Master…
There was a final thought before her mind went blank. Her eyes closed to blackness. She felt nothing, not even the pain from the collision. She heard mostly nothing other than white noise which sounded over the shaky voices in the background. Both her energy and strength seemed to have drained completely from her at that moment. The growing darkness enclosed around her as she slipped into an inward void. She couldn't feel the bear's flabby arms scoop her up and carry her off.
In a room…
Her eyes opened with a blur which wore off within a matter of seconds. At that time, everything seemed to have happened in an alternative universe, or it all could've been a dream that she wouldn't expect in a million years. There were things that didn't seem to add up at all. One of them was Po thinking he was on the dark side and leading a crew of ruthless bandits robbing the Valley of Peace. Another was that Po, who was a panda bear, had been convinced he was a crocodile despite the obvious differences in features from the Croc Bandits. Another thing was that Po actually desired to rob the Jade Palace, or take it over against Master Shifu… And the panda bested the elderly, well-seasoned master in a fight as well as the Five altogether. A lot of unexpected things occurred in the brief period of time. How did all of a sudden such a thing become a reality if it wasn't a dream? It was unbelievable that the universe would intend for a series of events to happen. Tigress, by herself, was mostly in her world. She had just woken up to a warm room. She swore that she wasn't there some time before. One moment, her world was becoming swallowed by a cold darkness. Then the next, everything was calm and she couldn't feel anything but numbness. Her body felt nothing at all. Something wasn't right… Then, reality suddenly flashed through her mind again. This time, it caught her like she was experiencing the unexpected all over again. She encountered Po at the noodle shop, he attacked her out of nowhere, she was knocked unconscious, she was sent out again to find the panda and take him down for good, they had no luck in finding him so much for her hope in particular, she (along with the rest of the Five) arrived in the Jade Palace at the scene of Shifu apparently, and shockingly, beaten to the verge of unconsciousness, and Po confronting Fung (a Croc Bandit) and the Five arriving, simply to get "their butts handed to them by the bear", Tigress came back from being knocked out, she challenged the panda and got defeated a second time, she woke up in the dungeon beneath the Jade Palace, the the actual leader of the Croc Bandits visited them in the dungeon in attempt to "help", Po showed up and confronted them on their so called help plan, Tigress's temper got the best of her and Po teased her about it…Then, she fell unconscious…after the panda himself lost it and accidentally made her a victim of his wrath. The feline master couldn't decide whether to be angry or shocked at that moment, or that it caught her so off guard she had pretty no time to take it. Even now, in a completely different setting…This bed is comfortable, Tigress grasped out of the blue, No, wait…where am I? She somehow found the energy to at least get herself to sit up. Around she looked, recognizing that she was in a bedroom. In no way was she aware of how she got there in the first place. She had no clue that it was because of the black and white warrior, the same panda that had her locked up in the cold dungeon, sleeping on the hard floor and had her mentally feeling trapped. Po decided not to let her remain unconscious in her cell for whatever reason and chose to transfer her to a bedroom where she could be treated by medics. Nobody believed he could feel the slightest bit of sympathy for causing her to be knocked against the rear of her cell. The force was impactful enough to have the mighty tough feline master out for hours, in fact, the effect lasted for several days. Tigress was out for a while, but now, she wouldn't know it was long enough.
Master, she thought, memorizing the specific dark moments. All of a sudden, her mind was flooded with fear (a feeling was trying her hardest to debate.) She was now fully reminded of what had happened. But it just couldn't be such. Tigress, known for her fierceness and strength by many, was not to be scared. She had been brought up to be, arguably, one of the toughest warriors in all of China. She wasn't supposed to display fear in any shape or form. However, something in the brave feline master could now be referred to as relating to some sense of intimidation. No way. Tigress wasn't frightened of the panda to say the least, or that something she couldn't grasp until… I'm not afraid of Po–AAAH! She shouted mentally, not expecting a sudden sharp pain to erupt in her head. And, with that, the rest of her body caught on. She cursed herself with her pride again, but she wouldn't admit it even in her thoughts. The pain wasn't as bad as before, but it wasn't the most tolerable either. It was the worst in her back, and with the tiger making the slightest move, there was a feeling which strongly indicated that her spine had been broken. She snarled loudly in her head with a grimace on her face. If pain were an actual being and standing in front of her, she would claw it into a million pieces without a doubt. Somehow, however, she was able to remain calm and mostly still. At least the room was much, much more comfortable than the cold dungeon cell and she was on a bed instead of a rough cot… Then she noticed something familiar. It was the tiger lily designs on the blankets. Tigress was in her own bedroom. How did they figure out where I sleep? the question immediately popped in her head, then wondering who carried her to the room. It couldn't have been someone from the rest of the Five or Shifu as it was likely they were still locked up in the dungeon. In regards to that, the thought of such made her sick to her stomach and, regardless of being in great pain, she was urged to get up and do something about it. With all the energy she had right now, she stood up and made her way over to the door with a limp. As painful as it was, it took just a brief moment for Tigress to reach the door, then it would be another painful trip to the dungeon. Little did she know, a certain warrior was headed down the hall in the direction of her room. He was seconds away when the feline master caught the sound of his heavy footsteps. She froze with her hand on the door and the shadow of the large bear was revealed from the light on the outside. "Po?" she said, wondering how to react. A low huh was heard from the black and white warrior when the door slid open. Tigress stepped back quickly once she saw the panda who just stood there. There was a moment of awkward silence, which lasted at least one minute, between the two. The panda's expression was unreadable. Tigress masked her bafflement with a similar look.
