Author's Note: Wow, let me tell you guys that it was very difficult to write these next couple of chapters! I found the movie online and had to watch the ending scenes of the movie 5-6 times to get the dialoge and actions in sync with what goes on in the film. But I finally got it! (Wipes hand across forhead) PHEW!

I do not own KUNG FU PANDA or any of its characters in any way, Xiao belongs to me so no stealing! Now read and Enjoy, Shifu kicks some major butt in this chapter!

Chapter 4: The Battle

The eerie silence of the night dragged on into the early hours of the morning. And despite the stillness, there was an uneasy buzz of uncertainty that plagued the very air with an overshadowing sense of dread. It was this same air that Shifu expelled from his lungs as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop towards the river. His breathing was beginning to show signs of labor as a result of his tireless pursuit to be reunited with his students.

He had traveled to Gongmen City from the Valley of Peace in a day's travel with no rest. He had fought a couple of wolves, a few gorillas, and now was almost flying across the rooftops of the city with a speed that most men his age would not be capable of. His ears twitched towards the sounds of the massive ox and crocodile that were following close behind him, and he put on another burst of speed as he and the two masters accompanying him, launched themselves over a large gap between two buildings.

Shifu's leg throbbed in pain as his old wound protested against the amount of energy he had expelled in the past twenty four hours. He ignored his leg by running faster. Now was not the time to show weakness. If there was time to rest, he would. But the fact of the matter was that the Five were set to be executed by Shen with his deadly weapon. Shifu had to get there before it happened. He could not bear the thought of losing even one of them.

Along the way Masters' Ox and Croc had explained to Shifu how Shen's weapon worked.

"Imagine a large metal barrel with a hollowed middle," Ox had told him, "there is a short fuse on top that lights the powder inside and shoots a metal ball out the opening with alarming speed! The sound is deafening like thunder and is more explosive than fireworks!"

"And I suppose that standing in front while it goes off isn't the best idea." Shifu had said. Ox and Croc had nodded at this. "How many do you think he has?"

"Enough to bring China to its knees."

Not on my watch! Shifu thought to himself as he neared the river. He could see from afar, the tips of the red sails belonging to Shen's war ships. However that was all he could see, there were still many buildings blocking his view. From what he could tell, the fleet was a quarter of a mile away from the harbor. He knew that Shen could not be allowed to get there; otherwise nothing would be able to stop him from taking over China.

Shifu was in mid-leap between the last two buildings when-

BOOM!

Shifu stopped breathing, his focus was gone, and as he landed on the next roof, his leg gave out underneath him. He would have landed on his face if he hadn't used his forward momentum to roll out of his stumble. He successfully landed on his feet, but he had stopped in his tracks, unable to move, ears twitching towards the sounds of horrified screaming just beyond his view. His heart was pounding in his chest and dread began to wash over him like a tidal wave. I'm too late.

He almost didn't want to take the last few steps to gaze down at the chaos meeting his ears from below. He was almost frightened of what he would see…or wouldn't see. The Grand Master closed his eyes and horrifying images of his students' corpses, twisted and contorted, entered his mind's eye. No, no, no, NO! Shifu nearly screamed aloud. His eyes snapped open and he rushed to the edge of the building.

Peering over, Shifu could see scores of Gongmen's citizens fleeing from the river. Shen's fleet was passing the shattered remains of a bridge. There were two to three of Shen's weapons on board each ship, along with hundreds and hundreds of wolves. His ears suddenly perked towards a voice he knew all too well.

"You coward!"

Shifu looked farther up the river and he saw them, all five of his students! They were in chains, dangling between two posts on one of the boats, but they were alive! Tigress was glaring at a certain albino peacock behind her; he only smirked at her statement. Shifu could feel Master Ox and Master Croc gazing at the scene from behind him.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Croc exclaimed. "I mean, how are we going to free them?"

Already Shifu's brain was working overtime on how to free his students and stop Shen from reaching open water. If only we could block his path. Shifu looked towards the mouth of the river to see a large archway bordering the waters of the river and the harbor. Finally, he had it! Perfect! Shifu thought, perhaps this could work!

However as Shifu looked on either shore of the river, there were countless of innocent citizens that had come to watch the spectacle. They were endangering themselves by being there; they would need to be evacuated.

"Alright," Shifu turned towards Ox and Croc, "I have a plan, but we'll need a diversion. Master Croc, do you think you can-" But the crocodile wasn't paying attention. He wasn't even looking at Shifu. "Master Croc, are you listening?"

"Look Master!" Croc pointed with one of his claws to the opposite side of the river. Shifu followed his gaze and nearly gasped. There, standing on top of a tall building just opposite them, with a rice hat on his head, was a panda. And not just any panda.

