A Drinking Game

The small red scorpion traveled on the shoulders of a battalion of mindless wolves. "March forward, my dearies," she commanded, "We have a palace to take over." They knocked down the door revealing Aku-Po sitting down at a table, Tai-Lung on his right and Big Wolf on his left.

"Ah, Scorpion. So good of you to come," Aku-Po smiled with an unusually cool attitude.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, panda," Scorpion said politely. She sounded much like a grandma. "Are you the Dragon Warrior?"

"No, I'm the bodyguard. The snow leopard is the Dragon Warrior. However, he has allowed me to do a kind of game with you," Aku-Po replied. He had two silver cups in front of him on the table. "Care to have a drink?"

"I'm sorry, deary, but I don't have time to play games," She evilly grinned as she lunged forward and tried to attack him. Aku-Po lifted his hand and made her stop in mid-air.

"Oh, but you have no choice, 'deary', because if you don't do what I say, you may be killed," Aku-Po said with chilling playfulness. He placed her down on the table. "Now, are you game?"

"Let's get this over with."

"The game is simple. A test of the wits," Aku explained, "I'll put a poison in one of the cups and with your reasons of deduction, you must figure out where the poison is." Aku-Po gave the scorpion a small tube. She sniffed it.

"Nutmeg," She said expertly, "Too much of it can cause hallucination and potentially death."

"Precisely," Aku smiled, taking the two cups behind his back and putting the concoction in one of the cups. He placed the cups back on the table. "Now, where is the poison?"

"Hahahahahaha! Oh honey, you are clearly an idiot. I know that you would not be stupid enough to put the poison in my cup because that would obvious. You put the poison in your cup so you don't actually drink it."

"You're trying to get me to reveal something. It won't work," Aku-Po smirked.

"Please, you've already shown it. You've obviously haven't put any poison in the liquids or you would have killed yourself in the process. So," Scorpion smirked, quickly grabbing his cup and drinking it all. Then she drunk her own cup as well. "Yours and mine have no poison." Aku-Po smiled as he raised his hands in defeat.

"You've won the game," He said.

"Now it's time to ACK!" Scorpion stopped and squirmed onto the floor. As the three watched the scorpion squirm, Big Wolf was confused.

"So... they both had the nutmeg?"

"No, neither of them had the nutmeg," Aku-Po explained.

"Then what poison was in the drink?" Big Wolf asked.

"There was no poison. It was a healing liquid." Before their very eyes. Scorpion's blood red color changed to a golden yellow. "What she consumed was the antidote for the poison she experimented on herself with." Scorpion finally stopped squirming and shook her head.

"Wha... What happened? Where am I?"

"Scorpion, do you remember anything?" Aku-Po asked.

"I remember experimenting on some kind of flower. Then I had some horrible pain," Scorpion replied. Aku-Po explained the effect of her experimenting and how it endangered the village.

"And now you've put the guards under your spell."

"Oh dear," Scorpion said horrified.

"What can we do to help?"

"I need a special flower, water, and some herbs," Scorpion quickly ordered. They quickly found the items, combined them, and treated the infected. All of them were healed and safe.

"Whew, thank goodness," Aku-Po sighed.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done," Scorpion said ashamed, "I feel so horrible."

"You didn't have any control over it," Tai-Lung comforted, "But if you would like to make it up, the Valley of Peace needs a great healer."

"I'll do it right away," Scorpion beamed brightly.

"Just... no more experimenting on yourself, please?" Aku-Po said with a worried smile.

Fu walked back and forth worriedly until Big Wolf came into Tigress's room. "Big Wolf!" He shouted, clasping onto the wolf's leg. The one-eyed dog picked him up and hugged him.

"Missed me?" Big Wolf laughed.

"How is the... floor of the halls? Are they red?" Tigress asked cryptically.

"No, Aku-Po managed to save the wolves and Scorpion. We have a new healer in the village," Big Wolf informed. Tigress nodded. Just then, Aku-Po came along. "I'll leave you two in peace." Big Wolf said, departing with Fu. Aku-Po chuckled a bit.

"It's surprising how attached a wolf will be to a duck," Aku said.

"You've cured the scorpion," Tigress stated.

"And now the village has a healer, one of the best," Aku-Po replied. Tigress stared at him with an emotionless face. "You're thinking of something."

"Aku, why are you doing this? All of this?" Tigress asked. Aku-Po chuckled almost mockingly.

"You too, eh? Well, I can't tell you everything or anything. Just know that things will turn out for the better."

"For who?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Aku-Po smirked, waving his finger back and forth, "No telling." Tigress rolled her eyes. "But now I get to ask a question. What was the panda like?"

"Po? You already asked that." Tigress asked curiously.

"I want to know so I can show how I'm the opposite," Aku-Po smirked. Tigress scoffed in laughter.

"You're never going to do that," Tigress said, "Po was kind and gentle. Very adaptable to a situation much like you... to a certain point."

"And what did he mean to you?" Aku-Po asked seriously. Tigress's eyes narrowed at the red-eyed panda.

"He was a partner. Someone I respected because he was a guest," Tigress grumbled.

"Bull's horn," Aku explicitly said, "Pardon my traditional Mandarin, but I'm pretty sure from what I've heard from Shifu that you nor anyone believed he was the Dragon Warrior." Tigress was silent for a moment.

"He didn't even believe he was the Dragon Warrior."

"What do you mean?"

"When I... foolishly went to battle Tai-Lung, Po was talking with Master Shifu about the reason why he stayed after all of Master Shifu's intentional harsh training. It was... because he wanted to be a different person. He didn't accept himself. Had we just accept him we..." Tigress trailed off, looking at the floor. "You're right to say that we weren't the... kindest to the panda, but... he was still a great person. Through the cloud of my pride, even I could see that."

"Sounds like a person worthy of being your friend," Aku replied. Tigress slowly nodded.

"Yes, he was."

Continued...