"Cannonical"


"Come on just a little bit girlie, I promise I won't bite..."

"She's quiet too, I love it when they're quiet..."

Alf felt like ripping the two wolves' vocal chords out. Tigress seemed to notice how much they were putting the Seeker through, because at numerous points in time she managed to calm the two overbearing wolves down with a silent death glare. In truth, Tigress felt incredibly guilty - although nearly everyone in the Jade Palace made fun of Alf on a regular basis, the "joke" had never gone this far - and some portion of her wondered what kind of self-restraint Alf would need to have in order to play along. Physical beatings, humiliation, isolation, torture, discrimination, and a whole host of other negative emotions were probably nothing new to him - but emasculated humiliation? That had to irritate even Alf's extraordinarily patient senses.

So Tigress had vowed to herself - as soon as they had enough distance between the Throne Room and the cannon room - where no one would hear, she would signal Alf to "cut loose".

The small group - Alf and his overbearing wolf duo, and Tigress following Zhong - gently traipsed down the final few stairs to come to a large, metallic chamber seemingly shielded within the tower. There was no incident light, so it really was a large antechamber filled with identical copies of the metal cannon they had seen in the Throne Room.

Alf and Tigress gasped quietly.

There were at least fifty cannons - lined in parallel to each other set on hard stone flooring. Overseeing them were small scrolls falling from the ceiling, attached by thin strings - Alf guessed them to be plans for constructing the cannons. There were no wolf soldiers down here, because there wasn't any space - the entire stone room was packed with strange black powder as well, held in heavy bags that lined the edges of the "citadel".

Thunk. The double doors shut behind them, as the entire group entered the room.

"Get to work," Zhong ordered, shoving Tigress nonchalantly inside. "You two, have fun downstairs."

The two wolves gleefully hissed, roughly grabbing Alf by the neck and hips.

He breathed slowly, waiting for it.

Tigress nodded.

Alf smiled, clenching his fists in primal satisfaction.

"She might be a virgin," one of the wolves noted. "Think you can take all of my - AUGH!"

SMACK.

THUNK.

CRACK.

Tigress had only needed one solid punch to knock Zhong out, but was horrified to find Alf beating the wolves senselessly into the hard ground. Thankfully, he had kept his mask on - but still, Tigress hopped over the Boss Wolf's unconscious body to make her way to Alf - still wordlessly punching and kicking the motionless bodies on floor.

"Alf," Tigress beckoned, trying to grab his arms away. "Alf! ALF! THEY'RE DONE!"

But it was no use. Tigress merely was shoved roughly backwards and forwards by Alf's elbows, so she resolutely looped her forearms around his, dragging him back.

"Stop!" Tigress forced, feeling the Seeker squirm with tremendous effort underneath even her powerful grip. "ALF! STOP! YOU WANT PO AND THE OTHERS TO GET HURT?! WHAT IF SHEN HEARS THIS?!"

Almost immediately, Alf relaxed into her grip. Tigress gently pulled herself off, sliding his mask off with two fingers.

The usual warm kindness and casual gaze wasn't there anymore. Alf's face was livid, red, and heated - a single stream of moisture ran down from his right eye down his face, tear running onto the black collar. Tigress tried to warn him, but it was too late.

FIZZ.

"AUGH! SCREW THIS! SCREW THIS STUPID COLLAR SCREW THIS MISSION SCREW PO FOR BRINGING ME HERE SCREW EVERYBODY..."

Alf slid down to the ground, leaning against a wall. He began clenching his knees together while wiping his face - making sure no more tears would activate the collar again.

Tigress stepped forward, kneeling down to his level.

"I'm sorry," she gently breathed.

"Piss off," Alf fired back immediately, still flashing murderous glances at the two unconscious wolves practically imprinted into the rock flooring.

"It went too far," Tigress boldly declared. "I - I went too far."

