Back in the Valley of Peace, the masters were busy trying to help clean up the mess made from Chameleon . They had been successful in locating Crane and Viper who had been injured during the cannon attack and had sheltered underneath one of the houses to avoid being hurt any further. However, there had been too much debris and they had both gotten stuck until some of the villagers managed to dig them out. The two masters were then rushed to the infirmary to be taken care of and then remaining masters helped to clean up the debris. The Jade Palace was turned into a temporary shelter until their homes were restored, though this turned out to be a slight irritation to Shifu since some of the villagers had kids who got too invested in checking out the Sacred Hall of Warriors and tried to play with a lot of the artifacts. (Tigress eventually had to bare the doors and close the curtains over the sides as a deterrent). The children from the children's home also had to be temporarily rehoused, though Li offered to help out since he had plenty of space. Mr. Ping would have, but he learned from past experiences that multiple children in a restaurant were rowdy enough and he didn't need some crazy children running amuck in his shop destroying all his chopsticks and dishes.

Two weeks after Po and Zhen left, the village was looking a lot better and was almost close to completion. Shifu had temporarily moved back into the Jade Palace to help out and kept himself extremely busy with the clean up and distribution of supplies, spending a lot of time recalculating expenses and budgeting time. Viper and Crane were feeling much better and were more inclined to walk around and offer some assistance if necessary. (Crane kept mostly out of the Jade Palace since the noises from multiple small children gave him a small migraine). Tigress had volunteered to help carry supplies back and forth and pick up deliveries from the outskirts of the village with Lei-Lei happily tagging along to try and help. (Though the most she was able to really life was a small bag with  flour, and she had to stop multiple times to put the bag down, catch her breath, and then pick it up again).

On this particular day, while Tigress and Lei-Lei were making their way through the woods with the new shipment, Tigress stopped suddenly and darted her eyes around somewhat frantically.

"Tigress?" Lei-Lei asked curiously. "What's a' matter?"

Tigress shushed her gently, and twitched her ears around to hear better. But hearing nothing but empty air, she slowly nudged Lei-Lei forward, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

"What?" Lei-Lei asked again, looking around.

"Nothing," Tigress lied. "I just thought I saw something. Nothing's out there."

The two kept walking down the road when Tigress suddenly felt a warm shadow behind her. She was about to turn around to confront it, but she suddenly felt someone yank on the wooden beams she was carrying, yanking her backwards and off of her feet. Before she could react, she was grabbed roughly by the arm and the wooden beams were ripped free, causing a few splinters to be lodged in the master's arms. Tigress felt a sharp pain rise through her arms, but she ignored it, as she heard Lei-Lei scream in terror. The master moved her leg to kick and moved her head up to look at her opponent, but was just as quickly socked hard in the stomach and felt herself fly backwards onto the ground. She hadn't caught the face, but she knew that arm. She knew the shoes. She knew that punch.

"Tigress!" Lei-Lei screamed, dropping her little bag and running over to her. Tai Lung immediately scooped her up and held her by the shirt, watching her try to squirm to freedom with a disinterested expression on his face. 

"Put her down!" Tigress threatened, wincing and clutching her stomach when a searing pain ran through it.

Tai Lung glanced at Lei-Lei, then back at Tigress with a slightly darker but more mocking expression. "You want her?" he asked. "Get up and come get her."

Tigress winced but did as told, getting into a fighting position and watching Tai Lung carefully. Or...this version of Tai Lung? Tigress knew that Po and Zhen had gone to Juniper city to get more information on the chameleon before she did anymore damage. Maybe they should have done more work on the surrounding areas.

What on earth was so special about the valley?

"You must be Chameleon," Tigress guessed.

"Tai Lung" looked confused, but then laughed and said, "Sure. Whatever swings for you, kiddeo." He held the whimpering Lei-Lei up higher and added, "I can't stand here all day, you know."

Tigress frowned at the words. Something felt off, and she couldn't put her finger on what. Well no matter. Whatever the situation, Lei-Lei was in trouble and she needed to get her to safety. The master watched his footing. Chameleon wouldn't know anything about Tai Lung's fighting style, so she should expect something out of the ordinary. But she didn't seem like a stupid woman either. She had managed to masquerade as both Tai Lung and Shen. She had even masqueraded as Tigress herself for a full day without anyone catching on! (Except for Po, but Chameleon had gotten sloppy on that one). So...what approach should she take? Would it be more like Tai Lung's fighting style? Or more like a camouflaging lizard?

