A/N: Hey guys I'm back! Hopefully this wasn't too long of a wait. This is the longest chapter yet! 9800 words! If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to voice them in the comments.
As always, read & enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dream Works or Kung Fu Panda. I only own this specific plot and my OCs.
Chapter 4: Trouble in Paradise?
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz
An eerie sound resonated from the darkness, seemingly coming from every direction. At first it was nothing more than a whisper. However, the strange sound increased in magnitude by the second, along with the ground shaking vibration. The deafening noise was on par with that of continuous thunder, albeit even thunder was more comforting. The world came into view as Po's eyes snapped open.
Now, utter silence plagued the setting; the noise ceasing the instant he had awoken. Expecting to wake up in his small cot, instead the panda found himself alone in the darkness. He was standing in a dark, sequestered space, almost as if he were confined in a prison cell with no window, no door, nothing; trapped like a rat.
"What? Where am I?" the bear croaked. Looking around him, he saw nothing but darkness. In desperation he tried running to escape the dark imprisonment, but no matter where he ran the result was the same; endless nothing. Stopping, the panda put his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
Po began to panic, until a small light appeared in the distance at the end of a tunnel behind him; a tunnel that wasn't there a moment ago. Swiftly, Po made a dash towards the light in fear of it vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. The portal of light began to shrink.
"No no no no no!" Po yelled. He barely made it, as he leapt through the portal milliseconds before it faded away. The darkness was banished; Po had entered into the realm of day. However, one problem took the place of another. He was thousands of feet above the ground, and in an instant, began plummeting to his death.
"AHHHH!" Po screamed at the top of his lungs as he made his way through the clouds. After falling for almost half a minute, Po could finally see the earth below through the haze. Directly under him was a range of jagged mountains. Wonderful! Of all the places he could have fallen, naturally it would be a mountain range. He was seconds away from impact now. Not wanting to witness his ill fate, Po screwed his eyes shut. Three…Two…One…Impact!...Impact!...Impact?
'Am I dead?' Po thought.
In addition to the absence of pain or death, Po also noticed the absence of the air howling in his ears and rushing through his fur.
Hesitantly, the panda opened his eyes.
He was standing in the middle of the valley in front of his dad's noodle shop on a warm summer day; people passing by, seemingly oblivious to his presence.
"What the?" he muttered to himself as he looked around. Everything seemed utterly normal as he surveyed the area. His attention was drawn to Mr. Ping's shop. He walked towards the sound of familiar voices and laughter. Curiously, all of the Dragon Warrior decorations were gone.
'Wonder why dad took down the Dragon Warrior décor,' Po thought in slight surprise.
As he entered, he spotted the Five and Saber.
'Maybe they can explain what's going on,' Po mused to himself. He walked through the restaurant over to the table. As he made his way over, the Five and Saber noticed and ceased their talking and laughter. They all looked at the panda expectantly.
"Can we help you?" Tigress asked in a curious tone. The others nodded in agreement.
Po gave them a funny look, "No, I was just wondering what you guys are doing here."
Tigress frowned, "We came here to eat. I assume that's what most people come here to do," the feline answered in slight confusion.
Now Po was slightly ticked, it was bad enough that they were joking about him behind his back; he really didn't need more sarcasm thrown his way. He was about to respond, but before he could Saber cut in, "I'm sorry. Do we know you?"
Po was expecting his migraine...Red to go ballistic again, but to his surprise, the voice was absent. The bear was concerned now. Was this some kind of sick joke?
"Guys, it's me, Po, you guys have known me for years now! Well, most of you," Po said throwing a quick glance at Saber. The group looked at him as if he were crazy. The panda was desperate now; he couldn't believe this was happening.
"You know, goofy fat panda? I'm the Dragon Warrior!"
The group blinked, before busting out in a storm of laughter. Po looked at them in disbelief, his eye twitching. The Five and Saber were almost in tears by the time they finished.