"I've been called many things," Alf replied, wiping his face a final time. "Scum, fleshie, furless weakling - but I've never been treated like a damn escort..."

Tigress kept quiet, waiting for a moment for Alf to calm down. "I thought it would just be a funny joke."

"Yeah well that's the problem ain't it?" Alf spat, gritting his teeth. "All the freakin' jokes - and the girl names, and now you're doing all these complicated plans without telling anyone..."

Tigress sighed, sitting down next to Alf. She waited for him to pout a bit, then move slightly away as per his usual "I'm angry" reaction - then she smiled.

"Before Po and you came to the Jade Palace - " Tigress started.

"Shouldn't we talk about this later?" Alf noted, looking at the cannons. "I mean we're in this ro - "

"No I want to say it now, and we have time," Tigress cut across, satisfied to see the three wolves completely still on the ground. "Like I said, before Po and you came into the Jade Palace - you have to understand - kung fu was strictly kung fu."

Alf nodded his head, a bit unsure what she meant.

But Tigress kept up a nostalgic smile. "Training. Hard work. Lots of pain. Don't get me wrong, I loved it - but after seeing the stupid stuff Po does, and all the crazy jokes and laughing..."

"You felt like you were missing out on something awesome," Alf concluded. "Yeah - I get that."

"You guys, I mean - you two made everyone lighten up," Tigress returned, broad grin now stretched across her face. "Seriously, I don't think I've ever laughed before you guys came along..."

Alf chuckled, completely believing her.

Tigress however, quickly returned to her normal, stern stare that was so often associated with her character. "But - but I guess people like me always end up taking the jokes too far. I won't make that same mistake again."

She stood up suddenly, seriousness washing over her while Alf sighed - guilt running through him.

"Hold up," Alf called out, grasping her back. "No one's saying you have to be this super logical, emotionless machine all the time, like you were two years ago... no offense..."

"None taken," Tigress smoothly replied.

"...but that doesn't mean you start putting the team in danger, or just find any opportunity to make fun of me," Alf noted gently. "You need to be inbetween."

Alf paused, trying to somehow convey what he was trying to say more clearly. "Lemme put it this way - be serious Tigress when we're out on the field - be all jokey Tigress when it's just us. The Five. Po."

"And you," Tigress finished, grinning.

"And me," Alf concluded, also smiling.

"I'm sorry again," Tigress noted, sighing deeply. "It's just - coming from my background with Shifu, I guess I just sort of got too carefree recently."

"Maybe to compensate for such a shitty childhood," Alf guessed with a smirk.

"Ironic, coming from you," Tigress observed with a playful wink. "But yes - it might have. I don't know - I'm still trying to figure out what kind of leader I'm supposed to be."

"Leader?" Alf huffed mockingly. "But the Dragon Warrior is - "

"Oh we both know that's just a title thing," Tigress interrupted, glancing at the massive cannons behind her. "Maybe one day Po can lead but for now - guess it's just me. I guess after the whole Dragon Scroll thing went out the window - I'm sort of confused as to what I should do."

"Confused?" Alf questioned. "How?"

"Alf, I wasn't lying about what I said back there with Shen," Tigress denoted. "I trained my entire life for one thing. Then you get that one thing taken away - then what do you do?"

Alf smiled, walking close to her to punch her mockingly in the bicep. It only hurt himself, but the tension felt more removed now.

"You're by far - the strongest and most skilled master in the Jade Palace," Alf stated confidently. "You lead the Furious Five and by all means - the Dragon freaking Warrior."

Tigress' expression lightened, uplifting as Alf kept heaping praises.

"Cut out the insecurities, the 2nd-best attitude, and the passive-aggressive jokes," Alf stressed, standing up straight to try to meet her higher eyeline. "You don't need some stupid scroll. To myself, and probably a lot more people - you are the Dragon Scroll."

Tigress kept completely quiet during this, which signaled Alf to finish. "You're the best. And you push us to be better."

