The footsteps seemed to quickly come to the front of the temple doors and faint clicking sounds could be heard. Then scraping on the stone outside. Then silence.

"Did you hear that?" Shifu asked.

Tai Lung nodded. "I'm not into judging someone from their footsteps," he said in a low tone of voice. "But I didn't like the way those sounded." 

Shifu twitched his ears in an attempt to hear more of the noise. He turned his head. Twitched his ears. Turned his head again. Twitched an ear. 

Click click. 

Shifu snapped his head towards the open walls by the moon pool and pointed to a spot behind the corner where the opened  walls met the closed ones. "There!" he exclaimed. 

Tai Lung moved to find the owner of the menacing footsteps, only to jump back when another explosive flew in and went off by the moon pool. Nothing was too disturbed other than the floor and the Sacred Urn of Whispering Warriors, (though this thing was always broken), but the blast had startled Tai Lung and Shifu enough to keep them away from the noise. A few seconds later, a dark cloaked figure leaped through the smoke and came to a scraping halt in front of the two. 

"My, my, what have we here?" the figure cackled gleefully. "Kung fu masters still breathing? And with insides intact, I see." 

"You threw the explosive earlier!" Tai Lung accused. 

"Guilty as charged," the cloaked killer answered. "But I see you still live, which means I don't get my reward." 

They quickly drew two blades from the folds of their sleeves and lunged at Tai Lung who was quick to duck out of the way. Shifu dodged to the other side of the Sacred Hall of Warriors and was quick to grab a nearby shueld for defense. 

The figure took out a large glass sphere which was attached to a thin strand of rope. As he began to swing it about, Shifu couldn't help but notice the very dark powder bouncing about. 

"He has gun powder! Be careful!" he warned Tai Lung. 

Tai Lung did a double-take. "As in the stuff used for fireworks?" he exclaimed. 

As if to answer the question, the assassin released the glass pendulum towards Master Shifu who quickly ran out of the line of fire. The glass shattered against the pillar which created enough heated friction to set the gun powder off, blowing the Jade Pillar practically in half. The assassin then threw a few more explosives over in Shifu's direction, creating large blasts and huge puffs of thick smoke. 

"Shifu!" Tai Lung called out. "Are you okay?!" 

The assassin whipped their head around and threw another explosive at the snow leopard. Tai Lung noticed it coming and just managed to jump out of the way and avoid getting hit by massive debris. He started to make his way over to Shifu only to encounter more explosives. He timed the direction and speed of the assassin's throws before zipping blindly through the smoke and leaping over to where he last saw Shifu. An explosion went off behind him which forced him across the floor and into the wall where all the Sacred Scrolls were held. He was quick to get to his feet though and immediately spotted Shifu sprawled on the floor by the moon pool, struggling to get up. 

"Shifu!" he exclaimed, running over to help his former master to his feet. 

Shifu groaned in pain. A few more scrapes and a burn mark had been added to his list of injuries. "It's nice to know you haven't lost your touch despite the Wuxi FInger," he observed. 

Tai Lung smiled a little. "Thanks," he said. He got Shifu to his feet and then glanced around for any sign of the assassin. "Alright, where is he?" he snarled.

"Hiding," Shifu told him, keeping an ear out for any noises. 

An eerie silence slowly began to fill the Sacred Hall of Warriors. The only thing to be heard was the sound of sizzling glass left over from the various explosions. 

"He said 'reward'," Tai Lung remembered. "Which means he's working for someone. Know anyone who'd be hiring to kill you?"

Shifu frowned. "No," he admitted. "I don't." 

A sudden cackling wheeze was hear echoing throughout the entire temple. "Him?!" the assassin laughed. "The grandmaster of this lovely temple?! Oh no, you have it all wrong!" 

Tai Lung and Shifu looked at each other in shock, but before they could even respond, a small noise of metal caught Shifu's attention. 

"Behind you!"  he cried, but his warning came too late. 

Tai Lung let out a scream of anguish as the blade slice through his middle and went through his spine. Clutching the weapon, Tai Lung sank to his knees and then collapsed to the floor. The assassin stood behind the moon pool, probably pleased with himself. "You've been my main target, you heathen," he stated obviously. "I daresay my patron will be very pleased." 

He then quickly made his escape out of the temple before Shifu could attack him. Horrified by what had just happened, Shifu knelt down by Tai Lung to inspect the damage. The wound was bad and bleeding fast. He'd need serious help. "Tai Lung, just hold on," Shifu said. "I'm going to get help!" 

He turned to get up, only to hear Tai Lung whimper, "Please don't...leave me alone...."

"Tai Lung, I have to. You need a doctor and quick. You have to trust me."

Tai Lung gritted his teeth and curled up into a ball, but managed to nod his head. Shifu then ran as fast as his injuries would allow him to get Mantis and any other help. 

The assassin made his way up the hill at last where a figure in a dark cloack trimmed with gold awaited him. "Good evening, my patron," he said, slipping off his hood and adjusting the white feathers on his head. 

"Someone will see you, Shen," the patron told him in a low voice.  

"It makes no difference to me," the peacock told them. "Do you have my payment?"

"Is he dead?"

"Dead enough. And if he's not, he's certainly paralyzed. I know how to do my job. Especially with filth such as that."

The patron dug into their cloak and brought out a silk red garment and a large bag of money. "There's plenty for rent, food, and travel," they said. 

"Oh, beautiful garments!" the fallen prince gushed. "This will suit me much better than this tattered robe  I've been parading around in." 

"I figured," the patron said. 

Shen ducked behind a tree and changed out of his white kimono, tattered and torn from the blasts of his own cannons. He finally emerged in his new garb and let out a happy sigh. "Much better!" he exclaimed. 

"I'm glad they suit you," the patron said. "Safe travels, Shen."

As they turned to leave, Lord Shen called out, "Wait a moment now! You've never told me why you wanted this Tai Lung exterminated. Clearly he's not much of a threat." 

"Not anymore." 

"So why should a lovely master such as yourself want him choking on his own blood?"

The patron said nothing for a second. Then finally, "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh come now, Master Tigress. I knew it was you the second we crossed paths." 

The patron said nothing. Then she finally took off her hood. 

"That's better," Shen said. "I can see more of you." 

"Tai Lung is a threat to this valley," Tigress explained to him as the cloak opened up a bit more. "The sooner he's gone, the better things will be." 

"Well it seems I've taken your mind off of it." 

"I do wish you hadn't hurt Shifu." 

"He'll be fine. The last thing I needed was him helping the bastard out." 

"True." 

Lord Shen smiled and stepped forward to gently shake the master's paws. "Well my dear, I thank you for the thrilling opportunity." He placed a wing on the master's cloaked shoulder and slowly stroked the bottom of her chin. "Perhaps we can do this again," he suggested. 

Tigress felt herself start to smile, but quickly moved his wing off, saying, "Don't press your luck." 

Lord Shen smirked at her, but didn't say anything else aside from, "Well I'd better be off." 

"Safe travels, Shen." 

The peacock let his other wing linger on the master's paw before starting down the mountain. Tigress then went back to the Jade Palace to resume life as it was. Or so she hoped. 

THE END

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE FINISHED READING ENDING 5.