Through the Looking Glass: Penance: Chapter 13
"Po, I want you to watch over Tai Lung while I am gone."
"Yes, milord."
"Good. If any of the rest of you run into Wang Dun and he asks where I am, tell him I am extremely busy and must not be bothered."
"Yes, milord."
Kublai Khan nodded his head. "I thank you for your understanding," he said stoically. "Master Crane, I shall ask you to lead the way now."
"All right, milord," said the bird.
And with this, Po and the four members of the Furious Five that were not Crane filed back into the palace, to pretend as if this early morning encounter had never happened. The emperor himself was dressed in commoner's robes, his majestic black fur somewhat rumpled to keep up appearances and make sure the people of China did not know the emperor was with them. For he knew that if the townspeople knew, then Tan Tao would probably catch wind of it.
He was unsure of Mantis and Crane's conspiracy theories, but he decided to err on the side of caution just in case it did turn out to be true.
Nodding to Crane, the emperor began to move. The kung fu warrior was quick to lead the emperor in the direction of Mei Ling's house, the two of them getting out of the Imperial grounds just before sunrise.
Miles positioned the camera on the table and turned it on.
"There," he said. "Now let's get out of the room and see if this thing works."
"Okay," said Cream.
The two of them exited the room into the kitchen, Mei Ling and Tai Xue looking over the two of them suspiciously.
"Are you sure it's going to work?" she asked.
"It has to," replied Cream. "Miles is a genius!"
Tai Xue nodded. "I trust your judgement on this," she said. "I hope my son is all right."
"Trust me, Tai Xue, he should be fine," replied Miles with a wink. "We'll see when Crane comes in to give his progress report, but I still think they got him in."
"Besides, we all know Tan Tao will try to break him out whether it's against his will or not," replied Miles. "If that happens, then the Furious Five will try to flee with Tai Lung. And then we'll be left to prove Tai Lung's innosence. Not like I have a plan to do that, but we'll think about it when the time comes."
Tai Xue nodded. "I do hope things do not have to get to this point," she said. "Seeing so many women being tortured by the same man... After a while, it had disgusted me..."
"Yeah," replied Cream. "You had to spend thirty-seven years of watching him cycle though many different whores..."
"Their fates were horrible," replied Tai Xue. "Many did not live to see their twentieth year..." She shook her head sadly, her eyes shut. "I used to love him. I truly did. But the man I thought I loved is not the man who loves me..."
At this, a knock sounded from the doorway into Mei Ling's abode. Looking at Mei Ling, Miles winked.
"All right," he said. "Let's see what this thing is made of!"
Mei Ling nodded and entered the room that led out of the house. She went straight to the doorway and was very utterly shocked when she found a large bull standing in front of her in addition to her friend.
"Oh, Crane!" he said. "I didn't think you'd be bringing someone from the palace in!"
"Don't ask," said Crane as he stepped into the room. "The emperor got a bit skeptical."
"Hence, why I am here," said the bull slowly as he looked a Mei Ling.
At this sentence, the mountain lion's eyes widened considerably. "Wait, you're the emperor of China?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "Now, Crane had told me that Cream and the fox that she was looking for were taking up residence in here for the time being. Is this true, Miss...?"
"Mei Ling, milord," said the cat, bowing down in front of the emperor quickly. "Yes, it is. We're actually testing something right now."
The emperor rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Never mind, Mei Ling," said Miles' voice from the kitchen. "I think we've got enough."
At this, the kitsune came out from the kitchen, Cream following closely behind. The rabbit stopped where she stood upon noticing that the emperor was standing right in front of her. Her eyes widened as she scrambled slightly.
"Oh!" she said. "Milord!"
The rabbit bowed politely even as Miles walked straight to where he had laid down the camcorder. Hitting stop on the device, he nodded to Mei Ling before bowing down to the emperor.
"Ah, Cream, I take it?" asked the emperor. "A pleasure to see you again."
