A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I made a promise and I intend on keeping it. Also, I was busy with college and played a lot of Destiny (That game is really addicting, so apologies for that. Just know that I'm still hunting for that Gjallarhorn). But being sent away to Europe gave me time to finally continue my work.

Sorry if it's short and not what you expected to be apart of my twisted mind, but I plan on adding another soon!

To understand how I've been dealing with life outside of FanFiction, just listen to "Bills" by LunchMoney Lewis (the ending part of the song matches how I've felt for the last 10 months!)

Responses:

Dimension Distorter: I'm glad that you love it regardless of what type of animals they are! Yeah, Delsin's animal made sense to me, after all, it was easy to pick up. Fetch was also easy to match, but Eugene took me a while to figure out too. Also, I created that Karma Bomb for Delsin's Concrete power (I wish it was in the game though!) and I plan on showing more concrete punches in the future.

The Joining: Oooo, that anonymous reviewers name sounds super creepy. Especially when he references 'we' like the reviewer is Legion or something (funny and awesome!). I'm glad you look forward to the climax, and I'm sorry about the introductions to Delsin and the others, but I plan on fixing that in a later chapter (probably the next one). Oh, damn! Cole and other conduits should of been concerned! And apologies for the anti-climatic showdown between John and Bertrand, I really tried to spice it up (however, Bertrand didn't have any blast cores, so he still had the same tricks). Also, Delsin doesn't have to (or want to) take any more powers since this is a good karma arc, and only when Delsin was evil did he want more powers. While I'm tempted to make my own moves list on Delsin and his new powers, it would make Delsin take the spot light instead of the other conduits (in other words, I want to show off my many knifes rather than have a swiss army knife with many tools in it). Don't worry, I preordered First Light (even did a small fic on that) and played it, and I plan on using those powers as well. I began to notice the good and bad parts too, and I plan on one day fixing those. I very much would love to add those two, but there NOT dead and wouldn't match to the story, but I may change my mind, so figures crossed. (Also, know that "Hope" is the whole moral of this story, so the lack of a better word would be redudent, but at the same time, it is what matches the moral to this story).

Animation Universe 2005: God, this guy is one of my biggest fans. Dude, I hope this was worth the wait for you, and I'm terrible sorry for that. Also, I'm not taking any suggestions since we're nearing the end, but trust me when I say that you will be pleased.

deleteduser00000: Awesome name btw. YES! Someone who got one of my jokes! Awww, I'm glad you like the pairing.

Mikat2: I'm not! I would never do that! It's just thoughts that characters think off. XD

ric castle: And this guy is still here! I love this guy! Thanks for looking at more of my work! I still haven't decided if bringing Augustine in or not was the right decision. Thanks for the opinion on the stencils! But your suggestion would make sense in the other world than in the KFP world.

Barrett Linwei: Yeah, i noticed that too (not everything is perfect). This time, I did proofread, but remember to read the rest of the chapters too!

G THE NEPHILIM: Well I at least appreciate your honesty, I have to agree that it wasn't my beats either. I agree that Second Son didn't live to the same feel and expectations as the earlier inFAMOUS games, but I still liked some (if not most) of the game, but the thing that pissed me off was less comic scenes from Delsin himself (only one in the end!) and only a majority is cimamatic (you can't replay cutscenes and you listen to recordings only once!) :( I messed up on the meet-and-greet, but I'll fix that soon. As for the Tai Lung/Cole fight, read bottom statement before start of story.

deltafrost: Hell yeah I'm continuing it! I'm gonna push it to the end and over the cliff is what I'll do!

JOOP-ROOL: That user name is so cool and funny at the same time! Respect points for reviewing, and its updated! Trust me, it was worth the wait.

Wian: Thanks! Respect points earned, and I'm glad you like it! Enjoy this one!

To those who didn't leave a review, please leave one and let me know how I did for past three and a half years!

(Also, for those who were wondering, the Cole/Tai Lung showdown was choreographed by the Mortal Kombat X teaser trailer.)

Now as the Bane version of MASTER T-REX once said, "Only when this chapter is fully constructed to the extent it was designed, will you then have my permission to read."

Damn, what's got his face mask jammed, oh wait, that's just his braces grinding together. XDDD

Chapter 29: The Burdens We Carry

Song: Breakn' A Sweat (Zedd Remix)

By: Skrillex & The Doors

Song: Echo

By: Jason Walker

(Start First song Breakn' A Sweat (Zedd Remix) By: Skrillex & The Doors)

If there was any chance for our kung-fu masters to catch Tai Lung before he reached the tower, they were going to have to go with Po's idea…

…Which is to take the carts that Po used to pursue Wolfe before.

