Chapter 1: Wiping the slate clean
(Mainland China sometime in the 1700s)
"You… can't defeat me!" A snow leopard, Tai Lung, said as he climbs out of a leopard-shaped hole. Bruises were present all over the battered warrior, desperation in his eyes as he finally climbs out of the hole. His purple silk pants tearing near his thighs and heels, his fur ruffled and his body needing a break from all the punishment was stumbling and tripping all over the place, from the panda, Po, who had just so beaten him in dominant fashion. Po just smiled as he knew the fight had already been won and that the leopard was denying the truth.
"You're just a, big, fat, panda," Tai Lung said flabbergasted, not truly grasping the dangerous situation he was in. Angered and fearing defeat, he threw a punch with no power or technique to try and wipe that smug look off of the panda's face, but seeing the punch like a flying dumpling, Po was quick to catch the punch, his belly jiggling slightly from the power, and simply retorted,
"I'm not just a big fat panda," Po smiles and pauses for dramatic effect,
"I'm THE big fat panda," He says and raises his pinky teasingly as Tai gasped on horror and shock.
"The Wuxi finger hold!" Tai exclaims, his thoughts going into overdrive on how he figured out a move even he didn't know how to perform.
"Oh you know this hold?" Po says, both knowing the outcome gave the leopard and panda wildly differing emotions. Thinking he figured out the solution. The Leopard exclaimed,
"You're bluffing, You're bluffing! Shifu didn't teach you that," trying his hardest to remain on top of the situation. The panda only retorted
"nope," causing the Tai to smile in such a feeble and pathetic manner before adding
"I figured it out," Po stated with a smile and confident look that caused Tai to wince from shock and at what was about to come next
"Skadoosh,"
Thus, Tai Lung, who spent the last 10 years of his life locked away, who had his life taken away from him from his own pride and arrogance, who had his face sat on by THE big fat panda would leave all he's ever known behind. The last thing that he thought of before losing consciousness and possibly before his death was 'is this it? Is it all over?'
(Los Angeles, CA USA, 2013)
"Come on Jack! Get in on him! Fuck him up!" An ocelot, Danny, screams out from his corner of the ring. The ring in question was holding a referee and two boxers trying to kill each other with their, families, friends and a few fans cheering on each of them. The boxing match at hand held a clear favorite. With the other getting constantly beat and battered from the ruthless assault. Jack tried desperately to defend himself from his opponent but whatever he did, he would be countered. When he jabbed at his opponent, the jab would just be batted away with a swift counter sure to come, if he threw out a hook, his opponent would just duck and have the punch harmlessly brush over his hair before continuing to punish Jack. There was almost nothing Jack could do. His opponent was just reading him like a simple childrens book of unfathomable pain. The shots just kept on coming and coming and coming to the point that Jack thought this whole fight was just a hellish nightmare. His jet black hair being violently thrown from side to side from the punches. His voice screaming in pain whenever a blow landed on his ribs. His left eye nearly swollen shut. At this point, he didn't care about winning or losing, he just wanted to survive.
"Stop!" the ref yelled as he got between the two fighters. Though none of the two noticed, the bell had rung concluding the end of the 2nd round. Jack sighed with relief and painfully got over to his corner. His coach and second scrambling to make every second count in the rest period.
"Dammit Jack, you have to disengage. The more time he's on you, the more time you're getting beat." His coach yelled. Jack took out his mouthpiece and spat out some bottled up blood within his mouth into a bucket his second gave him before panting like a dog. Jack opened his mouth to try and protest before his coach, sensing this, grabbed the sides of Jack's head and yelled
"Not now Jack! The more you talk, the less energy you have, now do you want to bitch at me and lose this fight or do you want save the complaining and possibly win?" Danny's ocelot eyes burning into Jack's with such brutal authority that Jack was unsure if he was gonna get socked in the face by him. Jack, understanding the gravity, quickly shut up knowing time was of the essence. Danny sighed, cooling down his temper, and looked over to Jack's opponent on the opposite side on the ring before turning back to Jack with a worried but hopeful face.
"Your eye has gotten worse, you have to protect it. Ryan, ice pack now." Danny said, cooling down, Jack's second, Ryan, an arctic fox and Jack's friend and second, was quick to rummage through the coach's bag for medical items and find the ice pack.
"This'll sting Jack," as Ryan placed the ice pack firmly on Ryan's bare cheek to quell the swelling. At the same time Danny was thinking of a game plan, his eyes slightly widening with the pupils, reflecting the damage Jack received right back at him. Jack took this time to catch his breath and unscramble his mind, he tried to head his coach's warnings but he just couldn't. Fear and desperation were steadily taking over.
"I know there isn't much you could've done that round, but I think I see his weakness." Dan said causing 's jack's only eye to light up but still be wary of whats to come.
"whenever he throws a right, he puts his guard down and resets before attacking you all over again. You hear me?" he said to Jack who just starred into the other fighter. The boxer was just trying to think if he could continue or not as time seemed to slow down, either that or his mind was going into overdrive.
