With equal smiles, Qiang and Mr. Ping embraced Pong and Anwu just out the melted ring of stones that surrounded the Palace of the Body. Despite their shared desire to personally pay Hei Nuwang back for hurting their son so badly, it was for the best that the two fathers stayed out. It was Haoxin who had convinced them, on account of what Yujin had said in the imperial throne room. She had a point. Hei Nuwang would do anything to hurt Yujin and her other enemies, including hurting the people they love. It was best that for now, those who were most susceptible to capture were kept out of the conflict.

Qiang eventually released Pong and saw a look of great worry on the young father's face. "Su. She's still in there..."

"They're taking care of it." Qiang rested a paw on Pong's tense shoulder. "I'm sure she's just fine."

He looked at the palace, and that was when he saw something odd coming from beneath the gates. He lifted Shifu's borrowed spyglass for a better look.

"Um... where is all that water coming from?"


Po slipped in the river that still flowed freely down the steps and slid the rest of the way to the tomb. "Ow-ow-ow!" He moaned with every step his body made contact with until he reached the bottom with a splash. Spitting out water and aching all over the back of his body, Po lay in the ankle deep flood, thinking with a heavy heart of the little panda girl they had failed to save. His eyes threatened to add to the unnatural flood.

Su... I'm so sorry...

He sat up when the water threatened to cover his face, wincing from the accumulated bruises. If he had still been merged with Yujin, they would have healed by now. He silently gave her his condolences and hoped that she had escaped the crazy tidal wave.

He looked to the entrance to the treasure chamber. The masked man was gone, but right now Po was more concerned about the other girl, for whom it may not yet be too late. He rushed to the sarcophagus, looked at the depression, and fumed when he realised that he didn't have Hei Nuwang's key. Stupid, stupid, stupid... He started for the stairs, hoping that Hei Nuwang hadn't gone too far from the throne room.

He fell face first into the water when the tremor hit, and for a few seconds the entire building seemed on the verge of collapse. The water quivered, splashing Po in the face as he struggled to get back up. He succeeded when the tremor stopped, and then saw a literal silver lining: glistening white with trapped water, a jagged crack had formed in the sarcophagus when the tremor hit. Po smirked. Why did he even need a key? He broke stuff all the time!

Wishing he'd thought of this sooner, Po swung the Sword of Heroes. It cleaved through the sarcophagus like a block of butter. Po pushed away one of the halves and saw the set of stairs underneath. Now we're talking! He pushed away the other half so he could get down.

Then things went to hell as the small river that flowed down the passage to the throne room became a horrendous flash flood that swept Po off his feet, knocking him butt first into the hole, and sending him on another painful ride into the darkness.


When Eagle Jr. finally found Shifu and Viper outside the sealed throne room, he knew right away that it was too late.

Viper didn't look at him as he touched down before them, too busy trying to keep from breaking down completely. Su was gone. No, she was worse than gone.

Shifu sat down on the step, ignoring the water soaking his body. His ears were flatter than Viper had ever seen them. "Nuwa must have re-joined with Su in an attempt to stop the poison." He spoke slowly, more to himself than the people next to him.

"What are you talking about?" Eagle Jr. said sharply, his mood blackened by the recent tragedy. "And where the hell is all this water coming from?"

"Hei Nuwang must have administered some type of poison to Su." Shifu said without looking up. He seemed more interesting in his knees. "The creature merged with her to try and prevent her death. I'm not sure if it worked or not, but now the creature is going to flood the entire building."

"Can it do that?" Eagle Jr.'s feather fluffed up with this alarming statement.

"She's physical manifestation of a goddess's rage and hatred. I'm fairly certain that she can." This time Shifu looked up and glowered at him. "We have to find the others and get out of here."

"What about Hei Nuwang?"

"Forget about her. Our people are the only ones who matter now."

When the tremor ensued, it nearly sent the three of them tumbling down the stairs. The only one able to keep balance, Shifu grabbed Eagle Jr.'s chest feathers and Viper's tail in the nick of time. The tremor stopped, but then something even worse occurred: an ominous crunching sound behind them. They all turned and saw the growing cracks in the thick layer of amethyst that sealed the doors to the flooded throne room. Amethyst crystal was harder than rock. To cause it to break required either the pressure of an immeasurable amount of water or-

Or a being with god-like strength pushing on the other side.

"It's not going to hold! Hold onto me!" Eagle Jr. yelled.

Bluish clear water spurted from the cracked, drenching them further. It entered Viper's mouth and she found it freezing. There was no time to hesitate. Viper wrapped her body round a leg while Shifu grabbed the other. Fighting to escape the river of water, Eagle Jr. pumped his wings and took off. Viper's stomach lurched as he flew at a steep angle, parallel to the stairs. They turned two corners before they heard the terrible sound of the throne room doors giving way. A gust of air nearly propelled Eagle Jr. into the sloped ceiling. He turned another corner, moving so fast the world around them became a blur. The thunderous roar of a flash flood grew louder in Viper's ears. Specks of water splashed against her scales.

When they reached the entrance hall, Eagle Jr. turned to the side and slammed feet first into a pillar, perching himself sideways as god knows how many tons of water burst into the hall. Frothing white, the torrent passed beneath them, crashing into the other wall and sending massive waves flying up the entrance doors and windows. Just as the waves lost their momentum and began to fall, they froze solid. The doors and windows were now completely sealed. The rest of the water churned below and flowed unobstructed into the corridors.

