Before I begin the chapter, I wanted to thank ForgeALWAYSUp2NoGood  for suggesting this idea to me. Thank you!!!!!!!

Tigress woke up the next morning to the sound of the morning gong. She heard her friends greet Master Shifu before they all headed out to do some more training. Tigress wasn't sure what it was that they were doing exactly, but she knew that training sounded like just the medicine she needed. She still hadn't recovered from the bizarre symptoms she had received the night before, (well a little bit, but not much), and they seemed to keep getting worse and worse. A few of them were leveling out which was nice for her since she didn't need to get lost in thought while accidentally locking eyes with Po. (Which she couldn't help but notice that she had been doing a lot lately).

What is wrong with me? the master thought to herself. I keep getting these strange feelings and they just will not go away!

The master yawned and sat up so as to stretch her arms. Some good, long meditation was in order in order to clear her head and help her to figure out whatever on earth was wrong with her. She got up from her bed and stepped outside her door only to come face to face with Po was also up for some reason.  A moment of awkward silence passed between them, Tigress feeling the butterflies raving around in her stomach and she fought to avoid staring at Po's eyes. What is wrong with me?!

"You're up early," she remarked at last. "I imagined you would be sleeping in...again."

"I couldn't sleep," Po told her. "I couldn't stop thinking about my dad and Scorpion."

"I can't say I blame you," Tigress said. She sighed. "You do realize that we still have to tell Shifu, right?" she added.

Po winced. "Do we have to?" he asked.

"Afraid so. That is our job. Do you want me to tell him?"

"No, I'll do it," Po told her. "After they finish up training and all."

"Sounds like a plan."

They stood in silence for a second, Po quickly adding, "Hungry?"

"As long as you don't make me cook," Tigress joked.

Po grinned at her. "If you don't practice, you'll never get better," he told her. He eyed her for a second. "How'd you learn how to make stir-fried tofu if you can't cook?" he asked her.

"It's not hard," Tigress replied. "You just stick it in a wok pan and let it fry for a minute or so."

Po shrugged. "True," he noted.

Tigress tried to not lock eyes with him as they stood silently for another moment, finding it hard to avoid looking at him. Po then began to walk towards the kitchen, urging her to follow him. When they got there, Po decided that they could make stir-fried noodles for breakfast. As no one was in the kitchen, Po assumed Shifu was doing the 'no breakfast' challenge again.

"I'm glad we won that sparring match," the Dragon Warrior noted happily.

Tigress smirked at him. "Why?" she joked. "The Mighty Dragon Warrior can't handle skipping one little meal?"

"Is that doubt I hear, Master Tigress?" Po answered slyly. "Or a warrior trying to get out of cooking?"

"Guess away, Dragon Warrior. I won't be giving you any clues."

Po grinned and went over to the side of the kitchen. He then grabbed a wok pan and called over, "Catch!"

Startled, Tigress grabbed it as it came flying at her face, smiling lightly at Po's determination to help her.

"I can undergo the shred of doubt looming within your head," Po announced, still grinning. "But the mighty Dragon Warrior shall not allow a comrade to go about helpless in the manner of preparing food!"

Tigress playfully rolled her eyes and put the wok pan on the stove. "Alright, Po," she said. "You win. I'll cook."

"Awesome."

The panda then grabbed a nearby pot and filled it with water, putting that on the stove as well. He then began to show Tigress how to make the noodles, which took about fifteen minutes since the master was still a bit slow in the kitchen. When the food was ready, the two sat down at the table and began to eat.

"So...last night was okay, then?" Po asked her nervously.

"It was alright," Tigress concurred.

"Sorry if dad was bothering you," the master apologized, shoveling food hungrily into his mouth. "I mean, I was pretty uncomfortable watching them do the feeding and google-eye thing myself. I mean, I get love but...not to the point of embarrassing people."

