Shifu's hands trembled as chi streamed off from his fingertips into the mass of purple energy. The portal had been opened. He looked over at Fuqin as the tiger narrowed his eyes. "Okay, so we got this thing running. Now what? How do we get Kai here?"

That . . . is the problem. Shifu sighed, "We're going to have to go out and get him."

Fuqin's eyes widened, "Us? In the mortal world? Isn't that forbidden?"

Ying's voice cut through the air, "Forbidden by who? Oogway? I'm sure he wouldn't mind for a situation like this."

A bust of red light burst through the portal, sending two figures to the ground. Tigress jumped into the air, flipping in mid air to land on her feet. Kai was on his feet in an instant, lunging forward at her. "How dare you?!" Time seemed to slow down for her as she sidestepped his attack and he went flying off into the void. She jumped after him, only landing on the next platform after he crashed into it. He stood to his feet, pieces of rock falling off of his shoulders. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to make my way into the living world? Do you know how much work I put into it? Do you understand what I'm going to do to you?"

Despite Kai's innate power and threatening words, she never felt more at peace. Kai's words didn't even phase her. She felt like a weight that she had never even know was there was lifted off her back. She smiled, "Bring it on."

All of Kai's amulets, save for the one strapped across his neck, glowed. He dashed forward, a streak of jade light light trailing behind him and he reeled back his fist. Tigress bent backwards, almost touching the back of her head to the ground, avoiding the strike. She wrapped her arms around his arm as he pulled it back. She kicked him across the face and let herself fall to the ground.

Kai screamed in anger and frustration. He slammed his other fist forward, only for her to twist her body around it. She slashed her claws across his arms. He reeled back, grabbing his arm. He eyed it for a moment, waiting for it to heal. Yet, it didn't. His eyes widened and he looked back at Tigress, "Huh, guess you're going to be a bit more trouble than the panda."

Tigress herself narrowed her eyes at the new wound. She remembered attacking him before and the slash stitching itself back together. What was different now? Tigress pounded her foot into the ground and launched herself at Kai. She maneuvered around his punches and slammed her fist into his gut. His frustration grew and his sent his fists down to attack her. As quick as she attacked, she dodged.

Tigress landed a few feet away with her back turned towards him. Her ears twitched and she backflipped just as his fist was about to strike. She flew over his head and slammed both of her feet into the back of his neck. She flipped and landed on all fours- minus her broken arm- as he stumbled forward.

"How?!" He turned towards her, his gaze locking on her eyes. He growled, "Of course. Inner Peace. I'm getting sick of it!" Tigress's surprise didn't show. "The eyes change, don't they?! From an Ocean Blue to a light blue. From Jade to a pale green. And now you . . . amber to a pink." He clenched his jaw. Their eyes got lighter every time they tapped into the state. But . . . why didn't Oogway's eyes change? Was Oogway going easy on him? Was that not a true victory?

Tigress herself was shocked at the revelation. Pink eyes? Changed from her usual amber. That wasn't just a lighter shade . . . that was different altogether. Achieving Inner Peace in of itself was shocking to her, but what was the meaning of the differance? Po and Shifu had lighter eyes, while the color of hers changed altogether. She narrowed her eyes. Just how did she manage to gain Inner Peace? She had not let any memories flow as of lately and from what she could tell it seemed to be some kind of technique that you activated. She had just slipped into it without realizing it.

Kai grumbled to himself upon seeing the phoenix design on her Qipao. "So what? Are you the Phoenix? Phoenix Warrior?" He narrowed his eyes, "Oogway really did have a fascination with mythical creatures, didn't he?" Tigress choose to say nothing. "Not to mention, you two have real power. Did Oogway enchant you two? Your chi is abnormally potent. It may not have the quantity of the rodent's, but it is noteworthy." He eyes glowed jade. "I can't play around with you anymore. I need to get serious."

Things didn't go as planned. Shen was beaten senseless. Blood trickled down his face, corrupting the snow around his beak. Kai had inflicted wounds upon him, breaking bones and rendering him unconscious. Po did not fare much better. His paws laid in the snow, stiff and cold. The only sign that he was indeed was awake was the slightly cracked open eye watching the swirling mass of energy. His fur was coated in a light golden aura, slowly repairing the fatal injuries he had sustained.

As far as Crane knew, they were still up and ready for battle. He still believed they fought alongside Tigress against Kai and he, alone, was defending the village. Crane's talons scraped across the ground as he slid back. That slap had caused far too much pain for him to handle. Both of the physical and psychological kind. Friends that had been turned— fighting them was the worst thing he could imagine. Especially when you thought of them as more than a friend.

