Po found being blown up to be particularly painful. So it came as no surprise that when he eventually woke up with every side of him feeling some various degrees of pain, it wasn't really going to lead to a good time for him. No, not a good time for him at all. Though first, he had to do something about this heavy ringing in his ears, which he tried to remedy by holding his head with his paw...he blinked slightly as he checked his right arm...his prosthetic arm has been blown into pieces, leaving simply his flash stump.

Aw man! Shen and Taotie spent such a long time working hard on that too. They're gonna be PISSED when they see and hear about this! He then blinked as the ringing began to die down for a little bit, and he raised his head. "Though I think that's the least of my worries right now. Guys! Are you alright...?" Po asked as he surveyed the area around him for his friends.

The arena has been completely decimated. Chunks of debris, both big and small, were scattered around littering the area, which was accompanied by large clouds of dust. For a moment, he could see the sky, and saw that the moon was becoming very close to covering the sun. He blinked again and tilted his head. "The moon is movin' ain front of the sun...I could have sworn there was a name for that...what was it again..." He blinked and shook his head, slapping it a few times. "Focus, Po! Find friends first, worry about sky phenomenon later!"

"Po!"

The panda turned to see that Mr. Ping was relatively unharmed. Though he needed to readjust his hat a little bit back into it's proper place. He then picked up Po's hat and scarf, handing them both to the panda before wrapping him in a fatherly hug. "Oh my baby! Your prosthetic was destroyed! You JUST got that contraption, too!"

"I was JUST thinking that, too! Man, this seriously sucks." Po frowned as his father helped him wrap his scarf around his neck and placed his hat on his head. "But we don't have time to worry about that right now. We have to find the others, that takes a bit of priority." He says while looking around. None of his friends seemed to be nearby...but something was definitely coming...and it wasn't exactly friendly. Before he knew it, Po grabbed Mr. Ping with his one arm and jumped backwards. Immediately afterwards, something crashed right through the debris right under them...it was Master Ox and Temutai, simultaneously. Po landed on his feet while gazing at them and setting Mr. Ping to the side. "Hey, uh, guys? Now's not the time for you to be crashing through things! It's a bit distracting!"

They didn't answer him. They slowly turned from their charge and glared at Po with their eyes being completely white. Mr. Ping blinked a bit and lightly nudged Po. "Um...I don't think they're in their right minds, son..."

"Whaddya mean? Is it because their pupils are kinda gone...?" Po wondered. He didn't have time to ponder it though, as they charged him again. Mr. Ping quacked in surprise and immediately flies out of the way, while Po stood his ground; he managed to grab Ox by the horn, swiftly spin him around, and smash him into Temutai, sending the both of then crashing a few feet away. "Hey guys! I prosthetic kinda got wrecked so I'm at a bit of a handicap! Can you two give me a bit of a break?"

They didn't respond to him, they immediately recovered from their collapse and immediate began chasing him down again. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he once again avoided another charge from Ox, watching him crash right through more debris. He turned to see Temutai charging at him from the side, and he himself was sent flying from the amount of momentum behind said charge, sent a few feet back while landing on his face. Po groaned as he began hoisting himself back up while rubbing his cheek.

"Kinda forgot what it feels like to fight with only one arm...this is a bit tough." Po sighed. Temutai leaps up high and comes down for a shockwave stomp that Po completely jumped over. Po grabbed Temutai by the horn and swiftly slammed him down into the ground, smashing him and cratering the ground. Though knowing he wasn't easily stopped by this, he jumped away from the water buffalo before he eventually rises back up with steam blowing from his nostrils. "Hey dude, it's time to snap out of it! I'm really busy at the moment, so can you try not to impale me with your horns? I would really appreciate it." Po asked politely. Of course he was ignored as Temutai gets up once again and charges towards Po horn-first. Before he could think of a counter, he was swiftly smacked aside by a swift and powerful Ox, proceeding to roll across the ground and hit his back against a bit of rubble. "Agh..."

"Oh no, Po!" Mr. Ping gasped while hiding behind other pieces of debris.

Po eventually recovers, standing up and shaking his head, before glaring at the both of them in agitation. "I seriously don't have time for this. These two have to go down quickly." With this declaration, Po gently closed his eyes and calmed his nerves for the moment. Everything seemed to be silent aside from the movements from both Temutai and Ox. They both charged at him simultaneously and attempted to strike him together. The moment Po opened his eyes, they seemed to move much slower. In this instance, he was able to parry Ox's charge with relative ease, gently pushing him to the side, and right into Temutai, knowing he had an incredibly durable hide. Ox was sent crashing into him and they both briefly collapsed onto one another.

