Chapter 39 : Disappear in Plain Sight

Those volley of knives flew down rapidly. Shifu looked up and stared at them in shock. He shut his eyes.

But those sharp objects did never touch him.

A pair of arms pushed him aside. Po blocked those knives for that red panda. His face was bleeding but he seemed not care about that.

As he did the blocking, a tiger claws ripped his left cheek.

Po let out a sharp cry of pain.

And at the same time, before he was ready to get himself prepared on the next attack, a hard kick hit him in the chest. The panda was thrown and crashed into the wall hardly.

Po felt his entire body was completely in pain.

Tigress walked approaching him with a death glare. Po tried to arise but he couldn't as he just realized that his legs were broken.

The tigress drew her last knife and gripped it very tightly with her right paw. "Why don't you fight back?!"

Po breathed heavily as he did bear the pain. "I can't." He replied, trying to set a smile despite the pain. "We're not supposed to fight each other."

Tigress groaned furiously. "Fight me!" Her grip on the knife was getting stronger but she paused the fight.

With his little remaining strength, Po struggled to sit up. The dust around cell made him cough.

"Tigress," he tried to speak up. "I will … never fight you back. It's just … this is not right. We're buddies."

Tigress laughed mockingly. "We?"

"I exactly understand your feeling." Po continued. His voice was starting to sound weak but he still tried to act normal and friendly. "You must have through tough time lately. But please just listen to me ; The destiny may dictate your path but the choice is always in your hand."

For a moment, surprisingly, Tigress was silent as she listened to the panda talking.

"It's not late to stop this." The panda coughed again. "We can go back just like we used to be, where you, me, and also Crane, Mantis, Monkey and Viper, protected this Valley and China together from evil villains."

The panda smiled, hoping the same thing from the tigress.

A doubt was upon Tigress' face.

Not late? That panda told her that it was not late to stop her deeds to China?

Well, he was totally wrong. It had been too late to go back. She had gone too far. There's no coming back. She had taken an oath to avenge her adoptive mother and make all people who had caused all tigers of Darknest Land live in suffer since a thousand of years ago pay their mistake.

Why? Her life was so perfect. She was one of the most honorable warriors in the whole China. But then everything changed drastically when her true yet surprising identity -she hadn't known about it before- was revealed ; that she was a reincarnation of a murderous leader from a thousand of years ago. At the time when she needed supports from people around her, they avoided and became afraid of her.

And even worse, her comrades began to keep off of her when she was being around and Shifu had no another better choice but to send her away over Gongmen City whereas that red panda master had already promised her to be always her side.

When she thought that she did not have any place to stay, Yuan Sheng showed her Darknest Land, a place where she was supposed to be (according to him). There, everyone gave her a warm welcome.

And when she just started a new life with her new family, she must face with another bitter reality as her adoptive mother was killed brutally by some ruthless assasins outside Darknest Land.

Since then, she learnt that nobody wanted tigers' presence to exist in China since a legendary battle a thousand of years ago. People could not forgive for what Khan - the deceased leader of tiger clan - had done to China. They just wanted to exterminate all tigers. And for the consequence, all tigers lived in affliction and sorrow in a land of isolation aftermath.

Tigress, that was destined as Khan's successor, was the only hope of all tigers to bring glorious back they had lost. They relied on her and she swore to protect the happiness she just got.

For her deceased mother, she had decided to protect her people, by choosing and follow the path that was already written in her fate.

But there was someone else destined to stop her. And that someone was none other than the panda right in front of her - her own former comrade - who just pleaded with her to stop and come back with him.

Her expression slowly went cold.

She had gone this far. Her sin was unforgivable.

She and this dragon warrior must fight, just like what had been written in their fates.

"Destiny is a destiny," she finally said after a few seconds of silence. "We don't have any another option but to follow and fulfill it."

"But, Tigress. We can still—"

"Your Majesty!" Someone suddenly called her out.

About fifty soldiers rushed up all of a sudden. The sound of a crash from their recent fighting must be loud enough to hear and make the soldiers came to check out the dungeon.

Shifu soon got himself ready to fight them. He was outnumbered, indeed. But his power was more powerful than a hundred of tigers.

The soldiers began to make a line form and started to pull their bows and aimed its arrows right to Po and Shifu. The giant panda and the red panda were being surrounded.