Tigress smiled and ate some of her own food as well. "I'm glad Yijiro wasn't like that," she told him. "Because I think I'd be pretty bad at that thing."

"Really?" Po asked, not really liking Yijiro being brought up.
"Yeah," Tigress told him with a smirk, picking up some more noodles with her chopsticks. "I'd probably...slip, or something and I'd throw it in his mouth."

Po eyed her. "Thro-" he began, but Tigress then whipped the noodles onto his face, landing on his nose and taking him by surprise. "Hey!" he exclaimed as Tigress stifled a laugh.

"My point exactly," she said.

Po grinned. "I think you did it wrong," he informed her. "Your aim is off."

"Po, don't you da-AHH!" Tigress yelled, getting a face-full of food as well.

The Dragon Warrior began to laugh as a mischievous grin crossed Tigress face. "Alright," she warned. "If that's how you want to try challenge me..."

The master then picked up her bowl and pushed it onto Po's face where he abruptly stopped laughing in surprise. Po retaliated by picking up a fist-full of noodles and chucking them at the master's head where she ducked and got up from the table. Po grabbed more noodles and began to chase the master around the kitchen, managing to throw them on top of her head. Tigress retaliated by lunging at her friend and knocking both of them backwards where they hit the stove and cause the enormous wok pan full of noodles to fall onto their heads. Po groaned from where he had gotten hit, mostly by the cabinet that he had whacked his head on.

"Sorry, Po," Tigress apologized, taking the wok pan off and letting all of the noodles fall unceremoniously into her lap. "I didn't mean to hit your head."

"It's cool," Po promised with a wince. He watched Tigress sit up and quickly reached on top of his head to grab some noodles, shoving them into the master's mouth.

"Po!" Tigress exclaimed with her mouth full as Po began to laugh.

"Hey, you started it!" he reminded her.

Tigress grinned and shoved some noodles into his mouth, standing up with a short laugh. She then proceeded to glance around the kitchen where she saw nothing but noodles scattered all over the floor.

"I suppose we should clean up this mess before Master Shifu comes back later," she commented.

"I call eating at least half of the mess," Po piped up as he got to his feet.

Tigress gave him a look that meant, Really?

"Fine," Po grumbled. "I'll get the mop."

Later that afternoon, after the masters finished training and went in for lunch, Tigress decided to bypass the opportunity to eat so as to meditate and work some more on her balance. She decided to try and walk across the spikes rather than try to run, like she had her first attempt although the idea admittedly made her nervous. As she sat in the training hall and meditated, trying with all her might to figure out what was giving her the bizarre symptoms, she heard the door open and a familiar set of footsteps came over to where she was sitting.

"Do you mind if I interrupt you for a moment?" Master Shifu asked her.

Tigress opened her eyes to see her master standing directly in front of her.

"Of course not," she assured him. "What is it?"

"Po has just informed me about Scorpion being in town," he told her. "I thought you would like to be aware of this."

"Um, thank you, master," Tigress answered, unsure of whether or not to tell him that she had already known that. She didn't need to, however, as the red panda could tell the fact by her face.

"Something tells me you already knew this," he said, looking at her intently.

Tigress groaned. "Mr. Ping wanted me to accompany Po to dinner yesterday to...get reintroduced to Scorpion," she admitted.

"Why you?"

"I honestly don't know."    She looked at her master and added, "Mr. Ping saw you with Mei-Ling by the way."

"Wait, he did?!" Shifu exclaimed quietly. "When?"

"I think he said it was the other night. He saw you two walking towards the Jade Palace and assumed you were in a relationship. I don't know if he recognized Mei-Ling though. Po and I didn't think to ask."

"Thank you for telling me that," Shifu said gratefully. "We're trying our best to be careful."

"Any other close calls?"

"Fortunately no."

A moment of silence passed over the room as Tigress tried to relax her mind.

"I'm heading over to the Dragon Grotto to meditate," Shifu told her finally. "Would you care to join me? Perhaps we can pick up where we left off regarding your persisting symptoms."

