"Aspects. Any strong soul can harness one, only a dedicated and legendary soul can possess two… A god would be the only answer for three…"

~Grand Master Shifu

Dynasty of the Fated and the Cursed : Two

"Damn man! You are so unreliable! How did you miss the bell!?"

"Me?! What are you talking about?! I don't have super sensitive ears, just super incredible speed! And you didn't hear the bell either! Don't pin the rap on me!"

"Cha- Who was in charge of hearing the bell?!"

"YOU! I told you to listen for the bell!"

"Egh… Well who's job was it to remind the guy waiting for the bell, to wait for the bell? You gotta keep me on my pincers man!"

"Aieee- We're in so much trouble. Shifu's gunna have our heads!"

Monkey and Mantis could almost be heard shouting all the way to the Wu Dan Mountains. The two bold warriors had left the Jade Palace, almost immediately as they arrived. The two of them were virtually inseparable, and that fact grew greater whenever one decided they needed to leave the Jade Palace for one reason or another. Last night had been one of those cases.

Tai-Lung and Tai-Shen had been delivered, and secured. That technically set Monkey and Mantis off the hook and free to roam. Master Shifu never cared what his students did with their time, his only real requirement was that they return to the Palace and be present for the first bell of the morning so training could begin as regularly scheduled. Monkey wasn't nearly as tired as he should have been, and he was aware of that, but both he and Mantis knew that if they didn't get to the Jade Palace as quickly as possible, whatever punishment Shifu would put them through would surely test and break the limits of this bonus fatigue.

The two Jade Warriors were finally on approach to the stairs when a strange figure came into view. Monkey's lighting quick speed gave him the ability to quickly come to a complete stop, however this action never sat very well with Mantis, who didn't have quick speed, he was just quick to get upset and queasy.

Mantis jabbed Monkey in the temple of his furry head and began shouting, "What the HELL are you thinking man! Warn me before you do stuff like that! I almost lost an antennae! Make a noise, a beep… maybe a cough, or an 'Oh Damn' would suffice…"

Monkey wasn't paying attention to his passenger while he ascended the stairs towards the collapsed figure of a man, lying across the first ten of a few thousand stairs that lead to the Jade Palace. Mantis quit shouting in Monkey's ear long enough to notice the exhausted creature before them. "Hey … Who's that?" Mantis chirped to himself, while jumping from Monkey's shoulder and onto the ground to get a closer look.

The man was covered in a heavy brown hooded cloak that concealed his face, in shadow where sunlight didn't touch. He was frail, a light frame … and didn't appear to be very tall, or at least not as tall as Tai-Lung or Po. Monkey took a step forward, along with Mantis they could see his tan tail swing as he began to rise from the stairs. Slowly, the man turned towards the two warriors, revealed the features of a very fatigued lion. He was brandishing battle scars and clear exhaustion all throughout his face. Piercing blue eyes, strong facial features and only a small beard hanging off the man's chin, this lion wasn't very old, or at least he didn't look it, but judging by his current appearance. He'd just gone through 21 rounds of hell and actually survived.

Monkey wasted no time, running up to the lion before he fell down the only stairs his trembling legs actually managed to surpass. "Hey! Are you alright?" The simian asked, but not expecting an answer. Mantis reclaimed his seat on Monkey's shoulder so he could glance right into the eyes of the stranger. "Uh, I think he's passed out Monkey. Guy, must have been fighting like hell to get up these stairs all night, poor thing."

Before either of them could do anything further, the exploding voice of Master Shifu came rumbling forth. Both Masters immediately bowed to their short Master, and the two accompanying him as they approached.

"Good Morning Master" Both Master Mantis and Master Monkey said in tandem. Master Shifu immediately produced his wooden flute and directed it at his students. "What is going on here?" He spoke plainly as if he'd not gotten enough sleep the night before. "Who is this man, and why is he on my stairs?"

Neither Monkey or Mantis knew how to answer their master's question. They shot confused gazes to one another and shrugged at the same time, however Mantis spoke up before Monkey was able. "Master, we were er… returning from … patrolling the valley when we discovered this drifter on the staircase. We don't know where he came from…"

Shifu shot a glare at his students, then towards Po and Tai-Shen behind him. "Po, please deliver this man to the medical ward. He might just be suffering heat stroke, but if he has any information for the Jade Palace, I'd like to know it before any rumors begin to spread.

Po's ears dropped hearing that he wasn't going to get breakfast at his dad's shop, but he agreed without argument. Taking the fainted lion from Monkey and Mantis, Po began to jog up the stairs with incredible speed and form. Even Shifu's eyebrow's rose watching Po take off like he'd been secretly training to run like a cross country jogger. The red panda however quickly turned back to his students. "You two…"

Monkey and Mantis immediately saluted and bowed their master and the prisoner accompanying him. "You two should return to the Jade Palace and find Tai-Lung. I do not believe that he bares any malice for any of us… But keep an eye on him just incase, and please discover where the others are. Mei-Ling, Crane, Viper and … I slightly suspect, Tigress are missing."

Monkey nodded and pointed towards the black panther. "What about him?" Tai-Shen rose a brow, slightly. "…what about me…?" He spoke, now with a deep tone resting behind his voice instead of the gentle old man tone he once carried. Monkey reared his head back, and turned to Shifu who spoke once more. "He is in my care… Trust me, if this prisoner gets out of line… I will end him myself. Now go fulfill your task, students."

Monkey and Mantis again both saluted, "Yes Master!" They shouted and took off up the stairs at top speed.

Shifu sighed and slowly turned back to face Tai-Shen, who was merely standing behind him with his paws folded behind his back. Shifu was glad that Tai-Shen had no intention of causing any problems, which made his company and presence far less of a threat than he assumed in the past. But now that Shifu had Tai-Shen alone, it was time for a small interrogation. "So, do you expect me or my students to begin trust you while you are here?"

Tai-Shen slowly shook his head slowly in contradiction to the welcome thought, "No Shifu. I don't … I don't expect anyone here to trust me, especially not Tai-Lung. It won't be long before he turns on me…"

Shifu's gaze shimmered for a moment with mention of his foster son, "What exactly are you implying, Shen? Tai-Lung isn't going on another rampage is he?"

The aged panther shook his head with a half hearted laugh. "No, not in the least-" Then he sighed deeply, "Or at least… not towards anyone but me… I don't know when exactly, but he will turn on me soon."

Shifu wrinkled his brow for a short moment, then suddenly spun on the balls of his feet. "Well then. Let's discuss this over noodles. There is much we must discuss, much more than Oogway foretold…"

Tai-Shen coughed for a moment, now feeling himself falling out of character. "—What? Noodles? Shifu, there's … a lot we need to discuss, correct? Even I have my own questions…" The red panda was smiling, he always enjoyed the reactions on people's faces whenever he wasn't being a hard ass with balls of brass. Indeed, there was much work that needed to be done in a more intellectual baseline, however Mr. Ping's noodles were always their best in the morning. The first, or even second batches are undeniably fantastic. Without saying anything, Shifu simply leapt forward down the stairs, expecting and silently demanding that Tai-Shen should follow.

The black panther followed ofcourse, but groaned out loud. "You … seriously want noodles, Shifu? Adamesk save me…" He complained.

Shifu's grin was bright, and scary this morning. His bright and cheerful appearance was doubled hand in hand with a very militant march and a stern determination to obtain a steaming bowl of noodles. If anyone else may have seen The Grand Master of the Jade Palace in such a chipper and easily misleading mood… the poor souls would have surely evacuated, or began searching for dopplegangers. "An army runs on it's stomach, Shen." Shifu stated while marching proudly, "and I have the hunger of 1000 men."

"…Yet the height of half a man." Tai-Shen muttered slowly following behind Shifu to Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop. "Going to be a long day…"

Crane still wasn't fully awake… He had only spent about two hours sleeping and somehow he had the energy to actually stand, but his eye sight was ruined for now. Early morning grogginess never normally hit him very hard, not nearly as hard as Mantis or Tigress, but then again … normally Crane got more than two winks of sleep before he was expected to be on his feet. All he could recall was; Watching Viper flee from Tai-Lung's room. The sinking feeling of sudden depression deep in his stomach. Then suddenly being ambushed as he returned to his room by… Mei-Ling.

