INT. XIAN'S PRISON - DAY
The air in the black iron cage is cold and still. The Furious Five and Zhen are chained, the Obsidian Iron shackles a constant, draining weight.
Heavy footsteps approach. Xian appears before their cage, his gaze sweeping over them before locking onto Tigress. A slow, strange look of recognition dawns on his face.
XIAN: "The tiger. The strongest of this generation's Five. I recognize the spirit."
TIGRESS: (Her voice a low growl of defiance) "We are nothing alike, traitor."
Xian gives a cold, humorless smile, unfazed by her defiance. He speaks, his voice a chilling monologue.
XIAN: "For centuries, I was a statue. A forgotten fairy tale while the world moved on without me. I felt my name, my legend... my very existence... get erased by time. That is the only true defeat. To be made into... nothing."
The Furious Five listen in stunned silence, the sheer pain and madness in his words washing over them.
XIAN: "I chose to survive. I learned that honor and loyalty are meaningless if you are forgotten. The only thing that lasts is absolute power."
As he speaks, a massive gorilla captain approaches and kneels.
GORILLA CAPTAIN: "Master Xian. Our scouts have returned. The masters of the outlying provinces are all secured." He pauses. "There are only three high-value targets remaining... all in the Valley of Peace."
A cruel smile spreads across Xian's face. This is the final step.
XIAN: "Excellent. Take the First Legion. We march now... to complete the collection."
He turns to leave. He reaches the massive doors of the prison block, then pauses and looks back over his shoulder, his gaze falling directly on Tigress.
XIAN: (His voice a low, chilling promise) "Enjoy your final hours in this cage. Soon, your names, your legacy, everything you fought for... will be erased. You will all finally know what it feels like to be truly forgotten."
He departs without another word. The main doors slam shut, and the thunderous sound of a massive army marching away echoes through the fortress, leaving the prison block in relative quiet.
The heroes look at each other, the horrifying news sinking in.
CRANE: (His voice a tense whisper) "Only three left... He's going for Po, Shifu, and Master Yang."
VIPER: "That isn't just conquest. It's personal. He wants to erase every last one of them."
MONKEY: "Yeah, the guy's got issues. I haven't seen a glare that intense since Tigress found out I used her meditation cushion for a pillow fight."
Tigress shoots Monkey a look, but her focus is on the threat.
MANTIS: "Can we focus?! He's still going after Po! And we're stuck in this stupid, chi-sucking cage!"
A heavy silence falls over the group as the reality of their situation sinks in. After a long moment, Tigress's eyes narrow. She spots Zhen's long, flexible tail twitching nervously.
TIGRESS: (Her voice a low, urgent whisper) "Zhen... Your tail."
Understanding immediately, Zhen uses her flexible tail to retrieve a hidden hairpin from her sash. With incredible dexterity, she uses her tail to guide the pin to the lock on her own shackles.
CLICK.
The sound, though quiet, is sharp in the silent prison. Two nearby gorilla guards hear the sound and turn, their eyes locking on Zhen. They roar and charge towards her.
Zhen doesn't panic. In a flash, she kicks a small pile of dust and gravel into the first guard's eyes, blinding him. As the second guard lunges, she slides low between its legs, using the hairpin to jab a paralyzing nerve cluster behind its knee. The massive gorilla collapses. The blinded one stumbles forward, and Zhen expertly trips him over his fallen comrade. The short fight is over in seconds, a perfect mix of strategy and kung fu.
She immediately runs towards Tigress's cage, hairpin ready to work on the main lock.
TIGRESS: (Her voice an urgent command) "Go. Now. You heard him. Warn Po."
ZHEN: "I can't just leave you!"
As she speaks, a crossbow bolt whistles past her head, embedding itself in the iron bars of the cage with a loud TWANG! Zhen spins around to see a larger patrol of a dozen gorilla soldiers blocking the exit, alerted by the commotion.
TIGRESS: "There is no time! GO!"
Realizing Tigress is right, Zhen makes the hard choice. She faces the dozen gorilla soldiers blocking the exit. Instead of attacking, she kicks a discarded iron shackle, sending it clattering loudly against the far wall. Half the guards instinctively turn towards the sound.
In that split second, Zhen fights the whole group with strategy. She doesn't run from them; she runs at them, using the first surprised gorilla as a springboard to leap onto its shoulders. From this vantage point, she uses a dagger to slash a rope holding a heavy training sandbag above. The bag swings down like a pendulum, knocking a group of gorillas over like bowling pins and creating a chaotic pile-up.
This chaos is the opening for the door she needed. She leaps from the gorilla's shoulders, over the heads of the tangled guards, and bursts through the main door into the night.
The scene still continues as she sprints into the rocky terrain outside.
GORILLA CAPTAIN (O.S.): "GET HER! Do not let her escape!"
The gorillas chase her across the moonlit rocks. She is faster, but a thrown spear grazes her leg, injuring her. The chase ends as she is cornered at the edge of a high cliff by the three remaining soldiers.
She fights desperately, dodging and parrying, her energy fading. The largest gorilla swings a massive club. She dodges the main blow, but the force of the impact on the ground near her disbalances her, and she stumbles backward to the very edge of the cliff.
The gorilla sees his chance and lunges forward for a final, powerful punch.
Zhen, nearly hit, reacts with pure instinct. As the punch comes, she drops and twists, kicking the gorilla's supporting leg with all her might. The massive soldier, over-committed to his own attack and now off-balance, can't stop his forward momentum. He roars in surprise as he stumbles past her and plummets over the edge. To complete the ruse, Zhen uses the force of her own kick to push herself backward, falling from the cliff as well.
The two remaining gorillas peer over the side into the darkness. "They're both gone," one grunts. Satisfied, they turn and leave.
After they are gone, the view pans down the cliff face. She was not actually fallen. Zhen is hiding, clinging desperately to a gnarled root a few feet below the edge. Her fall was a desperate, last-second gamble that paid off.
She waits, breathing heavily, until she is sure they are gone. Then, a look of grim determination settles on her face. She pulls herself back up onto the path and, ignoring the searing pain in her leg, begins her long journey back to the Valley to warn Po.