And now we return to Po and his allies.

"It's a trap!" I forget which movie this quote came from. Drat.

Anyway, read and review!


The massive figure that had emerged from the snowdrift in an explosion of white lifted Po into the air by the back of his head, and Tigress's blood froze.

"Po!" She yelled.

As Po shouted in surprise and confusion, dangling five feet off the ground, Tigress let out a feral snarl and charged towards the monstrosity, Monkey sprinting forward alongside. Eagle Jr. and Crane took to the air, shock giving way to fury as they saw their monochromatic friend in trouble.

Po's shouts of alarm turned to screams of pain as the creature tightened its grip on his skull.

"Let him go you murdering son of a-" Monkey's curse was drowned out by a deafening roar from the monster as it saw Po's allies charging at him all at once.

It tossed Po aside like he was a bouncing ball and stepped forward towards its enemies. Snow from the snowdrift stuck to its body like sticky dumpling sauce, making it look like some kind of monstrous snowman.

A split second before she leapt into the air, Tigress considered deeming the creature as some kind of gorilla. A plausible idea, considering the domed skull she saw, and the dark fur peeking out from beneath the snow.

Then the split second passed and she was flying through the snow filled air towards the creature, leg spinning around her as she delivered a classic roundhouse kick. The back of her foot struck the creature across the face. There. Such a blow would stun even the strongest gorilla for a few seconds. Monkey leapt from a lower height and kicked the creature in the abdomen with a primal screech.

However, when Tigress landed on the ground and looked up, she saw that the creature barely looked fazed. The only sign that it had been affected was the tiniest trickle of blood seeping from its temple.

Yes, a gorilla was plausible.

Except for the fact that gorillas do not walk on two legs nearly as effortlessly as this creature did. Gorillas do not tower over you by a good three or four feet. And gorillas certainly do not have a face that almost looked disturbingly feline.

Crane and Eagle Jr. attempted to swoop down low but were forced to retreat back several feet when the creature swung its arms in a strangely coordinated fashion. Monkey was also having trouble getting close enough to launch another attack, his expression furious. Tigress stayed where she was, the gears in her mind churning as she tried to think of a strategy.

Tigress was distracted by a moan. Twenty feet away, Po rose up from the deep blanket of snow, paws rubbing his sore head. He looked confused, and there was a vivid bruise on his forehead. He must have hit a rock when he fell.

"Whatta hit me?" He asked as he spotted Tigress and staggered towards her. "Tigress, whassup? You look like you'd just seen a- holy crap!" He was suddenly lucid when he saw the creature which had tried to crush his skull. "What the hell is that?!"

"Po, you're injured!" Tigress yelled. "Stay back and let us handle this!"

She would never know what Po had been about to reply with, because at that moment a large shape flew over her head, her fur ruffling in the wind. The creature had just made an astoundingly high leap into the air. It reached the rock wall high above their heads, just above of the rock slide. By now, most of the snow on its body had either melted or fell off.

Tigress stared up at the creature as it clung to the rock wall, and her pupils dilated when she saw that it wasn't just tall as an elephant, it seemed to be made up entirely of solid muscle. Its body was riddled with tiny cuts and grey scars, including a particularly large one across its chest that looked like it had been caused by a sword. Thick arms and legs carried it upwards as it began to ascend the wall.

Tigress's eyes narrowed. Why was this… whatever the hell it was… trying to escape after so short a battle? Had it realized that the odds were against it? Or was it trying to…

"Get back!" Monkey yelled when Crane and Eagle Jr. made to follow. "He's mine!"

"Are you crazy?!" Po yelled, grabbing Monkey by the tail and pulling him away from the rock wall. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"I don't care!" Monkey retorted. "That monster killed-"

An explosion of dirt right beside them cut Monkey off. The creature had pulled a stone from the wall and tossed it down with frightening accuracy.

"Oh hell." Po gulped. The creature grabbed another large rock and raised its free muscled arm to throw it. There was a bloody wound beneath its jaw where Eagle Jr. had successfully attacked its neck.

"Get away!" Tigress hollered. "Get out of range!"

Po dragged the resisting Monkey away and the boulder struck the ground where they had been seconds before. He and Monkey rushed over to one of the large rocks they had been resting against minutes earlier, out of firing range. Crane and Eagle Jr. rose higher into the air and prepared to attack…

And were forced to swoop back down again when a third boulder flew their way.

