(Insert BS excuse here)
Yeah. I'm back. It took WAY longer than necessary...but I'm back with this blasted story. I managed to renew my vigor for it after watching all three movies and a majority of the show again. I mean, I KNOW I wanted to continue it, but my muse was SOOO far away.
(BS excuse inserted)
So I hope to somewhat make up for this story's longest hiatus yet in two ways. One, it's much longer than the rest in terms of word count. Two...well...it's right at the end, my fellow KFP fans. I know it's not the best thing in the world, but I hope you're as happy with it as I am.
So let's get to it!
Oh, by the way, I turned twenty today. That only furthered my will to get it done. I pretty much chilled out most of the day, and I'm fine with that.
Again, let's get to it!
Po felt very much recharged, enough to get back into the fight at full force. Or enough force he could muster, at least. Regardless of how he currently thought about it, all that he knew was that he had enough power to fight on for a bit longer. And with the extra power, he'd be able to take on his current adversary with much more confidence than before. He took an extra look at his new golden chi that glowed all around his body, giving him more, seemingly boundless strength.
Pang Bing was obviously not amused by any of this. In fact, this infuriated her to her very being. This was NOT supposed to happen. The panda getting back up with renewed power was not only not part of the plan, it was completely and utterly unacceptable. Fai Suan was utterly terrified by her ever-growing magic, which was exhibiting a high amount of unbridled fury at the situation. Something he wished he didn't have to deal with but will anyway.
Po...well...he didn't know. And didn't really care.
"This is it, you're going down one way or the other!" Po said while clenching his golden chi arm. I've gotta admit, this is pretty weird. Using chi as a prosthetic arm like this...meh. I'm pretty sure I can quickly adapt to it. He mentally shrugged as he noticed Pang Bing furiously begin attacking him with a blast of blue magic. He retaliated by swiping his arm upwards, diagonally, slashing it in half. The two blasts flew past him, harmlessly crashing into the ground around him. He grinned at this. "Yep. I'm adapting rather nicely to this...thugh I still feel far too new at it for it to be considered a pro..."
"Insolence...insolence...INSOLENCE!" Pang Bing shouted while clutching her head. "Of all the things to persistently get in my way, it had to be a panda! A rotund, stupid panda!"
"When are you guys gonna learn? Fat jokes don't work on me." Po pouted adorably, not minding how she added 'stupid' into the mix. "Well, whatever. I'm still gonna have to beat you. And I don't pull my punches against women who cause such a giant mess like you're doing! Master Fenghuang taught me that much!"
Pang Bing sighed as she massaged her temple. "Hmph...a Phoenix trained a Dragon...in some senses, that actually sounds quite poetic..." She narrowed her eyes as they began glowing blue. "Very well! Let's see what you can do, panda! Before I kill you where you stand!"
"...What about where I jump?~" Po grinned as he suddenly bends down, before launching himself at Pang Bing with his golden chi arm outstretched, his claws reaching out to slash her. She nimbly dodges by flying to the side, only to be surprised as the panda completely changed directions and headbutted her in the abdomen, crashing into the ground deep enough to form a crater. She hoarsely coughed as she eventually stands back up, massaging her head.
What...how did he...? She blinked as she saw a bit of essence of green chi from his flesh paw as he came down to attack her again. Thundering WInd Hammer in order to change direction midair...he actually made that attempt...?
"Not yet!" Po shouted from about. Pang Bing immediately flies out of the rubble and avoids Po's stomp, which deepened the crater. He blinked as he climbs out, rubbing his neck. "Okay, I definitely have to get used to this new chi..."
"I won't let you get the chance..." Pang Bing muttered as she shoots even more sporadic blue blasts towards Po, which he begins to run from and nimbly dodge them with multiple high jumps and hops, and even managed to deflect a few of them using his chi arm. This was frustrating Pang Bing to no end, but she tried not to lose control. His nonchalant yet simultaneously serious view of the situation was greatly throwing her off, but she refused to allow it to best her. She'll overcome him before he can have a ghost of a chance doing the same to her.
Fai Suan, in the meantime, was observing the battle from a safe place, realizing that he probably shouldn't try punching above his weight class, which was pathetically low as it was. He simply got lucky with jumping Shen when he couldn't fight back. Cowardly to some, yet pragmatic to him. Still, he was getting the feeling that Pang Bing will eventually be overwhelmed if he didn't do something to at least try and help. He doesn't expect it to do any good, though.
"Well, I'd better do something." Fai Suan muttered as he held up his arms and began gathering purple flames. "Maybe if a get a good shot in his back-"
WHAM.
"...huh...?" He muttered, not knowing why he was suddenly smashed deep into a wall, sputtering blood from his mouth, his flames dying out.
"Hmph..." Fung brushed off his paws , his thick tail waving a bit after hitting Fai Suan before he could possibly react to his presence, having been so busy on the fight. "Should have paid more attention to everything else than just the fight."
"Oooh. Too bad for you. You weren't paying attention, and now you're coughing blood. Oh, I do think that a few ribs are broken." Song cooed as she walked up to the collapsed Fai Suan with her parasol resting on her shoulder, listing her leg and pressing it hard against his abdomen. "I'm guessing about five of them are broken right now."
"N-Not really...it's actually only just three-"
CRACK.
"Whoops. Sorry about that. NOW that's five ribs broken. Too bad for poor little you." Soing sang a bit while further pushing her foot into his abdomen. "...Oh. Your arm looks a bit too well...maybe I should break it."
"P-Please don't...
CRACK!
"Why..."
"Oops. Already broken. Should have spoken faster. Tehehehe..." Song cooed in a predatory manner, further pressing her foot into his arm as well. Fung shivered a bit...she seemed to be enjoying this a bit too much...
Meanwhile, Pang Bing and Po were continuing their ever-growing fight against one another, with the former being quite frustrated that Po wasn't letting up, while he simply seemed to be adapting to the situation while still being relatively confused about the situation as a whole. Though he seemed to be succeeding in adapting quickly. She was cursing him very harshly in her own mind, while he was simply thinking of ways he could possibly win sooner within his own mind. Neither allowed this to distract them for too long.
Pang Bing was under the power of a solar eclipse, and her power was being greatly boosted as she had her sacrifice-Lu Kang-at the ready the whole time, so there really was no reason for her to be failing at this point. At least that's what she chooses to believe, anyway. She thought that at this point she would be unflappable, but that was unfortunately not going to be consistent at this rate, if Po continues resisting her. She hasn't gotten this emotional when she's faced previous obstacles in the past, so why was the panda the first open who's made her react so seriously in what feels like years? It just didn't seem right to her, and she was genuinely trying to understand.
