Tai Lung was standing tall along a cliff, simply staring out into the sky, very deep in thought. He didn't know what to think at this point, with everythint he's witnessed and heard, except that he didn't wish to be a burden, nor disappoint everyone anymore. Least of all his beloved sister. Her opinion of him was at an all time low despite wishing to reconnect with him.

That was his error. He got careless. Allowed something to force him to hurt his sister and his friends. While they might brush it off for the most part, it was still unforgivable towards his own honor, which he had decided to try and recover. Tai Lung was more ashamed of himself than anyone else, aside from maybe Tigress. His attempt at getting closer to her and making up for abandoning her for selfish reasons was hijacked.

Now their hearts couldn't be farther apart. Not only disappointing, but incredibly sad. It only got worse for him when he realizes that he also threatened Peng, who was for all he knew his only blood-related family left that he knew of. That made things doubly troublesome for him, because now he had to try and smooth things over with his long lost nephew that he never knew he had.

Honestly, what were the odds of that?

Certainly not worse odds than coming frighteningly close to killing said nephew along with his aunt, right? The aunt that has grown fiercely protective of him, right?

...

Tai Lung sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his tail swaying in aggravation. I'm disappointing myself the harder I try. No wonder I was never meant to be the Dragon Warrior...damn it, Po doesn't even care about being the Dragon Warrior! His first and only concern was how this might effect his friends, and Tigress. He wouldn't stop being himself because of a title. He shook his head, his eyes reflecting even more shame than before. Shows how humble a man Tai Lung was. Being denied what he saw was his destiny made him blind with rage and rampage through the Valley of Peace and injure/kill innocent people. Time would pass as he slowly realized he was never meant to be the Dragon Warrior and never would be. Most of it due to his own faults.

The worst part about that incident was that the Valley was destroyed and nearly all the villagers killed. So he can't even aplogize and repent to them. All he could do was mourn their loss. He almost growled in aggravation.

Why is it that when I try to be person I'm terrible at it? Yet when I was incredibly malevolent back then, I'm apparently a damn expert!? What is supposed to be my path in this life of mine?!

Alas, he had no answer. He simply sighed while folding his arms.

"You may as well come out. I doubt staring at me from afar is proving to be an interesting activity for those of your age."

Almost on cue, the trio came out one at a time, each with a varying degree of awkwardness. Peng was polite yet anxious, having his paws clasped together and looking at his uncle with an understandable degree of apprehension. Then there was Lian, who stood by his side with a supportive paw on his shoulder, though also giving Tai Lung himself a wary look. Again, understandable. Then there was Bian Zao...who, while scratching his back and yawning, looked like he would rather be napping than doing whatever it was they were doing. Or much of anything, really. He seemed to be mostly there because he knew his friends needed the support.

Once more: Understandable.

"Well? Are you three going to say something? You came here for a reason, didn't you?" Tai Lung asked again, turning towards them with his arms still crossed. "Because I do have doubts that any of you would seek me out simply for the sake of company."

"You're right about that." Lian said bluntly, which impressively made Tai Lung flinch. "Honestly, I would rather Peng not see you for a while because of that whole clash you had with him and the others. Right now, I don't want him anywhere near you. Not even within the same field of vision or breathing space." She sighed and shook her head. "But that's not really my call to make. You're his uncle, not mine. Thus I have little choice but to support him on his decision to come see you. Even if I'd rather he didn't for a while. Or potentially ever."

"Short version: Lian REALLY doesn't like you, man." Bian Zao summarized with a yawn.

"Not the...exact words I would use to describe us right now. But they do hold accuracy, I suppose?" Peng said as politely as he could, smiling awkwardly. It only made Tai Lung feel worse, in which he tried to hide his slightly hurt frown.

Not that it did much good, despite also knowing that he somewhat deserves it. He had been planning building a somewhat stable relationship with his long lost nephew that would eventually grow into a stronger bond, and now suddenly it was all thrown in the wind with that big crisis with the eclipse and all that. The city was still recovering and in the middle of being rebuilt. Though it would likely take quite a while for everything to settle down to the way things used to be. Overall, things were a mess, and he hated the fact he played a major part in it, willingly or not.

It sucked to be him, sometimes.

He took a deep breath, then sighed. He must regain control of himself. And in control of the situation he allowed himself to be out in. That spell Pang Bing spread was mostly affecting those who's will was weak. No, it wasn't that his will was weak. It was the fact that his years of discipline was so easily undone by her dark magic was truly a mark of shame. His own sister was able to hold onto her resolve, and yet he was unable to. It was very clear that Tigress was his superior in spirit. That, he wasn't ashamed to admit.

