Hello there!

Okay, this is it! The penultimate chapter! That's right, the next chapter of this story will complete Part 1!

One thing that I should note is that the final chapter is going to be a little different, as in that it's going to be longer than usual. I'm thinking somewhere more than double the average length. So it'll take me a good while longer to make it and proofread it all. But I'm really excited for it, and I hope you are too!

Note: There is a slight language disclaimer in this chapter. I mean, it's very little when compared to certain writers' works, who drop f-bombs once every other dialogue line, but it's not really my norm and I was just letting you all know. However, it might get slightly more prevalent as this story continues… I mean, profanity can have its uses when not overused, as it can be used to get points across more effectively, but most of the time it just gets overused.

Apologies if I'm making a big deal of what you might consider very little, but I thought I'd let you know anyway.

On with the show!

Jade Palace

Tigress stormed into her room in the barracks and yanked out one of the drawers in her wardrobe. When she realized that her selection of clothes was limited, she stomped over to her bed and sat down.

She put her elbows on her knees and put her face in her paws. "What can I do, what can I do?" she frantically thought.

After the kiss that she and Po had shared, they had gone back to the Palace. Lei Lei had walked between them, holding one of their fingers in each of her own paws. But when they had reached the Palace, Tigress managed to slip away as Po joined the others. She knew she didn't have much time before her absence was noticed, and she needed to leave before they came looking for her.

The feeling of their shared kiss still lingered within Tigress. She could still feel the excitement, the pure joy of it. It was at that moment that she knew that she wanted to feel like that for the rest of her life. She was going to find this assassin who threatened Po, and it didn't matter if she knew where to look or not. All Tigress could think about was protecting what belonged to her. For whenever she thought of Po, she got this strange sensation that seemed embedded in her being. It was like a primal urge, and she couldn't explain it. It was as if, whenever she thought of Po now, one word came to mind.

"Mine."

And it wasn't even really a word. It was more of a feeling. The feeling that Po belonged to her. It was as if her primal instincts now considered Po a part of her territory. He was hers, she had claimed him. Anyone who tried to take away what was hers would most likely not live to repeat the mistake.

It was in a frenzy that Tigress had sprinted down the halls and into her room, desperately searching for a cloak, a robe, or anything that she might use so she wasn't instantly recognizable. However, she soon was reminded of the fact that she owned a very small variety of clothing. So, she now found herself, frustrated and angry, sitting on her bed.

"Tigress," she heard. She took her face out of her paws and looked towards her open door. She saw Viper standing there, alone. "Are you okay?"

Tigress didn't even bother lying to Viper, as she knew it wouldn't get her very far.

"Viper, I…" she paused, looking for the right words to say. Especially since "I need to tear this assassin to shreds" didn't sound too pleasant.

"I can't sit here anymore," she finished. "There's a threat in the Valley. Not someplace else. Not in Gongmen. Not in the panda village. In here. I've been raised nearly my whole life to protect my home from all danger. She's wrong. It doesn't matter if I don't know how to find a single person among the whole Valley. It's my duty to do it anyway. If Po's life is in danger, then I have to…" Tigress' words faded away as she thought about what she had to do.

Viper stayed in place for a few seconds in silence. Tigress expected her to scold her for her rash decision, to lecture her on why she needed to stay. But she didn't.

Instead, she slithered forward into Tigress' room. Then, she did something that they hadn't done in a long time.

Viper slithered right up to Tigress' leg and then coiled herself around it, sliding up her leg and waist until she was wrapped around Tigress' stomach. She then raised her head so that she was eye-to-eye with her sister.

"Tigress," she began, "As a friend, I would tell you to stay here, where it's safe. I would tell you to let Lianmin and Peng do their jobs and let them handle this. I would tell you that they know what they're doing, and that this is the one, just the one, time that you need to stay out of it."

Viper sighed and her eyes fell to the floor, and Tigress sensed a "but," coming up.

"That's what I would tell you as a friend. But as a sister? Well, that's a little different."

Tigress raised her brow in surprise. She hadn't expected Viper, who was usually so concerned about everyone's well-being, to understand her.

"Tigress, I can see your eyes, and I know that every word you just said is true. I know why you want to look for the assassin. You're in love, and you've just had a small taste of it. You know there's a whole lifetime to spend with your love, but now, something's standing in your way. And now that you know love, really know it, you never want to live without it again."