"Sorry buddy, but I'm the Dragon Warrior. You may not be a warrior, but you'd make a great comedian," Saber smiled. Po looked quickly at the Five who all nodded in agreement as if it were obvious. The Siberian tiger stood up from his seat, as did the others. He walked up to Po with a bright smile.
"Listen we have to go. We have training to do, but if we ever need some entertainment at the Jade Palace, we'll let you know," Saber chuckled and patted Po on the shoulder before making his leave, the Furious Five in tow. Tigress stayed behind with the Panda. She wore a look of concentration as she stared at the bear.
"Is something the matter?" Po inquired staring wearily at his feet.
"I recognize you from somewhere," she explained in a certain tone. Po's eyes widened as he looked at her directly. He could have jumped for joy.
'She remembers!' he cheered mentally. He felt like he was soaring.
Tigress tapped her clawed finger against her chin in thought before a look of realization flashed across her face.
The female master smiled, "Po Ping! Now I remember! You're the panda that we saved from those bandits a few weeks back," she said assuredly.
Po went from sky-high to rock bottom in less than a second. He wanted to bang his head on the table in frustration. How do people you have been living with for years just forget you exist? Before either of them could say anything else, they heard Saber, "Tigress, you coming or not?"
The feline master in question gave Po a faint smile, "I've got to go. My boyfriend's calling. Stay safe."
She then took off towards the stairs to catch up with the others. Po gaped in disbelief.
'Saber is her boyfriend? That's just the icing on the cake,' Po thought sardonically.
He shut his eyes and sighed in defeat. After opening them, he looked around to notice that it was pitch black outside. Everyone in the valley had vanished; it was a ghost town. He walked out into the street to look for any signs of life; there were none. Before he could do anything else, it began pouring. The wind whipped against his fur coat with freezing waves of water. He was cold, soaked, tired, and unlike many other times, he was alone. Po fell to his knees in the middle of the abandoned street and broke down. The hot tears that streamed down his face were quickly washed away by the rain and wind. He could hear a clear voice talking through the wind. It wasn't just any voice, it was his. However, this voice was different; it was darker; it was cruel.
"You've saved China and your friends countless times," it began.
"Go away," Po breathed.
"But no matter what you do," it continued.
"Leave me alone," Po pleaded.
"Or how many times you save them."
"Stop it."
"They will always see you as a big fat panda."
"No."
"And in time, you will be forgotten."
"Shut up!" Po yelled hoarsely.
Suddenly the rain stopped, the winded ceased, and Po found himself back in the dark room. He spun around in unease to find nothing and no one.
"We are the same, you and I," the voice informed. Po would have laughed at the comparison if he wasn't on edge from the recent turn of events.
"I'm nothing like you! You're psychotic!" Po argued.
"Well that's not very nice. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" it chided mockingly
Po growled.
"Oh wait, too soon?" the voice cackled.
"I'm tired of your games Red! Show yourself!" Po snarled. There was a long silence. Po began to wonder if Red had just left. That was until he heard a thump and he turned to see a large mirror had appeared on the black wall.
"Go on. Take a look," Red insisted.
Apprehensively, Po treaded over to the mirror and looked into it. The reflection that looked back was him, but it wasn't. It was the same, yet different. The reflective glass showed a very well-built panda that was several inches taller, which looked back at him with a smirk. He was everything Po aspired to be: respectable, handsome, confident, muscular, imposing, and a hundred other adjectives to describe the figure looking back at him. The most noticeable difference was the eyes. The reflection had a pair of ruby colored eyes, compared to the jade green of Po's.
"Like I said, we are the same," his reflection told him smugly.
Po was at loss for words. He had thought the voice in his head had just been meaningless thoughts; an inner-conscience at most. However, Red was a part of him? He was Red? They were the same? There were so many questions unanswered, so many things he had to ask. His thoughts were interrupted by his counter-part.
"That's enough learning for one day. It's time to wake up," Red hissed.
