They trudged slowly through the cave, with only the luminescent light from Tigress' torch leading the way. As they travelled through the narrow halls, the entrance that led to the outside world grew smaller and smaller. The silence that enveloped the group was enough for Po to start trembling in anxiety again, squeezing Tigress' hand and clinging onto her side. Tigress couldn't help but blush herself at the contact, but smile through it as she had to admit that it was heartwarming to have Po cling to her and trust her with protection.

Of course the rest of the group was weary as well; with how quiet the atmosphere was, it seemed that even the tiniest drop from above the cave tops or the faintest snaps of twigs could have shaken the group to their core.

Just then, if things couldn't get any weirder, the whole group noticed some... odd markings lining the jaded walls.

Crane and Tigress, usually the observant, were the first to see these markings. They both led the group to one of the walls with their keen eyes. The feline lit the torch close to the markings whilst the avian gazed upon it.

"What the...?" The golden-eyed bird graced his wing over the picture of the grand carving of a great dragon with a wild mane and a peculiar gem at the centre of it's chest as the carving showed it terrorising innocent villagers. "They're... runes? It's about a legend!"

"What does it say, bird brain?" Monkey asked, coming up beside his straw-hat companion, allowing him a chance to read some of the subscription.

"'One does not travel the rough seas by finding sand to walk on. History may not always repeat the same wave but it often rhymes. So take the angry waves head on or your inner demons shall be your demise.'"

Po took a moment to register what Crane just recited, "Wait... I know this quote from somewhere! Crane, do you know the name of the dragon the story is talking about...?"

The avian shrugged and looked on further to see if he can read out a name, "Uh... 'Hàipà; The Dragon of Fear'."

"AHA! I KNEW IT!" Po said loudly, his voice echoing through the cave, unaware of how it disturbed a hidden force within the hollow, green walls, "Hàipà! My dad read to me about him and his brothers when I was a kid."

"What do you mean?" Tigress questioned the bear warrior.

"Well, you see, there's this legend about these five all-powerful dragon brothers that represented five emotions, who tested their subjects to see if their minds and hearts were strong enough to endure all these emotions! There's a dragon for joy, anger, sadness, fear, and lastly love; Hàipà is the Dragon of Fear. He's mostly a very dormant dragon until someone trespasses on his territory called 'the Cave of Bravery', which is when he traps his victims and.. tests them by..."

Po trailed off as his eyes slowly widened, his expression of joy amidst his ramble turning to one of pure horror, and before the group knew it, he bolted off as fast as he could, dragging Tigress with him as he hastily said in a panic "We need to leave! NOW!"

"W-What?" The tiger looked back to the others as they quickly made a move to follow the anxious panda, "Po, why? What does Hàipà do to his victims?" Viper asked, feeling slightly alerted by Po's sudden reaction.

"I knew this place was a bad idea! Stupid, stupid stupid...!"

"Po!" Tigress pulled her paw away from the antsy panda, "Slow down! What's going on?"

"WE JUST NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE HE—"
WOOSH

Po and Tigress paralysed in fear when the torch mysteriously blew out, leaving the gang of warriors in complete darkness and whilst spooking the rest of the group.

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Oh no..." Po trembled before a maniacal cackle echoed through the walls.

"'Oh no' indeed, panda! Nice to know my tale hasn't been lost to time..." An ominous, grand voice ripped across the group as they were suddenly surrounded by purple smoke.

"EVERYONE GET CLOSE!" Tigress demanded, making the group of six warriors circle up in a defensive stance formation.

The purple fog around the band of warriors grew thicker and thicker, up until one point where the fog grouped together to form the spirit of a great, frightening purple creature with a wild violet mane and an amethyst standing at the centre of it's chest... just like in the story carved in the jaded walls.

"Holy Sugar Honey Iced Tea..." Mantis mumbled as he shook on the spot.

Monkey shakily raised a finger "T-that's... THAT'S..!"

"AN ACTUAL DRAGON!?" Crane finally stated as the group all gazed in horror at the majestic, supposedly mystical being.

