A red light shone from within the Mother of Faces. Her vast, tree-like body radiated brilliance as she waved her hand, and from the earth beside Tai Lung a new tree sprouted. Its bark pulsed with red energy, each beat reminding Tai Lung of the strange tree that had dragged him into this world, the anomaly, as the Mother of Faces had named it.
"So you can create anomalies?" Tai Lung asked, his voice steady.
"It is not an anomaly," the Mother of Faces replied. "It might look the same but the concept behind it is different from the one that brought you here. This one is bound to this world. When you use it, it will allow you to leave our world temporarily, but your roots remain here. When your time is up, it will drag you back, if you survive the crossing that is."
Tai Lung nodded lightly. "How much time will I have in the other world?"
"Three days," the spirit answered.
"Three days are plenty." Tai Lung walked toward the pulsing tree but stopped. He looked back at Wan Shi Tong and the Mother of Faces. "I don't intend on dying, but regardless of the outcome, I am thankful for the help and kindness you have shown me."
Then he placed his hand against the trunk.
In an instant, a red light engulfed him. A force seized Tai Lung's body and dragged him violently. Pain crashed through him, greater than anything he had ever experienced. It was as if his very being was being ripped apart.
The agony drove him to the brink of screaming, but he couldn't. His mouth would not open, his limbs would not move. His vision drowned in crimson, his ears filled with the sound of tearing paper. Time lost all meaning. At one point he wished only for the torment to end, even if it meant his death.
And then, suddenly, it was over.
Tai Lung collapsed to his knees, the world slowly returning. His breath came ragged, his body shook uncontrollably. For long moments he stayed like that before finally lifting his head. Floating rocks and islands drifted in the distance, suspended in an endless void.
He had succeeded. He was back in the Spirit Realm.
A smile touched his lips, until it froze. This was not where he had wanted to go. He hadn't endured this torment to return here. He wanted to go back to China.
His body stiffened. He couldn't remain trapped in the Spirit Realm again. But how? The only way out was for someone to summon him. And what were the chances of that happening again, like with the chameleon?
His mind churned. Then a thought came, a memory of the old warlord, Kai. Hadn't that greedy yak managed to return to China? Tai Lung's eyes narrowed. He didn't have time to waste. He immediately set off, heading for where he remembered Kai dwelling; he hoped he remained in the same spot after so many years.
An hour later, he landed on a floating island. There sat Kai, alone, his green eyes gleaming with menace as he watched Tai Lung approach. The warlord studied him curiously.
"What animal are you?" Kai asked. "This is the first time I've seen your kind."
Tai Lung's eyes widened slightly. Then he understood. Of course Kai didn't recognize him, he was human now. No one here would ever know he had once been the snow leopard Tai Lung.
"You managed to leave the Spirit Realm and returned to China years ago," Tai Lung said flatly. "I want to follow your example."
Kai chuckled darkly. "You can't do that. And even if you could. If I, the great conqueror, ended back here. What chance could you possibly have to remain there?"
But the smugness faltered. Kai's laughter cut short as he noticed the way Tai Lung was looking at him. Every hair along his body bristled. There was hunger in the stranger's eyes, a predator's hunger.
Kai rose, both jade swords drawn, his posture tense and wary.
Tai Lung only smiled, a sharp, predatory smile. Tai Lung Punched forward and a wave of blue flame exploded racing toward Kai.
Kai widened his eyes and jumped to the side to avoid the flame, but to his surprise everywhere he looked was covered in blue flames and Tai Lung was now standing a few feet away from him lighting crackling around his body.
Kai's green eyes locked into Tai Lung's golden eyes as he said with a shocked tone "Who are you?"
"I am Tai Lung and you have something I need very much"
___________
Oogway POV
Time held no meaning in the Spirit Realm. For years, I remained seated on my little floating island, suspended in the endless expanse. I meditated, breathing in the calmness of this place, letting the silence of the Realm become one with my inner stillness. The serenity of this existence was more precious to me than any treasure in the mortal world.