Tigress looked startled. "Wait, they're noticeable?!" she cried in slight panic.

"Not exactly," Shifu admitted. "Only if one is really looking. Which I have been after you voiced your concerns about them."

Tigress sighed. "You haven't told anyone, have you?" she asked.

"Absolutely not! You told me that in the strictest confidence and I refuse to go and blab it to anyone else."

"Thank you, master."

"You're welcome."

Shifu began to walk out the door, Tigress getting up to follow him. The two walked up towards the grotto silently, Tigress unsure of what exactly to say to him. She didn't need to say anything though as Shifu was the one to start the conversation when they reached the bottom of the slope.

"So," he told her, breaking her thoughts. "I believe that the last time we discussed your symptoms, you said you got a heavy head, slightly dizzy, and that time seemed to stop. Am I correct?"

"Yes master."

"How have they been lately?"

"Getting better," Tigress replied. "But not by much. At least the heavy-headed spells aren't frequent."

"Now you told me that all of those symptoms are exhibited around Po, correct?" the master asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Have you gotten any other weird symptoms that aren't...normal for you?"

"I've...I've been getting very flustered lately," Tigress admitted quietly. "And yesterday, my stomach started knotting up for no reason."

"And when did those occur?"

"Just when me and Po were in the kitchen and when I accidentally fell on him yesterday."

Shifu held back a chuckle as they rounded the bend and the roar of the waterfall from the grotto could be heard. "I hope you two weren't hurt at all," he commented.

"He was fine. He just hit the wall."

Tigress eyed the red panda as they continued up and came across the rocks and the waterfall surrounding them. "Master Shifu," she said. "Why can't you just tell me what you think the problem is?"

"As I've told you before, Tigress," Shifu answered as they began to cross the water to the grove. "It would be better if you found out on your own terms. I have a very strong feeling about what's going on with you, but you're the only one able to determine it."

Tigress was about to ask what he meant by that when a loud explosion rang out, causing the rocks beneath Shifu to get destroyed and knock him into the rushing water where he was immediately swept over the edge.

"BABA!" Tigress screamed, running as close as she could towards the edge of the waterfall. She leaned over, spotting Shifu clinging onto a large rock that was sticking out from behind one of the waterfalls.

"I'm alright!" Shifu called up, struggling to hold onto the slippery surface. "I just can't reach the rock above me!"

"I'll try and find a way to get you up!" Tigress shouted. "Just hold on!"

Shifu, not wanting to plummet to his death, did his best to do as his daughter asked. As he dangled from the jagged rock, he saw a large explosive go flying up towards the top and figured that was how the rocks exploded.

"TIGRESS!" he screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

The master, who was looking for a semi-dry rock to climb onto, heard Shifu's warning a split-second too late as the rocks beside her exploded, sending her over the edge. She managed to dig her claws into the side of the cliff however, and keep herself from falling to the rocky bottom after catching hold of a small nitch in the rocky slope.

"Tigress?!" she heard Shifu call down worriedly.

"I'm okay!" she called up. "I'm coming up! Don't move!"

"I'll make every effort, but I can't promise anything!"

Tigress began to climb up the slippery slope, carefully grabbing onto the rocks so that the water didn't cause her to slip off. As she began to inch her way up the waterfall, she saw an explosion come flying in her direction and she quickly leaped onto another rock to get out of the way. The area besides her blew up, some of the large rock fragments hitting her in the back and nearly knocking her off. Tigress dug her claws into the rock and held on as hard as she could so as to not fall off. When everything settled down, she turned back to the task of climbing up the wall, still keeping a steady pace. Shifu was still struggling to hold himself up with the water rushing down on top of him. Tigress climbed up a little bit more when another explosive flew up, this time landing right above Shifu. The rocks exploded and loosened any boulders above it, raining down on Shifu where it knocked him off. The warrior, seeing him fall a bit too far away for her to catch him, quickly made note of another steady rock placement and leaped just in time to catch her master. The two landed safely on the rock, Tigress struggling to not slip off.