"Po?" Shifu couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was it an apparition? A ghost? A phantom? His mind playing tricks on him? He rubbed his tiny fists over his eyes, only to look back to see that Po was still there. Alive!

Never before had that word been so relieving for Shifu, and never before had he been so happy to see Po. He watched as Po gazed down on Shen's fleet towards the peacock who looked just as stunned as everyone else. Even the Five looked surprised. Shifu's ears twitched back towards Po as the panda shouted down towards the fleet.

"Shen! A panda stands between you and your destiny!"

"Ugh!" Shifu gave a loud exhausted sigh, rubbing the ridges above his eyes. Always has to make an entrance.

"What?" Shen shouted back.

"What did Shen say?" Master Ox asked.

"Nothing important." Shifu was probably the only one present that could hear what was being said between Po and Shen. He had the gifted hearing of his species to thank for that. However Po was completely oblivious to the fact that Shen and probably everyone else in his fleet couldn't hear a word he was saying.

"Prepare yourself for a hot serving of justice! That will bring your tyranny to an end! And now free the Five!" Po then took the rice hat he had been wearing and raised it into the air above his head. "Disk of Destruction!"

Shifu, Ox, and Croc watched as Po was ready to throw his hat, obviously aiming for something.

"What is he thinking?" Ox spoke up. Po tossed his hat but it didn't go far and it fell, bouncing off a few rafters before finally hitting the ground. Shifu's palm met his forehead in embarrassment. Idiot!

"Take aim!"

Shifu's head snapped towards Shen's boat to see that a weapon was being aimed at Po; but he wasn't moving.

"PO MOVE!" Shifu shouted, and immediately following his warning, Po jumped from the top of the building and tumbled onto a lower platform. He started running along the rooftops towards the fleet. Shifu stood with Ox and Croc gaping at Po who leapt from building to building. They watched as Po zigged and zagged so that the wolves couldn't get a good shot at him.

"This way and that way! That way and this way! Oop! You can't follow me!" Finally Po had landed on one of the boats, running between two of the weapons. Shen gave the order for is soldiers to attack. Po then engaged with multiple wolves that charged at him, intent on bringing the panda down. But he was beating them back, all the while making his way towards his imprisoned comrades.

Shifu was so stunned by Po's display that he had to slap himself in the face to return back to reality.

"Well, there's our diversion." Ox said with a slight chuckle.

The red panda turned towards the two Masters, "He'll need help, I want you both to go down there and aid Po and the Five in any way you can!"

"What about you?" Croc asked.

"I need to evacuate those people and get them away from the fight." Shifu pointed towards the mouth of the river where there were still many citizens watching from the shore. "I'll join you shortly, now go!"

The two masters bowed towards him before heading off. Croc jumped from the very top of the building, diving into the river below, while Ox leapt to lower ground making his way onto the boats. Shifu took a quick glance back at Shen's fleet just in time to see the Five break away from their bonds with a carefully placed blow from an axe that Monkey gripped with the end of his tail. Yes! Shifu smiled before heading to the mouth of the river.

A few leaps and jumps later, Shifu had made it to the small crowd that had gathered itself on the shores of the river. He was about to announce to the citizens to leave for their own safety when someone called his name.

"Grand Master Shifu!"

The elderly red panda turned towards who was addressing him and his eyes widened. "Xiao? What are you doing here?" Shifu asked with surprise at the bunny he had met only hours before upon rescuing his family from a couple of wolves. Xiao bowed respectfully to him before speaking.

"I was worried for my brother who lives just down the road, he told me of what Shen's forces were up to and I had to make sure my brother and his family were safe."

"It isn't safe here Xiao, all these people are endangering their lives by being here, you must understand that!"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Xiao agreed. Shifu's ear twitched towards the sounds of the battle behind him growing closer as the boats neared the harbor. He looked Xiao in the eye.

"Xiao do you think you can evacuate these people, my students need my help."

Xiao's eyes widened, and he gave Shifu a big smile, "Yes, anything for you Master! You did save my family after all."

"Hurry Xiao, and thank you." Shifu watched for only a moment as Xiao turned on his heels and started shepherding the crowd away from the shore.

The Grand Master ran along the river's edge, confident that Xiao would evacuate the people in time. He then leapt from the cobbled road, landing on the lead boat. Some of the wolves caught sight of him, snarled, and charged at the small master with ready weapons. Shifu may have been outnumbered, but these idiots were completely outmatched!

He smirked and ran forward, meeting the wolves head on. He used his small size to his advantage by dodging between legs, leaping over heads, and delivering a few kicks and punches along the way. He plowed through the horde of wolves with a fury that was unmatched. He was an explosion of energy; hitting, kicking, and punching back dozens of wolves at a time as he advanced towards the heart of Shen's fleet.