The feline master didn't feel concerned or anything; however, she wondered what the panda was thinking. Po himself was wondering the same about her. The energy was quite strange as neither of the two felt an urge (not even in slightest degree) to unleash a single punch or any form of violence towards each other, let alone get into a fighting stance. What the warriors mostly felt at that moment was confusion. Until shortly later, the silence wouldn't be broken by Po awkwardly clearing his throat. "Ahem," he sounded, "Eh…" There was another brief going of silence. Neither could figure out what to say, but Po would be the first to attempt anyway. "I, uh…" he continued, scratching the back of his head while keeping a serious expression on his face, "I wanted to let you know that you're allowed to stay in this room if you need to." His voice didn't sound enthusiastic with saying that, as Tigress quickly noted. If, she thought, giving the bear a glare as if to mentally question his usage of the term.
"And?" she pressed sharply. The bear, as if anticipating a response in such manner, moved closer, stopping a reasonable distance from the feline master. He folded his arms.
"Well, you're not gonna give a thanks or anything?" he retorted. The panda had some nerve. He was the reason she was in this circumstance in the first place. She didn't need nor want anything from him. She was more concerned for her father and the rest of the Five, and if anything, she expected for the panda to try and get in the way of her seeing them again, which was most likely the reason he decided to show up. The panda came with perfect timing (one thing she could give him), yet; she certainly wouldn't let him stop her no matter how hard he could try. Even in her current state, she was determined to get to the others and come up with a plan to get things back to normal once and for all. The thing was, however, how far would this panda go to hinder her plans.
The feline master brushed off the panda's question and stepped forward, set on passing him. Straight away, a large paw shot up in front of her as she was about to step around the panda, stopping her in the path. "Whoa there," Po said flatly, turning to face the tiger, "Where do you think you're going?" Having had enough just by that, Tigress released a low snarl and threw a paw forward, aiming for the panda's face. She guessed I wouldn't figure she'd do that, the bear thought with a hint of amusement, catching her hand and flipping her upside down and pinning her to the floor. The force from the floor pressed against her back, physically reminding Tigress that she was still in pain though her mental regard was on something else. A groan escaped her lips as she tried to fight to escape the panda's grip. She couldn't. The panda, on the other hand, let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds (as if asking someone to have mercy on his soul) before looking back down at the feline master. Then, Tigress noticed something. There was a distant way about how he was looking at her. His eyes were narrowed, yet, they seemed to express a hint of pity. Wait. The panda couldn't have been feeling that.
"Listen," Po continued in a visibly irritated tone, "I don't want to have to break any bones in your body that I already have." Understandably, Tigress didn't believe him at all.
"Let go of me!" she spat, launching a leg for a kick to the groan. The panda simply avoided it by releasing her for a split second, allowing his other hand to grab her leg and flip the tiger over for her to land on her stomach, then pinning her like that. "Son of a–"
"Shut it, Stripes!" the panda hissed through his teeth, "You know another fight won't end well for you." A wicked grin suddenly stretching his face. "But you're not the type to give up so easily, eh?" He quickly released her again, then jerked her up by the tail and hauled her over to the bed. She landed on her back. "Ugh!" she grimaced. That completely caught her off guard. Secretly, she was kind of thankful it wasn't the floor this time. Yet, that didn't stop her from being angry at the panda who was obviously getting a kick out of this.
The panda snickered and approached the bed, expecting the feline master to try another move. To his prediction, she did, leaping upward and attempting a double palm strike at him, and with seemingly no effort at all, the panda grabbed the hold using both paws. And with might, the panda leaped forward, sending the feline master back. Finally, he had her pinned to the wall with an arm pressing against her chest and his paws keeping hers in strong grasp. Tigress growled at the panda's face, but he was unfazed. He just kept on a smug smile. "Hah," he teased, "How fun was that?"
"It'll be even fun if you set the other masters free," Tigress snarled. The panda's smile turned into a frown.
"And why should I?" he questioned, staring the tiger directly in the eyes. "They'll only do something stupid."
"Like what?"
"Hah, don't act like you don't know. Like you guys wouldn't try and escape the Jade Palace? Then try to come up with a plan to take me down once and for all?"
"That's the point." Tigress pitifully attempted to yank from the panda's grasp, but it was no point. The panda hummed and nodded.
"You are a persistent one. I can give you that," Po remarked mockingly. Then, he tossed the feline master back over onto the bed. "But…that doesn't mean you're any match for me now." Tigress sat up.
"How do you figure that?" she asked sourly. Much to her bitterness, the panda burst out laughing.
"You're really asking me, Stripes?" he taunted, lowering to his knees, "You're acting like you weren't there with everything happening…even just now…hahahaha…tsk, tsk…you're not joking with me right now?" He moved to the bed. Tigress, with the mannerism of determination, leaped off and into a fighting stance. The panda stopped laughing and folded his arms with narrowed eyes and a lopsided grin on his face. "Again with that."