"Fool...you stupid fool...surrender already!" Pang Bing grit her teeth as she fires another blue blast towards Po, who uses his chi arm to bat it away, making it land somewhere amongst the rubble.
"I can't do that. You're hurting a lot of my friends, and I really can't let that stand, you know." Po answered shot back at her, using a chi-boosted jump to close the distance between them gain. But she swiftly moves out of the way and fires another blast point-blank, right into his chest, sending him crashing back into the ground. He groaned, sitting up and lightly rubbing his head. "Owowow...that seriously smarts..."
"Then why can't you stay down so I don't hurt you anymore?!"
"Nah. That'll lead to bigger headaches." Po waved off as he stands back up again, stretching his arm and legs. "Okay...longer I fight with this, the more I get used to it...guess this chi really is mine after all." Po mumbled as he hopped a bit, clenching his fist.
Pang Bing shook angrily, and yet she didn't know why. She had been eerily calm for the longest time waiting for this day. Even high resistance shouldn't have made her so emotional, as she expected it. So why? Why from the panda, specifically?
What makes him so different from all the others? It was with THAT mental question, and remembering that Shen was nearby and recovering, that she finally understood. It wasn't their differences that was greatly damaging her focus...it was their similarities.
And they have quite a few key things in common...
Shifu and Pai Mei's battle continued in earnest, while Mei Ling and Junjie were fighting a battle of their own. The tag team was quite troublesome for the Pai Mei and Junjie, mostly because Shifu was still alive despite all odds. And the one responsible for this is no other than Bian Zao, which Shifu would never be able to display his full gratitude towards. Now he had a chance to defeat Pai Mei as soon as he possibly could.
Shifu has defended against every strike that Pai Mei sent his way, the mad simian's eyes glazed with crazed madness as he tried to attach his Five-Fingered Death Punch to him, but Shifu wasn't foolish enough to let the same deadly attack strike him twice. He had gotten lucky with Bian Zao there to resuscitate his heart, but he knew that he wouldn't get lucky twice in a row. Pai Mei would surely try to kill the boar if he managed to defeat Shifu, and Taotie would die first protecting him.
He will not tolerate any of these things happening, and it shows through his rather aggressive call to action as he counters every single one of his strikes, then every so often he would strike back with rather precise strikes that left him dizzy at some points. The latest one as a brief and swift punch to the head that sent his vision blurry for a few moments, also pushing him back a decent distance. He eventually managed to stop his momentum after he planted his feet, before he looked up to Shifu, his eyes glazed with madness.
"You should be dead...you should be dead...why aren't you dead?"
"Because I can't afford to embrace death right now. The young ones still need me, and leaving them at this point would be cruel to them." Shifu answered while having his paws at the defensive, prepared to counter at any moment. "Plus, it would be rather embarrassing to fall to the same attack twice in a row, so I'm unfortunately going to have to refuse your attempts to kill me."
Pai Mei didn't react too well to this, dashing towards him, with them exchanged a swift blur of parrying punches, which ended with Shifu hitting him hard in the chest with both paws, sending him rolling across the ground, and a few pieces of rubble dropped on him afterwards. Shifu huffed. There was a benefit to being insane, the person would be very unpredictable. But there were also benefits to being sane...they can actually think of what they wanted to do next. Their dynamic contrasted in this strange way.
Shifu swiftly vanished in a rather extreme burst of speed, which greatly surprised him for several moments. Pai Mei was soon met with a painful headache as Shifu performed a devastating axe kick that cracked the ground below the two of them. And it didn't end there. His headache worsened considerably as he suddenly flipped upwards and kicked Pai Mei with a bicycle kick, sending him flying upwards. Shifu landed on the ground, before blurring once again with a high jump, and striking Pai Mei in his chest and sending him crashing into the dirt, creating a crater that devasted the ground even further than it already was.
He slid backwards from the sheer pain of the blow, and found himself trying to recover quickly from it, his tail lashing about in complete and utter frustration. "This is impossible...how can this be...how are you doing this, Shifu?!"
"I've already told you that I wouldn't be losing to you, and I meant every single word. It's not going to happen because I'm not going to allow it." Shifu stated quite easily, moving upwards and kicking Pai Mei in the nose, very likely shattering it.
"That's the way, Shifu! Really wail on him!" Taotie shouted from the sidelines, seeming quite happy about this. Bian Zao yawned while simply hoped that they would achieve victory as soon as possible. He really wanted some tea, and he couldn't really get any if everyone was busy fighting.
Mei Ling could see that Shifu was holding his own quite well, and she herself was smiling widely at how successful he was at the moment. There was little Pai Mei could do to even come close to putting up something that actually feels like resistance. It's satisfying.
Mei Ling soon countered three strikes of Junie's and swiftly struck his chest three times, then jumped and did a hook kick that knocked him on his back for several moments, which he rebounding off the ground and got back on his feet. She grinned at how frustrated he looked.
"You're such a sore loser, Junjie. Is Shifu being better than you have been and ever will be bugging yuou that much that you've gotta make yourself feel better via mass-murder? Talk about a complete lack of self-esteem!~"
"Silence, vixen!"
"Does the truth hurt? Looks like we both know who the better fox is between us...obviously me. Never thought that making you look like a chump could be so easy! It's almost embarrassing how much of a complete moron you are!" She cackled as she leaps over his head when he tried attacking her in a brief fit of rage. It didn';t do him any good aside from leaving him open, which she mercilessly took advantage of. Three hard palm strikes to the chest and then a roundhouse across his face, causing him to spiral in the air, yet regain balance rather quickly. He did what he could to return the favor, swiftly jumping towards her while pretending to throw a punch. She goes to block it...it was a feint. Her eyes widened at the mistake as she sees his chi focus into her stomach and send her crashing against the wall in pain. Okay...might have overdone the mocking just a little bit...
"You think you can mock me in such a manner and expect you to get away with it, vile vixen? I'll be sure to put you in the same grave as Shifu! You will perish, swine!" Junjie shouted in outrage. "I refuse to remain in Shifu's shadow for eternity! I will have him erased completely!"
"That's unlikely to happen on our watch!" Peng shouted from leaping above. Junjie's eyes widened at this as he looked up to see Peng leaping above him with a strong and potent glare. "You're done for, Junjie!"
The fox huffed as he kneeled a bit to prepare to counter whatever he was doing. "FOolish child. Dont't think you have the right to be audacious just because you're Tai Lung's nephew! I'll have you all-"e
Stab.