"Are you alright?!" she cried, holding onto Shifu and the rock as hard as she could.

"I've been better," Shifu admitted, clutching onto her shirt and trying to see where the explosives were coming from. "But we're not out of danger just yet."

Tigress grunted and tried to pull herself up, but she didn't have any solid footing so she was left to dangle dangerously above the rocks below. She glanced up and spotted part of the ledge that was still in tact from the explosions.

"Do you think you'd be able to run fast enough if I threw you up there?" she asked Shifu.

The red panda gave her an amused grin. "If we weren't dangling nearly a hundred feet off the ground," he answered. "I would laugh at the context of that question."

"Then hold on tight."

Tigress pulled her arm back and tossed Shifu as hard as she could up towards the top of the falls. She was a bit afraid that he wouldn't make it up there, but Shifu landed behind a stable rock that he was able to grip before the water carried him back down. Tigress then began to grab the rock with her other paw only for another explosive to be thrown somewhere above her where her rock came loose and caused her to slip down.

"Tigress?!" came Shifu's worried voice.

The master scraped her claws against the rocks and quickly caught on to the jagged wall. "I'm okay!" she assured Shifu. She then carefully resumed her climb up the wall where more explosives went off. She clung to the wall, desperately trying to not slip again, and struggled to get to the ledge safely. Tigress finally began to reach the top of the falls and saw her friends concerned faces peering down at her.

"Tigress?!" Viper called down in worry.

"I'm alright!" she told her friend. "Just give me a sec-"

BOOM!

The rocks above Tigress loosened and she went sailing again towards the bottom of the falls. Po, who had been far away enough from the blast to avoid getting hit with rock shards, immediately jumped off the ledge to grab her.

"PO!" Shifu yelled, afraid that they would both go falling to their death.

Viper reacted quickly and whipped her tail around Po as he grabbed Tigress's hand. Mantis grabbed Viper and Monkey grabbed Mantis. Shifu hastily leaped towards the edge of the cliff as Monkey struggled to pull everyone up and lent a paw in grabbing Viper and pulling her, along with Po and Tigress, to safety. When everyone was safely on the ledge, Shifu urged them to go back farther into the grotto so as not to risk another explosion sending them back down the falls. The students obeyed his command and quickly retreated into the grotto as another explosion went off, this one knocking Tigress and Mantis into the water. Mantis was able to grab onto his friend as she grabbed a rock to keep from going over the edge again. Po doubled back to pull her up along with Mantis and the three ventured into the cave where they sat down to catch their breath.

"There goes the grotto," Monkey muttered.

"I'll go down later and have the rocks placed back up here," Shifu told him. "I'm afraid the ledge it's self can't be fixed, but some of the dislodged rocks can be managed."

As another explosion rang out from the middle of the waterfall, Crane came flying over, having been sent out by Shifu a few minutes earlier to investigate the cause of the blasts.

"I found the culprits!" he announced as he landed in the cave and narrowly dodge an explosive being thrown up to the top of the falls.

"Perfect!" Po exclaimed with a serious expression. "I've got them on my 'Butts-to-Kick' list right now."

"Who are they?" Shifu inquired.

"It looks like some of Lord Shen's henchmen."

Everyone looked at him in surprise. "What?!" Po exclaimed. "Are you sure?! I mean, we defeated Shen. He shouldn't have henchmen left over."

"They have that red mark on their shoulder pads. It's definitely them."

Po groaned. "I hope Shen isn't alive for China's sake," he grumbled.

"I couldn't agree more," Shifu concurred. "I want you all to go down there, mind the explosives if you'd like to come back in one piece, and find out who's behind this. I doubt it's Shen, but I don't want to take any chances."

