Kung Fu Panda
A Reaper's Heart
By Shen's General a.k.a. AwesomeAvian
A/N: Good day to all of you. I do apologize for the lack of updates for Me and My Shadow, Second Chance, and By Your Side, but I ran into a bit of computer trouble...namely, I accidentally got a malware virus on the computer and to make matters worse, my USB was plugged into it at that moment it attacked, and the USB had all my stories on it. So, till my uncle checks it out, I am unable to update on them stories. But the good news is...I GOT A LAPTOP! HOO-RAH! And since then, I got an account on DeviantArt, hence my other author's name, AwesomeAvian. If you guys are wondering what this story here is about...it's take a bit of explaining...you see, about a couple of months back, I was busy browsing through the DeviantArt archives, namely through one of my favorite artists, SkitzOpheliac, when I saw this hot picture of an avian couple, an attractive white female avian (I don't know her species) cuddling up to an awesome looking crow (I will give you the link to the picture at the end of this chapter). A day after I had gotten an account on Deviantart, I returned to that picture, favorited it, and wanting to know more about the black crow, I went to his creator's profile, ToppleTheStrange, and I found a sole picture of that crow, which had a bio in it...and thus birthed this story. Before I begin, I should warn you, this story will be rated M for violence, blood, gore, language...and a sex scene or two in the future. Furthermore, this story will be OC-Centric, meaning there will be no Po, Shen, or anyone from the series...possibly, we'll see how this story progress. Now...I shall begin...after these disclaimers.
I do not own Kung Fu Panda or it's characters
ToppleTheStrange owns the OC that will be making his debut in this chapter
Prologue: The Black Nightmare
It was a dark and cold night within the Ironback Mountain Range, even darker as the moon was progressing through the new moon phase, leaving the night more pitch black than before. The howl of the winds echo throughout the passages as no signs of life could be seen for miles...with the sole exception of one location.
Deep in the mountain range lied a fortress, abandoned many years ago by their original inhabitants, who had perished years before in a raid. As of now, the decrepit fort served as a hideout for a group of raiders and bandits, rather infamous within the mountain's province, known as the The Black Yamis.
The Black Yamis had been known to terrorize the mountains for many years, robbing anyone who would dare travel through the mountain range, taking all that they had...and on some occasions, killing the victim, and once in a blue moon, they would venture out of the range to plunder a nearby village, stripping them of all their riches and food, murdering all that opposed them, kidnapping some of them for slave labor, or in cases of the unlucky females, to fulfill the sick sexual urges of the solely male organization.
For years on end, warriors and soldiers alike from all over China had sought to bring down the evil organization and serve swift and merciless justice upon the raiders, but none had been successful in their attempts, defeated by the hands of the bandits, the treacherous conditions of the mountains, and some of them even being scared or paid off by the sinister beings. It had seem that there would be no end to this awful entourage of monsters...at least...not till tonight.
On the eastern side of the fortress, on a small cliff opposite the side of the fortress, lied a dead old tree, derived of any nutrients for the longest time. But the tree was of no importance, but rather a being that stood atop it, as his eyes laid sight upon the fortress, taking in all that the fort itself had to offer, noting the positions of the bandits he could see, and immediately formulating a plan of attack. The unknown being gave a cocky smile as he vanished from atop the tree in a flash, as if he was never there to begin with...
Atop the eastern wall of the fort, a sole red-scaled Komodo Dragon was pacing, wearing an black-armored tassel and a stained muscle shirt, with a halberd in hand, lazily tilting his snout left and right, not really expecting to be stopping any potential invaders that would be crazy enough to attack them, the infamous Black Yamis. Just the thought was absurd these days. The Komodo Dragon let out one long yawn...
*SHINK*
The lizard leap up in shock as he heard what seemed to be roof-tile scraping, as he looked up to the nearby castle tower and saw what seemed to be a black silhouette.
"Who goes there?!" The dragon barked, holding up his halberd.
The shadowed being did not answer, as silence had come over the night once more.
"Hong? If this is one of your damn jokes, I am not laughing!" The reptile snarled, keeping his battle-ready stance as he slowly approached the castle tower.
