Nobody ran. Everybody stood by Po.
Kai’s chain blades struck the ground behind Po, pulling Kai with them. He yanked the chain blades back to his hands. Then he looked down at Oogway’s amulet and laughed.
“So, Oogway, this was the one destined to stop me?” he taunted.
He loomed over Po.
“I will have his chi,” he promised, and then nodded toward the other pandas. “And all of theirs.”
He hurled out one of the chain blades. It cut a groove into the ground around Po and the other pandas. Smiling, he took another step closer to Po.
Po looked around at his friends and loved ones. He had failed them. He couldn’t defeat Kai. He just wasn’t powerful enough.
“And you, you really thought you could send me back to the Spirit Realm?” Kai asked boastfully. “You’re just a stupid mortal.”
A light went on inside Po’s head. “It only works on mortals. . . .” Po realized he didn’t have to fail. He could save them all.
Well, almost all.
Po turned back to Kai.
“You’re right, I can’t send you there,” he said. “But I can take you there.”
Then he borrowed a trick from Master Shifu. He pointed behind Kai. “What’s that?”
Kai turned in the direction Po was pointing, but there was nothing there. In an instant, Po leaped up and landed on Kai with his arms wrapped around him.
“Po?” Tigress asked, her eyes wide.
Po raised a pinky and looked and his family.
He smiled, then . . .
“Skadoosh.”
Po dropped the pinky on his own finger.
“Son!” Li and Mr. Ping yelled.
“No!” wailed Kai.
BOOM! The power of the Wuxi Finger Hold rocked the mountain with a huge explosion of golden light, blinding the villagers, Tigress, and Mr. Ping. As the light faded, peach-blossom petals rained to the ground.
Po and Kai were gone. In the spot where they had stood was a yin-and-yang symbol made of peach petals.
“What happened? Where’s Po?” Li said, his eyes filled with shock.
“He took Kai away,” Tigress said softly. “He saved us.”
“He saved us,” said Mr. Ping. “But who’s saving him?”
When Po opened his eyes, he found himself in a land filled with clouds and mountain debris.
“Whoa, the Spirit Realm!” he said. “It worked!”
Po looked down and realized he was sitting on top of Kai.
“Get off me, you . . .” Kai’s voice trailed off as he grumbled, trying to squeeze out from under Po. He looked surprised when he saw the clouds. “You brought me back?”
“Don’t blame me,” Po said. “I tried to finish this in the regular realm.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed. “Then we’ll finish it here!”
His chain blades shot out, and Po dodged them.
“Whoa!” Po cried.
But Kai’s blades had latched on to a f loating temple. He yanked the chains and sent the building hurtling toward Po.
Bam! It hit Po from behind and pushed him toward Kai, whose massive fist was waiting for him. Pow! He delivered a strong punch to Po’s nose.
Kai quickly wrapped his chains around Po. He held out his hands and started to take Po’s chi from him. Helpless, Po watched as his feet began to turn to jade. The jade crept up to his knees and then his belly, until it reached his face.
Back in the mortal realm, Li picked up handfuls of peach blossoms.
“Come on, son, fight,” he said. He turned to the others. “We have to help him. Everyone, gather around! That’s it, come in close. We can do this!”
Li felt an energy pulsing from the peach blossoms. Po’s energy. Li knew it deep down. In the depths of his spirit, something ancient kicked in.
He brought his hands together, like he had seen the pandas do in the scroll. The other pandas gathered around him and mimicked his moves.
“Po,” Li said. “You taught us who we were meant to be.”
Li pushed his right hand forward, and his palm began to glow.
“A father,” he said.
A glowing panda paw print appeared on Po’s chest.
Tigress pushed her hand forward. “A friend.”
Bao pushed his hand forward. “A dumpling kicker.”
Big Fun performed the move. “A hugger.”
Grandma Panda added her hand. “A lethal fighting machine.”
Every panda in the village gathered chi and pushed it toward the f lower petals. As they did, more and more glowing prints appeared on Po’s jade body.
“A kung fu chick,” said Mei Mei.
“A Stripy Baby,” said Lei Lei.
Mr. Ping joined in. “A father.”
Every hand in the village was now pointing at the peach-blossom petals. Every hand was glowing with beautiful chi.
The glowing handprints became brighter and brighter on Po’s chest. The f lower petals began to swirl . . . and the jade entombing Po exploded into pieces!
The force sent a shocked Kai f lying backward.
“Nooooooooo!” he wailed.