"Wake up? What do you mean wake u-" Po began before turning to look back at his reflection, only for Red to reach through the mirror, seize him by the neck and pull him through.
*End of Dreamscape*
"Gah!" Po panted as his eyes fluttered open. In his drowsy state, the panda awkwardly fell out of his bed and tumbled onto the cold wooden floor boards, head first.
Crack!
Po groaned quietly in pain. He slowly rolled himself into a sitting position and rubbed his sore head in discomfort.
"Rise and Shine!" Red sang, with too much glee for Po's liking.
The Dragon Warrior sluggishly scanned his surroundings, only to find himself inside his dorm. Po was about to retort before freezing at the sound of Monkey's sleepy voice.
"But Shifu it's a Saturday," the golden langur mumbled before falling back into a restful slumber.
The bear looked out his room's open window to reveal the shadowy landscape of the mountains and valley below. It was still dark out. If he could guess, it would probably be several hours before the first rays of sunlight would begin to illuminate the valley. He could hear the quiet breathing of the other six occupants of the barracks. They were all deep within their sleeps, unaware of the panda and his disruptive awakening.
After a few moments of thought, Po decided to get started on his training. Rising to his feet, he silently opened his door and exited the barracks.
Po made his way down to the path towards the training hall. Pausing momentarily by the kitchen, he considered whipping up a quick breakfast for the others and himself before dismissing the idea.
'No point, I'll probably finish before they come to eat,' he theorized.
Usually, he would go meditate by the peach tree or dragon grotto. However, he felt like he needed to release some pent up stress he'd accumulated in the past couple days.
Eventually, he reached the training hall. Pushing open the doors, he then walked up to a lever on the wall to his right; an improvement to the recently renovated training room. Po then flipped the lever down, causing the all braziers across the room to ignite in a chain, as well as the training equipment to activate. Shifu had it installed a few weeks ago. He wasn't sure how it worked, but it beat having to light the braziers and start the equipment manually.
After warming up and stretching, he headed towards the Clubs of Oblivion.
Before starting, he hit the button of a stopwatch hanging on the wall; another renovation.
Taking a deep breath, he launched himself into the course. Po's body went on auto-pilot from there. The course had long lost its challenge; Po was slightly amused that he'd ever had trouble with it previously. It was like jump rope or hop scotch to him now.
'Jump, duck, swerve, block, side-step, split, flip, repeat,' he thought dully.
As he finished the Clubs, he jumped straight up to Talon Rings. He finished those in seconds. Skipping across the Jade tortoise, Po flipped into the Wooden Warriors. He was a blur of black and white, as he sped through them. Every movement, every block, every step was near perfection. After escaping the sea of warriors, Po slid onto the fiery field. He easily made it through the pillars of fire, not once did a flame come within a foot of his being. Performing a backflip out of the field, Po landed gracefully on the safety of the dojo's wooden floor.
He took a quick glance at the timer across the room and smiled. He had improved since the last time, shaving off roughly 3.50 seconds. Glancing at the leader board on the left wall of the Training Hall, he looked at the other's times. The leader board had been added, for "motivational" and "entertainment" purposes; according to Shifu.
A few weeks after they had returned from the panda village, either Mantis or Monkey (Po couldn't remember) had come up with the idea. Naturally, it sparked a debate on who was better? Viper thought it could be fun, Crane was neutral, and Tigress approved, because of her competitive nature.
The board had two major categories, weekly scores and all-time scores. These two groups were divided into four events, (training course time, mile time, bench press max, and squat max). All-time scores were permanent until they were broken. Weekly scores would be erased every week and the winner(s) of the week would be allowed to skip chores and have an extra day off in the next week. It was an efficient system, which proved to be successful. The Five were showing remarkable improvement week-in, week-out.