"You keep making threats and yet you don't follow through with them...what does this say about you?" Lian said quietly to him in a menacing tone, having pierced his side with a sword from behind a fallen soldier nearby. One of her eyes was darkened in a sinister manner while the pupil in her other eye appeared a fierce shade of red/"You can't honestly assume that we're going to fight fairly. You cheated first. We're just returning the favor."
"That's how we tend to operate in dire situations!" Peng shouted as he took advantage of the fox's stunned reaction and punched him down into a deep crater resulting from the shockwave. A spurt of blood left his muzzle before his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he falls limp afterwards. Peng sighed as he wiped his brow, while Lian pulls the sword out of Junjie. "That should definitely be enough to keep him down...hopefully."
"Well done, young'ns..." Mei Ling sighed as she found herself able to relax now.
Pai Mei could see that Junjie's been defeated, just long enough for him to be kicked in the chin by Shifu. "Keep your head in the fight, Pai Mei. You never know when I might take advantage of a oment of weakness."
"How could you...this wasn't how you fought before..."
"You wouldn't know how I fight now. Things tend to change." Shifu huffed while dodging multiple frantic attacks from Pai Mei, before eventually catching both of his fists in his paws. "And I've accepted those changes through difficult but appreciated efforts. And now...things will change for you...through your inevitable defeat."
"No...I can't lose to you again!" Pai Mei glared while jumping back from Shifu's kick. Though his eyes widened when he noticed Peng appear behind him as well, in mid-air. He then felt searing pain in his skull as Peng kicked him into the ground.
"You're right. You won 't be losing to him. You'll be losing to us. He's not fighting alone." Peng commented as he landed on the ground, eyes narrowed where his enemy was lying. Pai Mei groaned as he tried to lift himself back up. Though Shifu and Peng were ready to bring him down again if need be, which seriously ticked him off. Though Shifu would make sure there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"I won't give you a chance to recover. Sleep." Shifu said decidedly as he lifted his paw...
SLAM!
The deciding strike would deepen the crater Pai Mei was buried in. Shifu pulled back and sighed, before he landed back on his back. Peng smiled as he followed suit, sitting down and taking some time to rest. Lian smiled as she sits next to him and pats his shoulder. Mei Ling smiled as she too rested next to Shifu, lightly caressing his head as she closed her eyes. They would get all of the imprisoning stuff later, she was sure Pai Mei wasn't getting up for a while. At least she hoped for that to be true.
For now, she just wanted to keep her precious Fufie as close to her as possible. After his near-death scare, she didn't feel comfortable letting him out of her sight at the moment.
Taotie, on the other hand...
"YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK, YOU IDIOT!" Taotie shouted in outrage, shocking Shifu out of his brief rest. "FOR SUCH AN ACCOMPLISHED KUNG-FU MASTER, YOU SURE KNOW HW TO MAKE SOME STUPID DECISIONS!" In the meantime, Bian Zao was casually picking his ear due to his father's noise. He sighed, shaking his head tiredly.
And now...he'll be ranting for hours...troublesome. Well...at least the more dangerous parts of that trouble is over...I really need a nap...
The tenacity of Tigress and the others was becoming more and more commendable by the moment. Tai Lung has acknowledged this, even though his instincts was fueling his primal desire for combat, and to crush his enemy with everything he had...and even then, he felt that he wasn't really going to he satisfied giving it his all against his sister and her comrades. He didn't know where that feeling was coming from, but he knew that it was making him uncomfortable with going any further. Yet despite this...he didn't want to stop, either. He didn't think he could. Either was, he wouldn't stop no matter what, he's come way too far.
In all-due respect, Tigress didn't care for any excuse he might have. Tai Lung was being a n idiot, and he must be punished for it. And fists was her main preference of dishing that out as passionately as she could. Reason wasn't going to reach him. The only way they were going to actually reach out to Tai Lung at this point was to beat him down. Though she was quite aware that it wouldn't be easy. The others have as well...but they were going to fight anyway. She was thankful for this.
Tigress was the first to leap towards Tai Lung and managed a punch towards his face, already expecting for him to dodge it. "It doesn't matter how we see each other. Today you're going to see us as your equals. Then maybe you'll quit this dumb mindset of yours for good!"
"You said that I should see you as an equal. Dear sister. I've wholeheartedly acknowledged you, but that's going a bit overboard." Tai Lung scoffed as he shifted his head sideways and grabbed hold of her arm. "You're about several decades too young for me to actually consider you to be my equal."
"Your condescending view of me will end one way or another. We'll take you down several pegs, today!"
"Preferably without losing a limb. Ya know...unlike Po." Monkey said sheepishly
"...You just had to go there. You HAD to."
"It's not like it isn't true...he is, ya know...lacking an arm and all..."
"Monkey..."
"Right right, fighting. Yeah."
Tai Lung leaped upwards and came down with a powerful axe kick, cracking the ground and pulling several chunks of earth from, and then kicking each of them towards the group. Crane leaps up and flaps his wings, the gale being powerful enough to stop the rocks in place, and even pause their momentum by having them hang in mid-air, giving Tigress room to jump up and kick each of them back to sender. Tai Lung glared as he effortlessly shattered each of them into small pieces. Though one of the pieces was hiding a sneaky Mantis. And before he could react, Mantis zipped towards him and kicked him upside the head, making him stumble; it left room for both Tigress and Monkey to simultaneously leap forward and kick Tai Lung in his abdomen, causing him to hunch forward in pain, then being launched back into more of the rubble.
Tigress landed on her feet, with Monkey balancing on his tail and looking towards the rubble. Monkey scratched his head while tilting it side to side. It was probably too much to assume that would be enough to stop him, so he and the others stayed vigilant. After the smoke ceased to clear, Monkey took a cautious step forward, prompting the others to do the same. As such, they did expect Tai Lung to jump out at any moment. And they were right to assume so, considering that all of the rubble around him basically shot outwards in multiple directions from his might roar, a burst of power being felt by all of them.
"Yeah. I kind of expected that."
"I'll tear your tail off of your body and strangle you with it, Monkey!"
"...Yeah, I kinda expected that too."
"What's the matter, Tai Lung? You don' seem as confident as before." Tigress said seriously, narrowing her eyes. "You aren't running out of steam, are you? That'll be rather disappointing."
"You seem to be acting a bit cocky yourself. You seem to be under the belief that you've gained the advantage."
"Dude, you're being all kinds of dumbass right now, just stop and give up like a good buff snow leopard! Seriously, he's seriously buff..."
"Can we not talk about how buff he is? We know he's buff! It doesn't freaking matter!"
