CHAPTER 15: Time to Nut Up or Shut Up

After a good night's sleep, I get up and decide to get ready for my first day as Dragon Warrior. Remembering what Viper told me last night, I then opened my doors to greet Master Shifu. However, once I left my room, I noticed the other masters' doors were still closed.

'I must have woken up early.' I thought as I looked at my phone which read "6:30"

I then decided to walk out of the barracks to go for a morning jog around the palace grounds. After about 30 minutes, I decided to go back to the peach tree where me and Oogway had a chat the night before.

As I showed up, I saw what I thought to be the best view I had ever seen. The village down below with the sun rising behind me was simply breathtaking. I pulled my phone out to take a picture of the landscape, however the camera went into selfie mode.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I jumped as I saw Shifu standing in the frame.

"Well good morning to you too Dragon Warrior." He smirked.

"Next time, please warn me before giving me a heart attack." I said slowly composing myself.

"Apologies Captain."

"It's all good, Master. If anything, it now gives me something to look out for in the future."

"Indeed. If I may ask you, what made you decide to wake up earlier than the others, Captain?" Shifu asked.

"Nothing actually. Just woke up on my own. Hell, back when I used to fly in and out of Afghanistan, I would need to wake up as early as 2:00 am local time for a flight. I may even consider this sleeping in."

"I see. Well I was coming to meditate here, like I do every morning. But since you are here, I can go somewhere else."

"Oh no, you can meditate here Master. I don't mind at all, in fact I did want to talk to you about something." I said.

"Does it involve that argument you and Tigress had last night?" He asked raising an eyebrow

'Well shit.'

"How did you know-"

"I may be old Dragon Warrior, but my ears still work just fine. That and Viper came to see me about it last night."

I hang my head down in shame.

"Well I wanna apologize about that. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods."

"You don't need to apologise to me about this Captain. From what Viper told me, Tigress was the instigator, which I do find odd considering that is not her nature of doing such things. I will have a word with her later today."

"Yes Master."

A familiar sound then catches my ears. I turned to see where it was coming from. I simply smiled half-heartedly.

"Feels strange." I said.

"What exactly?" Shifu asked.

I pointed at the plane flying overhead.

"Not being able to fly."

"Ah, well I am sure you will get used to it." Shifu assured me.

"Sure as hell hope so."

A few minutes go by before Shifu and I head back towards the palace.

"Say, is there a place to work out here, apart from the Training hall?" I asked

"Follow me." Shifu led me over to an area on the right side of the palace.

"Just through these doors. I'm gonna go fetch the five and bring them here. Your real training will begin. So make use of your time."

"Yes Master." I bowed.

As I walked in, I saw weight lifting weights, bench press benches and battle ropes.

'This should be fun.'

I then put on my earbuds and put on my music before beginning my workout.

15 minutes

I was on the battle ropes for about 5 minutes until I saw the doors open. I turned over to see the others with Shifu.

"Morning guys, give me a few more seconds and I will be right with you." I huffed as I sped up the pace for 10 more seconds before throwing down the ropes to the ground with a thud.

"Whew!" I said

"Tired Captain?"

I looked over to Shifu and simply grinned

"Master, I'm only just getting warmed up."

"Well in that case...let's get started."

Cue Walk Pantera (setting the tone for the spar sessions).

First up was Viper. This was gonna be interesting.

"Were still friends after this right?" She asked

"Depends whether you decide to-"

I couldn't even finish my sentence before she picked me up with her tail, spun me around and then slammed me to the ground.

"Ow." Was all I could say.

"John I'm sorry, I thought you were about to say you were ready." She said.

'Oh that little bitch'

"I was, until you threw me on my head."

As she comes to help me up, I then strike back with first grabbing her head. I then used her as a whip before slamming her to the ground.

I will admit I may have overdone it a little.

"Heh, now I'm ready. Who's next?"

Next up was Crane, and we were to spar in the bowl. Having a bit of experience already, I was feeling good about this. Although this was Crane's domain, this still remained a challenge.

"Begin!" Shifu said.

(A/N I am not very good at describing what goes on in a fight. So bare with me, I'm gonna keep them rather brief and simple.)