Surprisingly, Tigress didn't win every week. Some weeks Mantis would beat her at the training course, or Crane would be faster during the mile run. However, she still held every single all-time record. Her all-time scores proved to be "untouchable". No one could come within ten seconds of her training hall time at 1:34.00 minutes. No one could come within half a minute of her mile time at 2:37.00 minutes. Her bench press and squat were 275 and 315 pounds respectively, none of the Five came close.
While the Five enjoyed this new found challenge, Po tried to distance himself from it. It was a petty competition that he wanted no part of; he'd rather complete his chores, and he didn't need the extra days off. He never recorded his scores on the leaderboard or for the sake of the competition. He would keep track of them to mark his progress for improvement, nothing more. He had voiced his displeasure to Shifu in private about the matter.
*Flashback*
Po barged into the Hall of Heroes to find Shifu peacefully meditating by the Moon pool.
"Evening Dragon Warrior," Shifu greeted calmly.
Po was irritated beyond measure.
"You've got to be kidding me right? Turning our training into some kind a competition!" the panda fumed.
Shifu just sat there breathing in and out in a meditation stance. A few minutes passed by before he said anything.
"Come, we can talk by the peach tree," the Grandmaster replied with a wry smile.
He stood up slowly and walked towards the double doors, motioning for Po to follow. Po let out an exasperated sigh and followed the red panda into the night.
They made their way to the peach tree after minutes of walking in silence. Shifu sat down in front of tree and patted the spot next to him. The Dragon Warrior raised an eyebrow and walked over to Shifu.
"I'll stand," the panda grunted.
"Suit yourself."
"Well? Care to explain your reasoning?" Po asked impatiently.
Instead of answering immediately, Shifu let out a content sigh and looked up into the night sky. It was a painted black canvas, illuminated by millions of stars; there was no other way to describe it; it was beautiful.
"Isn't the night sky beautiful?" Shifu asked.
Po would usually agree, however he wasn't in the mood to star gaze.
"You didn't answer the question," Po snapped.
Shifu was seemingly unbothered by the younger master's outburst. He simply turned around and lightly tapped the tree with his jade staff before setting it back in his lap. Seconds later, two peaches fell into his awaiting palms.
"Peach?" he offered to the normally voracious panda.
Po just crossed his arms and let out a huff. Shifu smiled at the younger man's resolve.
"More for me then," the grand master chuckled before taking a bite out of one. Po took a deep breath to calm himself. Before he could say anything, Shifu beat him to it, "Why turn training into a competition you ask?" Po nodded sharply.
Shifu gave a faint smile, "Let me answer your question with a question. Why does it bother you?"
"We train and push ourselves to become better in order to save people, not for our personal benefit!" Po protested.
"The Furious Five are showing remarkable improvement," Shifu assured him.
"The Furious Five are losing sight of what really matters!" Po warned him vehemently.
The two stared at each other. The grand master a peaceful gaze, compared to the Dragon Warrior's harsh one. Eventually, Po looked off into the distance and closed his eyes; trying to regain composure.
Po returned his gaze to Shifu and looked deeply at him before speaking, "The Furious Five was your idea, was it not?"
Shifu gave the bear a questioning look before shaking his head, "The Furious Five isn't just the current group. It isn't just the warriors. It was-."
Po cut him off, "It was the idea…to bring together a group of, remarkable people…to see if they could become something more."
The panda looked away from the grand master and strode towards the end of the cliff's ledge.
Looking down towards the Valley of Peace, Po sighed.
"To see if they could work together…so when the people needed them…they could fight the battles…that no one else could," he finished.
Shifu smiled in admiration of his latest student.
'Such wisdom and morality for someone so young,' the grandmaster thought in wonder.
Turning around, Po looked at Shifu, "If you want to continue this competition, so be it. It's your decision, not mine. But I want no part of it. Good night master," he stated, ending their conversation.
The bear swiftly walked past Shifu and exited down the stairs towards the barracks. Shifu was left sitting there with a slight smile upon his face. Using his staff to help himself to his feet, Shifu looked up into the night sky.
