Hello and welcome to my own story that will be my version of Kung Fu Panda 4! The story will be quite long. So feel free to stop reading wherever you feel like and continue some other time! This story will deepen the "relationship" between Po and Tigress; I thought this would be a good fit considering Dreamworks themselves support the idea of Po and Tigress as a couple. You saw how the friendship deepened in KFP 2, and also some small "clues" in KFP 3, like Tigress being the first to talk some matter into Po and make him realize that he wouldn't be able to scratch Kai with just plain strength and the Wuxi finger hold.
And another thing, I've been thinking that KFP1 revolves mostly only around Master Shifu. KFP2 revolves mostly around Po, and KFP3 revolves mostly around Master Oogway. That's why I thought that KFP4 should revolve around Master Tigress.
Oh, the English version is translated by Starless echoes whom translated the Swedish version. u/14939181/I've got to say that the translation is really good. ;)
Anyways, now I leave you to enjoy this story!
Chapter 1 Introduction
Long ago, in a city called Nam Binh, lived the wise leopard and Emperor, Zhao. He loved nothing more in life than to tinker and invent new things; it was better than sitting all day lazing on an old throne. Zhao was very social, and he loved the residents of the city, so, he invented new things that would benefit not just himself, but everyone. After a while, he met one of the most beautiful women in all of China: a young leopard named Wixu. It was love at first sight, and, few years later, Zhao and Wixu started a family.
Their leopard cub, Huang, was simply adorable. In his early days, an innocence radiated out from him that no one could deny. Yet such things are not made to last.
One day, Zhao was sitting in his basement experimenting with a kind of powder that would come to be known as gunpowder. He saw that when it was lit with fire, it exploded.
He immediately saw what could be done with the gunpowder; they could blow up the mountains to extract ore and expand the village.
But what he didn't know was that their son, Huang, who was now seventeen years old, was also experimenting with gunpowder, and while his father sought to use it for the good of his people, he saw the darker sides of gunpowder. If he had enough, he could blow up an entire building.
One day, a tiger came from a distant village to meet with Zhao.
Zhao agreed to speak with him, but what he didn't know was that this was an assassin, sent there to kill him. Wixu stood in the hall and watched as the assassin slowly pulled a dagger out of his back pocket. She instantly realized what was happening.
"ZHAAOOOO!" she screamed. Wixu sprinted towards him but she couldn't save Zhao before it was too late.
Meanwhile, Huang was sitting down in the basement, and he heard something thump on the ceiling. He quickly ran up, and got a quick look at the assassin just before he lept off the roof and disappeared. He turned back to where his mother stood, completely shocked and devastated. The leopard went to check if his father was alive.
He wasn't.
Something in that moment set fire to Huang's soul. Vengeance. But how would he get it? By exterminating the tigers.
Huang, now the Emperor of his city, quickly built an army, all in the hope of revenge.
When Wixu eventually leared of her son's intentions, she looked at her son and said-
"You will not find peace if you choose to go this path."
Huang didn't care. Within three months, the tiger villages were wiped out.
PRESENT DAY
As the years passed, Huang's army only grew as he continued his reign as the emperor of Nam Binh, while Wixu had died from old age. Huang had learned to increase the pressure in an explosion with the gunpowder, and it could lead to high damage to buildings and more.
The adult Huang now finally felt at peace when the tigers were gone. These days, he mostly sits and lazes on the throne, thinking about gunpowder and explosions.
THE VALLEY OF PEACE
Po woke up earlier than usual. After all, today was his very own Dragon Warrior day! He gave a little whoop in celebration, this was one of his favorite days of the year!
"Can you keep it down, Po? I'm still trying to get some sleep," Mantis groaned out from his room next to Po's.
"Heh heh, sorry," Po answered, laying down back on the bed.
"Oh, oh, what am I going to do today?" Po thought to himself. "Well, I'm going down to Dad's! He might need some help with the cooking since he gets so many customers on Dragon Warrior Day. Oh, and I can't forget to high-five all my awesome fans! And, of course, I've got to work out."
He preferred not to think about that last part…
The morning gong sounded, and everyone knew that Shifu awaited them in the hallway. The Five and Po shot out of their respective rooms and each shouted -
"Good morning, Master!"
"I don't even understand why I still wake you up in the morning," Shifu muttered. "Po is the one who teaches you, but of course, if he were to actually do it, you wouldn't have gotten up until afternoon."
"Actually," Po answered, his voice filled with pride, "I woke up quite early today."
"And yet you were still in your room when I arrived," Shifu answered, his voice full of doubt
"It's actually true, Master," Mantis explained, coming to Po's aid. "I had to tell him to be quiet when he interrupted my precious last few minutes of sleep."
"Thanks, Mantis," Po whispered to his small friend.
"Oh, is that a fact?" Shifu replied. "Well, as you all know, today is Dragon Warrior Day. Po is off now during the day, but by evening you should be back here to train, Po. That's right, the rest of you also get time off; see it as a reward for what you have done for the valley, but remember to be back by evening."
"Yes Master," everyone automatically answered, placing their fists against their palms in a gesture of farewell. In a matter of seconds, everyone filed out of the hallway, eager to go down into the Valley and celebrate… well, themselves.
