Disclaimer- Look, Kung Fu Panda isn't mine. You hear that Dreamworks? So now don't sue me.

Their eyes widened, but Tigress continued. "He is responsible for several deaths outside the valley and has been charged with murder, theft, smuggling, and treason."

"Treason? Was he a part of the army?" Viper asked.

"I don't know, there isn't much about him." Tigress replied, almost sadly. "But I know he killed at least fifteen civilians with the show at the pagoda. Another seven were sent to the hospital."

"It's okay, Tigress, we're going to bring him to justice. The Valley of Peace won't have to fear him for a while. In plus, we're trying our best." Po tried to comfort the upset feline.

"No!" Tigress suddenly turned on him, eyes angry. "It's not okay! Lives have been lost, homes and businesses destroyed! And an assassin that I could have stopped is now on the loose! You don't understand! You have never devoted your life to something! You don't know what it's like have someone die in cold blood because of you! We can't pretend everything's alright to make ourselves feel better! You, all of you, still don't understand! You can't say anything when you haven't seen it for yourself!" She stood up and headed towards the door. She looked at all of them in the eye. "It's time you all learned the truth."

The door shut with a lonely -click- as the leader of the Furious Five left the room. Crane sighed and glanced at the others. Since Tigress was gone, they could go nowhere. He left as well, leaving with a quiet "Good night." Po looked at Viper. The green tree snake shook her head in despair.

"Without Tigress or Crane, we can't really go anywhere. Mantis isn't well and can't move very well. With just the three of us, we would probably make things worse." She stared at the bamboo mat in front of her.

"Yeah, now that I think of it, Tigress was like a keystone. Always holding us together." Monkey agreed.

"It's okay, Tigress just needs to cool down." Po anxiously rubbed his paws together.

"Why?" Her voice was thin and soft.

"Why what?" The panda replied.

"Why did Tigress say th-those things? She has never been like that before." Viper looked up at Po. He could see tears welled up in her eyes. "We aren't even close to catching this mysterious killer and we've already fallen apart!"

"I have no idea why Tigress got upset. But remember, you fall down seven times and you get up eight. No one can prevent failure. But anyone can choose to stop there. It takes the strong to try and try again. " Po said, trying to stop Viper from losing it completely.

"Yes, I know." Viper answered. "Failure is inevitable. But I fear that Tigress would try something too soon, too difficult."

"Why is that?" Monkey asked. "She knows how to deal with issues."

Viper looked straight into Monkey's eyes. "Tigress is headstrong. I fear she will try something that would end in her death."


Crane stood in his dark square room. He had attempted some calligraphy, but he couldn't concentrate. What Tigress had said had unnerved him and for once, made him worry. He could still hear the other talking back in Tigress' room. He intended to confront her, but her room was already occupied. Using his feet, he pushed opened the door and glanced at the room. They were still talking. Carefully, he tiptoed down the hallway, always pausing to check behind him. He stiffened when there was a swooshing sound. Crane relaxed when he realized it was the messenger and continued through the Jade Palace.

He found her outside in the space between the gate and the front doors. She didn't attack him, so he knew that she had expected him to come. He walked up beside her and they both said nothing. Tigress still had the assassin's wanted poster in her paw.

"Did you tell Shifu?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"No. I would have to reveal what we were doing-" Crane stopped himself, "what we were about to do to him."

"That's what I thought." Tigress seemed strangely calm, compared to before.

"Viper cried after you left." he remarked.

She sighed and stared at the poster for a while. "I can't help them. They have to learn this way."

"Learn what? Your performance back there almost scared them."

The tiger gave a soft chuckle, but then her face fell expressionless. "Learn that nothing is perfect. They don't know that. They don't know the dangers of living in the Jade Palace. That there are others vying for our heads. One of us could die anytime. Any of us could turn on the others and become a mirror image of Tai Lung. Things have been easy for us. I feel like that one day, catastrophe breaks out and we can do nothing to stop us."

"I know that. Do you think I haven't worried about that too? But we're teammates, we have to trust in each other. There's a reason Shifu trains us together."

Tigress narrowed her eyes at Crane. "I thought you'd understand. I was wrong."

Crane huffed and began to leave. He was five steps from the front door when he turned around, ready to make a stinging insult. A lone breeze drifted across the arena. A yellowed parchment with the red letters spelling out 'WANTED' settled on his talon. He raised his eyes to the gate. A sigh came out of him; he should have foreseen this. Tigress was gone.