"You really did make the right decision, master," Shifu gently conceded.
*End of Flashback*
Despite Po's protest, the leaderboard competition continued, and he eventually came to accept it; though he never took part in it. Besides, the others seemed to be proud of their scores, especially Tigress. He didn't want to have to tell the female master that her scores weren't as unbeatable as everyone believed.
Po had long passed up every one of Tigress's records by a distance, except the mile run; he hated the mile run. His training course time was now currently sitting at 1:23.00 minutes and both his bench and squat exceeded 350 pounds. He kept track of his scores in private to have reference of his improvement throughout the weeks.
Currently, the panda was striding towards the beginning of the course to start again. After about a dozen rounds on the course, he finished up and exited the hall.
The black sky was slowly, but surely fading away in the presence of the few golden sun rays peaking over the eastern mountains. Po gave a faint smile as he felt the warm rays touch his ruffled and sweaty fur. However, his smile faded away as something caught his eye. Po gazed at a patch of wilted flowers across the grounds in the gardens. It was nearing the end of autumn, and it was the time of year where all life fades away. He soon took a quick glance around the surrounding landscape within his range of sight. The mountain grass, the flowers, the trees, everything, seemed to have lost its lively glow that was present in the spring and summer.
Po's eyes widened and an idea formed. Deciding to put it into action, he took his inner-peace stance and began the work the familiar motions. His movement was flawless. His figure seemed to flow; graceful as water. His arms stopped at the center of his chest, he was still for a moment. Nothing happened for several seconds, before his palms began to light up in a golden energy. Po continued his movements substantially swifter, but just as effortless. The black and white warrior began to incorporate more complex actions like flips and spins into his style. Soon the golden aura from his palms surrounded the panda and he became an ever growing source of light.
From a distance he could have been mistaken for the sun itself. After several minutes of this, Po planted his knee into the ground in a crouching stance and clasped his hands together. All the brightness soon began to lose its intensity and eventually it faded away. Po quickly slammed his fist into the concrete grounds with his eyes closed in absolute concentration. Straightaway, an immensely powerful aura of Chi radiated around him before dispersing in a vast wave in all directions at an incredible speed. The wave passed over the entire Jade Palace in seconds, before spreading over the Valley of Peace. It traveled until it left the range of eyesight; dozens of miles away over the mountains. Po opened his eyes and stood up with a genuine smile. All the wildlife had been rejuvenated to its fullest and healthiest. The mountain grass was as green as his eyes again, and the trees and flowers had regained all their lost leaves and petals.
"Perfect," Po grinned, satisfied with his work.
'Meh, I've seen better,' Red said flatly.
Po's mood quickly soured, and he rolled his eyes at Red's indifference. After giving one last glance towards the now gorgeous landscape, the panda leisurely made his way down the stone path towards the kitchen and barracks. As he walked, he decided to make conversation with his 'alter self'.
"Why can't you enjoy things like wildlife and its beauty?" Po ridiculed the voice.
Red snorted in derision before responding, 'Please, there are countless things that are more interesting than wood and weeds.'
The panda frowned at this, "Like what?" he retorted indignantly. As soon as the words left Po's mouth he regretted it.
"No. Nevermi-" Po protested, desperately trying to avoid the inevitable before being cut off.
'Where do I begin?' Red interrupted.
'After all, girls have many beautiful things to be admired,' Red mused gleefully. Po wanted to bash his head against the ground. He was frustrated beyond belief, "You're a pervert!"
'I prefer sexually imaginative.'
Po shook his head in exasperation,
"I don't care what you call it! It's sick and disrespectful and-"
'Yeah, yeah, just shut up and listen, because it's time for a quick health lesson,' Red asserted.
'I don't need any lessons….I know how it all works," Po objected with less confidence this time.
'Oh really? So your goose dad taught you all about the birds and the bees. Right?'
