The terra cotta crocs dragged the furious Xian from the Hall of Precious Peace, the great red building that housed the throne room, only to find their clay brethen in the midst of a vicious skirmish with four angry kung fu masters in the garden ahead.
In the shack on the outskirts of the city, Xian had decided to forgo their original plan and return to the palace immediately. Not the smartest move perhaps, but if Ember was truly who Mr Ping and Haoxin claimed she was, Xian would stop at nothing to find her. And so it was decided that the masters, Xian and Eagle Jr. would go back to the palace, confirm Ember's identity, bring her home and hopefully find Po in the process. Haoxin and Mr. Ping invited themselves along, or more accurately they forced the warriors to allow it. With her injury Mei Ling could not join them, instead being charged with watching over Zun Chunhua and little Zan until the others returned.
The battle started soon after they re-entered the palace through another passage just outside the library. They'd discovered the grounds to be nearly empty. With the enemy soldiers either dead or retreated, only the citizens brainwashed by Ember were left, and even they were gradually departing through the destroyed palace gates, ignoring Xian and his group. Xian's heart soared when he realised that there were absolutely no dead citizens whatsoever. That left the clay men, which seemed to be gathering around the Hall of Precious Peace.
With his keen eyes Eagle Jr. had spotted the Dragon Warrior sneaking through the garden, using the pink flower bushes as cover from the clay men as he made his way towards the Hall. One thing led to another and Eagle Jr. and the Furious Five members found themselves holding off a horde of clay men while Xian and the two geese continued on to the Hall. They reached the throne room to find the entrance blocked by a wall of fire, but Haoxin and Mr. Ping soon found another way in through one of the small windows. Xian had been running around the building looking for another way in when Hei Nuwang and her goons caught him. He'd only been able to catch a brief glimpse of Ember in the burned throne room before he was dragged outside. She was a strange looking being, clothed all in black and bearing that fearsome helmet coloured in obsidian and crimson. Her skin was completely covered, but her shape was undoubtedly feline. It couldn't be... the cynical, embittered part of him had said over and over ever since he'd seen her. It couldn't be Yujin...
The sight of the battle was just the distraction Xian needed. He shattered the leg of the clay croc holding his left arm with a surprise kick, threw the other croc over his shoulder and leapt into the fray to aid his allies. He punched a hole through the chest of a clay bear. Decapitated another croc with a knife. Didn't notice Masters Storming Ox and Croc join the fray until Croc's tail mace obliterated the buffalo that had been sneaking up behind Monkey.
"About damn time!" Mantis yelled as a hundred imperial soldiers rushed through the broken gates and came to the aid of the Son of Heaven.
Sixty seconds later, it was over. Ox and Croc precariously stepped over the many, many clay fragments of fallen warriors and gave Xian a bow. "Your highness. Thank heavens you are safe." Croc said.
Xian returned the bow in full. By now the Stewards of Gongmen City had more than earned it. He turned round to the Hall, where Haoxin, Mr Ping and the woman who may be Yujin were still at Hei Nuwang's mercy.
"Thank heavens you brought reinforcements. What of the enemy soldiers?" Eagle Jr. spoke.
"Being rounded up as we speak. You'll be happy to hear that we've caught the fugitive Sao."
"That's great." Crane said, stepping forward. "How's Master Shifu? What about Viper and Master Boar?"
"We've haven't heard anything from your girlfriend since they left, but that's expected." Ox said. "Master Shifu recovered faster than we expected and went after them. Don't worry about it, she's a tough girl."
"Shifu's okay?!" Crane's feathers flared at the good news. "That's great, isn't it, your... your highness?"
The masters looked around, but Xian was already back in the Hall of Precious Peace.
After an eternity of agony, Hei Nuwang had the clay gorillas lift Po up and drop him on the steps leading up to the throne's former resting place like a sack of bricks.
The panda lay limp as a noodle, slipping in and out of consciousness, as his attacker turned her back on him to face her clay minions, facing the gorillas first. "Find the Empress and bring her back! Quickly!"
The gorillas moved out of Po's sight. His head and neck hurt too much for him to turn it, but he heard the gorillas pull the throne away from the door and exit the room. That left the croc that held Haoxin and Po's weeping father.
Mr Ping's streaming brown eyes were narrowed into slits as he looked at Hei Nuwang. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than Po had ever heard before or since. "I'm going to make you pay for this."
Hei Nuwang didn't even look at him. "Soldier, take them outside and do not harm them. I want them as leverage."
Mr Ping wasn't done. Even as the clay croc carried them out, he made his newfound hatred known. "You will regret this, you evil witch! We'll get you if it's the last thing we do!" He let out a few more threats until Po couldn't hear him anymore.
