It was the morning of Halloween and the air was crisp and cool. But unlike most mornings, this one was a little cooler. Tigress walked out of her room and Monkey jumped out from behind a door shouting "boo!" at her. Tigress jumped back shocked crashing into a soft and fuzzy something. Monkey cracked up laughing. Tigress growled seeing Po behind her. "Sorry Po." She muttered before turning to Monkey. "How dare you scare me like that?! And today of all days!" she hissed before storming off. Viper came out of her room looking at Monkey. "You didn't scare her did you?" she asked. "Yeah. It's fun!" Monkey said smiling. "Oh I wish I'd seen her face." Mantis commented. "Guys, you know you should never scare her today. It's the same every year." Crane said shaking his head. "What's wrong with it?" Po asked. "It's Halloween Po." Crane said. "So? What's wrong with that?" he asked. "When Tigress was in the orphanage, they had a Halloween party and unfortunately everything went horribly wrong that left Tigress scarred for life. Literally." Viper said softly slithering off towards the kitchen. Po and the others followed after her. "What happened?" Po asked. None of them said anything as Po looked to each of them.
Shifu stood at the door. "They had adults from the village come into the orphanage to put on a show." He said and Po looked at him. "Tigress watched from her room taking some food when no one was around. Unfortunately Tigress had a nasty scare with a clown and a chainsaw who went berserk all of a sudden. Kids and adults were killed that night and Tigress had witnessed it all. She was angered by this and attacked him. She killed him but not before he'd cut her throat very badly. Since then Tigress has been afraid of Halloween and refuses to leave the safety of the Jade Palace." Shifu said. Monkey shivered. "Even I hate the sound of that." He muttered looking at Mantis. Po stared at Shifu shocked. "She actually killed them? As a child?" Po asked and Shifu nodded. "When the authorities came the next morning, they man she killed had been dead for three years previously though. That's what I was told anyway." Viper curled up with her head under her. "What are you guys doing?" Tigress asked suddenly appearing at the door. The four and Po screamed jumping back. "Don't do that!" Crane snapped. "Why are you guys so jumpy?" she asked eyeing them all. "I told them what happened when you were younger." Shifu said. Tigress looked at him and then the others. "Right. Well I'm going to go train." She muttered rushing off.
It was quite grey looking outside as the thick clouds passed overhead. He could see the Halloween festivities going on in the village as well as preparations for the fun that night. Even the other warriors were excited about tonight…except for Tigress. Mr. Ping came running up the stairs puffing. "Po! Po! I need your help!" He panted. "What's wrong dad?" he asked. "It's the village. We're in danger!" He said hiding behind his son. "Don't worry Mr. Ping. We'll sort it out." Tigress said walking out with the others following behind her running down the stairs. "You don't understand! There's something that's going to happen tonight." He said following them down the stairs quickly. "What do you mean dad?" Po asked as they walked into the village. Tigress came to a halt suddenly. "What's wrong Ti…." Po started to ask when Tigress clamped her paw over his mouth. "Shh!" Tigress stood there silently hearing laughing and screaming very faintly in the wind. Monkey looked at the others who couldn't hear anything. Tigress ran off through the village following the sound with the other after her. But no matter how much she ran towards the sound, it never got closer. "Tigress stop!" Viper screamed seeing them heading for the cliffs. Tigress came to a skidding stop and Po grabbed her paw as she reached the edge of the cliff. Tigress panted softly. "Is this some kind of a joke?!" Mantis growled looking at her as if she was crazy. The fog was starting to come down heavily. "We need to protect the village." Tigress said pulling her paw away from Po's walking off. He ears still twitching listening out for any sounds. The others looked at each other and walked off following her.
By late afternoon it was pitch black outside. The only light was that of the candles and lanterns in the village. Kids were running around trick or treating. Po, Monkey, and Mantis were busy doing games to win candy and any other food they could. Tigress was sitting against the wall of Mr. Ping's shop with her knees against her chest. Shifu had stayed up at the palace to meditate. Viper and Crane came up to Tigress. "You want to come join us?" Viper asked. Tigress glanced around the street seeing people dressed up as ghosts, zombies, all sorts of monsters and clowns. Tigress shook her head holding herself tightly. She wanted to be at the palace but her responsibility to protect the valley was keeping her where she was. Viper and Crane walked off to find the others.
At midnight the festivities were still going on. Po came over to where Tigress was. She was starting to fall asleep. Po sat down pulling her against him gently. "Are you okay Ti?" he asked softly. "Don't go." She whispered holding him tightly. "You're really scared aren't you?" he said and she nodded. "You know that it was just someone's idea of a sick joke when you were younger right?" Po said looking at her. Tigress buried her face in his fur. Po leant back against the wall rubbing her back gently making Tigress relax. She sighed softly closing her eyes feeling safe with him. "Hey Po! C'mon! Let's go to the haunted house!" Monkey called waving to him. Po looked down at Tigress. Tigress got up pulling him up. "You can go. But just keep me safe." She said firmly and Po nodded walking off with one arm around her waist.