There was silence between the sisters as Viper finished speaking. Then, Tigress did her best to hug Viper by gently bringing her head on her shoulder. The two closed their eyes, but Tigress could feel tears welling up in hers.

"Thank you," she said during their hug. "Thank you for understanding."

Soon, Viper's maternal instincts kicked in as she backed out of the hug, but her main body was still wrapped around Tigress' stomach.

"But if you're going to go in "stealth mode," as Po says, then you're going to need a cloak or something so you're not too obvious."

Tigress blushed underneath her fur. "Actually, that's what I was doing."

Viper raised one brow. "Uh-huh. Well, I think I might be able to help you there." Viper uncoiled herself from Tigress and slithered back down to the floor, and then used her tail to open the door that separated Tigress' room from her own. Tigress finally got up from her bed and walked over into Viper's room.

Viper slithered over to her own wardrobe. "I think I might have something for- ah, here it is!"

With her tail, she pulled out a simple red cloak. But, it served Tigress' purpose well, as it was long and the hood was deep. She stuck it out to Tigress, who took it with a soft smile of gratitude.

"Thank you," she said once again. Then, a question formed in her mind.

She held up Viper's gift in her paw. "This is a nice cloak. What was it doing in your wardrobe? I don't think you can exactly wear it."

Viper gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Well… actually, that was a gift for you. For the Winter Festival coming up soon. I know you don't have a lot of winter clothes, and I thought it might be nice if you had something so the snow didn't fall on your head. But, I guess you need it more now than you will later."

Tigress smiled once again. She was about to say "thank you" once more before Viper cut her off.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Now go, I'll make sure no one notices you're gone."

Tigress was almost tempted to hug Viper again, so great was her gratitude, but she decided to heed Viper's words and leave before anyone else, especially Po or Lei Lei, caught her leaving.

But, as she turned around to leave, Viper called out from behind her, "Wait."

Tigress turned back around.

"Just… be careful."

Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu

"What am I missing?" Lianmin asked herself over and over again. She had been asking herself that question in her head for the last twenty minutes and was still no closer to the answer.

After their search of the pharmacy, Lianmin had taken Peng back to Mr. Ping's noodle shop and ordered two bowls of his famous noodle soup. Mr. Ping seemed to be sympathetic that they didn't find the person they were looking for, but the two leopards sensed a slight "told you so," tone about his words.

Finally, Lianmin decided to use the one tool that she wasn't used to using in her career.

Talking.

"Alright, what are we looking for?" she asked out loud. Peng was briefly taken by surprise, as he knew his mother liked to think out situations for herself. But, he quickly decided to take up his mother's offer.

"I guess we're looking for someone who's hiding in the shadows. Someone who doesn't come out during the day unless they're wearing a cloak over their heads at all times."

Lianmin, her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance, hummed in agreement. "And how do you go about looking for someone like that?"

Peng smiled, as he knew the answer to that question. "You hide in the shadows yourself in the middle of the night where you know he's going to be."

"There we go. And where is he going to try and go?"

Peng was about to respond with "the Jade Palace," but he shifted his gaze and saw Li Shan walking up to their table with two bowls, one in each paw. They turned to look at the panda.

He walked up to the table and placed their orders in front of them, followed by two spoons and a few napkins.

"Enjoy your meal!" he happily chirped, but before he could turn away, Peng decided to engage him in conversation.

"So, how long have you worked here?"

"Oh, me? I've only been here for a few months now. I just moved here with the rest of the pandas recently."

Peng's eyes grew wide. "The rest of the pandas? I didn't think there were many pandas left. How many of you all live here now?"

"Oh, I'd say about a small village's worth."

"A small village! Where have you been all this time? I don't mean to be rude, but everyone thought you were dead!"

Li Shan gave a chuckle. "Oh, no. You can't get rid of us that easily. Actually, I don't know if you remember about Lord Shen's attack on the panda villages?"

Peng solemnly nodded.

"Well, those of us who survived went into hiding together. We've been hiding for years now and we only came out because my son showed us that the outside world isn't all bad."

"Your son?"

"Yeah, Po."

Peng almost shot up from his seat and knocked over the table, which wouldn't have ended well since it would have knocked two hot bowls of soup over his mom.

"Your son!? You're Po's father!?"

Li Shan gave a little bow. "At your service. Literally, in my case."