"You're not keeping me from getting out of this room," Tigress said with fierceness. "I'm finding everyone else and we're going to stop you." The panda didn't give a reaction (just placed a paw on his chin) as he figured she would say something like that. In fact, he seemed to be impressed in a way. This tiger wasn't going to give up. Nevertheless, there was a very slim chance of her getting out of that room. She may have been that determined, but so was Po.
So, what was the panda going to do now? He nodded and shrugged before leaping forward, and landed in front of Tigress just as she was about to advance towards the door.
"I admit I'm digging the confidence, Stripes," he remarked smugly with a smile, grabbing Tigress's arm and taking it behind her back (to which she struggled to pull out of his grip.) "Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to spoil your little plans for today." Much to the tiger's surprise, the panda sent his free paw to her chest. A flash of blue emitted from the touch, disappearing in a split second. Chi. Tigress, not able to feel anything in her body, dropped like a popped balloon into the panda's arms. How did he remember the nerve attack and how to use it?
"That's a little move I called the Paralyzer," Po said cockily, "Though I'm not sure how I learned it. It's supposed to freeze every nerve in the body so you can't move." Obviously. Po lifted the tiger into bridal style. Tigress badly wished she could snap out of her paralyzed state and claw the panda right there. It was just fortunate that Shifu and the rest of the Five weren't there to witness. The most immature of the group, Mantis and Monkey, would definitely get a kick of it. Viper would come up with some weird fantasy revolving around the idea of–Ugh! Crane would probably be thinking the same thing; at least, he would be more mature than certain others to not tease the idea of it. Shifu, on the other hand, would certainly be just as angry as she was at that moment. Without a doubt. In that regard, Tigress considered her father (who, arguably, was just as temperamental as she was) could even be tempted to murder one or both of them. The feline master had so many ruthless ideas as to how the elderly master could react to the scene that it almost "scared" her. Scared!? No way! "Alright, kitten," Po interrupted her thoughts, "I'm gonna leave you here for a while." He placed her on the bed.
"And no, I won't let you stay like that forever," he continued flatly, "Even it would help keep you in your place." For a couple of seconds, he looked at the floor, then up at the feline master. His eyes narrowed with a brow as his mouth pressed into a line.
"As long as you behave," he added in a sour tone. Tigress wasn't fazed, and even with her in a paralyzed state, the panda could note that she wasn't taking him as seriously as he wanted. Now he was starting to lose his patience.
"Listen here, Stripes," he said bitterly, leaning closer to the feline's face, "I thought I made it clear to you and your sidekicks that I'm the boss around here now. So if I were to let you go on with your little plan to get outta here and escape with your friends–not that it would be the smartest move on my behalf–it's not like you would succeed in stopping me anyway. Like I said, no one can stop me. I took down the old man along with you and the rest of your team. That's how they're all locked up in the dungeon." If there were a way to break out of being paralyzed, Tigress definitely wanted to know it now. It was only because of that she felt powerless under the gaze of this panda, as it kept her from doing something brutal and well-deserved to him. The black and white warrior seemed to have read her thoughts. "Consider this as me doing you a favor, kitten," he continued, his voice and stare colder than before, "I could've left you down there with everyone else since you need to see them that bad. Oh yeah, I'm sure you know that I cracked your spine…" Suddenly, his expression softened slightly. Not a lot, but enough for Tigress to make it out. What was he thinking? "You're lucky I didn't leave you down there like that," he stated, his voice seeming to trail off a bit. She didn't know why, but the feline master would've asked for his reason if she could move her lips. "Anyway…" the panda continued, clearing his throat.
Tigress then noticed that he wasn't in her face anymore. He kept the same expression on his face though.
"You're to stay in this room," Po announced sternly, "I made orders to the guards to ensure that." Guards? "I don't wanna have to get all rough and tough on you again." Tigress wasn't convinced by the last sentence, especially with the tone he used to say it, but this could be understood as the panda sinisterly added, "But if, and when, I have to…" His frown turned into an unnerving smirk. "And trust me, I won't hold back on your kissy little face." For an instant, Tigress was grateful she couldn't feel anything in her body. Admittedly, the panda was creepy (even though not by intention) at times prior to this; however, today was different. The normal Po would've played it sort of safe and called her face cute, only to regret it immediately afterwards. But he literally called it kissy…and without a regret in the world. Regardless, the panda's new and improved carelessness was expected given the current circumstance.
The panda himself had guessed what the tiger's reaction would like as he chuckled. "Nice choice of words, eh?" he poked, "I know you're thinking why don't I try putting my fist where my mouth is." The tiger wished she could punch the panda in the mouth right now. He knew this.
"Okay, I've had enough fun for now. I'll be back here later, kitten," he said mockingly with a giggle. He turned around and began towards the door. Tigress was floored. Was that darn panda really about to leave her there in a paralyzed state?
Po was about to slip out the door when he suddenly stopped and turned back to Tigress. "Almost forgot, one more thing," he said matter of factly with a sly smile, walking back over to the bed. Tigress watched suspiciously as he reached into the pocket of his pants. His pants have pockets, Tigress thought with surprise. This was something that hadn't registered in her mind until now, not that it was ever important for her to take notice of. One thing she did note, however, was that the panda was wearing a golden cape with a faded dragon on it. Obviously, that didn't make him remember anything.
