We walked for a long time down the alleyway, following Shifu Padron. There was a lot of debris, including some scrap metal, which amounted to the rattling we had heard earlier. Shifu was painfully loud as we made our way through the mess. His cane seemed to find every piece of debris and clang it against the wall in an effort to clear his path. I winced as another piece of metal went flying against the wall.

If the Corrupt didn't know that we're here yet, they do now, I thought ruefully. I felt Dean and Peter pressing closer to me, and I looked between them. Dean was tense, scanning the alley warily. He had that same rugged handsomeness that had charmed me when I first saw him all those years ago. But I had learned the hard way that that face hid a violent, angry personality. I wasn't so blind to his true self.

On my other side, Peter was also watching the alley, but I saw that he was stealing glances at me out of the corner of his eye. In one hand he gripped his dagger tightly, but he put the other hand around me, pulling me close. I smiled, but I didn't miss the way Dean glared at our touch.

Ahead of us, Shifu stopped at a dilapidated old building. I stared nervously at the structure, worried about how stable it was. But Shifu hobbled through a partially collapsed doorway, unconcerned with the condition of the building. I looked nervously at my friends, and we all hesitated. Is it really safe to go in there? This could be a trap... I thought. But from inside the building, Shifu called, "All clear, it's safe to come in!"

Whisper was the first to move. She shrugged, then walked through the doorway. We waited for a few minutes before she poked her head out again and said, "He ain't lying."

Dean went next, stepping past Whisper into the building with an air of confidence. I follow, not nearly a sure of myself. On my way through the door, my jacket catches on a jagged piece of wood, and I stumble into Dean. "Watch it," he says roughly. I mutter my apology and back up a few feet. He grunts and turns back to face forward.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see Peter. "Are you okay?" he asks gently. I nod, and he holds out his hand to help me over some stray wood pieces. I smile, and he smiles back, a soft and gentle expression that seemed so natural on his handsome face. I realized that I had never once seen Dean smile, truly smile, at me. I felt a warmth for Peter growing in my chest that definitely hadn't been there the first time I saw him.

We stopped at a crude table fashioned out of wooden planks, where Shifu was pouring something from a worn teapot into a cup. He saw that we were there and gestured to the wooden crates around the table. "Please, sit. Do you want some tea?" I nodded my head, and we went to sit down on the crates. The problem was, there were only two crates. We were going to have to share.

Peter sat down on one, scooted so that half of it was exposed, and patted it. "Come sit with me, Anne." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dean hurrying to make room on the second crate for me. I smiled, then moved to Peter's side and sat down. My legs cried out in thanks for the rest, and I let out a relieved sigh. Meanwhile, on the other crate, Dean sat fuming, glaring at me and Peter. Whisper stood nearby, glaring at him. I turned to whisper to Peter, "Dean and Whisper and going to have to share." He chuckled and I smiled. That was going to be awkward.

Shifu looked at Whisper, standing behind Dean. He gestured to the crate. "Sit, sit. You need your rest," he insisted. Whisper rolled her eyes, then said, "I'd rather stand." Shifu shook his head, then pointed at the crate. "Sit down, young one. You cannot stand forever." After a few more minutes of arguing, Whisper sighed and sat down, sitting as far away from Dean as she could without falling off of the crate. She grunted appreciatively, then turned her attention to Shifu.

The old man was slowly draining the tea out of his cup. He finally set it down with a sigh, then picked up his teapot and poured tea into three separate cups. He passed them to Dean, Whisper, and me. I looked at him. "Um, sir?" I was surprised at how raspy my voice was. "You didn't get a cup for Peter..." The old man looked at me with such intensity that I was taken aback. "Three cups are all you need," he said simply.

I looked down at my cup. Tea sounded amazing. I looked at it for a few more seconds, then passed it to Peter. "I'm not that thirsty," I lied. Peter looked at my outstretched hand strangely, then pushed it back to me. "We'll split it. You drink what you want, I'll drink the rest," he said. I let out a relieved breath, then nodded and took a drink. The tea was cold, but it had a sweet, honey-lemon aftertaste. I could have drank it all, but I drank about half and then handed the rest to Peter.

Once we finished our tea, Shifu stood up and walked to stand before us. He smiled, a soft smile that reminded me painfully of Ringmaster Oogway. He cleared his throat, then declared, "I have waited for this moment for a long time. A long time indeed. It is time, time at last, for our people to be saved."

Dean snorted. "If it were so easy to save humanity, it would have been done already. Besides, who would be able to save it? The Corrupt quenched every sign of rebellion," he said. Shifu smiled. "Ah, yes, but you are wrong. They did not quench every sign of rebellion," he said, chuckling slightly. He pointed a wrinkled finger at each of us. "You are the hope of humanity." I looked at my friends reactions. Dean looked skeptical, Peter looked shocked, and Whisper's expression was unreadable. I took a deep breath as Shifu continued.

"This moment was prophesied a long time ago. The Void Crystals came together to give us the prophecy. A prophecy that four heroes would come together to save our people from ruin." He stared at each of us with piercing intensity. Then he turned and walked towards the planks that formed a table. He pressed a hidden button in the wood, and a secret compartment opened up. He reached in and pulled out a clothed bundle, then turned back to us, a smile stretched across his face.

"It is time to face your destiny."