Chapter 16: A Thread of Hope

Wind whipped around Tigress' face as she continued to run, her comrades right alongside her.

She didn't know or really care how long or how far they had traveled since they left the Valley of Peace, all that mattered was they had to find and stop Tai Lung before he could take his ramage to the valley and to the Jade Palace.

She knew they wouldn't charge past their target, she could feel it in her bones, they were close.

They were coming up to the Thread of Hope, a series of wooden rope bridges stretched between several mountain peaks above a large canyon, the huge abyss below being shrouded with a thick layer of mist that concealed any signs of there being a bottom.

As they reached the gates to the first bridge, the Five slowed down to catch their breath.

And right there, on the other side of the bridge was the infamous Tai Lung himself.

Tigress' fists clenched as she stared down at the snow leopard just a bridge away from them, a growl building in her throat as she narrowed her amber eyes.

Throwing them a snarl, Tai Lung bolted across the rickety bridge on all fours, charging towards them.

"CUT IT!" Tigress shouted to her friends.

Without hesitation, each of the Five sliced the ropes securing the bridge to the mountain peaks and causing the bridge to fall, and hopefully Tai Lung with it.

But the snow leopard had managed to get close enough to them to be within jumping distance as he made a last second leap towards the cliff's edge and for them.

Tigress watched for a moment as Tai Lung flew towards them, his claws extended out as he snarled.

Deciding to act, Tigress leapt into the air and delivered a perfect kick-flip to the snow leopard's jaw, sending him flying back. That would have been the end right there, but Tigress quickly realized that she had leapt too far forward from the safety of the cliff.

Her comrades seemed to realize this too as they each grabbed the ropes, holding the bridge taut as Tigress and Tai Lung both landed on the middle of the bridge face to face.

This was it for Tigress. She had been training for this moment her whole life.

She assumed her usual defensive stance, her muscles tensing as her eyes never left the snow leopard.

Tai Lung, however, did not assume any stance whatsoever. Instead, he leaned against the ropes of the bridge lazily, "Where's the Dragon Warrior?" He asked in a very casual manner, as if he were asking what's for dinner.

"How do you know you're not looking at her?" Tigress shot back, still maintaining her stance.

Tai Lung actually laughed. "You think I'm a fool?" He then asked, frowning. "I know you're not the Dragon Warrior - none of you!"

Tigress growled lowly, how dare he think she and her friends were beneath him. This monster truly had no honor if he couldn't at the very least respect his fellow warriors.

"I heard how he fell out of the sky on a ball of fire…" Tai Lung spoke, walking along the rope before leaping onto the bridge, "... that he and his guardians are warriors unlike anything the world has ever seen." He smirked as he arrogantly strolled towards her, Tigress growling at him again as a warning to keep his distance.

"Po?!" Monkey asked, confused as he and the others exchanged confused glances.

"Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo too!?" Viper exclaimed, sounding rather shocked.

"So that is his name… Po." Tai Lung mused, testing the name as it rolled off his tongue. "And I suppose those are the pathetic names of those whom he calls his guardians." He then smirked. "Finally, a worthy opponent." He said dramatically, implying that Tigress and the rest of the Five were not worthy of course, "Our battle will be legendary!"

With a snarl, Tigress launched herself at the snow leopard. Tai Lung would not get the Dragon Scroll, nor see the Jade Palace, or Shifu ever again. She would see to that, she would stop this monster once and for all.

The fight was fast-paced, almost a blur as Tigress threw everything she had at the snow leopard, punching and kicking at him with all her might as they exchanged blows, with Tai Lung blocking and redirecting all of her strikes with lightning quick precision.

However, Tigress eventually managed to catch him off guard with a spinning kick to the face, stunning him.

Taking advantage of this, Tigress wrapped her legs around Tai Lung's throat and grabbed the ropes, using her momentum in an attempt to throw the snow leopard off the bridge.

However, Tai Lung managed to grab the rope to keep himself from falling. He then launched himself into the air, uppercut kicking Tigress in the jaw and stunning her before disappearing into the clouds above.

Shaking her head, Tigress narrowed her eyes to block out the glare of the sun just in time to see Tai Lung coming back down towards her, his fist pulled back in a readied punch.

Acting fast, Tigress used her strength to flip the bridge upside down, using it as a bit of shield. But Tai Lung burst through the wooden boards like cardboard as the fight continued.

The feline quickly blocked a couple punches from the snow leopard before throwing a kick which Tai Lung caught. Her attempts to pull her leg were futile as Tai Lung ripped her from the bridge before letting her go above the abyss below.

