Cloudless Authors

Chapter h

Po began to approach the snow leopard, slowly, grabbing a pair of nunchuks from the weapons rack right next to him. Tai Lung walked towards his opponent and away from Tigress; he didn't need to deal with two attackers. Especially since the ultimate one was directly in front of him. 

"It doesn't have to end like this, mighty Dragon Warrior," he told Po. "As appealing as it is to fight, I don't mind a little chat either." 

"You've used up all your chances to talk," Po informed him sternly. "Now less talking and more fighting!" 

Tai Lung shrugged, a smile forming on his face. He then charged at Po and leaped off the ground to kick him. Po then used a nunchuk that he had picked up and used it to grab a hold of his opponent, yank him forward, and belly-bump him back down to the floor of the training hall. Tai Lung groaned and got to his feet, mentally re-calculating his fighting strategy. That's right, I forgot, he thought. He's his own walking spring board. And nerve strikes are out of the question too....

The snow leopard suddenly felt a strong kick to his side and wend crashing to the ground roughly. Already knowing who that kick belonged to, Tai Lung was quick to block the next attack with his foot. The next attack he dodged with a backwards flip, and the third one he caught with his paws. Stuck on one foot, Tigress tried to punch the snow leopard, but her efforts were quickly deflected. 

"You know, you have very light footsteps," Tai Lung observed. He could hear Po jumping off the platform behind him, but didn't take it into account at the present moment. He added to Tigress, "I almost didn't hear you the second time." 

Tai Lung heard Po approach and ducked just in time to let the panda's foot ho sailing over his head. Tigress moved in to punch him, but Tai Lung still had a firm grip on her foot, so he was quick to maneuver her away from any part of his body. He then blocked a punch from Po, forcing him to release one paw holding onto Tigress. Seeing this, Tigress leeaped off the ground as high as she could and twisted herself around to deliver a strong kick to Tai Lung's chest. However, Tai Lung was quick to grab onto her other foot and swung her into Po, knocking the two to the ground. 

"Viper, Monkey!" Shifu commanded. 

The two masters immediately dashed over across the training hall as Po and Tigress began to untangle themselves and regain their footing. Tai Lung glanced back and forth at the two pairs of warriors before focusing his attention on the ones actively coming for him. He slid backwards to dodge an attack by Monkey and then firmly held out an arm to block the whip-like attack from Viper. Ignoring the sting, Tai Lung grabbed hold of the master's tail and yanked her towards him when he got a better grip on her. Seeing Monkey approach again, he used VIper as a whip and smacked Monkey square in the face. As the two masters let out cries of pain, Tai Lung threw Viper at her friend, getting them entangled, and then grabbed Monkey by the tail and tossed the tangled pair over towards Tigress and Po. Still getting to their feet, Tigress was quick to push Po out of the way before getting knocked back into the wall. Po rolled over to the Jade Tortoise before getting back to his feet again. 

Tai Lung ran across the training hall and leaped onto the edge of the large bowl. Using all of his strength and weight, he kicked down on the edge as hard as he could, flipping it into the air before maneuvering it over Po, trapping him inside. 

"Po!" Mantis and Crane yelled out in worry. They then charged over towards the snow leopard as well, hoping to free their friend before Tai Lung did anything. Being able to fly, Crane reached Tai Lung first and released a powerful gust of wind with his wings. The snow leopard clung onto the bowl and tucked his body close together to avoid flying onto the ground. When the gust began to die down, Tai Lung began to stand back up to continue the fight, only to be grabbed by Crane and flown away from the Jade Tortoise. Tai Lung glanced down as Crane began to fly him towards the roof of the training hall and then back up at the master. 

"Not bad!" he complimented. "You have strong legs!"   He then thrust his knee up and kicked the master in the gut. Crane let out a gasp of pain and stopped flying for a brief second. Taking advantage, Tai Lung wasted no time yanking his one arm free and ramming his fist into the avian's throat. Crane let out another gasp of air, but still held on firm. Tai Lung then used his upper body strength to flip his legs up and kick the master right in the face. The force was finally enough to cause Crane to drop his opponent and fall flat on the ground in agonizing pain. 

Meanwhile, Tai Lung landed firmly on the ground of the training hall and stood up to get a better view of his surroundings, only to get hit in the face by a hard metal object. The force knocked him back a few feet though he recovered quickly enough to see the second attack. As Tai Lung moved to block it, he realized too late that the mysterious object was none other than a nunchuck, which told Tai Lung exactly who he was dealing with. The nunchuck wrapped itself tightly around the snow leopard's arm and pulled him forward right into a bulging white belly. Tai Lung then went sailing backwards, landing on a metallic surface that had no problem giving him potential bruises on the back of his head. 

The other master must have freed him while I was dealing with Crane, he thought as he got to his knees. Mantis. Nice distract-OWWWW!

Tai Lung didn't have time to ponder over what had just transpired within the past minute or two as he realized too late that he was standing in the middle of the fire rings. One burst had just singed his side and as the snow leopard tried to get out and maintain his focus, he wound up getting severe burns on his leg, his arm, his shoulder, and even the side of his face. The snow leopard was then grabbed by the arm and pulled out of the fiery maze, only to be kicked square in the jaw and sent hurtling to the ground. A heavy foot then pinned him to the ground as a final moment of triumph. Tai Lung just laid there in exhaustion. He was badly burned from his embarrassing encounter with the fire rings and he didn't feel like moving around at the moment. 

"Excellent job, Po," Master Shifu told the panda as he and the now exhausted Furious Five gathered around their fallen enemy. "As always."

"Thanks," Po said with a smile. "It's always a pleasure taking down great forces of evil."

"What do you want us to do with him, Master Shifu?" Crane wheezed, shakily walking over to look at Tai Lung. 

"Um, Wuxi Finger him?" Mantis answered with a frown. "I'm not in the mood to get killed." 

"I'm not here to kill anyone," Tai Lung mumbled from his pinned position. 

Po ignored him and picked up his wrist, tucking the snow leopard's finger between his and raising a pinky. "So...am I Wuxi Fingering him?" he asked Shifu. "Two seconds and he's no longer a threat." 

Shifu glanced down at the very battered, bruised, and burned Tai Lung as everyone waited for the next command. 

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十五- He sentences Tai Lung to death. 

十六- He gives Tai Lung another chance.