But since this was pointed out earlier, Po, Tigress, and Monkey took their carts to pursue Tai Lung while Viper was in Monkeys cart, Mantis was on Tigress's cart, and Crane was flying in the air.

However, they were only keeping a moderate distance from Tai Lung and he was slowly going farther away from our martial artists.

"He's getting away!" Monkey exclaimed

Tigress huffed and said, "If the others helped us then we wouldn't have this problem!"

"Didn't he say we were getting lazy because of it?" Po said after he dodged a noodle cart and almost rode right through a shop.

From above, Crane saw Tai Lung running farther away on his paws, running over the rooftops and avoiding the people, but the masters were taking a fast route in catching up, but held many obstacles.

"*whistle* Man, he's fast."

Crane looked to his right to see Delsin flying right next to him, looking down at the pursuit like the ones he sees on TV between cops and criminals. The other conduits as seen by Crane were following behind at a much farther distance.

Delsin looked to Crane and said in a cocky tone, "Watch and learn."

Crane then saw Delsin's wings suddenly gain smoke and with one powerful flap of his wings, he shout out a Cinder Blast and it began to fall down like a rock, crashing right next to Tai Lung. The splash damage pushed Tia Lung to hit the edge of another roof, then crash onto another but then rolled off of it and landed on the ground with a thud.

Shaking his head, he quickly got up…

…but felt a hard kick against his face.

Tigress smiled as her blow sent Tai Lung flying down the street into a cart full of fireworks.

Tigress and the others surrounded Tai Lung, who's dazed in a firework cart. Before Tai Lung could get up, He saw a familiar purple cobra look down and said with a glowing hot neon tip of her tail, "Going up?"

Tai Lung could only widen his eyes as to what would happen next.

Suddenly, Fetch lit the firecrackers and the fireworks, making Tai Lung yell as he was sent flying into the air.

To Po, the irony was clearly seen, and due to karma, payback was a bitch.

As the cart exploded, a dark ash colored snow leopard was waving wildly as he flew through the air.

Not missing a beat, Crane swopped in and gave a swift kick to Tai Lung's gut, sending him spinning as he fell.

However, Tai Lung landed on his feet and hands (cat jokes) and began to continue running at street level.

Remembering an earlier idea, Po yelled for a boost to his friends. Quickly catching on, the masters got off of their carts and gave Tigress a boost, hitting Po with her double-palm strike, sending him flying forward like last time.

However, Po colided with Tai Lung, crushing Po's cart, and then both began rolling down the street until they skirted to a stop.

Rolling on his back, Po holds onto his slightly burned stomach and moans out, "…oooowwwww…"

Tai Lung was on his elbows, trying to get up. He was so tempted to beat Po to a bloody pulp right there, but he was outnumbered by the other masters and elemental benders, so he got on his feet again and began to run away.

Po had trouble getting up himself, due to being injured and being fat, but he suddenly felt better. He then saw Cole over him, paws filled with electricity as he looked down on the panda, thinking that they might need help along the way.

Grabbing Po's arm, Cole said, "Get up and start running!"

Po was lifted back on his feet and, thanks to being healed and full of energy, started running towards Tai Lung to stop him and away from Cole who had this angry look that made him go as far as possible.

Cole got back onto the rooftops and began to grind on roofs and ropes full of laundry while the other conduits flew/teleported, but the masters were running on ground level. Unfortunately, it was too late, for Tai Lung climbed over the gate to the tower and escaped.

The masters slowed to a halt as they figured out a way over, but Tigress just followed the same way Tai Lung climbed over and so the others did the same, except Po had a little bit more trouble following the same path and needed the lift.

As they climbed over, they found Tai Lung standing, and behind him was an army of wolves, gorillas, rhinos, and other soldiers.

(abrumpt song ending)

Getting in their fighting stances, Tigress silently muttered a curse to herself as to the trap they lead themselves in, "Fuck."

Mantis than said to Po, "I swear if we surrender because of you, they aren't gonna buy the doll-switch-trick again."

Scared, Po said confidently, "Don't worry, Kuo and the others will be here."

The members of the group glanced at him quickly, wondering why the first thought as to which conduit would help them would be Kuo and not Cole, but soon dropped it.

"Po," Viper corrected, "Cole said he was going to make us do the work now, and we can't fight an entire army."

Po's face fell and said, "Oh, then what are we suppose to do other than surrender?"

Tigress than had a really stupid idea, and even though she didn't like it, it was perfect to get to Shen and find the answers that she was looking for.

While it was almost exactly like before, Tigress knew that it wouldn't end the same way, so she decided to take that gamble.

Taking the group by complete surprise, Tigress put her hands up and said, "We surrender."

The shock went everywhere like an earthquake, even making Tai Lung was immensely surprised, expecting more of a fight from the leader of the Furious Five.

