Monkey on that one," chuckled Mantis, "Master Shifu was furious when he walked in to see the Urn of Whispering Warriors broken yet again. Poor guys... They had probably hoped to have gotten at least one millennium of rest before having to worry about things like a kickball disturbing them in their sleep."

Po pouted indignantly, but none could see as his back was faced towards them as he continued to chop up the remaining vegetables. Unfortunately, the panda wasn't looking where he was cutting the knife and accidentally scored a faint line on his thumb, eliciting a sharp yelp from him. Po was surprised, as it had been awhile since his dexterity in the kitchen failed him, and he leaned backward only to try to stomp his feet on the ground to regain his footing. Big mistake.

*snap*

"OWWW! HRGNHHHH! THAT STINGS!"

The Furious Four were all laughing now at the panda that had some new battle wounds on his feet, more specifically, various splinters and pieces of the Chinese utensil that had embedded itself into his poor flesh. Luckily, it did not seem to sink in the skin too deeply, so the four laughing members on the table weren't as worried as they could be about their adorably clumsy Dragon Warrior.

"Haha, pay up Monkey! He lasted no longer than thirty minutes!"

"Yeah right! It was thirty-one minutes at the very LEAST!"

Crane and Viper both looked at each other briefly before snickering and shaking their heads at the two bickering masters of Kung Fu. Po, who was now casually pulling myriad lengths of wood out of his heel, decided to join in the festivities and laughed lightly at his own predicament. True, perhaps he had brought this upon himself. Viper sympathetically slid off from her chair and slithered over to where the panda was, in the hopes of assisting him with pulling out the smaller splinters that eluded the reach of his stubby claws.

"Oh Po... I don't know how you are able to keep up with your antics like this. I'll admit it though; you really have changed the Jade Palace for the better ever since you first arrived."

"Thanks, Viper... That means a lot coming from you."

"Yeah! We both totally agree to that as well," strained Mantis verbally while struggling to get his simian companion in an arm lock in order to force him to concede his almond cookies. They were the mutually agreed prize for the victor in the bet after all. Apparently, the golden-furred master was being his usual stubborn self. "Oomph! Cut it out! I don't know how we- WOAH! made it without ya being there with us for so long! Makes me think how far we've come... How about you Crane? Ack! Stop struggling and just hand them over to me! I actually won fairly this time as well!"

"Never! The location of my jar of cookies will go down with me to my grave!"

"Then I guess I'll have to send you down there prematurely then! Is that what you really want?!"

"FIGHT ME BUG!"

"I AM!"

Crane, witnessing this, could barely suppress the smile that had already been forming on his face since the start of the conversation before addressing Mantis's question that was directed toward him. He gave the Dragon Warrior a compassionate glance, who had at this point gotten up off the floor after Viper finished her ministrations of both of his feet. Master Viper was also smiling expectantly at him, waiting for the panda's no-doubt-to-be touched response. The big ball of fluff always was an emotional character after all. It didn't matter that he was claimed by many others as one of the best warriors in all of China.

Po, obviously caught up in his sentimentality, only stuttered incoherently with a hint of a tear in his eye from gleefulness. The others assumed that what the Dragon Warrior wanted to say would be properly expressed in words, so they all amusedly accepted his illiterate response.

"I've got nothing to say against that Po. What they're all saying is true," commended Viper, "It was definitely worth it to watch as you became more and more familiar with us and our... diverse family, to say the least."

The five of them all smiled at each other, lost in a haze of nostalgia and pleasant memories. The Dragon Warrior sighed contentedly when he remembered all the enjoyable times he and the Four had together. They all shared a moment, simply enjoying the trip down memory lane. Of course, it didn't last very long, as Mantis asked a single question that made all their hearts beat significantly faster in anxiety.

Po started off on when they first officially met, when the giant panda nearly landed on Master Crane whilst trying to find out who the Dragon Warrior was going to be. Of course, the poor panda was never really accepted as first, but then again, having a title that you have worked for your entire life "stolen" by a flaming panda from the sky was enough to make anyone bitter. It took quite some time, but the giant, cuddly, and loveable Dragon Warrior eventually managed to get all members of the Furious Four to warm up to his joyous personality and unwavering resolve. They all shared a moment, simply enjoying the trip down memory lane. Of course, it didn't last very long, as Mantis asked a single question that made all their hearts beat significantly faster in anxiety.

The unorthodox Dragon Warrior even managed to get a cold, stern, and detached Master Shifu to warm up to his robust figure. Especially his robust figure. They all shared a moment, simply enjoying the trip down memory lane. Of course, it didn't last very long, as Mantis asked a single question that made all their hearts beat significantly faster in anxiety.