The students bowed and began to head down the mountain towards the area where Crane had spotted the wolves. When they had left, Shifu sighed and looked around the cave. He hoped that Tigress would be alright fighting off the wolves since she had just gotten over the nightmares of the Gongmen City battle. He trusted that the others would keep her safe even if she wasn't, and set to the task of carefully making his way down the grotto's steep path once he was sure no more explosives would go off and sent him tumbling down the falls. He made his way down the path and then towards the Sacred Hall of Warriors where he knew some of the messengers would be helping to clean up.

As if they're job isn't hard enough, he thought to himself, working his way to the stairs. Before he could begin to climb them, the gate opened and he heard, "PO?!"

Shifu let out a slightly irritated sigh. "Po isn't here, Mr. Ping," he told the old goose, turning around to see him slinking into the Jade Palace. Shifu didn't mind Mr. Ping, but he had a tendency to drive Master Shifu nuts with his antics and, lately, his tall-tale story telling on Tigress and Po's "relationship".

"Is he out fighting more crimes again?" Mr. Ping asked worriedly. "I hope he won't be gone for over a month like last time!"

"He's just taking care of an ambush," Shifu assured him. "He'll be back shortly."

"Oh good!" Mr. Ping said happily. "He'll be back for dinner then."

"Po told me about you and Scorpion," Shifu intervened, taking the opportunity to confront Po's dad on the matter. "While I don't mind you trying to help her in...turning over a new leaf, considering that she has tried to kill us, I'd advise you to please be careful. I don't want the valley to be in any danger because of your new girlfriend."

"Oh she's fine," Mr. Ping assured him. "She's already made friends with Mrs. Yoon and the Wangs from across the street."

"Just keep an eye on her please."

"Alright, alright! No need to be so serious. I should tell that new girlfriend of yours to make you lighten up!"

Shifu turned a subtle shade of red. "I hope you haven't been telling anyone about her," he warned nervously. "We're trying to keep it quiet for now."

Mr. Ping calmly waved the idea away. "There's not much to tell," he told the red panda. "I could barely make her out in the cover of night, so I don't even know what she looks like. All I know is that she likes to call you Fufi."

"Just act like you never saw us, please," Shifu pleaded.

"Don't worry. I'll be as silent as a tomb."

"Thank you, Mr. Ping."        Master Shifu eyed him and added, "How come you wanted to come here and talk to Po?"

"Well, I figured since we're practically family at this point, I should stop by up here to ask him to join me and Scorpion."

"Practically family?" Shifu asked him. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"Oh come now! Don't tell me you haven't seen Tigress and Po 's interactions! They're so in love I just want to scream it to the world."

"Mr. Ping," Shifu told him. "You don't know anything about Tigress' feelings, so I know she and Po would appreciate it if you stayed out of their business. They're simply friends at the moment and they don't like it when people bother them on the topic."

Mr. Ping's eyes narrowed at him. "Do you know something I don't?" he asked.

"No," Shifu lied.  But Mr. Ping could see through it and called the old master out on it.

"You know something!" he accused him.

"Even if I did, it isn't my place to say it. I don't want any more rumors spread that aren't true. They are not in a relationship, they are not interested in each other, and they've had enough of people bothering them to start dating for no reason."

The master noticed a silhouette of Crane coming towards the two and he and Mr. Ping halted the conversation to let the master speak upon landing.

"Well?" Shifu asked.

"Shen's dead, so there's no worries on that score," the avian reported.

"Well that's good news," Shifu replied. "Do you know who's actually in charge?"

"According to the one bandit that Viper tickle-tortured, it's the Wolf Boss' younger brother. Apparently he thinks we killed the Wolf Boss and he wants to get even. The wolf told us he lives in an abandoned factory near the Shrieking Falls of Renzhou, so the others went on ahead to intercept him there. I told them I'd catch up."

"Excellent work," Shifu told him. "Make sure he doesn't escape. We don't need reinforcements. Where are the wolves who threw the explosives?"