"Same here, milord," replied the rabbit. "I found him."
"And I'm standing right here," said Miles.
The emperor turned his head slightly to look down upon the two-tailed fox. The kitsune simply bowed his head respectfully as he held the device in his hand. Kublai Khan would have appreciated the gesture if not for the fact that the device was making him a little uneasy.
"A pleasure to meet you," said the emperor, bowing his head in reply. "What is that you have in your hand, if you don't mind my asking?"
The kitsune looked down at the camcorder in his hand and smiled. "This is what we're going to use to film Wang Dun's private time," he said. Before the emperor could say anything, Miles continued. "This is a video recorder. And it just recorded all of your words and actions in the past few minutes."
"Preposterous!" replied Kublai Khan as he exhaled through his nose in disbelief. "I hardly believe a word of it!"
Miles pressed a few buttons, and then the sounds of footsteps were heard coming from the small device. Miles then opened a flap on the side and handed the device to the bull.
"See for yourself, milord," he said simply.
Gingerly, the emperor took up the camera in his hands, and looked down at the flap as he suddenly saw himself enter in the exact shade of peasant's clothes. He heard every detail of his conversation with Mei Ling, right down to the inflections of his voice and his expression as he talked. Miles had come out from the kitchen exactly like he had a few seconds earlier, and then the playback stopped.
To say that the emperor was shocked would have been an understatement. The emperor held the camera in his hand for a few seconds, crimson eyes displaying a rare shock. All was silent in the house for a short while as the emperor's eyes darted to the kitsune, the rabbit, and then back at the device he held in his hand.
Finally, the emperor handed the device back to Miles, the flabberghasted expression still on his face.
"What kind of technology does the world outside have?" asked the emperor as Miles took the device out of his hand.
"Well, we have a bomb that can blow up a city three times the size of Beijing," he replied. "And we also have things that display moving images and sounds."
The emperor shook his head in disbelief. After a few more seconds of silence which Miles used to turn off the camera, he spoke. "I see..." he said. "It does make me wonder about one thing; is this part of your plan to catch Tan Tao and prove that he is in fact personating Wang Dun?"
"Yes," said Miles with a brief nod. "You are always barred access to Wang Dun's room while he's in it, right?"
"Well, now that you mention it..." said Kublai Khan, rubbing his cheek in thought. "Yes, he always does bar the way into his quarters when he is inside..."
"Okay, good," said Miles. "We're going to plant this in his room when he's not in there, and whenever he enters the camera will come to life and it'll record all of his actions. Provided it hasn't run out of battery first, of course."
"That way we'll know for sure what he's been doing behind closed doors!" chimed in Cream. "And then we can prove that Tan Tao and Wang Dun are in fact the same person! We'll be showing you whatever we get no matter what happens, though! You can be sure of that!"
The emperor nodded. "I can plainly see that there is no harm against me in your plans, then," he said plaintively, turning to Crane. "I shall let this plan go through, then. I sincerely hope your suspicions are correct, however, or else I will brand the Furious Five traitors to the country."
"Good," said Miles, walking over to Crane with a smile on his face. "Here. You should take this to the palace."
The bird nodded, taking the video camera from Miles with a nod. "Okay," he said. "Should I turn it on when I get there, or...?"
"We need as much battery power as we can get," replied Miles. "I already turned it off, so once you've planted the camera, turn it on and leave it to sit somewhere. It should start recording whenever Wang Dun enters."
"Okay," replied Crane, looking over the device one last time before nodding.
"Remind me that I must try harder to set up diplomatic relations with the outside world..." said the emperor. "For I am utterly confused right now."
"Don't worry," replied Miles. "I'm sure once Tan Tao is out of the way that will change fast."
The emperor flashed a skeptical look at the kitsune before turning to Crane and nodding.
"That will be all, then," replied the bull. "Let us return to the imperial palace."