Crane immediately spun his head to discover the frame of his feline companion from childhood curled in a ball on his nesting, easily occupying half. Mei-Ling had snuck into his room before he was able to return and caught him in a bear hug at the door. Nothing had occurred aside from a lot of chatter and laughter, but kept at such a level that it wouldn't disturb anyone. Neither warrior could believe that they'd been reunited and actually had time to reminisce on better days. They clucked like chickens on into the night until the both of them fell asleep in a friendly embrace with grins on their faces.

Crane was the first to wake, which was clear because if Mei-Ling had woke first she'd of probably left. Mei-Ling preferred to keep herself well kempt and clean. Right now, she was curled into a comfortable ball resting inside Crane's nesting, however the bird could recall once or twice where he visited Mei-Ling's dorm back at Li Da and she'd been so heavily sprawled across her bed, it had looked as though she lost a fight with a drool demon.

Master Crane smiled and stretched out his wings to their full span, and began to search for his hat. 'No hat yet… it needs to be washed… roughly.' He thought to himself, and was lowering his wings but they were immediately thrown back open as his room door suddenly shot open.

Po was standing in the gaping door way panting slightly, "CRANE! I need your help!" Crane's wings were spread full and completely concealing Mei-Ling from Po's visage, but the bear tell something was up, but chalked it up to Crane being groggy from waking up early after such a late night. "W-What is it Po? What do you need?"

Po rose a brow, "Are… you ok?" Crane glared at him, "Hey!! Focus! What's wrong? Is someone hurt?" The bird kept his wings open, not intending to lower them so that no one would get the idea that he was with and intimate with his old friend. Po's train quickly got back on track, "Oh yeah! I need your help!" Then derailed immediately once he began trying to see through Crane's wings at whatever he might be hiding.

Crane's right eyeball twitched. "…….with?!" He repeated. The panda began twirling his fingers and staring at the floor. "Well um … there's this guy we had to take to the medical ward… See, he was passed out when Shifu told me to take him, but he woke up and began shouting about head pain."

"He has a concussion?" Crane asked, with his wings still wide open as he began to tactfully shove Po out the doorway. The Panda's gaze was everywhere but at Crane, which aided the bird in forcing him from the room where Mei-Ling was slumbering. "Well see, I thought he was just delirious because he kept talking about Bar Glasses, and I don't know what that has to do with anything … So I searched the cabinets for something to help him but I don't know anything about medicine… so…"

Crane gasped, "PO!! You didn't … kill him did you!?"

Po gasped out in shock after Crane did, "No! No way! I gave him this stuff in a sealed bag that said 'Herbs' on it … Now he's all loopy and he keeps calling me 'SunShine' and giggling…"

Crane sighed out loud, a bit relieved that there wasn't a DOA awaiting him in the medical ward, but he was equally as worried that Po had fed the poor patient Tigress' personal herbs… The herbs she exposed herself to whenever she needed to calm down on a really bad day. But Crane knew that Tigress had never eaten any of it, only inhaled it … and if Master Crane knew Po as well as he assumed, the Panda had probably fed the entire bag to the patient.

"Alright Po…" The bird shook his head, "Lets go see what damage you've done…" Po nodded and gave a nervous laugh. "I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do so you can keep this quiet, I don't want the guys to find out I screwed up … You know, I am the Dragon Warrior and all."

"Don't remind me…" Crane said reluctantly, but turned to glance at Po over his shoulder. "Well, there is something I need."

Po clapped his paws, "You name it Master Crane! Anything!"

Crane's beak curled in a low grin as a sly smile began to form across his face, "You wouldn't happen to have a spare hat like mine would you?"

"Kusanagi…" Tai-Lung repeated. He'd been saying for at least five minutes walking back to his cell, located off the side of the Jade Palace. Tigress was following closely behind him. Tai-Lung had begun ignoring everything, and everyone. He wanted to know how Tigress knew all of this, but more importantly … exactly who Tai-Shen was…

"Quit ignoring me!" Tigress shouted behind the snow leopard, but it was like her voice faded into nothing as her words crashed into his massive shoulders. He was angry, grunting, snarling under his breath. He was wracking his brain on the identity of Tai-Shen. Why did the old man take his first name? Did that old man even know they had the same last name? And if he did, why didn't he say anything about it. But more importantly Tai-Lung used to be unconditionally obedient of the old panther, but now… right now, deep inside his heart, he could feel a boiling inferno … A smoldering and dangerously bright hellfire.

"Tai-Lung!" Tigress shouted once more. But it was all in vain. Tai-Lung had shut the door to his room and fell over on his bedroll to think. Tigress was insulted, and punched a hole into the rice paper of his wooden door. "Hey! This isn't all about you, you PIG!!!"

At that very moment, a palace attendant suddenly began rushing back towards the palace. Tigress groaned to herself openly, noting the servants species. "All swine act alike… and all men are pigs…" Master Tigress cursed under her breath as she heard the distinctive squealing of an emotionally wounded pig squealing and bawling from an indirect insult. Without much hesitation or loitering, Tigress began to tread back towards the Jade Palace to find something to ease her mind. Opening up to Tai-Lung had been a bad idea, as he wandered away with free information to sulk and contemplate in private.

"Hey!! Tigress!!" A voice suddenly came rolling over her shoulder as she approached the stairs. However, to her delight, it had been someone she could actually trust. Two somone's as a matter of fact. Turning, Tigress bowed in greeting to her fellow Kung Fu Masters, Mantis and Monkey. "Is something wrong? What's got you two out of breath?"

Neither of them were suffering from fatigue but they were under orders. Monkey bowed in return to Tigress' gesture. "We're supposed to take you into custody, effective immediately!" Monkey then suddenly shouted as he held his paws forward to grab Tigress' wrists.

The Leader of the Furious Five pulled back and took a step away from him, "Wha? What the hell are you talking about?!"

Monkey then began laughing out loud, joined in by Mantis. "We're only kidding. Shifu sent us to check on you guys. There's no training for us today so I think he just wanted to double check and make sure everyone was ok, and that Tai-Lung wasn't causing any trouble." Monkey stated as he began brushing off golden fur. Slowly he turned to look at Mantis who still had a gentle grin on his whiskers. The insect then began searching around the Palace grounds from his perch. "Hey Tigress, you don't think Tai-Lung would go berserk on us again do you? Shifu put us in charge of him, and the last time we had to take him by ourselves…"

Tigress shook her head with a low sigh. "No, I wouldn't worry about Tai-Lung for now … He's been out of battle for far too long while we train vigorously. If he were to try to attack, it would only take one, or maybe two of us."

Mantis chirped as he dove forward into Tigress' suddenly awaiting paws. "I don't know if I trust that Tigress—I mean, It's only been a few months and we all thought he was dead. But back before, it was 20 years, and he still had the skill to beat all of us senseless."

Monkey approached, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I remember when he hit me with that nerve attack in the chest… I thought my heart had stopped."

Tigress sighed once more, also remembering the pain of being paralyzed by Tai-Lung. She felt completely helpless and was at the mercy of the snow leopard, with only a bruised Crane to protect her… "Look, you have to trust me on this. I know Tai-Lung isn't going to try anything, he hasn't yet."

Mantis chirped up again, "Err… hasn't he been sleeping all night? How do you know?" Monkey then spoke in time with Mantis, "Yeah Tigress, the last we saw of Tai-Lung was when he was put away with that other guy, Tai-Shen. And we just saw him with Master Shifu only a few minutes ago, so how are you so sure?"

Tigress fell quiet for a moment, 'I hope they don't freak out on me…' The Master of the Furious Five stood where she was for a moment, staring off in multiple directions while formulating a sentence. Monkey and Mantis grew suspicious and began to move closer to Tigress, with brows raised and lips curled into a grin.

Monkey began to saunter around Tigress, "You know something don't you Captain?"

Tigress took a step back, "Hey, hold on—" She forgot that Mantis was still in her hands. "C'mon Tigress, you can tell us. You were trying to sneak a peak at Tai-Lung right?" Mantis found himself swiftly flying through the air all of a sudden as Tigress flung him from her paws.

"I am NOT attracted to Tai-Lung! He's a pig!" She roared out in anger but forgot that Monkey was still there, however she didn't really care. Master Tigress merely ran the simian over as though he were a paper kite abandoned in her path. Crane came hopping back to the foreground "Monkey! Are you alright?"

