Tigress blinked in shock, but was quick to narrow her eyes at the snow leopard. "A second chance? You?!" she exclaimed. "You used up all your second chances to apologize! There's nothing left for you to say!" 

 She yanked her arm away from Tai Lung and stumbled out of the training hall. Tai Lung frowned, clearly annoyed by her words. "And what if you made that kind of error?" he challenged. "And you felt remorse?" 

"Don't ever compare me to you!" Tigress snapped before he could say anything else. "Never in my life would I ever betray my friends! My master! My home! I strive for perfection! Not for power!"

"What do you think comes along  with perfection?!" Tai Lung yelled. "Arrogance! Presumptuousness! Lack of self-esteem! Blind judgment! If that's all you strive for, you'll only have fragile building blocks to stand on, and they shatter at the end!"

"Don't lecture me!" Tigress yelled. "I have never let my judgment be blinded! I have served loyally as a master for years! That's more than can be said of you!" 

Silence fell over the two. Tai Lung's eyes narrowed in annoyance and he slowly walked up to the master. Tigress resisted the urge to step back, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. However, when the snow leopard got too close for her tastes, she moved to kick him in the chest, Anticipating this attack, Tai Lung grabbed her leg, digging his claws into it to discourage any further attacks, and yanked her close to him so that they were staring eye to eye. Tigress winced in pain but still tried to get out of his grip. She swung her arm to uppercut his jaw, but Tai Lung caught that as well. He also used his leg to kick the master's other arm upwards where he promptly grabbed it, leaving her locked in place. He looked the master in the eyes for a long while, causing her to squirm in fear. Finally he said, "You're a liar." 

Tigress tried to pull away, but to no avail. "That's ridiculous," she choked out. "If anyone's the liar-!"

"I may have my low points, but I'm owning up to the fact that I made mistakes. My ways of thinking were backwards. And like it or not, I can see that you've had your fair share of humiliating life lessons. Say what you want, deny what you wish, but you're a lot like me." 

Tigress tried to yank herself away, but Tai Lung continued to hold on firm. The two heard the gates in the courtyard open, and Tai Lung glanced up to see Po standing aggressively in the doorway. 

"I thought I saw you come up here!" he exclaimed. "Bothering awesome kung fu masters, are we?"

"Good evening, Dragon Warrior," Tai Lung greeted. "You've caught me at a bad moment, I'm afraid. Although I give you points for your dramatic entrance." 

"I'm not tolerating your shenanigans tonight!" Po snapped. "Now let Tigress go or else you'll suffer the consequences." 

"Easy there. I was never going to hurt her. You can relax." 

Tigress glared at him but was immediately shoved backwards where she landed a few inches in front of Po. Po helped her to her feet, still staring the snow leopard down. 

"Tell me, Master Po," Tai Lung asked. "How long did it take her to stop hating you after you were given the scroll? Must have been a while." 

"He's goading me; don't answer him!" Tigress told Po. 

"I'm just glad you didn't join me in Chorh-Gom," Tai Lung added. "There's nothing worse than the after feeling of guilt from all the terrible things you've done." 

"We're nothing alike!" Tigress snapped. 

"Well I suppose you're right. You're more in denial than I ever was." 

"That's enough out of you!" Po yelled, stepping in front of Tigress to confront the snow leopard. "Now it's time to dismiss you. Permanently."

Tai Lung got into a stance as well, ready to defend himself. "Don't do this, Dragon Warrior," he warned. "I mean no one any harm!"

"Tell that to my fist!" came the reply, and before Tai Lung knew it, Po had come at him in such a burst of speed that he was barely able to block the incoming attacks. Po was able to land a few heavy blows to Tai Lung's chest and arms and then a kick that made him collapse to the ground. Po aimed for Tai Lung's head, but the snow leopard ducked and managed to upper-jab his opponent's throat with his foot. Po flew backwards with a gasp for air, resulting with Tigress going on the offensive. Tai Lung was quick to recover from Po's initial burst of speed however, and gathered his strength to propel himself into the air. Tigress moved to grab his feet and toss him back over to the Dragon Warrior, but the snow leopard used her arm as a spring board to kick her back over to the gate. Seeing her coming, Po rolled over a bit and sat up so that the master could springboard off his belly and back over to Tai Lung. The swiftness caught the snow leopard off guard and he found himself being kicked backwards through the wall of the training hall. 

Not wasting any time, Tigress and Po got to their feet and ran over to him. Po dived into a somersault and Tigress spun in the air towards him and delivered a lightning kick. As Tai Lung got to his feet, he was suddenly rammed into and knocked backwards, sending him sailing across the training hall and smashing through both the back of the training hall and the stone wall directly behind it. The two warriors went flying down the side of the mountain, though their fall was reduced thanks to a few nearby trees with nice thick branches. They eventually crashed onto the ground with Po rolling to a stop a few feet away and Tai Lung landing pretty much at the base of the tree. Po laid there for a moment, trying to catch his breath while Tai Lung, very sore from the fall, struggled getting to his feet. About a minute later, Tigress arrived on the scene and stopped for a moment to survey the damage. Seeing Tai Lung mid-struggle, she was quick to run over and thrust out her foot to kick him hard in the head. The snow leopard was much quicker, however, and despite being worn out, managed to roll out of the line of danger and get to his knees. Tigress was then quick to turn her attention to Po and help him get on his feet. 

"You have no where else to go, Tai Lung," she told him sharply. "This is where it ends." 

"Give me a second...to breathe.... Then I'll...Wuxi Finger him," Po wheezed. 

"That won't be necessary," Tai Lung replied. He groaned and got to his own feet as well and then proceeded to look both masters in the eyes. "You're right, Tigress. I don't have anywhere else to go. It's not like I remember the place of my birth, nor was I a master long enough to travel anywhere of particular interest. This place, these woods, these hills, bridges, and mountains...this is all I've ever known." 

His face drooped to a mournful expression before tightening up in an effort to keep talking. "And clearly I'll never be welcomed back. But this is not where it ends for me. I'll go somewhere else, someplace foreign, and try to start over. It won't be easy; I don't know anyone and I've never been truly on my own before. But I'll adjust."  He took a step backwards. "And don't worry about anything. I won't be returning. We wouldn't want to scare everyone now would we?"

He then turned around and hobbled away, disappearing through the woods in the dark night. Unsure of what to say or do in response, Po and Tigress stood frozen for a while, just staring at the spot where the snow leopard had once stood. They were silent for a long time before finally casting the other a look of confusion and utter bafflement. Po then squeezed the master's shoulder and brought her into a hug. Tigress just wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, hoping that, somehow, the strain of the night would just vanish and float away forever. 

THE END

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