Mr. Ping watched on with gentle worried eyes as Po seemed to regain the advantage. Inner Peace, Po...how much focus will that take up. I know you're trying to preserve yourself, but please don't push it too far.

Temutai once again stands up and makes the attempt to attack Po again, swiftly attacking Po with multiple strikes; each of them passes by Po as if he were casually dodging them, as his eyes remained focused on the raging water buffalo. In one instance, said water buffalo attempted to strike Po with much more force than before. Po sidesteps the punch and watches his head slowly descend to his level. Po's eyes narrowed as he pulled his paw back.

There!

Po struck Temutai hard in the head with a paw-sized version of the Mystic Spiral, and sent him flying even further away, causing some bits of debris to spread in two different places. The smoke cloud that resulted from the attack could be seen from above. Po sighed as he panted a bit from his use of chi. That should keep him down for a little while, but he can't go wasting time like this, he really needed to find his friends as soon as he possibly could. Which caused a groan of agitation when he senses Ox getting up once again, preparing to charge at him.

Though what he didn't expect, was Wan Wu swiftly appearing in front of Ox and kicking him in the abdomen, causing him to skid away fr a bit. "What the...Wan?"

"Hey there, I'm here to lend a paw. You seem like you're n a bit of a bind." Wan said as she keeps her narrowed gaze on Ox, who was slowly beginning to rise from the rubble once again. "Luckily for us, you tok care of the bigger guy first. Now I'll be able to focus solely on Ox."

"Wait, are you sure...?"

"Pretty positive. Now, you'd better hurry on ahead. I've a feeling that something big is goin' down at the Emperor's Palace. Head there quickly."

"Um...alright then. C'mon, Dad!"

Wan nodded as Mr. Ping latched onto Po's back and the panda began sprinting towards the Palace, as she turns towards Master Ox. "Oh dear, oh my. Master Ox, you don't seem to be yourself...my oh my, that's good for me. I've wanted a reason to pay you back for what you, Croc, and Rhino did to me and my sisters. Hehehe...oh, don't worry. I'm not so petty as to just outright try to kill you." She closed her eyes, and then reopened them...they were completely white, and her predatory intent rose drastically.

"All I want you to do...is scream for me!~"

Shifu and Fenghuang were among the least damaged in the blast, alongside both Mei Ling's, mostly Shifu's. Speaking of which, he was incredibly impressed with the feat that Master Yao was able to pull off so easily. Because the reason why they were among the least damaged was because he used quite a useful ability in order to survive as they did. He was semi-meditating as everything around him glowed golden; in fact, it didn't really look like he was trying very hard to do what he was doing. What he was doing was levitating most of the debris aorund him so that it couldn't hit most of the innocents that would have gotten hurt from the fallen debris, as well as from the blast itself. And to really top it all off...he didn't look that bothered by this turn of events at all.

Instead, he looked...elated.

"Woooooh! I didn't expect this to happen in the middle of a tournament, this is such an amazing twist! I like it!~" Master Yao beamed happily while clapping and spinning around a bit, as he gently lets everything down. Debris, innocents, and fellow Masters alike. "This is so exciting! I do wonder what might happen next!~"

"I think we should worry less about how entertained you are, and more about how we're gonna stop he ones responsible for this, and we're pretty fully aware of who's responsible for this, aren't we." Fenghuanf said after eventually landed on her feet, tucking in her wings. "Alright. Where's that jackass Pai Mei? He's the one who tried to blow us to kingdom come."

"Pai Mei..." Shifu narrowed his eyes as he swiftly moved hout, his ears adjusting a few times with the sounds he was hearing in the distance. Pai Mei was on the move, and he was clearly moving in with the strong intent to kill. He needed to go on and stop Pai Mei at all costs before he does some more serious damage to anyone else, and possibly finish the job he began before...the Emperor and his family. The thought only made him go even faster, there was no doubt he was here to settle old scores, and to help the agenda of someone who's really, truly behind this. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that Pai Mei had planned this on his own, he was far too insane and bloodthirsty to carefully plan that kind of manuver. It had to be someone else. But who...?

He wasn't given much time to answer, as he suddenly jumped back to avoid the crushing blow of a swift yet heavy hammer. He landed on his feet and looked up to see Master Rhino. His eyes were completely blank white, and his expression was completely dull. He raised an eyebrow while cautiously standing up. "Rhino...what are you...?" He wasn't given time to answer, smashing his hammer down onto him, dodging it readily and flipping backwards before landing on his feet. He's attacking me...why are you...no...wait...something's wrong...!

