Shen vs. Kai: When Evil Collides
is a What If? fic for Kung Fu Panda created by Berserker88 and later co-authored with Mind Jack. Taking place during the events of Kung Fu Panda 2, the fic follows the events of canon, with Big Bad Lord Shen creating an unstoppable new weapon, invading Gongmen City, and plotting the conquest of all of China. The heroes of the Jade Palace set out to stop him, as per usual.
And that's where Kai comes in.
The tides of fate have suddenly gone out of whack and the Maker of Widows has broken out of the Spirit Realm much earlier than he should have, now leaving the heroes with two villains to contend with. Luckily for them, the baddies are more interested in removing their competition so they can have China all to themselves. This quickly results in one hell of a chaotic situation and multiple levels of Mind Screw.
Shen vs. Kai: When Evil Collides provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Kai named his second strongest Jade warrior Taiwan. When Mantis tries to correct him, Kai interrupts him in favor of gushing about Tai Lung's abilities.
- Alternate Universe: In this story's setting, Kai tracks down Oogway and leaves the Spirit Realm at around the same time that Shen takes over Gongmen City, causing the canon course of events to go way Off the Rails. It's eventually revealed that this isn't just your standard Alternate Universe Fic: the canon-divergent timeline that this fic is set in is actually a splinter from a completely canon-adherent universe, and it was created via Shen after his canon death making a Deal with the Devil which formed another universe around him.
- Ascended Extra: Two unseen Jade warriors; Oogway and Tai Lung make an appearance in this fic as Kai's two strongest warriors with Kai expressing great displeasure at the fact that he is forced to use the former.
- Big Bad: Kai, with Shen as more of a Villain Protagonist. Or so it seems. Kai himself is just an Unwitting Pawn to Hei Yinying.
- Bilingual Bonus: Hei Yinying is Mandarin for "Dark Cloudy Shadow".
- Black Comedy:
- As a fic heavily involving Kai, this is a given.
- Yinying engages in a bit of this as well. Not surprising, being a death demon and all.
- Break Them by Talking: Several examples over the course of the fic. Besides Shifu and the Soothsayer, Hei Yinying is pretty good at this.
- Casting a Shadow: Yinying's main abilities.
- Deal with the Devil: As it turns out, the entire fic is the result of one, made by Lord Shen as a means of getting a second chance at life. Needless to say, it isn't as simple as that.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: When Kai summons him, Jade Oogway proves to be the strongest jombie in his arsenal, as he is able to repel every single wolf swarming him and could have flattened any opposition, including the Furious Five and Shen, but since summoning him hits one of Kai's Berserk Buttons (being reminded just how inferior he is to Oogway), he never uses him unless he has no other choice.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As bloodthirsty and megalomaniacal as Kai is, he does have a warrior code of honor about him. He's expressly disgusted when briefly under the impression that Hei Yinying has enslaved the souls of warriors and keeps them unfairly handicapped to limit their resistance. He also can't find it in him to beat up an old lady even when she's pestering him and instead takes his frustration out on some buildings.Had he seriously just been chased out of his own hideout by a little old lady? Talk about humiliating. The worst part was that he couldn't even do anything about it. It wasn't like he could just beat up an elderly goat. Yeah, that would sure make him look macho.
- Evil Versus Evil: The central premise. Po and the gang eventually concede that Shen is the lesser of two evils compared to Kai.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: This is one of the main reasons why the Furious Five end up reluctantly siding with Shen in the titular conflict. Shen wants to forcibly conquer China and bring it under his despotic heel... but at least there will still be a functioning China if he wins, whereas Kai is a Chaotic Evil who just wants to bulldoze his way through the world, sowing chaos and ruin wherever he goes looking for chi to steal.
- Faux Affably Evil: The demon Yinying. He's so incredibly refined and perfect-mannered with Shen, Kai and the heroes most of the time that one can be forgiven for almost failing to see through the veil to his wicked true colors as a heartless and self-serving demon.
- Freudian Excuse: Something Shen and Kai have in common. Kai's relationship with Oogway before and up to their falling out gets expanded on. It's also eventually revealed through flashback that Shen was treated distantly by his parents, and was regarded as a freak due to his albinism-inducing birth condition when first introduced to peoplenote which implicitly contributed heavily to both Shen's "Well Done, Son" Guy and his severe antisocial personality.
- Godzilla Threshold: Using Oogway is this to Kai; He is easily the strongest Jade Warrior that Kai has in his arsenal, but due to being a big Berserk Button for him, he never uses him unless he absolutely has to. Which unfortunately, Boss Wolf managed to force him to and makes Kai incredibly angry.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- Shen starts the story as just a Villain Protagonist with an Evil Versus Oblivion to Kai who is bent on conquering China. As the story progresses, he comes to genuinely learn and grow and he even grows fond of Po, and when the Final Battle rolls around, Yinying notes that Shen has managed to change all the way to the core. He's still a bit of a jerkwad in the last few chapters.
