Before Po could figure out what Yujin was doing, he was completely forced out of her body. His chi, shining like a golden star in constrast to Yujin's red flaming energy, took shape, turned black and white, and then Po was a panda again.

"Woah." Po said when he saw that she was now indentical to her painted image in Shambhala. "I like the old you." He started to smile, but then he saw that she was also trembling, clutching her gloved paws to her chest. "Yujin, what's wrong?"

"I have to go." She said, her voice cracking. "We have to split up. You have to find Tigress before Long Feng does."

"Wait, what's going on?" Po grabbed her wrist, dread churning in his gut.

Yujin looked up and stared at him through her pitch-black eyeholes. "Mother." She said simply.

Po let go, feeling sick. "Get going. Hurry!"

Yujin passed him the Sword of Heroes, green once more, and was gone in a red flash. Po sprinted back up the stairs, crossed the ornate floor, and entered the secret set of stairs that led to the tomb.

He'd expected to descend in complete darkness, but a gentle green light lit his path by five feet. He soon found the source to be the Sword of Heroes. The engraved green dragon was glowing. He silently thanked Yujin for retrieving the weapon and hoped to the gods that her mother, AKA Su, was not yet beyond saving. He reached the bottom of the steps and entered a cavernous room full of metal statues, jewels and coins that looked black, brown and green in the sword's light. Po blinked a few times. He'd forgotten about the treasure room. If his memory hadn't failed him again, the tomb should be just on the other side. Po walked silently, avoiding the clinky coins, keeping an eye and ear out for the slightest sign that he was not alone. The depressed pheasant had said there was a former associate of Hei Nuwang's down here somewhere. Who could it be?

Halfway through the treasure room, he found his answer. First he spotted more than a dozen figures up ahead and wrapped the sword in an expensive looking rug to hide the glow. Then he hid behind a big elephant statue and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then he saw the strange sight before him.

The figures he had seen were golden crocodile statues two heads taller than he was, wielding serrated daggers. What was especially strange about the sight was that none of them had eyes, and they were all facing a stone block in the center of their group. On the block was the masked panther lying bound in chains.

This must be Hei Nuwang's former associate, and somehow he'd disappointed her. That was the only explanation Po had. He started to make his way around the statue when his foot nudged a small pile of coins. Clink!

Half the statues twitched, their daggers black silhouettes. The masked panther's ear twitched, but he didn't try to move.

The gears in Po's head turned. He nudged the coins again, this time deliberately. The same reaction from the golden warriors with no eyes. Hoping they were as blind as they looked, Po pulled the sword from the rug and worked his way forward as quietly as possible.

This time when the glow caught the masked panther's attention, he risked the clinking of the chains to turn his head and look. The soldiers twitched more violently and actually stepped forward. The chains stopped clinking and the gold warriors froze again. As Po crept between the warriors towards the stone block, he came to understand the death trap. The masked panther could probably break the noisy chains with enough time and effort, but not without bringing the gold warriors upon him and getting a dozen knives stuck in him. Po doubted the masked panther could get out of this. Not on his own.

He reached the stone block. The masked panther stared up at him as Po leaned over. "Hey." He whispered. The closest warriors twitched.

"I'd tell you to go ahead and gloat..." The masked panther coldly whispered back. "But that's not a wise thing to do at the moment."

"How do I get into the tunnels under the palace?" Po asked, cutting right to the chase. The growing restlessness of the warriors around them made him nervous.

The masked panther also noticed, and took a quick look around before replying. "Why do you want to know?"

He's playing it cool. Two can play at that game. "Oh, you know. Need to kick butt. Save the world. The usual. The normal entrance is blocked, but you might know another way in."

"Maybe."

"So tell me."

"Maybe I want the world to end."

The golden warriors took another step. Po glowered. "Maybe you want to stay here and get stabbed to death."

"I can get out of this on my own."

"Fine. At least tell me what you know."

There was no sound excepted for that of the increasingly agitated golden warriors. The masked panther sighed and looked away.