But because she did that, the rest of the group complied.

Tigress could only hope that her little gamble landed her the jackpot, as Zeke once said the expression some time ago during their journey here.

…

They were chained like before, only this time Mantis was locked and held away from the group to ensure that no switch was made.

They were taken inside separately rather than together, in case the group worked together to unlock their cuffs again, and as they reached the interior, there were no chandeliers to let them slide down if they tried to escape. Instead, there were torches on the sides of the building, and over the entire building was lined on each floor and each pillar with a barrel of explosive powder to blow the building in case they made another escape.

It was ingenious to say the least, for it looked like Shen was making sure the same mistakes weren't made again.

And what was also new was a large platform with an anchor-like counterweight to act as an elevator instead of stairs.

Po immediately gave a big sigh of relief and said, "Oh thank the gods!"

They got on the elevator and it began its ascent towards the top, like how they went up before, and during the wait, there was a pig in the corner playing annoying and horrible music with the pipa.

Everyone, both friend and foe, wanted it to stop so bad due to how annoying the elevator music was, but Shen putted it there for that specific purpose.

While this was happening, Tigress had a thought, "Cole could play better."

Then she had a more sensible thought other than that beautiful moment during their date, "Where are the others?"

If she found out that the conduits left them on purpose and at the mercy of Shen, Tigress was gonna strangle Cole for being a major jerk.

But then she thought that what if that was what Cole wanted, and that they were gonna take Shen by surprise, using her and the others as bait.

Tigress decided that punching Cole in the face was a more appropriate response.

Then they felt the elevator stop, and followed by a shove, the enemy made them walk to Shen. He was standing next to a covered object, which that said object was five times smaller than the cannons that they faced and it had a weird shape.

Shen, like how they met before, still had the same white silk robes, and had a victorious smile on his face. They were on their knees, in the same spot like last time.

Then, Crane said, "If your gonna try and kill us with a cannon right here like last time, then you're seriously repeating a mistake."

Shen sighed and said, "The reason I attacked your village was to provoke you to coming back to this city, so that I may NOT repeat the same mistakes. This whole journey of yours was a lure, a trap. Although, I must say, the way you were bleeding my power over the city was very effective."

"Thanks." Po said

Tai Lung leaned in and said, "That wasn't a compliment you idiot."

Po gave confused look and then Shen explained, "Your methods of domination has caused me to redirect my strategy for taking over China, and thanks to you, I can kill you to make sure nothing stops me and use what I've learned to permanently have control over this country."

Po's face fell sand said, "Oh."

Shen smiled, but he saw how doing a monologue of why he was doing this was a waste of his time, so he was just gonna go to the part of killing them. He turned around towards his covered device and said, "And now I will make you and your friends suffer. But before I do that, I would like to show you what I've been working on. While it is only a prototype and hasn't been used yet, but I've been waiting to test it on… more approbate subjects."

Before Shen could pull the cover off, Tigress then got on her two feet, aware of the raised spears pointed at her, but she then spoke, "Before you kill us, know that you haven't explained your whole reason as to why you try to kill every panda in China."

Shen stopped and looked to her with a raised eyebrow, wondering what she was talking about.

Po and the others were surprised suddenly by Tigress's statement, but Tigress then said with narrowed eyes, "You weren't just killing the pandas, were you?"

Shen looked to her carefully and suddenly had an 'I remember' face and said, "Ah, yes. I remember now. Yes, the pandas were not the only species I was trying to kill off. For you see, I learned that pandas are not the only ones who could forge warriors of black and white, but also Tigers too, for just because they have orange fur didn't exclude their other colors as well, let alone the Tigers that were completely black and white. After a long search and killing many Tigers along the way, my army came across a secret enclosure full of Tigers. We tried to eliminate them, but while some of the population was desolated, they retaliated. Because of their number and the threat they possessed to my army, we retreated. Seeing that they were isolated, I doubled my forces and kept an eye on the enclosure in case they tried to attack and so we can fully kill them off, but they never did, and so we left them alone. There were others we killed who bared the colors and the abilities of strong warriors, but I confess, my paranoia was my flaw as to letting Po and those that survived live."

During and after the explanation, Tai Lung was surprised and the masters were shocked as to the sanctuary they visited was attacked by Shen, which made Po all the more sympathetic towards Tigress. But Tigress herself has never been so angry in her life, and even though she already heard the story in detail from her mother, it was Shen's way of explaining it that pissed her off, for Shen didn't sound like he regretted it, instead it sounded like he made a mistake and wanted to see it through.

With a deep growl, Tigress said, "You're lucky your little meat shields are around or I would of ripped your throat out."

Shen shook his head and said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I think you will die before you do that." Then Shen nodded to something in the left of Tigress.