Monkey was laughing, while patting off his pants again. "I think our Captain knows something, man." Mantis leapt upon one of Monkey's large shoulders. "You think so? I mean Tigress doesn't USUALLY step on anyone without apologizing for it, even when she's upset… Ofcourse Tigress is hiding something… But we probably shouldn't be following her to find out what that may be."

Monkey scratched his head. "Yeah, you have a point buddy. But what do you suppose we should do? I mean, this all sounds suspicious and I'd hate to think Tigress would be … you know…" Mantis nodded and cut in, "I don't know if she would be but … We need to find everyone else before Shifu gets back."

Both warriors agreed, but before either of them could resume their search, Crane and Po came out of the Jade Palace as Tigress entered. Both of them looking flustered and completely ridiculous, or at least Crane did. Neither Monkey nor Mantis really made much verbal contact with either of them as they passed by. Crane was visibly fuming with anger while Po on the other hand was following behind the avian and apologizing profusely while trying to also work in short, quick compliments.

The bird had received the replacement hat he was looking for. Of course it was from Po and therefore; The hat was almost like his original, however that also meant that Po had to take the liberty to hand paint the word 'Awesome' On every other exposed section of the hats surface… So no matter what direction Crane decided to rotate his hat to hide the graffiti… everyone could easily see exactly how 'Awesome' Master Crane's fashion sense was.

"Dude." Monkey said plainly as he and Mantis watched the Master of Crane style and the Dragon Warrior rush by as if their asses were on fire. Mantis nervously stroked his antennae to remove the sudden sweat. "Well um … there's those two. Do you think Crane is going to see the patient?" The insect questioned openly.

Po, catching the conversation stopped for a minute and doubled back to meet the bystanders. "Hey guys! Crane's going to see the patient, I um… Well he's really sick, and needs some super smart help you know." Monkey nodded quickly staring up at the two toned ( three toned… ) bear. "So, how is he? Will he be alright? It was a heat stroke right?"

Po shrugged his large shoulders, "He should be, and when Crane gets there, he should be totally recovered. Master Crane is a genius!" Mantis chuckled and nodded with visible irritation, "Yeah, Crane … Genius… about that- you remember that I'M the medic here don't you? I can do acupuncture as well as I can do Praying Mantis Kung Fu. If you send in Crane! He'll cut that cat up and poach him like a fish!"

Monkey lowered his head and covered his eyes with a hand, sighing deeply knowing that whenever Crane and Mantis began arguing about medicine and medical intelligence, the battle would last for hours and the big, super syllable words being thrown back and forth would make anyone who wasn't raised in a ward foam at the mouth. "Hey, look Po… As long as the patient isn't dead, he's fine. No matter who checks up on him. Now have you seen Mei-Ling, or Viper?"

Mantis was fuming lightly, but his slight anger quickly quelled itself as Crane's voice suddenly came from behind Po. This made the Dragon Warrior leap out of his shorts and out of Crane's way. Apparently the white crane had turned back sometime after Po did, but remained silent for a moment longer than expected. He tipped his 'Awesome' hat down over his eyes and began speaking low to conceal his pain. "Viper is probably in her room … and if you're looking for Mei-Ling, she's asleep in my room right now. Now if you don't mind, I have a patient that is in dire need of my skills."

The group was silent for a moment, except for Po who immediately snapped his fingers. "Oooooh, so THAT'S what you were hiding! Darn, and here I was hoping for some awesome imported snacks. Moon Cakes… Mmmm, or Fish Cookies…" Po had begun following Crane again while counting different sweet treats off out loud. Sweets that he'd only had when something was delivered, or a merchant with candies and treats would arrive in the valley. Monkey was shocked by the news of Mei-Ling and Crane spending a night together, but Mantis was stunned for a completely different reason.

The insect in question leapt away from Mantis and took off after Crane and Po, more than prepared to prove that he was the better medical doctor here at the Jade Palace. Which left Monkey all alone in the courtyard.

"Damnit," The golden langur said to himself. "Now how am I going to explain that to Shifu…" He sighed to himself then quickly decided, "To hell with it… I'm not. Well I think everyone's accounted for…" The monkey began counting off on his long fingers. "One- Tigress." He paused…

"No wait… One- Me. Two- Tigress." He said with a chuckle. "Then there's Mantis and Po, which makes three and four… Crane… Five. Now to find Mei-Ling and Viper so I can report back to Shifu." Monkey then turned about face, to lead himself into the Jade Palace, running into Mei-Ling for only a moment before the frenzied Mountain Cat bolted past him without a word.

Monkey didn't think much of it, but knew he wanted to check up on Viper. It wasn't like his serpent sister to spend so much time in private in her room or at least not during the day, and Monkey had no idea what was going on. It also wasn't like Crane to take such little concern whenever he spoke of Master Viper… so something HAD to be up … Right?

Approaching Viper's room, Monkey rapped upon the wooden frame with a fist, gently inquiring entry. Upon hearing Viper's voice in approval, he entered the room and shut the door behind him. Monkey wasn't at all surprised to see that Viper was awake, and chipper as ever, but he wasn't too sure what to say about how pretty she'd made herself this morning.

Now, Viper was one to use a lot of make up whenever she felt it necessary, but her scales were almost completely white with how much she'd been applying. "Hey, are you alright?" Monkey asked while looking around the room for anything out of the ordinary.

Viper was smiling, probably more than usual but it was hard to tell through all that power and gloss, "Mmhmm, absolutely fine. Why would you ask, Monkey?"

Monkey crouched forward for a moment before leaping up to snag his tail on a wooden beam sliding across Viper's ceiling. "Well, normally you would be in the kitchen waiting for everyone else to get up. Or you're already in the kwoon, training your scales to from the window to the wall. What's up?"

Viper shook her head, turning back towards the vanity she had been sitting infront of all morning, only to begin applying more black makeup around her eyes. "Oh nothing Monkey. I figured Master Shifu wouldn't actually ask us to train today, so I'm taking a few extra hours to pamper myself. Because how often does our Master actually give us the chance to relax?"

Monkey shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it's not everyday that Master Shifu tells us to go head first after Tai-Lung or his buddy either you know." He watched Viper as she smiled and nodded, but he could tell that there was something different going on in that head of hers. Her appearance was also startling and he couldn't place his finger directly on the cause to her blossoming mood this morning but … he knew something was up. Well he didn't, but Monkey was trying to convince himself that Viper was acting strange this morning.

He shrugged his shoulders once more, throwing his own conscience aside and remained suspended from Viper's ceiling for a moment longer, admiring her then he began stretching. "So, whattaya think about Tai-Shen and Tai-Lung? Crazy guys right?" Monkey began to make small talk, "I think I may study a bit of that karate stuff. If he was able to fight Tigress with such skill, that style of martial arts can't be complete garbage. Know what I mean?"

Viper giggled, "I suppose, but I'm not all that interested in Shomu-something Karate, I don't know if I could find a style that would … you know, work for me." She turned to see the expression in Monkey's face, hoping he would understand … Ofcourse he didn't. He looked puzzled. "You know… My condition." Viper stated again, which left Master Monkey dumb founded.

"… I'm … a snake?" Viper make another attempt, but with the look on Monkey's face she almost expected him to reply with 'Are you?!' Viper sighed and slapped her tail upon the table of the vanity, finally stating the most obvious fact of the day. "I have no arms!"

Monkey slapped himself over the face and laughed, then he slapped the same paw over his mouth. "Gah, I didn't mean to laugh. I mean … ofcourse you have no arms, but why not at least check it out? You do Kung Fu just fine, or you wouldn't be a Master you know."

Viper turned back to her mirror and smiled, if she had shoulders she would be shrugging them right now but instead stated, "I'm still not too interested in training in it just yet. I have other things on my mind anyway."

Monkey scratched his chin, now hanging upside down. "Oh? Like what?"

Viper turned back to her friend smiling, wishing it was Tigress to hear this first but instead told the only other person who was here. "I think Tai-Lung might be in love with me."

"WHAT?!" Monkey shouted then he fell onto his head from his suspended position. Viper gasped as she watched, the normally highly skilled Master Monkey, crater onto his own cranium. "Monkey! Are you alright!?"