"I forgot to give you this," the panda said, pulling out a small bottle of purple liquid. Tigress looked at the bottle for a few seconds, then automatically decided the liquid was some sort of drug and what the panda was ready to do with it. It almost made her forget she was paralyzed when she remembered she couldn't move.
"It'll knock you out for a while," the panda stated casually, "But you should feel different from now when you wake up." He twisted off the cap on the bottle and tossed it away, then looked at Tigress with a serious expression. "Try and be gentle." What was the panda talking about being gentle? The tiger couldn't move at all.
Then, the panda pressed his free paw against her chest. Instantly, she shot up, only to receive an expected headbutt from the panda. "Uugh!" the tiger groaned as she was knocked back. Po then grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and quickly shoved the tip of the bottle into her mouth. The liquid emptied immediately before Tigress could react, causing her to choke. The panda released her from his grip, letting her fall back onto the bed.
"What–did–you–make me drink!?" Tigress gasped between breaths, grabbing her chest.
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous," Po responded unaffectedly with a lopsided smile, "Have a nice slumber." He watched as the feline master kept on choking and grabbing her chest. It wasn't long before Tigress began to sweat, as noted by her fur dampening and darkening a little. The feeling was weird, but it wasn't discomforting. In fact, it felt oddly relaxing, to the point where Tigress found herself in a trance. Yes, a literal trance that came out of nowhere, and it was powerful. It had enough power to seemingly take the feline master to somewhere else. Now she wasn't in the bedroom. Now she wasn't even in the Jade Palace. Everything seemed like it was in a different universe, a different world. She was a different version of herself, literally as Po was right now. She wasn't angry, worried about her family and friends, or concerned with doing something about a troubled circumstance. She was calm; there was absolutely nothing that could snap her out of that. She didn't even get the slightest of a concerned state when everything around her started going blurry. Something that stood out, however, was the strange sense of being in front of her. She didn't know what it was at that moment. It was just there. She didn't know what it was, whether it was a living or non-living thing. It could've been a fluffy cloud for all she knew. Yet, she had enough knowledge to guess that clouds were supposed to be white; at least that was the general perspective. However, this "cloud" had black shades as if it was mixing something. Black and white, the two colors that could go hand in hand, but at the same time, they were completely opposite.
"It only lasts for a couple of hours," a voice coolly broke into her imagination. This voice was very familiar. It sounded very much like that of someone she knew. In the real world, that someone was standing right beside her while her brain was processing the effects of a mysterious liquid she had practically been forced to consume. He knew nothing as to what was going through her head right then. All he knew was that the liquid was powerful and could put the tiger out like needed, as the goal was.
"Have a good catnap," Po remarked deviously with a chuckle, turning and starting at the door. The tiger just lay there as the panda disappeared from sight. By every second, her surroundings got blurrier and blurrier, until she could only see pictures of what looked like paintings when randomly throwing together a bunch of colors. Then everything faded to blackness…
In the Training Hall…
The Croc Bandits were gathered in the Training Hall. Things couldn't have been more tense between the members. That was obvious since Fung and Gahri found out that the rest of the crocodiles disclosed that the two were providing Shifu and the Five with food and supplies down in the dungeon. After the incident with the black and white warrior unintentionally knocking Tigress against the wall and the crocodiles were ordered to summon a medic (which they did as they had no choice), Po subjected them to a rant. The panda was ruthless with his words in strong intention to ensure that if the Croc Bandits were to ever betray him again, they would face consequences like no other. It was extremely hard to go back over what the panda said, but the crocodiles were to remember that the furious panda meant what he meant. It was mental torture. You idiots, you lied to me, you stupidly tried to go behind my back and it failed, but I trusted you, yet you decided to help those idiot prisoners, how could that be, you're on my side, that's that, I made it clear I'm the boss here, you guys are beneath me and you should know that by now, I'm the master–as what they consider it–I tell you what to do, you follow my orders and when I don't approve of something, I don't approve of it, and I most certainly don't approve of you helping the enemies, mark my words, you consider anything else like that…the panda let out a snarl and violently pounded his meaty fist into a palm, I will make you sorry for it, so don't even think about trying to get over me again because I'll be keeping watch on you even when you don't know it, and since I'm a fair guy I'll let you clowns off this time, but if you think I'll let you get away with doing something like that, you're just as braindead as those weak fools in the dungeon. And Fung, with that, the angry panda got directly into the lead crocodile's face, much to Fung's dread. I'll be making sure you keep guard over the tiger while she's in the room. You are to make sure she doesn't try to escape…And if she somehow does, the panda's cracked his knuckles loudly, I'll have my fat, mighty fists where your muzzle is…
"Gah! What are we gonna do?" Fung snapped out of thoughts as he paced the floor in great panic. "Guys, can you at least help me come up with something?"
"We're sorry, Fung–" one crocodile started, but was quickly cut off.
"No, no, no, not that…" The crocodile placed a hand over his muzzle and hung his head to the floor in shame. "This is all my fault. Why did I have to tell he was a bandit?"
"Aw, you can't be that upset. At least you got something to do besides walk around this place all day," Gahri suggested hopelessly.
"That's not the point. I don't want the task of having to stand outside Master Tigress's room." The rest of the crocodiles surely shared his concern in regards to that. Secretly, they were grateful that they weren't burdened with the task. It definitely sucked to be Fung right now.