Occasionally, another old master would drift by, lingering to exchange a few words before vanishing again into the vastness. Rarely did anything of note occur here. Yet some time ago, something changed.
In the midst of my meditation, I had felt it, a presence entering the Spirit Realm. It was unlike any I had known before, and the sensation it carried chilled even my soul. The universe itself seemed to whisper a warning, as if the very fabric of existence trembled by a divine primordial power.
I did not understand what I had felt. And yet… the warning did not repeat, nor did the feeling of danger linger. All returned to quiet. Still, I could not push the thought from my mind.
As I sat, pondering its meaning, I felt something approaching me fast. My eyes opened slowly, meeting the sight of a creature I had never seen before. It flew toward me, blue fire trailing in its wake, splitting the stillness with its violent speed.
I studied it with both interest and caution. The being landed upon my island, standing before me with unsettling confidence.
"This is the first time I am seeing your kind," I said.
"Yes," the man answered with a smile. "I am a human. This world has no humans."
I examined him closely, and at once I knew, this must be the entity the universe had warned me about.
The man's smile widened. "It feels strange meeting you like this… but also quite amusing."
His words puzzled me. "Why is that?" I asked.
"Because we've met before," he said lightly. "This is our second meeting in the Spirit Realm, in fact."
I frowned, tilting my head. "I am old, yes, but not so old that I would forget such a thing."
He chuckled, clearly entertained. "Before I came here, I paid a visit to your old friend Kai."
From the folds of his strange clothing, he produced a jade stone. My breath caught as my eyes widened.
"I admit," he continued, "learning that perverted art of stealing chi and turning others into jade was… difficult. I always considered myself a genius, a kung fu master of great talent, yet even with all of that, and after being on the receiving end of this art, it still took me some time to grasp it. Luckily, I had the old yak to help me test my understanding."
A cold weight settled in my chest. I asked, "What do you want?"
The man's answer came without hesitation. "I want to borrow your chi. Just for a little while. I need to return to China. Your chi, combined with Kai's, should be enough to send me there. I could find other masters, but I didn't want to attack others for no reason. Your chi is enough for my needs and since you are an old acquaintance I chose to borrow from you. Besides…" He smirked. "You've already experienced what it is to be a jade. Another day or two like that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Bafflement threatened to break my calm. He spoke of theft as though it were lending, of enslavement as though it was an everyday minor inconvenience. "What you propose is wrong," I replied calmly. "To cross back to the mortal world in such a way violates the natural order… it unbalances all things."
The man laughed lightly. "You are right, and I also shouldn't be here either but fate has its strange way to make us walk unlikely paths. Master Oogway, I have a very important business in the mortal world. And think of it like this, you said once: darkness was forged into me. I have done far worse when you denied my destiny as the Dragon Warrior. Going back to China for a little while shouldn't be adding much now, should it?"
My eyes widened, ever so slightly. "…Tai Lung?"
His smirk widened. "The one and only. I've been away from this realm and that world for years. Do me a favor, old master, lend me your chi. Learning Kai's art wasted enough of my time, and I cannot keep wasting more time."
He stepped forward. I rose slowly, settling into a stance, prepared for battle.
Tai Lung rolled his eyes. "Don't bother. I'm far stronger than I ever was before. And besides, doesn't Po, your precious Dragon Warrior, still stand ready to stop me if I ever do anything 'nefarious'? Why make this harder than it needs to be?"
I blinked, struggling to reconcile the disciple full of anger and pride I had once known with the person before me. What had happened to Tai Lung?
Tai Lung gave a friendly smile "Well, I guess I will show you how far I have come. Oh and a fair warning, It took me time but in the end, I understood the meaning of the reflection in the dragon scroll. I reflected on my mistakes and weaknesses and I believe in myself again."
My instincts screamed hearing his words, this Tai Lung was a distant echo of the one I knew. He was far more dangerous.