Being off guard, Tigress then felt one of the soldiers punch her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and hearing her friends cry out in outrage, but then she was suddenly picked up by a gorilla and thrown back onto the ground next to her friends, pain flaring throughout her body.

Cole nearly jumped inside to save them, but decided to still stick to the plan. Cole and the other conduits hid behind the pillars outside of the building, ready to storm in and surround them like a S.W.A.T. unit, which Delsin thought was completely badass.

During their wait, Delsin whispered to them, "Huh… I feel weird…"

Fetch whispered back, "Why? You got a cold or something?"

"No," Delsin said, "but I feel like I'm being pulled towards that thing in the center."

"That's not good." Eugene whispered with worry

Cole peaked around the pillar towards the mechanism Shen has covered, and Shen finally pulled the cover off to reveal…

…a small five foot cannon with obvious metal design but with unique functions. Cole's eyes immediately widened when he saw a familiar object attached to the back of the small cannon.

Kuo and Nix gasped as well, and Kuo said, "Cole, its-"

"I know." Cole urgently whispered, "It's the RFI!"

The glowing mechanical hourglasses orb silently hummed with ray sphere energy that it absorbed is attached to the mechanical cannon. But it was different, for the interior of the RFI was not a normal shade of pulsing blue but inside it held bright glowing radiation, like the green glowing sludge that you would see in a radioactive barrel.

"So that's why I'm feeling this way. What does R.F.I. stand for?" Delsin said with much confusion

Suddenly, Coe remembered what happened when the ray sphere, unbeknownst to him at the time, was activated and how it infected Empire City, and if Shen used the energy absorbed within the RFI, then no one was safe.

For when Cole used the RFI, the RFI can now be used like a ray sphere.

Tigress soon recovered to see the device as well and was surprised by the size and how it looked.

Viper then commented, "It looks… a lot smaller… than the others I've seen so far."

After a moment, everyone except Shen started to giggle and lightly laugh at the sexual innuendo that was mentioned to Shen, while to Shen, it was a major metaphorical insult.

Glaring, one of Shen's eyes started twitching by the embarrassment he is going through in front of his army.

Po stopped laughing with the others and he said, "What's that thing in the back?"

Tai Lung said, "I found it falling from the sky, and I caught it before it could break. Shen sees it as a way to control China."

Huffing loudly, anger moved Shen to suddenly turn on the cannon, the RFI's radiation hummed through the cannon, ready to be used like a projectile.

And it was pointed right at them.

Cole eyes widened, for he knew what happened to those who didn't have the conduit gene.

It would be like Empire City and New Maris all over again.

Quickly, he looked to Kuo and said, "Now!"

Through the windows, they stormed in at every corner, surrounding everyone in the room. After a second of surprise, Delsin threw something small near the cannon…

…and before anyone could react, smoke burned everyone's eyes and made it hard to breath, chocking both friend and foe in that room as the air was filled which coughing and wheezing.

"What the fuck!" Nix shouted

"Sorry!" Delsin said as he ran to the cannon and using his chain to break it, the radiation within the cannon expelled into the air as the RFI rolled off and began to bounce down the steps to the back of the room, away from the masters and the conduits.

Once the smoke cleared, and everyone could breath, Fetch decided to stun everyone too, for she coiled her body with a loud 'vvvvvvVVVV' sound, and from her body exploded a giant stasis bubble in all directions, making everyone frozen in time and blasting everyone back in slow motion. Slowing time even more to aim her bolts, she shot out each precise shot at the cuffs of the masters, freeing them. Both friend and foe were slowly reacting altogether as the stasis began to wear off, but Fetch began to aim her bolts at the enemies weak spots and shot them there, disarming and subduing them in rapid succession.

Mantis, thinking that the weird orb is a part of Shen's weapon, made a run for it when the stasis wore off, and once he held it above his head, he shouted, "I got it!"

Cole and the others dished out explosions of power all over their enemies while the masters began to retreat and the enemies began to attack, only to fall short.

"How do we get out of here?" Crane shouted

"We can't slide down the building down like last time!" Po yelled over the bombardment of powers being used.

Tigress then saw from cover that Tai Lung began to help Shen up and started to retreat, using the same elevator to quickly descend down. Once they reached the elevator, she made a run to stop them. Tai Lung then let go of Shen and began to hold off Tigress as Shen himself began to retreat by flying outside. Tigress roared in outrage and instead of thinking clearly on her attacks, she was simply lashing out at Tai Lung for helping Him escape. It looked like she was going to kick his ass, but Tai Lung easily dodged her moves due to her sloppy attacks. Tai Lung knew that their little show had failed, so he escaped by countering and giving a high kick to her face, sending her flying back. He jumped onto the elevator and it began to drop before she could each them. As both of her enemies escaped, she cursed herself due to her carelessness. The sound of energy ceased and she looked to see Cole and conduits defeat the wolves and gorilla that was on the floor.