Well, if there was one thing Tigress had learned, it was to always expect the unexpected. She was going to pretend she had zero idea what Tai Lung's fighting style was. Even if she had first hand experience with it. Her first priority was getting Lei-Lei to safety, so she immediately lunged at the snow leopard with a sharp evasive maneuver to get around his back without getting pinched in the nerves or hit hard by a punch or kick. "Tai Lung" attempted to grab her arm but missed by a half inch, allowing the master to dig into his arm with her claws, forcing him to loosen his grip on Lei-Lei. The master took advantage of this and yanked the frightened panda child away and then immediately moved away from the snow leopard to the safety of the trees. Lei-Lei blew a raspberry at him.

"Lei-Lei, you stay here," Tigress warned her, getting back into a fighting stance and facing her opponent. "Tai Lung" cracked his neck and shoulders and  charged at her. Tigress watched him carefully before diving to the ground and swinging her leg around to hook it around "Tai Lung's" knee. Her opponent was startled for a second and was pulled back, but just as quickly dug their claws into the ground and yanked the master back to him. Tigress quickly let go, (partially because she was still in pain and partially because she knew if she got too close, she might deal with any potential chi or nerve strikes), falling flat to the ground. She swung her legs over her head and used the momentum to push forward and jump back to her feet, ignoring the pain in her arms and stomach. "Tai Lung" of course could see she was struggling, and picked up one of the wooden beams from the ground and started to charge at her. Tigress' eyes widened in alarm, and she quickly ducked backwards when the beam was swung at her head. She then dropped her hands to the ground and kicked up and over, moving her foot onto the beam and, before "Tai Lung" could readjust, used her weight to knock it to the ground and pin it. She then quickly ran up the length of the beam and double kicked "Tai Lung" in the face, landing back on the beam in a quick flip. Her opponent dropped the beam in fury, but then ran back and kicked against the beam on the ground. Tigress wobbled, but managed to stay put. Seeing the window of opportunity, "Tai Lung" kicked at the beam again, this time moving it off the ground a little bit and then kicking it even harder. Tigress found herself knocked off and falling flat onto the ground and "Tai Lung" immediately claimed his new weapon with a dark look crossing his face. Before Tigress could even react, her opponent had slammed the beam against her face, knocking her across the ground and sending a searing pain up her jawline and her shoulder where she fell. It was honestly a wonder she was still conscious right now. 

Lei-Lei had screamed in fear at the sight, though "Tai Lung" had completely ignored her and had dropped the weapon to walk over to her. Tigress tried to stand, but a shot of pain ran from her shoulder down her arm, forcing her to stop and breathe through the pain. She hadn't been this hurt in.......

Since.........

Tai Lung reached the master and grabbed her by the collar, yanking her over to a tree and pinning her there. The master noticed his movements and realized she was in serious trouble. While she tried to think of a way out, the two warriors were startled when Lei-Lei ran over and barreled into Tai Lung's leg. 

"Meanie man!" she yelled, smacking her fists against the snow leopard's leg. "Let go of Tigress!!!" 

Tai Lung glanced down at the small child with a strange look on his face. Seeing that he was distracted, Tigress took a small breath, braced herself for the pain, and then kicked up, forcing Tai Lung to let go of her. She then proceeded to pull her arm back and reached out to punch the snow leopard in the stomach. However, Tai Lung seeing what she was planning, moved around her, though not before Tigress reached out her claws to scratch a nerve point on his arm. The snow leopard cried out in pain, sinking to his knees and grabbing his arm while Tigress grabbed Lei-Lei and quickly moved out of range. 

"Nice work," she told Lei-Lei, which was immediately answered with a hug and a, "Are you okay?" 

"I'll be f-" Tigress began to tell her, but a growl from Tai Lung caught her attention and the master looked over to see him undoing the nerve strike she had done on his arm. It hadn't been a great one, so of course it took little effort for Tai Lung to remove the block, shake out his arm, and then proceed to stand up and give Tigress a death glare. The master shrank back a little out of fear and a flash of memory that still lingered in the back of her mind. However, to her surprise, the snow leopard just growled at her and started walking away. "I'll be watching you," he threatened, and proceeded to head back into the woods. 

