Chapter 16: The Original Chosen One
Lengthy chapter coming up.
John's POV
The next thing I knew, I was back in my room sitting up.
"Try not to move too much ok?" I heard a voice from behind me.
"And why would that be?" I asked.
"Well, you got needles in your back. Currently performing an acupuncture procedure on you." Mastis said.
"Oh really? Didn't know you were a doctor."
"Prior to doing this, this was my field of expertise."
"Do you have any pain John?" Viper asked me.
"Apart from feeling stiff practically everywhere, I feel just fine." I said.
"You shouldn't feel too much pain, that's what the needles are for." Mantis said
"Oh nice. Now be honest with me guys. How did I do today?"
"How honest do you want? Cause I can be blunt." Mantis asked.
"As blunt as you want. I can take the hit."
"Well in that case, you gave all of us a kick in the ass today. Seriously, you handled yourself very well today."
"The others said the same. They all praised your ways of adapting to your opponent and even dare I say, beat Tigress in your first sparring match against her. Matter or fact, you are the first one here to even do such a thing." Viper added.
"No. Really?" I asked.
"She's serious. She typically doesn't lose her spars against us. So that is something worth noting." Mantis added.
"I also noticed during that spar, Shifu was holding the want of smiling. Something we haven't seen before." Viper said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Well, he used to be less strict and hard on students during training. Some even say that he would smile on a daily basis. That was before…"
"Before what?"
"Before Tai Lung." Tigress came into the room.
"Umm, yeah we aren't supposed to you know talk about him." Crane protested.
"Well, if he is indeed staying here, then he should know. Unless he has already read about him as well?" Tigress said, giving me a suspicious look in the process.
"Hmm, name does ring a bell. Wouldn't he be a former student here who was supposed to be the original Dragon Warrior. That until his brain went apeshit and is currently in jail?"
She stepped closer to me before giving me a full backstory on the guy.
"He wasn't just a student. Shifu found him as a cub. So he decided to raise him as a son. When the boy showed his love for kung fu, Shifu decided to train him. Over the years, he kept reminding the leopard about how he believed in him and he was destined for greatness. For Tai Lung however, it wasn't enough. He wanted the Dragon Scroll, but Oogway saw darkness in his heart and refused. Filled with anger and rage, he decided to take it out on the villagers before trying to take it himself. Shifu had no choice but to destroy what he created, but how could he? He loved Tai Lung like no one else." She said. (Paraphrased again)
No one said anything.
"And now he has a chance to make things right. To train the true Dragon Warrior. Instead he's stuck with you-"
"Yeah yeah yeah. I get it, you don't have to remind us. Instead he's stuck with some flying redneck-"
I couldn't even finish my sentence when all of a sudden, I felt my right arm shoot straight into Tigress' face. Followed by the sharpest pain I have ever felt in my life.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH." I screamed. That shit fucking hurt.
"Ok now you crossed the line!" Tigress yelled as she was about to try and kill me.
"Wait! My fault, I accidently hit one of his nerves in his arm." Mantis intervened.
"No fucking shit Sherlock! Get these pricks out of me right now. I have had enough!" I said.
"What's going on in here?" Shifu entered the room as Mantis was taking out the needles from my back.
"Tadpole over here just broke my fucking arm!" I said pointing at Mantis.
"Hey! I get it. It was my fault. In my defense, your shoulder was already dislocated." He said.
"He's right John. The procedure was to help lower the swelling before we could put it back in." Viper defended.
"Well...can someone please do so?" I said trying to calm myself down.
"Master Tigress?" Shifu asked
"Seriously?"
"Don't even try that with me. Just do it so I can then have a word with you."
"Fine." She then sat next to me and prepped herself. As for me, I grabbed one of my pillows and got ready to bite down on it.
"This will not feel good." She warned me.
"Tell me something I don't know." I said biting down on the pillow.
*SNAP*
"ARRRGGGHH!" My scream was muffled by me biting the pillow.