Tigress watched Alf smile confidently at her. Although she would never say it, nor tell Alf to his face - there was something about the Seeker's words that inherently made her soul connect with him in a very intimate way. She was still Tigress - by and far the most emotionally distant master of perhaps all time - but Alf was unlike any other person she had met, a hell of a lot kinder, and somehow always aware of a person's truest feelings - even those as well-guarded as hers.

It wasn't a Seeker thing, it was an Alf thing.

"Thanks Alexa," Tigress chortled, giggling.

Alf sighed, privately realizing that might never fully go away. "And - she's back."

"Don't worry, I get it," Tigress noted. "Different sides for different scenarios. Thanks to you too - for helping me see that."

"I just want you to be the kickass leader everyone says you are," Alf gently remarked.

"Which makes me think, where does that leave you?" Tigress questioned, prodding her eyebrows. "Because if I'm the kickass leader, Po is the warrior in training, the Four are the supporting masters, and Shifu is the wise old master - what role are you gonna be?"

Alf groaned, tiring himself already. "I dunno. Let's just focus on these cannons first."

And Tigress obeyed, only because if there was even a single person in China whose advice she would even remotely consider - it was Alf's.

. . .

"Hey fox, mind handing me that noodle - "

"Shut up."

Yu was in no mood to discuss anything anymore. After taking several uneventful naps - most of which just lasted below five minutes in duration - she had decided to be proactive. No more rage, no more frustration, no more time spent alone with the annoying wolf - just a clear focus on doing useful things. This was perhaps by the still bright noon sun, which shone strong but clear light downwards to bathe the hazy atmosphere of the docks. Noise was still very quiet however, as it had been for the last few hours.

There were practical aspects to it too. Although Yu had confidence in the Five and Po's fighting capabilities, she found it unlikely that the soldiers lying unconscious on the docks would remain unconscious for much longer - Yu guessed at most an hour or so. To her recollection, Mantis had put a precautionary paralytic acupuncture technique on them - but this wouldn't prevent them for calling for help, or worse - sounding off any alarms. Thus, the best technique seemed to be focusing on what she could do from the isolated confines of the docks - learn more about the Yongshi. This seemed even more imperative when Yu realized that she had no idea when the Five, Alf, and Po would return.

Empty scroll and quill in hand, Yu approached the awake wolf soldier. She sat down, hurriedly scribbling words and thoughts into the open surface.

Problem: Yongshi

Target: Alf (maybe me, maybe more people)

Info:

Yu paused, at a loss for words.

"Whatcha doing fox?" the wolf snarled, huffing. "Trying to figure out how the scroll knows you killed your own parents?"

Yu eyed the still untouched scroll lying ten feet away, but only for a moment. She was determined not to engage with the wolf.

Info:

-Super shady organization

-Super powerful (like above Oogway?)

-Old

-Around the world

-Has interest in Alf, or something related to Alf, or...

"Why do you keep writing some shit down?" the wolf coughed and squealed in his chains, clearly thirsty. "By the Scrolls, gimme some damn water!"

"Helps me think through stressful stuff," Yu noted. "What else you know about the Yongshi?"

"Screw off," the wolf remarked.

Yu brought open a small cannister of water, shoving it to the wolf's lips. The thirsty soldier drank a few sips immediately, but the fox tore it away before his thirst could be fully quenched.

"Bitch..."

"What else?" Yu emphasized.

"Why don't you ask the scroll?" the wolf spat.

Yu kicked out savagely, crushing the wolf's tail underneath her foot.

"AUGH! YOU FREAKIN' - "

"ENOUGH GAMES!" Yu roared, confident the chains would keep the angry wolf at bay. "WHAT ELSE DO YOU KNOW!?'

"ASK. THE DAMN. SCROLL! PLEASE!" the wolf yelped, squiggling.

Yu seethed, releasing her foot to harshly stomp over to the fallen scroll - picking it up. She completely bypassed the idiotic riddle, turning back over to the mountain logo.