Cole looked to her as Tigress got up and said, "Where's Shen and Tai Lung?"

"They escaped." Tigress said with an angry tone

Cole stared at her as the masters came out of cover and he said, "But how-"

Suddenly, the entire building shook as the powder they saw earlier explode on every floor, and the building began to collapse onto itself.

Quick thinking made Cole shout, "JUMP!"

Seeing how that was better than staying in a falling building, everyone jumped.

But as the masters saw that they were not going to land on a roof but on the ground, there was no way to soften their fall. But thanks to the conduits that are around, the nearest master was grabbed by the closet conduit and next thing they knew, they slowly began to hover to the ground.

After a moment, they finally reached the ground safely but smoke and stone from the fallen building was just about to wash over them.

Quickly, Cole summoned a polarity bubble around the group, watching as smoke flew and stone crashed around and against the bubble. When it eventually stopped, they all retreated by trying to go over the wall but were met with archers, but those were taken out by the masters.

Shen saw his enemies retreat within the streets of the city, knowing that they will attack when they regroup. But even though Shen will prepare his defense to his only cannon factory, the conduits will destroy that said defense. Shen needed to be smart, knowing that they destroyed his secret weapon and took the strange mechanism that he was going to use to kill them. Shen now feared of making the same mistake as he prepared his forces to scout the city and to eliminate them on sight.

What was storage was that some of his army has complained of trouble breathing, their sight slightly blurry, and small rashes appearing under their fur and on their skin. Shen himself began to cough a couple times but felt fine.

…

The group didn't stop moving as the entire city was under alert, wolves prowled the streets and rooftops, looking for our heroes. After silently moving through cover, they eventually reached the school where Zeke, Wolfe, Chen, and Rachel were staying in. They found them talking with one another after having burned all of the work that Rachel did.

Rachel was the first to notice the group return. Both she and the other three caught up with the groups latest endeavor and learned that not only has Shen and Tai Lung escaped, but Mantis got the RFI back.

When Rachel saw the RFI's state, she yelled to Mantis, "STOP!"

Mantis and the entire group froze by Rachel's sudden shout.

Rachel than said, "Put the RFI down. Slowly."

Following her instructions, Mantis put the RFI down as slowly as possible until it sat on the ground.

Then Rachel said, "Mantis, get over here."

Cautious, Mantis went to Rachel, only to be suddenly picked up and examined in every way.

Rachel said to herself, "…eye color maintained…no flesh decay…no sign of motor control loss…respiratory functions performing normally…"

Rachel than questioned, "How long have you held the RFI?"

Scared, Mantis said, "For a while."

Rachel asked, "Do you feel rashes? Trouble breathing? Is it hard to see clearly?"

Cole then went to look at him and gave Mantis a very focused glare. Mantis felt like Cole was piercing his soul with his eyes.

Cole then said, "Mantis is fine. He doesn't have The Plague."

Rachel sighed in relief and put down Mantis. She picked up the RFI, seeing how it isn't releasing any of the captured radiation. But Rachel looked at it with confusion.

Monkey asked, "What's The Plague?"

Cole said coldly, "Never ask that question again."

Monkey held the most afraid face ever and immediately closed his mouth, showing that he will stay silent. Everyone else who didn't know what The Plague was followed Monkeys example and Cole's orders.

Cole went to her and asked, "Why doe the RFI look like that?"

Rachel told him, "The RFI was designed to capture Ray Sphere energy, but it was also designed to neutralize the radiation of the ray sphere when contained. I don't know why it hasn't done that, but until I find out what's wrong, this thing is highly unstable."

Kadaj then said, "That's not possible. Shen was using the RFI like a weapon on some miniaturized cannon that he made. That makes it stable enough to be used."

Rachel glared at him and said, "Hey! This isn't some weapon that you can manipulate! If Shen managed to release at least one shot of this, it won't be like shooting a cannonball but it will be a gas of radiation. It's very lethal and it can spread everywhere really quickly. Shen and his forces and the people of China will all die, and because this world has no secure way of quarantining a disease, it can claim the entire eastern seaboard and speed to Europe and even beyond that. Only conduits like Cole and the others are immune to it."

Crane, after having pieced this together, said, "So that's the thing that sent Cole to our world, is responsible for containing a disease, and that disease could of killed all of us and more?"

Cole's death glare made Crane's legs sake loudly in fear.