My shoulder was put back in. After a few seconds of it being put back in, the pain finally subsided.
"There, it's in." Tigress said before leaving the room.
Later
After a much needed shower, a change of clothes and putting on an icy-hot patch on my shoulder, I went over to the dining hall to get a quick bite to eat. The others were already sitting down.
"Oh hey John, how's the shoulder?" Crane asked.
"Feels numb still, but at least I can move it with any issues. As for you Mantis, I would like to apologise for the outburst earlier." I sat down, drink in hand.
"All good man, should've maybe warned you about that earlier. That and not get distracted from the story Tigress told us." He said.
"I don't know if Viper told you this, but you were great today. Seriously, you knew how to give us a proper challenge." Monkey chimed in.
"I agree with Monkey. Especially when you sparred with me in the bowl. The way you used it was something we haven't seen someone do before. So kudos to you for doing so." Crane added.
"Tigress, what do you think?" Vipet asked.
I was expecting something harsh.
"As much as I don't see eye to eye with you, I have to give it to you. You sure know how to give a proper sparring match." Tigress said, which shocked everyone.
"Huh, I don't really know what to say right now." I said.
After a few moments, I let out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?" Mantis asked.
"I'm just wondering how the hell an idiot like me got to where I am right now." I chuckled.
"You're not an idiot John." Viper said.
Then, I started thinking of a skit from stand-up comedian Brian Regan, particularly his stupid in school bit, I decided to then do my own version of the bit, to lighten up the mood and show my more goofy side.
(A/N: just search up Brian Regan spelling bee for reference. I'm not gonna add the bit into the story so I don't waste time on the story.
I also left out when Oogway passed on, since if I was gonna put it in, there wasn't gonna be a change to the film.)
"So from that point on, I decided to leave the idiot behind and focus on becoming what I am now." I said finishing the bit.
All were dying of laughter. Even Tigress was fighting the urge to laugh. I could even see her fight back tears from falling. So I knew I had pretty much won them over.
"Ahem!"
The others stopped laughing and regained their composure.
"What, did you actually think that happened? It was just a bit from-"
"It's Shifu." Monkey whispered.
"Well, to be fair my teacher did remind me of him." I then realized what Monkey meant.
"He's behind me isn't he?"
"Well, more beside you." Shifu said.
"Oh, sorry Master. I hope I didn't offend you. I was simply telling them-"
"Put a sock in it for now Captain. Now isn't the time for laughter. Tai Lung has just broken out of prison and is after the Dragon Scroll."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Hahaha. To think that you aren't known for your sense of humor hehehe...you aren't joking aren't you?"
He simply looked at me unamused.
"Uhhh, well Oogway can surely stop. He did it before, he can do it again. Right?" I said nervously.
"He can NOT…anymore. As of a few moments ago he passed on to the spirit realm."
We all gasped in shock.
"Our only hope now is the Dragon Warrior." Shifu said.
"The wolf?" Tigress asked in disappointment.
"YES THE WOLF!" Shifu snapped
'Ok, now she's done pushed it too far!' I thought.
What she said this time broke the camel's back. I started getting pretty pissed off with that comment.
"Master please. As much as he can spar with us, he cannot face Tai Lung. This is what you trained us for! He doesn't know what Tai Lung is capable of doing to him." She protested.
"Oh is that so? Well then, lemme show you something I KNOW Tai Lung can't do." I countered.
I then went over to grab a coconut from the counter. I put on the table, pulled my gun from its holster and fired 4 shots into the fruit, destroying it.
"Can Tai Lung dodge bullets or even use a firearm? No, I don't think so. So now that I have everyone's attention, I can finally ask this right to your face so that we can all hear what bullshit comes out of your mouth. What the fuck is your problem Tigress?" I asked.
"You don't know?"
"Well why else would I be asking you? So tell me. What is it?"
"You're my problem."