- Even Kai makes one in the last few chapters. He allies with Shen to fight Yinying, and they genuinely bond over the battle. Kai ends up finding that he can't go back to the villainous badass he was if he tried, since having an epiphany about how chi that is actually copasetic with his wants is much more powerful than forcibly-enslaved chi has effectively depowered him of his chi-stealing ability.
- Hidden Villain: Yinying, who (literally) stays in the shadows for most of the fic.
- Hope Spot: A particularly brutal one. In Chapter 20, Po defeats Yinying in a battle for Shen's soul contract, which the demon is forced to hand over to him. Po is about to destroy it and release Shen from his deal, when Yinying casually mentions that it was this contract that created the Alternate Universe the fic takes place in, and destroying it will essentially cause said universe and everyone in it except Shen to cease to exist. Yinying then explains that he knew this the entire time and only went through all of this trouble solely to break Po's spirit. And it works.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Kai first hears his jade soldiers referred to as "jombies", he calls the name ridiculous. By the next chapter, he's using it himself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shen essentially becomes this in the last few chapters once his Heel–Face Turn is complete. He's still very haughty, irritable and retains a bit of a mean streak about him, but he's found inner peace and come to genuinely care about the welfare of others around him more than his own benfit.
- Kick the Dog: Yinying normally maintains his Faux Affably Evil, but when Po gets in his way, he can't resist viciously breaking the panda's spirit by leading him to believe that freeing Shen from his Faustian contract will essentally kill everyone else inside the universe created by Shen's deal."Do you want to know why I even wasted my time with this? Because I'm sick of ignorant, idealistic morons trying to get in my way, and I just wanted to break you."
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: It's eventually revealed during the story why Shen is having flashbacks of events from the movie canon after the fic's divergence has already fully negated those events from happening: Shen in the canon-based universe made a Deal with the Devil which created the alternate universe around him at a point before his death, and his memories of the original world and the deal have been suppressed as part of the bargain.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Lord Shen, by the end of the story, is punished for his crime of attempted panda genocide by being reborn as a panda.
- Off the Rails: The fic follows the plot of the second film to a tee up until Kai gets involved, throwing the entire thing off track almost immediately.
- Out of Focus: The actual heroes, spending most of the first act just trying to get to Gongmen after Kai inadvertently destroys their boat. They get more prominent once they finally arrive.
- Please Select New City Name: Discussed Trope. Kai considered renaming Gongmen City into either "Great Kai City", "Kaiopolis" or "Shi Kai De" during his confrontation with Monkey and Viper.
- Spared by the Adaptation: At the story's end, the Wolf Boss, who spent most of the story turned into a Jombie, is alive and well for the time being. Downplayed with Shen and Kai — one of them technically dies, but both their souls get to reincarnate.
- Take My Hand! : Monkey and Viper have such a moment when trying to escape Kai. Neither of them makes it, and Kai only refrained from grabbing them immediately because he was curious to see what would happen.
- Traveling at the Speed of Plot: On their way to Gongmen City, Po and the Five are inadvertently delayed by Kai, keeping them from interfering in the initial struggle between the two villains. They only reach the city just in time to find the injured Shen.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Shen doesn't much appreciate being rescued. The Furious Five take the time to tend to his wounds and immediately after, he insults Viper and Monkey while they are out of reach, attempts to take Mantis hostage, and later on, orders his henchmen to apprehend the surviving warriors.
- Unwitting Pawn: It turns out that Kai is merely a pawn to Hei Yinying, a mysterious demon whom he made a deal with to escape the Spirit Realm. The same could be said about Shen, and to an even greater extent.
- Villain Protagonist: Lord Shen takes on this role, with Kai being the more explicit villain.
- Walking Spoiler: Yinying's existence isn't so much as hinted at until Chapter 7. And he doesn't physically appear until Chapter 16.
- Xanatos Gambit: Hei Yinying's Evil Plan is eventually revealed to culminate in this. He's expecting Shen and Kai to fight to the death for the chance to escape the Faustian contracts on their respective souls before they come due. If Shen kills Kai, then Shen will be freed whilst Yinying reaps Kai's soul, and the souls of every last Jombie in Kai's collection. And if Kai defeats Shen, Yinying expects Kai will absorb Shen for his Jombie collection, unwittingly extending Yinying's due claim on Shen's soul to all of Kai's Jombies regardless.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Like the original, Shen always called Po by his animal name "Panda", but when he witnessed Po having a Heroic BSoD, he calls Po by his name after his attempts to call him "Panda" proved futile. And it's also what made Po finally respond to him.
