Enemy Behind the Lines

Dark clouds slowly passed over the Jade Palace as night crept into it's fullest. Rain poured from the heavens as the drops splished and splashed on the earth. Drops echoed from the tile roof. A cold night wind brushed past the gate and over the barracks as it howled in the night. A chill seeped up from the floors of the barracks rooms. A bolt of light fell from the sky and crashed into the ground out in the distance. Crackling thunder soon followed as it rippled throughout the night air.

Another flash of light briefly lit Tigresses' room as she sat on her bed. Her tail curled along her side as it fell towards the ground. Her amber eyes quickly scanning the scroll that rested in her paws. 'Mass mind control…' she continued to think as she shifted from scroll to scroll. Her heart pounded nervously in the still night air. Her mind recycled memories of her fight with Master Ding, and how she saved her beloved panda.

"There's not a single thing in these scrolls about it…" Tigress whispered to herself, annoyance seeping into her voice. "There has to be something. If the guys are right, what happened to the villagers of Huegon was mind control. I had never seen it until me and Po fought Ding, but he only controlled one person at a time." Her voice trailed off into the stormy air as she reached for yet another scroll.

Her paws opened the scroll, causing a swoosh to quietly break into the night. Her eyes continued to read the words on the page as her mind began to drift. Images of Po began to dance around in her sight. Her heart filled with warmth at the images. 'Po, why haven't you said anything?' she wondered as a smile crept along her face. Blood tingled towards her cheeks as her tail flipped around quietly. The words of the scroll seemed to fade through her. 'Po…' she continued girlishly.

Tigress felt a strange warmth seep into her soul. Her blush grew as more and more pictures of Po danced around her. 'His smile… it's so caring' she thought. Memories of their missions together, about her custom 'buddy hat', her favorite color filled her heart. "What is this?" she whispered happily as her smile grew brighter. A small shimmer expanded in her amber eyes.

She sat there, her tail cusping the edge of her bed frame, as her stomach began to turn slightly. Her face glowed quietly in the dark night. A tiny giggle lifted from her stomach and escaped from her throat. Tigress had never giggled before, but here she was, giggling at memories of Po. 'This is so embarrassing' she thought, her eyes starting to smile, 'Does he feel the same way?' Her vision caught focus of the tiny Po action figure that laid sprawled out on the ground next to her mission bag. Her arm gently reached out, touching the figure, before pulling the figure closer. "Po…" she sighed, filled with happiness, as she lovingly stroked the figures head.

Stumbling feet echoed through Tigresses' door as it reverberated in her room. "Who's there?" she stated loudly. Her legs jolted up, her paws readied to fight, as the sound of footsteps lessened. A dim light from the hall plastered a large shadow pass her door before it continued down towards the hall of heros. A light twinkle fluttered her mind. "Po?" she called out, quietly. Happiness hinted itself off her words. She reached out, gripping the handle of her door, before rushing it open.

"What?" startled Po. He had crept down the hall from his room, trying not to wake anybody up. A wash of emotions filled his mind as his eyes saw Tigress step out of her room. 'Thanks the gods she's okay' he thought, slightly lifting his heart.

"What are you up to, Po?" Tigress asked, her amber eyes glistening in the darkness. Her tail followed behind as it swung behind her. An unusual softness attached itself to her voice, seemingly kissing Po's ears as it passed.

"Um, nothing. Just-just gotta talk to Master Shifu about something." Po said sheepishly. His eyes darted from Tigress towards the wall and back. A small clank echoed behind him as his claws tapped nervously.

Tigresses' stomach twisted more, butterflies seemingly floated up towards her throat. "About what?" she pressed as she stepped closer. Her eyes focused on Po's dim figure. Her mind snapped back as she noticed something strange about the panda. "Po, what's wrong with your eyes?"

"Wha- my eyes? What do you mean, Tigress?" Po chuckled, nervousness still clung to his voice. Visions of his dream whipped by his sight. An ache grew in his heart as remnants of that dark voice echoed about.