Tai Lung roared as he leaps forward once again, getting everyone on their guard. He feints throwing a punch towards Tigress, before immediately turning around and kicking Monkey in the chest. He resisted the urge to grunt louder than necessary, as he surely felt bones cracking from the sheer power behind the kick, then he turns around again and smacked backhanded Tigress across the face, which was admittedly hard enough to land her on her side. The blatant disrespect was not missed. Viper and Crane soon followed suit in an attempted to surround him, but it was thwarted by Tai Lung grabbing Tigress by the leg and hitting them both of them with her, then tossing her to the side. Mantis leaps towards him, in which Tai Lung proceeds to turn and punch him into the ground once, then punch him again to smash hi through several pieces of rubble.
Tai Lung roared aloud as the Five was briefly down, but surely not out. They were currently attempting to get back on their feet defiantly. He growled at them while shaking his head. This is utterly preposterous. They just won't stop getting up no matter how many times I smash them back down! My sister is the most stubborn of all of them. His eyes widened as Crane flapped his wings again, briefly blinding him with a cloud of smoke from the debris. Viper slithered forward swiftly and whipped Tai Lung's knees with such ferocity that they left long bleeding gashes, causing him to kneel slightly. Crane then took the time to swoop in and kick him in the face with both talons, leaving more marks and launching him backwards again, on his back. He snarled and gets up once again, though Crane noticed that his recovery was getting slower.
Tigress growled as she gradually returns to her feet, along with all of the others. Monkey groaned while rubbing his back and his chest. "Bones are breaking pretty bad...and yet I just don't wanna stay down...though I don't really knows how many more times I can manage that..."
"Ths is getting us nowhere fast, Tigress. We need to do something to end this for sure, before he ends us first." Viper suggested while slithering up to Tigress and helping her to her feet. "Do you have any ideas...?"
Tigress narrowed her eyes as shed tried to think of something. Working together they could surely bring Tai Lung down, but he was quite the durable snow leopard. And she was a very durable feline herself. She just needed to get closer to him, and stay close to him so they could settle things brother to sister. She looked around for anything that might help. Viper would be a great help. Lighting around, she could also see a combat knife from one of one of the the fallen Royal Guard. With a completely reckless plan in mind, she turned to Viper and Mantis and shared it with them. Both of them seemed surprised.
"Tigress...that is completely reckless."
"Better you than us, though..."
With this in mind, Tigress nodded as she glared at Tai Lung, who glared right back. "Alright then...go!" With a roar, she charged towards Tai Lung, who roared back and also began charging. Mantis and Viper rushed along the sides of her.
"Charging at me so boldly, sister? Perhaps I underestimated your intelligence!"
"Not really. I'm plenty intelligent. I just decided to be stupid for a change!" Tigress shouted as Tai Lung through a punch at her, which was she surprisingly catches, then clasps said paw with her own. Mantis didn't hesitate to follow-up, having jumped on Tigress's arm and stabbed the knife deeply through both of their paws, while Viper wrapped around both of their arms and coiled around them, tightening as much as she could. Tai Lung's eyes widened at this, while Tigress didn't even flinch, even though the blood already began dripping from both of their paws.
"I'm taking you down with my full strength, brother. So don't you go holding back." Tigress narrowed her eyes, baring her fangs. "Let's see which one of us passes out FIRST!"
Tai Lung's eyes widened, as he was suddenly punched in the stomach , making him double over again. He was punched again, even harder in the cheek, making him spit a bit of blood gathering in his mouth. She punched him once again, this time in the side. When his surprise wore off, Tai Lung returned the favor and punched Tigress right in the nose, hearing a crack. The only thing that did was get her to clench her fist tighter and return it, causing him to lean back slightly.
W...what's happening...? Her punches are growing...more intense. Tai Lung wavered slightly as he also saw the fiery gaze in Tigress's eyes. And her eyes...even more so. How...how badly does she wish to beat me...?
"You may be stronger than me in every physical way, just like I am to Po. But as we've both learned, that doesn't matter in the slightest!" Tigress shouted as she punched again, right in the chest. Tai Lung roared and punched her hard in the cheek. It pushed her back slightly, but all she did was grit her teeth and push back against it. "Each and every one of us have more warrior spirit than you could ever muster! And do you know why that is? Because we know what's really important! Each other! We value each other and protect each other no matter what! We fight together!"
Tai Lung was forced back by another punch that dizzied his vision slightly. ...Now I see...the rest of her unvented emotions towards me...she's letting them all out...
"What you did all those years ago was not only hurtful, it was completely pointless!" Tigress shouted once more, gritting her teeth. "All the emotional turmoil me and Shifu went through because of you, we endured as best as we could. And we did it because of our own merits, and with each others support! Shifu and I loved you before and we love you now, scroll or no scroll!" Tai Lung's eyes widened at this. "Shifu's love for me is important, yes. But I didn't depend entirely on or Po him to build my self-confidence, or some stupid piece of paper! I did that on my own! See how strong my self-esteem has made me, and how strong my friends made me, DUMBASS BROTHER!" Tigress pulled her head back, and then...
BAM!
A cold silence swept along the area as the rest of the Five looked on in shocked awe at the scene. The sound resonated throughout, signifying just how unrelentingly hard the final blow was, for the both of them. Crane's beak dropped open at the sight of it, while Monkey flinched a bit. Viper looked up worriedly, while Mantis hopped a few feet away to gain some room. A few bystanders would hesitantly come from their hiding places and see the marvel for themselves.
Tigress headbutted Tai Lung so hard, that both of their foreheads began to heavily leak blood. But even after than, Tigress did not fall. Tai Lung...he deeply respected that, as well as her refusing to relinquish the fire in her eye, it was ever-persistent. Tai Lung, with his mind now cleared thanks to the brutally painful headache he's now enduring. Tai Lung's eyes eventually rolled upwards into his skull, and he soon collapsed onto the ground, lightly lowering Tigress's arm since Viper still tied them together, along with the knife through their paws. Mantis immediately pulls it out and Tigress stumbled back into the waiting arms of Crane and Monkey.
"We've got you, Tigress."
"Wow...yeah. That was utterly reckless of you. You allowed yourself to het stabbed right through your paw so you could get in close, and had Viper make sure you stayed close. Then you got into a brutal punch-out with your bro and ended it with a vicious headbutt."
"It worked...didn't it...?" Tigress muttered, admittedly feeling a bit woozy.
"Yeah, but now you're bleeding from a pretty vicious bruise on your head, and a knife-shaped hole in your paw. Are you alright?"
