Po quickly ran out of the training area and towards the main gates as fast as his little panda legs would let him. As he slowly approached them he spotted a familiar figure on the connecting wall scanning the perimeter before spotting him on the move. 

"Song?!" he cried quietly. 

The panda hurried over to the gates as his girlfriend jumped down to greet him with a hug. 

"Did you forget our date was today?" Song joked. 

"no, no, no of course not!" Po promised. "I was actually about to head out, but then Shifu came looking for me because there was a commotion and now I have to grab the guards, so...it's been one of those nights." 

Song gave him a sympathetic smile and a kiss on the forehead. Your job sounds like a never-ending workout," she noted.

"Yeah, but at least it's a fun one, ya' know?" 

"You sound like you enjoy it. Do you want me to go with you to-" 

"I KNEW it!!!"

The pair became startled and turned towards the source of the noise. Standing behind them with the remaining Furious Five in tow was a very triumphant Crane. "You've been leaving the barracks in the middle of the night for months!" Crane recounted. "And for someone just getting a midnight snack, you sure take several hours to eat it!" 

Song waved with a nervous smile. "Hi," she said. 

"We can talk later," Po interrupted. "I need to get the guards for Tai Lung and Lord Shen!" 

"Lord Shen?!" Viper repeated in surprise.

"Same!" Mantis exclaimed. "And also, "TAI LUNG?!""

"If you need guards, then what exactly are you doing, Po?" Crane asked. "I don't see any around. What, did Song eat them?"

"CRANE!!!" Po yelled. 

"Sorry, but if you need guards, you're kind of wasting time, aren't you?"

"I'll get them," Viper offered. "You guys go make sure Tai Lung and Shen don't wander off." 

"I'll get them!" Po cried quickly. "I'm moving!" 

"Easy, Po, easy. I'm not trying to say you're slow. If Tai Lung escapes, you're the only one who can stop him. SO it's better if you watch him and I get the guards." 

"Ohhhh! Okay, fair enough." 

"Want me to go with you?" Song offered. 

"Normally I would say yes," Viper said. "But I know your reputation isn't cleared everywhere, so it might be best if I go alone."

"Oh. Alight." 

Po hugged her and promised to sneak out after lunch to make up for the changed circumstances. The two then parted ways as Po and the remaining Five headed over to the training hall to keep the two villains in check. By the time they got there however, the atmosphere seemed a lot calmer and less urgent.

"Po, what are you doing back here?" Shifu asked in surprise.

"Viper offered to get the guards so I could keep an eye on Tai Lung," Po told him, watching Tai Lung rub his now unshackled wrists. "What's going on here?"

"It turns out there was a big misunderstanding with Tai Lung," Shifu explained. "Shen still needs to be arrested, but Tai Lung came here with good intentions, not malicious ones." 

"Are you sure about that?" Mantis asked, eyeing the snow leopard suspiciously. 

"Positive," Shifu replied promptly. 

Monkey walked over to get a better look at Shen who gave him a death glare. Monkey then glanced over at Tai Lung as Mantis was called over to look at Tigress and Tai Lung's injuries. (The snow leopard volunteered Tigress to be first). "I still can't believe you two are alive!" Monkey exclaimed incredulously. "This is so surreal!"

As Mantis started bandaging up Tigress' arm, smoke-bombs suddenly dropped from the ceiling. They began to surround Shen and fill up the training hall with blinding white gas. Po tried to see who was throwing the gas, but he was hit on the head and knocked unconscious. The masters tried to escape the smoke, in case it was poisonous, but they soon found themselves surrounded and choking on the spicy air. Tai Lung felt the smoke seep into the wound on his eye which proved to have such a powerful sting that he actually screamed and sunk to the ground clutching his wound. Tigress was quick to find him and put his head in the crook of her shoulder in an effort to shield him from the gas. In a few minutes, the room finally cleared out, revealing Lord Shen to be gone. 

"This is getting ridiculous!" Monkey complained. 

The mood quickly shifted to making sure Tai Lung and Po were okay though. Mostly Tai Lung.

"Are you alright?!" Shifu asked, running over to check on his son. 

The severe pain from the gas had caused Tai Lung to start crying, though he made an effort to laugh it away. "Yeah," he said. Laughed weakly. "That hurt." 

"Let me take a look at that," Mantis offered, grabbing more supplies from his medical bag. 

Tai Lung sniffled some tears away, wiped away the rest, and immediately looked at Tigress' shirt. "Sorry," he apologized. "I got blood on you." 

Tigress gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay," she promised. She then gave him a kiss above his scar and added, "That's the least of my concerns." 

Tai Lung turned a faint shade of red but said nothing further as Mantis checked to see the extend of the damage. Meanwhile, somewhere beyond the Jade Palace, Lord Shen's girlfriend was scaring him a bit with her fury over his latest actions.

"I think I made it clear I don't take it easy on vicious psychopathic monsters who try to murder people!" Viper snapped. 

"Aw, come now sweetie. Don't do this to me," Lord Shen pleaded with some nervous laughter. "This is all I have in life now." 

"You could have other things if you learned to let go! Freedom, for example! Respect! A light heart! Happiness!" 

"I thought we were happy!" 

"I let you hide out in "prison" to find you a new purpose, just like you asked and begged me to do. Yet I let you on "parole" for two seconds and you try to kill one of my best friends!" 

"Oh come on, what's wrong with that? I thought you liked it when I was aggressive. You said it was hot." 

"I said your fighting style was hot." 

"Same thing." 

Viper turned around with a deadly warning look. "I'll let you go back to my prison," she said. "But I'm warning you: the next time I let you on parole and you try to murder someone or commit a crime,...."   She leaned in and grabbed the peacock's face with a sly smile forming across her face. "You can take it up with Chorh-Gom, sweetie...." she finished. 

Shen laughed nervously but said nothing as he was then lead away from the Jade Palace and ultimately the Valley of Peace. 

THE END

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