"He did practically say he'd be watching you while you looked after her," Gahri attempted to reason, to which Fung sighed in exasperation.
"You're really not helping, Gahri," he responded with a sigh, "Gah, I'd rather be locked up back in Chorh-Gom prison right now."
"Or at least back at the hideout," another crocodile spoke up.
"Your mom's probably looking for us right now," Gahri said nervously.
"Are you kidding? She'll just assume we're out trying to rob some folks and getting our butts kicked in the process," Fung said with a sigh, "That's it pretty much always been anyways."
"I doubt she cares that much," one crocodile remarked smugly, to which Gahri slapped a hand across his muzzle.
Fung was so focused on the situation with his "boss" that last comment didn't seem to faze him at all. He had been struggling hard to come up with a plan the whole time. He felt more and more hope fading within as time passed on. Think, think, think…nothing. He remembered the initial idea was to get Po to look in the red box. Unfortunately, the panda's stubbornness would prove the effort to be unsuccessful. Then, there was another thought. Perhaps, when the Dragon Warrior was in a less guarded mood, Fung could've tried convincing him a second time, that is, if he was able to find the box again. It could've landed anywhere. As the crocodiles set out to find medical assistance, they searched high and low; yet, the location of the box remained undiscovered. It couldn't have landed that far from the Jade Palace though.
"Well, are we just gonna stand there?" a voice broke Fung out of his thoughts. The crocodiles looked over to where the voice was and found their worried eyes on the giant panda, glancing at them with serious expression and his arms folded. The crocodiles froze before quickly getting on cue and awkwardly shuffled closer to and before the panda, moving into a straight line. The image of the black and white warrior before them was so much as a cop ready to interrogate a suspect. Po looked between the crocodiles as he tapped his foot, humming quietly. If there were some ability to read their minds, he needed to know now.
"Ahem," the panda cleared his throat with a grunt, "I asked the question. Fung, I gave you a job to do, right?"
"Y-yeah," the bandit responded shakily, yet not so surprised that the panda's attention was already on him. "Uh, Po, do I have to do this by myself? Tigress is kind of…moody." The other crocodiles knew what he meant by that. The panda, on the other hand, didn't seem to share the slightest of concern.
"The tiger won't be a problem," he remarked smugly with a shrug. This surprised the bandits, especially Fung. "At least for now."
"Guy, like, what did you do to her?" Gahri asked anxiously; yet, to his disbelief, he earned a hard smack to the muzzle from his comrate. "Gah!"
"Darn it, Gahri!" Fung shouted, "It would pay us for you to shut up sometimes!"
"Sorry–"
"Um, hello?" Po interjected bluntly, "Are we getting the move on here? I have a place and valley to rule. And I ordered some of you to go out and find more recruits for my henchmen. The goal is to train up an army. An army that will assist me in exercising my domination over the Valley of Peace. I will get my rightfully deserved respect from villagers through fear and intimidation, and something else of course. For long enough this place had been under the reign of that pathetic old man and those other sorry excuses for warriors. And now that it's my turf, my orders are to be obeyed exactly as I call them…" He leaned in closer to Fung. "Need I remind you again? The job will be done. You won't let the tiger seize the opportunity to escape when she gets up from her catnap."
When she gets up from her catnap. The crocodiles automatically considered that the panda used the liquid he forced from the medics that treated Tigress earlier. They remembered one of the terrified geese informing him that the liquid was to take effect for several hours, meaning the feline would be out for a while. At least Fung could be grateful for that; yet, he still had to be mindful of what was to possibly come when the tiger woke up.
"Furthermore, I expect you to do anything I tell you to do with this task," Po continued assertively, narrowing his eyes straight through Fung's soul. "You won't fail me." The anxious crocodile swallowed hard. This panda is just as horrifying as he looks, he spoke in his head
"I…I won't," he spoke shakily, tapping his claws together. He made it obvious enough that he was scared, but the panda didn't care.
"Alrighty then, go do it," Po declared sternly, causing the crocodile to slump in a combination of fear and shame. He breathed out a low sigh and exited from the hall. This is gonna be a long day…
Po looked at the other crocodiles. "That includes you all as well," he continued bluntly, "Don't disappoint me. And Gahri." The much less serious bandit member shivered as he tapped his claws together.
"M-me?" he stammered in fearful wonder. The panda's answer would sort of surprise him.
"I want you to keep watch over the prisoners from now on," Po affirmed, "Evidently you aren't so much bolder than Fung, so I doubt you'd try to pull another incident such as the last without him." He was certainly right about that. At the same time, he thought about how the rest of the Five as well as Shifu (especially him) would view him in concern to what occurred in their presence not too long ago. Without a doubt, he would be looking forward to another unfriendly encounter. Darn it, Fung, he cursed mentally. He certainly didn't want anything bad to happen to his friend, but he hoped him spending some time (pretty much alone with the ferocious Master Tigress) would serve him a hard, yet deserved, lesson.
"Well, get to it," the panda pressed, his voice not losing any more irritation than he was gaining. Gahri immediately noted and quickly began heading in the direction leading to the dungeon. Thoughts raced his mind.
Gah, what can I do about this!? I know they'll never be friendly to me after all that!? I'm so sorry, Mom. If you and Fung's mom are out there looking for us, please know I love you very much. This is all my fault–well, it's mostly Fung's fault but either way I went along with it. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry…
"As for the rest of you," the panda's sharp voice pierced from the distance.