Being honest, Crane was excited at first. The idea that he could free her had seized his mind. But, it was becoming more and more clear that he wouldn't get the chance. They were on equal footing before she was turned into Kai's slave, but now she couldn't take damage he normally could inflict. Not to mention, that he who was pulling the strings was getting smarter as to not change location of the battle. Kai knew their plan and his detest of it was showing greatly.

The avian launched into the air, scowling, not at Viper, but at himself. Was he too weak to free even one enslaved warrior? His eyes hardened, he had failed her once. He couldn't afford to do it again. He landed on top of a rooftop, staring down the serpent. The emotions that bubbled in his chest were not that of a warrior. Shame. Guilt. He truly was weak. He spread out his wings, inviting her to attack.

As she lunged closer he silently wished he had an actual plan to take her down. She slammed into his chest before he could react. Slowly a plan started to form inside his head. She wrapped herself around his leg and he smiled. Now, if he could just fly over to a chi user, they could free her. He expected the tightening of her coil around his leg. What he didn't expect was for her to bite his leg.

Crane almost screamed in pain as Viper's short fangs dug into his leg. Bloody jade fangs. In any case, at least he wouldn't have to work about poison. She pulled her fangs out and unwrapped herself from his leg. She jumped up, spun around a few times and slammed her tail into his shoulder. They both fell to the ground.

He couldn't waste any time. He rolled to the side as a slash of jade slammed into where his head had been. In an instant he was on his feet. He flexed his wings and a gust of wind rushed over the jade snake. He narrowed his eyes as it seemingly had no effect. She had broke her tail for him against Kai's manifestation of Xiong. And yet, he couldn't even fend her off. Her slithering form dashed forward and he barely managed to jump to the side to avoid her attack. She lunged again, headbutting his chest.

Was his efforts all in vain? Was there nothing he could do? He stumbled back and she attacked once more. He shot out his leg and grabbed her just below the head. His eyes widened, "Are you in there?!" Her tail lashed out and whipped against his leg. Pain shot through the middle of his leg and he released her. He hopped backwards. "Apparently not, then."

She bared her fangs, but before she could attack her entire body glowed Jade. Crane took a step back. Was this some kind of power up? Was he that much outmatched? Instead, her turned into a floating jade pendant. The very same he remembered being tied to Kai's chain belt. He stared at for a moment before it blasted off into the sky, kicking dust up into the air and throwing a gust of wind around the area of launch, almost throwing him off his feet. He watched it fly away, followed by several more jade pendants. Kai must be calling them back! I have to help!

With no time to think he pumped his wings and took off into the sky. There was no way eh could keep up, he was just too slow in comparison to the pendants, but he did see where they were going. It didn't take long before he flew past the cliff to see the plateau below the village.

The first thing Crane saw of the scene was the swirling mass of purple energy. His eyes locked onto it for a brief second and it tingled his body, even from this distance. The power it radiated startled him. It shuddered and started to shrink. Whatever it was, it was losing power and fast. Shen! The avian was down in the snow, unmoving. He could see blood from here. He turned his head to see Po struggling to his feet. He descended quickly and landed a few feet from Po. The panda's ears twitched as he landed.

"They . . . went in there." Po took a heavy step toward the energy. "The pendents flew through there. That means . . . Kai is still alive and so is Tigress." The energy shrunk and Po's eyes widened. "Gotta keep it open."

Crane looked over to the mass, "It's a portal?"

Po nodded, taking another step closer. The fur on his body started to lift into the air. "It must stay open." Small specs of golden chi sprung from his body, dancing around him. He took another step and the energy burst from his body, coating him in a fabulous golden energy.

"You were just struggling to keep standing. How are you producing this much energy?"

Po narrowed his eyes, "If . . . if I hold back a single spec of my life force, we'll lose her forever. I don't care if it takes everything I have— my life, so be it. She will not die!" The aura around him grew, and he took the final step to reach the portal.

"Your life?! Po, what are you doing?!"

"Whatever it takes." The chi around his paws burst outwards as he pushed most of his chi to surround and swirl around them. He thrust he arms through the portal and lightning shot out of it and swirled around him. His chi pulsated erratically around him, thrashing away from the portal. Po writhed in pain, screaming and thrusting his head back.

"Po!"

Tigress snarled as her fist missed Kai and slammed into a wall of rock. Pain shot through her paw, a foreign sensation. She twisted her head to snarl in his direction. As soon as those amulets had come back to him, his speed had doubled. He was now just a bit too fast for her to actually land a blow.

"Could it be?"

Her frown deepened. What was he talking about? "What do you want?"

"Summon your chi. If I am right, then it will shock both of us."