Peng was left in a shocked silence for a few seconds. Finally, he regained his composure. "Well, sorry for my outburst, it's just that… I didn't ever think that you and Po were… related."

The panda chuckled once again. "Yeah, life's got a funny way of handling it's business." He patted himself on the apron-covered stomach. "Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you, but I'm afraid that I'm going to get in trouble if I don't get back to serving noodles soon."

"Of course. Well, I'll see you around." Peng and Li Shan nodded to each other, and then the panda took his leave.

"So Po found his father after all," Peng thought to himself. His initial reaction was happiness for Po, but his thoughts quickly turned to his own father, or lack of one in his life.

Peng's smile faded from his face as he looked down into his bowl of soup.

Meanwhile, Lianmin had been listening during the conversation, and was quick to pick up on Peng's dejected state. She put her spoon down and reached across the table, placing her paw on her son's shoulder.

"Hey," she said softly, "I know."

It wasn't much, but it let Peng know that his mother shared his pain, but most importantly, understood it. Peng gave a soft smile and put his own paw over his mother's. After a few seconds, they finally let go of each other's paws and let their thoughts drift back to the matter at paw.

Peng tried to pick up where they left off. "So, he's going to be going for the Jade Palace."

But while Peng and Li Shan had been talking, Lianmin's thoughts had been elsewhere.

"There's something I've been thinking about."

"What?"

"This assassin. Why did he only kill Master Croc?"

Peng shrugged.

"I mean, he had the chance. Master Ox said himself that the assassin ran right by him out of Croc's room. He could have tried to kill Ox then."

Peng thought about it for a few seconds. "Hmm. Maybe he didn't think he could get away if he killed Ox too."

Lianmin lifted her finger in the air. "That's exactly what I was thinking for a while. But now I'm wondering something else." She put her spoon down and leaned forward. "Come on, think about this. If this is a professional assassin, hired by a bandit clan to eliminate the protectors of Gongmen City, wouldn't he have gone back for Master Ox? After all, Master Croc is only half the job. But no, based on what the Soothsayer told us, and also by the boat that was stolen, we know that the assassin has come here. And that's what's been bugging me lately. Assassins don't leave jobs unfinished."

Peng began to put the pieces together in his head. It was all beginning to make sense to him. He too dropped his spoon.

"So you think he's not really a-"

"-professional assassin? Exactly."

Peng was silent as the different possibilities came to his head. "So you think we're dealing with some random, crazy lunatic who just so happens to have gotten hold of a brand-new weapon?"

His mother raised her brow as she looked down at her half-eaten soup. "I know it sounds silly when you say it out loud, but it makes more sense than our first theory."

"Well, this makes our search even wider. I mean, it could be anybody. Maybe it's someone we've passed by in the street today. How would we ever know?" Peng's voice began to show traces of panic as he began to be overwhelmed by the new questions to be answered.

Lianmin held up her paw. "Relax, relax, trust me, this helps much more than it hurts. Now, we need to-"

Suddenly, she stopped talking and looked off into the distance over Peng's shoulder. When Peng finally noticed that her eyes were slowly moving, he turned around in his seat.

From within the restaurant, there was a limited view of the street through the doorway. Peng turned around just in time to see a figure pass by the street with a deep red cloak. He turned back around to his mother. He saw her face and knew what she was thinking.

"Someone walking around in the day with a cloak over their heads?" he asked sarcastically.

Lianmin clicked her tongue. "I know it's most likely a coincidence, but we'd be fools not to check. Come on."

The two got up from their unfinished meals and headed out of the restaurant and into the street.

A few seconds later, Peng hurried back in by himself and placed a tip on the table. He then turned around to catch up with his mother.

Qian's Pharmacy

The last few hours had been quiet and slow for Shao and Qian. They had sat a while in the front room, until Qian had gotten bored and went back downstairs in his laboratory/ basement to do more tinkering, as Shao liked to put it.

While he was down there, Shao had all the time in the world to think to himself. Of course, the shop wasn't a popular place normally, and Shao could easily remember each legitimate customer that came every day because there were so few. With the silence to keep him company, Shao began to think about the upcoming wedding.

Of course, it hadn't actually been announced yet, but everyone in the Valley was getting excited, as they knew it must be coming soon. Shao felt as if he was the only one who didn't share their enthusiasm.