Back in the dungeon…
"Guys, this is serious," Viper fussed. She was losing her patience by the minute. "We have to find a way to get out of here and fast."
"We know!" her comrades responded in sync. She had been the main one lecturing for several hours. If there was a plan to work, she had to be the one to figure it out.
"Geez, Viper, I'm surprised you haven't come up with anything yet as much as you've been going on about it," Monkey remarked in annoyance.
"Monkey–" The snake was cut off by Crane who agreed with the simian's statement.
"Yeah, and you act like we're just arguing just to argue," the avian stated dryly, "And that coming up with such plan to get out of here is that simple." The snake let out a hiss, but Crane didn't care. She had just about gotten on his nerves at this point.
"And what are we supposed to do about Shifu?" Mantis asked, "He's been passed out for a while now. We don't even know if he's–"
"Mantis!" Crane and Viper exclaimed in union, surprising the insect for an instant before he realized what he was about to say.
"I promise I didn't mean it like that," he persuaded.
"He did witness quite a lot," Monkey said, "Sounded like Po knocked out Tigress pretty hard."
"Yeah, no need to remind the rest of us," Crane responded.
"Knocked the wind right her," Mantis continued.
"Guys, stop it," Viper hissed.
"Where do you think he took her?" Monkey asked curiously, mostly not concerning the snake's disappointment.
"The question is whether or not we'll find her," Crane stated, "If we can escape that is…"
"Yes, do I need to remind anyone here?" Viper complained, "She could be in great danger as well as the villagers. We know what Po's capable of."
"You're not saying Po is–"
"Officially gone insane? Absolutely," Mantis commented.
"That's because he doesn't know who he really is and he's been convinced by the Croc Bandits he's one of them. Hello–"
"Ugh," Shifu breathed out weakly, but loud enough to silence everyone. His eyes opened to the same location he was in when he passed out. Not that it surprised the elderly master a little bit. In the back of his mind, it seemed like there was pretty much no way out of there. Then, everything that happened flashed before him. T-Tigress, he wanted to say something aloud, but for a reason he couldn't.
"Master Shifu, are you alright?" Viper asked warmly and concernedly. The red panda didn't respond. Right now, all that he could get out of his throat was some barely audible groans.
"Can he hear us?" Mantis asked stupidly.
"Of course he can. Our cells are right next to each other," Crane answered dryly.
"Maybe he's lost his voice," Monkey suggested.
"Maybe that. He's obviously not feeling too good," Viper continued, then sighed. Come on, think of something, she pressed on in her head. Now was definitely not the time to hopelessly sit about in a dungeon cell. There needed to be a plan whether or not it would be a great deal of a struggle to come up with. More than likely, Shifu was thinking about Tigress and the Valley of Peace just as much as anyone else was. She felt extremely sorry for him.
"Master Shifu, we're trying to think of something," she explained, "We're going to get out of here no matter what." The red panda remained speechless.
"He's still in shock," Mantis presumed, "Aren't we all?"
Just then, the doors to the dungeon opened. A familiar figure barely ignited by a beam of light, which could easily be made out as a lamp, was revealed from the distance.
Gahri.
Notably hesitant, he made his way over to the cells in which the rest of Five and Shifu were being held. It wasn't a surprise when they easily recognized him.
"You," Viper hissed harshly, causing the anxious crocodile to flinch. He anticipated this, but that doesn't mean he was fully prepared for it.
"What are you doing back here?" Crane questioned bluntly, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Gahri through the cell door window. "And where's your leader?"
"This is all you guys' faults," Mantis chimed in angrily.
"Because of you Po thinks he's the bad guy," Viper stated.
"And we're locked up down here," Monkey fussed, "Plus he's injured Tigress."
"And Shifu's in a state of shock now," Mantis went on.
"He was passed out for hours," Crane argued.
"Guys! I promise it was Fung's idea," Gahri insisted, "He came up with the idea."
"And you went along with it."
"How stupid could you Croc Bandits get?" Monkey quizzed.
"The rest of us were against it at first, okay?" Gahri pleaded, hanging his head in shame. "Fung hit the panda on the head with a piece of bamboo. Knocked him out cold. Po was probably gonna be really upset when he woke up. Then–"
"He woke up with a case of amnesia and your boss decided to take advantage of that," Crane addressed flatly, "We don't need to hear the story again."
"You guys said you'd help us come up with a way to fix things," Viper declared strongly, "You meant it." Gahri couldn't decide against that for himself.
"Well, Fung is sort of not here at that moment," he replied nervously, scratching his back. "Po put him on guard duty." This slightly confused everyone, except Shifu who was still barely conscious in his own world.
"So what are you doing?" Mantis asked curiously, keeping his tone serious.
"The same thing," Gahri answered timidly.
"You gotta be kidding," Crane did his version of facepalming with his wings.
"He sent you to watch over us?" Monkey questioned to a degree of disbelief.
"It was this…or I might've had to look after Tigress," Gahri responded unenthusiastically. Several of the Five understood this.
"She's still here in the palace," Viper guessed, "She's not too hurt, is she?"
"No, me and Fung sent for the medics. They say she would be okay…most. She just has a broken back bone and some cracks in the ribs… and a few bruises."