"My god..." Viper's tiny voice was drowned by the roar of the water.

A second voice, the voice of a mad goddess, came from the water itself.

"I decide the fate of this world..."

"Stop it, Su!" Viper screamed to the water, tears flowing anew. "This isn't you!"

"It's no use, Viper." Shifu had never before looked or sounded so utterly defeated. "Without the goodness in her soul, there is no way to reason with her."

"So now what?" Eagle Jr. demanded.

Shifu blinked slowly. "We get out of here. If we hurry, we can find another window." He pointed to the half-flooded corridor leading to the mess hall. "Fly us through there before it fills completely."

"As the grand master commands." Eagle Jr. muttered as he took off from his vertical perch.


As Monkey's closest threat aside from Po, Mantis knew that if the giant purple elephant's pants weren't crystal like the rest of its body Monkey would have pantsed him while the warrior was still charging.

Instead he, Mantis and Crane leapt aside as the elephant threw a boulder sized punch-

How can something that big be so fast?!

- and tore through a crate twice its size, ripping out a handful of cannonballs. Without the support, the upper crates came crashing down and the three masters found themselves running for their lives for the second time in two seconds. As the crates broke apart upon impact with the stone floor the three masters scattered as they rushed to evade the crates' various contents as they flew all over the place. Mantis lost sight of his friends at some point, and it didn't sink in that they were separated until he took cover in between two close together boxes and the crates stopped falling.

Mantis peeked out and saw cannonballs roll across the floor, bouncing off the debris. He pulled his head back when he heard the footsteps, loud and shaky. They sounded like someone was dropping a pot on the floor again and again. A really, really big pot. He felt the terrible presence of the amethyst elephant as it strode past the left box in its search for its flesh and blood opponents. The second elephant's footsteps sounded distant as it searched elsewhere in the warehouse. Mantis pressed himself against the box, mentally going through his options. His nerve attacks would be useless. The warrior had none. The bug doubted that he was strong enough to shatter the warrior. There was a big difference between ordinary rock and flawless quartz.

But Mantis was still strong, and he had his friends. All they needed was a plan.

Of course I have to freakin' find them, first.

He heard the elephant on the other side of the box break into a run. He looked out to see a yellow tail disappear behind a stack of crates. The elephant's purple feet cracked the stone floor as it too disappeared around the crates in pursuit. Mantis didn't think twice about taking off after them. There was no technique in Monkey's arsenal to help him take on that thing, and he didn't have Mantis's raw strength. He saw no sign of Crane.

Mantis turned round the stack of crates to find that Monkey had run straight into the corner of the massive room and was now trapped by the elephant. As it raised its fist, Mantis leapt high in the air and slammed two of his legs in the center of its back.

Not even a tiny crack. We are so screwed.

His two legs tingling, Mantis landed on the floor behind the elephant as it turned its blank stare towards the bug.

"Oh crap."

Mantis barely leapt out the way of its fist. It sank two feet into the ground and stuck there.

"Run!" Monkey yelled. Mantis didn't need telling twice. They joined up and sprinted away, leaving the elephant to pull its arm back out the crater with some difficulty. They weaved through the stacks of crates, hoping to lose the elephant in the maze. They had to find Crane, get out of the tower, and find a way to destroy these purple elephants.

They turned a corner, stumbled into a wide-open space, and saw their avian buddy struggling in the tightening grasp of the second purple elephant.

"Crane!" Monkey was the first to jump up and try and punch the elephant's face. He got swatted into a broken crate for his trouble. Mantis clenched his teeth and prepared to make his own attack.

His anger melted like the floor beneath the elephant's feet.

His brain wasn't playing tricks. The floor beneath the elephant had turned red and became fluid. Mantis watched wide-eyed as the elephant began to sink. Dropping Crane, the elephant tried to pull itself out, but in seconds was up to its shoulders. That was when the floor hardened and turned grey, completely immobilising the elephant.

Crane slowly got to his feet as Mantis ran to help the dazed Monkey out the remains of the crate, both thankful that this particular crate had been full of cushions. "What..." He muttered. "The... Heck... Is... Going... On?"

He jumped out of his toe rings as Yujin materialised next to him.

"Consider this an apology for what I did to you, Master Crane." Yujin said.

Mantis was about to comment on her new outfit when he realised that the floor was wet...


Just as Tigress was thinking that things couldn't get any worse, she felt water rushing around her ankles. She thought of an underground river, and knelt closer to the sloped ground so she could get a better look in the near-total darkness. It wasn't a river. The current was moving up the slope. She spotted the blue and red light of Long Feng's aura far ahead and ran in the opposite direction. When she stopped to catch her breath, the water had risen above her ankles.

A flood, Tigress's mind told her, giving her a rare rush of pure fear. Out of all the possible ways she would die, she hadn't considered drowning in darkness.

No. I'm not dying like this.

Right after she thought this the corner of her eye caught a tongue of blue flame. She cursed, tried to leap out of Long Feng's range...

And screamed as the middle claw of his demon arm tore across her left thigh, while the cold water rose to below her knees.