Except Tigress.
"Master?" she asked.
"Yes?" Shifu replied.
"Well, I was just going to continue training, if you don't mind," she said, giving a flattering look before she left.
"As you wish," Shifu answered as she left, grinning to himself.
Meanwhile, Po walked down the stairs, ecstatic about getting to see all the posters and lights that were set up just for him.
"So cool…" he whispered to himself.
"How cool?" said Monkey, his mouth right next to the panda's ear, startling Po.
"AAH! Oh, oh it's just you," Po answered, rolling his eyes.
Eventually, they made it to the bottom of the Ten Thousand Steps, and there, Po was greeted by all his fans. The excited panda high-fived almost all of them, except his dad. He's not the type to give out high-fives right away.
"Hey, Dad!" said Po as he burst into the kitchen. He was answered with a saucepan to the face.
"Oh! It's you! I'm so sorry, son!" said Mr. Ping. "There's just so many people who want to go up to your room and nose through your stuff!" the old goose explained.
"Oh, don't worry!" Po said as he slowly got up and dusted himself off. "I've taken much harder hits to the face! Anyway, I was wondering if you needed some help?" Po asked.
"With what?" Mr. Ping asked back.
"With the cooking, of course! You'll have extra business on Dragon Warrior Day!"
"Oh! Well, sure! Ah, father and son, back together and cooking for everyone!" Mr. Ping happily chirped.
Po put on his apron and started cooking.
Up at the Jade Palace...
Crane and Mantis were just about to go down to the village to catch up with Monkey, until Viper came along, wanting to do some scouting.
"Hey guys, are you going down?" she asked.
"Yes, we wanted to have a look," said Mantis.
"Then I'm coming along."
Further down the stairs...
"Why does Tigress like to train so much?" Crane asked. "She wants to train even though she has time off! It's like she enjoys the pain!"
"Yeah... She's quite stiff," Mantis agreed.
"Oh, stop it, you guys!" Viper hissed none to happily.
"Well, has anyone noticed that Tigress started behaving differently ever since Po came here?" asked Crane.
"Yes, actually," Mantis answered. "She has started to open up more to everyone. If it weren't for him, Tigress would still be cold and stiff… like an old board."
"And Po is madly in love with Tigress," Crane laughed, "And she hasn't even noticed it yet! Po was her biggest fan ever since he got here. I don't see how she can't know by now!"
"Yes, I think Po should tell Tigress," Viper answered. "It can't hurt, can it? We should go down and ask him."
The noodle shop
Po and Mr. Ping made an excellent duo. Mr. Ping's food production doubled that day and they earned so much more. Po was going to take a little break, and so he went up to his old room. He scanned through the things in his room, until his eyes came to rest upon one of his most prized possessions: his Tigress action figure.
"How do I tell her?" He whispered to himself.
"Tell who?" Mr. Ping's voice suddenly cut through the air. Po turned around, and there his dad was, leaning against the doorway.
"I think I'll take a break, too," the old goose continued. "Most people are eating now anyway, and those who are waiting for food… well, they're waiting. Their orders are in the oven now."
"Sounds good," Po answered.
"Hey, Po!" called out three voices coming up the stairs. Po and Mr. Ping turned to look, and Crane, Mantis, and Viper appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Po, could we talk to you about something?" asked Mantis.
"Of course, guys! Hey, Dad, can you leave us for a little while?" Po asked.
"Sure," he answered. "I can go down and check on the food."
"Thanks, Dad."
As the old goose hustled down the steps, not letting his tail feathers even hit the floor, Po turned back to his friends.
"What's up, guys?" he asked.
"Well, it's about Tigress," Mantis began.
Po gasped. "WHAT!? Is something wrong? Please tell me she's okay! Is she okay?"
"Told you so," Crane whispered to Mantis.
Viper answered, "She's fine, Po; we just wanted to ask you something."
"Oh… oh, come on, you guys scared me! Well, what is it?" Po asked, waiting for the question.
"Well, we just wanted to know if, you kind of, kind of have…" Viper stuttered.
"If you have feelings for Tigress," Crane finished. The three of them all looked at Po, eager for the answer.
"What? Me? Feelings for Tigress? I don't know what you're talking about!" he quickly answered and went downstairs again.
"They know, they know!" Po whipser-shouted to himself as he stood behind the shop. Going back into the shop, the panda searched for some food lying around. Stress eating always relaxed him…
"We should probably go," Viper said to her two comrades, all of them still in Po's room, minus the panda himself.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Mantis answered.
Up at the Jade Palace
Meanwhile, Shifu had gone to one of his favorite places - although, it was actually the favorite place of some other people as well, so he could not call it entirely his own - the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.
After a little while, his sensitive ears caught the flapping of wings comes running. He froze. That sound was never accompanied by good news.
"Master! Master!" the messenger goose called out as he landed in front of the red panda.
"Yes, Zeng?" Shifu answered, fearing the message Zeng had brought him.
"It's an emergency!" Zeng shouted, handing Shifu a scroll.
He let his eyes travel down the page. Once he was finished, he rolled it up again and placed it back in the case. "This is not good…"
To Be Continued in Chapter 2