"There's no another way, Dragon Warrior." Tigress stated as she took a slight glance at her soldiers behind her. "The only way to stay alive is to fight me."

"You … don't call me Po anymore?"

Tigress chuckled. "Po was just a piece memory of my past. Now, I'm only attending the future."

The tigress moved backwards. Shifu kept watching over her without even blinking.

"So, this is how it's going to be." She said with a smile. "I thought this would be a legendary battle but disappointingly, I was wrong. You are no match for me."

She lifted her arm up and pointed her index finger at Po as she gave an order to her soldiers standing right behind her. "Fire."

The panda was still not able to move from his spot. However, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't die so easily. Besides, doesn't miracle always happen when he is in need of help?

A second later, the arrows were already released and sent flying towards Po.

At the same moment, a miracle really occured.

"Hee …yah!"

Four figures appeared from nowhere. Three of them attacked those soldiers while the other one blocked those firing arrows with a pair of wings.

"Guys!" Po called out in amazement. The four came to help.

Tigress was taken completely by surprise. "Attack!"

Within three seconds, that dungeon turned into a chaos. Even Shifu joined in that fight in order to help his students.

Tigress growled. She goggled at the only one who was not joining in the fight beside herself.

The Gods must be protecting that panda.

Crane grabbed Po by the shoulders and lifted him up to carry him. "We don't have much time." He said hurriedly.

Po was upset, letting his bird friend carry him fly. "Huh?"

The fighting had yet come to an end but the four concluded that it would be better to run away.

"Master Shifu. Hurry." Viper called her master as she strangled one of those soldiers using her tail.

Shifu hopped up high and landed on one of the soldiers' head. The said soldier became palsied before he collapsed to the floor. "Follow my lead."

Mantis, Viper and Monkey stopped themselves from that unfinished fighting and ran leaving that dungeon. Crane had to keep carrying Po since that panda was still unable to use his broken legs to run.

"After them!" Tigress ordered her soldiers.

Soon, those tigers chased the warriors as they kept on shooting at them with arrows and spears.

"This way." Shifu said, turning left through a long and narrow corridors. His students followed him. They did never slow their running speed or those tigers would get them.

"Stop them." One of the soldiers ordered when he caught a glimpse of Shifu and the four just before they out of the sight.

The soldiers kept on running after them through some dark narrow hallways as they constantly kept firing at the warriors. The four and master Shifu had to sprint fast and carefully to avoid themselves from the arrow showers.

Shifu spotted a door at the end of the hallway. He knew that the sacred Hall of Warriors was exactly right behind that closed door. The red panda master speeded up his running speed and as he was close enough to the said door, he leaped and kicked it open.

"Quick!" Shifu ordered his students as he entered the hall.

Then unexpectedly, he braked his speed as he found two another tigers waiting calmly for them in that hall along with hundreds of soldiers.

Emperor Tiger smiled … and then exclaimed to his thousands of soldiers. "Get them!"

Shifu set a serious look on his face. It was not arduous to past through them. He sprinted rapidly approaching the gate, flinging some tigers in the process with no effort at all. Within seconds, he had reached the palace terrace.

It was still dark out, but it seemed to be in that twilight time when he knew the sun was about to rise.

"Master Shifu." The red panda heard his students call him. Shifu turned behind over his shoulder.

The four had to strive and struggle to past through that crowd tigers. Monkey kicked and overthrew some of them using his tail. Mantis paralyzed some soldiers he passed with his nerve attack. Viper slithered promptly along the floor, trying her best to not get trampled by the soldiers' feet. Crane dodged some firing arrows and ducked his head as he flew to keep himself and Po safe.

After through that hard tussle, they finally managed to reach their master at the terrace. The next thing they should do was to run down the stairs.

But Shifu had a different idea.

"Jump."

The four stared at each other, confused.

Without another word, Shifu flew through the air, jumping down towards the village in the valley below without using stairs … and landed safely. Ordinary people must had died as they fell and hit the ground like that. Luckily, Shifu was not an ordinary one. He's a Kung Fu Master.

"Go!" Monkey yelled as he noticed the soldiers were still chasing them.

The four followed their master to jump down. Crane released his grip on Po's shoulder and let that panda fly down rapidly, making the panda scream in the process. But then the avian quickly grabbed him again by the shoulder and carry him the last second before Po hit the ground.