Lei-Lei blew a raspberry at him.

The snow leopard suddenly stopped. Tigress stepped back a little and shielded Lei-Lei, unsure of what the master was planning. Tai Lung didn't move. Tigress could hear him breathing heavy, and then suddenly he let out a loud roar and sunk to his knees with a strange green ripple moving through his body. Tigress wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to get close; she wasn't in the best condition to fight. But clearly something was wrong. She decided to approach a little, just to see, when she heard the snow leopard utter a very pained but clear, "No!" 

The master stopped, unsure of what was happening. 

"I didn't do anything!" Lei-Lei protested, though she didn't fully understand what was going on and thought the snow leopard was mad at her blowing a raspberry. 

Tai Lung suddenly stood up and almost mechanically turned to look at Tigress and Lei-Lei. Tigress gasped in alarm, partially due to the snow leopard having rippled green eyes along and partially due to the suddenness. Tai Lung began to walk towards her but then stopped suddenly. He took a few breaths, then walked forward. Then stopped again and clutched his head. 

"Tai Lung?" Tigress asked, her voice cracking a little out of fear. 

Tai Lung immediately looked at her. The rippling green seemed to fade, but then it came back with full force. The snow leopard cried out in pain, doubling over and immediately crashing to the ground with a loud, "NO!" 

Out of instinct, Tigress immediately ran over to help him, but Tai Lung noticed and immediately screamed, "GET OUT!" 

Tigress stopped. "What's going on?!" she demanded. 

"GET AWAY FROM ME! NOW!!!" 

He started to stand up, shaking and growling. He stopped, but then the ripple came back, almost compelling him to move. Tigress backed up quickly. Was he going to chase them? Was it a ploy? Or was he being serious? 

"GO!!! GO AWAY! NOW!!!" 

Tigress didn't need any more warnings. She bolted out of the area as fast as she could (as fast as one could with multiple fighting injuries anyway), clutching Lei-Lei tightly and hoping they got out fast enough before they were followed. She could hear Tai Lung's loud roar from off in the distance, but she had soon put enough space between them to prevent herself from being followed back to the village. The run back there felt like an eternity and the master could feel a fiery pain ride up in her chest as she pushed herself to keep going back to the village, but soon she had reached the safety of the valley and finally stopped to catch her breath. Which she did once she put Lei-Lei down. 

"Master Tigress!" one of the villagers cried upon seeing her heaving for air and Lei-Lei hugging her leg. "Are you alright?! What's happened?!" 

"Where's....Shifu?" Tigress panted, finally giving up and sitting down on the ground. She was in so much pain. She had overextended her injured muscles trying to get back, but necessity had been the main priority. 

"Helping with Mr. Yevener's house. I'll go get him!" 

The villager ran as fast as they could while Tigress finally caught her breath, and then immediately clutched her head in pain. She was quickly reminded about the massive migraine she had been given by Tai Lung clubbing her with a giant wooden beam. That was going to linger for a while, she figured. Seeing she was in pain, Lei-Lei stood next to the master and patted her head as best she could, hoping to make her feel better. It didn't, but Tigress did appreciate the gesture. Master Shifu finally showed up, running as fast as he could to check on Tigress' injuries. He was shocked once he got a good look at her. 

"Tigress, are you okay?!" he cried. "What on earth happened?!" 

"A big meanie guy attacked us with wood!!" Lei-Lei said before Tigress could answer. 

"I'll have someone...grab the supplies later...when it's safer," Tigress told Shifu. 

"Who attacked you?" Shifu asked immediately. "Were they alone? Are they still here? You really need to go to a doctor. Can you stand up?" 

"I don't need a doctor," Tigress said. "Really, I'm fine." 

"He hit Tigress with the big wooden stick for the house," Lei-Lei said. "Is she going to die?" 

"No, of course not," Shifu promised. "But I am going to insist that Tigress get her injuries checked out." 

Tigress opened her mouth to protest, but Shifu's look immediately told her that protests were not going to get her anywhere. So she reluctantly complied and slowly stood up. Shifu held up Oogway's staff for her to lean on and helped guide her through the village towards the doctors. As it turned out, the local doctor was taking a tea break at Mr. Ping's, and upon seeing Tigress, immediately called Shifu into the restaurant so that he could look at her as well as let her hydrate. Mr. Ping was always glad to see the masters and grabbed some tea for Shifu and a little milk for Lei-Lei. 