"All right," said Crane, turning to Mei Ling. "Thanks for watching over them for us, Mei Ling."
"Oh, you know I'd do anything for a friend," replied Mei Ling as she bowed to Crane first and then to the emperor. "May fortune be with you, milord."
And with this, Crane and Kublai Khan both left the humble abode of Mei Ling, the kitsune looking after the large bull. His sapphire eyes turned to Mei Ling, who stood there quietly.
"You think things are going to end okay with all this happening?" asked the mountain lion.
"I think they will," replied the two-tailed fox with a shrug. "I'm keeping that hope with me, at least."
The mountain lion nodded, hoping that the kitsune was right as she rubbed the back of one of her ears.
Crane had snuck into Wang Dun's quarters later that day. Thankfully, the empror was busy distracting him with a meeting with a messenger from the Hong Kong district for long enough for the bird to find a good place to plant the camera.
Almost as soon as he had entered the room through the window, however, he saw how truly messy it was. Sheets were strewn all over the place, with a strange array of potions on a table being the only thing organized there was.
Crane smiled at himself at this, thinking about how easy it would be to hide the camera.
Looking up, he saw a shelf with many sheets that seemed to look down into a majority of the room. Crane noticed this, and flew up with the camera in his beak. He looked there, and then rearranged the sheets slightly. Nodding at this, he gently let the camera down, making sure that the circle that was the lens looked down into all of the room beneath him. The infared sensor was also attached to the camera in a way that it did not make itself visible to anybody but at the same time could sense when Tan Tao had walked into the picture.
Pleased, Crane made sure to look after anything he might have left signifying he was there. Upon finding that he had not left a single feather in there, the crane nodded, and exited through the window of Wang Dun's quarters.
Tai Lung looked listlessly on from where he sat in the small cell. Light simmered in from the window cell just above where the top of his head would be if he was standing. The Dragon Warrior stood in front of him, the guards having gone on break after finding out that the Dragon Warrior would be watching over Po. The time had been spent in silence, as Tai Lung had been left alone with his thoughts. However, the silence combined with the darkness was beginning to get to the both of them. Nevously, Tai Lung shifted his hands.
"You know, I've always been wondering something..." said Tai Lung uncertainly.
The panda rose an eyebrow. "What's up?" he asked.
"Well, I'm just baffled that you accepted the story behind Shifu's death so quickly," replied the snow leopard softly.
Po turned to look at the snow leopard, a perplexed look in his eye. "Why do you say that?" he asked.
Tai Lung shrugged in reply. "You know who I am," he said. "Tai Lung, the most feared warrior in all of China. The man who killed hundreds of innocents after going on a rampage. I could've lied to you, and yet you accepted my story. I'm not saying I made it up, but still... why so fast to accept that?"
The panda chuckled at this. Confused, one of Tai Lung's ears perked up.
"Well, it's the stuff that goes on around you that you don't notice that catches people's attention," he replied simply. "If you had killed Shifu, then Mantis and Crane would've said something by now. That, or they would've been trying to kick your ass back in the Devil's Mouth. And then we would've been kickin' your ass with our awesomeness!"
The panda struck a pose in front of the bars. Tai Lung could not help but chuckle at this good-hearted display of superiority; knowing Po the way everybody talked about him, it was all in good fun.
"But seriously, though, there's other stuff too," said Po. "The wound was too big for your claws to make, for one thing. And then there was the fact that Cream, Mantis, and Crane all seemed as sad as you did."
"Not as sad, though..." replied Tai Lung morosely, the pain of losing Shifu welling up in his heart once again. "Po, you haven't got any idea what it's like to lose the one person you look up to as a parent right after they've forgiven you. It's..." Tai Lung wiped a solitary tear from his face quickly so that Po would not see it. "It's hard. It truly is. It's just so hard to believe that the person actually forgave you... especially when you feel you're above that. And especially when you've made him so sad with what you've done..."