"The sarcophagus." He said. "But you'll need a key to unlock it."

"Where is the key?"

"Hei Nuwang has it. It's an obsidian medallion she wears as a pendant. You'll probably find her in the throne room."

"You are telling the truth, right?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die. Now go jump in a mineshaft."

Po looked at the chains, then at the restless golden warriors. "Nah. I'd rather just free you myself."

He swung the sword and cleaved through the chains binding the panther's legs like they were strings. After that, things escalated quickly. Right after cutting through the chains, Po had to swing the sword again to stop a dagger from plunging into his shoulder. As the cursing panther struggled with the rest of the chains, Po spun round on the spot, taking in the golden warriors rapidly closing in. Maybe he should have attacked them first before going for the chains.

Too late now. Po pushed the golden dagger arm upward and bisected his attacker. "I said I didn't want your help!" The panther shouted.

"Technically you didn't!" Po saw another dagger swing out the corner of his eye and swung back. A dismembered gold arm plummeted to the ground... "GAHAHAHOW!" ... right on the panda's foot. "OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Po hopped, tears springing in his eyes as he tried to focus on fighting. The one armed warrior reached out with its remaining arm to grab Po's throat. Po blocked the attempt and carelessly kicked him back with his throbbing foot. Letting out a whimper, Po took a moment to spin round and slice through the chains holding the masked panther's left arm. The panther cursed again and immediately started tugging at his other arm. As the pain grew more bearable, Po turned back to the five gold warriors coming his way. He kicked back one. Cut the head off a second. Got blindsided by the third and fourth and knocked to the ground. Heard a chink as the panther's arm came free.

Po rolled away to avoid the daggers and stopped next to the stone block. The panther leapt off, grabbing a chain and spinning it like a whip. The whip lashed out like a snake, knocking back the one armed warrior and leaving a dent the size of a rice bowl. Po stood up, keeping his head down to avoid the chain, and raised his sword to fight again.

"Forget about them!" The panther snapped. "Do you want to save the world or not?!"

Po looked in the direction of the tomb entrance. In the tomb should be a passage leading to the throne room. "Okay! Run!"

They ducked the daggers and made a break for the tomb. Whatever alchemic sorcery bound the golden warriors to the treasure room kept them from following as Po and the panther burst into the tomb and slammed the door shut with an echoing bang.

Po allowed himself one sigh of relief before turning to the sarcophagus. On the stone lid was a small circular indentation. Then he looked to the set of stairs opposite that led to the throne room. Where Hei Nuwang and the key were supposedly located.

Hang in there, Tigress.

"Come on, we've gotta get that key!" Po said.

The panther leaned against the door, one arm wrapped around his ribs. He refused to look at the panda. "You go ahead. I'll stay right here." As Po made his way towards the stairs, the panther spoke a little quieter. "I wouldn't advise going up there, though... you may not like what you find."


When Viper heard Shifu utter a little "No.", she knew that it was over.

There was no stopping the tears now. They came like a torrent, falling from her face and mixing with the ice-cold puddles the creature had left behind. A part of her wanted the creature to come back, so it could take away the unbearable pain that wracked her so badly that she laid her head on the floor, her strength spent by her uncontrollable sobbing.

Shifu was as silent as still as a statue as he held Su. His back was facing Viper, but she could see that his ears were flat and his head was bowed. How long would it be before he too made his grief apparent?

Viper's eyes turned upward when she realised that the soft crackling of fire had stopped. The flames of the torches that lit the throne room had had time stopped for them. She soon discovered why.

"No..." Said a voice behind Viper. Weeping, the snake turned her head to see Ember, or Yujin as they now knew her as, standing right next to her, dressed in green instead of her sinister black. Like Shifu and the flames around them, she had also frozen stiff as she stared at the lifeless girl in Shifu's arms. "Mother... what have they done..."