"How should I do it?" he wondered to himself. "Should I stand there in the crowd, among all the other villagers? Or should I try to hide somewhere? Yeah, maybe then I don't have to shoot her right in front of everybody."

The idea seemed appealing at first, but soon faded away once he realized that he didn't know where Tigress would be getting her wedding preparations done. The thought then came to him that it would be done at the Palace, and there was certainly no way he was going up there.

He was back to the crowd idea.

"So, they talk for a little bit, give the crowd a little 'We're so glad you're here today,' and all of that. Then, after the pleasantries, they'll eventually get to the part where Po stands in the front and Tigress walks down the aisle with Shifu."

Then it came to the goat.

"That's it! She'll have to walk down the aisle! That's the perfect time! That's the closest she's going to get to me!"

Shao was elated that he had finally come to an idea, but then an issue came up.

"Oh, but that means I'll have to do it right in front of Shifu, and he's bound to see me if I'm that close."

The goat sighed, frustrated that he always seemed to come back to the same idea.

"Oh, alright Qian, you win. She and Po will go up to the front so they can hold hands and make their vows. Maybe then?"

It briefly occurred to Shao just how harsh that was. He could imagine Po, standing there, on the very brink of getting married, and then, out of nowhere, there's a loud noise and his soon-to-be wife falls over dead.

"Well, at least I'll have a surprise factor on my side," the goat grimly thought.

"So, what then?" he asked himself.

"Well, I guess that's the part where I run away."

"But where?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Anywhere. There's got to be some buildings around the Village Square. And the wedding's going to be there instead of the Jade Palace Courtyard. The courtyard isn't big enough for all the people, including the guests that are going to come from all around to witness the momentous moment where the Dragon Warrior got married to one of the greatest kung-fu masters. So, I can just shoot her, run away into one of those, and hopefully I can lose them in the building."

"Hopefully…" he echoed to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on the door. But it took a few seconds for Shao to realize that it was coming from the back door.

As he walked across the room to open it, he wondered who would be knocking, as normally people would just walk in.

Shao reached for the handle and opened the back door. He looked down to see a fox, sharply dressed in fine red silk robes. The fox was standing up straight and had his paws behind his back, and looked as if he was there for business.

"Can I… help you?" Shao asked, confused as to who this sharply dressed customer was.

"Yes," he replied. His tone was confident and was without any hesitation. "I need to speak with the owner of this establishment."

"The owner of this establishment?" Shao wondered to himself. That was a fancy way to put it.

"Umm, yeah, I guess so." The goat stood out of the way. "Come in."

The fox politely nodded and walked in.

Shao closed the door behind him and walked over to the basement door. He gave it a few loud knocks and yelled, "Hey Qian! There's someone here to see you!"

There was a shuffling downstairs as Qian scrambled up the stairs and the door flew open. Shao noticed that Qian was very quick to close the door behind him.

"Yes?" he asked as he caught sight of the fox. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I am a representative of Master Jing and I-"

The fox was cut off when Qian loudly cleared his throat and put his hoof on Shao's shoulder.

"Shao, I've known you for a good while, right?"

The goat slowly nodded, knitting his brow at the same time, wondering what could possibly make his boss get sentimental all of a sudden.

"I've always let you see my… shadier dealings, but today I need to ask you a favor. A big favor. I'm going to need you to step out for this one."

Shao was silent for a few seconds as he tried to process his boss' words.

"Step out? You mean… leave?"

"Well, leave, exit, farewell, goodbye, ciao, adios, however you'd like to call it, I don't care, but yeah, you get the point."

Shao's head was filled with doubt at the sudden proposition. Qian had never tried to hide any of his side business from him. Why start now? What could Qian be hiding, he wondered? He always had dealings with the bandits, so Shao didn't understand the sudden secrecy.

But his tired mind, taxed from thinking about his upcoming self-imposed duties, decided to decline thinking too hard about the situation.

"Okay," he calmly responded.

Qian smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "That's my man. I knew I could count on you."

Shao just nodded, the thought, "whatever," going through his mind, but he had the wisdom not to say it out loud. He turned around and simply walked towards the front door. Before he left, his boss called out from behind him-

"Take the rest of the day off! You deserve it!"

As Shao closed the door behind him and entered the streets, he couldn't help but think that Qian's last sentence had some hidden meaning behind it. But, his brain wanted to go back to thinking about the upcoming wedding, and it met all other concerns with contempt.