They walked into the house with the rest of the Five. Tigress kept a close watch out around them. The blood on the walls looked so real and all it did was bring back memories of when she was younger and at the orphanage. The others enjoyed it but the pop up clowns and ghosts were scaring Tigress more than she'd ever like to admit. She kept looking around thinking she saw something behind her. She had separated from Po and was just standing in the hallway looking at her surroundings.
The children ran around the building happily chasing each other or just playing games. A little girl hid in her room watching the goings on from there. She snuck out of her room grabbing some food off the table when no one was around. She sat down eating the food quickly before getting a drink watching as the adults from the village came in wearing their costumes. The kids cheered at the sight. Tigress cringed when she saw the clown with the chainsaw in one hand. She looked at the clown who was staring right at her. She hid from what felt like its cold and soulless stare. She ran back to her room closing the door trying to get the image of the clown out of her head. She sat clawing at her door whining softly. The next thing she heard was screaming. And not the kind of screaming you should hear for Halloween. The screams of children and adults in fear. Tigress ran out of her room seeing the clown had killed an adult and two kids that the adults had been protecting. The chainsaw, his clothes, and the ground were covered in blood. Tigress stood there paralyzed in fear. That was until it looked at her with a deranged smile.
She might have been the feared child of the orphanage but even the lady who cared for them was shouting for her to run from the monster. This was something new to her. Usually she was the monster but now he was. She got on all fours growling at the clown. "That's right kitty. Come and face your doom." It sneered. She roared lunging at the creature slashing it across the face with her razor sharp claws. She landed behind him biting its leg pulling it out from under him causing him to land on his face on the ground. She felt a hand grab her throat tightly almost cutting off all her oxygen. She whined struggling to get out of its hold on her. It grabbed the nearest knife off one of the tables slitting her throat. It then grabbed its chainsaw laughing manically. Tigress held her throat tears blinding most of her sight. Without thinking she grabbed the clown and swung it off against the wall. It hit the wall with a loud "crack" and then hit the floor dead. She looked at herself which was now covered in blood and ran off to her room sobbing. For reasons unknown, the back of her mind was telling her she'd killed the clown and the two children.
Tigress snapped back to reality when she felt Po touch her. She spun around looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Tigress what's wrong?" he asked. She said nothing wrapping her arms around him tightly. Po sighed rubbing her back gently. "I killed them." She whined crying uncontrollably. "What do you mean?" Po asked. "I don't know. I just have this feeling I was the reason the kids got killed!" Po held her tighter. He took her out of the house and just sat down with her waiting for the others. Tigress looked up seeing the lady from her orphanage walking through the streets with some of the children and Shifu. She looked up seeing Tigress there. She ran over to her. "Tigress! Are you okay?" She asked. Po explained what had happened in the house and she looked sad. "Tigress, it wasn't your fault. That monster killed them and you saved us." She said. "I was still a monster!" Tigress growled. Po held her tighter stroking her fur gently. "Tigress, you're bigger than this. Put it behind you." She said softly. "How can I? He was a dead person when I killed him. Someone was controlling him!" Tigress said. Po kissed the side of her head gently. "Just let it go Ti." He whispered. Tigress was shocked and looked up at him. "It you can put it behind you, maybe you'll enjoy the night better." He said. Tigress sighed nodding slowly.
Shifu went off to get the others from the house. "Tigress, did Shifu never tell you how it came back?" She asked softly. "No. I didn't know he knew." Tigress said. "Someone who knew you were there, wanted to kill you but lost their control on the body. The person took on the dead man's soul and controlled him to kill you but killed three others in the process when he lost control." She said softly. Tigress stared at her and then looked at Po. "Who was it?" she asked. "That was an ex master who had gone evil. He died about two years ago." Tigress sighed leaning on Po. She then left with the children to finish their trip for the night. "Maybe now you can enjoy Halloween." Po said. "Only if you stay by my side." She whispered looking up at him. Po nodded more than happy to stay with Tigress. She smiled kissing him gently. "Thank you Po." She said softly. Po grinned widely. "You're welcome Tigress." Tigress nuzzled him purring softly. "I love you Po." She added softly. Po almost fainted. "Awesome!" Tigress just smiled looking at him. "Hey you two coming? Mr. Ping has got some food for us." Crane said walking over to them. "Yeah. We're coming." Tigress said walking off with Po's paw in hers. Shifu looked at Tigress and smiled happy she was finally at peace with her memories. They sat down at the tables in Mr. Pings shop talking to each other and to the other villagers who were in the shop as well. Really, it had all worked out okay for them all and it was one Halloween they were never going to forget. Especially Po.