No response came still from the being, as the lizard frowned in confusion.
"Hong?"
He slowly paced toward the tower, keeping his eyes on the being, still not answering,
"Chan?"
Silence continued, as the dragon's heart began to hasten, his steps towards the tower becoming more hesitant.
"Kim? Lee? Wong? Tatasciore?" He tried calling, the silhouette only remained mute.
The lizard gulped as he took one last step towards the tower, and in that moment, his eyes widen, as he did not recognize the figure, "Who the hell are-" Before he could finish that sentence, the silhouette turn into a blur as he charged at the dragon, silencing him before he could get out a scream.
In the fort's courtyard, two guards, a crocodile and a panda, both donning outfits like the Komodo Dragon, both with sword in hand, were snoozing, snoring loud enough to keep anyone in the vicinity awake except each other, unaware of what happened above where they were positioned...at least, not till something fell onto the paved ground a few feet in front of them in a loud splatter.
*SPLATTER*
"What the fuck?!" The crocodile snapped awake, soon followed by the panda, who also heard the sound, shifting his eyes back and forth in a half-ass attempt to cover up the fact that he was sleeping on the job. As soon as the alarm faded off, the two looked in confusion...when they noticed something in front of them. They approached that 'something' and immediately gasped in horror.
The Komodo Dragon that stood atop the wall was now in a bloodied mess, as his chest was ripped open, starting from his throat and down to his stomach, leaving every organs in the path split open and spewing blood everywhere, and thanks to the fall, his body was now all bent and broken in all the wrong places. His eyes however haunted them, as they were blank with terror...
"Holy shit..." The panda gaped, feeling bile build up in his throat as he struggled to keep it down.
"What the hell...who did this?!" The crocodile whispered in horror.
His question was soon answered, as a loud thud sound was made. The two guards instantly turned towards the origin of the sound, but due to the part of the courtyard being shadowed, only lit by the torches, they only saw a shadowed figure.
"Okay, who are you?!" The crocodile barked at the figure, wielding his sword, soon followed by the panda.
The being did not answer, much to the crocodile's anger.
"Answer me, you mangy motherfu-!"
He did not get the chance to finish that sentence, as suddenly, a halberd was thrown at him, piercing through his mouth and skull, eventually embedding the now dead croc in the opposite wall as blood seep from the mouth and head.
"OH MY GODS!" The panda screamed in horror at his fellow guard's fate, as he returned to face the being, as it approached the panda.
As soon as it stepped into the light, the being's figure was revealed, immediately causing the panda to tremble, and very good reasons too. The intruder was shrouded in black feathers (thus making him a bird...possibly a crow), standing tall at about six feet, the light shining off his yellow beak and his brown eyes, the slight wind blowing through his peculiar head feathers, which were all tipped with red, along with his wings. He was clad in what seemed to be silver armor, and under it, a dark-red sleeveless coat-like robe (with a belt in the middle) and black slacks and wore a necklace laced with bones and a lone skull, and upon his talons were silver-hued shin guards...but what really frightened the bear was the weapon that the bird held in his right hand, as he held what seemed to be a rather big scythe, the blades black as night with blood-red linings...and speaking of blood, one side of the blade was covered in it, as a bit of blood (probably from the Komodo Dragon, no doubt) dripped from it, pattering onto the ground.
The crow looked at the panda with grim indifference as he approached him slowly.
"STAY BACK!" The panda screamed, beyond all reasons afraid, as he held up his sword and backing away slowly, but his order did nothing to stop the avian, as he continued to approach him.
"I SAID STAY BACK! STAY BACK!" The monochrome bear barked repeatedly, his voice growing more and more frightened, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" The bear screamed, as he swung his sword at the crow.
But the crow foresaw the attack as he swiftly swung his scythe around his sword and severs the panda's sword hand. Before the panda could give out a blood-curdling scream, the black bird swung his scythe back, immediately embedding his scythe into the panda's head, instantly killing him.
He withdraw the scythe from the panda's skull, causing the dead guard to fall to the ground in a heap, when suddenly, one of the guards from atop the ramparts, who saw the scene, screamed:
"INTRUDER! WE GOT A INTRUDER!"