Back in the pharmacy, Qian clapped his hooves together and looked down at the fox, who had been patiently waiting.

The ram gave a soft laugh. "I didn't know the bandit clan employed people of your… type."

The fox gave a smile and straightened his fine silk robe. "Yes, well someone has to manage the financial gains of the business. We can't all be common thugs; some of us have to put forth some mental effort if we're not going to all be arrested."

Qian folded his arms across his chest and leaned back on the counter, eager for conversation.

"Ahh, so do I have the pleasure of speaking with the… brains of the operation, so to say?"

The fox smiled, but it was a smile of wishing, not satisfaction. "No, I'm afraid that's not me. Duan Jing handles that."

The fox must have seen Qian raise his brow in surprise, because he put his paws up in the air. "Yes, I know he may not always seem like it, and he may not always talk like it, but I will be the first to assure you Master Jing is much more intelligent than he looks. I know he comes across as yet another brawler, but he does that on purpose. Trust me, everything that we do, everything that happens to us, every piece of information shared between us, all of it, has its roots in him. He oversees us all, and does a fairly good job of it, too."

Qian threw his hooves up in the air in defeat. "Alright, alright, I was very curious as to who was really in charge. I mean, you come in here, all dressed up-"

"-I can't walk through the streets of the Valley in broad daylight wearing what some of my comrades wear. So, some of the profits we confiscate? It goes in my wardrobe so I can look innocent." The fox stepped forward and spread out his arms.

"I mean, not even the Jade Palace Masters would take this for an illegal treasurer. And that is exactly my job."

"Hmm." Qian clapped his hooves together. "Now, how may I help you?"

"Ah, yes. We have your delivery ready."

Qian blinked for a few seconds. "My delivery? What delivery?"

"The powder, sir. We have obtained several barrels of the substance."

Qian's jaw almost detached itself from his skull and fell right off.

"S-several barrels!?" he stuttered.

The fox nodded as if obtaining several barrels worth of the most illegal substance in the country was no big deal.

"Yes, we have the shipment waiting outside as we speak."

"Outside! Right now!?"

Another nod.

"Well, let's bring them in here now!"

"Very well." The fox went back to the back door, opened it up, stuck his head through, put his finger to his lips and whistled. He backed up, and soon enough, a leopard and a lion came through, both of them working to carry a single barrel.

"Hey, uh, w-where do you w-want this?" the leopard struggled to say as he tried to keep his hold on the barrel.

"Umm…" Qian was dumbfounded at the suddenness of the situation. When he had told Duan Jing he needed more gunpowder, he hadn't meant a whole cargo full. He only needed a fourth of a barrel at most, not a whole shipment of barrels.

"Hey, this is getting heavy," the lion groaned as he also struggled with the weight of the barrel.

"What? Oh, right! Come on, let's get it downstairs!" Qian quickly walked to open the door for them, and they quickly worked to get the barrel down the stairs.

At one point, the leopard almost slipped.

"Oh! Careful! You can't drop that barrel!"

"You think!?" was the less-than-friendly response.

Qian quickly followed them downstairs and looked at the barrel as the two predators went back up the stairs to get the next barrel.

Tacked to the top of the barrel was a note. Qian took it in his hooves and cracked a wide grin once he read its contents.

"Dear Master Qian,

The shipment should include eight barrels of the desired substance. I sincerely hope it will be enough."

Valley Streets

After Shao had left, he had simply wandered the streets for some time. He didn't really feel like going home quite yet, and he wasn't hungry, so he decided to take a simple walk around the Valley as he gathered his thoughts.

"Oh, what am I doing?" he asked himself.

"You're finishing what you started. You're protecting innocent people from the potential danger predators pose."

"But killing them?"

"Would you rather have a few deaths or many? And when something bad happens and a lot of people pay the price for it, will they remember you as a hero because you did nothing? Because you simply couldn't do it?"

And then, the question came to his mind. Really, it was the only question he needed to answer. Every other question he asked himself revolved around this one, and was really just the same question, only worded differently.

"What if I'm wrong?"

His mind took a few seconds to answer that one. And when it came, he didn't feel satisfied with it.

"I think it's a little too late to be thinking about that. We've started now, and there's no turning back."

Shao simply stopped in the street. He found himself in the Village Center. He turned all the way around and took everything in. The hustle and bustle of the people, the shops on the sides, and even the nice weather of the day. Even though he was standing still, everyone else simply walked around him. Like a river around a rock, they didn't slow down at all.