"Escaped to the factory."

"Alright. Well follow them closely and make sure none of them get away this time."

"Yes, Master Shifu."

Crane then flew off, leaving Shifu and Mr. Ping alone again.

"What do you know?" Mr. Ping demanded.

"I don't believe in talking about private conversations between me and my students," Shifu answered firmly. "I refuse to say anything."

"Their happiness is at stake! You have to tell me something! Po's afraid to tell Tigress he likes her because he doesn't think she loves him back!"

"That's something he's going to have to-" Shifu started, but then Mr. Ping's words finally sank in and it hit him like a rock. "Wait, what did you say?" he interrupted himself with a start.

"Po's in love with Tigress!" Mr. Ping repeated. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed at all!"

"No," Shifu admitted. "I don't pay much attention to his interactions with her in that manner." 

"Well now you know."

"How long have you known?!"

"A long time," Mr. Ping replied. "He's had a crush on her since he was eleven years old and over time that turned to love. I'm assuming that happened when he was older though. I don't know if I've ever told you about him making out with his Tigress action figure at nineteen...."

Master Shifu stifled a chuckle at the idea and looked at Mr. Ping seriously. "I understand why you're trying to encourage them to get together," he said sternly. "But this is Po's life. He'll tell Tigress when he's ready, and acting like they're getting together isn't going to help anything. They have enough problems with Monkey and Mantis teasing them on the matter. They don't need the whole valley involved with it."

"I'm just trying to help him! It's destiny for those two; I can feel it!"

"I understand, but if even if it is destiny, it would be better to not interfere. It could cause more harm than good if you keep forcing them together."

Mr. Ping sighed. "I suppose," he admitted. "But I just feel so bad for Po."

"I'm sure he's perfectly fine," Shifu assured him.

Mr. Ping gave him a pleading look. "Can't you tell me something so I can estimate their progress?" he begged.

"No Mr. Ping. And why are you asking me?"

"You're Tigress' adopted father, right? You should know something about her."

"Not really. We never had a bond as strong as the one you and Po share."

"Well it's never too late to try again."

"I suppose," Shifu said, his mind briefly reflecting back to the attack only fifteen minutes earlier.

The master felt himself fall hard into the water, the rushing current sweeping him over the side where he went tumbling helplessly down.

"BABA!!!!!!"

The master was startled by this, but managed to grab onto a ledge and looked up at Tigress' concerned face.

Is it possible to start over?

Shifu quickly snapped back to the present as Mr. Ping clapped him hard on the back and said, "Well, I guess we'll see how it all plays out."

"I suppose," Shifu told him. " I'll let Po know you stopped by."

"Thank you, Shifu. You have a good day!"

"You as well," Shifu replied, watching him walk away. He groaned and continued to walk back up the stairs to the Hall of Warriors. She may know I care for her as s daughter, he thought to himself. But I doubt we'll ever repair the damage I've done........

The masters were in hot pursuit of the Wolf Boss' brother, a young wild who was said to go by the name Fang. The masters had originally planned to arrest the wolves and then track down Fang with their received information. However, Tigress let two of them go and began to follow them since she didn't want to run into any traps while pursuing the crime boss. After about an hour of following closely behind the wolves and after Crane intercepted them when they were almost there, the masters reached a rushing river that was right beneath a large and rickety looking factory. The wolves darted inside and slammed the doors behind them, the masters then following them inside. By the time they got in, the two henchmen were gone.

"This place feels like it's going to fall over any second," Po commented nervously.

"It should be fine," Tigress assured him. "Now let's hurry before we lose them."

The Jade Palace warriors quietly walked around the rickety factory, the floorboards creaking underneath their feet. They ventured down a long corridor where they were greeted by a large flight of stairs, something that made Po groan and wish that he knew how to levitate. They snuck quietly up the stairs and came to a large door almost immediately to their left and proceeded to crack it open. An angry wolf in his teens with a large blade was sitting on top of an overturned cauldron, five other wolf minions bearing Shen's symbol on their shoulder pads standing by nervously.

