Chapter Two- A Possible Cure
After abandoning Komodo for the Jade Palace, Cobra got a job as the city watchmen along with the gossiping fan boy Hawk the hawk. While patrolling the city, Hawk swooped down to greet his friend.
"Evening Cobra!" Hawk said cheerfully.
"Good evening." Cobra said calmly.
"And for the big news in the gossip world for this week: still the fact that you are dating a Furious Five member!" Hawk announced.
"Her name is Viper." Cobra reminded him.
"Well duh!" Hawk laughed. "It's not like you'd be dating Tigress or something."
"Whatever." Cobra said. He looks at a sundial nearby. "Well, that's the end of my shift. I'll catch you later!"
"Later dude!" Hawk said as he flew off. Cobra chuckled as he slithered into the market. Hawk had always been the one to make the Indian cobra laugh, and sometimes Cobra wondered why Master Oogway had hired him in the first place. Cobra slithered off and found the perfect ring in a jewelry stand. After paying the pig tender, he slithered off quickly, smiling broadly.
*****
That night, Tigress broke away from her training to find Panther, who had disappeared after completing the entire course. She found him meditating outside and sat next to him.
"Good evening." Panther said without opening his eyes.
"Good evening." Tigress said.
"Something the matter?" Panther asked the tiger master.
"I was just thinking." Tigress said. "What was Bengal like?"
Panther finally opened his eyes and sighed.
"She was the best thing that had happened to me." He said softly. "She was always actively helping me on missions. At first we were rivals, but soon we became friends. Then we fell in love, and became engaged soon after."
"How good of a fighter was she?" Tigress asked.
"She-"
"Hey guys!" Po jumped up in front of them. "Watcha talkin' about?" Panther and Tigress exchanged a look before saying nothing, standing, and leaving.
Meanwhile, Crane, Monkey, and Viper were training on their normal courses while Mantis talked Tokay thru some basic moves.
"Hey Viper, don't you have somewhere to be?" Monkey said as he swung thru the rings. Viper gasped with shock and leaped off the fire field.
"Oh yeah!" she cried. "I have to get to the watchmen tower! Thanks Monkey!" Viper slithered off quickly to the tower. She knocked hastily on the door. Hawk answered.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Viper." He said. "Come on in!" Viper thanked the bird and slithered up to Cobra, who was waiting for her.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Yep." Viper said. Cobra and Viper left with Hawk making goo-goo eyes at his friend. Cobra slammed the door in his face.
They slithered off to a restaurant for dinner and Cobra slithered Viper to the palace.
"Thanks for dinner." Viper said.
"No problem." Cobra replied as they got to the gate. He stopped Viper from going in.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Uh, Viper, I wanted to ask you something." Cobra said nervously.
"Well, shoot." Viper said.
"What?"
"It means ask."
"Oh." Cobra took out the ring but kept it behind his back. "Uh, Viper. Will you….uh, would you…um…?"
"There you two are!"
Viper and Cobra jumped and whipped around to see Monkey at the open gate.
"I've been looking all over for you!" Monkey said, ushering them in. Cobra put the ring away quickly.
"What's going on?" Cobra asked.
"It's Master Shifu." Monkey said solemnly.
"What's wrong?" Viper asked worriedly.
"I don't know." Monkey said. "But I think he's getting worse."
"Worse how?" Cobra demanded.
"I. Don't. Know." Monkey pronounced. "Tokay just wants everyone together so we could talk." With Monkey leading the way, the three of them hurried off to Shifu's room.
*****
Many miles away, Komodo, Saber, Tai Lung, Rik-Zi, and Tanuki finally arrive at Ganesha's base. Once there, the first thing the five of the notice is all sorts of animals armed and ready for battle.
"Where's Ganesha?" Rik-Zi said. "We have the recruits." One of the soldiers called for his captain. There was a sound of giant footsteps, and a large elephant appeared.
"Rik-Zi and Tanuki." Ganesha said. "I didn't expect the two of you to even come back in one piece." The elephant turned to Komodo, Saber, and Tai Lung. "Are you three the recruits I wanted?"
"Y-yes sir." Saber trembled, surprised that any animal could be so big. Komodo hit him upside the head.
"Don't show fear." He said. "Do you have any other scrolls, Ganesha?"