"In the flesh! Well... somewhat.." The purple dragon ran his own claw through his transparent form, making the group shudder in discomfort. "Ooh, and would you look at this? A few dynasties later and I finally get some new, fresh victims trespassing my territory~! A tasty group as well, I see..."

"Y-YOU'RE NOT—YOU CAN'T BE REAL! YOU CAN'T BE HERE! Y-YOU'RE JUST A M-MYTH, HÀIPÀ!" Po exasperated, before eeking and freezing in fear as the large dragon travelled close to his face.

"Hmm... So you're the teller of my legend, eh? Well, panda, tell me, does THIS look real enough to you?" And with that, Hàipà opened his mouth wide to reveal a large web of large, sharp teeth, travelling to the depths of his body. The sight brought horrid tears to Po's eyes and beads of sweat to his head. His body shook and his knees buckled as he tried to keep his defensive stance all whilst uttering a meek "...s-sharp," Amidst his terrified stature. Everyone else simply gasped in dread by the sight.

"Hmm? Ya think? Well, I should hope so; I've spent an eternity keeping my youth-like look—... literally... WANNA TEST HOW SHARP IT REALLY IS!?" The dragon loyal to his title roared, opening his mouth wide, ready to take a dine-in on the poor, paralysed panda.

"PO, GET BEHIND ME!" In a mere moment, Tigress was able to drag the panda behind her, pulling him out of his trance as Tigress seemingly took the fall instead of him. Yet to the the surprise of everyone (if they all couldn't be anymore of that), the dragon simply phased through the body of the brave tiger, psyching her out and bursting out in laughter when he merged in and out of the ground and back in front of the group.

"HAHAHA~! MY MY, I HAD A HUNCH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS QUITE THE FIERY ONE BUT TO TAKE THE BITE LIKE THAT?" He mocked the panda, who was just too scared to even register what he just referred to his feline friend, quietly gulping as the dragon turned to the furious hard-core master.

"HA! YOU'RE QUITE A FIESTY SOUL, AREN'T YA? I'm gonna have fun breaking you..." He ominously stated, simply earning a growl from her, which only made Hàipà laugh in amusement and excitement, "Well, since you're so tough and hardcore, let's see you try and take the bullet with... THIS!"

Suddenly, his claw raised up, making a jaded barrier started to rise from where Tigress stood, causing Po to act out of instinct and push her away with him from the sudden barrier, making them collide to the wall closest to them and separating the two from the remaining Furious Five.

"PO! TIGRESS!" Viper called as she slithered to the added wall that guarded her and the boys away from the striped and monochromatic pair.

"GUYS!" Po placed his paw against the wall separating them, continuously busting into it in attempt to break it down. Tigress snarled at the laughing beast above the two. "ALRIGHT, HÀIPÀ, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US!?"

"Oh~ didn't you hear what the panda had to say about what I do to rude intruders in my territory?" Hàipà taunted, further angering the tiger and frightening Po. "Well, go on then, boy, tell your acquaintances what happens when you fall victim to my games~"

"'games'?" Viper asked through the wall, "Po! What does he mean by 'games'?!"

Po clutched his head and sank down the wall, dreading the words he was about to say. "H-he... u-um..."

"..Po?" Tigress asked more gently, growing more concerned for her ursine companion, and gently placing a paw on his shoulder, to which he very much appreciated.

"T-to play Hàipà's game... y-you have to go against your darkest fears."

Tigress inwardly gasped, whilst the rest of the team exchanged glances of worry amongst each other, all as the amethyst dragon scoffed.

"See? Was that so hard, panda? As for you four..." He referred to the rest of the Furious Five, freaking them out by phasing to their side of the barriers with a vicious smile, before raising his massive claw again to make yet another wall burst from the ground, right where Crane was standing as well.

"CRANE, WATCH OUT!" Monkey cried in a haste, pushing Crane to the other side of the cave, further splitting the group apart.

"MONKEY!" Mantis did not hesitate to call for his best friend, attempt to hop over the wall to get to his friends, horrified at the fact that the barrier seemed to have no end to it to get around or over it.