Monkey was stroking his bald head as he rose, "Yeah…" He plainly stated, but didn't have the chance to do much else as he found himself jumping into the ceiling from hearing Viper's bedroom door suddenly fly open with a loud crack of the wooden door frame connecting with the wall. Tigress had suddenly forced herself into Viper's room, standing in the door way looking completely fierce with a light shimmer of her fire chi dancing around between her muscular fingers.

Viper suddenly froze in her spot, seeing Tigress so angry always upset her. Even more so whenever she thought that Tigress was upset for something that she'd done. "Tigress?" She began, "Are …you ok?"

The tiger took a step forward with a sneer on her face. "What? Me?! Am I ok? Are YOU ok!? I knew Tai-Lung did something to you but I was too damned stupid to follow my gut. What did Tai-Lung to do you last night?"

Monkey, from the ceiling, shouted once more. "Last night?! Tai-Lung?? Viper!! What? How is this possible, how come Tai-Lung's getting girls? He just got here!"

"Be Quiet!" Tigress growled, "But that's a good question… How is Tai-Lung's grasp on us so strong? He's got most of us in fear, and you, Viper, in love? Am I the only one who isn't afraid of him?"

Viper shook her head, a bit confused but taken completely off guard by Tigress' eavesdropping. "I… well, I was just going to ask Tai-Lung a few questions last night, but he was in the middle of a deep dream… and…"

Monkey began to chuckle from the ceiling, "Uh oh, he was having a naughty dream? Did you tail him off?"

Viper hissed into the ceiling while extending her coils to make herself appear larger than normal, but she was still the smallest warrior in the room. Tigress folded her arms over her chest. "What happened last night Viper, did Tai-Lung hurt you? I swear I'll tear his throat out…"

Viper shook her head, "No, don't do that Tigress. He… he doesn't deserve it."

Tigress then threw her paws into the air, "By the emperor. You are in love with him aren't you? This is unbelievable! I should have gutted him last night when I had the chance…"

Monkey lowered himself by his tail into the center of the two females. "Do… I smell jealously?"

Tigress and Viper slowly turned to Monkey, shooting the simian death glares. Without any premeditation, both females suddenly unleashed their chi upon the ape, sending him out of the room shouting. "Gaaah! Wind Burns!! AAAhhh!! Fire hot!!"

With Monkey gone, Tigress sighed and turned back to Viper, but before she had the chance to make anymore accusations, Viper began speaking, and showing much more backbone than before. "Ok now that he's gone, I can be direct with you Tigress … First off, I do think Tai-Lung may be getting a soft spot for me… I can't explain it and I don't know what to think of it but I, at the same time, don't really care. You know that I want Crane, but all of that isn't important… what is-"

Viper's speech was suddenly cut off Tigress, "—Hey wait. You want to be with Crane? Then why are you looking all fancy and matted with skin care products after a night with Tai-Lung?"

Viper sighed and flexed her muscular coils. "I'm shedding, Tigress … Winter's approaching after all. Removing these thin scales is natural for me… But what I want to know, is why YOU were with Tai-Lung last night. It must have been after I left… or were you the reason he was enjoying his sleep so thoroughly before I even arrived?"

The Leader of the Furious Five had been deeply insulted, and would have slapped anyone else across the face for such an audacious claim, however… Tigress and Viper were as close to sisters as either could possibly imagine. She wouldn't ever hit Viper on purpose. "I…" Tigress began stammering. "I wanted to … know what you were doing… in … his room."

Viper smiled and hissed, "Only—after, you saw me leaving? What were you going after him for in the first place, Master Tigress?"

Tigress fell silent for a moment, not wanting to reveal her true reason … and her backup would be doubly as worse. Tigress couldn't tell her allies that she wanted Tai-Lung's help in discovering her hidden past… but if she didn't come up with something soon, everyone would assume that Tigress actually was falling for the fabled yet failed Dragon Warrior with the intent to show him the more flexible stances and poses her style of kung fu had to offer. However Tigress was saved by the bell, or in this case… the Monkey.

Master Monkey was still very close by and eavesdropping while tending to his own invisible wounds, but he felt it necessary to poke his tail in the door and selfishly add. "Hey, and as long as we're pointing fingers. Later on, ask Crane why Mei-Ling, was sleeping in his bedroom last night."

Before Monkey could even react, or continue his booty dance in the doorway he felt Viper's coils tightening around his neck and he was thrown on the floor in the center of her bedroom. He was greeted with the cold expressions of Tigress and the serpent that had suddenly pinned him.

Without any hint of kindness in her voice, Viper hissed down at him. "Mei-Ling was—WHERE last night!"

Monkey gulped hard and only wished that he didn't doom his ally when he repeated himself. Tigress helped him off the floor, but nothing could help or save Crane…

Tigress sighed in relief lightly, and patted Monkey across the back. "Hungry?"

The golden langur laughed gently, still a bit shaken with the fury in Viper's eyes. "Yeah, I could use food … it's been a very long morning…"

Po was apologizing furiously as Crane made the attempt to endure the patient's incredibly baked laughter. "I'm sorry, I just… you know… thought it would be-"

"AWESOME!?" Crane clapped his beak at Po in aggravation … None the less, something had to be done for the patient. He definitely wasn't in any physical danger, but he surely wasn't much of a help while under the heavy influence of Tigress' own special blend. To make matters worse, Mantis was also present on the scene, and was helping the completely disconnected kitten in battering their feathered physician with insults and sharp quips about his hat.

The lion's eyes were almost completely glassed over from laughing for so long without closing his eyes, but with his condition being green, there wasn't any reason to really do anything about his current state of health, only to merely wait out the duration of his intoxication. But only Tigress knew exactly how long one would stay under the effect when eating the contents of her stash.

"Nuuurrrseee, my applesauce is warm… and movin." The lion giggled out loud while petting the applesauce across it's green head. Po was laughing behind his fat paws at the spectacle, while Crane's patience was running dangerously thin. The bird sighed deeply against the assaulting laughter from the two maliciously laughing males.

"That's Doctor Applesauce, to you sir. Now stop laughing! I need complete silence to OPERATE!!" Mantis howled out as he held up both pincers. He was resting on the lion's chest at the time, and was apparently tickled to death the current situation. The only positive part about this entire ordeal was that no one was dying, so there was no specific reason to be serious. Therefore Doctor Applesauce was given the green light for open heart surgery.

"Is it bad Doctor?" The lion chuckled deeply, juggling the covers with his feet. Po, looking genuinely worried asked in as well, "Yeah Doctor Applesauce? Is he going to be alright?" Crane sighed deeply, removing his 'Awesome' Headpiece, "Please Po … this man is in no trouble what so ever… the most he probably needs is a big drink of water or maybe something traumatic to occur to depress him …"

Po gasped, "Traumatic?!" Crane shook his head, "We need to 'Blow his High', Po … Or so the saying goes…."

Mantis on the other hand wasn't with the plan in the least, this was the most fun he'd had since the night before when he was out with Monkey. Master Mantis was busy doing a very stylistic dance across the bed sheets that were resting upon the lion's chest. The lion in turn was giggling from being tickled and the ever present effects of good THC burning through his system, probably a lot faster than it should be. Crane was watching with light amusement as Mantis was merely displaying the basic steps of Praying Mantis Kung Fu upon this injured man.

"Water?" The avian asked as he stepped towards the bed to gain the attention of the patient in question. The lion chuckled and shook his head, "No way dude. I can't swim." He replied quickly. Po was watching with amazement as Mantis continued his dance, while murmuring something under his breath. The panda took a step forward, memorizing every step the insect master took. "What are you doing anyway Mantis?"

Mantis kept both eyes closed as he grunted, "Doctor—Applesauce, Requires absolute silence. Nurse! Administer the sedatives to the obversationist."

Crane's tail feathers flared up, "Nurse!? I am NOT the nurse here, Mantis. And you know we can't give anything to people who aren't sick here."

Po turned to Crane, "What's a sedative, Nurse Crane? How do they taste?"

Crane's patience finally fell through the floor, he clapped his bill shut loudly, but curled his lips in a sinister grin. "Like a refreshing drink of cool spring water… would you like some?"

Po clapped his paws and nodded, "Oh yeaaah. Hook me up with some sedative Nur—AAAHH!!!!" Po was suddenly wishing he'd studied medicine instead of kung fu, or at least for that particular instant. Crane immediately summoned all the moisture in the air and used his own growing control of Water chi, to assault Po with a sudden raging torrent of water to tsunami him out of the room. As the giant panda went flailing down the hallway out of the medical ward in a sudden flash flood, Mei-Ling entered the room.

