Fear
AN: Hello again. I know, I know. You're probably thinking to yourself 'was he dead' or something like that. But no. I was not dead. Its just that I had no time for any writing. My last one-shot was more than four months ago. Wow, how time flies eh? Well here I have another short one-shot. Based on monthly events and upcoming events (Halloween) I decided to let you know I'm still alive by giving you this. I'm sorry its not much, but hey on the bright side...the... sun still shines?
Disclaimer: I bet you know this already, but in case you don't... I DO NOT OWN KUNG FU PANDA. Just to be safe.
It was a dark evening. The clouds rolled out in the sky as far as you could see, blocking out the shine of the full moon and casting an eerie darkness on the land. In said darkness, two figures were moving in the bamboo forest, heading in the direction of the Valley of Peace. One was a medium-tall with orange, black, and white fur, and the other figure was tall and round, with black and white fur.
"Man, I can't wait 'till we get to the valley. This place gives me the creeps." Po said. His eyes darting from right to left, checking the forest. "Why couldn't Shifu send Monkey and Mantis or Viper and Crane to scout the forest?
"Come on Po, Dragon up. There is nothing a few twenty feet tall bamboo sticks can do you." Tigress said. Slightly amused by the panda's nervousness. "Besides the others are scouting somewhere else."
"Heh. Its not the bamboo sticks that I'm worried about. Hasn't anyone told you any scary stories around a campfire?" Po asked.
"Not many. I only recall one or two." Tigress replied.
"Wow. You didn't get out much as a kid." Po mumbled in a low voice.
"What was that?" Tigress asked, hearing Po mumble but not understanding what he said.
"Nothing. Point is...in nearly most of the scary stories, BAD things happen in this kind of environment." Po said. At this, Tigress couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
"Come on. Don't tell me the Dragon Warrior is afraid of a little darkness." Tigress teased.
"NEVER!" Po said in a deep voice. Then he froze when he heard a distant rustle in the bushes to his right. "Did you hear that?" Po asked, slightly shaking. Tigress just rolled her eyes. Po looked back at Tigress and saw she had an amused expression on her face. "Heh heh. You know, everyone has a weakness...The Dragon Warrior included." Po said in a shaky voice.
"Well, fear shouldn't be one." Tigress said in a serious voice. "You shouldn't fear anything but fear itself because it can cause you to let down your guard and also cause you to freeze up in a serious situation, which in turn can cost you your life or that of another."
"Huh, that makes sense...kind of." Po said, unsure. Then they heard a louder rustle ten feet ahead of them in a nearby bush. Po's fur stood straight up. "Tell me that was my imagination."
"No. I heard it too." Tigress confirmed. "Let's check it."
"Uh, don't you think we should call for backup?" Po asked.
"Really Po? We're the only ones out here." Tigress said with an annoyed tone.
"Alright. You check while I...um...secure this area." Po said while looking around.
"Whatever." Tigress said while walking towards the noise. Po was watching her walk away then he added...
"Be carful." Then he was alone. "Okay don't freak out. It's just a forest full of trees. Yeah. Trees, bushes, leaves and...other things." He tried calming himself. Ten minutes passed,then fifteen then twenty. He was getting worried. "Maybe I should go in the direction Tigress went." Po took one step, then another. He felt a rouge wind blow through the trees and past him. He looked behind him and saw nothing but the forest. He took another step and froze when he heard a maniacal laugh echo through the forest. Po's head was on a swivel looking left, right, back and up. He saw nothing.
"Must have been my imagination." He tried reassuring himself.
"I don't think so." Said the same deep maniacal voice he heard a minute ago. Only this time it was right behind him.
Without thinking, Po bolted forward, almost tripping on his on two feet.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh." Po yelled while running in the direction his feet took him. He looked behind him to see if whoever was there was chasing him. When he turned around to face forward he saw a figure in a dark cloak standing a couple of yards in front of him. Po skidded to a halt. When he got a better view of the figures face he saw it was horrifying. His face face was maimed, deep cuts running down his face with blood seeping out every cut. He then saw the dude lift his left hand up. Po's heart stopped when he saw there was no flesh on it.
"GYAAAAAHAAHAAA" Po screamed and dashed off once again. Then he remembered about Tigress. "TIGRESS. TIGRESS. WHERE IN NOODLES NAME ARE YOU? THERE IS A MAD MAN ON THE LOOSE. CALL FOR HELP!"
Then it dawned on him...he was THE Dragon Warrior, He knew Kung Fu, He defeated two of China's greatest villains, he met the Qilin and yet he was running away from a single monster...thing. So he halted and summed up his courage-which was probably a little bit- and ran back in the direction he came from. He needed to help Tigress if she ran into that...thing.