A loud horn bellowed throughout the fortress, as the crow only smirked to himself...
"Let the games begin..."
Almost instantly, more bandits made their way to the courtyard, armed with all sorts of bladed weapons, charging at the avian with battle cries. The bird gave a minor scoff as he then swung his scythe, beheading the first bandit that came up to him, blood spurting from the neck as the body fell in a flash.
Two bandits came at him, a wolf and a tiger, swinging their swords in tandem as the crow repelled the swipe of the wolf with a block of his scythe and then sidestepping the tiger's swing, catching his sword arm, and with a sickening crush, he snapped the forearm in two.
The cat only cried in pain as the bird then swung his entire body overhead and hard into the crowd, the cat's body splattering into pieces.
The wolf, horrified, tried another attack upon the bird, but before he could, the avian grasped his throat tightly, and with a flick of a wrist, the wolf's throat was ripped out, bleeding the now-crumpling bandit to death.
Another bandit, an ox wielding an ax, swung at the crow with a heavy swing, only for the crow to sidestep it and swiftly flipping over the ox, and in mid-flip, twisting the ax-wielder's neck with a snap, killing him instantly. As soon as the crow landed, he took the dead bandit's ax and chucked it at a chimp, cleaving him in two.
More and more bandits filed into the courtyard with weapons raised as they surrounded the crow in hope of defeating this killer...but the crow was fiendishly skilled.
With swings of his scythes, he began falling bandits one by one, beheading even more bandits. Then he followed up with slicing other bandits into two pieces.
And using his talons expertly, the crow kicked and smashed them into their skulls and ripping out their brains, while killing others by breaking their necks (either with his bare wings or smashing the handle of the scythe into them).
A rhino charged at him with a hammer in hand, ready to crush the night-colored avian to dust...only for the crow to send his scythe into the rhino's mouth, and with an overhead swing, he ripped the rhino's head and spinal column from the body and smashed the head into the ground.
Another crocodile came from behind him, but the scythe wielder back-kicked him, and grasping with his talons, ripped open his guts, as his intestines fell out in a heap.
A gangly looking panther ran at the crow with a polearm in hand, but the crow only stabbed him with his scythe. Then, the crow swung the scythe over and behind him, smashing a back-attacking ocelot into the ground, and, as more bandits surrounded him, the avian swung the scythe (with the dying panther still impaled on it) around, blasting all of them back and with one big swing, the panther flew off the scythe and was smashed into one of the castle's tower.
The crow let out a huff as he placed the bloodied bladed end of his scythe on the ground, observing with a cocky grin as the remaining few bandits looked on in fear of the sinister looking hawk, as they began to flee.
"Oh no, you bastards aren't getting off that easily." The crow chuckled menacily, as he held out his free wing and screamed, "Umbris Clawdeimos!" His eyes started to glow a fiendish red...
As the last few stragglers tried to flee, one of them, a rabbit, noticed the ground before began to darken. Before the rabbit could enquire what was going on, a black clawed hand burst from the ground suddenly and grabbed the bandit, and began to smash the creature into paste. Two other bandits took note of their comrade, but two more claws burst from the ground and dragged them into the cesspool that they came from and sounds of embodiment were made.
Only one more bandit remained, a boar, tried to make his way to the gate, hoping to escape this horrid nightmare...but alas, his arms were instantly grasped by two overhanging claws, lifting him into the air, where two claws sprouted from the ground and grabbed his legs. The crow, watching from afar, only gave a nod, as the four claws then pulled the boar apart, tearing him into five pieces.
The courtyard was now covered in blood and gore, as the bodies of the crow's opponents were strewn all around him. The crow smiled as he looked towards the central building within the fort and said to himself, his expression growing serious,
"Now, to take down the big kahuna..."
Meanwhile, in what seemed to be what was left of a throne room, with pillars lacing around the room, a spotted yellow-furred jaguar, donning a red vest and tan slacks, was lounging on pillows and blankets (obviously stolen from unfortunate merchants and peddlers), surrounded by a group of women (a vixen, wolf, and a panther), wearing nothing more than mere cloths that covered only their unmentionables barely, with chain collars around their necks, signifying their damned position as sex slaves to the jaguar.