"Jack?" His own name didn't even register to him he was just so deep in thought as his life just seem to come flashing before his eyes as he tried desperately to come up with the solution at hand
"Jack!" His coach shouted at him with his faint Hispanic accent coming out, his orange fur blazing like fire from the spotlight above the ring. This time, Jack heard the holler and glazed over eyes quickly snapped into that of sharp and vigilance
"when you dodge the right and he puts his guard down, I want the fiercest left hook you have. I want your sole reason for existence to be this one hook, you understand!?"
Jack had to pause to unscramble his head to sink in what was said to him, before nodding at his coach. Right when that happened, the referee stepped into the middle of the ring.
"Seconds out," He said as he motioned both fighters to get off there stool and commence the fighting. As Jack got off his stool, scared but ready none-the-less he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryan with a worried look on his face but, smiling all the while.
"Please be safe, who's going to cook for me if you're out?" He joked which caused Jack to chuckle with him, doing a good job at lifting the tension of the situation. Jack then turned to face his opponent right when the *ding* from the bell, resuming the fight.
Jack's opponent, not wanting to lose his lead in the fight, leap out and tried to jab at Jack who in turn blocked the punch and strode to the side to gain more space while also tentatively jabbing at his opponent. The opponent just swatted the jabs away with his right hand, trying to find the golden opportunity to land the knockout through the barrage. The crowd cheering at both fighters. Jack and his opponent, for the first time in the match, were on equal footing and Jack was starting to regain his confidence. With his heart racing, blood pumping and the crowd cheering. Jack was in his zone, picking his exchanges with his opponent. First, a 1-2 combination that nearly grazed his opponent than a left hook when the fighter tried to retaliate with a jab of his own.
"Heh, he's actually doing it, he can do it. GO JACK!" Ryan said to Danny then to Jack. His tail wagging excitedly,
"... COME ON JACK DIG INTO HIM" Danny yelled. While he was extremely proud and relieved that Jack was holding his own there was a thickness to the air and his mannerisms showed it. Danny tried not to show but his tail was twitching nervously, expecting something bad... very bad coming.
The exchanges were plentiful, each coach shouting at their fighter commands for each of them to follow. The ref standing vigilant and watching both of the fighters. The exchanges continued with Jack getting hit at times but powering through with shots of his own. Finally, after about a minute in the round, Jack's opponent started punching with his right. Sure enough, his opponent did lower his guard after his punch. Jack did his best to find an opportunity to capitalize on this dangerous mistake. After several exchanges, that golden opportunity presented itself. The arena went dark and time slowed to a crawl for Jack.
first blocking the jab from the left,
then dodging the punch from the right,
and his opponent still lowers his guard.
Here was the chance, here was the victory, with all his strength and power, Jack threw everything he had into his left hook. His hazel eyes shining with confidence. The opponent saw the punch, but much to Jack's shock, just smiled. Within an instant, he ducked and weaved behind the hook, ready to counter attack with a hook of his own. Jack, with the left side of his face still open braced himself for what was to come next,
*BAM*
the crowd was sure that a they heard a gunshot but instead, Jack was met with the hardest punch he ever received in his career, so much so that it split the side of his nose and nearly broke his cheek. A shock-wave forming on his face.
Suddenly, his world was a daze, his vision was out of focus, the cheers and shouts were becoming little more than white noise. He started to walk and stumbled into his opponent who just pushed him against the ropes. The lights in the arena blinding Jack as he broke down into pure instincts. Another punch landed on Jack's face, blood from his nose and mouth splattering onto the canvas. Danny and Ryan screaming some commands or something at Jack, not that he could hear any of it. Jacks head snapped back and, running on instincts alone, he covered his head with both hands to regain his composure. But his opponent was having none of it. As Jack was focused on protecting his face, he felt the punches going to his ribs.
Hit after hit, those shots felt like syringes filled to the brim with the most painful concoction imaginable. Jack could feel the blood building up within his mouth, his teeth barely able to hold onto his mouth guard. There was a pause much to Jack's shock and confusion. He then felt his hands be forcibly pulled down by his opponent. Jack saw the pure and potent hatred and anger from his opponent's eyes and quickly realized what he was about to do. With all the strength left in him. Jack tried desperately to lift his guard back up as his opponent lowered his head, braced his feet and...
*CRACK*
The crowd gasp and yelled as Jack was headbutted by his opponent. Skull colliding with skull, Jack's nose was surely broken, blood steadily running down both his nostrils.
At that point, Jack just couldn't take anymore, his knees buckling to all the punishment he received from the unstoppable force that took the form of the man towering above him. As he fell onto the floor, Jack could only think of how soft the ground was. Laying on his back, mouth and nose bleeding down the left side of face, Jack could see his white towel fall into the ring, signifying the end to the fight. He also saw Danny and Ryan racing to him.
"God...Dammit, I can still fight," Jack angrily said to them as he tried propping himself up with his gloves but as he was raising, he started coughing up blood and fell back down. The feeling of dizziness overwhelming Jack. Danny and Ryan get to Jack and try to keep him conscious. They started talking to Jack, begging for him to just stay awake, not that he could hear them. The last thing that Jack thought of before losing consciousness and possibly before his death was 'is this it? Is it all over?'