Crane's expression suddenly shot from anger to shock, "Oh, Mei-Ling. What are you doing here?" He immediately noticed that she was almost completely soaked, "Oops… sorry I got you wet…"

The flustered feline wiped her brow, and placed a paw on her hip giving Crane a sly grin. "Oh no worries I was wondering why you were gone, Doctor. Had I known that I was going swimming so early in the morning, I probably would have dressed for the occasion." Mei-Ling took a step forward and fully entered the room, to take in the image of the token lion lying back in his bed, with a dancing Master Mantis doing Kung Fu upon his chest.

"Wow…" Mei-Ling said plainly, "Am I … interrupting something… creepy?" Crane shook his head slowly and fanned a wing to point towards Mantis and the lion patient. "Oh no, not at all … Doctor Sauce was going over his incredibly fantastic medical techniques, while Po was pestering the living hell of anyone else that may have known what was going on?"

Mei-Ling turned to the lion lying on the bed and the Mantis dancing ontop of him. "Um … Master Mantis?"

The green doctor quickly interrupted, "Doctor—Applesauce." Mei-Ling giggled, "Excuse me Doctor, this patient. What's the problem with him?"

Mantis halted his dancing for only one moment as he made a stomping motion with two of his four feet. He then stood in a very heroic pose, with one hand directly in the air. "This MAAAAN has over indulged on tasties and the impurities need to be purged… I have done the dance of One Thousand Movements… and I hereby call this operation into phase two."

Crane's eyes sharpened into a glare, "Phase two?? What in the hell are you talking about Mantis, all you did was dance on him for five minutes. He hasn't even tipped you yet…"

Mei-Ling giggled, "Crane, this wasn't the kind of practices we learned at Li Da. Although I do recall Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, (CPR) that was a fun skill to learn." The memory immediately sent Nurse Crane's cheeks into a fiery blush. Then Mei-Ling turned back to Mantis, "Why not try that Doctor Applesauce, I'm sure a tender dose of cold exo-lips would bring this … patient, out of his sickening fever."

Mantis, Doctor Applesauce, turned on a dial and thought for a moment, inwardly retching at the thought of kissing another man. 'Damn freaky deaky girls always want to see some male on male … well lets see how much she enjoys it when things go number 2.'

Mantis threw a pincer into the air as Crane began picking up his hat. "Nurse!! Phase two is at hand, Get—the BUCKET!!"

Mei-Ling rose a brow and instinctively began inching towards the door, 'Phase 2? Bucket?' She thought to herself, worried now at the sadistic glare in Mantis' eyes.

Crane on the otherhand was just as confused, "Bucket?" He said, while holding his hat in his wingspan, as Mantis began to shimmer with his tan chi aura. "What do I need a bucket fo-OH MY SWEET LORD!!"

Mr. Ping finally left Shifu's table, leaving him and Tai-Shen alone to discuss their important matters. The horribly reoccurring headache only continued to jab at Shifu's senses hour after hour. The scatter brained duck wasn't a bad man, however if he was the soul influence for Po's disconnected train of thought, Shifu would be mad to believe that Mr. Ping had no idea what he was talking about when he began on philosophy being linked directly to noodles… But with time, comes age, and with age… comes insanity. Oogway was a pure embodiment of that, however even in Oogway's age and pure loss of rational thought on a daily basis … He was still a very wise and powerful man, his influence even still spreading after his peaceful passing.

Shifu was wishing, even now, that he could see Oogway again. The events of the past few days have left him fearing what the future had to bring. The Hall of Heroes had yet to be restocked with the ancient relics of the past, however it appears as if the Sword of Heroes had somehow been stolen from it's hiding spot upon the Jade Mountain. Even with the Palace Guard combing the streets of the Valley for one solid night and the start of the next morning, no one could turn up any leads. There wasn't any true hint of whom might have taken the sword, and this late into the investigation they could be long gone by now…

"Are you going to be alright, Shifu?" Tai-Shen asked while rolling a chopstick around the lip of his empty bowl. The noodles had been superb, but as an undead being, he didn't actually need to eat anything in the first place. But it would be rude to turn away a meal.

Shifu tilted his head up towards his undead prisoner, stroking the bridge between his nose with a finger. "I think I need a drink…" The panther chuckled deeply, "You know you shouldn't drink during the day, Shifu. Especially not in a family restaurant, you have a reputation."

The red panda sighed and nodded, even though he knew the current population of the valley was built solely from the elderly who'd fallen head first into senility, and the guards who were under orders to hold their ground, but once people outside the Valley began hearing that Tai-Lung wasn't a malicious beast anymore, they would surely return. "I know we need to discuss what Oogway has told us but … perhaps here isn't the best place."

"I had no idea…" Tai-Shen replied with clear sarcasm in his tone. "Although, if we hadn't come down here, we'd have no idea that your blade was stolen, you can at least be thankful for that … right?"

Shifu shook his head slowly as he rose from his chair and placed an extra 800 yuan on the table as a tip for Mr. Ping's time. "Actually, I'm quite sure if I'd of tried to sleep last night, and attended to my desk to see what scrolls of business had come through, I would have heard the same news… but at least being here in the Valley gives me insight to exactly what was being done about it. I cannot be upset with my soldiers for not finding any leads for I hadn't either… Whomever did this was very highly skilled and knew exactly what they were after… but I don't know why."

Tai-Shen shook his head as he rose from his seat and began following the much shorter elder out of the shop and back towards the Palace. "You're expecting to see the weapon return in the hands of a villain, Shifu?"

The red panda nodded slowly, "It's the only way it will come back at all. Collectors would be too tempted to use the weapon, and if the blade does not believe it's being given enough honor, it will emit more of it's own chi, lighting up like a flare." Tai-Shen rose a brow, "Release it's chi? The weapon is infused… with?"

Shifu shook his head, "An ancient wind chi, giving the blade outstanding grace and light weight." Tai-Shen thought for a moment, "Wind hmm? That would also give the blade an edge that could slice into mountain faces and even the strongest of plate armors… Wouldn't it?"

The Grand Master nodded as he and his prisoner began up the stairs, "Yes. That it would, but the only thing I am thankful of is that it would take a man of incredible swordsmanship to wield such a blade, well that and probably a death wish. But we'll discuss all of that later Shen …" Shifu said, now trying to paint a smile onto his face as he turned towards his once lost friend. "Please, tell me more about your own chi … I have never encountered it before… and it's nothing quite like what my students harness…"

Tai-Shen smiled gently, "Alright, but lets continue towards the palace. I can feel that something is out of order up there." Shifu's ears fell back as he began laughing, "You can feel that too? Ugh, we're old tarts now if we can sense those juveniles causing trouble without needing to be there."

Tai-Shen laughed out loud, "I hate being old, Shifu… this isn't my correct age." Shifu was smiling, but now he was stroking his small beard with one hand, while the other was clasped behind his back. "Is that so? How old do you think you are?"

Tai-Shen grunted, "I'm probably, 91, but I know I'm 58 … even though I know the last birthday I remember was when I was 26… But that's all for another day."

Shifu nodded, "Yes, please… continue."

The black panther nodded slowly, "Well my chi is reactionary chi … The kind that is activated when the body is in a dire situation and requires full power to survive. You've heard of that." The panther spoke while Shifu nodded, he knew that reactionary chi was the most common type among warriors. However the honest fact that a man's ( or woman's ) life force had to be dangerously critical was the only reason why not many reactionary chi users were around. Tai-Shen continued, "My chi, my first chi … granted through my family is a rare one… It's called Kokou Chi." (K'Ou – Koo - Key )

Shifu perked his ears, "Kokou… Jaws of Death?" Shifu hastily translated, "Wouldn't that be classified as dark or evil chi?"