"Darn it!" Tigress snarled as she rushed over to Po and Monkey's side. Monkey was still struggling to escape from Po's grasp.

The odds were not in their favor. At this rate, they'll tire and get crushed into red blotches on the snow.

"Dang, this thing's powerful!" Po muttered as he held Monkey tightly. "It's like facing a cannon, but without the fire and stuff!"

Cannon.

A light bulb went off in Tigress's head.

"Crane! Eagle Jr! Get your feathery butts out of range!"

Crane and Eagle Jr. dodged another boulder and flew down to join the others behind the rock.

"I've got a plan!" She whispered. There was a deafening crash as a boulder collided with the other side of the rock that shielded them. "Po, it involves you."

"Me?" Po pointed to himself.

"Is it foolproof?" Crane asked.

"No, but it's our only hope to get out of this."

"Great."

"For now I'll tolerate your sarcasm." Tigress turned to Po. "Po, have much have you improved on redirecting projectiles?"

"Pretty much mastered it." Po said. He winced and put a paw over his bruised head while keeping his other arm wrapped around the infuriated Monkey. "Why do you asaaaahhh wait just a cotton picking minute!"

"Quit whining, Po! Our lives are at stake here!" Tigress growled. Po wisely shut up. "When it tosses a boulder at you, make sure you redirect it right into its face!"

"But what if it doesn't affect it?" Po asked frantically. "I mean, that guy took a kick to the face from you and didn't even flinch for crying out loud!"

"Even if it doesn't hurt it, the distraction should be enough for us to either attack or retreat." Tigress replied. "Whichever gives us the best chance for survival."

"Call me a coward, but I'm hoping we pick retreat." Replied Crane. "Losing my hat was bad enough."

"I don't blame you." Tigress said. "The only thing we need is something or someone to distract it so that it doesn't block the boulder when Po redirects it."

Without missing a beat, Eagle Jr. lifted a wing.

"I'll do it." He said. "I have the most experience in aerial attacks anyway. No offense, Crane."

"None taken." Crane said. "I'll go with you. Two's better than one."

"No." Eagle Jr. said with unexpected firmness. "You are to stay out of harm's way."

Crane looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Why?"

"Because if something goes wrong, you have to get the hell out of here and return to the fortress. No matter what happens, the emperor and your master must know what we're up against. When you return, you have to tell them what this creature is, what its strengths are and whatever weaknesses we may discover. Only then can they have any hope of defeating this monster."

"But…"

"No buts, Crane." Po said. He looked unusually serious. "Besides, if you die someone's heart is gonna get very badly broken."

Crane fell silent.

"Alright, on the count of three, we move." Tigress said. "One… two…"

A large clawed hand plunged down from above and grasped Eagle Jr round his torso.

"Heck me!" Po hollered as Eagle Jr was effortlessly lifted off the ground and brought face to face with the creature which had stealthily climbed down while its opponents had been formulating their plan.


It brought Eagle Jr. up to its eye level, slightly amused that they hadn't seen it coming until was too late. The avian struggled futilely to free himself, as his allies emerged from behind the boulder and prepared to attack. The creature merely leapt out of their reach, back onto the rock wall, and held out its captive almost tauntingly.

The avian was muttering a string of foul words as the other bird, the one who had lost his hat the day before, flew upwards in an attempt to rescue his comrade.

The creature growled slightly as it slowly closed its hand into a fist, slowly crushing the life out of the eagle who had nearly ripped out its throat…

And realized that something was wrong when the fur on its chest unexpectedly felt damp with a wetness that was too warm to be melted snow.

Reluctantly it dropped the eagle so it could bring its hand to its chest. Below, the second avian caught the eagle just before he hit the ground.

When it pulled its hand away, the hand was soaked in red.

Curses. The neck wound must be more serious than it had thought. It would have to treat itself before the injury worsened.

With a last, hateful look at its enemies, it started to climb. Away from the landslide and away from the monochromatic creature and his allies, and towards the direction of its lair.

Never mind, all in good time. The shortcut was blocked and the enemy was trapped.

The order's lackeys could be dealt with at its measure.


The creature was gone, but Po and Tigress were more interested in the wounded eagle currently being lowered to the ground by Crane.