We started exchanging blows. Mixing strikes and kicks whilst trying to keep my balance was not easy. Every few strikes I got close to falling in. About 2 minutes in, I was starting to get even closer to falling when I then decided to do something that was going to get me the win. As I block one of Cranes aerial kicks, I roll myself into a ball and flip into the bowl. Using the contours of the bowl, I spun through and out of it. With Crane now in line with me, I then hit him with a drop kick, which caused him to fall off the bowl, and give me the win.

"Wooh, that was fun." I said.

"I gotta say, very nice John. Never seen someone use the bowl's interior to their advantage like that before. So good job." Crane said getting back up.

"Thanks dude."

Over the course of the day, I continued sparring with the five. Monkey gave a few lessons on how to fight with a kendo stick, while Mantis gave me tips on how to use my size to his advantage.

Finally, it was me versus Tigress. Tell you what, I was not looking forward to this one. She looked still pissed about last night and she's the only person here who matches my height and size. So this was gonna fucking hurt.

"If I were you, I wouldn't even try fighting me. Would save us all some time." She said.

"Nah, I would rather shut that mouth of yours."

"Oooohhhh." Monkeys and Mantis said.

*Snap!* Shifu snaps his fingers signalling the start of our spar.

She immediately sends punches at me. Quickly thinking, I started blocking them and tried to fight back. Boy she was fast and fierce. Everytime I had a small gain, she would come back hard. This fight was intense, considering we both had a similar moveset.

Eventually, I started noticing that she was getting exhausted, since she was always on the offensive side. I took advantage of that and started sending a fury of kicks. I was able to connect with her legs and midsection. I could tell this was about to end the fight soon. So I let her get back up so she could have a final chance of striking me.

I then decided to be a bit cocky so her anger could be her downfall.

"Hah! I gotta admit it Tigress. For a master like you, you sure hit like a child."

I saw her eyes widen and the pupils shrink. Judging by the growl she let out, she was pissed now

'Excellent. Now for the finale.'

She got on all fours and sprinted to me. I waited for the right moment as she pounced at me. As she does so, I connect her with my right foot which only surprisingly dazes her. Taking advantage of that, I hit her in the chest with a dual palm strike of my own, which sends her crashing to the ground. Shifu then resnapped his fingers, signalling the end of our spar.

"I must say Captain, you backed up your words very well today." Shifu said.

"Thank you Master." I said.

I then went to Tigress to lend her a hand, as a sign of respect and in a way to apologize. She however batted my hand away.

"I don't need your help." She hissed.

"Tigress! He was simply trying to give you a hand." Viper said.

"Leave her. If she doesn't want any help, then I can respect that." I added.

"That shall be all for today. But, if you want to Captain as a final test, I shall be your final opponent. Only if you want to." Shifu offered.

I looked over at the others. The majority of them shook their heads saying 'don't do it'. I however thought otherwise.

"You know what? I'm always down for a fight. Bring it on Master."

"As you wish. However, for what happens as of now, I am not accountable for your actions and injuries sustained." Shifu warned me.

"Fully noted."

We then clashed. I gotta admit, I was biting off way more than I could chew with this spar. After a mere 10 seconds Shifu began dominating me (not that way XP).

'Fair to say too late in backing out of this!' I mentally screamed.

Finally Shifu managed to get a clean shot to the gut which made me fall to the floor, spitting blood in the process.

"Stand down Captain, it's no longer worth fighting. You already proved yourself today." Shifu said.

"John, listen to him. He's serious. Please give in and admit defeat." Viper added.

She did have a point, I was pretty much out of juice and ready to give up. But I then felt this fire inside me burn. Rage and pure adrenalin took over.

"You see Master, as much as I would like to give up. I am gonna tell everyone once and for all. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I'M DEAD. SO INSTEAD OF PLEADING ME TO STOP, FINISH THE FUCKING JOB!" I screamed back to life and ran to Shifu with all my might.

"Don't try it." Shifu warned me. He then ran towards me as well.

As we were about to collide into each other, my right leg buckled and I fell to one knee. I looked up to see Shifu's foot rocketing right into my face. Then everything went black.

Nobody's POV

Shifu hits John with a kick to the face which sends John flying through one of the walls before crashing into a pillar.

"John!" Viper ran over to see if he was ok.

"Master, I think you just killed him." Crane added.

"Well I did warn him. Let's bring him back to his room. Mantis, prepare your acupuncture kit."

"Yes Master."

"Tigress, I'm gonna need you to carry him back to his room. And NO objecting."

"Yes Master." She huffed annoyed.