"That guy isn't in his right mind, Shifu!" Fenghuang shouted as she flew in and kicked Rhino in the chest, sending him skidding back a few feet in the process. She landed on her feet, landing next to Shifu while narrowing her eyes. "Something's gotten into their heads. They're not in control of themselves." Before Shifu could ask why she said 'they', they both saw Master Chao slowly reveal himself. Fenghuang huffed as Master Chao slowly got into stance. His eyes were completely blank as well. "Yup. They're both not in their right minds at all. That definitely looks much like mind-control. Just like what Master Dao used on you and the others.

"Except that this one seems much more refined...more disciplined. What's going on here...?" Shifu narrowed his eyes as well. Though Master Chao didn't give him time to properly process said information, as the lizard charged at him and struck first with a vicious palm strike; Shifu parried the blow with a swift kick. Though he winced, having used his weaker leg to do both jumped away from each other and landed a few feet. Shifu got back into stance while his ears twtiched slightly. Master Chao would not be easy to get past at this rate. He was not someone to be trifled with. He truly didn't have time to waste on Master Chao though, he needed to track Pai Mei down right away.

"You both need to get out of our way, right now." Fenghuang narrowed here eyes as she launches a fierce Thundering Wind Hammer towards Rhino, blasting him back; though he slowed his overall momentum by planting his feet as well as his hammer. "But, I can see you're not gonna make it asy on us despite asking. Can't help but try, but it's still quite annoying of them. Well, I suppose beating them down a bit can be of some amusement. What do you say, Shifu? Mayve we should try a bit harder than what we're usually doing, right?"

"I don't wish to hurt them too much...but it does not seem that they're willing to move aside based on our words." Shifu admitted hesitantly as he glared at the duo, managing his distnce while thinking over the whole situation. He needed to get past them, and chase down Pai Mei immediately. But how was he going to do such a thing with Rhino and Chao in the way? Hopefully Fenghuang would help move them aside or at least distract them long enough for him to get past. Hold on a moment...she can, can't she...? "Fenghuang. Do you mind...?"

"No need to say it. I know." Fenghuang focused her eyes as she raised her wings, and then mightily flaps them. Rhino and Chao were blown away by the powerful wind gale, and they both ended up crashing right through several other bits of debris. "Alright, that should keep them down for the moment Go and chase down the others!"

"Understood!" Shifu nodded readily as he moves forward with the opening. He narrows his eyes as he pushes through the remaining wind pushing against his face, his cloak rippling along with it. Pai Mei...I don't know what you're up to, but I'll be sure to put a stop to it...!

Fenghuang nodded in approval, before she turned towards Rhino and Chao, the both of them recovering faster than she expected. It did look like they were going far past what their bodies were capable of taking. Definitely for Chao, but Rhino was much more durable than he was, so it was going to be rather tough for her to actually put Rhino away and knock him unconscious before he can do too much damage. As much as she tends to look down on them, Rhino was still a part of the Kung Fu Council, and they were not something to be easily underestimated. She'd have to be careful.

That is, she thought she had to be careful. Until...

SMASH!

Fenghuang blinked in astonishment as Su suddenly comes crashing down atop Master Rhino, briefly knocking Master Chao away due to the shockwave that resulted from such a blow. Sure grinned as she stared down at Rhino with his head beneath her foot, and began driving it further into the dirt with a sly smile.

"Awww...look at that. Looks like Master Rhino's will isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. It looks like I'll have to 'reluctantly' beat it out of you so that you can return to normal. It isn't like I'm using this opportunity as payback for humiliating me and my sisters years ago. I'm not that petty, certainly not." She then turned towards Fenghuang. "I think I have this one covered. You may want to keep moving if you hope to make any sort of significant progress."

"What about Chao-" Fenghuang asked, turning towards his direction, before nticing that he disappeared. She narrowed her eyes. "Dammit, he ran off. Ah well. Someone else can handle him."

"I'll look for him! Weeee!~" Master Yao voluntareed as he flies off with his green Wings of Light, and began his search. Fenghuang rolled her eyes as she flapped her wings and sared to another part of the ruined battlefield, leaving Su alone with Master Rhino. She grinned evilly down towards Rhino.

"Hear that, big guy? You're alllll mine. And mind-controlled or not, I'm gonna make you BLEED." She says this while extending her claws towards his throat...

Then, a brief look of Po's cheerful face flashed before her eyes. She stopped her advance, and sighed.

Fine...I'll hold back just a little...