The fact that the jaguar was in the throne room of this forsaken fortress would obviously go to show that the jaguar was the leader of the Black Yamis.
The jaguar was enjoying the lovely sights of beautiful females all around him, sighing in content...when suddenly, he heard a loud bang. The jaguar (and his concubines) looked up at the doors, as screams could be heard from behind them.
"What in gods name is going on out there?!" The jaguar snarled, not pleased that someone was interrupting his 'me-time'.
He would soon get his answers, the doors blast open as a broken corpse of a wolf landed in front of them. The females let out a scream of horror as the jaguar look in shock at the body, as he then look up at the doors...only to gape in horror as a black crow stood there, holding up a struggling bandit with one hand, looking at the jaguar with a look that obviously meant death.
The crow, with a flick of his arm, chucked the bandit into a wall, smashing his head upon collision of the wall, as he looked at the horrified jaguar nonchalantly,
"Lord Xue Yiwang of the Black Yamis?" The crow questioned.
The jaguar, apparently named Xue, didn't answer at first, but when he did, it was quivered with a bit of fear, "W-who wants to know?!"
"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you had been quite a miscreant..." The crow begins to approach the jaguar, "Murder, plundering, rape, extortion, torture, and trafficking of women. Didn't 'pect any less from the leader of the Black Yamis."
Xue looked at him freaked out, as he backed away, secretly feeling around the pillows for something... "What's it to you?"
"Nothing really...but the boss wanted me to take care of you and your associates...and I did so..." The crow chuckled as he continued walking towards him.
"What?" Xue froze mid-search, "What do you mean, take care of them?"
"Exactly like I said. I took care of your minions...every single one of them..." The crow darkly smirked.
"All of them?" Xue gulped, trying harder than ever to find the thing he was looking for.
"Dead as a doornail. And so will you, if you don't come quietly..." The black avian threatened...before looking at the three concubines, who were eyeing him fearfully, "You ladies best be getting out of here...things might get a bit messy." The females didn't said a word, as they instantly fled the room.
Xue only gritted his teeth in frustration and fear...only to stifle a sigh of relief as he found what he was looking for...
"Okay, man, you got me...I will come with you...no need to get angry..." The jaguar cooly said, as he got to his feet, holding a certain object in his hand.
"That's more like it. Just turn around and no funny business..." The black-feathered ordered, as he slung his scythe on his shoulder.
"Of course..." Xue answered, before giving an evil grin, "As you WISH!" With that last word, he swung around and pulled out a crossbow with a bolt loaded, as he fired directly at the crow.
The bird had no time to dodge, as the bolt struck him hard in the chest. The bird crumpled to his knees in pain...
"Ah-hah! Suck on that, you god-damn maggot!" Xue screamed, "That teaches you to mess with Lord Xue! HAHAHAHAHA!" He let out a maniacal laugh...only to have it overshadowed by an even louder and more maniacal laugh.
Xue turned to the crow...and his eyes widen in horror as the crow rose to his feet, the bolt still stuck in his chest, piercing his silver chestplate, and looked at him with demon-like eyes, "You stupid little shit...was that supposed to hurt?
The jaguar was speechless, horrified beyond all reason, "H-how...how are you still living? Y-you should...you should be..."
"Dead?" The crow finished, as he ripped out the bolt and flung it aside, as he continued to approach Xue, "Yeah, one would think that..."
"What...what dark magic is this? Just what are you?!" Xue stammered.
"Oh, I go by many names...but you could can simply call me...Death..." The crow smarmed with a evil-like grin, as he walked more menacingly towards the jaguar.
"No...no...NO!" Xue screamed as he fired yet another bolt at the crow, but this time, it didn't even phase him, as the crow continued walking. "Get away from me!" He started firing his crossbow like crazy at the bird, but the bolts simply either stuck to the crow like gum or missed him completely.
Soon, the crossbow was out of bolts, causing the jaguar to go into a panic, as he dropped the bow and backed away from him fearfully, but he tripped and fell backwards, but it did not cease his efforts to get away from the crow, who only watched with glee at the cowering feline.