"Ugh!" Shifu let out a sudden groan, catching everyone's attention, "T-Tigress…" When Shifu said that, it was most likely confirmed that he heard that last statement from Gahri shortly before the red panda broke his silence. He picked himself up off the floor and climbed back atop of the cot in front of his cell door. He didn't even care about the pain in his back.
"Master Shifu?" Monkey called as he peered into the elderly master's exhausted eyes through the window.
"Mind telling me what's going on here?" the red panda asked tiredly, "Where's Tigress?"
"Po took her back up to the barracks," Crane explained, "And Gahri here supposedly knows what's going on." As much as Gahri dreaded the most about having to address Shifu in regards to the situation, he needed to right now.
"Master Shifu, Master Tigress is doing f–" The crocodile was cut off by the master right then.
"You fool! She's been injured!" Shifu fussed, sort of shocking everyone with his sudden outburst, even though his temper was very much justified in this case. "I demand you to let us see her at once!" Gahri didn't want to anger the elderly master any further, but what could he do to be honest? Going against Po's requests wouldn't guarantee a favorable outcome. "Do you understand me? You release us out of this dungeon or so help me!" Gahri didn't need to hear more from the others to know that they were rightfully on Shifu's side. They were all glaring intensely at him from their captive spaces. Really, it wasn't up to him to decide anything. If that were so, he wouldn't be in the mess he was in now, all thanks to his friend. Shifu had to be thinking of subjecting the poor crocodile to such brutal acts of justice and vengeance. The others probably were as well, although their ideas might not have been as ruthless as what the fiery red panda possibly had in mind at this time. Then again, neither the panda uptop would be so merciless on Gahri if he had foolishly decided to let the warriors loose. The crocodile was certainly in the works for having much, much more amnoisity directed towards him from the Jade Palace masters than before. "You blasted crocodile! I said do you understand me? Let us out of this dungeon at once!" Shifu roared, banging his fists against the bars of the cell door window.
"Master Shifu, calm down," Viper said, not taking her angry eyes off Gahri for a second. She didn't even want to feel bad for the crocodile.
"Calm? How could I be when this reckless buffoon is part of the reason my daughter had to be subjected to the panda's wrath?" Shifu yelled.
"You remember him and the other guy said they would help us?" Mantis suggested, "Though I don't believe him…"
"W-w are…" Gahri insisted, "But I told you Fung's been placed on guard duty. He's supposed to be guarding Master Tigress's room."
"What!?" Shifu, along with a few others, yelped in surprise.
"Dead crocodile walking," Mantis remarked without much regard.
"We all know he can be an idiot at times, but that is just insane," Monkey commented with a facepalm.
Shifu didn't know whether to be indifferent, concerned, or somewhat amused. "You haven't done enough fooling around, have you?" he questioned blankly.
"No," Gahri answered simply, "That's his punishment for earlier when we brought you guys food and stuff.
"And this is your punishment?" Crane asked monotonously. Gahri didn't know how to answer that.
"It's ours too evidently," Mantis shook his head.
"So you try helping us come up with an idea without your friend?" Viper quizzed flatly, "Since he's the main one responsible for this."
"But I can't," Gahri pleaded, earning unfavorable responses, "Look, Po told me to make sure you guys don't escape."
"What would this be, crocodile?" Shifu pressed, taken aback. "You were involved with getting everyone into this mess! I honestly don't care if your friend ever gets to walk on both legs again! You Croc Bandits will pay for this immediately!" Gahri swallowed hard, witnessing the vein emerge on the red panda's forehead. Nevertheless, he had to tell him what it was.
"I'm sorry, Master Shifu. It's just…" he began, "If I were to let you guys and Po figured out, it wouldn't be good for anyone."
"How is that?" Crane retorted.
"Because then he might kill me and then he might do something to you." This response made the rest of the Five and Shifu think for a bit. It made sense. They couldn't rule out what the panda could do to them if Gahri were to release them (just as what the crocodile himself had been thinking.) Keeping them locked in the dungeon was clever, meaning less obstacles standing in the path of his rise to glory. Now that he was a different Po, he would have absolutely no problem disposing of those who proved nuisances to him. On the other hand, it was still difficult to come to terms with Po being crazy enough to do something foul to his closest friends and trusted comrades (as formerly.)
"Oh, maybe he's onto something," Mantis called out hopelessly, slumping in his cage. "My buddy's gone mad for real this time."
"Po wouldn't try to get rid of us like that," Crane countered, "He's our brother. He'd never think of killing anyone for that matter."
"Yeah, and if that was the case we'd be dead right now," Monkey added.
"We thought he'd kill Master Shifu as the first out of all of us–"
"Crane!" Viper yelped offendedly.
"No need to remind me, Crane!" Shifu snapped, causing all of male Five to shrink back. "And how are we still alive?" Gahri didn't know. The panda had his own reasoning for things. After the rather brutal fight between him and the Five, he simply ordered Gahri and Fung to lock the unconscious warriors in the dungeon and that was it. He never mentioned what would happen after that nor did he reference any ideas. Come to think about it. The black and white could've simply just killed them all and they would be gone forever…never to grace the Jade Palace from then on. And Po would rule over the Valley of Peace with fear and ruthlessness just like that.