"Bian Zao. Bian Zao. C'mon, get it together." Lian asked while lightly tapping his cheek. She, Bian Zao, the new Five, and Tai Lung were all very injured by the enlarged blast. Lian was currently trying to wake her friend. She kept gently tapping his cheek, while Taotie was looking over him with worry, and the Five were looking out for possible attackers, especially Tigress. She was definitely the most cautious, given how she notices that the smell in the air has grown a bit more sinster.

I'm definitely not liking the feeling of this...not at all...

"Aunt Tigress. I'm sure you can smell it too...we're definitely in serious trouble." Peng said while looking around.

"Indeed. Keep on your guard." Tigress said while adjusting her scarf. "Whatever is going on, it's affecting nearly everyone. We might have gotten ourselves caught in a consipacy. A coup of sorts."

"A coup? Awww...dammit. This is definitely not the time for us to be getting ourselves mixed up in something like that. Definitely not." Monkey shook his head while looking around. Destruction was aid all around them, and many innocents were injured from the blast. It was a bit of a miracle that was the worst that's happened to them from an immense blast like that.

"I wonder if the others are okay...whatever they're up to, I hope they're safe." Viper sighed a bit as she looked around for herself. "Nt many Masters around...they must be helping gather most of the innocents and helping them escape this blast zone."

Bian Zao eventually woke up, to the great and immense relief of Peng and Lian. He looked towards the both of them and their relieved faces, and then pays attention to the devastation that surrounded him and his friends. After a brief observation, he sighed and shook his head in slight mental exhaustion. "Man...this is not the day for this...I was actually looking forward to a good sleep tday."

"That'll have to wait until later, friend. We've got much more important things to worry about, which is finding our friends and taking a look to see whoever is repsonsible for this mess." Peng insisted towards him while helping him up, making sure he was stable enough to stand on his own. "Though I guess being blown up and actually surviving would make you want to prefer staying unconscious. Reduces the chance of them attempting to blow you up again."

"Nah. That wouldn't relaly work for the long run. If they were smart, they'd blow up the corpses just o be absolutely sure that their enemy is dead. Lucky for us, whoever our enemy is, they're confident enough to believe that the explosion was enough to incapacitate or kill nearly all of us. If we can take advantage of that, we can get ut of this as unscathed as we possibly can...or at the very least, we can assure that we won't die." Bian Za shrugged. "Either way is fine by me, so long as we survive whatever else is being thrown towards us in all this confusion."

"I managed to clear away most of the dust, at the very least. Does that matter a bit?" Crane asked, tucking in his wings while looking around for himself, making sure his hat was nie and secure. "Though even with that, we can't really see much because of all the debris, and I don't want to risk blowing them away hard enough to hit possible civilians around us."

"That definitely would have sucked for everyone in the blast zone. SO yeah, let's be a good sport and avoid that, shall we?" Mantis said while atop his hat, sighing. "Honestly, I wonder what else can go wrong today."

"...Please tell me you didn't just say that." Bian Zao sighed, lightly rubbing his face.

As Tai Lung was observing all of them, his eyes widened briefly as he felt something impacting his mind. He looks upwards to see a siamese cat floating right above him. Though a moment of self-clarification allowe him to confirm that it was just a mental projection to her true self. You...what do you want?

I can't really allow those five to live, you see. The New Furious Five. And guess what...you'll be the one who ultimately kills them.

You're clearly crazy. Why would I do something like that?!

Because. I may not be able to control you, but your case is special: I don't HAVE to control you...I just have to break your mental leash. She says while lowering her projection down to him, and lifting a finger. Let us release the monster that once devastated the Valley of Peace with his bare paws... She says menacingly as she touched his forehead.

Wait! What are yo-!

Snap.

Tai Lung growled a little at first, as he painfully grasped his head, stepping back a bit while his tail waved around in aggravation, and his fur bristled. His teeth bared and he felt his bloodlust rise to dangerous levels. The restraints on his more feral side have suddenly shattered, and he lost the fight to hold it back.

"GrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

The others lightly jumped at the sudden roar that seems to have echoed throughout the city, and Tigress especially could see Tai-Lung hunched over, his claws and fangs extending and his eyes turning into slits. The bloodlust that he wa scurrently generating suffocated the others aside from her. She glared at him while she stood her ground. While Bian Zao groaned and facepalmed in the background.

"See? This. THIS is why you don't say those things out loud."

A bit father away, Wing blinked as she raised her head, sitting on the unconscious form of a controlled Master Croc. She then chuckled sarcastically.

Well then...today just became significantly tougher to survive...