"Ironwood Trees, remember? Jabbing a knife into my paw won't do much in terms of pain." Tigress mumbled as she waved her body a bit, causing Crane and Monkey to help her stand straight. "Though the headbutt may have been a bit much...I need to sit down..."
"You scared us, Tigress. You better make this up to us later!" Viper hissed angrily, though she was overall glad that Tigress was alright.
She and the Five were victorious, having brought down the mighty Tai Lung. Now they just had to pick themselves up and put each other together enough to regroup with the rest of their friends as soon as each other.
Fung and Song were a bit busy with their own matters, which was helping Shen up and protecting him, as well as Mr. Ping. He could see that Fai Suan was quite easily dealt with once they've gotten the jump on him. A bit of an unfair tactic, but playing fair wasn't really helping them for a time, so he wouldn't fault them. Besides, they were much more useful than him right now, which he feels great shame for, but won't bother complaining was getting his feeling back as he gradually got back onto his talons, standing tall. He looked towards the two, as well as the fight that was going on in front of him. Pang Bing and and Po were still fighting amongst one another.
More positive news, Lu Kang was still alive, and he was more intrigued by the fight going on in front of him than the situation he's found himself in. At this point, he wasn't thinking much about his life, he was much more worried everyone else's well-being. Golly, so many people are getting hurt today...this might quite possbly be one of the baddest days I've ever had. He wasn't entirely wrong about that, but then again, he had some semblances of hope. He really did believe in Po, and was quite greatly hoping for his victory. Whih was becoming more and more likely as time was gradually passing. Though, naive as he was, he didn't completely discount the possibility of him losing. He was just hoping that didn't happen.
Pang Bing and Po were even at the moment in terms of chi ability, and the former greatly disliked just howquickly he was getting used to his new ones. No matter what she tried, he seemed to be growing more and more resistant to her attacks, or finding more creative ways to counter her. Her magic bolts against her were becoming more and more desperate. While Po, he was simply focused on the battle at hand, not stressing himself more than he really needs to. Pang Bing was completely and utterly baffled by this, even though she already knew that he was trained by the likes of Fenghuang herself.
Still, the amount of talent that Po possessed was frightening...and she could only guess how hard he had to work just to be able to handle this kind of strain.
She hissed violently as she ires another blast of mystic energy towards Po, who hurriedly backflipped in order to avoid it, landing on a roof. "That was a bit close for me. It looks like she's getting more and more unfocused...though that's just making her much more destructive overall...that ain't good." It wasn't likely to end well for the rest of the city at this point. Though he did manage to figure one thing out, he knew she was keeping her distance for an understandable reason. If he manages to get close and land multiple physical hits on her, she'll go down quite quickly. She certainly wasn't making such a feat easy, however. In fact, he was pretty sure that she was avoiding this route as much as she possibly could.
Many more mystic blasts came Po's way, and he was quick to counter with a brief golden blast of chi, though he was lightly forced back a few feet, quickly regaining his bearings. It was getting a bit too close, but he was ultimately managing much better than he previously expected himself to. Though to be quite honest, it could get a lot worse from here, he just needed to make sure it doesn't head down that route. Pang Bing hissed more as another blast was sent his way, while she lifted up several bits of building debris and tossed most of them his way. Po narrowed his eyes as he jumps up and kicks most of them, destroying them outright or sending them right back at her. She growled vividly as she destroyed most of the debris that headed her way. Though she was shocked to see Po jumped right at her alongside most of the debris, and landed a hard punch to her gut.
Ngh! She grunted, before she blasts him in the chest, sending him crashing down into earth, rolling a few times before landed on his back. She panted heavily as she floated back a bit, holding her midsection in grave pain. She was right; letting Po land physical attacks on her was ill-advised, she simply wasn't capable of handling multiple hits like that. She focused on keeping her distance and decided to make sure he couldn't get close again.
Po groaned as he sits up slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Agh geez...she didn't like that...nope. Not one bit. Now she's gonna be on higher alert than ever before. What the heck am I gonna do now...?" He wondered as he looked up at the furious siamese cat flying right above him, right behind the solar eclipse from his point of view. Right, solar eclipse is empowering her. And I can't forget, can't let her kill Lu Kang. Hm...tough.
"Panda..." Po blinked as he turned to see Shen hobbling towards him, breathing quite heavily, yet still forcing himself to stand. "It seems that with all her mystic power, she cannot stand up to physical might quite well. She'll be constantly on guard so that you cannot get close again. So I shall help in disrupting her guard so that you have a clear chance at attacking her." He advised while holding his wing for several moments. It certainly wasn't too much of a dependable tactic, but whatever helps them end this sooner rather than later. it'll be a grand benefit for everyone involved.
Po blinked a bit, lightly scratching his head to think it over. Then again, there really wasn't much time to think...and the thought of Po thinking deeply caused Shen just a bit of concern. Though he recovered, and decided. "Yeah, sure buddy! I could use the help!~"
"I'm not...bah, it doesn't matter. Just go!" Shen ordered as Po rushed towards Pang Bing, who was rising a bit and glaring at them both.
She hurriedly fired mystic blasts towards Po and Shen. Both of them dodged through opposite sides as they began running along the sides. Shen then proceeded to throw multiple knives towards her with frightening accuracy. She huffed while effortlessly deflecting most of them. Though she found her focus being slightly splitting once she noticed that Song was also throwing whatever nearby throwing knives she found from other fallen warriors towards her as well. It split even further when Fung would approach various bits of debris and launching them with his tail by swiping at them as hard and quickly as he could. Pang Bing found her focus split in three places as she tried to blast them, but they were simply much faster and worked in surprising unison. Whenever one attacked to gain her attention, two more would go to attack her. It left her unable to focus on Po, who she was the most worried about.
...Speaking of the Panda, he left her sight. Her eyes widened in panic as she seemed frantic to find him. She heard a rooftop cracking right as she pushed away another barrage of knives as much as launched debris towards her, and her eyes widened as her peripheral vision only just barely caught the panda flying at her faster than she could react. He clenched his fist as it charged with his golden chi once more.
Splitting pain pounded against her head as he punched her across her head, making her lose all concentration and smashing headfirst into the ground, cratering it and picking up immense amounts of rubble in the process. Po eventually landed as well, on his feet while pushing his hat on his head. He sighed as his golden chi subsided, and his arm became a mere stump once again. He noticed this, looking a bit confused, though he shrugged it off and just looked towards the crater where Pang Bing lies.
"...Is...is she done...?" Fung panted with his paws on his knees, gazing at the crater as well.
"Huh...I dunno."
"IT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT TO KNOW THIS, MAN!"