But that did not change the fact that he himself needed to be better. And the first step to taking control of his resolve once more was quite literally standing before him.

"...Hey, how long is he gonna keep staring off into space?" Lian whispered in Peng's ear, though not taking her eyes off of Tai Lung for a moment.

"He's thinking about some deep stuff, I'll bet." Bian Zao scratched his nose. "Ya gotta look at this from his perspective, Lian. He's been putting quite a bit of blood and sweat into rebuilding his bonds with people, and by a twist of both fate and cruddy luck, those efforts have been completely messed up. I'd be frustrated and thinking about what to do next, too."

Lian blinked, as well as Peng. Though in the latter case, he smiled. "So he's taking a bit of time to collect himself?"

"Right now, he's on seriously thin ice with nearly everyone. He doesn't wanna mess up again and make it worse." Bian Zao reasoned. "If anything, this is a pretty good test to see if his desires for that are truly genuine, both to us and to himself."

"...W-Wow, Bian Zao. You certainly took this in an area I didn't expect." Lian said, as she too took a bit of time to evaluate the situation and awkwardness. Lian had no more blood family to connect with anymore, so she probably wouldn't know what meeting one feels like. Especially when compared to Peng and Bian Zao, who only had their uncle and father respectively. All she had were her foster mothers in the infamous Wu Sisters.

The main thing to notice is that each of them have been seriously worse than they are today. Tai Lung devastated the Valley of Peace, Taotie created dangerous inventions that might pose a threat to even the most skilled of martial artists. And the Wu Sisters were the three most dangerous women in all of China.

Honestly, none could anticipate any of them altering their previous way of life so drastically, especially for someone else's sake. But surprisingly, that's exactly what happened to them in different ways. And it was for the sake of the children that were in their care. When making the comparison from that perspective, it feels that Tai Lung was the only one of the bunch who managed to fail. Though that's not a fault born completely of his own doing, as he truly didn't know Peng even existed until fairly recently. The rusty start he had trying to endear himself to said nephew only got rustier with the newest turns of of events.

It was time to step up and take responsibility for his follies.

"Ahem." Tai Lung cleared his throat, both preparing to speak and to remind himself that he can't stall forever. "Peng. Lian. Bian Zao. I...appreciate that you've taken tine out of your day to see me, despite recent events making you more than justified in staying away."

"Y-Yeah, well..." Peng rubbed the back of his neck. "We can't just avoid you. There's still things that we'd wish to do, after all. And you're a part of at least a few of them." He reasoned while looking up towards his taller, more muscular uncle. "Besides...family spats kinda happen a lot, right? This one was just radically more destructive when it comes to environments."

"Dude. Seriously?" Bian Zao deadpanned, though went blissfully ignored.

"What I'm saying is, it's times like these that further put bonds through intense trials. And not only do they them, they end up even stronger than ever because of it." Peng reasons again, lightly clenching his fists. "So instead of pushing us away from each other, we should come together and surpass this trial that life gave us."

"If you mean 'life' as in a crazy siamese cat who was pissed that her people were wiped out and tried to take it out on nearly everyone." Lian shrugged. "Something along those lines, anyway."

"...Your mate's sharp tongue matches her fiery spirit." Tai Kung chuckled. "I approve."

"Didn't ask for your approval." Lian nearly hissed at him, baring her fangs. Her sharp tone would make the Sword of Heroes feel dull.

"O-Of course not. How foolish of me..." Tai Lung was really feeling small under the glowering of this girl, because he knows how much he deserves it.

Peng sighed as he turned to Lian, holding her paws within his own to calm her. "Lian, please be civil."

"He was speaking on darker impulses when he tried to corrupt you, Peng. Pang Bing released his mental leash, she didn't take it over. Which means deep down he meant everything he said, even if he regrets saying it." Lian narrowed her eyes. "I don't want you alone with him."

Peng sighed while scratching his cheek. "I suppose that's fair."

"I'm being incredibly generous, Peng." Lian said bluntly. "Good and trustworthy uncles don't try to manipulate their nephews, much less try to corrupt them."

Tai Lung sighed. While it surely did hurt that the one who had won his nephew's heart could not trust him at all, it was more than justified. In a way, it assured him without a doubt that she would protect Peng and his heart from anything that has the highest chance of causing either harm. Even if the one she was protecting him from was his own uncle.