Tai-Shen shrugged his shoulders gently, "It can be… any chi can be. But in it's appearance—yes. It is a purple haze surrounding the wielder. Making it appear dark like miasma, or a visible plague. The Kokou Chi or how it's called by those who use it for good… The Spirit of Life, can only be improved through consuming the soul of a living person on the edge of death. But at any level, this spirit allows you to consume the fatigue of your living opponents. Which becomes dramatically more efficient when striking pressure points if you can imagine. Although Kokou is completely worthless anything that's not alive, or infused with chi…"

"Which you are highly capable of… Your Shorin-Ryu kept you aware of that, didn't it?" Shifu stated, and smiled as the prisoner nodded slowly. "Correct as always Shifu. If I strike the pressure point of an opponent, normally the particular area becomes worthless. And depending on how strong the spirit is… normally dictates how powerful the crippling effect will last. At any rate, this spirit of mine does yield a dramatic advantage in close quarters combat…"

Shifu could see the doors of the palace where decades ago, he'd been given custody of Tai-Lung. "I see… is that your only, or have you mastered more spirits?" As the two warriors approached the doorway, they stood firm for a moment, continuing their conversation. Tai-Shen then revealed that he was in possessions of who more spirits… somewhat.

"Essence of Soul?" Shifu thought, "That's what Oogway would sometimes explain to me… I didn't think it was something than I man can harness." That statement made Tai-Shen shake his head. "Well it's not. The Essence is practically worthless when it comes to live combat… In truth, it's meant for you to see, interact with and, if necessary, destroy the spirits of the dead. Demons or malicious spirits that cannot be seen require Soul to be combated accurately, because they can't be touched physically…"

Shifu nodded slowly and took a step forward, "Well … what was the third thing? Usually warriors don't get above two, so I'm interested in what your third may be."

The black panther turned his guise away from Shifu for a moment, the red panda was about to take a step forward to grab his friends hand to try and get him to talk, but before either of them could mouth another sentence, the giant crimson doors of the palace entrance were thrown open swiftly, to reveal a fuming and horribly enraged Tai-Lung standing in the threshold.

Shifu gasped once he saw the hatred in Tai-Lung's eyes, and had began to move to subdue Tai-Lung before the snow leopard could go on another explosive rampage, however he was stopped on the yuan by Tai-Shen's extended hand blocking falling in front of his face.

"No, Shifu… Don't do anything…" Tai-Shen stated plainly, his expression fading from light joy to absolutely nothing …

"What do you mean? Tai-Lung cannot be let loose on another rampage! If you think I'm going to allow that then I should kill you where you in his stead."

But before Shifu had time to bolt past Tai-Shen, Tai-Lung had lunged forward, seizing Tai-Shen around the throat and slung the black panther into the courtyard of the Jade Palace where he landed with a loud thump in a cloud of dust and dirt.

Shifu was speechless and ran forward to the aide of the black panther, "Tai-Lung! What are you doing?! You are ordered to stand down, right now!" The boiling snow leopard's golden orbs settled upon his foster father, and grew dark. He hadn't been re-inducted into Shifu's care yet, he was still a prisoner after all. "Get out of my way…" Tai-Lung growled low. "I'm only interested in fighting him…" Tai-Lung stabbed a claw towards the snow leopard slowly rising to his feet behind the red panda.

Shifu shook his head, "No, Tai-Lung. If you're expecting a fight while in my care and custody … then you fight m-" Shifu was pushed aside at the last second. Tai-Shen walked around the Master of the Jade Palace, and towards Tai-Lung.

"So you've finally decided to turn against me…" Tai-Shen stated while taking bold steps towards the snow leopard. Tai-Lung's muscles were teeming and rolling under his fur. The hostility burning deep inside of him couldn't be challenged by the heat of the sun, or even the paralyzing frost of Chorch Gom. He knew that for the past … however long, Tai-Shen had been lying to him, and he was the partial reason why Tai-Lung had been breaking his back and forced to live in a hole for 20 long years.

Tai-Shen was now standing only two feet from Tai-Lung, staring the slightly shorter snow leopard directly in his burning eyes. Tai-Lung pulled back, and forced his fist directly into Tai-Shen's nose. It sent the black panther backwards into the dirt again, landing only a foot or so from Shifu. Which was impressive sense the distance between the red panda and Tai-Lung was at least 8 feet.

Shifu cringed when he saw a stream of blood hastily leaking from Tai-Shen's nose. "…Why are you doing this!?" Shifu demanded from Tai-Lung as he again tried to push his way past the black panther, but to no gain. Tai-Shen rose once more onto his feet, and wiped blood away from his nose, staining the white bandages wrapping his arms.

Tai-Lung growled, not in the least feeling better even though he was openly striking the man who had such a heavy influence over his mind. "He's hiding something from me father." Tai-Lung growled. The very name suddenly gave Shifu a splitting headache. "He's been lying to me… Controlling me, Twisting me for years… and I'm going to figure it out here and now, or kill him…"

Tai-Shen was again standing before Tai-Lung, the expression on his face was one of slight sorrow, he wasn't in the least angry or shivering from fear of the snow leopard. Although, something about his appearance had definitely changed… Shifu could see it, but not Tai-Lung … the black face of this panther had finally driven him up the wall. Tai-Lung shot forward, grabbing Tai-Shen by his shoulders and pulled him forward into a half crouch. Tai-Lung drove his knee into the black panthers gut with bone shifting force, the black cat coughed in sudden pain. This was followed by a knee from Tai-Lung's other side and a right uppercut to Tai-Shen's undefended jaw.

As the black panther staggered backwards, Tai-Lung dove forward in a sudden dynamic leap, ramming his right knee into the panther's nose and forcing the back of his head into the solid ground under him where he again landed in a cloud of dust, this time however, the scent of blood was rich in the air. But Tai-Lung's rage hadn't settled or even began to simmer. Shifu desperately wanted to stop Tai-Lung but … there was something holding him back, as if a pair of ghostly hands were actually holding him in his place. He couldn't explain from where, but there was something retaining him from saving Tai-Shen from this beating.

"Get up…" Tai-Lung growled, unsheathing his claws as the blue shimmer of his Ice chi began to tingle and surround his fists. As demanded however, Tai-Shen rose to his feet, but only to catch a crippling smash of Tai-Lung's frozen fists to each of his temples. The strike had forced the panther back to the ground, but upon his knees this time instead of flat out.

"Get up…" Tai-Lung snarled once more, demanding that his savior at least stand for the beating of his life. Tai-Shen again followed through, and rose to his feet, albeit he was staggering now, but he did rise. Tai-Lung spent no time on sympathy or words, swiftly assaulting Tai-Shen's abdomen, face, and chest with a heavy flurry of full motion strikes.

With Leopard Style Kung Fu unfolding in it's darkest, Tai-Shen had finally began grunting in pain as his skin began splitting and tearing from the crippling strikes of Tai-Lungs fists. His lips were busted and bleeding, nose well broken and leaking crimson down the front of his face, and his jaw almost shattered. Tai-Shen could feel multiple ribs caving in, and his intestines felt like cold soup. Bleeding from hundreds of cuts, Tai-Shen slowly fell backwards, finally losing his will to stand and accidentally dodging Tai-Lung's first kick of the vicious beating.

By this time, Tigress and Monkey had ran into the court yard. They'd caught the scent of blood in the air and heard the noise of fists ramming into flesh they but were stopped immediately by Shifu. Both warriors wanted to desperately stop Tai-Lung from beating an old man to death, but there was no way their Master could allow them to interfere….

Why however, the red panda didn't know. The worst part about all of this was, Tai-Lung had stated that he was fighting for justice, or at least answers. But he hadn't asked a single thing of Tai-Shen from the start… only demanding that the old man rise, so he could be beaten down again.

"What the hell's going on Shifu?!" Monkey shouted while trying to crawl forward. "Shifu please! We have to stop him! He'll kill Tai-Shen!" Tigress roared out in tandem with Monkey, the both of them feeling that their decision was correct. Both warriors wanted to save the elder for completely different reasons.

"Please my students… We cannot help them … Either of them. This is between those two cats, and if we interfere, Tai-Lung could possibly turn his rage on either of you …" Shifu stated while painfully watching Tai-Lung stomp down on Tai-Shen's chest. The snow leopard took a step away from the pool of blood generating under the panther and once more demanded that the elder rise.

"No! Stay down!!" Monkey shouted, but against all else… Tai-Shen pulled himself back onto his feet, coughing up an unhealthy mouthful of crimson blood. "… I rise…" Tai-Shen stated weakly as a tooth fell from his jaws.

