49 days and counting....

Kai and Po headed up the rocky slope with Tigress still unconscious in the bull's arms. Po, having done a lot of running for almost eight years was in pretty good shape to climb a steep slope, but after having just climbed up and down a large mountain, running back to the panda village, and then fighting off Jade Warriors and running into Kai, he was exhausted to the point of collapse. Hearing the panda start wheezing, Kai turned his head around and gave him a grin. "Tired, Almighty Dragon Warrior?" he taunted.

Po gave him a look. "Hey, you made me climb a mountain to get back to the village," he reminded him. "Don't try to make fun of my soreness."

Kai stifled a laugh. "You climbed?" he asked in amusement. "You're a panda!"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that...."

As the two continued to head up the mountain, a pained moan could be heard and Po glanced over to see Tigress finally beginning to stir. "What on earth did you do to her?!" he demanded.

"You'll know once you and I start...talking," Kai promised. "She'll be fine though. Just give her a moment to get what's left of her strength back."

The two continued to head up the mountain with Tigress squirming awake, initially just groaning and muttering things that neither guy could understand. Po glanced down towards the bottom of the mountain where the villagers were fighting, unable to tell which side was winning. A few more minutes, he promised them mentally. Then you guys can take a break. Get some of your strength back.

Tigress let out a more audible groan from the front, and the Dragon Warrior swung his head around to see her. He saw her eyes open up, the look on her face one of complete confusion and discombobulation. She looked very concerned and tired, but she didn't move too much, so Po figured she was too exhausted to do so.

"Tigress?" Po called over, trying to get closer to the master. "Tigress, are you okay?"

Tigress weakly turned her head, barely managing to catch a glimpse of her friend since Kai was holding her upfront with one arm.

"P-po?" she asked in slight surprise. "What....what's...going on?"

"He's agreed to a deal," Kai informed her slyly. "Thanks to your wonderful assistance."

"A...deal? What...deal?"

"I'll tell you when we reach the temple," Po assured her. "Just take it easy and save your strength for later."

"I...plan...on it," Tigress muttered, leaning limply against Kai with a sense of helplessness.

The warriors continued up the mountain, Po glancing up every once in a while to see how close they were to the temple near the top. He was still sore from his arduous climb up the mountain, but he knew he'd have to press on in order follow Kai and confront him. As they drew closer to the top, he glanced back down at the fighting and said, "Hey! You said you'd stop the fight half-way! I haven't pulled any tricks! Now stop it!"

Kai glanced at him with a nasty smile. "You're quite right, Dragon Warrior," he replied, his pendent glowing. "A deal is a deal."

Suddenly, the noise of the fighting died down and Po looked to see the Jade Warriors standing at attention, awaiting a new commandment.

"Thank you," Po said firmly. "Now, lets move on then...."

The three finally reached the top of the mountain where a large, golden and jade temple loomed within the confines of the mountain's peak.

"Whoa," Po said admiringly, looking at the temple's details. "I wonder how long this has been here...."

"Ages," Kai told him. "Before your precious pandas evacuated here, this was once home to the Phoenix Order."

"Who were they?"

"A group of powerful masters who protected those living in these mountainous regions. The homes of the villagers were abundant all over these mountains. Or they were until I showed up. This was one of my first raids once I found the Jade Pendent."

"And let me guess, you killed everyone off?"

"Almost everyone. There was a very nice wiseman that I decided to take pity on. I was considering sparring the leader of the Order, Master Laohu, since his kung fu was the strongest I had known, but he was so insolent to me and so preachy that I found it rather fun watching him bleed. And his wife too for that matter. She was so distraught that she killed herself."  He laughed. "That was fun to see. Of course, there were also rumors of a child, but it wasn't anywhere in the area so I had to forgo that pleasure...."

"You...monster...." Tigress snarled.

"Oh come now, don't be like that," Kai told her. "A helpless baby abandoned or sent away by their parents wouldn't live long anyway."

"I...did...."

Kai looked at her in surprise, glancing over at a now very angry Po. "Well...this just got awkward," he said sheepishly. "Um...why don't we just head inside?"