"Phew," Mantis said quietly. "I was afraid that there would be, like, an entire army waiting for us."

"Same," Crane answered.

"Six of them and six of us," Po said, not paying any attention to the recent comment. "Perfect. You guys handle the minions and I'll go for Fang."

Tigress quickly grabbed his shoulder and told him in an undertone, "You can't just go after Fang. There could be more of them. Or Fang could be stronger than you anticipated."

"Then we'll all kick butt together," Po answered flatly, no expression evident on his face. "Unless of course you've got a better idea."

Tigress, taken aback by the strange look on his face as well as the tone in his voice, said nothing in response.

"That's what I thought."

"They have weapons," Viper offered. "What about those?"

Po whipped out the Spiked Bamboo Staff that they had been training with a few days ago. "Any other questions?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tigress told him angrily. "Why did you take the weapon out of the training hall when Master Shifu said specifically to leave it alone?!"

"Because I've been getting better with it and that's how I'm allowed to take it with me."

Tigress was about to ask him what he meant by that when he turned back towards the door and said, "Lets get them!"

The master then charged into the room, leaving his friends to follow close behind him. Tigress, unable to do anything about Po's determination to catch Fang, went along with the plan and hoped that Po didn't kill himself. The wolves were taken aback by the masters' sudden entrance, Fang recovering quickly and glaring at them.

"How did you get in here?!" he demanded.

"We had unaware escorts," Tigress told him, glancing at his henchmen.

Fang let out a snarl. "You IDIOTS!" he snapped. "You've ruined everything!"

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, kid!" Po snapped.

"Kid?!" Fang yelled. "I am not a kid! I'm nineteen!"

"That's still young," Po told him.

The wolf let out an angry howl. "Get them!" he bellowed to his henchmen.

The wolves began to charge at the masters as Fang began to run over towards the opposite side of the room where an open trapdoor lay.

"I got Fang!" Po ordered. "You guys get the rest of our friends here!"

The Dragon Warrior sprinted across the room as the Furious Five turned their attention to the oncoming trouble. Fang tried to disappear into the trapdoor, but Po managed to grab him in time and toss him back into the room.

"So serious, Dragon Warrior," Fang mocked, getting up and aiming his blade at Po. "I heard you were a master of presentation and humor, not a serious warrior who doesn't take no for an answer."

"When someone has the nerve to try and kill one of my closest friends," Po snapped, remembering the sight of Tigress falling over the falls. "It's 'no-more-mister-nice-panda'!"

He then whipped out the Spiked Bamboo Staff and went charging at Fang who retaliated by expertly blocking the attack. Po didn't have any intention of killing the wolf with the staff; he was going to turn him into Chorh-Gom where he would be sent to Gongmen City. However, he planned on making sure the wolf felt the full consequences of near-murder before he  went anywhere. He and Fang went after each other with their weapons, Fang looking intensely at Po as if to watch his reaction. Po figured that he was trying to see if the red symbol would distract him which wouldn't work since Po had now mastered inner peace and put the past behind him. Fang was obviously disappointed by this and decided to take everything to the next level when he found out that Po would not be easy to beat. Like Tigress had warned him earlier, Fang was a lot harder to fight than Po had anticipated, but he wasn't too difficult to battle since he obviously didn't have much experience battling a group of warriors at one time. Fang managed to nick the Dragon Warrior a few times although that backfired when Po would wince at the pain and whip the spiked staff into his face, making him scream in pain.

After a few minutes of fighting, Fang dashed up towards a platform that was in the middle of the room where Po saw a large lever alongside several cauldrons hanging from the ceiling. He wasn't quite sure what the lever did, but he didn't want to find out. He raced after the young wolf and intercepted him before he reached his target.