Yu breathed deeply, trying not to think about her parents.

She pressed her fingers to the mountain logo.

Black ink burst into existence.

Your name is Yu.

You are a fox.

You are too weak.

Only Seekers may seek.

Yu sighed, keeping the scroll down. She stared at the laughing wolf, who was rolling around in his chains.

"Stupid girl," the wolf spat. "Got your answer, didn't it? The scroll gives the answer it pleases!"

"It's obviously got some weird black magic with it," Yu noted. "But I've never seen something like this..."

Yu narrowed her eyes, looking at both of her paws with a sudden idea. She pressed one finger of her left paw and the full four fingers on her other paw to the mountain logo.

The black ink morphed now.

What do you seek, Seeker?

Yu grinned, mentally thanking the wolf for teaching the trick to her.

"Ask it why a pretty little fox like you would kill her own parents," the wolf grinned sadistically.

Ignoring him, Yu breathed deeply. "Who are the Yongshi?"

The black ink changed shape yet again.

The Yongshi you cannot see.

They live near a tree.

The wolf guffawed with laughter. "Even the Yongshi - haha - fond of the same dumbass metaphors..."

Yu pressed on. "Why do the Yongshi want to meet the Seeker?"

Black ink radiated.

Seekers are not usually free.

The only ones to control one are we.

"What is it saying?" the wolf growled, jittering in his locked position. "Tell me!"

"Should we be scared of the Yongshi?" Yu asked rather instinctually.

The black ink was still for a moment.

Yu grew worried, picking up her "organizing stress" scroll - writing down more details about the Yongshi.

"What is it saying?!" the wolf again called out.

The black ink began slowly moving again.

We wish you not death,

But we wish you neither health.

We want to make you see,

What it means to be free.

His nightmares are nothing but what he will one day see.

Yu thought about asking another question but stopped herself, realizing the ink was still changing. She wrote down some more information. She was utterly shocked that the scroll managed to connect the nightmares Alf was having.

You have proven your mind is fine,

So await another one of our signs.

The ink was still changing, but Yu couldn't stop herself. "Wait! What sign?! What should we be look for? What happened to Alf? What happened to the Seekers?!"

The black ink exploded outwards, scribbling faster than Yu had ever seen.

Yesterday, the snow leopard has activated the beacon,

Today, the peacock has stolen a Seekers' secret,

Tomorrow, Kai will show the Seeker's history.

Yu kept her eyes glued to the scroll, still watching the black ink shift a final time. She first two lines made sense (even if in metaphorical terms) - but the final name made no sense to Yu... she hadn't even heard of it.

When our signs come, you shall know.

But for now, merely plant the seeds you will sow.

The Seeker is not of this world,

But this world is not what you think it to be.

The Seekers were never defeated,

They merely seceded.

Now live, knowing there will be soon two paths to take, with no ruse.

And the Seeker shall have to choose.

Yu gulped, trying to process everything. The ink finally started fading. She only barely managed to write a few words down. She felt more and more confused with each and every line.

You people know very little, so prepare for the shock,

Of learning about the history of your world, your rock.

So embrace the truth, it can set you free.

You killed your parents out of pure mercy.

Yu didn't wait for the ink to go away this time, tears and memories flooding through her again. She ignored the clambering wolf, tossing him a bucket of noodles before retreating into the ship once more - wailing and screaming against the mast for all of Gongmen to hear.

"Thanks for that," the wolf growled.

Yu turned sharply behind her.

The wolf's chains were on the floor. The large frame of the soldier began advancing on Yu. The fox noted the noodle's chopsticks carefully placed into the discarded lock attached to the chains.

He had picked it.

Yu tried to scream, but the wolf's paws were around her throat already.

"So many hours of my life..." the wolf growled, crushing Yu's windpipe. "... wasted listening to your stupid, idiotic, dumbass stories and questions..."