"You daydreaming again, man?" Mantis interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh? I'm sorry," Gahri quickly apologized.
"So you really believe that Po would do something such as kill us?" Crane asked uneasily.
"There's a chance. You said he was ready to off Shif–"
"Don't mention it!" Shifu spat.
"That just added one more thing not to talk about around him," Monkey whispered to Crane.
"That's enough, you two," Viper commanded.
"Oh, buddy, I never guessed this day would come," Mantis said sadly, referring to Po, "You turned evil and locked your friends in the dungeon."
"Mantis, we're not giving up hope."
"Viper's right," Shifu said, though his master's spirit wasn't fully up for it, "It would be useless for us not to try and come up with something. The idea is to break out of here and stand up to Po." That earned some dark looks from the Four and Gahri.
"How are we gonna do that again?" Mantis asked with hesitation. Shifu didn't respond. He was reminded of what happened when he too confidently tried to go up against the panda alone and how the black and white warrior successfully handled all of the Five twice in combat. His attacks were more brutal than ever, and because he couldn't remember that the alleged enemies were actually his friends and mentor, he couldn't find restraint in not hurting them. Thus, he used maximum strength and basically rendered powerless. Shifu was reluctant to admit it out loud, but the panda gave them all the beatdown of a century. On the other hand, the red panda had to remind himself that it wasn't the first time he had been harshly beaten by a student in combat. Arguably, the two incidents could be compared in terms of brutality.
Did that mean the panda may have potentially been on the same level as Tai Lung? No. That's absurd. The late prized pupil had trained for decades since he was a cub and mastered the one thousand scrolls of kung fu effectively, being subjected to the strictest style of teaching by his master. Kung fu was deeply ingrained in the snow leopard's head until the end. Po knew about kung fu, but just learned how to utilize it shortly before Tai Lung's return from prison. If anything, it was dumb luck that the panda's strong sense of unpredictability, as well as his as chubby build, reigned over the highly trained master's strength, skills, and agility. Thank goodness for that.
"I'm guessing he's thinking of something like training," Monkey said with a facepalm.
"Like we don't already do enough of that on a regular day," Crane responded disappointedly. "And where would that happen anyway? It's not like we can use the training hall."
"Hey, who said anything about training?" Viper questioned, "Fighting Po's not gonna jog his memory."
"Might as well knock a little more sense into him though," Mantis jeered, earning a hiss. "What?"
"And, uh, are we forgetting about Tigress?" Monkey asked, "We'll find her before we go after Po, right?"
"Uh, is anyone listening to me? I'm not kidding when I said you guys getting out of here could put us all at stake," Gahri spoke with a hint of impatience in his voice. He couldn't help but feel a little bit irritated at how the warriors were disregarding his reasoning, though it was partially understandable why they wouldn't believe that Po was crazy enough to kill them. He was their friend after all, even if he didn't know it right now.
"Well, we're not going to just stay down here and rot here in these cages," Mantis declared, "I know I'm not." Been there before, not happening again, he recalled in his mind.
"That's it. I can't take it anymore," Monkey complained, throwing his hands up in aggravation, then speaking to Gahri, "Are you really gonna help us?"
The crocodile sighed. "Could you tell me what's in it for me and the other crocodiles?" he asked. The comrades only responded with blank looks. "Okay, my friends and your crew might as well try and help each other out of this one. We don't want to be a part of Po's army."
"Army?" Viper questioned in disbelief.
"You mean he's talking about gathering up more of you crocodile bandit guys, right?" Mantis jeered in disapproval. "That's just great."
"Yeah, I meant to tell you that in the beginning," Gahri continued, scratching his muzzle, "It's in the recruitment stage right now. He's got some of the others on it at the moment so…"
Shifu rubbed his forehead in agitation and let out an extended sigh. "Oh goodness," he muttered. As if the past day hadn't been chaotic enough. Now that he learned that Po intended on turning the Jade Palace into a territory for bandits, he certainly wasn't in the mood. Again, he had to go back to that very moment he sent Po out on the mission by himself. Why couldn't I guess that something would go wrong? I usually sense when things are about to take a turn for the worse. Curses. My meditation had to fail me this one time. Just then, he felt a slight sensation of ache spark in his head. It came at the perfect time and Shifu was prepared to bear with it. "I guess we can work something out," he said tiredly, "How many are there in your group?"
"Besides me and Fung, it's about nine, I think," Gahri answered with uncertainty, "We're not a very big group as you might've noticed."
"We're fortunate for that," Mantis snorted.
"That's enough, Mantis," Shifu ordered dryly, "Everyone stay silent. I have to think." He drifted back into his mind for a brief while, pacing back and forth on the cot. As instructed, the Four with Gahri kept quiet in curiosity and anticipation, waiting for the red panda to speak again. In the partially fortunate manner, there was a plan after all; however, it would be somewhat difficult to map out. They would have to make it work one way or another. Some of the others might have thought such a plan would be sort of ridiculous, but they had to trust Shifu's sense. Apparently, the Four nor Gahri themselves were unable to come up with a plan on their own. At least, someone managed to come with something even if it didn't seem like the brightest idea. The red panda took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright," he spoke in a barely hopeful tone, "Maybe this will work."
Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda. All rights reserved to Dreamworks Animation.
_
Question for readers: What could be Shifu's plan?