Po nodded as he heard Tai Lung go on and on about the nature of his grief. Turning to him, the panda smiled softly.
"You know, it's interestin' you should say that," said Po. "'Cause Shifu always blamed himself for your rampage. He always thought he had made you concentrate too much on kung fu studies... And he felt it was his fault for putting thoughts into your head."
Tai Lung nodded, knowing that the Dragon Warrior had not needed to tell him this. Deciding to humor him anyway, though, he decided to speak up. "Well, that is true," Tai Lung said softly. "But it doesn't change the fact that what I did went against what he would've liked. Even discounting the code of a kung fu warrior. So what else could have caused him to forgive me?"
"You have feelings," he replied simply. "You've also shown that you still have your sense of what's right and what's wrong. As long as you have that, you can be forgiven."
Po nodded, holding a hand into the bars as Tai Lung saw the panda's hand reach into the bars. "Just know that as long as you hang on to that, you're not above being forgiven at all," he said. "Take it from me, man."
Tai Lung smiled a genuinely happy smile as he looked at the hand Po held in front of him. Standing up, the leopard took the panda's hand and shook it softly.
"Thanks," he said. "For understanding. You've got no idea how good it feels to have people I can rely on to talk with me."
The leopard let the panda's paw go, and then it retreated out of the cell rather slowly as the panda nodded at the former criminal.
"My pleasure," said the bear with a smile.
Tai Lung was finding out very quickly that Po's smile was one of the most infectious things in the world, as he felt himself smiling as well as he sat back down on the wooden bench he called his bed.
Night had fallen upon the imperial palace relatively early. Now, Tigress stood guard, the two guards next to her standing stock still as Tai Lung sat on the wooden bed. The moonlight seeped in through the bars, the pale blue light casting a strange kind of beauty on the stone floor as Tai Lung looked over to where the female cat was guarding his cell.
He had been thinking about various tangents concerning their plan earlier that night. They had conceived the plan with the hope that Tan Tao would stumble on himself somewhere and try to make a mistake that would ultimately bring him down. So far, the fatal mistake had not been made.
He had discussed it with Tigress when the guards had left to await the new guards to take over. The leopard was glad he did; it was making sure that at least he was trying to wait despite his impatience on the matter. She had told him it would take some time, and Tai Lung knew she was correct. Thus, he had kept his mouth shut, thinking about what mistake Tan Tao would try to pull.
As he thought of this, however, he saw a shadow creep across the moonlight from where he sat. He shifted slightly, his fur standing on end as he pinched himself to make sure his mind was not playing tricks on him.
It had not.
Tai Lung knew that the shadow could not have been a good thing. He looked over to Tigress, who was looking in. A silent nodding was all the confirmation Tai Lung needed that she had seen the shadow too. Tai Lung, trying to coax her along, pointed at the window, then to his eyes.
Shaking her head, the predatory cat pointed to her eyes and then out of the cell.
Tai Lung knew that the cat had not seen what had caused the shadow. But it was clear that she was just as worried as he was.
Unfortunately, she was in no position to do anything about it, so Tai Lung stepped off of the wooden cot, looking at the bars to see which angle would be best to break out from.
Kublai Khan was sleeping soundly in his bed-chambers, the moonlight seeping in through silk curtains as he snored softly. The imposing bull was resting on his side that night, horns just a short distance away from the headboard of the bed.
It was the perfect setting for an assassination. Or so, Tan Tao hoped.
Sneakily, the white tiger climbed into the room, chi energy supporting his steps to make sure he would not be given away by the floorboards. Grinning maliciously, he looked over to where the emperor was sleeping.
It would be the perfect kill.
But he needed to be quick. He knew the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior had somehow figured out that he was trying to get the throne of China for himself. It was probably Tai Lung; he realized deep down he should never have let the snow leopard run free that night.
What had passed was past, however, and he concentrated on the task at hand.
Holding a hand out in front of him, Tan Tao focused some chi energy on the emperor, testing his grounds as a malicious look overcame in his eyes.