Shifu then jumped and used the heads of his enemies as a springboard, launching himself high into the air. He used his staff to knock away some wolves that were leaping at him with their sharp teeth, trying to snap at him. Throwing his staff down, and embedding it into the deck of the ship below him, Shifu landed on its tip with expert precision. He looked up to see that Masters' Ox and Croc had joined the fight with his students, and a certain panda that was grinning ear to ear towards him.

"Master Shifu!" Po exclaimed with excitement.

Shifu smiled back then shot forward. His staff made contact with the skulls of the wolves surrounding his students, and they were all knocked overboard. As much as he wanted to speak with Po and the Five, now wasn't the time for a reunion. He landed in front of his students.

"Quickly! Use their boats to block the way!" They needed a barrier so Shen couldn't get through to the harbor. And what better way to block Shen's path than with his own fleet?

Tigress immediately registered to her master's plan and leapt to the lead boat. She delivered a powerful kick at the back of one of Shen's weapons, forcing it towards the bow of the ship. Instantly, the boat began to tip, its balance completely gone. The bow sank into the frigid waters while the back of the ship rose higher and higher into the air. Tigress balanced perfectly on top and simply walked off its edge onto the archway bordering the harbor once the ship came in contact with it.

Po was balanced between two boats, almost doing the splits. He held onto two ropes, each belonging to the main masts of the ships. His eyes bulged as he used his panda given strength to pull at the ropes, bringing the two sails together.

"Crane!" Po shouted as the avian soared high into the air above the river.

"Wings of Justice!" Crane then gave a mighty beat of his wings, "KA-KAW!" The blast of air from Crane's wings hit the sails with so much force that the two boats shot forward towards the growing barrier. Po shouted with glee, enjoying the ride. The wolves could do nothing as six of their ships began to pile atop each other; wood was being splintered as the boats crashed and capsized. Many of Shen's forces had to abandon ship, while the rest of the fleet was completely cut off from the harbor.

Satisfied with their success at blocking Shen's path, Shifu gave a signal for them to attack head on. He along with Po, Tigress, Crane, Viper, Monkey, Mantis, Ox, and Croc charged from the barricade. One of the damaged weapons exploded behind them as they all leapt high into the air. Dazzling sparks of light and fire rushed at them from behind as the nine warriors set their sights on the army of wolves before them. Shifu brandished his staff like a sword, he thought he heard Po shout something, but the sound of the explosion from behind was drowning out his voice.

They all charged at the horde of wolves, knocking them down with well-placed kicks, punches, and jabs. Tigress used her gifted flexibility and strength to weave between her opponents and delivering powerful punches at the canines. Crane flew above delivering a volley of air born kicks at their skulls. Viper slipped beneath her enemies, tripping them in her coils, while Mantis delivered the final blows, and Monkey was using the ropes from the masts to tangle up three to four wolves at a time. Ox used his horns to throw them back, Croc swiped them with his tail, and Shifu was all over the place; balancing on the end of his staff so he could be eye to eye with his enemy before knocking them out.

It was a flurry of claws, teeth, punches, and kicks as the Kung Fu warriors advanced their way towards Lord Shen's main ship. Po was leading the way; hitting any wolf aside with little effort, his green eyes fixed on the red eyes of the peacock. As the battle continued, Shifu's ears could hear the raised voice of Shen ordering his right-hand wolf to fire. But nothing happened, he heard Shen give the order again, and when there was still a lack of a boom, Shifu looked up in time to see Shen throw a knife at the wolf's throat, killing him instantly.

The peacock then jumped atop his primary weapon, perched with a hungry look in his eye. Shifu's own eyes widened with shock as the weapon aimed at Po. Shen lit the fuse with his metallic talons.

"Po!" Tigress pushed Po out of the weapons path, only for it to go off a second later.

The very sound of the weapon going off was painful on Shifu's ears, and he was blinded by the sudden brightness and heat that bombarded his tiny body. He could feel himself being blasted backwards through empty space. Fire, and debris surrounded him and pain jabbed at his skull as something hard struck him on the head.

Then everything went dark.

Author's Note: Ooooooohhh, a cliffhanger! I am evil, muahahahaha!

I know its a little late in my story to request this, but I love thorough reviews. Don't get me wrong I love the reviews this fic has already gotten, and I won't object to the simple one liners either, but for those of you that have the time to write longer reviews, I would really appreciate it!

For those of you who have seen the movie you know what happens, for those of you who haven't seen the movie...well I warned ya. Your just going to have to wait for the final chapter!