A Repeat of Life

The tournament began. Xiwang stepped onto the elevated platform again and faced off his opponent. The crowds hoarded in to watch. Ai stood with her comrades below the landing where the old Furious Five and Shifu stood. The massive courtyard erupted in cheers as Xiwang's purple vest fluttered in the wind.

The female opponent was a snow leopard. What a surprise, Xiwang thought in a sigh. He glanced at Ai's glare set on the female snow leopard.

Why did this one get her upset?

It was quite a wild guess, but Xiwang had to ask the question either way. "Wait, who exactly are you?"

The snow leopard flirtatiously smiled, "My name is Lu-Ying, apprentice and daughter of-"

"Master Song?"

"Y-Yes. How did you know?" Her bright blue eyes, gloved hands, and slimming vest echoed what Po had told him about his life. And his former female friends.

"Just a big, big guess," Xiwang grunted, annoyed. Ever since the revelation of who his master was, Xiwang started to see the similarities between Po's life crashing into his own. The villains, the friends, the hostility, even the food. At what point was the black panther just going to walk right in and get the Dragon Scroll to become Dragon Warrior?

Xiwang shook his head. "Alright, time to fight." The black panther launched at the snow leopard who nimbly ducked out of the way. She smacked his back, nearly pushing him off the platform. Xiwang jumped away from the edge. The snow leopard held her smirk as she readied her stance. "Okay, so she's trying to end this on a technicality. Great." Xiwang smashed his fist against her arm. He swung his leg, but Lu-Ying jumped over, smacking her foot against his face. Xiwang tumbled back, nearly getting pushed off the platform. "Whaaa! Whew, that was close."

"You might want to give up. Even Ai has a hard time defeating me," Lu-Ying smirked. Xiwang narrowed his eyes. "Hey, no hard feelings. Maybe we can get lunch after this?"

"Huh?" Xiwang's face broke. The snow leopard laughed.

"You're pretty cute when you're flustered."

Xiwang groaned and shook his head. He ducked from a punch to the face. Swinging his foot, he forced Lu-Ying away, back to her own side of the platform. She tittered cheekily, blowing kisses at him. Xiwang rolled his eyes.

Then his eyes widened, and a broad smile grew across his face. "You know, why don't we cut to the chase and talk about why you're really here."

"Huh?"

Xiwang smirked as he strolled toward her. "Come on. You know you like me. You wouldn't have traveled all the way here just to face me and then flirt with only me. You haven't used your charm on any other contestant."

"Uuuhhh," Lu-Ying's throat turned dry.

"What the heck is he doing?" Zhang the Gorilla asked.

"Flirting," Ai growled. The white tiger could spot Lu-Ying's master nearby. Song watched on, smiling to herself and shaking her head.

But why?

"No, you're just messing with me." Lu-Ying shook her head. Xiwang gently grabbed her chin.

"Am I?" He smiled. He softly grabbed her hands and looked long into her blue eyes. "Yes, yes I am."

"WHAT?!"

Xiwang clutched the snow leopard, twirled her around, and flung her off the platform. She crashed onto the floor and out of the ring.

"XIWANG WINS!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one HAHAHAHAHAH!" Wang the buffalo laughed. The crowd erupted into cheers. Master Shifu smiled at the sight.

"Why are you smiling Master Shifu?" Mantis asked.

"Doesn't this whole thing seem familiar to you?" Shifu pointed out. The Furious Five thought for a moment before erupting in laughter. The red panda's eyes spotted Song helping Lu-Ying up from her spot of defeat. Xiwang jumped off the platform and ran up to the two snow leopards.

"Hey, are you okay? No hard feelings, right?" Xiwang smiled nervously.

Lu-Ying glared and huffed. "I'm not talking to you."

"Oh come on, you would've done the same thing to me."

"It's not the same."

"What the-Yes it is!" Xiwang argued.

"That's enough," said the older snow leopard. "You fought very... well, Xiwang." Her smile faltered for a moment. "You almost remind me of-"

"Po?"

"Ye-Yes? Are you his-"

"My master is Master Yin, a goose," Xiwang said, almost rehearsed. Song narrowed her eyes at the black panther, scanning his body. Xiwang shifted his eyes away; Po mentioned Song being able to pick up a liar with ease.

That or Po and Xiwang were just bad liars. Both could be true. "Um... well, I have to go get ready for the next match. Sorry about that match, Lu-Ying."

"I don't want to talk to you," She pouted childishly.

"Oh come on, you know I'm not that bad," Xiwang smiled in a goofy manner. Lu-Ying opened one eye only to hide her giggle.

"Hmph, I guess not."

"Next up! Ai against Egun!"

"That's Ai! I've got to go. Thanks for the fight, Lu-Ying." Xiwang ran off to stand by the new Furious Five. Lu-Ying smiled widely.