Po closed his bruised eyes. The agony was all consuming. He couldn't even feel the steps digging into his back and legs. He would have passed out had Hei Nuwang not grabbed the fur on top of his bloodied head and lifted it so they were face to face. All her teeth were bared. "How dare you..." She whispered. "Nine hundred years... nine hundred goddamn years I've waited for this... how dare you interfere!"
All of Po's teeth were still in his mouth, thank heavens, but he'd bitten his tongue the first time Hei Nuwang hit him and his jaw was surely cracked. Talking was difficult, but somehow he managed. "Stopping evil... is what... the Dragon Warrior does."
Hei Nuwang leaned back, outraged. "Evil? Destroying Yujin is the only way I can do some actual good in this godforsaken universe! More than the damned turtle ever did!"
"Tortoise... and he's a hundred times the hero you'll ever be."
Hei Nuwang slammed his head back against the steps. "Oh yes, he always loved playing the hero. Except for that one moment when he decided my mother's life wasn't worth saving. She gave her life for the sake of your worthless hides, and he didn't lift a finger to stop her! As far as I'm concerned, he killed her, panda."
"That's not true." Po said, putting on a brave face even though he was sure he had internal bleeding. The sharp pain in his stomach didn't feel like broken bones. "And isn't killing us all... technically making your mother's sacrifice worthless?"
Hei Nuwang shook her head. "Who said anything about genocide? Oogway may have thought his precious kung fu would make a difference, but he was wrong. I will make the world a better place through unity and rebirth."
What the hell is she talking about? "You're nuts."
"You're a fool to follow in Oogway's footsteps. What I have in mind will change this world for the better."
"But Ember didn't think so, did she?" Po asked, baring his teeth back at her. "That's why you tried to kill her."
Hei Nuwang let go of his head, her expression cold. "I tried to make Yujin understand. But she sided with Oogway even after our mother perished. She's a traitor to her race."
Even with a broken arm and multiple bruises, Po managed to push himself off the steps a little. "And what about her son? Did you murder him, too?"
Hei Nuwang scowled. "When I heard about the child, I knew then that Yujin had to die. That filthy hybrid had no place in my world."
Po spat his blood in her face. Any other time the thought to do so would never have crossed his mind, but he'd just had all his self-restraint beaten out of him. With all the pain and the anger he currently had a temper worthy of Tai Lung.
The sudden act left a red stain on Hei Nuwang's face. She blinked and slowly wiped the blood away. Then her face made the same expression it did when she was beating him half to death and she pulled a small bottle from her sleeve. "Sutoraiki's own special recipe. I think you'll find it to be very mind blowing."
She grabbed his chin, sending a fresh wave of pain through his head as she held it still. Po weakly grabbed her arm, but he couldn't pull it away. Hei Nuwang held the bottle over his face and let several dark drops fall into the open cut above his brow. It stung like acid.
Hei Nuwang released him and stood up. "If you want me to be honest, I hope you somehow make it out of this. Then when you come after me so I can beat you down again." With that, she was gone.
When he was sure the evil woman had indeed left him to whatever torture she had just inflicted, Po fought through the pain to roll on his stomach. If there was the slimmest chance that his dad and Haoxin were still somewhere close by, he had to find them. With his relatively good arm he tried to push himself up. He wasn't strong enough. With a groan he fell on his face. His heart was beating too fast for comfort. When he looked up, he saw Tigress strung up by her wrists and legs, engulfed in fire.
It took all the chi he had to resist the despair that threatened to consume him. It's fake, he told himself desperately. The poison's making him see things that weren't real. Fight through it. Find my dad.
His brain throbbed, making him feel woozy. His breath quickened as the world around him starting going crazy. The throne glowed red and melted, the molten gold washing over him and inflicting horrendous pain. The columns turned to massive black serpents that circled the beaten panda, filling his ears with their hissing. Dark shapes with blank white eyes and massive teeth crawled out from beneath the floorboards and stalked towards him. Brown skinned crocs with smoke seeping from every orifice entered the room, ignoring the snakes and white eyed beasts as they reached the panda and grabbed his arms. Then Tigress, that awesome, beautiful woman in the emerald green dress, sprung out of nowhere and took down every single one of them. When the last brown croc was kicked into a wall and shattered, the feline rushed over to him. Glowing red, her eyes were narrowed in rage and concern. The Heart of China bounced against her chest.
"I'm sorry, Po." She whispered as she lifted him effortlessly.
"It's okay." Po tried to say, but his strength failed him and his head fell limply against her shoulder.
The world disappeared in an explosion of red.