Tai-Lung wasn't in the least impressed with the durability of the elder, it only enraged him. The snow leopard roared out loud at the outrage of an old man standing against his flurry of attacks and he dove into the air, vanishing amongst clouds. Everyone present had seen this technique and knew it was never anything to walk away from. All three shouted for Tai-Shen to run, to get out of the way, to defend high… to do something!!

But seeing Tai-Shen remain in his place was the last straw. All at once Tigress, Monkey and Shifu lost their reason for spectating idly, and began rushing forward to stop Tai-Lung… His Meteor Strike would surely kill the old man at this point of the beating, but with the same speed that Tai-Lung dove into the air, he came down equally as swift, yet delivering at least three times the force.

There was a loud explosion of shattering stone and shifting dirt. The three warriors present, and not apart of the fight, had to dive backwards to escape the explosion of ice shards perforating the Palace walls after the attack connected. The crumbling died out quickly, but was only followed up with the echo of something being hit furiously and the growling of a pained leopard.

Shifu ran forward, into the dust cloud to see Tai-Lung sitting on top of Tai-Shen, punching him directly in the face again and again with his right fist. Tai-Lung's fist was coated in blood almost past the wrist, but it appeared as if the snow leopard was still just as furious as he was at the beginning of all this. "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!!!" Tai-Lung finally roared out in agony as he forced Tai-Shen's broken face towards his own, bringing the bleeding elder nose to nose for a proper interrogation. Shifu was again stuck in his place, with Tigress and Monkey behind him, the both frozen where they were seeing how much blood was present in the area, leaking swiftly into cracks as a broken dam would flood irrigation ducts.

Tai-Shen opened his mouth weakly. His vision had faded through pain, and his entire body was burning with agony… "You're an impressive warrior, Setuna… E-Even … if you hadn't trained in a while… I'm so proud…"

Hearing his name, Tai-Lung's rage only grew greater. 'So this bastard DOES know more than he was ever leading onto!' Tai-Lung snarled and drove his forehead into Tai-Shen's face, forcing the bloodied cat to grunt in agony. "Stop TOYING with me! Who ARE YOU!?" The snow leopard roared out again, pulling his fist back to punch Tai-Shen's brain out of his head this time as he drew more ice to his fist, this time in the form of a solid jagged frozen spike. "Tell me now … or I'll kill you…" Tai-Lung growled with pure malice in his heart and poison in his voice, the effect was only greater with Tai-Shen's blood coating his face.

Tai-Shen couldn't see a thing, but rose his paws to take Tai-Lung's temples in his paws. "I'm sorry… I never meant to bring you pain, I was only trying to save you … If only I had known the outcome… I'd of never ran in the first place…" He confessed, then somehow managed to rise and kiss Tai-Lung's forehead. The snow leopard roared once more in outrage and pulled his fist back. "You sick bastard … You're useless to me… utterly WORTHLESS!"

"TAI-LUNG!!" A voice suddenly exploded from behind him, Tai-Lung felt the spike ejecting from his fist melting as Tigress' paws wrapped swiftly around his arms, her Fire chi was burning brightly as she made the attempt to quell his hate, or at least the part that was about to kill her only link to the past. Tai-Lung snarled at the tiger, "Get OFF of me woman!" His forehead was bleeding from where Tai-Shen had kissed him, and he felt a bit dizzy, but he was determined to kill the panther and free himself from the unseen hold the black cat had on him.

"TAI-LUNG!" Another voice roared out in the same fashion, only this time Tai-Lung heeded the ferocity behind it. He stopped struggling with Tigress and turned his vision towards Shifu who was standing over Tai-Shen. The black panther was still amazingly conscious, but probably not happy about it. "Are you that blind, my son? You're meaning to tell me, you've been in the presence of this man for longer than any of us, and you hadn't figured out who he was yet?"

Tai-Lung grunted and wiped his forehead with his only free paw. "He's a freaking pervert… That's what I've come to understand. He stripped me naked when he found me, and now he's kissing me like I'm a stuffed animal."

"You idiot…" Tai-Shen began chuckling, trying not to cough blood across his face. "I've seen you naked hundreds of times… not a single time did I ever take enjoyment in it… Who in the hell would be—delighted in changing diapers?"

Tai-Lung snarled once more as he now turned his glare towards the bleeding feline he was sitting ontop of. "Diapers? What in the HELL are you talking about?!"

Tigress gasped and released Tai-Lung's paw as she came to a sudden realization. This allowed Tai-Lung to regain control of the situation and he flung both paws forward to catch Tai-Shen around the neck and began choking him furiously. "I don't have time for your lies… these sods can lock me away for as long as they want, but I want you dead for controlling me, and for lying to me, and kissing me!"

Tai-Shen shut his eyes and began bleeding out the sides of his jaws. Even with Shifu, Money and Tigress present and all helping, no one could get Tai-Lung's vice grip off of Tai-Shen's thin neck. However, suddenly Tai-Lung stopped, and everyone in turn stopped struggling. Tai-Shen had forced a paw before Tai-Lung's nose… the bloody paw was only floating in the air weakly before the eyes of the snow leopard.

"My god…" Tai-Lung suddenly spat. He removed his own bloody paws from Tai-Shen's neck and shook where he sat, glaring directly into Tai-Shen's open palm. Tai-Shen chuckled gently under the weight of Tai-Lung, "I never told you, because I didn't want you to kill me… Even though I deserve it… Allow me to—get my heart once again … Then I'll let you kill me, Setsuna…"

Tai-Shen shuddered and lowered his paw back to the ground and the pool of his own life essence around him. Tai-Lung's eyes were burning with the gentle start of tears… The brown paw pads Tai-Shen had on his palms were exact matches to his own. Everyone feline had a different design, like fingerprints… Tigress and Mei-Ling would have obvious differences in their pad structures and not just because they were female, but because they were from a different family.

Tai-Lung shook his head from one side to another, tossing borrowed blood from side to side. "What…? Who are… You're not … You can't be… It's all lies, it has to be…"

Shifu suddenly took a step forward and slapped Tai-Lung full force across the face. The snow leopard didn't have a single hint of malice left in his body after that shock to his jaw. "W-what?! Shifu?!"

The red panda was outraged at his foster son's lack of intelligence. "Of course that's your ACTUAL father Tai-Lung. Why else would he have known so much about you. Why in the hell else was he haunting my damn dreams. How else could he have known your real name? He's got your paws, knows how you act, you even obey his commands like a good boy it supposed to!"

Shifu shook his fists, even though he shouldn't upset … he was the man to raise Tai-Lung from baby to boy, to adult and yet his son was more obedient to his biological father who'd been gone all his life, than him… The red panda shot a deep glare into Tai-Lung's brain as he spoke, "Your actual—by blood—parent, is there before you. Covered in blood as a matter of fact…"

Tai-Lung turned his gaze back down to Tai-Shen, he'd never noticed, but throughout the beating. Tai-Shen's age was bleeding away, along with his blood. From a dirty old man, suddenly the black panther was looking at least 30 right now… His fur was matted with blood, but his wrinkles, and extended beard had all receded, even his braids had somehow returned to one single strand instead of a chorus of seven white braids extended down the back of his head. Tai-Lung was struck, "But how… HOW?!" He roared down at Tai-Shen. "You're a black panther! You can't possibly be… my…"

Tai-Shen was laughing suddenly, which cut off Tai-Lung's stammering. "Lick my forehead…" He suddenly demanded.

"What!?" Tai-Lung grunted, "Why in the hell would I do-"

And if by law, that parental control that Tai-Shen had over Tai-Lung came back, the panther sat up and growled. "Because I can't lick my own forehead boy… Now shut up, get your head out of your ass… and lick my damned forehead…"

Monkey took a step back before Tai-Shen asked him to massage his shoulders or something equally as weird, but he gasped along with Tigress as Tai-Lung bent forward to drag his quivering long tongue across the forehead of the man he'd been beating senseless for the past 10 minutes. Tai-Lung shuddered after he took one long lick of old blood from the man's cranium, and quickly spat the collection of fluid onto the ground.

Upon turning back to see what he'd accomplished, his heart fell into his stomach, witnessing a long streak of silver fur lying in the center of the sea of blood soaked fur. The blooded feline laughed and closed his eyes. "I am not, and never have been a black panther… I'm a snow leopard… just like you my son…" Tai-Shen chuckled lightly, but stopped as soon as he felt his ribs shifting in place.