Po pouted at this as he turned towards Pang Bing once again, stepping into the crater and gazing at her fallen form. He blinked while tilting his head and kneeling next to her. After a moment of curiosity, he was briefly surprised to see her eyes beginning to glow once again. His guard relaxed, Po was unable to react properly as Pang Bing seemingly went on to attack him...but instead, she simply placed her paws on his head and they began to glow as well. Po was confused by this sudden action, until his vision began going completely white, but not from pain. It was simply a blinding light that took up his vision.
Then he started seeing things.
Pang Bing was traveling along with many other siamese cats, in which Po could see possessed the same magic as she did. Though unlike how she was now, Pang Bing seemed a lot happier than before. They were going around helping people with said magic. Healing, creating various hopeful potions, assisting in construction, and attempting to interact with everyone and promoting the peace. They were expecting hospitality with all of their genuine attempts at being good.
However., the common people didn't appreciate their efforts. Instead, they were filled with fear and paranoia. Pang Bing's tribe, instead of being welcomed with open arms and inspirational curiosity, there was an intense paranoia that overtook any sense of reason. It got so intense to the point of them being ruthlessly oppressed, and they appealed to the Emperor for protection against their people, feeling incredibly desperate from the disproportionate distrust towards them.
...Unfortunately, as Po could see to his utmost volcanic anger, the Emperor not only denied pleas for sanctuary, he imprisoned all of them, and ordered for their execution. All of them eventually perished, all except Pang Bing. She was the lone survivor, having lost all of her loved ones and being abandoned and hated simply for having unknown magic powers, her kindness not only thrown back at their faces, they were outright ignored for the sake of eliminating them.
With all of these dark thoughts weighing heavily on her mind, Po could see the light in her eyes fade, and replaced with darkness to match the coldness of her heart from being abandoned, shunned, hated, and almost completely, unjustifiably eliminated. She would soon proceed to practice the dark magic arts, allowing her to live centuries longer than she should have, as she gradually prepared for her eventual conquest of China. The loss of her tribe resulted in the light in her heart and soul being irrevocably damaged.
With this, the vision ends...
Po blinked as the light eventually disappeared, as Pang Bing fell on her side breathing heavily, having exhausted the rest of her magic just to show Po all of this. He looked towards her as she raised her head towards him with a small frown.
"All we've provided with our magic was kindness, understanding, and peace...we were rewarded with prosecution and execution...and for what...?" Pang Bing said weakly, panting softly while trying to maintain eye contact with Po. "I wanted to avenge my fallen sisters from this immense injustice...could you really blame me? It's exactly why I cannot understand you...Shen slaughtered your people as well...yet you let him live..." Shen could overhear this, and looked away with a scoff. "...so...why...? Why would you stop me...? You know how it feels knowing your clan being butchered for unjustified reasons...so why...?!"
Po gazed at her for a few moments, his eyes lowered slightly. In the most tragic of ways, they really were similar. Only difference is that Pang Bing was an adult when her clan was eradicated, leaving her heart craving revenge for entire centuries. Po was only a cub when his clan was attacked, and his mother being killed. It was awfully difficult for Po to move past that trauma, especially when it severely stunted his performance during his adventure at Gongmen City. Though once he had all the pieces, the only thing he needed to do was defeat Shen and stop him fro conquering China...and from then on, he would help with Shen's path of redemption. Because as messed up as his actions were...he knew that he went too far, and thought that he couldn't back out, did too much wrong to be left alive if he failed. One of Po's goals is to keep proving him wrong.
And he was seeing some success. Shen helped him in his victory, so that was a risk worth the investment.
Po took a deep breath, as he leaned closer and pulled Pang Bing in to a one-armed hug. Her eyes widened in surprise while she was still too weak to really deny it. And a bit of her...didn't really want to.
"I can understand you being angry with the Emperor...but I couldn't let you punish innocent people who had nothing to do with how you suffered. You shouldn't punish a new generation for the sins of the old...it's just not an awesome thing to do." Po mumbled while lightly setting her down."Instead, you have to let go of your grudge...don't let revenge take over your life...that isn't a great way to live at all. There's so much more you can do that isn't...well, revenge driven. Don't place your wrath on the innocent because of your anger at their predecessors. It's not right, which is why I had to stop you."
Pang Bing blinked in suspended confusion at this, stunned. She wasn't able to come up with a response, but Po could tell that she was thinking over what he said to her, as she lowered her head and stared at the ground. She didn't have the will nor the magic to continue fighting anymore.
Po took a deep breath, and then lowered his eyes until they were shadowed by his hat. "...You hear that...Emperor?" As he sensed, the Emperor was standing quite a bit away from him. Having seen the panda defeat the siamese cat, he was about to declare for the conscious members of the Royal Guard to come and arrest her, but after hearing the panda speak, he stopped that order in it's tracks...and now he was feeling immense guilt as he heard Po's very deep disappointment in his past actions, even though he was quite literally the ruler of China. "...her tribe came to you for sanctuary from people who only saw monsters. They just wanted to be helpful. They just wanted peace. But instead of understanding that, you chose to ignore their pleas, and had all of them executed except Pang Bing, who escaped. A peaceful tribe pleaded with you for salvation...and instead you gave them a death sentence...and for what? Popular opinion over doing the right thing?"
The Emperor didn't bother trying to defend himself. That was one of the more harsh decisions that he wished he didn't ever make, in the very back of his mind. All of this was coming back when he was deciding on making Lu Kang Emperor far too early for him to be ready. And that particular incident was definitely one of the worst examples to place for his grandson, while also being much stricter with his more laid-back grandson. This incident only further pushes this shame in when he realizes that it could have been completely avoided...had he shown compassion that day. While everything Pang Bing did isn't excusable by any means, he can't ignore the fact that he instigated those actions with his own.
"...Po, was it? I-"
WHAM!
Everyone who was in the vicinity could only drop their jaws in awe as they witnessed something utterly unheard of, and had this been any other situation, this would have also ended in a rather somber execution.
Po Ping...now realized as the Dragon Warrior...outright clenched his fist, turned around...and punched the Emperor right in the face. Only one other person who wasn't evil was able to completely get away with that and he was dead via natural cause. The Royal Guards were prepared to skewer Po for daring to strike the ruler of all China...only for said Emperor to raise his hoof and stop them in their tracks as he pushed himself off the ground. While he definitely didn't expect that, he also doesn't deny deserving it. He messed up badly, and Po wants him to realize that. the Panda was glaring at him while his eyes glowed softly under his hat's shade, yet it definitely felt like an actual dragon was staring down. And the dragon was not happy with him.