Hàipà looked over his contestants and the setting of the game with a claw to his chin, stroking his beard as he contemplated and analysed his setup. Two barriers, breaking the cave into three columns, with Tigress and Po stuck on the far right side of the jaded atmosphere, Crane and Monkey on the far left, and Viper and Mantis singled out in the very middle. He finally grinned in delight, satisfied with his game arrangements, and clapped his hands together. "Well, now that that's all settled, LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Remember; one does not travel the rough seas by finding sand to walk on. History may not always repeat the same wave but it often rhymes. So take the angry waves head on or your inner demons shall be your demise..."

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?" Mantis cried out in frustration, only irritating the dragon as he twitched his eyebrow before rolling his lilac eyes at the bug. "Just... good luck. You're gonna need it... HAHAHAHAHA~!"

And with that, the mystical creature disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, letting his laughter echo through the already thick walls.

"C-Crane! You okay, buddy?" Monkey tended to his currently hyperventilating bird friend.

"N-NO! I'M NOT, MONKEY! T-THESE WALLS... THEY'RE TOO CLOSED IN, I CAN'T THINK! I-I DON'T WORK WELL UNDER PRESSURE OR CLOSED IN SPACES LIKE THIS! HOW ARE WE G-GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE!?" Crane lashed out at the poor primate, who just calmly stood by his side in attempt to calm him down.

"GUYS! LISTEN TO ME!" Po broke through the air with his reassuring yet warning tone, "THE ONLY WAY WE CAN GET OUT OF THIS IS IF WE STICK TOGETHER AND JUST PLAY HÀIPÀ'S GAME! AND HE'S IS NOT GONNA LET UP ON ANY OF US! IT'S ALL JUST A SICK MIND GAME HE PLAYS TO TEST HIS VICTIMS! HE WILL ANALYSE YOUR EVERY MOVE, SEARCH DEEP INSIDE OF YOU AND BRING YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES ALIVE, BUT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU CAN'T LET HIM INTO YOUR HEAD! He feeds off weakness and those with frail hearts and dark pasts! He will look for EVERY AND ANYWAY to break you down and keep you here for eternity! But don't you DARE let the darkness consume you! JUST KEEP WALKING FORWARD, FACE YOUR FEARS AND I PROMISE WE'LL BE OUT OF THIS CAVE SOON!"

With Po's motivation and assuring instructions, Tigress felt encouraged to back him up, "Po's right; the only way out of this mayhem is taking on the waves by storm, so we have to keep strong for this and keep moving forward, no matter what Hàipà throws at us!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!" Mantis agreed with the two leading masters, "LET'S KICK THOSE FEARS AND THAT POMPOUS DRAGON JERK IN THE BUTTS!" And with that, he and Viper were the first to bravely move through the dark halls of this newly sick game.

"You heard them, bird brain! We gotta get through this together." Monkey continued to sooth the anxious avian, which managed to work, just a bit.

"B-but what if we don't get out of here—"

"We will. I promise." The golden snub-nosed monkey gently raised up Crane's wing in comfort. "I swear I won't leave you trapped here... we'll get through this, okay?"

Eventually, the dark, tall bird nodded his head, officially calming himself and trusting Monkey in leading him into the dark abyss to face their own battles.

Finally, with Po and Tigress being the final ones there, Tigress decided to get a move on already, surprised that the encouraging panda was still hesitant on making the move himself. He seemed to be zoned out, breathing heavily as he tried to keep a steady mind but being overwhelmed by the one shivering question plaguing his mind.

'What if I can't handle it?'

"Po?" Tigress called back, making him snap out of his heavy trance and turn to his friend. "S-sorry, I was just, um..."

"Po." His feline counterpart called firmly. The Dragon Warrior took a deep breath and caught up to Tigress, knowing he didn't need to hear anything else from her to know what to do from here.

They both looked onto the black, narrow hall they were trapped in, and with brave faces on... they both finally went into their dark battles together.