It was unfortunate that the bull had decided to wake up then of all moments from the energy that Tan Tao had unintentionally given him.
Scowling in anger, the tiger brought his paw back to his person. Instantly, a surprised Kublai Khan was sent flying at Tan Tao. The crime lord caught the emperor in his arms, and Kublai Khan only had time to let out the beginning of a cry for help before Tan Tao put his hand on the bull's mouth.
"I wouldn't scream if I were you, Khan," said Tan Tao insultingly. "I can kill you right here and right now."
The tiger shifted on his feet, leering malevolently at Kublai Khan as the emperor looked at him with fear in his eyes. "You promise not to scream?"
Kublai Khan could only nod at this. He felt the hand unclamp itself from his mouth.
"Tan Tao?" asked the emperor. "I thought you were--"
"Dead?" asked the tiger. "Wang Dun never did like me, I suppose. Explains why he left me at the place where we had our mission, if you will." Ignoring the glance that Kublai Khan shot him, he continued. "But I found my way back. And I've built my ground back up. That's two years of my life I will unfortunately never reclaim."
The emperor would have moved, but he found it impossible. Seeing the paw that Tan Tao was holding up, the emperor suddenly gawked.
"You..." he said. "You're a chi mage!"
"Ah, yes," replied Tan Tao, grinning widely. "It's a skill I picked up directly under your eye. Wang Dun didn't seem to notice either. At least, not until before we were supposed to be heading back to China."
Kublai Khan shook his head. "You know it is illegal to use chi to fight people!" he exclaimed as softly as he could. "Our best warriors would be outmatched!"
"But then again, you wouldn't want your best warriors to topple a criminal empire, would you?" asked Tan Tao sneakily.
And before Kublai Khan could reply, the predatory cat gestured out towards the window. Against his will, Kublai Khan was sent flying out into the courtyard, Tan Tao jumping down after him.
Upon hearing the soft thud, the guards turned, horns turned towards the cell to find that Tai Lung was still there. Tigress and Tai Lung were also on alert after this.
"Did ya hear that?" asked one of the guards. "That sounds awfully suspicious."
Tai Lung looked over to the guards with a surprised expression on his face. Tigress' nose wrinkled suddenly, something dawning on her.
"Wait, a thud in the yard..." she said. "Coming from the right side of the palace..."
Tai Lung tensed, noticing the rhinos doing the exact same thing as the exact same thought ran through their heads.
Tan Tao jumped into the courtyard, landing some distance from where the emperor was. Shaking his head and grinning deliriously, Tan Tao lifted Kublai Khan with his chi energy, bringing the bull to him.
"You know, it is a shame that I will have to kill you," he said. "But, precautions must be taken. I would not want my criminal empire to collapse after thirty-seven years, would I?"
Before Kublai Khan could reply, he suddenly felt himself careen backwards, his back hitting a wall. The chi fighter released his hold on Kublai Khan, the ruler falling to the ground.
The wall shook with vibrations of something colliding with it. Tai Lung looked over.
"Oh, no..." said Tigress suddenly. "The emperor is in big trouble..."
"We've gotta go help him!" cried the two rhino guards.
As they scampered off, Tai Lung shook his head. Looking at the bars in the window, he crouched into a jumping position.
"Damn idiots aren't going to get to him in time," he said as Tigress stood there. "This might make some noise."
He leapt up into the air, his fist flying out at the bars holding him inside the cell.
Tan Tao levitated a rock in the air. Leering malevolently, he looked at Kublai Khan, shaking his head. He then sent the rock flying at Kublai Khan.
However, a metal bar suddenly collided with the object, sending it off of its intended trajectory. Blinking in surprise, Tan Tao did not notice the other two bars headed in his direction. Both bars hit him in the arms rather harshly, and the cat growled in anger as he looked down.
