With partial amusement and partial satisfaction, it watched the large building burn from behind the large snow covered rock fifty yards away. It had chosen its location very carefully; the rock it was hiding behind was on the side of the building directly opposite to the army camp, where everyone else would definitely be gathered. It wasn't staying to admire its own handiwork, though the timed lantern had been a clever idea, but to ensure that all the gunpowder inside had been destroyed.

The day before, after the battle with the kung fu masters in front of the blocked tunnel entrance, it had returned to its lair to heal the neck wound the eagle had inflicted on it. While it had been sitting in its lair, waiting patiently for the healing potion to take effect, it had thought of the army camp situated by the fortress, of the supply building, and had just been putting down the idea of risking a sabotage attempt when it had remembered the powder kegs. It had occurred to it that the enemy may realize that the explosive barrels could be used to destroy the blockage and allow reinforcements to arrive and complicate its mission. That was the one thing that could not happen. And so that night, a plan was made.

And now here it was, waiting for the building to completely burn to the ground. Once the bonfire show was over, and the soldiers started to salvage what they could, it would know it its plan had worked.

It highly doubted that all of the kegs had exploded, otherwise the building wouldn't even be a charred, smoking skeleton in the middle of the frozen wasteland. It wouldn't be long though, and then the warriors who had entered the building just now would be blown sky high…

The warriors! What if they tried to retrieve the remaining powder kegs while they were inside? Then they would be able to destroy the landslide and all its careful planning would be for nothing. And the only way to prevent that would be to go straight back into the hellfire.

Furious with itself, it leaped over the rock and started running.

Those inside the burning storage building heard the tremendous noise above them just in time.

"MOVE!" Tigress hollered.

Po managed to get one arm around Su before Tigress shoved them clear across the unburned part of the building. Su screamed as she heard three tons of burning wood crash down behind them, and then Po hit the floor. Unfortunately he hit the floor in such a way that Su was flung from his arm and she skidded across the floor and beneath a burning beam that had been caught on a crate when it fell.

"Su!" She heard Po yell above the flames, and then the crate holding up the beam collapsed, and her path back to the grown ups was blocked. "Su, are you okay?"

"I'm okay!" Su cried as loud as possible, though the smoke threatening to suffocate her was making it difficult. "But I can't get back!"

"Darn! Su, is there another way out?"

Su looked around. All she could see was fire.

"No!"

Po cursed again, this time using a profanity that Su had heard before only once; a few months ago when Mantis failed at the gauntlet of wooden warriors for the first time in years. His use of the word in front of a child had earned him a nasty slap from Viper and a furious lecture from Master Shifu.

"Su, everything's going to be fine! Try and keep out of the smoke for as long as possible and stay away from the flames! I'll find my way to you!" Po said nothing more after that.

Why is it that every time disaster strikes, it's always the little kid who needs rescuing? Su thought in annoyance, and coughed. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. She coughed again and looked up.

The ceiling was completely obscured in a blanket of opaque toxic smoke that was getting lower by the second. She guessed that it would take less than a minute for the smoke to reach her, and then she wouldn't be able to breathe at all.

"Master Po, h-hurry!" She cried. Po didn't answer. Her little heart thudding with terror, Su hugged herself and began to whimper. She kneeled down so her head was a little further away from the rapidly descending smoke.

"Please hurry…"

Her chest was burning from the smoke she was inhaling, and every time she breathed, a fit of coughing followed. She wasn't sure she could last much longer. Her nose and throat were hurting too.

"P-Po!"

She suddenly felt the urge to throw up.

It was now agony to breathe. The thick layer of black smoke was mere feet above her head. It was unbearably hot. She leaned forward toward the floor, about to follow through with her tummy's wish to empty itself, when she saw the large shadow on the floor. Coming from something behind her.

Su felt unimaginably relieved. Po had found a way through to her, but the pain kept her from smiling. However, when she got a better look at the shadow, she realized that it was big. Too big. Far too big to be Po.

Starting to feel dizzy from the smoke, Su turned around.

"Come on, where is it?!" Po spoke furiously as he threw burning wooden spears to the side in his search for the weapon that would enable him to break through the debris and reach Su. On the blockage on the other side of him, he could hear his friends shouting for him, trying to find their own way around the wreckage. Po kept shouting back, telling them that he was okay and he was trying to get to Su.

He had just found what he was looking for, a spiked mace the size of his head, when he heard a high pitched scream.

It wasn't a scream of fright. It wasn't a scream of pain. It was terror. A prolonged scream of pure primal terror that only a little girl could muster.

Po spun around with mace in hand, towards the pile of debris blocking his way to Su. And then he saw it. A tall and horrifyingly familiar silhouette just visible over the wreckage. It was walking in one direction, head ducked down, as if approaching something tiny and vulnerable.

Su.

"SU!"

Po raced towards the debris pile and started swinging.

SMASH!

SMASH!

It was hard work. His palms were sweaty and the smoke was suffocating.

SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

Bit by bit, the debris pile came crashing down. Without thinking, Po shoved away the remaining debris with his bare paws and dashed through.

