The pain was back.
Po had thought that having your Chi, your life-force slowly drain out of you was the worst possible pain you could imagine.
But having an arrow being shot straight into your chest was even worse.
The fallen dragon lay on its side, chest heaving up and down as it attempted to process what had just transpired between him and his foe.
He thought he could see Tigress moving towards him. He squirmed, trying to tell her not to come any closer and letting out a small cry as his wound was agitated. If she understood, she didn't listen, kneeling down next to his head and looking into his pained gaze.
"It's okay, it's okay," she told him softly, hardly believing that Kai had the audacity to do such a thing. But then again, he was the Master of Pain and had certainly lived up to his title. She stroked his face with a paw and he calmed at the touch, but it didn't make the pain hurt any less.
As his vision cleared, Po could make out the shapes of Li and Mr. Ping as they made their way towards the two.
"I know what we have to do," Li said gently as he tried not to panic at the sight of the arrow, clutching Po's staff in his hand that had magically put itself back together. "And you do, too." No matter what his son was going to 'say,' he had to! He wasn't going to stand by and watch him die again...
Po's eyes widened and he tried squirming away. They were going to try and use their Chi to heal him. He wouldn't let them do it! It might have been different if he'd allowed it as a panda, but as a dragon...they would definitely be using too much! He tried once again to wriggle away. But the arrow hurt so bad, like a thousand burning needles that were poking his entire body with every move he made. He couldn't get that far.
No, dad, no! You can't! Get out of here, Kai's going to—
"Hello, little kitten," Kai himself said as he approached the small group. "I was so disappointed to find that you hadn't been trapped in this palace along with the others."
Tigress growled, protectively wrapping her arms around Po's neck, but being careful not to irritate his wound further. Kai only chuckled, staring at his arrow with that same smile that hadn't left his face since firing it at Po.
Li, no matter how much he wanted to tackle and pummel Kai to the ground, ignored the yak and closed his eyes. He reached his hand out so that he could rest it on Po's chest beside the arrow and lifted Oogway's staff. Po flinched but otherwise remained still, having no choice but to let his father try. Mr. Ping copied Li's movements, resting a wing next to his paw. He could join Li in pummeling Kai later; his son needed them now more than ever.
Kai snorted in rage at the sight that the two were going to attempt to heal the Dragon Warrior. Tigress would have jumped from her spot to prevent his next action had she not been cradling Po.
But before Kai could even lift a hoof, he was suddenly slammed backwards by an unexpected, invisible force—a force much like the one that occurred whenever Kai chose to use 'his' powers on an innocent living being.
Li opened his eyes, disturbed by the commotion, and turned his head in the opposite direction towards the palace's entrance, keeping his paw in place.
"Master Shifu!" he exclaimed as he saw the red panda coming into view and holding his own staff in an outward position. Behind him, an extra group of pandas followed.
While they still had time and the evil warrior was out cold, Shifu raised his staff once more. A strong, golden glow appeared, and began to circle around the spirit until he was encased in a golden shield.
Shifu couldn't help but smirk. What goes around, comes around.
"It won't last long. We have to hurry..." he said, taking his place beside Tigress and assessing Po's arrow wound. He cringed, knowing that it was going to take a lot of effort from everyone to make this work.
Po was beginning to find it very difficult to keep his eyes open as the pandas began to surround him. But now he knew that it wasn't just Li, Mr. Ping and Tigress who were willing to sacrifice their Chi for him.
They weren't alone. He wasn't alone, and the thought actually managed to pry a soft smile from him through his pain as he looked up at his friends and family. They were finally together once again, and Kai wasn't going to be able to keep them apart. They could do this!
But time was running out as Kai was beginning to wake up and Shifu's shield was deteriorating, and Po himself was slowly ebbing away, pain from the arrow increasing with every breath he took. It hurt so much...
"Hang on, Po," Tigress told her friend for the second time as she closed her eyes in concentration, emitting a glow from her paws as the others around her did the same, including little Lei Lei.
From the palace entrance, Bao could only watch as the others surrounded Po and used their Chi. He wanted to help, he really did. But fear held him back as he remembered Po's fainting spell in the Hall of Heroes. He also remembered helping Po all the way from the Mortal Realm.
But this was different. He hadn't been right there when Po had been trapped in Kai's clutches in the Spirit Realm. He was here now, and the thought terrified him that something could go horribly wrong, and it would be all his fault.
A pained sob tore him from his thoughts and he looked up to see Tigress clutching Po's head in a desperate motion.
"Master, it's not working," she said quietly as Po's breathing became more and more shallow. "Please, Po...stay with us..." The other pandas concentrated as hard as they could, golden Chi enveloping all around the large dragon.
But it was no use as Po's eyes slowly slid shut.
I'm sorry, Tigress. I can't, Po thought drowsily as he welcomed the darkness that was going to take his pain away.
Tigress's gaze landed on Bao, and the little cub jumped when she motioned for him to help. After what had happened to Po in the Hall of Heroes, he'd been absolutely terrified to even think of using his Chi. Now they wanted him to help heal a dragon?
The little panda took a step backwards as if he were about to run out of the palace. Tigress was afraid that he would actually follow through with the action. But then he glanced down at his paws, a look of determination slowly crossing his face. He didn't have time to be afraid now. Po needed him! But he also needed...a light bulb switched on.
Tigress couldn't believe it as Bao ran in the other direction, away from the group of pandas and away from any chance of healing Po's wound. Letting out a soft growl, she had no choice but to continue activating her Chi, keeping her paw firmly placed on Po's head. She knew that she couldn't be mad at Bao for leaving. He was just a cub and she understood why he was so afraid after his incident in the Hall of Heroes.
But what she didn't expect next was to feel a hand, no—a wing being placed on her shoulder. Glancing up, she was shocked to see Crane who smiled back at her, and Mantis from atop his hat. They were both fully healed with not a broken bone or wing in sight! Bao stood beside them and he grinned at her, Tigress finding herself grinning back. He had managed to help them finish their own healing process. Of course he would never leave Po behind, and the smart little cub had known that they were going to need all the help that they could get in order to save such a huge dragon.
Crane and Mantis watched, amazed, as Tigress closed her eyes once more and her Chi engulfed the arrow. They mimicked her actions and closed their own eyes, concentrating on the arrow as Tigress demonstrated.
No!
Snarling from behind Shifu's shield, a newly awakened Kai could see that their Chi was working as the arrow began to dissolve. Everyone was together, and he couldn't stop it.
But he could try.
Shifu's shield vanished.
Bao let out a yelp of pain just after he placed his little paws against Po's chest just below the arrow. His golden Chi wrapped around and around, until finally...
The arrow vanished just like the shield.
Kai tore Bao's paw away from Po's chest and flung the cub backwards.
Bright green eyes shot open.
Big mistake, Kai.