Tigress narrowed her eyes, was this some kind of trick? Why did Kai want her to summon her chi? His weakness. She scowled. She had never tried to manipulate her body in that kind of way. She made sure take a couple of steps back and keep her eyes on the yak. She tried to control the flow of her energy, to control her center . . . but, nothing happened. Po had made it sound so simple, so easy.

"You can't, can you?" Kai's voice wasn't happy or excited as she had expected. Instead, his face was downcast and his eyes had grown sad. "I see . . . what exactly did they tell you?"

She clenched her paws, "Why would you want to know?"

"They told you about flow and control, didn't they?" He seemed interested at the prospect. "Fools, that's not the real way. Tell me you at least know something? Perhaps the weaker forms?"

Why was Kai so interested in this? "I know the 'primitive' way. The kind that was popular before Oogway revolutionised Chi."

"Oogway?" Kai's face had distorted in rage. "Did you just say Oogway was the one who changed the face of chi? Has he really gone that far in erasing my legacy?" When she raised an eyebrow in confusion, he continued. "Oogway respected the culture of the pandas far too much to ever 'taint' their style. It was I who sought to expand the base of chi itself. It was I who discovered the more potent forms and techniques. I was always one step ahead of him in the spiritual arts."

Tigress narrowed her eyes. There was no ways she would believe that. "Then why did you lose to him? You're bigger and stronger and yet, you lost." She smirked at his deepening frown. "You didn't lie, did you?"

"Oogway mistook my weakness. He thought I was fragile in chi, but the reality is far different than that. I was weak and I didn't fight to the fullest." He softly grabbed the pendent around his neck, "I didn't think he would actually kill me. And over some dirty pandas!"

"You talk like you were close."

Kai narrowed his eyes, "You don't know how close we were! After everything I did for him, he just kills me! He betrayed me." He took a deep breath, "Chi is not about control, but power. Oogway could have never understood, but I did. I was the first step to a whole new world. One he tried to destroy. Your chi is not like the others, I can feel it. You need not control, but absolute dominance over your mind, soul, and body. Rip your chi to the surface. Force its power to work for you. Seize— " A rock slammed into his head, shattering upon impact. He turned his head to the side, "You?"

Master Fuqin had tucked his arms to his side. "Hello, long time since we've seen each other." He hopped down from the hill he had been standing on. "How's it been?" He turned his head briefly to see Ying heading for Tigress. "We've been waiting for you to show your ugly face, Kai." Shifu made his way on top of the hill Fuqin had been standing on. "Welcome to the end."

Ying had made her way over to Tigress, "Don't listen to him. Discipline is a great weapon." Her paws glowed gold and she quickly healed Tigress's broken arm. "Good as new."

Tigress nodded and looked up at Shifu. He looked down at her. As soon as the eye contact was made Fuqin spoke up, "Go for it, Shifu. Talk to your daughter. We'll hold Kai off."

Shifu was a bit impatient, speeding over to her ina blur. "Tell me you came through the portal. Purple. Made of chi."

Tigress nodded, "I had to seperate Kai from Po. But, I had no idea it was a portal."

"Good. Now leave."

Tigress's eyes widened, "What? Leave?"

Shifu nodded quickly, "Yes! The portal is only open for so long. You need to go now! There is no room for arguing."

"But, Shifu— "

"We have a plan! Now go and don't look ever back!" He quickly waved her off and dashed into the combat, following Fuqin and Ying's lead. Tigress watched as the three masters danced around Kai, swiftly striking him. She started to move, back away slowly. Shifu wanted her gone, he was trying to protect her. But, her mind was still recoiling. She could now say for certain that Shifu was dead. Gone forever.

She whispered a goodbye, only quite enough for her to hear. Even Shifu with his extreme hearing would not have been able to hear her soft words. She leapt into the air, making her way out.

The portal shrunk again, condensing the the rift that had been ripped through the wall that separated the two realms. Po's energy had been drained and it took all he had to keep from falling over. His chi was just a layer of dust clinging to his fur, flickering in and out of existence. Flaking into the air like old, discarded skin. Po was dying. His life force was weak. Weaker than it had ever been. He had gotten used to the pain in his paws. As far as the panda could tell, he couldn't feel it anymore. "Crane."

The avian hadn't left his side since he stuck his paws into the purple energy. "What is it?"

"Tell my dads that I'm sorry."

Crane's eyes widened, worried about his friend. "What?"

"I can feel the last of my energy slipping, Crane. I can feel it seeping away." He chuckled dryly to himself. "I knew I couldn't keep the portal up for long and I'm kinda at the end of my rope here." He was silent for a moment as he forced the portal to grow one last time under his watch. "I want you to tell them, and Tigress if you see her again, that I'm sorry my all wasn't enough. That I failed despite everything. And I want you to know that I'm sorry for letting you down. That I couldn't save Viper or Monkey, Mantis." His chi dimmed and his eyes grew heavy.