The new area was aflame and full of deadly smoke. With no sign of the monster. Or Su. She was gone.

"No!" Po flung the mace to the floor, where it crashed through the weakened wood. He was too late. "NOOOO!"

"Po!" He heard Tigress yell. "What's happening?"

He ignored her. He was a fool. A stupid fat fool. And now Su was gone. And it was too late to save her.

Wait, not too late.

If there was one thing kung fu had taught him, it was to never give up. The monster had to have taken Su out of the building, which meant it knew a way out of the fiery inferno. But on every side of him there was nothing but fire and smoke.

"Come on, Po, think!" Po's muttering was nearly inaudible. He tried to think of what the monster could do to get out that he and his comrades couldn't. It was stronger than any opponent Po had met so far, but it definitely hadn't smashed its way out through a wall, otherwise, Po would have seen it. It was also an astonishing jumper… that's it!

Po looked up towards the large hole in the ceiling where part of the roof had caved in. Large enough for someone or something to leap through.

If Po had any hope of catching up with Su's kidnapper, he would have to climb up there himself. And pray that Su was still alive by the time he did.

"No, she's alive. She has to be!" Po snarled to himself and he searched for a place to start climbing.

He spotted a partially fallen beam that was not completely consumed in fire. It would make a pretty good ramp. Without hesitation, Po leapt on. Flames licked at his heels as he raced up the beam, grabbed a horizontal beam and swung himself up on top of it, just as Tigress had helped him to perfect during training. He was now two beams away from the hole. He had to be quick about this. Su's life depended on it. He heard a shout from below as his comrades spotted him.

"Po, what the hell are you doing?" Viper shouted.

"Su's in trouble!" Po yelled without looking down. He braced himself to jump.

"Of course she is! What are you doing up there?"

"It's taken her!"

"What?"

"The thing that's killing the soldiers! It's taken Su!"

"WHAT?!"

"I'm going after them! Get out of the building and see if you can pursue them from there!"

Po took a deep breath and jumped. He barely made it to the next beam, and had to grasp a nearby vertical beam to regain his balance. He quickly glanced downwards to see that his friends were quickly making their way back to the exit, frantic to get out and find Su's trail.

The beam right next to the hole was farther away, one end on fire, looking ready to collapse at any moment.

"Okay, you can do this…" Po whispered. "She's alive… There's still time…"

He jumped.

He reached the beam.

There was a crack as the beam separated from the rest of the support.

"CRAP!"

The second the beam started to fall, his toes left the burning wood. Po flew through the smoke filled, searing hot air. His fingers barely caught the splintered edge of the hole.

"Donbreakdondreakdondreakdonbreak…" Po quickly pulled himself up and rolled away from the edge.

He was now on the roof. The air was slightly clearer here, making it both easier to see and breathe. He ran to the edge of the roof and looked down at the ground below. He saw a set of large footprints leading from the building to a large rock some distance away. Whether their direction was from the building to the rock, or the other way round, it was too far away too tell.

Po guessed that the building was about twenty-five feet. Should he risk jumping? Yes, he had to. Su's life depended on it.

"One… two… three!"

Po jumped.

He landed badly, falling forward on his face when his legs hit the ground. He lay there for a moment. Once he was sure that nothing was broken or sprained, he scrambled to his feet.

He looked down at the tracks. They were heading in the direction of the building he had just escaped.

Po turned round to see exactly where the tracks ended.

Instead of a wall of fire, he was instead faced with a wall of dark fur rippled with muscle.

"Son of a-"

WHAM!

A massive impact struck Po square in the chest and then he was flying, flying straight as an arrow shot from a crossbow. The blow brought back memories of a huge cannon, striking Po square in the belly through the wok he held out in front of him, propelling him through a wooden wall.

But this time, instead of a wooden wall Po struck a rock fifteen feet from the building, spider web cracks forming all around him. Instead of crashing through it he slid to the snow covered ground, fighting to stay conscious.

It felt as though the creature had actually punched a hole right through his chest. Po thought for sure his ribs were broken, but when he lifted a shaking paw to the spot where it had struck him, he felt only a bruise beginning to form.

Getting up was nearly impossible. After a struggle, Po gave up on trying to get to his feet and instead slumped back to the ground, his back resting against the rock.

When his vision finally righted itself, he looked up.

There it was, standing right above him like a demon from a nightmare, which it probably was, nearly black against the red fire than framed its body.

Po was so much pain, he couldn't do anything, not even swing a pathetic punch or call for his friends, as it leaned down towards him.

Fingers the thickness of Su's arm closed around his throat.

At first Po was still too stunned to react when it lifted his entirely body several feet into the air, but when it began to squeeze, closing off his windpipe and cutting off his air, his paws shot up to its hand, his dangling legs started thrashing.

As he frantically pulled at its throttling fingers, his legs kicked, searching for a part of its body to strike. But its arm was too long, its torso too far away to make contact. He tried swinging his entire body upward to kick its wrist, but he wasn't flexible enough. Choked gasps escaped him as he continued to fight. He tried to call for his comrades, but lack of air and a constricted trachea wouldn't let him.