"My real father…" Tai-Lung gasped as he rose and took a step back from the snow leopard covered in blood. "So … are you… Sh-"

The snow leopard nodded where he remained, "Yes, I am Tai-Shen Kusanagi … or at least in my current state… My full name is Kusanagi TaiShenMao… but in life… I was your father… Shen-Mao Kusanagi…" He slowly turned towards Tigress, opening his eyes sorrowfully as her own fur began to stand on end. "The very same Shen-Mao that killed your mother…"

Shifu and Monkey gasped out loud, and they had to use every ounce of strength and speed they had to stop Tigress from finishing the job that Tai-Lung had started. The Leader of the Furious Five was spitting, and snarling. Cursing, biting and fighting as hard as she could to get to the broken snow leopard but she couldn't gain an inch over Shifu and Monkey. The wounded leopard shook his head slowly, "I know 'Sorry' doesn't bring her back…"

"FUCK YOU!!" Tigress suddenly barked out in fury. Shifu and Monkey had no choice other than to let her go as her paws exploded into a bordello of consuming flames. The pillars of fire almost extended all the way up to her shoulders, clearly exposing the rage that was hidden in her heart. But before she could dive forward to burn her mother's killer to a crisp she was snagged by the frozen paw of Tai-Lung.

She turned to him growling, "Let me go! Get off of me, Tai-Lung! He deserves to die!" Tai-Lung nodded slowly, but he didn't release Tigress' paw. "You're right… he does deserve to die … I had no idea that he's hurt you as deeply as he hurt me … Being out of my sight, my heart, and my life for 40 years doesn't make him my father. Even if he does have my species, paw pads and blood… I've already beaten him senseless, and I have no further use of him." Tigress was still growling, "What does that have to do with me? You beat him, so what? I want to kill him… then maybe I can make speeches and start to feel better."

Tai-Lung now shook his head, "He deserves to die slowly and alone like I almost did… He deserves to remain alone like you were forced to be. Come Tigress, this has been a very long morning and I'd rather think about something that doesn't involve men who only wish to cash in on my name…"

Shen-Mao didn't disagree in the least with Tai-Lung's words, aside from the claim of wanting to take his fame… That wasn't the case, but nothing he would say could ever convince Tai-Lung that what he'd done had been for a good reason, at the time.

Tigress didn't fully agree with what Tai-Lung had to say, but she'd much rather try and get something accomplished instead of seek vengeance. That also wasn't the way of a Kung Fu warrior … Seeking vengeance, even though she desperately wanted it.

Monkey had no idea what to do as he merely stood by with Shifu, he was only a bystander as Shifu approached the blood pool that Shen-Mao was laying in.

"So… how was it?" The red panda asked as he lowered his gaze onto the bloody pulp below him. "Fantastic-" The snow leopard grunted, not making any real notion to move just yet. "Oh if you see any teeth lying around…"

Shifu held up a paw to stop Shen-Mao ( Tai-Shen) from speaking any further, "No need to ask, I'll get the first craftsman I can find to construct a necklace for you." The snow leopard released a weak and painful laugh. "Oh you're a funny man… now help me up … I'm starting to get crusty down here."

Shifu nodded and helped his friend up off his feet, he was at first nervous that Shen would crumble, or vomit, or possibly even die on the spot, but once the snow leopard began to confess that he'd expected worse, Shifu knew that Shen-Mao was fine.

"Here, let me take you to the medical ward, I can get you properly patched up there…" Shen grunted lightly, "I… don't think that's such a good idea Shifu. Just take me to the bath house, I'll bleed out there." Shifu shook his head slowly, clearly seeing where Tai-Lung got his attitude from. He turned towards the only other person present. "Monkey!" Shifu suddenly barked.

Monkey presented himself immediately with a bow, "Yes, Master!" Shifu adjusted his posture. "Did you do what I asked earlier, is everyone still present in the Palace?" Master Monkey nodded, "Yes Master! Crane, Mantis, Po, Mei-Ling and Viper are in the medical ward. Um… Tigress and Tai-Lung are… in the palace… I think?" Master Shifu nodded just assuming that's where they went, he hadn't been paying attention. "And … I am here." Monkey finished his report with a smile.

"Very good Master Monkey," Shifu began. "You have the rest of the day to yourself, use it wisely." Slowly, Shifu began to lead Shen-Mao away. The crimson snow leopard was coated from head to toe in blood and desperately needed to either be patched up, or buried. "Clever kid you got back there, think he might be interested in Karate?" Shen-Mao spoke as he and Shifu left. Shifu was laughing, "After a display like that, being beaten 30 to Zero. I doubt it, my friend."

Both elders laughed as they vanished into the palace, leaving Monkey standing in the courtyard of the Jade Palace, next to a crater and multiple body sized streaks of blood, with the last trail leading towards the Palace. He sighed out loud.

"Wow, this has been one hell of a-" He began, but was cut off by a voice suddenly rolling over the palace wall. "Long day?" It spoke.

Monkey spun on a yuan to see a brown female feline sitting on the walls of the palace courtyard. "Who in… Hey, aren't you that merchant from before?" Monkey asked, clearly seeing through Sa-Chi's disguise as Mei-Ling did once before.

"What??" The iriomote began to laugh, "Wow, you're actually a lot smarter than you look. Oh well, you got me. Hey, are you interested in some towels, or possibly a bucket to clean up this mess? Maybe some landscaping tools? Real Cheap."

Monkey crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip, not believing that the merchant was actually carrying anything of use in the overgrown gourd resting upon her back, but he had to take it all back as she presented a ho and sickle blades. "Wow, you carry a lot of inventory don't you?" He asked now slowly growing interested.

"Yup," The iriomote smiled and leapt forward off of the wall to replace the tools. Monkey slowly took a step forward, stroking his chin with his gangly fingers. "Hmmm you wouldn't happen to have any …." His voice fell to a whisper so Po couldn't magically hear him. "?Almond Cookies, got any of those?"

Sa-Chi expected the Monkey to ask for paintings of nude women or even alcohol, but her shocked expression faded into a bright smile. "Oh my yes, very good things on sale here Master Monkey." She began as she pulled out a small bag, that was flowing with the scent of freshly baked treats. "Take your pick. I've got whatever you need."

Well that's that chapter. Forgive me for the length and the wait on it coming out. I was originally going to drop 7 and 8 at the same time, but was being pressured into getting 7 down so ... I just decided to give in. Again, sorry for the wait.

There's alot to be explained here, so I only hope I can remember all of it... Well first off would probably be about Kokou Chi, which literally translates out to ( as far as I can remember ) Jaws of Death, in Japanese. But since we're in china, it's just being called, Life, as a short metaphor to spell out it's own fragility, and how this spirit can take it away. Everyone who has their spirit unlocked has been going through a passive change as well, the most subtle hint of all of this would plainly be, Mei-Ling remaining asleep while no one else even decided to take a nap ... aside from Po, who ... as far as I'm concerned, does whatever the hell he feels like, whenever the hell he feels like.

#2, Tigress' mother... She will be introduced later on in 'Flashback' format of course, but I do have a plan for that. Hell, I have alot in store for everything just ... well not enough hours in a day.

#3, "What Oogway told us", will be revealed next chapter. I don't mean to yank you guys around. Sorry about that, but it does have alot to do with Tigress. Roughly 80% to do with Tigress. Not so much Tai-Lung.

#4, Tigress and Tai-Lung's names. Setsuna and Ryoko, don't necessarily have any deep meaning, aside from the names being inspired from other places and things. Just as Kusanagi, Ryoko and Adamesk are inspired named. ( Well Tai-Shen is too if you think about it ) ... Oh yeah, and Royokon. There's no real place for them to be explained in the story, but if anyone cares from where the names hail from, I'll make mention somewhere, at some point.

#5, "As if a pair of ghostly hands were actually holding him in his place." - Oogway :3

#6, The turning point from Tai-Shen ( Old Man ) to Shen-Mao ( Young Man ) Why and When it happens? Will be explained next chapter.

#7, Tai-Lung's Book, and Tigress' Note - Still in Mei-Ling's possession for good reason.

#8, Doctor Applesauce. ... I ... can't really explain that one... But the next chapter will explain WHAT Mantis was doing. Think - Earth Chi. :3

Anyways, I hope this doesn't bore anyone lol, thanks for reading. I always appreciate it.

~UnF