All the warriors currently gathered in the kitchen shared a moment, simply enjoying the trip down memory lane. Of course, it didn't last very long, as Mantis asked a single question that made all their hearts beat significantly faster in anxiety.

"Uhhhh, hate to be THAT kind of guy who breaks such tender, bonding moments like these... BUT WHY IS THERE A MASSIVE FIRE RIGHT BEHIND YOU PO?!"

"AAAAAAAH! I FORGOT TO PUT OUT THE FIRE UNDERNEATH THE BOILING POT! SOMEBODY HELP!"

The Furious Four and the Dragon Warrior all panicked as they went their separate directions, trying to find a way to douse the rapidly growing flame. Perhaps having a wooden floor in the kitchen was not such a great idea after all as the fire traveled down it without too much effort. Po, even in his state of panic, was able to get his thick, meaty paws around Crane's neck as he was the only one closest to him and uttered a frantic command at the tall now-choking bird.

"CRANE! DO SOMETHING! PUT IT OUT BEFORE IT GETS WORSE!"

"I'M A KUNG FU MASTER! NOT A CULINARY-ARTS SPECIALIST OR FIREFIGHTER! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?! DO A RAIN DANCE?! PRAY TO THE GODS ABOVE?! LAUNCH MY 'WINGS OF JUSTICE' AT IT AND REDUCE IT TO A MERE CANDLE FLAME?!"

It was at that moment when everyone else stopped what they were doing and glared pointedly at the avian. Po's grip on his neck did not falter as he held a neutral face when he stared at him. The Dragon Warrior's eyebrow was also quirked up accusingly. The flames crackled ominously as if it too blamed Crane for its terror-causing existence. Once he realized how the situation could have initially been handled, he simply said with a light hint of remorse in his tone,

"Heheh... Oops. Right. My bad..."

"CAN YOU JUST GET ON WITH IT!" they all shouted synchronously.

"S-sorry..." It was then that the Dragon Warrior let go of the avian's neck in order to let him do what needed to be done.

Living at the Jade Palace was most certainly... "interesting".

That much was mutually agreed among all the residents living there.

The tiger leader was in a much calmer mood than before. He was able to vent off most of his frustrations towards a bandit that was unfortunately caught breaking the rules at the worst possible time. In front of the male feline's line of view. The bandit was now (in the aggressive feline's own articulate words), sleeping soundly at the bottom of a nearby lake. And never to rise back up to the surface ever again. Ever. The tiger meanwhile, was nice and dry in his personal tent that lay a small distance away from the stone settlement, bent over the myriad scrolls that lay sprawled out across a single rustic table. He was currently busy scribbling something over a formally-written piece of paper.

He was currently busy scribbling something over a formally-written piece of paper. His quill scratched noisily as it skirted and danced across the surface of the document, it's letters looking sloppy and next to illegible. At least the head bandit made efficient progress with his expeditious, yet ironically messy writing skills.

Clearly, this document was of utmost importance and needed to be delivered to its receiver immediately.

Since he had yet to oppress- er, "encourage" another messenger goose into joining his unorthodox army of bandits and all others, he was stuck having to be a courier himself for the time being. Pfft. As if. There was no way in hell he would reduce himself to that level.

"Ugh. The nerve of that idiotic goose. He just HAD to die on only his second day working here. Now I have to waste more time in replacing unnecessary, yet useful positions. At least I didn't pay him yet. Poor bastard. I'd have paid him decently enough... Okay, that's a downright lie. Well, at least I would have paid him some amount of money. Sooner or later. Perhaps later. Much later..."

The tiger carefully skimmed his eyes over the scroll he had just finished, checking for its accuracy. Yes. The document was an indeed an assassination contract. An assassination contract that was center directly on a certain indomitable fighter in China. It provided multiple details, statistics, and general information about none other than the Legendary Dragon Warrior himself. It was very thorough and specific, even though the handwriting was horrific and almost illegible from years of negligence towards the art of literacy.

"You know what? I'm not going to walk across half of China to deliver this shitty message to an assassin that may or may not be occupied at the moment. Duanpao! Get your scrawny ass in here! I need you to do something for me!"

A five-second pause happened afterward, and the orange striped feline patiently waited by reclining back on the stiff chair and propping his legs up on the table, his casual outlook masking the swirl of emotions that were gradually escaping his professional composure. He didn't get to enjoy the luxury of having a lack of work as much as he would have preferred, but he was already well accustomed to having an extremely busy schedule anyways. After all, he was the one who was in charge of this whole entire group of miscreants.