"You like him?" Song asked.

"What? No, no Master Song. I would never-"

"It's okay," Song grinned. "He reminds me of someone I used to like too."

The black panther ran over to the others. "Hey, guys." The others stared at him with smirks and long grins. Xiwang rubbed the back of his head. "Guys, it was just a fight. Nothing... I did it because I had to umm..."

"Yesssss?" Li the Lizard hissed cheekily.

"Ugh, never mind," Xiwang blushed. He looked to the stage. The male snow leopard and the female white tiger were already in place. Egun tightened the wrappings around his forearms and calves. His forearms and calves were much bigger than his upper arms or his thighs. He almost looked like those bad paintings of Po that Xiwang did when he was much younger. "Hmmm."

"What's wrong?" Nu Wuya the raven asked.

"Nothing, it's just... doesn't his arms and calves look... weird to you?" The team looked at each other before staring at the snow leopard. "Something about him doesn't sit right with me."

"You mean because it's Egun?"

"No, something else. I don't know," Xiwang said.

"Begin!"

Ai launched at Egun. The snow leopard ducked. The two clashed between their forearms. The smug grin on Egun's face enraged Ai, but the tiger kept fighting. Egun threw a punch. Suddenly, Ai skidded back all the way to the other side of the ring, barely tumbling over the edge. She floundered back a bit but jumped away, regaining solid ground.

"Wow, he's gotten stronger!" Zhang said.

"No, I don't think so," Xiwang muttered. Egun jumped into the sky and rammed his foot down on Ai. She tried to block it, but the tiger broke down to the ground, flat on her face. "Come on, Ai, you can do this!"

"Hahahaha, what's wrong, kitten? Can't handle the stronger cat?" Egun boasted. Ai growled and slowly got back up. Lunging forward, she stormed him with a flurry of fast punches, but one punch to the gut from Egun sent her skidding across the platform, touching the edge. She had her mother's battle tactics as a gut reaction and all of them were telling her one thing.

She would lose this fight quickly.

Her muscles throbbed. Each punch or kick she took from Egun felt like a long sword ramming through her body. She staggered to her left. The fight barely lasted about 2 minutes and she already felt like puking out her muscles. "Awww, come on, Ai," Egun teased. "You know you can't do it. That was enough force to bring down a rhino. You can't win."

"I... I...I... I can't," She whispered to herself. She shut her eye. "How is he this strong? Argh, I... I'm sorry Mother. I... I can't-"

"Grrrrr AI!" Xiwang shouted from the sidelines. The two fighters stopped and looked. "Quit acting like you've got something to prove and start fighting like you want to do your best! Stop listening to that dumb voice in your head that sounds like this loser and fight back! You're much stronger than this, so start acting like it!"

Ai blinked, still holding her shoulder. She nodded and slowly forced herself up, getting back into her stance. The crowd went wild with applause. Egun rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter what the panther says. You can't beat me as long as I touch you."

"Huh?" The snow leopard punched and kicked the tiger, but Ai jumped back each time. His kicks sent wind and gusts tumbling over the ring, past Ai's ears. "Wait a minute."

"Stop moving around!"

Ai jumped and balanced herself on his head. The snow leopard struck his head, sending himself straight to the ground. "AHHHH!" The force crumpled him like paper, and he lay flat on his face, struggling to move.

Ai quickly grabbed and undid Egun's forearm wrappings. Two multicolored stones dropped out. "AH HA! I knew it!"

"Wait, I know those stones," Xiwang pointed out. "They're the Wang-Hu stones of wind. Anyone who fights with them controls the wind."

Master Shifu jumped onto the ring from the landing and undid the snow leopard's leg wrappings that had the same stones. He glared at the whimpering spotted leopard. "Which means that Egun cheated." Shifu grabbed Egun and tossed him at the foot of Peng. Master Peng scowled at his apprentice. "Your student is disqualified from the tournament, Peng."

"I understand Master Shifu." Peng picked up Egun by the cusp of his shoulder. "I'll make sure that my former student pays dearly. I apologize for his disgraceful behavior." Peng threw Egun to some of his assistants, and the young snow leopard was escorted away.

"Ironic," Crane mumbled to his friends, "An apprentice of Tai-Lung's nephew defeated by Po's daughter. Not exactly a repeat of history but still." The other Furious Five agreed.

Xiwang's eyes widened, "Wait, then that means-"

"Ai wins!" The crowd erupted in praise and cheers as Zeng held the white tiger's hand up. But the tiger only looked towards her comrades, specifically at a black panther. She grinned wide and long; a smug smirk is probably the best description of it. As Xiwang crossed his arms and smirked back at her, everyone knew why they had those faces.

The next round would be the final round.

The next round would be Ai against Xiwang.

Continued...