"Oh really, then tell us. What problem do you have with me? Because I think the others here tend to disagree with you."
"You stole the scroll from me. You took away the very thing I trained for over 20 years to obtain. Yet you show up and snatch it like a thief."
"You think I wanted to become Dragon Warrior. Wake up and use your head for a minute. I wasn't even meant to even be picked, I was simply there with my band putting on a show. I had no idea that stopping a maniac with a dagger would be a bad thing to do. Especially when he was targeting you."
"Well maybe you should use your head as well for a moment and ask yourself this. Do you know what it's like to bust your ass for over 20+ years for something big, just to have it taken away from you in a split second?" She said.
"No, I don't. However allow me to ask you one better. Do you know what it's like to go to war? No, you don't." I said.
I then began feeling a bout of rage developing. However, because my dog wasn't there to calm me down, I just went along for the ride, taking Tigress with me.
"Do you know what it's like to be pinned down by gunfire from people who want your head? No. Do you know what it's like to have your plane shot down shortly after takeoff and then witness your brother-in-law get shot right in front of you? NO YOU DON'T! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE ACTUALLY USED A FIREARM ON A CHILD? WELL LEMME JUST SHOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE!" I roared as I began pointing the gun at Tigress' face.
"JOHN DON'T!" Viper yelled.
Crane and Monkey then pinned me to the ground, knocking the gun out of my hand.
"GET OFF OF ME!" I screamed.
Shifu then got on my chest and put me in the Wuxi finger hold (you knew this would make it in here).
"That's enough Captain. Now pull yourself together and calm down."
"The Wuxi Finger Hold, like that's gonna work in me old man!" I said
This proved to have been a distraction, which gave Shifu enough time to them smack me across the head with Oogway's staff and snapped me back to reality.
Once I regained me composure, I didn't say anything. I simply looked around wondering what happened. Judging by the looks the others had, I did something bad.
I then looked over to see the gun on the floor. After staring at it for a couple seconds, memories of the aforementioned shootdown flashed my vision.
"Ahhh!" I yelped backing away from the gun. I eventually got back up and began hyperventilating.
"I...I'm sorry." I said dashing out of the dining hall with one destination in mind, my room.
Third Person.
"Captain-" Shifu said but was cut off.
"Leave him Master. Give him a few minutes to calm down." Viper said.
"Umm...what just happened?" Monkey asked.
"By the looks of it, he experienced both a flashback and an episode of rage. Judging by his behavior, I believe the Dragon Warrior has a mental disability." Shifu said.
"That's because he does. He was diagnosed with PTSD six years ago." Viper replied.
"And why not tell us about this before almost seeing Tigress lose her brains?" Mantis asked.
"Well for one I wasn't expecting this to have happened and I thought maybe since it's HIS diagnosis that HE should tell you guys."
They all nodded except for Tigress, who was still rather shaken up from what just happened.
"But what caused him to do what he did?" Monkey asked.
"For the flashback, I'm guessing it was when he looked at his gun on the floor. As for the rage, I have a bad feeling it was when Tigress called him a 'wolf'."
"So I'm to blame for this?! I nearly just got a bullet to the head and this is my fault?!" Tigress protested.
"For him to pull the gun on you, no since the rage was kicking in during the argument. But you have been treating him like garbage since he was picked Tigress."
"She is right. Out of all people, you are the LAST person to act like a bully. He has done nothing bad to you Tigress. Put yourself in his shoes, how would you feel if you were treated like the way you treated him?" Shifu added
They were right, Tigress hung her head in defeat. She knew that this was out of character of her to do this. Especially when she was treated in a similar way when she lived at Bao Gu Orphanage.
"Your right. I have been acting like a child. I was using him in order to unleash my anger. I guess I owe an apology." She said.
"Not to us, to John." Crane said.
"I think we should go see how he's doing." Viper said.
"Someone bring his firearm." Shifu added.
"I got it." Crane picked it up.
They then left the dining hall and headed off to the barracks.