He looked at where the bars had come from too late, however, for then the next thing he saw was the form of Tai Lung rushing at him. He was unable to get out of the way before the leopard kicked the tiger in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet into a tree. His back hit this hard, and then the tiger was left in a sitting position to look at the kung fu fighter.
The sound of Tai Lung's claws coming out was heard then, and Kublai Khan looked up, confused as to why the cat would be helping him.
"Keep your hands off of him," said Tai Lung, snarling.
Tan Tao chuckled darkly as he looked at the snow leopard, standing up as he did.
"So we meet again, Tai Lung," he said. "I guess I'll ask you a second time about accepting my proposal to spread anarchy throughout China?"
Tai Lung scoffed at this. "And I guess I'll tell you a second time that there is no way I am going to join you," he said simply.
"Oh?" asked the white tiger, standing up. "Let's see. You and I are at the scene where the emperor could be assassinated, and you are the only cat here. You are also the only one with a motive to do so; being locked up and days away from death. I think you forget what could happen."
Tai Lung suddenly noticed a rock levitating in the air. Thinking quickly, the leopard jumped to where the emperor stood, fearing the projectile would hit the emperor. The rock did head in that direction, and so Tai Lung was able to kick it away. The rock did try to come back again, but each time the snow leopard hit the rock with a well timed blow, twice with his fists, three times with his feet, and one time with a chop. Finally, it reeled back towards the emperor a final time, and Tai Lung was able to kick the rock in Tan Tao's direction. And before the chi mage could stop its path, he felt the piece of earth hit him in the eye. Tan Tao was then sent flying back again.
"And I think you forget why I'm so notorious in the first place," pointed out Tai Lung. "I was the most infamous warrior in all of China. Key word being warrior! I can defend the emperor's life until the guards get here, and I can outsmart whatever you throw at me!"
Tan Tao simply groaned as he looked over. "And what motivation do you have to go against me, anyway?" asked Tan Tao uncertainly.
The snow leopard shook his head. "You kidnapped a friend of my friend," he replied angrily. "You forced her into something nobody should be forced to do, and you make it seem perfectly innocent? I will not stand for that, especially since it would make Miles upset if she fell into your hands again!"
"But that is not enough motivation!" cried Tan Tao, levitating a large twig before sending it flying at Tai Lung.
The master of the thousand scrolls growled, the emperor looking on in shock as he jumped at the twig and kicked it away from him.
"It's also your fault that Shifu is dead!" he cried out into the night. "You killed the only man I had that I could call a family! I will never join you, because I know that it would disrespect his memory if I did!"
The emperor's eyes were wide at this proclamation, crimson staring up at the leopard that was defending him.
"What?" he asked, clearly showing shock. "Shifu died?"
"Oh, my scouts killed him, did they?" asked Tan Tao. "I'm sorry if they took your father away from you; it's too bad you're still clinging on to a man who hated you."
"He forgave me!" cried Tai Lung, a tear coming from his eye as he kept up a fighting stance. "What I saw in his final moments wasn't anything hateful! He forgave me for my sins!"
The tiger chose not to reply with words, instead hurling another rock at the emperor. This, Tai Lung successfully kicked away, the leopard getting progressively angrier by the second.
"And I'll be damned if I let that forgiveness go to waste!" cried the leopard.
"Enough!" cried Tan Tao, clearly enraged by this talk that Tai Lung was assaulting on him. "I have tried this for long enough, but it seems I will have to kill you too then!"
"Bring it," challenged Tai Lung. "You know you'll have to try harder than that to kill me!"
The opposing predatory cat smirked, and suddenly every single rock was levitating off of the ground. Looking at this, Tai Lung gulped uncertainly, looking around him as he dropped his fighting stance.
"I will," replied Tan Tao, his grin nothing short of gleeful as his amber eyes glinted in pure malice.