"Umbris Clawillusio!"
The crow suddenly bellowed, as he threw his arm forward, his eyes glowing red once more. Xue only looked on in fright and confusion when a bright-bluish illusion of the crow's reached-out arm burst forward and grabbed the jaguar, holding him up. Xue let out a whimper as the crow pulled back his arm, and in doing so, pulling the jaguar towards him at a great deal of force, only to be captured by the crow's other arm.
Xue gasped as he tried to break free, but the crow's grasp was all but too tight. The jaguar looked at his captor's eyes and only gulped as he saw what seemed to be hellish intent, and did the only thing he could do...beg.
"Please...please don't kill me...I don't wanna die..." The jaguar stammered, completely enveloped with fear, as tears threatened his eyes.
"Kill you? Oh, I would do nothing of the sorts..." The crow chuckled, prompting Xue's whimpering to quiet down a bit...but the crow's eyes began to glow red once more, "For you...I would rather...Reap. Your. Soul..."
The cat's blood ran cold upon the saying of the last three words, as he noticed something growing out of the crow's lower back, looking more like...a second pair of wings? The cat had no time to question such transformation, as he was too scared to do so.
The bird held him up to the sky, as he said in a dark voice, "Look into my eyes and surrender your soul to me..."
Xue only shook his head feverishly, trying to break free, as the crow's beak began to part, "NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!"
Suddenly, something began to flow out of the jaguar's mouth and his eyes in a form of a white-palish wisp and into the beak of the crow at a high rate of speed. The jaguar began to gag, as if he was being suffocated, and his body began to grow pale, his fur turning white. As seconds passed by, the jaguar's body slowly stopped struggling...and soon, the flow of the wisp thin to almost nothing, as it all entered the crow's beak.
As soon as it did, the crow let out a heavy gasp, like one normally would after drinking a lot of water, and looked at the jaguar's body with pity, as the said body faded away to dust, scattered by the draft that blew through the throne room.
The crow let out a heavy sigh as he felt the last of the dust slipped through his wing tips, and his eyes gave one last flicker of red, before returning to a normal brown. He merely placed his scythe against the ground, blade-first.
The crow's eyes surveyed the throne room, as nothing but the silence whisper of the wind could be heard.
"Hmph. Look likes my work here is done." The black avian nodded.
With that said, he let go of his scythe as it suddenly disappeared in a black veil, leaving no trace of its existence whatsoever. The bird turned around and held up his left-wing, and his eyes instantly flash red once more.
Instantly, a black, smoke-like void opened in front of him, as the bird, after giving one last glance to the room behind him, stepped through it. Soon as he did, the void sealed itself back up, leaving no trace of it or the bird.
When daylight comes, and people come to storm the fortress once more to stop the Black Yamis, they will only be met with horror and the stench of the dead corpses that lingered around the fortress, and when they go to find the Lord Xue, the mastermind of the organization, their efforts would be in vain.
No one would know who was it that slain the organization that terrorized their lives...and no one would ever know what had become of Xue. Of course, there were those three freed women that were slaves to the jaguar.
Their testimonies were unreliable for the most part, as they had suffered (as part of the band's sick regiment to maintain their lithe figure) starvation and thirst, but when the people asked who was the one that came and freed them...
They all answered...a crow with four wings...
A/N: Well...that's chapter one for you folks. I bet you are wondering who was the crow...well, if you want to figure it out, copy and paste one of the two links below to find a picture of him...or patiently wait for the next chapter, where I will not only reveal his name...but what he really is. As some of you may tell, I was inspired by Kingdom Hearts, Darksiders II, Devil May Cry 4, and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, as well as Ghost Rider for most of the scenes. ToppleTheStrange, I hope I did your character justice. Here's the link to the crow's pictures on DeviantArt,
Type in topplethestrange-dot-deviantart then paste in the following:
.com(slash)art(slash)Hang-Bird-Colored-160293655
.com(slash)art(slash)Hang-Bird-Redesign-Attempt-341279270
So...READ AND REVIEW!
Voice Cast For OCs
Currently-unnamed crow - Gregg Berger (Jecht from Final Fantasy X)
Artworks are deeply appreciated