"Oh man, please don't be dead!" Po pleaded. "Monkey, what the hell are you doing?! Get your butt over here!"

Monkey had been about the climb the landslide in pursuit of the creature.

"But that monster…" He began to protest.

"Is gone for now." Tigress snarled. "Get over here, you have the medical supplies."

Monkey stormed over as Tigress and Po knelt over Eagle Jr. while Crane kept a lookout.

"Eagle Jr., please tell me you're alive!" Po cried.

"I'm… fine…" Eagle Jr. replied, his beak clenched in pain. "Right wing hurts like the freakin' devil!"

"It's broken." Tigress stated upon inspection. "Monkey, give me a bandage." Monkey did as he was told and Tigress carefully began wrapping up Eagle Jr.'s wing.

"Tigress, what's wrong?" Po asked when he saw her expression: her eyes were narrowed into slits and her teeth were clenched together.

"It was a trap."

"Huh?"

"It had set a trap." Tigress snarled. Her paws were fists as she continued to wrap the bandage. "That's why it hid in the snowdrift. It knew we would come to investigate the landslide. It had set a trap, and I fell for it!"

"Quit beating yourself up." Eagle Jr. said, wincing from the pain. "We all fell for it. Even me."

"Why did it just leave?" Po wondered aloud. "It was ready to kill you, and we were pretty much outmatched. Why did it just leave?"

"I delivered a pretty nasty wound to its neck." Eagle Jr. said. "Not fatal if treated quickly. It must have realized the injury was serious and abandoned the attack to heal itself."

"You may be right." Tigress said. "It seemed to turn its attention to its injury before it dropped you." She tied the two ends of the bandage together. "There, that'll do until we get you back to the fortress. Crane, you'll need to carry him… Crane?"

When they turned their heads, they saw that Crane had wandered over to the remains of the snowdrift. He was staring down at the large crater in the snow where the creature had emerged from.

"Crane?" Po stood up and walked over to his friend.

When he reached Crane, the avian turned his head to look at him. Even with the opaque dark feathers covering his head, he looked green.

"Crane, are you feeling alright?" Po asked.

"Look." Crane said simply, gesturing to the ruined snowdrift.

Po looked down and almost at once felt bile rising up his throat.

The bodies of seven or eight soldiers lay in a heap in the crater, unearthed when the creature had attacked. He looked away before his mind could register the details of the mutilation.

"Po, Crane, what is it?" Tigress called.

"You don't wanna know." Po swallowed.

Tigress strode over. She fell silent when she saw the carnage.

"Oh god…" She turned away.

"You're not going to throw up, are you?" Po asked. "'Cause I was just about to do that."

"No." Tigress took several deep breaths. "Those are definitely imperial soldiers. What are they doing here?"

"Duh, they were sent out to search for the creature's lair and ended up killed."

"But according to General Tujiu the creature's lair is most likely located in the western area of the mountain. This spot is as far away from the west as you can get. It's more likely they were sent to investigate the landslide. And there's something else…"

"What?" Crane asked.

"Those men died very recently."

"How do you know? Their bodies must be stone cold."

"You didn't notice? Some of the blood is still damp."

"Oh."

"That means they were killed mere hours before our arrival. And were hidden in the snowdrift so we wouldn't suspect a trap."

"Your point being…" Po asked.

"The only person with the authority to send men out is the general. So why didn't General Tujiu tell us that he had already sent men out to the landslide?"

Po and Crane looked at each other.

"I see your point, Tigress, but do you think we can talk about this when we're back in the fortress?" Po asked. "Eagle Jr.'s injured and if that monster comes back, we're screwed."

"Fine." Tigress nodded in agreement. "Crane, take Eagle Jr. back to the fortress. Me, Po and Monkey will follow once we've finished off here."

Crane nodded, and went over to Eagle Jr.

"See you there." He said as he carefully lifted Eagle Jr. and flew off.

"What are we going to do?" Monkey asked.

"We're going to collect the rubble from that landslide and started making graves."

Po and Monkey looked at the corpse-filled snowdrift.

"We're not leaving them like this." Tigress said firmly. "Come on, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."


Cripes! Thank god Po made it out of this one in one piece!

Yep, Tujiu's a jerk. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's bad news.

In the meantime, Cheerio!