What is A Criminal?

The noise of the fighting couldn't pierce through Tai-Lung's ears. Everything happened so fast. He was too shocked to believe what he saw. Then he heard Aku's voice as he halted Shen's army with both of his hands. There were about 50 wolves and ten gorillas from Shen's side. "ENOUGH! Your leader is gone. You have three choices. Leave and never come back, be stupid enough to fight me, or join us." Aku released them and most of the wolves and gorillas left. Aku-Po saw a small group of wolves, led by a wolf with an eyepatch. He bowed and said,

"We will serve you, master."

"Good!" Aku-Po said happily, helping him from the ground. "First, we'll take these masters down to the cell. Then we're going to need to find a place for that hulking thing. Geez! How did you guys get that thing up here?!" Referring to the cannon.

"A lot of broken bones and good men," The Boss Wolf sighed.

"Terrible situation, but that's what you get for working with an egotistic crazed man," Aku-Po shrugged as if it were nothing. "You coming, Tai!?"

"Ye.. yeah... I'm coming."

"These chains won't hold us. Our warrior spirit-"

"Yeah, yeah. I heard enough from the bird," Aku-Po muttered as he dragged the two warriors to the cells. "I have friends for yoooooouu."

"Wonderful," Master Shifu muttered as Aku-Po threw them in the cells.

"Men, go and make sure that all the guards are well. And... deal with the mess upstairs," Tai-Lung said grimly.

"Yes, Dragon Warrior," The wolves bowed and left. Tai-Lung glared straight at Aku-Po.

"Uh... what did I do wrong?" Aku-Po asked innocently.

"You KILLED SHEN!" Tai-Lung exclaimed. The whole prison gasped.

"Master Croc and Master Ox. Is this true?"

"Yes... the panda killed the peacock... fulfilling the soothsayer's prophecy," Master Ox replied from his cell.

"You're definitely not Po," Tigress muttered from her isolated cell, "He would never kill in an act of cold blood"

"Nice of you to notice, kitten. I fail to see what's the problem here," Aku-Po said, placing his hands on his hips.

"You killed him?!"

"He was going to kill you. Why the mother-goose did you push him over to me, then?"

"I thought you were simply going to paralyze him or make him pass out. I didn't think you would kill him."

"If you're upset about me staining the floor of the Hall then I can-"

"We can't just kill people," Tai-Lung growled. Aku-Po flinched his head back in confusion. He didn't expect the snow leopard to have much of a moral code.

"You make it sound like you've never killed before."

"I haven't!" Tai-Lung exclaimed. Aku's eyes shot over to Shifu, who was bewildered.

"What kind of rumors have you let the people spread around?!"

"What?" Shifu asked.

"Every person in the village thinks and says the infamous Tai-Lung was the evilest villain in China. A killer, terrorist, stealer, liar, you name it! That's what we've heard."

"I've never killed, stolen, or done anything to anyone," Tai-Lung defensively replied.

"Then what did he do, Shifu? Just destroy some carts and vendors and try to take some shiny scroll?! You and the Furious Five have done worse trying to keep bandits away." Aku remarked. He shook his head. "And here I thought you were actually a villain."

"Some villains are just normal people that society says aren't like them," Tai-Lung sighed. Aku-Po laughed.

"Then you and I are one of a kind," Aku smirked. "Come on, we have some work to do." They shut the door behind them. The Furious Five looked over to Shifu's cell. It had bars so they could see each other perfectly.

"What?"

"Was Tai-Lung's crime just destroying the valley? We've heard some very... gruesome stories," Crane replied.

"He disobeyed Master Oogway and caused innocent lives to be affected by it," Shifu certified.

"Without killing anyone?" Viper asked. Shifu stared sternly at them, but they weren't deterred. "Master Shifu, the panda is right. We thought that Tai-Lung did the most unspeakable things while terrorizing the village."

"He is the same criminal that imprisoned us," Shifu said defensively.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Tigress interrupted. "Tai-Lung's record doesn't change the fact that he's no longer a threat."

"What do you mean?" Crane asked.

"Now we know that Aku-Po won't hesitate to kill us if he wants to," Tigress explained. "I expected that Tai-Lung was keeping us alive out of... sentimentality. But this panda doesn't show mercy. If we escape, we have to be very careful about what we do."

"HYAH!" Tai-Lung shouted as he struck the panda's hand.

"Harder," Aku coached. Tai-Lung punched again, but this time Aku-Po moved out of the way and let Tai fall down. "A bit too hard," Aku smirked. Tai-Lung grumbled as he got back up. "This time you were thinking too much. Each movement and motion should be natural."

"Hmm," Tai-Lung simply grunted. Aku smirked.

"Something wrong, Tai?"

"I... want to ask a question without you killing me," Tai-Lung asked very bluntly. The panda gave a short chuckle.

"Sure, though I can't promise that I'll answer it completely," Aku-Po replied.

"Why did you kill Shen? There has to be a true reason why you did it," Tai-Lung asked. Aku-Po stared at the snow leopard for a moment and then looked away, preoccupied mentally with something else.

"He killed a lot of my kind. It was a simple matter of revenge," Aku answer plainly.

"You're lying."

"Not completely," Aku smirked. Tai-Lung crossed his arms.

"You killed him as if you were exacting judgment," Tai-Lung clarified. Aku-Po rolled his eyes as he walked past the snow leopard.

"Don't chase after things that aren't there. I told you why I did it. Just be glad I didn't kill the rest of them."

"Or me?" Tai-Lung muttered defiantly.

"Hehe," Aku ominously laughed, "I wouldn't dream of it, Dragon Warrior." With that he left, leaving the snow leopard more confused than ever.

Continued...