Yu gasped for air, flapping wildly against the much stronger wolf.

"But now I have so much information to give to Shen," the wolf grinned, savagely bringing his feral face closer to Yu's. "Your fleshie friend, the scroll, and our dear friends of the Jade Palace..."

Yu gasped a final time, feeling consciousness slowly give out.

For a moment.

WHACK. CLUNK.

"AHH! WHAT THE - " the wolf attempted to yell.

SNIP. THRACK.

Yu opened her eyes gradually. The pressure had disappeared from her neck, and the wolf soldier was once more laying unconscious on the wooden floor - but there was a far bigger problem standing directly in front of her.

Positioned perfectly on Oogway's ancient staff, and twirling his whiskers in rage as the fox trembled in front of him - Master Shifu stared at Yu with a cold, demanding gaze.

. . .

"AUGH! Okay will you quit it with the pointless punching and - AUGH!"

Po squealed, feeling Shen's clawed feet shove themselves into his ribs again as the panda collapsed onto the marble flooring of the Throne Room. The rest of the Five were doing a good job of acting emotionless - Shen had been kicking Po around the room for a while, and the only one who seemed even remotely affected had been Viper. Even the old goat seemed restless - she merely sat against the pillar in the corner of the Throne Room, watching the commotion with a silent, weary gaze. Still, there were the jeering wolves escorting and surrounding them - so Po really wished that whatever Tigress and Alf were upto downstairs - it would start quickly.

"So many years of not seeing a panda," Shen spat, yanking Po up by the ears. "And now - the universe drops one into my lap - who turns out to be..."

THUNK.

"... the Dragon..."

CRACK.

"... WARRIOR!"

Po gapsed for breath, in truth acting like the blows were hurting him more than it actually did. He knew Shen straight away was not a particularly masterful user of kung fu - sure he was offensively-inclined, and was trained - but there had been no way he could have defeated the Masters' Council without the cannon.

All of this seemed to be stalling for time.

"I think I'll take my time killing you," Shen breathed. "After all - torturing a panda after all these years..."

"Why - augh - why am I the last panda you've ever seen?" Po breathed, coughing. "That - that everyone's ever seen?"

The wolves howled, but Po sneered at them. A lot of recent confusion had been going on - the radish nightmare, his late father Mr. Ping's secrets, the red tattoo, the random visions of crying baby pandas...

"Oh it's a wonderful story," Shen scowled, marching over to drag the Soothsayer over to Po. "Tell our chubby black and white friend what is his destiny!"

The wolves started to snicker again. Po glanced at the rest of the Five, who remained firmly emotionless.

The old goat remained silent, crying gently. Shen smacked her viciously across the face, dragging her horns upward.

"GO ON!" Shen bit. "TELL US HOW HE'S DESTINED TO AVENGE HIS FAMILY! HIS RACE!"

Po was growing infuriated. Again the vagueness was being thrown around - something about his family, the rest of the pandas, and Shen - it was all pointing towards some inexplicable feeling that felt old, historical - malevolent.

"WOULD YOU GUYS SPILL THE BEANS?!" Po roared, feeling genuinely angry. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FAMILY?! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PANDAS?!"

The Soothsayer said nothing, perhaps even appearing a bit broken. Shen shoved her aside, pulling Po's face to the side.

"I happened," Shen ferociously declared, smashing Po the marble flooring again.

. . .

"Look at the level of detail on these things," Alf noted, brushing a hand past the thick metallic underside of a nearby cannon. "Doesn't even look like Shen could have made it..."

"Focus Alexandra," Tigress whispered about twenty feet again, voice carrying through the dark room. "We need to find out where the rest of the cannons are."

To Alf's satisfaction, the three wolves (including the Boss Wolf) were still unconscious and very much immobilized on the ground. Scouring the room had yielded some basic information - that the scrolls hanging above the cannons typically listed how old the cannon was, usability, weight, etc. Bags of black powder seemed to somehow be used in the cannons' firing mechanism, but Alf was unsure how it was being used. The powder seemed flammable of course, but there must have been more to the process than that.