It was there before, a flash of fear spread across her face. But it was gone completely, never to return. Lian did not fear him anymore. As expected for someone raised and trained by the Wu Sisters. Even they feared him after the beating he gave them...and now he remembers he's on even thinner ice with Lian because he essentially beat up her surrogate mothers, which even further justifies Lian's extreme caution and hate towards him.

So, not only did he try to corrupt his nephew, he beat up the surrogate mother's of his significant other, too? Clearly, he wasn't getting anh awards for Uncle of the Year.

He really felt like clawing his eyes out due to how many holes he's dug himself into. He hasn't even fully climbed out of the very first one!

In any case, it was clear that Lian was fully prepared to take on Tai Lung for Peng's sake, even though she knew full well she was grossly outclassed by the formerly evil uncle in power and skill. In a way, it assured him even more that Peng was in good, loving paws.

"...So, uh, are we gonna help you guys work out you're really messed up family dynamic, or something?" Bian Zao yawned while scratching his nose. "I'd really rather take a nap, but I have to make sure Peng doesn't do something too stupid. Anything to pass the time until Po and then others get back."

Peng hummed lightly folding his paws and tapping his feet on the ground, before his eyes widened and quickly narrowed.

Bian Zao and Lian were left dumbfounded as Peng rushed towards Tai Lung and attempted a spinning roundhouse at his head. Tai Lung raised his arm to block it, though the impact caused a great deal of the ground them to crack and nearly give out. The other two gasped as Lian grabbed Bian Zao and leapt out of the way.

"Now what would this be, nephew?" Tai Lung raised an eyebrow while calmly looking into the ferocity flashing within his nephew's eyes. They were very much the same as his own, and the ferocious beast lying within them was also there. Younger, but very much present. They separated by pushing away from each other, with Tai Lung skidding away without loosing a steps and Peng backflipping before landing on his tests taking a stance towards his uncle.

"We're never going to get anywhere with this tension holding us down. So let's ease some of that through a fight." Peng declared as he clenched his paws into fists.

"Peng, you can't be serious!" Lian was baffled that Peng was really doing this right now, despite what his girlfriend and best friend had to say.

Tai Lung gazed down at his nephew, pondering over the challenge. After some thought, he chuckled as he grabbed the cloak he covered himself with, and throws it to the side. "I see. We'll communicate our thoughts better through an exchange of fists. That first blow actually had quite a bit of power behind it."

"I'll demonstrate more of it to you, right now."

"I'd be more than happy to experience that. Our first true, full-hearted interaction. The other two are free to join. Let's make this interesting."

"You asked for it." Lian narrowed her eyes as she leapt to Peng's side, cracking her knuckles as her tail whipped wildly in anticipation. "I'm getting some licks in for my mothers."

Bian Zao sighed as he got up, brushing himself off and shaking his head. "This is so lame. I'm seriously not into this gung-ho stuff. But I guess, since I'm outvoted..." He muttered before he walked towards the fray, with the crackling lightning of Jin Tian's Tempest pulsing through his arms.

Tai Lung huffed, as he clenched his fists,.cracking them slightly. "Alright then. Come at me, boy!"

Peng charged at his estranged uncle with a roar. It was easily outmatched by the more ferocious, grown roar of his uncle returning the favor. Lian charged forth, also with a fierce feminine roar.

Bian Zao ended up picking his ears in irritation due to all of the loud roaring.

Why do cats feel the need to be so loud...?

Things were tense.

Monkey, who was usually one of the more talkative members of the bunch, barely said a word the entire time once the chosen group set out in their mission.

Po, the Furious Five, Shifu, the Wu Sister's, Rhino, Ox, Croc, Fung, Song, Taotie, and both Mei Lings.

Fenghuang chose to stay behind and help with the Imperial City's recovery. She had enough faith in her pupil for him to not need to hold his paw. Po could accept that. He did, however, feel quite bad about not bringing Mr. Ping with him. He already missed his dear father's presence, and hoped Fenghuang and Shen would protect him. Avians stick together, after all.

"Hopefully Bian Zao doesn't get into too much trouble. Despite his laziness, he's become a magnet for it." Taotie hummed as he walked alongside Shifu and Mei Ling. Admittedly, Shifu felt a bit similar. After everything that's happened, it was probably best that he and Tai Lung spend some time apart. For their own sakes. Which is why Mei Ling and Taotie accompanied him, for emotional support.

