Disclaimer, I do not own any of the Kung Fu Panda characters. Duh.
Rain slowly battered the thin walls of the Dragon Warrior's room as he took his afternoon nap. A rhythmic thumping slowly turned into Master Shifu's footsteps as he approached the door to the small chamber. Po knew he was going to knock, but he kept his eyes closed in a vain hope that the red panda would pass by without making him get up. He didn't. Po rubbed his eyes as he grumpily approached the door.
"I'm comin', I'm..." He yawned. "Coming."
He jerked open the door.
"Po!" Shifu said, a sense of urgency clearly showing through in his voice. "We have a problem."
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Tigress sat slumped in a chair at the Valley of Peace's only bar. She noisily thumped an empty mug down on the wood table.
"Hey b'rtender! G'mme 'nother beer."
The nervous bartender cautiously approached the inebriated master.
"Master Tigress, Ma'am..." the pig began, "...well, uh, you said to cut you off after 5..."
Tigress growled and drunkenly lunged at the bartender's neck, which the frightened pig easily avoided.
"J'esh gimme a beer!" the kung fu master screamed.
The bartender hurried away and quickly returned with a full mug. Tigress drained it in one long sip, plunking the mug back down again.
"Now I wan..." Her demand was cut short by the tavern door banging shut. Po, Monkey, and Crane stood in the doorway, allowing their eyes to adjust to the dark, candle-lit room. Picking out Tigress fairly quickly, they rushed over to her.
"Tigress? What the heck are you doing here?!" Po asked.
"G'way. I'm not a li'l girl 'nymore. I can *hic* do whatever I wanna do, whenever I wanna do it. Bartender!"
The Pig, who the last word was addressed to, nervously glanced at the dragon warrior, but didn't move.
"Come on, Tigress," Crane urged. "We're taking you home."
"Don't wanna go home. Can'cha see I'm busy?"
Crane sighed, and glanced at Monkey and Po, who nodded reluctantly.
Tigress, oblivious to what was going on (and forgetting she had already finished her drink), lifted the mug to her lips. At that moment, all three kung fu masters grabbed her under her arms and dragged her out of the chair and slowly made their way across the tavern, causing more than a few bystanders to crane their necks.
"It's okay, we know what we're doing," Po reassured.
They slowly made their way out and to the steps of the Jade Palace. Hesitating for a moment, they wordlessly began the long climb up to the kung fu training center.
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"How could you do this?!" Master Shifu demanded, incredulously. "You are my best student! You've never gone off your strict diet or missed a day of training in years! And now this? What's wrong?"
Tigress, sobbing uncharacteristically, refused to answer. Shifu realized that she was in no condition to answer, so he nodded to Po, who silently helped Tigress to a standing position and helped her off to her room. The rest of the Furious Five and Shifu stood there wordlessly for a moment.
"What do you think is wrong with her?" Viper asked, concern seeping out of every syllable. I've known her almost her whole life and she's never been like this."
"I think if we knew why she was doing this, we would've been able to prevent it in the first place," Crane muttered, visibly shaken.
Po returned, eyes teary.
"Tigress, she... she said she hated us. Hated ME."
"So?" Monkey asked.
"Yeah, Po, that's not that uncommon," Crane pointed out.
"I dunno," Po replied. "This time, she meant it. I'm sure of it."
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