However, the idea of releasing an uncontrollable disease scared many non-conduits in the room, but even Cole felt worse, for the very first people that he knew would become 'patient zero's' and spread everywhere. He thought he was doing the right thing in saving his world when using the RFI, for he would never side with John and kill everyone just to make more conduits. But that inadvertently sent him here, where now everyone here was in danger due to Shen and Tai Lung having the RFI. He may feel guilty now, but he felt redeemed since they got back the RFI without hurting anyone.

Rachel interrupted Cole's thoughts by saying, "I think something is preventing it from neutralizing the radiation. I'll try to figure it out and fix it."

Zeke saw how distraught Cole looked, so he said, "I'll go help Rachel. Maybe she might need a helping hand."

Being ignorant, Po asks, "What's Europe?"

The masters sighed at not only not knowing themselves, but as to why Po always has to question what he doesn't know.

As both the scientist and Cole's best friend went in one room, Cole silently left the group and went to the roof, thinking some fresh air might cool him off.

As the members of the group felt him leave, the air that animated off of him made it feel like he needed to be alone.

Lai looked to the other's and asked with some concern, "Is he alright?"

Kuo shook her head and answered for her, "No. Last time he was like this, he blamed himself for what he didn't do."

Po asked her, "Was it bad?"

Kuo nodded. Then she said, "Trust me, it was much worse than you think."

They wanted to know more, but Kuo had this face of 'it's-better-not-to-know'.

Kadaj than suggested, "Alright, let's turn in for the night. We'll study the shifts at the refinery tomorrow and plan our attack from there."

(Start Second Song Echo By: Jason Walker)

Silently, they all agreed and turned in for the night.

But of course, Tigress was worried by what Kuo said, and maybe it had to do with caring about Cole so much. And it bothered her when he looked conflicted, almost like there is a dark storm in his mind.

It may sound funny, but Tigress was also bothered by this the whole time she was trying to sleep, and she herself felt conflicted about what happened earlier today, and felt like she needed someone to talk to.

While it may seem like a bad idea to talk to Cole about it in the state he is in now, she still needed to talk to someone.

And Tigress couldn't talk to Viper, for she was asleep, which is bad for not being able to talk to, but also good in case she wanted to talk to Cole and didn't want to be spied on.

Kuo and Nix were also sleep, and since they were really tired, Tigress didn't want to know what it was like to wake up a female conduit.

And just thinking about talking to Lai made Tigress want to gag like their is a hairball in her throat, and that only happened once when she was a little kid. Maybe she could feel better if she did the water cup prank on her and pretend to sleep, but decided that now was the time to act immature.

And other than that, her last option is to keep it to herself and try to sleep it off. But being the type of person that chooses to face her problems head on, she decided to consult with Cole.

As she left her room to the roof, she tried to be positive in hoping that in talking to Cole, he might feel better too.

After finally reaching the roof slowly, Tigress knew that the patrols have cooled down and are now not looking for them. She saw Cole sitting on the roof with his legs hanging off the edge and his paws on his knees, overlooking the glowing lights of Gongmen City and the bright stars that shined above him.

His eyes looked glassy, unfocused, like he was deep in thought and questioning things that has affected his life. As Tigress's feet were on the roof, Cole's ears twitched and then turned his head to notice her. After gaining his focus back, he smiled and gestured Tigress to sit next to him.

Silently, she walked until she was right next to him and sat down near the edge like him, over looking the city.

A moment of silence passed between the two, staring into the nightlife of the city, simply enjoying the presence of another close by.

Cole decided to start, "What's wrong?"

Tigress took a moment to put together what she wanted to say, and when she did, she said, "I don't know really. I figured you seemed bothered too, and while I figured you wanted to be alone, I felt like you were the only person I can talk to about how I'm feeling… Almost like you would understand…"

Cole paid attention to everything she said, and when she paused and looked to the city with uncertainty, Cole stated, "I'm listening."

Tigress's features grew tighter, almost like she was frustrated with herself, but she calmed down and began, "Earlier, when before we got that glowing orb back, I confronted Shen in knowing if he did attack my original home, the one with the other tigers in the mountains, and he told me how and why he did it, and how he wanted to see it through. It made me lose focus on the objective of our mission, and because of my carelessness, Tai Lung and Shen escaped from me. If only I focused and took them down by working with the others, we could of saved the city in one swoop."

Tigress looked to Cole and said, "This was the first time I lost control of my emotions and lashed out, and I failed both the city and my friends, putting everyone in danger. Now Shen and Tai Lung are now waiting for us, and we couldn't beat him the first time like before due to his army guarding him."

Cole had a sympathetic expression on his face and responded, "If you think that's bad, try finding out that your future self turned you into a freak and be rejected by society because of it."