Plenty of time passed, but he needed some time to come to terms completely.

"So, anyway, Jinzhou City. From what we've heard and read, it's a seriously seedy place, isn't it?" Po hummed as he lightly scratched his cheek, asking Su Wu for more confirmation.

"Indeed. Me and my sister's know the place quite well, like the back of our paws. We'll find your simian friend's brother in no time at all." Su smiled while lightly patting his other cheek, resisting the urge to caress it in front of Tigress. A bit late, as the fellow feline was gently allowing her claws to slide out while glaring at her. She smiled smugly and stepped back with her paws up in mock surrender.

"We're not gonna let him die, so you can stop looking like such a downer." Wan pouted as she bends over and poked a stoic Monkey's cheek. "The three of us know the importance of a sibling bond. So you can bet that we won't let you're be lost. We'll save him, for sure."

"I agree. Monkey, you need to chin up a bit, man." Mantis hopped atop Monkey's head, lightly tapping at him. "This isn't like you at all."

"Don't be like this for the entire time, Monkey. We know how serious this is for you, but you can't be looking like the world's suddenly out to get you." Crane lightly draped a wing over Monkey's form.

"Cheer up, Monkey. We'll save him. You can count on us." Viper slithered next to him, forming a gentle smile his way.

"We're not going to let things end like that, Monkey. We'll do something about all of this, I swear it." Tigress declared as she too slowed down so she could keep pace with Monkey.

Seeing how the four of them stopped around him when he was busy hanging his head, Monkey sighed. "Sorry, guys. I'm not trying to be a downer or anything. It's just, I don't know how this is gonna go. What could my brother have done to warrant a whole execution? That doesn't seem right at all."

"I suppose we shall find out when we get there. Given how you're mostly a decent enough simian, I highly doubt your brother is all that terrible, even if he is a criminal." Su Wu hummed while rubbing her chin. "Of course given the location, he may have actually gotten worse due to the environment. But an equally likely scenario is that there's some foul play involved."

"Foul play?"

"Your brother doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who'd do anything worse than steal from people whom he can't get away with stealing from. I don't think he could have stolen anything valuable enough to warrant an execution." Wing brought up with a huff. "We should take in the possibility that this Chairman Qing may simply have found an excuse to kill Wu Kong, after the latter did something he found distasteful."

Rhino was about to ask if she really felt like the Chairman could be that corrupt, but found himself silent after remembering that Jinzhou City isn't the most ideal of places. If Wu Kong was really being set for execution for something minimal, it'd would definitely need to be stopped. There's no sense of justice in anything he's heard about this situation so far.

"Woah! Guys, I can actually see it! Up ahead!" Po beamed as he pointed onwards. The rest of the gang broke their conversations for a brief moment to look in the direction that he was looking.

An ominous looking volcano that actually formed so it could have the most evil looking expression a volcano could muster, paired with a sinister glow that was likely due to the lava and magma stirring within. The skies around it were dark, the many rocks formed around it were jagged and sharp, and a mysterious, sinister fog surrounded the base of the mountain, giving off an eerie air. The rising magma near the time, and the red smog it created, made it look like demons were rising out from the pits of the underworld.

Crane, seeing all of this, took a deep breath, tilted his hat down, turns around, and begins walking away. "No."

"Crane-" Viper began.

"Nope."

"Crane..." Mantis attempted.

"I refuse."

"Be reasonable." Tigress sighed.

"Ain't happening."

"C'mon, man." Monkey pleaded.

"I wish you luck, truly. But no means no."

"But it'll be cool!" Po smiled with a wave.

"Forget it."

"Please, Crane?" Mei Ling appeared before him, clasping her paws and looking deeply into his eyes. Crane tried to resist to the best of his ability, but Mei Ling placed a paw beside his head to insist he look her in the eyes. He barely lasted ten seconds before he groaned loudly towards the sky.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaah! I don't wanna go! Why do we have to go near such a freaky place?!"

"It's such an awesome place to explore, isn't it? What better backdrop to mount an awesome rescue?" Po beamed positively. Crane quickly swooped upon him, placing his wings on his shoulders.

"Po. That mountain has a face. A face only demons make. It's magma smog makes it looks like actual demons are coming out of it, and I swear they look like they wanna gobble us up, and I'm pretty sure I'd be the appetizer! They wouldn't get much out of my skinny legs, Po! It's the wings they'll go for the most! The point is, this place is giving off bad vibes in every possible way, and we have to go up there just to get to Jinzhou City, where the worst of the worst are gathered!