Right before he could send all of the rocks pummeling on Tai Lung and Kublai Khan, however, the tiger suddenly fell to the side, a loud snap sounding out as he reeled to the side. Crane appeared then, long legs snapping out as he kicked Tan Tao in the face, sending him and all of the stones he had levitated falling to the ground.
And out of nowhere, Po and the remainder of the Furious Five came out, a huge contingent of guards behind Tigress. The large crowd had gathered as the guards filed along so that they stood all around the perimeter. The guards next to the emperor paid no mind to Tai Lung, noticing the fighting stance the leopard was keeping up there. The tiger shook his head and groaned at the sight around him, his expression instantly dropping.
"You were saying?" asked Tai Lung, a smug grin forming on his face as he spoke.
Growling, the tiger simply snapped his fingers. In a burst of chi energy, the would-be assassin disappeared into thin air.
The guards stood stock still, expecting the warrior to reappear again. However, he did not, and so they all looked to each other and shrugged before letting down their guards.
Tai Lung dropped his fighting stance, and turning to the emperor, he knelt down.
"Are you all right?" asked the snow leopard, feeling the glare of the guards on his person.
"My back is in great pain, but I will live," replied the emperor, his shock having been overwhelmed by relief. "Thank you. For saving my life."
"You're welcome," replied Tai Lung, moving so he was next to the emperor. Carefully, the snow leopard slung one of the bull's arms over his shoulders, and slowly the two of them stood up, the bull grunting slightly from the pain. The emperor seemed to be unamused with what this could have meant, but he was not one to complain as the pain in his back really was rather bad. Looking at his guards, he nodded.
"Guards?" he asked. "I shall ask you to write an order."
"Yes, milord?" asked one of the guards as the others listened intently.
"As of this moment, all of the charges against Tai Lung have been dropped," said the emperor. "Tell the people that he unexpectedly saved my life and that I have officially pardoned him of all of his crimes. And whatever you do, do not say a word about what happened to Wang Dun in the morning!"
"But... sir, the advisor should know as well," replied one of the rhinos.
"I want to experiment with something," replied the emperor stoically. "Besides, my orders override his orders any day."
The snow leopard was so shocked by what he heard that he nearly dropped the emperor by accident. The guards simply nodded, however, and a large portion filed out of the courtyard. A few stayed behind to make sure nothing odd was going on. Tai Lung began to move out of the courtyard, flanked by the guards around the emperor. Po and the Furious Five then moved over to where Tai Lung was leading Kublai Khan around.
"I see Tai Lung still has some good in him," said the bull with a smile on his face as Po and the Furious Five filed into step beside the emperor. "I apologize for any accusations of treason I leveled on you."
"Nah, it's cool," replied Mantis. "I would've done the same thing in your place."
The bull's expression turned solemn as he thought of what had been exchanged, however. "Something troubles me," he said. "Tai Lung said that Shifu is dead now..."
Po nodded. "He is..." he replied.
"It's a long story..." replied the snow leopard. "And it's a bit hard for me to tell. I hope you do not mind if I wait until tomorrow morning to tell you what happened..."
"Not at all," replied Kublai Khan, seeing the point Tai Lung was attempting to make.
"Just know that Tan Tao's gonna pay for his involvement with Shifu's death," said Crane bitterly, shaking his head.
The bull nodded, letting Tai Lung walk him along to a bed as the group re-entered the palace.
"By the way, Crane..." said the emperor. "Perhaps you should bring Mei Ling, Miles, and Cream over to the palace?"
Tigress gave the emperor an uncertain glance. "Are you thinking of something?"
The emperor nodded, smirking deviously. "You said Tan Tao was impersonating Wang Dun, yes?" he asked. "We shall see whether that theory is correct tomorrow. And if it is, we shall confront him about it alltogether."
Heads nodded at this, Tai Lung still walking along with Kublai Khan leaning against him. "We'll think about that when the time comes," he said. "For now, you're alive, and that's all that really matters."
Heads nodded in agreement with the former criminal as they walked over to the hospital wing.