"Anything?" Tigress called out.

"Nothing," Alf returned.

There had been virtually no indication where the rest of the cannons were. There was a basic map seated on a table to Alf's right - but this only provided village locations for looting metal, or names of wolf soldiers designated to protect the cannons in shifts.

A glitter.

Alf turned around, realizing he had passed his hand over the backside of the cannon.

He passed over it again.

The glittering returned.

"Come look at this," Tigress called out, again a significant distance away in the dark, large room. "I think I found some cryptic message..."

Alf passed his hand over the backside again and again.

It glittered. Then stopped.

And again.

Then stopped.

"Alf?" Tigress called out in irritation. "Where are you?"

"Gimme a second," Alf urged, running both hands over the backside of the cannon.

The glitter grew even stronger. Alf felt an awkward, pulsing sensation go up through his arms, and into his body.

"What are you doing - " Tigress whispered, walking closer to him. " - HEY! DON'T DO THAT!"

Alf ignored her. The sensation continued, and the cannon almost felt - alive to him. There was a strange sensation coming up through his body - it felt ancient, primordial, almost dormant.

"Your collar!" Tigress beckoned, trying to remove Alf's hands from the cannon backside. "Alf stop that!"

Alf barely noticed that his collar had started fizzing and rotating gently.

"It doesn't hurt," he calmly assured. "It - this feels different."

The cannon began to smoke. Empty particles began drifting out through the opening.

Tigress roughly pulled Alf away. "That's enough."

"Hey!" Alf noted. "I was doing something!"

"We don't know what these cannons are capable of," Tigress denounced. "It might be dangerous to touch - especially for living things with metal attached to them."

Alf sighed, shifting his collar back into its original place. "It didn't hurt okay? This cannon has some weird mechanism..."

Tigress groaned, running her paws underneath the cannon underside. "What weird mechanism?"

Alf startled.

"What the hell?" he let out. "Do it again."

Tigress repeated the motion.

Absolutely nothing happened.

"Alma..." Tigress started with a scowl.

"You're not doing it right!" Alf furiously interrupted. "Do it exactly as I did it."

Tigress mock-grinned, perfectly imitating the location, speed, and length of Alf's previous hand movements.

Again nothing happened. Even the air seemed to slow down, just so Alf could note how much nothing had just happened.

"Stop wasting time trying to understand where and what these cannons are from," Tigress affirmed, lightly pulling Alf away from the cannon. "Help me with this message."

Alf walked with her, but flashed a glance back at the cannon - rapidly conforming to the sea of other cannons in the distance.

He shrugged his shoulders, confused once more.

"Look at this," Tigress urged, pushing a scroll into Alf's hands.

Alf peered down at the scribbled words.

Noitacol. Red. Blue. Yellow. Dragon. Peacock. Four.

Burn this message after reading it.

-Zhong, Commander in Charge

"Huh, never knew the Boss Wolf's name was Zhong..." Tigress remarked, apparently having missed the last line previously.

"First word looks like location spelled backwards," Alf noted immediately. "These wolves totally suck at encyption stuff..."

"Aren't you a smart girl?" Tigress mocked, having clearly worked out the first bit already. "I need help with the rest of the message."

Alf read over the words again. To be frank, it felt like utter jibberish to him.

"It's obviously supposed to somehow communicate the location of the rest of the cannons," Alf started. "Maybe the first letters of each words? R, B, Y - "

"You know a place called RBYDP4?" Tigress huffed. "Thought of that. Makes no sense."

Alf pursed his lips, cracking his neck. "Red blue yellow - Chinese significance?"

Tigress took a moment to evaluate. "Fits the dragon and peacock words, but doesn't seem connected to a location."

"AUGH!"