"How is she?' Shifu asked, after the doctor had examined Tigress for a few minutes. 

"She took a hard blow to the head," the doctor noted. "It doesn't look too bad, but she'll need a lot of rest. I'll go grab some ice." He then headed over to Mr. Ping and asked for some ice, which the old goose agreed to immediately. While he was gone, Shifu turned back to Tigress and asked her what had happened. 

Tigress rubbed her forehead with a wince and sighed. "Lei-Lei and I were walking home," she explained. "And...Tai Lung attacked us." 

Shifu froze. His face scrunched together in alarm and confusion. "And when you say Tai Lung, you mean the Chameleon?" he asked slowly. 

"No, I mean Tai Lung. As in, actually Tai Lung." 

Some of the local restaurant patrons, overhearing the conversation, immediately freaked out and began checking the front entrance of the noodle shop as if half expecting the snow leopard to come barging down on the valley. Mr. Ping tried to reassure them that he had a safe bunker while Shifu stared at Tigress in alarm. He breathed heavily for a moment before finally taking a deep breath and blinked away the expression on his face. "Are you sure?" he finally asked. 

"Yes. I'm positive. Chameleon may be good at disguises, but you can't fake someone else's pain." 

Shifu let out a long sigh. "Where is he?" he asked simply. 

"He was over by the edge woods," Tigress explained. "I don't know if he's still there...." She groaned, wincing. "It...something feels wrong here." 

"Wrong how?" 

"Zhen said that Chameleon never leaves Juniper City. Suddenly she comes here disguised as multiple people we haven't dealt with in years, then Po and Zhen leave and suddenly the real Tai Lung shows up out of nowhere, has a measly attack, and then lets us leave?"

Shifu looked surprised and confused. Tigress didn't say anything else for a moment, then asked, "Have you ever seen chi ripple?"

"Ripple?" Shifu repeated. 

"Yes. Before we left, Tai Lung had rippling green chi. And it seemed to cause him a lot of pain." 

The grandmaster thought that over. He seemed genuinely puzzled. "I've learned many aspects of chi," he admitted. "But rippling chi is foreign to me...." 

The doctor finally came back with some ice tightly wrapped in a cloth and gave it to Tigress to tie to her head. "I'd recommend laying down for a bit," he suggested. "Normally I'd suggest Master Crane take her back to the Jade Palace, but since he's also injured...." 

"We'll figure something out," Shifu promised. "Thank you."

The doctor glanced at the candles on the wall and noted that his break was over and wished the masters well and walked back to the hospital. Mr. Ping glanced over at Tigress and Shifu from the counter and volunteered Po's room for the master to lay down in. Tigress refused the offer, saying that she'd be fine, but both Shifu and the old goose insisted on it. (Plus it would allow them some time to talk quietly without all the villagers freaking out). Tigress finally relented and slowly went inside the noodle shop and up the stairs where she laid down on Po's bed and almost immediately fell asleep. 

When the master awoke, she could hear Shifu talking to someone, though she couldn't make out who it was at the moment. Her head was no longer in pain, but there was still a throbbing pulse where she had gotten hit. She didn't move too much at first. She felt too disoriented for that. She mostly stared up at the wooden beams on the ceiling. Then her eyes trailed down the wall where the ghostly imprints of posters once were, over to the windowsill where some dust lay, untouched in many years, and then back up to the ceiling and over towards the other side of the room where she could see Shifu standing by the ladder leading downstairs to the main hallway. Standing next to him was Monkey who had an unusual look of worry on his face. As Tigress' disorientation started to clear up, she could finally grasp what they were saying. 

"I'm just worried what kind of mischief they'll run into," Shifu was saying. "Mr. Ping is incredibly tactless and obstinate; Li is oblivious and overprotective. Even if they do manage to to get there, they may cause more harm than good." 

"True, but considering that Li has a big appetite and Mr. Ping probably brought the entire kitchen with him, they can't be any more than a day's journey away." 

Tigress was confused. "Where's Mr. Ping?" she asked, finally managing to sit up on the bed. 