After a moment of silence, labored breathing was heard growing nearer and nearer to his private tent and a small rat peeped its head in between the tent's covers. He caught sight of the waiting bandit leader and proceeded to climb up on top of the tiger's desk to face him. The rat's claws scratched audibly over the desk's smooth wooden craftsmanship, and the male feline twitched his ears in slight irritation at this.

"You called for me M'Lord?"

"Yes, I did indeed..." The tiger leader glanced up from looking at his claws to the small frame that was now standing adjacent to his broad ankles. He moved his massive feet back onto the floor and gave the rat a firm stare, locking the poor rodent in place as he was too fearful to move, much less break eye contact. The bandit leader forcibly held the visual link between them, almost to the point of the staredown being awkward. The rat was still paralyzed in his position. He dared not even to move a whisker. Duanpao eventually could not hold still any longer and trembled visibly before the tiger bandit let out a cold, humorless chuckle.

It was always fun to size up the newer recruits within his army. Their reactions were always ranging from between false bravado to downright soiling their pants in front the intimidating tiger. Again, new recruits were always entertaining. As long as they were useful as well, of course. Speaking of which...

"How long have you been within our ranks again? Six days? A week?"

"T-two weeks, M'Lord."

"Ah. It seems that you were irrelevant enough for me to forget the supposedly other seven days that you were here."

The offended rat bit his tongue. He was smart enough to know that those who acted in an insubordinate manner directly towards the tiger were quickly taught the ways of discipline and enforcement. The tiger's comment about him being unimportant still wounded his pride greatly though.

"I w-was here in the camp ever since I joined. I-. *sigh* I haven't been given a chance to prove myself yet M'Lord."

"I've figured that out already. What would you suppose you would do if I sent you on a rather simple, but crucial delivery mission?"

The rat, caught by surprise, quickly straightened his back as tall as he could. His tailed twitched excitedly, with a hint of energetic anticipation. Being a courier was his specialty and occupation before he arrived at the camp. The orange-furred leader noticed his not-so-subtle change in personality but decided to keep his amusements to himself. He still had to keep up his boulder-like reputation after all.

"M'Lord. I'll have you know that although I do not possess the strength or determination to battle anyone in terms of combat, I replace that loss tenfold with my speed and efficiency. There's nothing that a normal messenger can do that I can't do better-."

"Alright, alright. Shut up already… I get it. You're quick on your feet if nothing else. Good. As much as I hate to blow up your ego even more than you have done so for yourself, you are the exact person that I need right now."

"Yes, M'Lord…" The rodent sounded slightly put off. He had more to say about himself. Unsurprisingly, a LOT more.

The tiger leader, deciding that pleasantries were now officially over, went straight down to business. He grabbed the assassination contract that rested idly on the table and tossed it towards Duanpao, who clumsily caught it with both his paws just in the nick of time before he got nailed in the face with the parchment.

"You say you're good. Maybe even one of the best… I want you to prove it. Deliver that one promptly to the one most people name the "Red Death". She is a tiger like myself, so you shouldn't have a problem identifying her. Any questions before I kick you out of my tent?"

"Er, Red Death, M'Lord? And it's a SHE as well?"

The feline bandit leader scoffed mockingly at the rodent's ignorance. "Yes, and SHE, as you want to put it, earned that title for good reasons. She has never failed a contract that was given to her. Nor has anyone ever evaded her for long. Just try not to do something stupid like piss her off, which might take a little bit more effort from you, but you're fine as long as you stay within your own personal boundaries."

The small rodent gulped nervously. His kind, the rats, were naturally skittish around felines, and the Red Death being his natural enemy did not do any favors in calming his nerves. The tiger leader noticed this, and this time let out a genuine, but quiet laugh. This rat was just too funny. At least to the tiger if no one else, much to his fortune. Perhaps that's how he was still able to stay alive up until this point.

"As you can imagine, this tigress is a very elusive, hard-to-pinpoint character. It'll be hard to find her specific location as she is constantly on the move, but word from my scouts have claimed that there have been multiple unsolved killings of corrupt political figures on the coasts of China and Taiwan. It would be best if you started there. Any more dumbass questions?"

"No M'lord. I am ready to head out towards the eastern provinces of China."

"Excellent. Time is money. Even more so when the Dragon Warrior's fat neck is on the line. If you can even see his neck. Probably not."

And with that, the tiger waved off the rodent who had placed the scroll in between his jaws gingerly and sped off towards the exit of the bandit hideout. The bandit leader went back to his scrolls, and everything resumed normally within the bandit camp/hideout once more.

It was currently midnight, with the moon being mostly concealed by shadows. It was darker than usual, so it served her purpose. The less light that shone among your surroundings, the fewer chances that you would be discovered in your various "endeavors". After all, if you want something dirty done, eliminate possible chances of witnesses.