Tigress and Alf's heads shot up, trying to secure the location of the noise. It seemed to be coming from above, at least five floors above the ceiling. Alf felt his heart beat a bit quicker as the vocal tones started to blend and form clear words.

"AHH! OW!"

"I'LL KILL YOU PANDA!"

"Po's in trouble," Tigress declared, beginning to roll the scroll into her paws and tuck into her waistband. "Let's go."

"Wait wait!" Alf called out, reeling her back. "We just knocked out three wolves, remember? And we don't have the location figured out y - "

"Po's in trouble, and we have the location scroll," Tigress noted. "No recklessness. No more stalling. Let's go up there and kick everyone's ass."

Alf's smile came slowly, but it remained. He followed Tigress immediately, confidence restored and doubt in her abilities far removed.

The pair sprinted past the open double gates that would lead back to the tower.

"Hold up for a second - wear this," Tigress called out, before Alf could proceed upwards. She gave him his mask back, which Alf promptly shoved over his face. "Give me your collar."

"What?" Alf noted. "How can I give you my - HEY!"

Tigress brushed her paw - clearly holding something - against the metallic collar, then pulled the mask back over his entire head. Alf saw the traces of black powder make contact with the surface, causing sparks before a ball of fire was now held in Tigress' paw.

"So not cool," Alf sighed, watching her eye the open cannon room with determination. "Hey - doesn't that hurt?"

Tigress merely smiled at him, completely unfazed by the fact that she had fire in her paws. "Hardcore, remember?"

Alf smiled, watching her literally throw the fireball into the various bags of black powder lining the edges of the cannon room.

More sparks. A thick puff of smoke began clouding the entire space.

"Let's make sure these three idiots don't burn or choke to death," Tigress noted, dragging the two wolf soldiers and Zhong by their tails - casually chucking them out an open window to her right.

"Hey!" Alf exclaimed, worried enough to run to the window opening. "They'll fall to their - oh."

As it turned out, the floor they were on wasn't that high up. Alf saw the three bodies lie crumpled on the stone flooring of the Palace Courtyard - noon sunlight clearly showing three alive, but probably injured bodies shifting in sudden confusion. Gongmen City still looked somewhat peaceful, its buildings standing high and proud, undisturbed and vibrant - which seemed hilarious to Alf, considering how much nonsense had ensued since they had entered the Tower of whatever Flame.

"How'd you know we weren't that high up?" Alf asked.

"I didn't," Tigress answered simply.

She raced upwards, leaving an amused Alf in her wake.

The Seeker sprinted up, following her quick movements up the winding staircase while keeping a careful ear on the level of noise coming from the topmost floor. His immediate worries were that Po was being hurt somewhat - which seemed partially inevitable, but Alf wanted to make sure that it was nothing that was truly life-threatening. There were no cannon noises yet, so Shen hadn't yet blasted the rest of the Five and Po to near nonexistence. However, Alf knew that as soon as Tigress and himself reached the top floor - especially without their wolf escorts - Shen would immediately order his batallion of stupid thugs to attack. That was assuming of course - that he hadn't figured out their little ruse already.

"Welcome, welcome - the Furiously Terrible Five Actors!" Shen screamed.

Evidently, the peacock already had.

Alf at last reached the top floor of the stairs, seeing Tigress stare in horror at the peacock standing in the center of the Throne Room. The rest of the Five were practically outnumbered four to one by heavily armored wolves - but this wasn't the main problem.

The big issue was Shen's classic silver blades - one of which was held at Po's neck.

"For the record, I find the Furiously Terrible Five to be an excellent name for an acting troupe," Mantis noted pointlessly. "So just calm down and - "

"And for the record, I never fully believed your stupid little lie in the first place," Shen spat, pushing the blade further into Po's neck fur. "The Furious Five and their prostitute, delivering the Dragon Warrior to me..."

"I don't know," Tigress fired back, getting into a confident battle stance. "You seemed pretty stupid to me."