Po stopped at the last place he saw the monster. He then began to tip-toe through the forest. He then heard another rustle in the bushes and got in his stance, his heart beating like a hummingbirds wings. He stepped closer and closer to the bush then...
"BOO!" Someone yelled behind Po.
"GYAH!" Po turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the entity's head and knocked it down. Po realized it was the guy in the cloak with the bloodied face, which he also realized was a mask. "What the-" He said.
"OW." Came a voice from the body that was laid on the floor. "Po! That hurt!"
"Monkey? MONKEY? What the heck man? What are you doing running around dressed as some monster scaring the crap out of people? Po asked somewhat angry and embarrassed.
"What do you think Po? We're scaring the crap out of you." Monkey said while getting off the floor and rubbing his temple where Po had kicked him.
"What do you mean we?" Po asked slightly confused.
"He means me and him." Mantis said as he jumped on Po's shoulder.
"AAAHHH! ARE YOU GUYS TRYING TO KILL ME BY A HEART ATTACK!?" Po yelled.
"Oh no. Not at all." Mantis chuckled while Monkey snickered. Po then remember about Tigress.
"So where is Tigress? Was she with you guys on this ?" Po asked.
"Well not really. You see, we finished our scout and decided to prank you. Of course we had everything ready since this afternoon and we talked to Tigress about our plan. I had my costume ready and Mantis had his voice enhancer ready." Monkey explained.
"Yeah. Since Tigress said she wanted no part of it we made it so that when she heard the rustle in the bushes, that was her cue to go. So she's at the village or the palace already." Mantis added.
'Huh. No wonder Tigress was trying to convince me to not be afraid of anything. She knew what these two knuckleheads were going to prank me.' Po thought to himself.
"Hey can we go? I'm starving here." Monkey asked.
"Me too." Mantis followed up.
"Yeah. Okay. But don't think you guys are in the clear. I haven't forgotten what happened here and I've already thought of a perfect payback for the two of you." Po said with a mischievous grin. That both got Monkey and Mantis nervous. They started walking towards the village in the still gloomy and dark forest.
About fifteen or so minutes of walking Po heard a faint sound of something growling. "Guys stop making spooky noises. I'm not amused or scared." Po said.
"Um, its not me." Monkey said.
"Me neither. I thought your stomach was making that noise." Mantis chipped in.
"I don't think so. I would know when my tummy is talking to me." Po became curious while Mantis and Monkey became nervous. Then they heard another sound, maniacal laughter at a screeching tone.
The trio stopped dead in their tracks. Each and every single one of them was searching for the origin of the sound as the sound continued to fill their ears. Mantis was now visibly shaking while Monkey was...well, he was frozen like a statue.
"Ok Po I know you're trying to scare us for payback." Mantis said.
"No I'm not, haven't you noticed I was with you the entire time?" Po said.
"Oh yeah? Then why are you so calm?" Mantis shot back while still looking around.
"Because after what you two did..." Po pointed an accusing finger at the both of them. "...I told my self that nothing would scare me again." Po was interrupted by a flash of yellow and orange light in the distance. The trio then turned to see what that light was. They could barely make out what look like...fire? Po then notice the screeching had stopped. He then turned back to the fire that looked like it had two eyes and a mouth that formed into an evil grin. Then the screeching noises came back and it was coming from the direction of the flaming face.
"Let me clarify. I told myself that nothing would scare me again...except that." Po said, his voice cracking and body shaking.
"Uh huh." Monkey agreed as he came out of shock.
"Alright we ru- Wait, where is Mantis?" Po asked Monkey, seeing as he was not on the primate's shoulder.
"You guys can stay and chit-chat but I'm outta here." Mantis said over his shoulder while hopping away as fast as he could.
Po and Monkey turned back to see the Mother of all Nightmares closing the distance between them.
"You know I would be lying if I said that I don't need new underwear." Monkey said trying to not be scared. Po and Monkey looked at each other and both said one word.
"RUN!" and they dashed into the woods. The three of them screaming like girls all the way.
As soon as they were out of sight four figures stepped out of the shadows and into the illumination of the fire.
"See Tigress. I told you it would be worth it to see their faces." Viper said to Tigress.
"I guess it was" Tigress chuckled. "Nice sound effects Crane."
"Thank you." Crane then turned to the fourth person. "Although it was Master Shifu's idea to use a pumpkin and carve it to resemble a face then set it on fire. I'm impressed."
"It was something that I thought would come in handy one day against those three." Shifu said. "Now lets head up to the palace. We can't have our Dragon Warrior going into some sort of mental breakdown."
"I can't wait to see their faces when we tell them." Viper added.
And the four made their way back to the palace.
Ok. Thank you for taking some precious time to read this. If you enjoyed it let me know. If you didn't enjoy it, then throw me some virtual rotten tomatoes. :D. SEE YA LATER
Att:
Th3Ph4nt0miz3r™
III