"...I know you're not a bad person. Not in the slightest." Po said quietly. "...But after all this...placing so much pressure on your grandson before he's ready...putting the Imperial City in danger with your reckless rules, and how Pang Bing is how she is because of you not showing compassion to someone who needed it...I have to really hold myself back from beating the crap out of you, since I know what kind of trouble that'll bring...but I at least needed to get THAT out of my system." Po muttered as he turned his head and tilted his hat. "I don't hate you. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I'll forgive you in due time, if you actually work for it. But for now..." Po didn't bother finishing. He simply began walking away. Shen, Fung, Song, and Mr. Ping were stunned into silence, but they too followed the panda away, while Pang Bing watched them leave.
The Emperor simply hung his head in shame...and so did Pang Bing. They both had a messed up city to fix...but for now, everyone needed rest.
And with this, the moon moves away from the sun...the solar eclipse has ended.
"...Po. I really wonder sometimes, so let me ask you: Are you sure you're not suicidal?" Crane asked while his bandaged wings were gently pressed together, a contemplating look on his face. Most of the gang have gathered back at an inn that wasn't utterly collapsed. They were conversing with one another about everything that's happened so far, and it's been quite an intense experience for all of them. Though nothing could really compare to hearing what Po did after his main battle ended and got away with it...when he REALLY shouldn't have.
...What was so frustrating about this was that he was being so damn nonchalant about it. Then again, they were used to Po being rather calm after doing something utterly stupid and/or crazy...but that doesn't mean they weren't allowed to voice their complaint/concerns.
"Huh? No, Crane. I'm not suicidal. What makes you think that?"
"Dude. You punched the Emperor in the face. The Emperor. I really wonder how you're able to get away with all of this shit at this point!" mantis ranted as he hopped on Crane's hat, rubbing his forelegs together and wincing slightly. "Every time we think you couldn't get any crazier, you find a way to top yourself! It's unbelievable!"
"You had us really worried, Po." Viper said while sitting in a coil with her head on top, her flowers removed in place of bandages as well. "We've all fought a great deal, but that's definitely something risky to do when you're exhausted and the Royal Guard is surrounding you. It could have been really bad if they decided to take you in."
"How so?"
"Because we'd have to break you out and run like hell." Monkey said as if it were ridiculously simple, balancing on his tail with his chin in his paws. "And honestly, we wouldn't have the energy for that, plus we'd be outrageously outnumbered, so we would have to be REALLY lucky to get away with that."
Po blinked. He then rubbed his neck and laughed. "Hehe, yeah, we would have to be pretty lucky to get out of that one!" He lowered his arm as he lightly rubbed his arm stump. he was thinking of an idea of how to properly manage this, especially if he could make an arm out of chi. But that would wait until later, right now he was curious about something else. "...Tai Lung went berserk, huh? And you fought against that and managed to pull off a win?"
"We got our asses MASSIVELY handed to us for a while. But yes, we did manage to defeat Tai Lung. We all weakened him down while giving him as little time to breathe as possible, then Tigress got into a brutal close-up fist fight that ended with her as a winner. That was a pretty close win, but we pulled it off." Mantis said while rubbing the back of his own neck. "The fuck's she gave about me stabbing through her paw to stay close to Tai Lung was nonexistent, because of the whole 'can't feel pain in paws' thing."
"Yeah..." Po blinked as something came to mind. "Speaking of Tigress, where is she...?"
"She's outside skygazing." Viper informed while pointing upwards. Po nodded as he stepped outside of the inn and made a high jump on top of the building.
Tigress was indeed gazing at the night sky, with bandages on her head as well as her paw, with her scarf flowing with tthe passing breez. Her face seemed contemplative, yet calm. Her ears flickered a bit, as she turned towards the approaching panda with a gentle nod. Po noodded right back as he eventually stopped right next to her, and joined her on gazing at the skies. Neither of them said anything for a while, just admiring the stars for a while. Po took a deep breath and sighed.
"I heard you defeated your big bro with the help of the others."
"Yeah...the prideful part of me does wish that I had defeated him all by myself...but I'm ultimately happy with this outcome. I'm not going to let that part of me ruin the fact that I came through because of our friends. I'm truly grateful for thei help." She explained while turning towards Po. "And while i was going through that...I heard that you managed to prevail over your opponent as well...then you punched out the Emperor when you got seriously mad at him."
"Yup."
"...I'm surprised that I'm not surprised..." Tigress deadpanned with a brief smirk. It quickly vanished as she remembered something else. "Fenghuang told me something...after she was finished laughing at hearing about what you've done and miraculously got away with."
"Yeah? What is it, Tigress?"
Tigress sighed deeply as she gazed at Po with a gentle gaze in her eyes. "You tapped into a great power within yourself...one that you didn't think that you had...from far away, Fenghuang sensed that the chi belonged to that of a Dragon...and it was with that, I came to a rather shocking realization...will you kindly confirm it for me?" Po nodded at this, not wondering where she was going with this, as he already had a pretty decent idea of where this was going."Po...be honest with me...is it true? Are you...really the Dragon Warrior?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Po answered immediately. Tigress sweatdropped lightly at this. This was something massively important, so he simply laid it down as it is, without beating around the bush. While she did appreciate that, as well as being used to this side of Po already, it still managed to catch her slightly off-guard. Po curiously tilted his head. "So...are you going to hate me now? You DO have a bit of a difficult relationship with the Dragon Warrior concept all on it's own. Are you going to hate me by proxy?"
Tigress's eyes widened at this. "What? No! Of course not! I would never bring myself to hate you Po!"
"Though if it were literally anyone else but me, you wouldn't be so forgiving, right?" Tigress frowned sadly as her ears flattened against her head. She couldn't bring herself to deny something like that. The only reason why she isn't so against the Dragon Warrior concept now is because Po just so-happens to be the Dragon Warrior. And with that, there came a bit of guilt, as she might see it as being a bit too biased. Anyone else could have been the Dragon Warrior, she would have had a very difficult time accepting them. Perhaps if one of her friends were the Dragon Warrior, she'd struggle a bit, but she'd eventually accept them anyway. Anyone outside of her friend circle wouldn't be treated so nicely. Po gently patted her shoulder once he realized she was thinking far too deep into it. "Tigress. It's fine, really. So what if I'm the Dragon Warrior? I'm not just gonna immediately change because of that. Sure, it'll take some getting used to, but there's no way that I'm gonna change who I am as a person because of this."
"...Are you sure...?" Tigress asked quietly. She knew it was ridiculous to ask, but a tiny bit of her mind-the small, innocent, worried cub part of it-couldn't help it. The very concept of the Dragon Warrior has left a very negative impression on her for years, and she felt a bit terrible for not being so against it once she realized the chosen person was Po.