A lone tigress was dragging a dead and clearly robust goat by its horns into the waters of Taiwan. She had a blood-red cloak with yellow trimmings that went down to her ankles along with a hood that covered her head and ears loosely, but securely. Underneath the hood was a mask that concealed her identity, due to her line of work. Only her crimson-red pupils were seen on her face. Being recognized in her line of "work" would most likely end up with her going to prison. Or worse.

The goat had already been burned alive courtesy of the tigress's paranoia, so no traces of what the goat's identity could have the possibility of being revealed. The only source of recognition was the Emperor's official seal that was beautifully sewn into the charred robes. Well, not so beautifully anymore now that everything on the victim was pretty much a sickly shade of black.

Fortunately, she had already taken care of the situation and quickly cut off the emblem, guaranteeing that even if he were to be found, no one could prove that he was a representative of the Emperor himself. It was a waste of time to end his life really. Even if the goat did have it coming for himself. Traveling all the way from China to Taiwan on a boat was not something one should do on a regular basis. It wasn't dangerous. It was just tedious. Extremely tedious.

The burnt corpse used to be a corrupt merchant that was hoarding food and selling it at villages at exorbitant rates, only for his benefits. Obviously, he now wasn't going to be able to do much-rigged bartering anymore. The tigress continued pulling the goat further and further into the deep ocean, trying to remove any possible trace of his existence.

The assassination went as flawlessly as expected, once she took the time to reflect back upon herself. The orange she-cat had merely walked up to him the moment he had stepped into a secluded patch of trees and slit his throat with a single claw swipe. The poor fellow didn't even have any time to scream or even bulge his eyeballs in surprise. At least it was a quick and painless death. Normally, the assassin wouldn't be so lenient towards those who had wronged others, no matter how severe or inconsequential the transgression was.

It was excessively exhausting work, having to drag an obese goat merchant all the way from the center of Taiwan to its north-western coast to remove all traces of evidence. She sighed irritably when she glanced one more time at her non-moving contract. To think that this merchant was able to be the Emperor's lap-dog as well as control most of Taiwan's economy with the said royalty being oblivious to the entire ordeal.

It just goes to show how much evil there was in the world if the Emperor didn't even have time to concentrate on his own country, and instead focused primarily on the threats of a Mongolian invasion. Did the tigress consider herself a part of that rapidly spreading evil? She never gave it a second thought, even when her ruthless assassinations sometimes led to the killings of innocent civilians if the situation escalated that far.

After a while of struggling with the dead-weight and forging for expedient materials, the tigress was able to build a makeshift and easily sinkable raft that would carry the goat into the ocean as far as her vision would permit. The assassin, once the coffin-of-a-raft was fully constructed, tossed the merchant ungracefully onto its surface. The goat landed ungracefully as the wooden planks groaned under the sudden strain, but it still held up nevertheless. With a simple light push, the raft was heading away from the tigress and heading further and further into the deep, dark, and endless ocean beyond. The feline stayed standing there on the sand bar, making sure that what she had wanted to happen had occurred to the goat. With a couple more minutes of waiting, the assassin let out a satisfied exhale of air.

With a simple light push, the raft was heading away from the tigress and heading further and further into the deep, dark, and endless ocean beyond.

The feline stayed standing there on the sand bar, making sure that what she had wanted to happen had occurred to the goat. With a couple more minutes of waiting, the assassin let out a satisfied exhale of air.

The raft that the charred body lay on was just barely within her view before it collapsed entirely to the ocean floor, taking the ex-merchant along with it. He was now officially gone forever. Buried by the constant waves of the ocean. A few years later, and he would probably be forgotten from the memories of others forever. Only time could tell for things like this.

The tigress, also known as the feared and sometimes even respected "Red Death", went back to the sandy beach she was on and disappeared into the thick foliage of Taiwan without even taking a single glance back. Her cloak calmly responded neutrally with each step she took the opposite direction from the raft, and a single striped tail was seen just below the hem. The tail itself swished lightly, the only thing that was visible on the assassin that betrayed her current feeling of fulfillment. Still, there was much, much more left to do before it was time to call it quits.

Her mission was complete, and that was that. No ifs, ands, or buts. It was merely time to move on to another assassination contract.

Author's Note: And that is done! Now for Chapter 3! I'm quite pleased with myself for this one. This chapter actually met my usual "at-least-3000" words quota and was twice the amount from the first chapter. I've got an idea of where I want this story to be headed, so sit tight until the next one comes out! (The plot looks so badass in my mind; I'd better not butcher this one lol).