"They're not-" Tigress began, before her voice stopped in her throat. 'As beautiful and shiny as normal.' she thought, a blush forming on her cheeks. "There seems to be something different about them." she continued. Rain drops continued to echo off the roof. Thunder cracked out in the distance, far from the Valley of Peace, as the storm passed over. She stepped closer, lifting her paw closer to his cheek. "Let me see." she stated quietly.

Po hastily brushed Tigresses' paw away before taking a step back. 'I'm fine, Tigress. Really." he chuckled, his mind torn by emotions. 'She almost touched me! Why did I shy away?! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!' he lashed in his thoughts, each time the darkness growing stronger. The dark veins circled around his jade pupils.

Tigress felt a sting in her heart as Po brushed her paw away. The fluttering in her mind dissipated, her stomach untwisted. Her eyes dropped slightly. The silent air around them absorbed the heaviness of their hearts. 'He doesn't feel the same…' she thought, her ears dropped back as sadness inched into her mind.

"I need to go talk to Master Shifu," Po repeated as he turned away, "I'll talk to you in the morning, Tigress." His large feet tapped along the floor as he quietly ran down the barracks hall. 'It was just a nightmare, Tigress is going to be fine' he thought.

Flashes of light brightly lit up the sky as Po left the barracks and continued towards the main building. Shimmers of starlight and moonlight peaked through the dark clouds. Rain drops glistened blades of grass and gracefully slid to the dirt. 'There's no way I'd hurt Tigress, just no way' he continued in his head. Doubt and darkness seeped further into his sight as a flash of her tombstone all but ruptured his mind. 'That won't happen, I won't let it! Right?' Po bit his lower lip as his emotioned began to choke in his throat. Water welled up in his right eye before gliding down his cheek. His paw touched the outside of the door.

Lightning blasted down from the sky before it carved into the training grounds dirt. The flash pulsed out in all directions. A loud boom crashed above the Jade Palace, shaking the buildings to their foundations. "Just like the dream…" Po gasped as the flash from the lightning fused with flashes from his dream. He could feel his head swirl slightly as his dream and reality merged. A twinge of pressure filled his arm before Po shoved the door open.

Cold night breezes whispt past Po as they escaped from the hall. The dim light of candles gently lit the surrounding area. He stepped inside the grand hall, his steps echoing off the tall pillars. "Master Shifu?!" he called out, torrents of emotions still swirling around in his mind. His words bounced in the hall as the eerie stillness of the dark began to set in. A dark shiver crawled up his spine as he waited for a response. "Master Shifu!" he called again, fear attaching to his voice. A dark cough scratched it's way up his throat. His heart pounded loudly in his chest, beating over the surrounding noise.

Po hurried towards Shifu's regular sleeping quarters. The stillness of the night had seeped into his brain. Memories of the nightmare, the tombstone, griped his nerves. His eyes darted in panic as his continued to look for his master. "Shifu!" Po shouted, as he ripped open the sliding door to his master's room.

Shifu sat there, angry eyes glaring, as Po came into his room. "What is the meaning of this, panda?" Shifu asked, his voice stern yet angry.

A small sense of relief trickled into Po's heart as Shifu's words passed him. Worry still seeped from his eyes as a worried frown passed his face. "I need to talk to you, Master." Po replied, his voice dim and heavy.

Shifu's ears twitched. "You seem sad, Po. What happened?" he asked as he motioned the panda closer.

Po inched closer before he took a seat on the floor. "I… I had a terrible dream, Shifu, and I need answers." Po explained, his gaze stuck to the floor in front of him.

"I'll do what I can." Shifu replied caringly.

"The beginning of the dream was awesome! Like, probably the best dream I've had in awhile." Po started, grinning slightly. "I had just defeated all the evil of China and finally made this valley safe. And then I-" he stopped, gulping down the increased nervousness in his heart. "Don't kill me…" he quickly said.