The memory of General Tujiu's murder kept Viper rooted in place in fear of attracting the Dragon Empress's attention. Yujin paid her no mind. Instead she slowly collapsed to her knees. The water puddles surrounding them started to steam. Viper's crying intensified as she watched Yujin grieve. She knew all too well what it was like to lose a mother. Losing a mother twice, on the other hand, was unimaginable. She wanted to say something. She wanted to apologise for failing. She wanted to express how much she had loved Su/Nuwa, too. She wanted to say that she now understood who the true monster was. But she couldn't stop crying.

Would the Wall of Heaven just hurry up and crumble already?!

Shifu's ear twitched and the two women looked up as the passage at the far end opened and Po stepped out. Oh no, don't let him see... but it was already too late. Po stopped dead and dropped the Sword of Heroes. Viper looked away before she could see his face. How many more friends would have to witness this tragedy?

Together, the snake, the panda and the empress watched as Shifu slowly laid the girl back down on the altar without a word and stood up. "I'm going to make her pay for this." There was no mistaking the cold fury in every syllable the red panda spoke.

"Too darn right." Po spoke through clenched teeth as he retrieved the sword.

Viper also felt the stirrings of true hatred in her slender body, giving her the strength to get up. "Let's get that bi-"

"She's mine." Yujin had stood back up, her eye and mouth holes alight with red fire. The three mortals stared at her. "I have more right to do it than the three of you put together. I kill her however I wish, and no-one will interfere."

Viper, Shifu and Po looked at each other. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't stop her, and they knew it. "Fine." Shifu eventually said. "Leave the rest of these murderers to us."

Fate must have decided to favour them, for right at that moment, the doors burst open again and Hei Nuwang and Izumi strode into the throne room. Hei Nuwang stopped at the sight of Su's body, her expression unreadable. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Yujin. "How dare you desecrate her with your presence!"

"I DESECRATED HER?!" Yujin screamed, her rage exploding like a volcano. "YOU'RE THE TREACHEROUS, MASS MURDERING HYPOCRITE WHO AIDED THE DEMON IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Yeah, grow up and stopping blaming everyone else for the consequences of your evil deeds!" Po yelled, shaking his fist at the panther.

"Why don't you just admit it, Hei Nuwang?" Viper spoke quieter, glaring daggers. "Why don't you admit the truth that you deny, even to yourself? The tragedy nine hundred years ago was your doing." Hei Nuwang stayed silent. "No, huh? You're pathetic." Viper literally spat venom at the panther. Izumi, bruised and bloody from her tumble down the stairs, flashed her special torture knife.

As for Shifu, he knelt back down and gently stroked the fur on Su's cold, damp head. "Why, Hei Nuwang?" He said with uncharacteristic weakness. "Why did you betray her the first time?"

Hei Nuwang's eye twitched. "Oogway was putting ideas into her head. Ideas that would have further imbalanced the world. He was coercing her into giving mortals more power than they deserved. I had to do something before it all blew up in our faces."

"So to prevent one possible catastrophe, you helped start another?" Shifu growled, leaning over Su's body as if to protect her from Hei Nuwang's drivel. "Even if it meant destroying everything your mother and Fuxi achieved?"

"Oogway had to be stopped." Hei Nuwand replied evenly. She looked straight past Shifu at the little dead panda girl. "I admit that things did not go the way I planned, but it would have been worth it. I doubt someone like you would understand. It was best for all of us."

Plip.

They all heard the sound of a droplet falling from Su's finger. They looked towards the girl.

Shifu recoiled and fell from the altar. Su's eyes had snapped open, streaming with crystal clear water. Her body convulsed as more water poured from her mouth in a non-stop torrent. From her nose. From her ears. From her entire body. It all poured over the edges of the altar and flooded the floor in seconds as they all staggered back, shocked beyond words as Su's corpse lifted, pushed upright by clear liquid tendrils.

Viper gaped, her eyes nearly bulging as Su fell forward on her paws, water spilling from every part of her body like she was a rain cloud. Viper's mind nearly went blank from the sight. What was going on? She looked to Shifu for an answer, but he too stared in wide-eyed shock at the girl. Viper looked to Yujin, but she was also silent.