"Lead on," Po told him flatly.

Kai opened the door, revealing a dark temple with looming pillars, the only light coming from a lone window in the front. A few bones laid around the side, remnants of Kai's attack over thirty years earlier, and a few ancient bloodstains could be seen on the floor.

"I feel ill," Tigress piped up quietly, barely able to look at the mess.

Po turned to Kai. "Okay, I came quietly," he reminded him. "Now let Tigress go."

"Of course."

The bull gently tossed Tigress onto the floor where Po almost immediately ran over to hold her tightly. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Does anything hurt? Can you walk at all?"

"One question at a time," Tigress told him quietly, still looking a bit exhausted. "My brain isn't working at its full capacity at the moment."

Kai walked over to the front of the temple, his pendent glowing again as he shut the doors and turned back to the two warriors. From off in the distance, a distant murmuring being heard.

"What's that noise?" Po asked suspiciously.

"Probably the wind," Kai said coolly with a shrug of his shoulders. He cracked his knuckles and walked over. "Now...onto business."

Po gently propped Tigress against the temple wall before standing up and squaring himself away into a fighting position. "Okay, so...I always do this and every time, it turns into a fight," he forewarned. "But I'll still say it anyway.... You don't have to take over China. What do you even get out of it?!"

"Power," Kai replied, the pendent glowing once more. "Glory, strength, and respect."

"You don't need to steal people's kung fu to do that. Or kill people. There are other ways to go about and do it."

Kai laughed. "You think it's that simple, Almighty Dragon Warrior?!" he exclaimed in amusement. "You think I'm interested in your stupid code of honor and your training and whatever else you do?! I crave power! I yearn for glory! I take respect! And you are not about to stand in my way!"

He lunged at Po, only for the panda to roll out of the way, accidentally disturbing a pile of bones behind him. The Dragon Warrior jumped with a disgusted shudder. "Eeeew!! I just touched someone's corpse! Not cool!"

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kai barreled into Po and knocking him into a nearby pillar. Tigress, who was helplessly watching the fight, again, heard a faint and muffled cry come from far beyond the temple walls. She struggled to get to her feet, collapsing when her legs wobbled too much as an effect from Kai's false chi drainage. The master pressed her ears to the wall to try and hear better, getting somewhat distracted by the fight going on by Po and Kai. A sudden loud shriek could be suddenly heard, telling her that there was a fight going on outside.

Hold on, she thought. Didn't Kai halt the fight? Or did he not and I imagined that whole conversation? She tried to place who on earth could have shrieked, but she didn't know the villagers well so she didn't know who it was. I hope it was Mei-Mei. Some good scares should teach her a lesson.

Po having also gotten side-tracked by the shriek was grabbed violently by Kai and thrown roughly to the floor where the bull took advantage and proceeded to beat the panda up. Tigress tried to run over, but she could only manage a very small scootch. After a moment, Po found himself beaten up on the floor, looking angrily up at Kai. "That was a scream!" he yelled. "You told me you'd halt the fighting! We had a deal!"

"And I'm the Collector," Kai reminded him smugly. "In order to steal the kung fu skills I need, some deals need to be broken. Once I take your chi, I'll have the power to destroy this whole village as well as the Valley of Peace. After that, I'll be able to take over all of China! And this time, there will be no one standing in my way!"

Kai then trust a green light into Po's abdomen, causing the panda to cry out in pain.

"NOOOO!!!!!!" Tigress screamed, now making an even stronger effort to move over to him. Her muscles were sore from her fight with Kai and her whole back and abdomen were sore to the point of almost still being in pain, but she finally managed to start crawling over to the spot where the two were. However, just as she got closer, Kai finished absorbing Po's skills and his chi along with it, leaving a now lifeless Po laying on the floor with a heartbroken Tigress tightly hugging him.

So...normally I don't post these chapters twice a week, but this combined with the next chapter would be extremely long and I'm trying to avoid really long chapters. Also...I found two different pictures for both halves of the chapter, so I thought this would be kind of fun.