"Yes." Ganesha pulled out the Behemoth and the Leviathan Scroll, both of which were in a centerpiece with six empty spaces. "I even have the centerpiece."
"Good." Komodo said. "I have the Yeti Scroll, and I will help you. Saber and Tai Lung are in too." Ganesha nodded and walked off, his soldiers following.
"Tanuki." Tai Lung said. Tanuki turned to him. "When are we leaving for battle?"
Tanuki stared at the snow leopard, keeping his trap shut.
"Come on, Tanuki." Rik-Zi urged. "Tell him when we'll attack."
But Tanuki wouldn't speak, no matter what Rik-Zi said. Finally, Rik-Zi gave up.
"We leave tonight to attack the Imperial Palace."
*****
During that, Po, Panther, Tokay, and the Furious Five had gathered by Shifu's room. Tokay had advised everyone that it would be better if only he and Po went in there, and everyone agreed. Po and Tokay walked in and closed the door after them. The two of them walked next to Shifu's bed and Tokay checked up on him. Po couldn't help but wince at Shifu's condition.
He was a lot worse than before. The night after they returned from the Ki-Rin Palace ruins, Tigress had woken up, sensing something was wrong. Rushing out of bed, she checked everyone's rooms and found everything normal. But when she got to Shifu's room, she was horrified to find him with a weak pulse and alerted Tokay. Everyone else woke up soon after to find out that Shifu had gone into temporary shock from the venom.
It didn't even stop there. Soon after, Shifu experienced many (if not all) of the symptoms that usually came with komodo dragon venom. The bite mark on his neck where Komodo had bitten down hard had swollen a little, pain was always shooting up thru his body, and he was usually so weak he was always still and quiet, mostly talking in only whispers. When Komodo and Saber attacked the group at Ki-Rin, Shifu had tried to prevent Komodo from stealing the scrolls, and Komodo had hit him away brutally, leaving Shifu with a nasty cut across his chest and arm. Both cuts wouldn't stop bleeding, and Tokay was reapplying Shifu's bandages every couple of days or so, depending on how bad the bleeding was.
As Tokay unwrapped and rewrapped Shifu's bandages, Po thought to himself, Now I know why I never became a doctor. Shifu's cuts were deep, and the blood coming out was like a waterfall down Shifu's arm and chest, staining his robes and bed. He withered in pain when Tokay put a medicine powder on the cuts to prevent them from becoming infected, and it took all of Shifu's strength he had to not scream. Never the less, Po was still heartbroken to see his master so hurt. When Tokay finished, he ushered Po over to the door. The others outside listened intently.
"How is he?" Po asked.
"Not good, Dragon Warrior." Tokay said. "Not good at all."
"There has to be some kind of cure." Po said.
"I think there is. But I don't know where." Tokay sighed. "Unless Shifu gets some kind of medicine, he'll only have a couple weeks left to live." Everyone outside the door resisted their urge to gasp. Po scowled.
"You're lying." He said.
"Dragon Warrior, I'm truly sorry." Tokay said sadly. "But I can't think of anything else to help your master." Po glared and turned away from the gecko. Tokay sighed. "Listen, the best you can do for Shifu is make his passing as peaceful as possible." Tokay walked out to his room, and everyone did the same. Po stayed behind and went to talk to Shifu. The aging and sick master turned to him, smiling a little.
"What's wrong?" Shifu whispered.
"'What's wrong?'" Po repeated. "You're what's wrong. You're dying and Tokay can't help and I feel pathetic because I couldn't save you."
"What are you talking about?" Shifu asked.
"If I had woken up when you were attacked, I would've been able to save you." Po said. "Isn't there any way to save you?" Shifu stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"In the Imperial Palace, there is a potion so powerful, it can heal anyone, no matter how bad condition they are in." Shifu finally said.
"Like, if someone was about to die, the potion would save them?" Po asked.
Shifu nodded slowly. "But there's only a drop left, and it's being saved for desperate measures."
"So we can use it on you!" Po exclaimed. Suddenly, before he could say another word, Shifu's eyes closed. Po freaked out a little, thinking his master was dead. But he soon realized that Shifu was sleeping. Po remembered that he was weak and Tokay had once said he would need a lot of rest. So Po stood and quietly walked off, a single thought running thru his head.
If that potion could save someone from death, it could cure Shifu of his poisoning.
A/N: Told you it wouldn't take long. Read & Review!