"Out of my way, panda!" Fang snarled. "I refuse to let you kill anyone else!"

"We don't kill people!" Po corrected him firmly. "And even if we do, there's a legit reason for it!"

"You killed my brother!"

"We didn't touch him! I don't know how he died, but I promise that it wasn't out fault!"

"LIAR!"

Fang went to the lever, but Po grabbed him by the arm and began to toss him back. Fang grabbed his blade and reamed it at Po's head where he ducked to avoid the blow. The blade did succeed in cutting his shoulder, resulting with Po letting Fang go with a cry of pain. The wolf ran towards the lever and pulled on it and then proceeded to jump off of the scaffolding. Po went to follow him but then noticed something that he hadn't seen upon first entering the room: There was no second floor.

The 'floor' that everyone was standing on had massive holes and gaps in it that revealed the first floor which was actually open and showed nothing but the rushing water down below. This meant that upon arriving in the factory, Fang had decided to build a large, two floored scaffolding platform in order to house himself and his henchmen. And unfortunately for Po, the platform was built right in the path of the cauldrons which were now coming towards him, ripping up the floor along with it. Po reflected back on what Tigress had said about not rushing into the room since there could be surprises from Fang he wasn't expecting. Po, who was too angry at the wolf for nearly killing Tigress, didn't give it a second thought and went out anyway.

I hate when she's always right! Po thought to himself, but he didn't think too long as he struggled to get down and avoid the floor that was falling apart right beneath his feet.

"RUN!" he yelled, scrambling for his life down to the level his friends were on. Just as he got halfway down, the entire scaffolding in the path of the cauldrons fell down into the water, dragging Po along for the ride.

"PO!" Tigress screamed. She abandoned the wolf she was attacking and sprinted across the room to intercept the Dragon Warrior before he tumbled into the open hole and fell to his death. The last section of floor cracked and made her slip, but she managed to catch onto a piece of sturdy scaffolding that was lodged into the side of the wall, preventing her and Po from falling to a watery grave. The two friends hung precariously, Tigress struggling to keep a hold on Po who was unable to reach a section of the floor that hadn't been destroyed.

"Um," he told her nervously, glancing down at the long drop. "Is this a bad time to apologize for being the worst planner in the history of kung fu?"

"I'll go over quick battle strategies with you later, Po," Tigress told him. "For now, I need to get you up to safety."

Po looked around for something else to grab when he noticed the last cauldron coming down. Based on the several other cauldrons that had passed by, Po saw that this one would come right below him and down towards the water where he could just barely make out Fang escaping on a small boat towards an opening in the wall. He thought the plan over quickly and then called up to Tigress, "Tigress, when I say 'now', I want you to let go of me."

Tigress looked down at him in shock and disbelief. "What?!" she exclaimed.

"Drop me when I say 'now'," Po repeated. "I found a way to catch Fang!"

"I saw you fall to your death once," Tigress protested worriedly. "And I was a second away from saving you! I won't let it happen again!"

Po noticed the cauldron coming closer. In less than a minute, it would be in position for him to fall onto it and if Tigress didn't let go, he would miss his chance. He didn't have time to explain; he needed her to trust him: now!

"Tigress, please!" he begged. "You have to trust me! I need to get down there!"

"But-!"

"I'll be alright! I promise!"

The master looked at him, obviously not willing to let him drop. Po saw the cauldron coming down and knew it was now or never.

"NOW!" he ordered.

For a fraction of a second, Po was afraid Tigress wouldn't let go. But then he found himself falling down towards the cauldron, drawing closer to it and hoping that he had fallen at the right time to grab onto it........

For a fraction of a second, Tigress didn't want to let go of Po; she had already lost him once. But she found herself doing as he asked and she released his paw, time seeming to move slowly as she watched him fall down towards the bottom, suddenly catching a glimpse of a large cauldron she hadn't noticed earlier........