In a moment of pure instinct, Tigress lashed out with her claws, grasping the snow leopard's arm to save herself from falling to her death. Normally, she would always feel guilty for letting her more primal side take over as she had been trained all her life to keep that side under control, but seeing as the person she was currently fighting was no stranger to using his own claws to harm others, she felt little remorse in giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Tai Lung howled in pain as Tigress' claws pierced the skin of his arm. She then kicked him in the chin as the two resumed their fight. However, Tai Lung was quickly gaining the upper hand as he was clearly much faster than the striped feline.

Seeing their leader-of-sorts fighting a losing battle, the rest of the Five knew they could no longer sit around and do nothing.

"We've got this!" Monkey told Viper and Crane as they handed him their ropes. "Help her!"

Back under the bridge, Tai Lung landed several strong and powerful kicks to Tigress' head, with the striped feline unable to retaliate quickly enough, her head spinning from dizziness and her vision swimming.

He was so fast, too fast. It was almost like he was everywhere all at once.

Tai Lung delivered a double kick to Tigress' chin that sent her crashing through the bridge. Tigress didn't even get a chance to recover as Tai Lung burst through the bridge and landed a kick that sent her flying backwards, shattering the rickety wooden boards of the bridge as she crashed against them.

While she was stunned, Tai Lung twisted the ropes on the bridge until they caught the striped feline by the throat, essentially choking her.

As the ropes tightened around her neck, Tigress felt more and more like she was on the verge of passing out when Viper suddenly slithered up the ropes, rushing to save her feline sister. She used her tail like a whip as she jabbed at the snow leopard's nose and caused him to release the ropes.

Before she could black out, Tigress felt the ropes constrained around her neck release themselves as the wind whipped by her. It didn't take her long to realize she was falling.

As she fell down into the misty abyss below, Crane swooped down into the fog and grabbed her by the arm before hoisting her back up, saving her life.

Back on the bridge, Viper hissed as she wrapped herself around Tai Lung neck and wrist, doing her signature coil and control move as she used his own strength against him by making the snow leopard repeatedly punch himself in the face.

As she attempted to slither away, Tai Lung growled and reached out, managing to get ahold of her 'throat' if you could call it that.

"Monkey!" Viper wheezed as she was pulled back down.

"Go!" Mantis shouted to his simian friend, who quickly handed him his rope before going in to join the battle, leaving the bug to hold up the entire bridge on his own. "Ack! What was I thinking?!" He cried, instantly regretting his choice.

With a yell, Monkey leapt forward and delivered a kick to Tai Lung's chest that sent the snow leopard flying back as well as causing him to release his hold on Viper.

Getting back up, Tai Lung sprinted on fours towards them, switching back and forth between ropes in an attempt to confuse his enemies.

"Mantis!" Tigress called, seeing what the snow leopard was doing as Crane hoisted her back up towards the cliff.

Gritting his teeth, Mantis used all of his strength to whip the ropes, sending a sine wave shooting along the bridge, the ropes knocking Tai Lung off balance.

"NOW!" Tigress yelled as she and the rest of the Five charged forward.

Monkey leapt up with a screech, landing a powerful sidekick to Tai Lung's chest.

Viper was up next as she slithered along Monkey's shoulders before using her tail to slap the snow leopard hard enough to send him spinning.

Up next was Crane as he used his beak to grab one of the ropes as he kicked Tai Lung to keep him air-born. He then swooped around the snow leopard, wrapping him up tightly in the rope.

Finally, last but absolutely not the least, Tigress jumped up from the ropes, Crane giving her a little boost as she pulled her arms back with a snarl and then thrusting them forward with all her might into her signature double-palm strike, sending the snow leopard flying down into the abyss.

Using her claws, Tigress cut the other rope holding the bridge together as Mantis pulled them all back to the safety of the cliff.

They watched as Tai Lung let out a roar of fury while he disappeared into the mist below, the bridge he was bound to banging against the jagged mountain in the middle of the abyss.

The Furious Five all breathed a collective sigh of relief as they panted breathlessly, tired from such a long and hard battle.

Just as she was about to turn away and start the journey back however, Tigress' ear twitched as she heard something coming from the mist.

She turned back and narrowed her eyes to see the other end of the bridge slowly beginning to circle around the mountain, moving faster and faster.

Tigress' amber eyes slowly widened with dread as the rope came around the other end before whipping up into the sky.

To her horror, Tai Lung was gone.

Before any of them could register what was happening, a sudden crash from behind them caused them to turn around, shocked to see Tai Lung standing there mere inches from them.

"Shifu taught you well…" Tai Lung said to them, an eerie grin on his lips. Before any of them could react, he thrusted his fist forward and hit Monkey in the chest.

Monkey yelped as a blue light lit up his body before he collapsed to the ground, frozen and paralysed while the rest of the Five gasped in horror.

"... but he didn't teach you everything."