Shao gave a cynical chuckle. "That's how it's been all my life. I've been a nobody."

He turned back around, and looked at the spot where he knew the wedding would be set up. He could imagine it in his head. The people, the colors, the excitement. And the image of a young female tiger cub with blood-stained teeth and paws.

"But I could be somebody," he thought to himself with a glimmer of hope.

As Shao stood there, something caught his eye. He saw two familiar faces walk by on the other side of the flow of people. He squinted and saw their faces.

It was two leopards. In fact, it was the same two leopards who walked in the pharmacy only about an hour earlier. He looked even closer, and could see the determined look on their faces as they quickly made their way through the afternoon crowd.

It struck Shao that the determination on the older one's face was much different than the care-free attitude of the person who he had seen before. He looked ahead of where they were walking, but he didn't see anything at first. Finally, he saw it.

There was a person quickly walking in the street with a red cloak over their head and back. At first, Shao didn't think about it too much, as some people, mostly strangers from outside of the Valley, wore cloaks and hoods. But when Shao looked back to the two leopards, he could see in their eyes that they were following the person in the cloak.

"Now why would they be following someone?" he wondered. "The only kind of people who follow other people are…"

Shao's stomach almost came out of his mouth as he realized the answer to his question. He knew that the two leopards weren't in Qian's pharmacy to buy some herbs to cure headaches. They were there to see Shao himself.

"Oh gods," he thought. "They're the ones who put up the sketch of me. They're the ones looking for me."

His first instinct was to run, to run and run, and get as far away as possible from the two leopards. But before he had a chance to, he thought again of the person they were following. Why were they following the hooded stranger, he wondered?

From the corner of his eye, he could make out the two disappearing from view as they made their way down the streets of the Valley.

"Hmm, maybe I should see this for myself instead of taking the coward's way out."

It was with a sudden surge of bravery, or maybe it was foolishness, he couldn't tell the difference between the two, did he make himself turn around and head in their direction.

Valley Streets

"You and I both know this is much too good to be true," Peng told Lianmin as they hurried down the street, following the hooded figure.

"Yes, yes, I know," was all she said. Peng was expecting her to finish that sentence, but she never bothered with it, as Peng could already figure it out for himself. And he did.

There was no harm in making sure. Even if it did seem like a waste of time.

They closed the gap slowly, as they didn't want to make it seem too obvious in case it really was the person they were looking for. Unfortunately for them, the hooded figure turned their head back and must have seen them, as he turned back around and sped up a little.

"Oh, man, I think he saw us," Peng noted.

Lianmin groaned. "I'm tired of this. Let's just get him."

Peng turned back to look at his mom and smiled. "And I'd thought you'd never ask."

The two suddenly got down on all fours and took off through the crowd, now closing the gap much quicker. People rushed to get out of their way, and soon enough, the commotion they caused was enough to get the hooded figure to look back once again. When he saw them sprinting straight for him, he followed suit and got down on all fours and ducked to the side into the alleys on the side of the streets.

"Peng!" Lianmin began, but Peng was already thinking the same thing.

"Got it!" he shouted back, and Lianmin followed the figure into the alley as Peng broke off and entered through the next alley.

She was only a few seconds behind the stranger, but she couldn't seem to gain any ground. In fact, it seemed as if the stranger was outrunning her. And no one had ever outran Lianmin before, and she was determined that this would not be that day.

She pushed herself to sprint on all fours as fast as possible, but the figure quickly looked back to Lianmin and sped up himself. However, she only smiled through the pain of sprinting as hard as she was, as she knew the stranger had made a big mistake.

When the figure turned his head back around, Peng was standing at the end of the alley, waiting for him. The stranger instantly stopped, tried to get on his feet and turn back around, but the delay had cost him. Lianmin had already closed the gap and tackled the figure to the ground, and Peng quickly approached the two if things got violent.

Lianmin quickly reached for the cloak and yanked it off of the stranger, balling her fists and ready to introduce this person's face to them, but when she saw who it was, she froze.

She was on top of none other than Master Tigress. She was looking up with a frustrated look, as if she was disappointed at having been caught.

Lianmin quickly stood up, the cloak still clenched in her paw.

"Tigress!?" Peng asked incredulously. Tigress stood up, groaned, and dusted herself off.