"The what and the what?" Po asked bewildered. There was a long silence as the bear continued his walk through the Jade Palace grounds.
Finally, he heard Red groan, '…Looks like I have my work cut out for me.'
The walk back towards the barracks was normally just several minutes. However, with Red constantly prattling about female anatomy, it seemed like several hours. Po was thanking the gods when Red finally shut up; seemingly satisfied with his success in relieving Po of his innocence.
The scarlet faced panda was so distracted, that he almost missed the voices and laughter as he walked past the kitchen. Halting his movement, he turned back around to find that it was occupied by the others. Po walked back towards the kitchen and entered through the doorway. As soon as the panda entered he detected a delicious aroma in the room.
"Morning guys," he greeted.
"Morning," the others returned, giving him a quick glance before focusing back on a lively Saber as he described one of his adventures.
"So there I was, trapped in a room with four lunatics and nothing but a pair of chopsticks. I was alone, no back-up, and these guys were out for my skin…" Saber told animatedly.
The Five were on the edge of their seats, much like children.
"What happened?" Viper squealed.
"Well, I managed to disable one of them, but they were tough mercenaries, much more dangerous than your average criminal. And to make it worse, my chopsticks broke," he continued.
"Hey guys what's that—" Po tried to asked.
"Shhhhh!" the others hushed him.
Po threw up his hands in defeat.
Predicting that he would have to wait until Saber was finished, he rested against the doorway, careful to avoid the kitchen knife still embedded in the wall. He wanted to sit down, but he couldn't since Saber had 'borrowed' his chair. He had tried to find an extra chair in the storage rooms last night, but surprisingly there were none.
'How the hell does an entire palace not have an extra chair? It's ludicrous!' Red complained. Po silently agreed.
"Where was I? Oh yeah, so I was outnumbered, cornered, and weaponless. I had to get out of there! I managed to avoid the first two; however the third hit me with his mace and sent me flying out the window off the fifteenth floor!"
The group went silent before bursting with noise.
"No way!"
"Wow!"
"Interesting."
The next comment however silenced the rest.
"You fell? Did you fall to your death? You fell to your death didn't you?" Mantis exclaimed in anxiety.
Everyone gave Mantis a questioning look, even Po, who was standing away from the group.
Mantis looked indignant, "What? It's a legitimate question!" he argued.
Saber gave him a confused smile, "No, thankfully I managed to land in a hay cart below. A bit lucky on my part."
Everyone laughed at this and began talking amongst themselves. While the Five conversed, Saber turned to Po, "Hey man, what did you ask a second ago?"
Po hesitated, "What is that smell?"
Saber frowned momentarily before smiling.
"Oh! It's the congee I cooked. You weren't here this morning and I know a thing or two about cooking, so I whipped up a quick meal for everyone. I think there's some left on the stove if you want it," the white tiger replied assuredly.
Po nodded in thanks before passing the table of warriors to the counter where a pot sat. It had barely half a cup left in it, if even that. The panda sighed before pouring the small amount into a bowl and quickly eating it. He had to begrudgingly admit that it was absolutely delicious.
"Do you like it?"
Po turned around to see Saber looking at him expectantly. For a moment Po considered acting indifferent before dispelling the notion. It tasted amazing and he couldn't disrespect the effort Saber made in making it. In fact, his dad had once asked him to make congee and it was a nightmare to cook.
"Yeah, it's pretty good," Po returned with a smile.
Saber beamed at the approval before Mantis gushed, "Pretty good? It's incredible!"
Saber reddened at the insect's comment.
"I wouldn't say that," Saber muttered in slight embarrassment.
"Give yourself some credit," Crane put in.
Monkey nodded in agreement, "Seriously, after eating Po's soup I thought there would never be anything else close. Not only is it just as good; it's arguably better."
A fiery debate soon commenced after Monkey's controversial remark. The Five began arguing amongst each other while Po and Saber watched from the sidelines.
"Don't we get a say in this?" Po asked exasperatedly with Saber nodding in agreement.