By the time Su was pushed upright again by the unnatural water, the entire throne room floor had been covered, and water was beginning to pour down the steps outside. Almost bent double from whatever sensation was resulting from this phenomenon, Su glared icily at the thunderstruck Hei Nuwang.

Her eyes were glowing. Blue. Pupiless. Like a monster's.

The creature hadn't left after all.

"Get over yourself." The thing that was one half Su and one half a monster snarled. "'Best for all of us?'"

Hei Nuwang's black fur paled. The being cringed and wrapped an arm around its streaming body as water continued to spill and flood the room. Where was it all coming from?

"You murdered my children... nearly destroyed the universe... that wasn't best for ANYONE!" Hei Nuwang looked too horrified to answer. "The one causing imbalance in the world... IS YOU!"

Shifu and Po, the two people closest to the altar, jumped back as the being screamed and exploded. That was what it looked like at first, but as water flew everywhere, soaking the walls, ceiling and throne, Viper saw that it was still standing. It no longer looked like a panda cub, or any animal. The fur and foreign clothing were gone, and only an adult sized being of pure water remained, writhing as it continued to transform. The water rose until it covered the snake coils that lay flat on the floor and the ankles of the tallest mammals in the room.

Viper glanced again at Hei Nuwang. The panther looked like she was facing her worst nightmare. Everything had gone horribly, completely wrong. Again.

"Everything you'd built in your quest to destroy my life's purpose... I will drown with my bare hands!" The being managed to let out as it enlarged and began to form comprehensible shapes. A slender, serpentine torso. Curved talons. An elongated head with long horns and a maw bearing all its teeth. Viper's jaw dropped lower when she recognised the shape as that of a dragon.

The water dragon, every bit as beautiful as Mengxiang had described, continued to glare at Hei Nuwang with glowing blue eyes. Its upper body, the only part that had formed, swayed on top of the mass of water that continued to spill into the room. "And as for you... you know what happens to those who betray my family..." The dragon chuckled mercilessly. The chuckle grew louder until the dragon was flat out laughing, relishing in Hei Nuwang's suffering and the chaos it was about to set in motion. Viper felt pure fear at the sound. Su had died in Shifu's arms and in doing so, taken the goodness and love of Nuwa's soul with her. There was only hatred left now. The dragon's hysterical laughter echoed in their ears. "DEATH! AS IS THE FATE OF ALL BEINGS WHEN THE WALL CRUMBLES!"

With that final threat, the dragon sank into the water without a trace.

"No!" Shifu leapt forward, splashing onto his hands and knees before the dripping wet altar. The water swayed lightly, so cold it should have been ice.

Viper stared and stared. No-one spoke. Perhaps that was the end of it.

When Nuwa's hatred spoke again, its voice seemed to come from the air itself.

"NOW I... MOTHER OF MORTALS... SHALL PASS JUDGEMENT... AND EXECUTION!"

Shifu's ears twitched. "Run... RUN!"

Po was the first to see the water begin to move, and sprinted back to the passage. A second later the water retracted and a twenty foot tidal wave charged at those on the other side of the altar. Yujin escaped in a red flash as Viper, Shifu, Hei Nuwang and Izumi dashed for the doors. The spray of the tidal wave soaked their backs as they rushed through and shoved the doors shut with a bang. With a second, louder bang that shook the doors, the tidal wave made contact and dissipated.

Viper struggled to not get swept down the stairs by the torrent that still flowed from beneath the doors. Hei Nuwang summoned a sheet of amethyst that covered the doors completely, stopping the flow. Breathing hard, Shifu turned to Hei Nuwang with a look that hadn't been seen since Po's first day of training.

"You tried so hard to destroy my people... instead you destroyed your mother. I hope you're still satisfied."

Hei Nuwang gave him a look of pure venom before she grabbed Izumi's arm and ran.