"Yes, it's me."

Peng put his paws on his forehead. "But what were you doing!? We thought you were the person we were looking for! And when you started running, well, we…" he didn't finish that sentence, as Tigress was well aware of what happened next.

"Sorry. I was-"

But she didn't get to finish that sentence, as Lianmin quickly cut her off.

"You're sorry? Oh, really? Okay then, I guess that makes everything alright then."

"Uh-oh," Peng thought to himself. His mother's tone was soft and relaxed, but he had more than enough experience with her to know that it was only the eye before the storm. And he was right, as his mother's anger could not be accurately described in words.

Tigress clearly sensed the sarcasm and tried to defend herself. "Look, I-"

"-What were you thinking!" Lianmin screamed right in Tigress' face. She stood up right up to Tigress' face so the two of their snouts were only a few inches away.

"First you come down here, just like I told you not to! Then, you wear a lovely cloak that certainly doesn't bring any attention to yourself!" At this part, Lianmin threw down the cloak on the ground.

"And then you have the nerve to run when we get suspicious! Are you fucking me!?"

"Mom," Peng began, as he tried to get in between the two combatants.

"Stay out of this!" she quickly spat back.

But it was now Tigress' turn to be angry. No one talked to her like that.

"Let me tell you something. I'm going to look for this assassin with or without your permission! This is my home, and I'm going to protect it!"

"Not if you're dead! Can't you see that!?"

"I can take care of myself, thank you!"

"I bet Master Croc said the same thing that night right before he was murdered!"

"I'm not Master Croc!"

Lianmin was about to continue engaging in the shouting match, but she suddenly stopped. She backed up and looked into Tigress' fiery eyes. She then smiled and cocked her head to the side, her arms folded across her chest.

"Oh, I'm such a fool. Why didn't I see it before? Your eyes are so full of that panda that you can't see your own paw in front of you!" She stuck her paw right in Tigress' face to prove her point.

Suddenly, Tigress became deathly quiet. "Don't talk about Po."

"Why not!? He has a right to know that his future bride is a fool! I know why you're here! You love that panda so badly that you feel as if you just have to save him yourself! You're going to be the hero who finds this murderer and flies into the sunset so you can live happily ever after!"

Tigress' quietness was quickly replaced with her anger.

"You can't stop me from being here!"

"I'll drag you back up to the Palace if I have to!"

Tigress suddenly struck a fighting stance and her dangerous quietness came back over her as she looked up at Lianmin with fire in her eyes.

"I'd like to see you try."

The two were just about to go for each other, and Peng was just about to throw himself between them, when suddenly, they heard someone clear their throat.

They quickly turned their heads toward the wall, where a back door was open and a ram was poking his head through, his eyes wide. Peng and Lianmin quickly recognized him as the pharmacist they had visited earlier. Peng realized the alley they were in must have run through the back of his shop, but Lianmin didn't think of this, as she was far too angry to think rationally.

"Yeah," Qian timidly said. "I don't know what's going on here, but I would appreciate it if you could just take it somewhere else."

But Qian saw the ferocity in the leopardess and tigress' eyes, and decided to back away.

"Okay, nice talk." With that, his head disappeared and he shut the door. The faint sound of the lock going "click!" was heard.

Tigress and Lianmin turned back to each other, but the interruption had diluted some of their rage. Lianmin quickly turned away and Tigress did the same.

Peng stood in between them, shocked at the scene that had just taken place. He wanted to follow his mother, but he also wanted to apologize to Tigress on behalf of his mother, but one look at her storming off was enough to convince him that she wasn't in the mood for talking.

He quickly caught up with his mother. He was about to say something, but Lianmin quickly threw her paw up, instantly shutting him up.

Meanwhile, back in the Valley streets, among the crowd, Shao was slowly walking, replaying the scene he had just witnessed over and over again.

"Those two were about to tear each other's throats out," he thought to himself. But something deep within him smiled. Because he finally knew.

All of this time, his focus hadn't really been on predators. It had been on Tigress. The monster who beat that pig to a pulp all those years ago and kept him awake in pure terror for so many nights. Now Shao felt sure that she was still the same monster he knew.

He finally knew what to do. It finally felt right.

And that was a glorious feeling.

And that's it for now!

Ah, so, this will be the last time I see you before the big one! It might take a week or two, but I promise you it will be well worth the wait!

Until then, keep being awesome!