His lungs screamed for air. His heart thudded like a drum. The pressure on his throat was terrible. It was unlike anything he had ever experience before. Not even a sparring session with Shifu could compare. Po struggled with all the strength he could muster, twisted his body to try and escape its grasp, even as black spots started to cloud his view of its face. Not that he could see it anyway. The firelight was too bright, its face too dark.

Soon, too soon, he felt his body weakening. His legs slowed in their kicking, felt as if they were full of lead. His fingers continued to pry at its. But it was no use. He was going to die. He was dying.

He thought of Su, who only moments ago he had trying his hardest to find. She wasn't here. He couldn't see her. Had it killed her like it was killing him right now? The thought gave him rage, which in turn gave him a little extra energy to fight.

It took a few seconds for him to realize that the monster was speaking. Its voice shocked him, even in his dying state. He had always thought that if the creature had a voice, it would be gruff, angry and full of violence, just like the warrior king Temutai or the gorilla bandits he fought on a monthly basis. However, if Po had to describe the voice emanating from the creature strangling him, his best description would be Tai Lung in a deep voice with a Nepalese accent. Cold, calm, and probably charismatic if the monster was that kind of villain.

"I tried to warn you off." It spoke. "If you must have someone to blame for your demise aside from myself, blame the general. He ignored me when I sent him a very clear message to leave this place or die, just like you ignored the message I sent when I threw those boulders at you and your comrades."

Po feebly picked at its fingers, barely understanding its words. Darkness was now steadily creeping in around the edges of his vision.

"In case something happens in the next few moments that saves your life, you should probably know that those soldiers you found in the snowdrift were all the soldiers who knew the existence of the tomb. Hopefully that answers the tiger's questions."

Po used what little strength he had left to slam his fist down on the monster's wrist in anger. How dare it talk about Tigress!

There was no effect whatsoever. Po's fingers slipped, now completely out of energy.

"You are going to be dead in a matter of seconds, so I will cut right to the point. Your death will be my last warning. Perhaps the death of a kung fu master will finally make them understand that to stay here would be suicide. They can still escape the mountains by travelling over them. I only blocked the tunnel entrance to keep out reinforcements."

If you're willing to let us leave, then why did you blow up most of the army's supplies? Po thought.

"About the explosion just now…" It went on as if it had read Po's mind. "That was partly to ensure that you could now just blow up to blockage, but there is another reason… if this whole ordeal does end in a battle to the death, I cannot allow you to have explosives at your disposal. I remember the carnage they caused… but are the nightmares mine… or hers…" It trailed off, now deep in thought. Then it looked back up. "Never mind…"

It squeezed tighter, managing to get a tiny choke out of the dying panda, who closed his eyes as he waited for death to hurry up and claim him…

No.

The monster's grip loosened slightly, but not enough for Po to breathe. Po's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the whisper.

The monster's head was turned to the burning building. While it had been slowly choking Po, part of the outer wall had collapsed, and was now burning strongly behind them… and among the flames was a figure… a slender black body with the head of a dragon…

No.

Not yet.

The voice whispered.

The monster slowly turned its head back to Po, looking him over. Po looked back for a few seconds before his eyes slowly closed again.

With his eyes shut, Po saw nothing, but he could still feel, meaning that he wasn't quite dead yet. He felt the pain of the monster's hand still choking the life out of him… and then suddenly the hand was gone. Po fell and hit the ground hard.

It took a second for him to realize that he could breathe, and he gasped. He coughed and wheezed, his body refilling with energy. A paw was raised to massage his horribly sore throat as he continued to gasp and cough, so grateful to be alive that he didn't care that the monster and the figure in the flames were gone.

Po turned on his side to make breathing easier, and the snow that met his cheek was wonderfully cool compared to the fire that had almost consumed him a few minutes ago.

He didn't open his eyes until he heard Tigress shouting his name.

"Po? Po!"

He struggled to sit up as Tigress ran towards him.

"Tigress." He said hoarsely, glad that she had made it outside as she kneeled down beside him.

"Po, are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Po coughed. "At least I think so… oh god. You're bleeding…"

His moved from his throat to the small tear on Tigress's shoulder oozing blood. He stroked the fur surrounding the wound, careful not to touch it and cause her further pain. Tigress eased his paw to his side.

"I'm fine. A piece of the ceiling grazed me when the roof collapsed." Tigress's eyes widened suddenly as she gazed at him. "Forget my shoulder, what happened to your neck?!"

"Hang on, where are the others?" Po grabbed her uninjured shoulder. "Where's Su?"

"Po, everyone made it out." Tigress said. "And Su's safe."

Po's eyes widened.

"Su's safe?!"

"Yes. Shifu and Emperor Xian told us when we got outside the building. Su told them she was attacked by the creature but managed to escape the building on her own. The medic is currently treating her for possible complications from smoke inhalation."

"Oh thank god…" Po gasped. He collapsed backward into the snow.

"Po, what happened to you? Where's the creature?"

The creature.

"I'll tell you once everyone's back in the fortress." Po said. "You're all going to want to hear this…"