Po's words caught Shifu by surprise before he realized what the panda meant. "I won't." he grimaced as he forced a calming smile.

Po nibbled on his lip momentarily as he mustered up the courage to continue. "I was just about to marry Tigress. You don't understand how happy I was. Like, I finally really felt at peace. I mean, I know I got the whole 'inner peace' deal when I fought Shen, but there's always been something still nagging me. But I really felt at peace then. And then...there was a voice." He said, his voice lowering towards the end.

"What voice?" Shifu questioned. His anger from Po's dream quickly subsided.

"I don't know, it felt dark. Like, I feel like I should remember the voice, like it's there, but I just can't remember where I heard it before. It just felt dark, and it completely changed my dream with just one sentence." Po replied, shifting on the floor as the conversation grew uneasy.

"What did this dark voice say to you, Po?" Shifu pushed, his mind starting to search about for information.

"It said a lot of things in the dream…" Po shrugged, avoiding the question. The darkness in his heart dug further in as it's roots grew larger inside him. Bitter memories began to surface in his mind.

"What did it say, Po?" Shifu repeated, his voice growing more stern.

"It….it said 'Not so fast', and then everything changed in the dream." Po finally answered, shivers of fear grew in his voice.

"Not so fast?" Shifu thought out loud as he stroked his small beard. "How did things change?"

"I was somewhere else, at the cemetery, alone in the rain. I tried to find somebody and all I found was….was…" Po struggled as tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Was what, panda?" Shifu pushed again. He noticed the pain that Po was in as he continued his dream. 'First Tigress mentions mass mind control, and now Po is having terrible dreams…' he thought while he waited.

"T-Tigresses' tombstone…" Po choked, his heart breaking inside as the words left his lips. His mind whirled around as fear and sadness combined. "Then the voice said something like, blaming me for her death, and that this will be my future. It's not going to be my future though, right Master?" Po asked, his voice begging Shifu for help.

Shifu sat there, his gaze drifting through the room as his mind scrambled. Crisp night breezes passed through the Hall of Heros and into his chambers. Candle lights flickered in the night. The rain drops quieted as the storm moved on past the valley. Po watched as his master muttered things quietly to himself. Time drifted by as minutes seemed to pass into the dark void as Po continued to wait for an answer.

"Master Shifu?" Po asked, his voice shattering the night silence of the room.

"Come with me, Panda." Shifu replied quickly as he got up from his bed. He reached out to grab his staff before leaving his chambers.

Po followed behind, his mind shattering in grief, as the nightmare replayed inside him. Darkness crept further and further into his jade pupils, changing them to black. His throat cracked as a grin crawled across his face. 'You killed her' the dark voice in his mind repeated from the nightmare. A single tear dripped from his left eye before it fell to the floor; splashing on impact. Shifu had reached the wall of scrolls as he searched for any knowledge about dark voices with abilities to change dreams.

"There'll be something here." Shifu said as he continued to search.

"What are you looking for, Master?" Po asked, his voice falling heavier than usual. The grin on his face grew as he moved his gaze towards the floor.

"I believe there should be a scroll here about what you are experiencing, Po. If I can just find it, maybe we can give you some peace." Shifu replied hastily, as he passed from one scroll to the next.

"Oh?" said a crackling dark voice. The voice shattered the surrounding air as it filled the nightly void around them.

A cold shock blasted through Shifu's nerves as he jolted around. "Who are you?" Shifu demanded as he stared at the panda standing by the reflecting pool. A peak of moonlight glistened through the air as it light the area around the pool. The light revealed the reflection in the pool. A chilling grip grasped his heart as Shifu saw a completely black-eyed panda with a menacing grin in the reflection. "What have you done with the Dragon Warrior?" Shifu angrily demanded again.

A low cold chuckle seeped from Po's mouth as the grin turned completely into a sneer. "The Dragon Warrior?" the voice replied, seeping from Po's throat. Po turned his attention back up towards Shifu. "He's gone. I am the Dragon Warrior, now!"

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