"Po! Don't do this! There had to be another way!"

Po shook his head lightly, "I'm sorry. It had to be this way." Suddenly, with the only warning either of them received being a scamper of talons, Shen smashed his body into Po's side. Po let out a loud scream, his body already weak from the sheer amount of chi he had given up. Ribs broke and his fragile body, bones and muscles alike, screamed along with him. Both warriors hit the ground with a thud. Po writhed in pain, mouth hanging slightly agape and his eyes twitched back and forth. Shen had fallen back into unconsciousness as soon as he hit the ground.

Po looked towards the mass of energy as it rapidly shrunk. "No!" She struggled to pushed himself up, but to no avail. He was now too weak.

A bolt of chi flew past Crane and slammed into the portal, tearing the rift between the land of the living and the dead and opening it wider. Crane turned around to see a tall panda with his paw outstretched. He didn't recognize the panda at first, but then it clicked. It was the panda who detested him staying in the village before he fell into unconsciousness when he first arrived.

"Kuen . . . " Po muttered before his head fell back into the snow.

"Save your strength, Po. You're fading fast."

The portal twisted and begun to shrink again, this time faster than before. Kuen struggled to charge up another blast of chi in time. As soon as it was about to close it flashed red and Tigress flew through the energy and landed on the ground. She let out a breath of relief as the portal closed behind her.

Kuen walked past Crane over to Po. He eyes Shen for a moment before letting his paws glow with his golden chi. He hover his paws over the panda as Crane and Tigress walked up.

Crane looked at Tigress, "It is over? Is Kai gone?"

Tigress stared at Po, his eyes closed and a golden light coating his body. "I'm not sure. He's fighting in the Spirit Realm now. Shifu, Fuqin, Ying, they're fighting him as we speak." She looked down at Po's paws. All of the fur was burnt off, leaving sickening purple burns coating his skin. Smoke trailed off of his paws and the snow had melted around the burns. "What happened to him?"

Crane seemed a bit hesitant to answer, but he sighed and obliged. "Po was keeping the portal open. It was killing him."

Tigress nodded slowly, "Is there anything that can be done about those burns?"

Kuen shook his head, "Chi wounds are permanent."

Tigress turned her head to Kuen, "I'm surprised you're here. I thought you didn't want to fight Kai."

"You were right about me. I was being selfish and wasn't protecting my home. I was afraid and I let it guide me. For years I let my fear control me." He clenched his paws, stopping the chi flow. "There, he should be healed enough." He looked down at Shen and narrowed his eyes, "Is there any way that Kai could return?" Shen's eyes cracked open and he coughed, making Kuen take a step back, startled.

Tigress kneeled down next to Po and felt under his chin, "He did it once before."

Crane shook his head, "A group of wolves had intended to revive Shen and gathered the shards of the Resurrection Stone. They brought Kai back to life by accident. He can't come back any other way."

"I wouldn't be so stupid, if I were you." Shen was barely able to sit up. Blood streamed down his face. "That thing that you came through, Tiger, it was no natural occurrence. I've felt chi up close, I know it's feeling. That was made of chi. If anyone else could make a portal of chi, so could that monster. If you, for a single second, think this is over, you are a damn fool." He curled his right wind and closed his eyes. A curved smirk stretched across his face and his eyes snapped open. He opened his wing to reveal a small ball of golden chi.

Kuen grit his teeth and Crane took a step back, "C-chi? You know chi how to use chi?"

Tigress raised her head and turned towards the tyrant. "How did someone like you learn chi?"

"Oh, come now. Don't tell me you forgot that there used to be a panda village near Gongmen. I would be lying if I said the younger me didn't try to use chi." He crushed the chi in his palm, letting it rush over his body. "Ah~ that's better. You see, I was never able to use chi in my younger days, not when I was dead. I spent my years of freedom in that hell trying to learn about arts such as chi manipulation. Not only for entertainment, but my goal. I never figured it out until recently." He narrowed his eyes and his smirk disappeared. "I have never felt more pain than when I was hit by Kai's chi blast. But, it helped me finally piece together what I was missing. Thanks to that yak, I have finally learned chi."

Tigress narrowed her eyes. Even Shen had managed to learn chi, but she hadn't. "And what was your goal, Shen?"

"To kill the panda, of course. I have never focused on something more in my entire existence. His suffering was all I thought about." He enjoyed the twisting of her face into shock, anger, and fear. "I wanted to return what he did to me. I wanted him to feel the pain of death. But, let's move onto more pressing matters. Kai will return, mark my words."