Tigress couldn't help but slightly smile, but finally explained, "The reason I lashed out, became angry, and try to stop them on my own was because Shen was responsible for destroying my home. He was responsible for making me be sent to an orphanage, causing my dad to almost commit suicide out of public shame, and forced my mom to live as a widow soon after his death. I had a rough childhood, having a temper and being called a monster, locked away in my room day after day. I grew up with a master who saw me as a shadow of his former student, always training and never living to his expectations. I could of lived with my family and had a normal life, but I was raised to be a kung-fu master instead, never knowing who my parents were until now."

Looking down, she continued, "I know there are others who had it just as bad as me, probably worse than me, but my anger made me selfish, only looking out for myself and what I wanted, but that mistake made me fail in doing what needed to be done. And I feel ashamed because of it."

After finally letting it out, Tigress felt like she needed to cry, but she tightened her gut and kept a steady breath, not trying to break down in front of the one person she loved.

Tigress felt a paw on her shoulder, making her look to Cole, and he had the most gentlest face, almost genuinely sincere in how she was feeling. Without knowing, Cole used the paw on her shoulder to wipe the small tears in the conner of her eyes, and that made Tigress slightly feel better.

Cole began, "I know how you feel. But if Shen never attacked your home, I would of never met you. Plus if you lived with your family, you wouldn't be able to learn how to kick my ass."

Cole's talks worked, and while that statement was true, Tigress's heart felt like it was melting.

But it turned around when Cole began, "I do know how you feel. After I got my powers, shit hit the fan and the world fell apart around me. A few weeks after that happened, I got some food down for the people in my district, and then person we called the TV Jacker revealed footage of me holding the Ray Sphere, calling me a terrorist. Even after saving everyone, they wanted me dead for something I didn't do."

Tigress looked to him, learning something new from his past again. Both Cole and Tigress looked down at Cole's hands as his fists tightened and light orange/blue lightning pulsed.

Cole stated, "I kept a dark secret from you and your friends, because I was afraid of how you and the others might of thought of me."

Suddenly, the air around them changed to that of something that was kept hidden and was never meant to be out. Cautiously, Tigress asked, "Is this secret what has been bothering you?"

Cole nodded slowly and explained, "I eventually learned that the First Sons designed the Ray Sphere to awaken conduits, specially prime conduits in the center of the blast, like me. It was designed to absorb all the neuro-energy from non-conduits within the blast radius to activate my conduit gene, and absorbing this neuro-energy from the people around me kills them."

Tigress's breath left her, shocked by what he was telling her. He continued, "The bomb went off in the most densely populated area of the city, and five square blocks of bodies was enough to Kessler."

With fist clenched in lightning, Cole cursed, "The deaths of over a thousand people was how I got this curse. People saw me as a terrorist and a monster…"

Cole looked like his heart was about to break when he said, "…and the one person I loved turned her back on me after what I did to her during the blast."

Cole looked to Tigress's sympathetic eyes. She already learned much from Cole, hearing his stories and surprising her with his sorrow, but this took her to the very bottom of his soul. And she saw how much Cole's heart broke when Tigress learned that in that moment of his life, Trish turned her back on Cole, but why she did that was what she didn't know.

Without Tigress asking, Cole answered her unspoken question, "And Trish had every right to do that, for her sister, Amy, died in that blast, and she blamed me for it. With both Trish and Amy's death, and later Zeke's betrayal, I've never been more angry at anyone in my life. Killing Kessler, my future self, pushed me too far, and it made me forget why I was helping people in the first place after I lost everything."

Cole's face hardened and said, "The Ray Sphere that blew up in my hands didn't stop there, for the quarantine went up when an unknown plague swept the city, and when John came back, it spread all over the eastern coast, killing millions in his wake."

Tigress just watched as that black hole in Cole's soul got deeper and darker. Cole confessed, "When the RFI was almost fully charged, which almost killing me and the other conduits, it broke when Zeke saved my life and the others. I also had the choice of joining John in spreading the disease, killing thousands more to create only more handfuls of conduits. I almost gave in to that offer, thinking to myself how great it would be to have people like me to be on equal ground. But I realized that it would only add to the more innocent people that died, plus the other conduits that would be created would most likely destroy and kill everything in the wrong hands. The sacrifices I made had me thinking on what as right and wrong, and how the many outweighed the few. When I realized that Trish, Zeke, Amy, hell even Kessler would never want me to do that and to save humanity, I fixed the RFI with Zeke and Nix and eliminated the plague, killing other conduits in the process, even me if I didn't come here."

Cole gave a sad sigh and continued, "Shen was about to use that radiation to kill you and the others, but it would spread out of control and kill everyone in weeks, and soon the entire country in months. If I never came here, the RFI wouldn't be in his hands and everyone would of be safe. Back home, I caused the plague, even if I didn't detonate the Ray Sphere on purpose, and the deaths of millions of people made me a monster, regardless of how much good I do there or here. I don't know what I would do if millions more were to die here because of me bringing the RFI."

