Tai Lung flicked his small black ears as he listened carefully. He only hd a short chance to escape and this was it. Using Zeng's paintbrush, he inserted the tip into the mechanism on his back. The needles positioned carefully through a tortoise's shell immobilized him, but through working the paintbrush along a pattern, he was opening the intricate lock. Finally, the needles withdrew and with a sigh of relief, Tai Lung shrugged his powerful shoulders, sending the shell flying in pieces. Flexing his paws and sharpened claws, Tai Lung growled with pleasure.
"Oh no," Commander Vouchir gasped.
"What's happening?" Zeng asked.
"To your battle stations! Go go!" the huge grey wolf commanded, and the rest of the guard wolves immediately obeyed.
Snarling, Tai Lung effortlessly stood with the weight of large boulders pulling his forepaws down. Roaring, he stared up at Zeng and the commander.
"Fire crossbows!" he ordered.
"Fire!" another wolf repeated, but Tai Lung dodged the enormous three arrows that crunched into the rock around him. "Fire," the wolf repeated, but Tai Lung twisted so that the arrow burst through one of the irons that held his arm. Straining, Tai Lung used his chi to smash the other and looked up.
"Tai Lung's free! I must warn Shifu!" Zeng yelped, racing away.
"You're not going anywhere and neither is he," Commander Vouchir grabbed Zeng in his teeth by the scruff of his neck.
"Let go of me!" Zeng squealed.
"Bring it up," Commander Vouchir ordered the wolves to take up one of the wooden platforms that Tai Lung could use to ascend the prison.
"Wait, bring it back," a wolf wailed.
Tai Lung turned, but growled as he heard the wolves stretching another cross bow. Using his claws, he flicked the arrow away and delivered a mighty kick which sent the arrow into the crossbow, destroying it. Throwing four of the arrows into the air, he kicked them with a series of flips so that they made an accurate pattern in the rock wall. Cracking his neck, he leapt into a backflip and bounded along the arrows, using his momentum to propel himself.
"He's coming this way!" Zeng squeaked.
"He won't get far. Archers," Commander Vouchir ordered. At once, dozen of wolves sent hundreds of arrows raining down at Tai Lung. Flipping through the air, he landed under the only protection, the rising platform. One of the wolves cut it with an axe and he and his companion laughed, but Tai Lung attacked from below, doing a double split to knock them both out. Grabbing a chain, he released the mechanism and swung up the wall to land on one of the passageways. Dodging, kicking, punching, and twisting with raw power, he defeated the guard wolves, even smashing an axe with his bare paw. Clearing one passageway after another, he reached the top, Landing, he prepared himself in a defensive stance.
"We're dead, so very, very dead," Zeng whimpered.
"Not yet we're not. Now," Commander Vouchir ordered and a wolf shot a flaming arrow up to the rocks above, exploding some dynamite. As the passageways were destroyed by falling rocks, Tai Lung gave enormous leaps, clearing the wreckage, but on the last jump, he missed, scraping the rock with his claws, and landing on a falling rock. Commander Vouchir laughed, waving good-bye, but Tai Lung hadn't shown him everything. Bounding as fast as he could with only one thing in mind, he traveled up the falling rocks and launched himself up to a huge rock on the ceiling. Determinedly climbing up it, he snatched the last dynamite tied to it and fell towards the guard wolves, twirling it as he prepared to throw it.
"Can we run now?" Zeng asked.
"Yes," Commander Vouchir whimpered.
Tai Lung threw it and the door erupted in flying wolves, dead and alive. Grabbing Zeng in one huge paw, Tai Lung lifted the squealing wolf to his eyes.
"I'm glad Shifu sent you," he murmured, absentmindedly stroking the wolf's head, "I was beginning to think I'd been forgotten. Run back there and tell them the real Dragon Warrior is coming home," he ordered. Zeng nodded and as soon as Tai Lung set him down, ran as fast as his legs would carry him.
Even so, he still didn't arrive quite in time.
"Good morning Master," the Furios Five greeted Master Shifu.
"Po? Po! Wake up!" he burst into Po's room, but Po was not there. "He's quit," he smiled.
On their way up to training, he did not expect what was coming next.
"What do we do now Master? With Po gone, who will be the Dragon Warrior?" Viper asked.
"All we can do is resume our training and trust that in time, the true Dragon Warrior will be revealed," Master Shifu replied confidently. He was sure Tigress would be the one. But as he opened the doors, he saw none other than Po. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.
"Hi. Good morning master. I thought I'd warm up a little," Po stretched unconvincingly, pulled in a tight split by the practice equipment.
"You're stuck," Master Shifu growled.
"Stuck? Nah. What? Nah, this is one of my-yeah, I'm stuck," he admitted.
"Help him," Master Shifu told Crane. He could not eliminate Po if he was stuck…
"Oh dear," Crane sighed.
"Maybe on three. One, two, -three," he yelped, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Crane sighed.
"No, really, I appreciate-" Po started.
"Ever," Crane growled.
"You actually thought you could learn to do a full split in one night?" Master Shifu contemptuously asked, "It takes years to develop one's flexibility and years longer to apply it in combat." Snapping his fingers, Master Shifu had Tigress demonstrate as he threw practice plates into the air. Leaping up high, she did a full split and demolished the two. Po sighed with awe at the she-wolf, but when she landed, she completely ignored him. A chunk fell on his head and he picked it up.
"Put that down! The only souvenirs we collect here are bloody paws and broken bones," Master Shifu snarled.
"Yeah, excellent," Po agreed.
"Let's get started," Master Shifu resolutely said. He would break him in time. He snapped his paw.
"Are you ready?" Viper asked.
"I was born ready," Po retorted.
Quickly, she beat him up and slammed him to the ground.
"Ow!" he yelped.
"I'm sorry brother. I thought you said you were ready," she teased.
"That was awesome. Let's go again!" he barked.
Shifu growled and snapped his paw again. Monkey got ready with a combat pole and promptly collapsed Po with it. Crane didn't even have to anything while Po rolled around the Jade Tortoise and even Mantis gave him a sound thrashing. Finally, the day was near ending and Master Shifu was furious. The panda was still not giving in.
"I've been taking it easy on you wolf, but no more. Your next opponent will be me," he growled with satisfaction. The Furious Five glanced a t each other. They hadn't expected him to be that harsh.
"Alright. Yeah. Let's go," Po replied.
"Step forth," Master Shifu ordered. Po gleefully did so. "Your true path to victory is to find your opponent's weakness and make him suffer for it," he told him, flipping him all over the place and finally cracking Po's paw and standing on his head.
"Oh yeah," he yelped.
"To take his strength," Master Shifu flipped him, "And use it against him," he leaped and kicked the wolf several times, "Until he finally falls," he threw him, "Or quits," he flipped him and grabbed his scruff in his teeth.
"But a real warrior never quits. Don't worry master. I will never quit!" he squealed. With utter rage at his answer, Master Shifu grabbed him and flung him into the air, leaped up, and delivered a powerful kick that sent Po bouncing down the stairs. He left as the Furious Five went and watched from the top of the stairs.
"If he's smart, he won't come back up those steps," Tigress growled.
"But he will," Monkey murmured and she left.
"He's not going to quit, is he?" Viper asked.
"He's not going to quit bouncing. Tell you that," Mantis chuckled.