Monkey took a glance behind him. Dozens of tigers were seen running down the stairs speedy.

"They're still after us." He said in panick.

"They will never find us." Shifu told him. "Keep on running."

The red panda led his students into a narrow and dark alley. He and his students stopped to take a rest. The soldiers hadn't given up on finding them but as long as they didn't do something that might attracted any attention, they would just be fine.

"Is anyone hurt?" Shifu asked his students.

The four shook their heads as they breathed in deeply. Monkey rested his back against the wall, trying to get himself relax from maceration.

"Ouch!" Po groaned in pain.

Shifu startled. "Panda?"

Po held his stomach. Mantis checked him out. A serious injury was found on his belly.

"He's wounded!" The bug exclaimed.

The others soon surrounded the panda. Blood was flowing throughout his wound. The panda looked weak and desperately trying to bear the pain. Apparently, one of Tigress' knives had injured him when Po was attacked by the said tigress.

Viper looked worried. "Hold on, Po."

The four and Shifu helped Po sit. The panda hardly tried to speak but no word could be uttered.

"Don't push yourself. Your body can't handle it." Shifu advised him.

The panda's breath was getting heavier and heavier, breathing in and out in hissed. Everytime he attempted to move one of his limbs just made the pain increasingly became worse and worse. His body became weaker and weaker by seconds.

He could not feel anything more as his body slowly collapsed into the ground. He could still hear a faint sounds of his friends calling out his name but no response he was able to give.

.

.

Then, everything went black.

.

.

"Panda!" Shifu called out. He shook his student's shoulder only to get no reaction.

Crane was shocked. "Master. Is he …"

"He lost a lot of blood." Shifu said, sounding worried. "I am afraid he's …" He trailed off as if unable to continue his words.

"Master?" Crane called. "He's still alive, isn't he?"

Shifu examined Po, putting his index finger under the panda's nostrils and checking out his pulse. Then an expression of relief came up to the red panda's face. "He's sleeping."

The four let out a sigh, feeling relieved as well… but not for long as something from above landed in front of them with a crash abruptly.

"Here you are."

Shifu and the four's eyes widened as they saw the one in front of them.

How in the world could she discover their hiding place?

"The game is over." Tigress said dangerously. "You can't run anymore."

Unsure of what they should do, the four set their Kung Fu pose just in case Tigress would attack them.

Silence moment.

"It's enough, Tigress!" Shifu said, somewhat yelling. "Just leave them alone. Po has dead."

The four gasped, frowning. Isn't it a lie? But since they were sure that their master had known on what the best thing to do, they didn't say anything.

Tigress observed the giant panda lying motionless next to Shifu. The panda had a serious injury on his belly and his face was covered by blood.

The Dragon Warrior, her philistine, is now dead?

She could not believe it herself, that she had killed him.

Why? He's protected by Gods. He can't be dead. If someone must die in this battle, it should be her.

She was supposed to be happy about the death of that panda. Because by the death of the dragon warrior, so there's nothing left to stop her. And beside, she has nothing to worry anymore about being killed by him, as had happened several times in her dream.

But why hadn't she felt satisfied? As if there was something wrong with her mind.

What's this feeling?

Tigress straightened up, back to be cold. She eyed at the four.

"And now it's time for you to surrender." She stated. "If you give up right away with no resistance on my emperor, there's a possible he'll give you his mercy to let you alive."

"We'd like to fight you and your soldiers rather than giving up and letting us killed."

"Are you challenging me?"

"What do you think I am doing?" Shifu asked back. He took a step forth past his students and stopped a mere meters away from Tigress. "As your master, then I am match for you."

Tigress set her own Kung Fu pose. "As you wish."

Her eyes met his. Amber met Blue. Shifu had his eyes narrowed, focusing and sharpening his view on his opponent standing right in front of him.

Surreptitiously, his left palm gathered a grain of sand near his feet without Tigress knowing it. And as both of them were still busy watching over each other—

"Kiyah!"

Unexpectedly, Shifu quickly threw that grain of sand into Tigress right in the eyes.

Tigress roared in pain as she covered her face.

"You!" she snarled, bearing the pain she felt in her sore eyes. She tried her best to keep them open to watch her opponents.

And she got a surprise as she managed to open her eyes.

They were not there anymore. Gone.