Cole's shoulders were heavy and slouched, almost like he carried his sins to the total weight of a mountain, burdened by his guilt.

It was as if he finally lost hope, wondering why the hell was he still doing this.

After a long moment in silence, Cole felt a paw on his shoulder, and he looked to see Tigress giving a sympathetic look.

Then suddenly, Tigress slapped Cole.

It was completely unexpected. While holding his face, he kept his voice down and said, "Why the hell did you hit me?!"

"To get a grip." Tigress said without emotion, being mostly hard-core again.

After he quickly recovered from the unnecessary slap, Tigress grabbed his shoulder in a more friendly matter and said to Cole, "Listen to me. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that, but trust me when I say that this and everything else that happened before isn't your fault. You saved a lot of people, and I know you never once wanted to kill anyone… except for your future self… but it was justifiable for what he put you through. And so you wanted to undo that, and you are succeeding in undoing the blood that you think taints your hands. But if there is one good light to your story, it's that the one woman you loved and tried to save is proud of you. She said to you that she was happy to see you help people with your powers, and that she truly loved you for it. And from what I learned from you, it doesn't matter how many mistakes you make or how much you suffered, it made you stronger and more kinder, it made you wiser and more empathetic, and taking that pain and suffering helped prevent others from feeling that same way. The obstacles you overcame granted you friends and comrades to stand by your side and face your enemies."

Cole was immensely surprised by what Tigress said, and most of what she said was true. Looking down, Tigress moved her paw from his shoulder to his hand, holding it tightly against the roof, making him look down at his paw and then back at her, which Tigress then said, "Cole, I know you feel like you have the entire worlds weight on your shoulders, but I want to know that you don't have to carry that burden alone. You have me and the others to help you heal from your mistakes and forgive you for the sacrifices that you made. You are not alone in your fight against your demons, and trust me when I say that while I may not have powers or bend elements to my will, the others and I will fight by your side to the bitter end, to stopping Shen… and anything else that the future throws at us."

To Tigress, that last part sounded a little cheesy, but it was still truthful.

Cole felt moved, to say the least, by what Tigress said, and the way Tigress held his hand made him want her to not let go, and Tigress in turn felt comfortable holding his hand and didn't want to let go either.

And in that moment, surrounded by the nightlife of Gongmen city and underneath the bright stars that glowed over them, both the master and the conduit felt a connection, a strange magnetic pull towards one another. It was as if both of them could feel it…

…and it was as if that pull was making them both move forward slowly, inch by inch. It was as if Tigress could feel like nothing would not interrupt them now, so her eyes slowly became half-lidded, almost closed, as she prepared to finally, as Viper put it, 'make-her-move'.

Cole felt it too, what he once thought was lost to him began to burn in him again, almost like it was waiting for this second chance, and so he began to follow it and move forward too, following Tigress's example and, as Zeke putted it, 'sealing-the-deal'.

(end song)

And just an inch away, both heard something…

…and in the corner of their eyes, it was bright…

…and that noise was similar to the whistle of a firework…

…and it was getting louder and closer…

Both quickly got out of their trance to notice a glowing giant bullet-shaped cannonball flying right at them.

"SHIT!" Cole said as he immediately placed a polarity wall with one hand, but the mixture of karma and how quickly he summoned it made it too weak, and while he blocked the attack in time, the explosion collapsed the roof they were on and sent the falling back into the building.

A Rhino with a telescope said, "Nice shot! Fire all of them!"

A barrage of cannon fire suddenly boomed through the sky, flying and hitting the building, exploding and breaking the building quickly. After a small barrage of explosions, the building was reduced to nothing but bricks, stone, and rubble.

The rhino put down his telescope and huffed, "Nice. Get the news to Shen. He's gonna want to hear about this."

As the scouts turned away, the sky suddenly rumbled with thunder and lightning danced across the sky.

They all passed and slowly looked behind them to notice Cole with lightning dancing over his body and having the most pissed off look anyone's ever seen.

Before any of them could even piss themselves, Cole raised his arms to the sky and brought them down, bring forth a giant pillar of lightning in front of Cole and then traveling across the ground, destroying the cannons and frying every enemy that stood in his way as the constant boom of thunder deafened the sky.

Finished, Cole decided that he was tired of this fight, and planned to end it tonight with everyone for a frontal assault.

…

A/N: Sorry if it's short, but I'll update very soon! Drop a review, be sure to follow/favorite, and give hugs! Why? Because it's summer! Just so you know, you have phones to not only be outside but to look at my fic's too!

Till' next time!