The panda smiled softly as he pulled her in for a one-armed hug. "Totally sure, Tigress. Me being the Dragon Warrior has nothing to do with my relationship with all of my loved ones. Dad, Fenghuang, you, and everyone else. Other than me discovering something surprising about myself, it won't change anything. I'm still the Po everyone knows me as, and I don't plan on changing that about myself any time soon. And even more than that, I'm never leaving you or the others behind over something like this. Promise."
Tigress smiled in a bit of relief. To her, it was somewhat childish to think that Po would suddenly change drastically all because he has come to the realization that he's the Dragon Warrior. She was cared of losing him, despite fully knowing that it wasn't going to happen. She KNEW he would never leaver her, Mr. Ping, or anyone else over something like this...she just needed to hear it. That was the final confirmation she needed. For him to say that he'd never leave anyone simply because he was the Dragon Warrior. But instead, they would continue to have adventures together. Laughing together, eating together, doing silly things, arguing over trivial things, picking petty fights, shouting matches...and despite all of this, they would ALWAYS stick together through thick and thin. Because that's what true family does for one another.
...
...
...
...Tigress's muzzle found Po's before she really knew what she was doing. Her eyes widened once she did, as she jumped back with a startled yelp, with Po sitting there blinking, wondering what just happened.
"...Tigress? You uh...kinda went ahead and kissed me." Po stated in confusion. Tigress really wished he could be at least a bit more phased than THAT, because it meant that she was the only one blushing like a tomato. And that was a tiny bit unfair.
"W-Well, you see, I kind of, I s-sorta, I m-m-might...I...uh..." Tigress stuttered, her words being completely incoherent to the confused Panda, causing him to tilt his head adorably. Tigress eventually found her balance after slapping herself out of her stuttering. Stop being a coward! Out with it! "I love you, Po!"
"Eh?"
"I. Love. You. Po. And not simply in the familial sense. As in...in...the lovers...sense..." Tigress muttered while clenching her fists with her eyes tightly closed. She already started, and in a ridiculously clumsy manner as well. But she refused to back out now. If the Wu Sisters were right about anything, is that the panda was outrageously dense, so she needed to be really blunt and straight to the point for it to get through to him. "It's like Peng and Lian's relationship where they hug and kiss each other's lips, Po. I feel that way about you."
Po blinked owlishly as this confession registered in his head. Seeing Tigress so flustered in admitting this makes it very clear that this was difficult for her to admit. Hell, he could even see the look in her eyes hoping that he wouldn't be dense enough to STILL not get it after being so direct after having kissed him. So after some contemplation, he scratched the back of his head while gazing at her with a slightly cheeky smile.
"Oh. You, uh...love me in that way. That's a bit surprising...I had no idea."
"I know..." Tigress sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm. "So...how about it, Po? Do you feel the same way...?"
Po wondered a bit more, seeing the hopeful look in her eyes. He scratched his head some more while tilting his head to the side. "Do I feel the same way...? I know I feel very deeply for you, Tigress...but explaining that kind of thing in detail...it's a bit rough for me."
"Is...is it really...?" Tigress deflated a little at this.
Po squinted his eyes a bit as he gazed at the night sky, blinking in wonder. "You know me very well, Tigress. I don't deny that I'm an idiot...I can't always rely on my brain because I can barely get it working, so it rarely keeps up with whatever I say or whatever actions I take..." Tigress sighed at this...until Po slowly walked up to her with an innocent look on his face, smiling sheepishly. "...Good thing my heart's never let me down. Tigress..I love you too."
"Po..." Tigress smiles fondly at him, her heart skipping a bit and feeling bigger than it's ever been before. And once again, before she could think about it, she goes on to kiss him again. Only this time, Po gently returns it, his single arm around her back and pulling her closer. Both of their eyes closed as they gently kissed, feeling their hearts in sync. It didn't last too long, though. They slowly separated as they gazed into each others eyes. Tigress's smile took a turn for the awkward. "Just so you know...I have no idea what I'm doing at this point."
"Welcome to my mindset.~" Po chuckled.
"How do you manage this, again?"
"I improvise."
"You improvise everything, though."
"Yeah.~" This got a chuckle out of both of them...until...
"Well well well, lookie what we have here!" The duo paused at the sound of the teasing voice. They slowly turned to see Song, Monkey, and Mantis grinning like mad, catching the two of them in such a delicate moment. "Looks like a muscular feminine feline has finally confessed to the adorably, charmingly stupid panda! This is certainly a happy twist to a REALLY long day!" Song cooed while tilting her head.
"Yeah. It looks interesting, at least. Seeing a tiger kiss a panda bear like that. Looks like neither of them know what they're doing." Monkey chuckled while scratching his head.
"Heh! That can make things fun to watch!~" Mantis also laughed...
All of them were silenced by the killing intent that Tigress was currently generating, her eyes slitted and clearly very, very displeased. Monkey and Mantis regretted their decisions. Song...not so much, but she still wouldn't want to stick around after seeing an feeling this.
"I'll kill you..."
"EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!" Song shouted as she already began hopping away from the furious Tigress.
"BUT YOU'RE A WOMAN!" Monkey and Mantis shouted with comical bulged eyes as they frantically followed her in a desperate attempt to escape Tigress's wrath, who was hunting them down with ruthess, savage fury.
Throughout all of this, Po blinked as he watched this happen, scratching his head before shrugging and hopping down from the rooftop, rubbing his belly and wondering if Mr. Ping had any night dinner prepared. He was fully prepared to have a warm tummy before hitting the hay.
But it would pale in comparison to the great warmth he felt in his heart.
Welp, finally got that outta the way! After this chapter we'll be focusing on many of the other characters aside from Po and Tigress. I remember promising that, and I WILL deliver it. I just needed to get THAT out of the way so my focus can truly shift onto them. And much of what hasn't happened yet in this chapter will surely happen in the next one. Dragon Warrior reactions, reconstruction efforts, interactions between other characters, the fate of the villains involved in this messy fiasco, it'll all be in the next several chapters for sure. There's still very much to do, especially with the likes of Shifu and the Wu Sisters.
Again, I know it's not the best. But I'm relatively happy with it, and I hope you are too.
Also, I ask of you: What do you think of how I handled Po so far into this story, up to this very chapter? Do not worry, I DO intend on focusing more on the others. I really, truly do. I've even spent a lot of time during the hiatus thinking about exactly what to do with them, so I have plans. I'm just curious. Doesn't have to be long. It can even be super brief, if ya want.
Until next time!