"The only reason you're all still alive is because of this chubby fatso right here..." Shen slithered, pointing to Po. "A panda after all these years - think of my belief in your lie as charity. The generosity ends now."

The wolf soldiers rounded closer around the rest of the Five, who kept guarded stances against all. Mostly, they were waiting for Tigress' signal - but they were also waiting for Po to easily disarm Shen (which everyone knew he could do) and start the fight.

Yet the panda did no such thing, breathing heavily and staring straight ahead.

Alf looked behind him.

A large red tattoo was painted on the wall where Po was looking at.

"Po isn't right," Alf whispered, getting in his own battle stance. "We need to get Shen first."

"What's happening to him?" Tigress rhetorically asked, growling at Shen in the distance.

"Guess I ended up outsmarting you at your own game," Shen noted.

"Or maybe we outsmarted you for getting you to believe us for a second," Tigress answered smoothly.

"Well both of you outsmarted me," Monkey denoted. "Because I still don't know what the hell is supposed to be happening."

"Shen's got Po," Alf urged, growing more anxious. "We can't close the distance before he slits his throat!"

"Keep quiet and stay calm," Tigress returned.

"I'll give you all five seconds to surrender before I slice open your friend here," Shen firmly demanded, nodding to his wolf guards to press the rest of the Five deeper into a protective circle stance. "Five."

"Tigress," Alf begged, worrying even more. "Please. Let's just pretend to - "

"Four."

"He's going to try to kill Po no matter what we do," Tigress harshly whispered back. "Our only chance is to close the distance and save Po, since he's out in Fairy-Land now..."

"Three."

"Uh guys?" Viper remarked, readying her tail against a nearby wolf. "Maybe we should try a distraction or something?"

"There's nothing in this world that would distract me now," Shen responded confidently, pressing the blade further into Po's neck, satisfied to see the panda still unresponsive. "Two."

"It's too far," Alf observed, seeing the considerable paces it would take Tigress to get to Po before Shen could do anything. "Even you aren't that fast."

"Trust me," Tigress replied, getting into her pouncing stance.

"ONE!"

"Screw this." Alf finally let out.

Perhaps it was the stress, perhaps it was seeing his best friend helpless in the face of certain death, or perhaps it was all the pent up frustration over the last few hours - but Alf felt fed up, annoyed, and disillusioned past the point of no return.

He pulled off his mask.

He watched the black garment float down to the green, marble floor.

A few seconds of pause.

Then realization.

It came in waves. The first was Shen - who stopped mid-slicing motion - baffled and shocked so strongly that he dropped the blade. The surrounding wolves stared at Alf with an enormous amount of confusion. The rest of the Five's jaws dropped, battle stances fading into merely alarmed poses. The Soothsayer, previously quiet and crying - stared slackjawed at the new face. Even Po snapped out of his tattoo-induced trance, staring at Alf with a mixture of pity and sympathy.

The last was Tigress, who merely stared at Alf with concern and sadness - knowing what this meant.

Alf's face had been seen.

A Seeker had been seen.

By too many witnesses. Too many to repress.

Alf had been spotted with the Jade Palace.

Alf had been spotted.

There was no turning back now.

The secret was out.

"Not a prostitute," Alf spoke firmly at the peacock. "That seemed to distract you, didn't it Shen?"

Alf turned to Tigress, and nodded.

She smiled, launching forward.


A/N

Dense chapter! The next few are quite action/dense - fair warning...

Just to clear the air - the events that happened towards the last end of this chapter - are NOT in any way tied to the prophecies that were foretold in Yu's scene - that's something else. ;) I'll leave it to you giddy readers to speculate - I will say that I'm not pulling sh** from my behind, I like to give clues and foreshadowing beforehand, so enjoy!

And now we're back to our usual schedule - new chapters every Friday!

Support is like - OMG WOAH WOAH WOAH

~TW

P.S: Just realized that I like "puzzle" aspects in fics - didn't notice this before.