"I know!" Po beamed, tilting his hat upwards. "It's pretty awesome, huh?~"

"STOP GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS, DAMN YOU!" Crane panic squawked in his face, with Po blinking with a casual smile.

Wing took a deep whiff of the area, and sighed. "Rocky, heated, smells like napalm...oh it's good to be home."

"From the outside, it hasn't changed one bit! Though we won't know until we get into the city! Oh I'm so excited!" Wan exclaimed cheerfully, her tail waving with glee.

"I suspect our fortress has been cleaned out long ago without our occupation. Oh well, we won't be needing it much anymore, anyway." Su shrugged. She then turned to Po, then looked at Tigress. Smirking, she goes on to hug the panda's arm, pressing her chest up against him. "But even so, I can't help but feel a tiny bit intimidated. It's been so long since we've been here, who knows what new dangers lie within? Oh, but surely Po will be here to look after us all, right? Being such a big and strong panda in both body and heart, he'll be sure to help everything work out.~"

"Course I will! You can count on me!" Po promises with a thumbs up.

"Oh my, you're such a kind soul, Po! I don't know what we would do without you!" Su played up her gratitude, while sneaking a cheeky eye towards Tigress, who's caught onto her and was not looking very happy. Su's response was to stick out her tongue.

"Never thought we'd come all the way out here again." Ox muttered as they began making their way upwards. "Still as rough as ever. Though I'd have to see what the inside is like."

"Surely it cannot be that bad. I know not many of us check on this place, but it couldn't possibly be as bad as we're all thinking." Croc attempted to reason.

"Only one way to find out." Rhino declared neutrally. If the trio recalled correctly, Jinzhou was in a less than pleasant state the last time they were here. The fact that it's somewhat still up and running means someone was definitely taking charge here. And not in a way that benefits the citizens who live within it, they could guess.

After a while, they finally made it to the entrance, where several guards could be seen. They didn't really look like esteemed guards, though. They looked more like thugs that could be picked off the street. The gate itself wasn't even closed, but wide open. And within it, they could see how dark it truly was within the city, with shady citizens going about their business. Or ditching the 'shade' and just picking fights out in the open. All in the meantime, a pig child casually pickpockets of the fighters while they're distracted.

"Ah, such a lovely first impression." Mei Ling the Rogue hummed. She felt very much at home despite never being here before.

"Yep. It really is exactly as we left it." Ox muttered his displeasure, waving in front of his nose.

"I concur. If anything, it feels a tiny bit worse." Croc shook his head. "Keep close to me, Fung."

"Alright, okay."

"Well, I've been wrong before." Rhino sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.

The Wu Sisters, however, couldn't be happier.

"There's no doubt about it. Nothing's changed all that much!" Wan Wu beamed as she clasped her paws cheerily. "It's like we never left!"

"Glad to know we can still recognize the place. Still dirty, still smelly, still shady." Wing Wu stretched her paws out with a smile. "Yeah, this is pretty neat."

Su Wu couldn't help but feel like doing something grandiose. So she cleared her throat after stepping a few feet forward, and spreads her paws out with a huge smile. "People of Jinzhou! Greetings to you all!"

Everyone in the vicinity heard the voice, and stopped what they were doing. Po noticed that most of them immediately began shaking in their laws as they reluctantly looked towards the source of the voice. They first spotted Su Wu, then Wing Wu, and finally Wan Wu. All three of them were looking quite lively, with the first having her paws on her hips, the second stretching her pawsz and the third having her paws clasped with a cheery smile.

A forgotten terror suddenly reemerges from within their hearts.

"N-N-No way..."

"It's really them?!"

"The Wu Sisters?!"

"There's no doubt, that was Su Wu's voice!"

Silence quickly ensued. Then...

"SCATTER!"

"RUN AWAY!"

"EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILDREN FOR THEMSELVES!"

Everyone ran from the sight of the feline trio, hiding wherever they could as much as they could, so they could avoid having any of the sisters looking at them.

"D'aww! They remembered us, sis! How sweet!" Wan cooed, her eyes sparkling happily.

"Good for them. Saves us the trouble of reestablishing ourselves." Wing Wu cracked her neck, smirking darkly at what she would have done if they weren't recognized.

Su Wu took a deep, nostalgic breath, and sighed dreamily, placing a paw on her cheek.

"It feels so good to be home."