Shifu and Monkey immediately looked over at her. "You're awake!" Shifu exclaimed in relief. He ran over to the bed. "How are you feeling?" 

"A little better," Tigress admitted. "My head is still throbbing, but I'm okay." She rubbed her eyes to rub away the grogginess. "How long was I out?" 

"Seventeen hours and forty-seven minutes," Monkey said with a smile, then glanced over at the candle when a nail plinked the bottom of the holder. "Make that fifty minutes." 

Tigress tried to stand up, but Shifu told her to lay back down. "I want you feeling a hundred percent better," he said. 

"With all due respect, Shifu, I think I've had enough rest," Tigress grumbled. 

"I beg to differ." 

Tigress groaned in frustration, but complied and then asked her question again. 

"Mr. Ping and Mr. Shan decided to duck out last night after Po," Shifu explained. "We came over early this morning and the restaurant has been temporarily closed. Mr. Ping left a note for you to make sure you didn't eat more than your share when you woke up." 

Tigress couldn't help but laugh at that. 

"Chameleon is a big threat, and we're worried they're going to jeopardize the mission, so Monkey and I are going after them to make them turn around." 

"But Po does have to be warned," Tigress said. "If Tai Lung is lurking around...."

"We've discussed it," Shifu promised. "Monkey and I will continue on to Juniper City. You, Crane, and Viper will rest and then continue to help with the repairs." 

Tigress stared at him. "Why me?" she asked. "I feel fine." 

"You're not fine, Tigress. You've been badly hurt and I want you to rest until you are a hundred percent recovered. Monkey and I will deal with the situation. You worry about the valley." 

"And what if you need backup? We don't know if Tai Lung is the only other surprise threat." 

"If there is, I want you here to inform us. Chameleon may have more than one place under her thumb. I need eyes everywhere." 

Tigress knew from the look on his face that it was a thinly veiled excuse to keep her from overtaxing her strength from the violent attack from Tai Lung. However, she reluctantly complied and listened as Monkey and Shifu made a plan of action. She was soon moved out of Mr. Ping's house and carefully moved up the Thousand Steps (which was admittedly extremely tiring) and into the barracks so she could continue to rest. Once Shifu was sure she was settled, he and Monkey moved quickly to pack the necessary supplies for catching up to Mr. Ping and Li. Tigress rested, as instructed, groggily dozing off for the rest of the morning and then taking it easy throughout the afternoon when she, Crane, and Viper said goodbye. 

However, the night had soon fallen, and Tigress laid awake in bed counting down the seconds until the valley was completely silent with sleep. Once she was certain of this, she quietly rose from her bed, careful to not misstep and wake someone up. The master then proceeded to pack her bag with the necessary clothes and money, then quietly snuck out of the barracks and into the kitchen where she grabbed a few things that would keep her nourished until she got to Juniper City. She then quickly and quietly walked across the grounds and down the stairs to the valley. She had to stop for a second since her head was still thumping, but it had soon cleared up and she had begun walking again. Once she reached the bridge though, she found she was intercepted by Crane and Viper. 

"How did you know I was awake?" she demanded quietly. 

Crane and Viper smiled knowingly at her. "Oh, we figured you'd be up and about," Crane admitted. "Considering the situation. We're honestly surprised you waited this long to sneak out." 

Tigress sighed and looked at them tentatively. "Are you going to stop me?" she asked.

"Nope," Viper assured her. "We're going with you." 

"We've had our stuff packed at Mrs. Rabbit's since early this morning," Crane added. "So Shifu didn't find out." 

Tigress smiled and followed the two down the road. They soon made their way over to the children's home where Mrs. Rabbit was quietly standing outside with two large bags on the ground. 

"Thanks for the cover," Viper told her when they approached. 

"It's no problem," the middle aged woman assured them. "You go take care of that scoundrel. We'll keep you informed if anything else goes wrong." 

Crane reached down to pick up one of the bags, gasping when he found it was bit too heavy for him. "I might leave this one for Tigress," he admitted. 

Resisting the urge to laugh, Tigress swiftly bent down and picked up the bag, swinging it onto her shoulders with a little gasp of surprise. It wasn't the heaviest thing she had lifted, but it was close. She didn't complain though and thanked Mrs. Rabbit for the supplies, and before she knew it, she, Crane, and Viper were making their way out of the valley and after all the explorers to Juniper City.