"No!" the others all responded tenaciously.
The two black and white males looked at each other and just shrugged.
Mantis was adamant, "The soup is better!"
"No it's not!" Monkey fired back.
"Yes it is!"
"No it's not!"
"Is!"
"Not!"
"Shut up you ugly ape!"
"You shut up shorty!"
The two master's heated glares cut through the air as they stared at each other across the table.
"How about we put it to a friendly vote?" Viper suggested trying to keep the calm.
Mantis and Monkey looked over to the serpent, before cooling down and nodding, but not before betting each other fifty almond cookies to whoever won the vote.
Mantis was first, "I vote for Po. I mean the congee is good, awesome even, but the noodle soup is divine sustenance from the gods above!" he stated resolutely.
Monkey came second, "Sorry, but the congee is just better. I vote Saber," the golden langur countered.
Both Po and Saber watched in interest as the other warriors voted. Saber was smiling seemingly enjoying the debate; however Po just had a slight crease in his brow.
"I agree, Po's soup is amazing but this congee gives a spark that the soup has lost over the past couple years, so I vote for Saber," Crane piped in.
Viper was silent for a moment with a thoughtful look on her face. After several seconds she voiced her opinion, "I think that while Saber's congee is tasty, Po's soup is richer and more flavorful. So I vote for the soup."
The voting tied at two for each. Everyone snapped their heads to Tigress, who had been relatively quiet during the entire affair. The feline master seemed to be in rather deep thought as she stared out the window at the valley below.
*Ahem*
Tigress spun to see everyone looking at her keenly.
In truth she had stopped listening to the others' conversation after Saber had finished his story.
The female tiger had more pressing matters to deal with. She had wanted to talk with Shifu about them the other day, but he had left. And now she couldn't find him anywhere this morning. The others continued to stare at her, wanting an answer for whatever they had been squabbling about earlier.
"What?" she asked, trying to retain whatever was left of her dignity.
"Which is better the soup or the congee?" Viper asked neutrally.
Meanwhile, Monkey and Mantis were behind the snake signaling Tigress to vote for their respective sides.
Tigress held a perplexed look upon her face, as she watched the two immature masters waving and pointing at themselves.
'Congee or soup? What soup? Did Saber also cook soup?' she thought in uncertainty.
After a few moments of thinking, Tigress concluded that Saber must have cooked soup while she was zoned out.
"The congee I guess, but I haven't tried the—" Tigress began before being blared out by Monkey. He had begun howling in laughter while doing a victory dance over the dejected form of Mantis.
"Haha! Saber for the win! Guess who owes me fifty almond cookies!" Monkey sang in rejoice.
The others all rolled their eyes and smiled at his antics.
"Whatever," Mantis grumbled.
Everyone laughed at this except for Tigress, who was beyond confused at this point and Po, who had a blank look on his face. Recovering from his stupor, the panda hushed the group.
"Okay guys enough fun and games, it's training time," Po announced before heading out the door, soon followed by the others.
Tigress was in the back of the group as they walked to the training hall. She was left thinking over the matter of her current 'problem' that needed to be discussed with the grandmaster.
'Maybe Po knows where Shifu is," she thought. The feline quickened her pace until she was level with the panda.
"Po, I was wondering if you knew where Shifu is. None of us could find him this morning."
He looked at her in surprise, "Did he not tell you?"
Tigress shook her head.
"Well, he left to Gongmen for a meeting with the other grandmasters. He told me he wouldn't be getting back for several weeks- at the least," the panda explained.
The feline master frowned at this.
'Great! I'll have to wait for weeks until I can talk with him,' she internally cursed.
Noticing the frustrated look on Tigress's face, Po voiced his worry, "You okay?"
Tigress looked up to see Po's jade eyes filled with concern.
"Yes, I'm fine Po," she lied convincingly, remaining composed on the outside.
However, on the inside, Tigress had butterflies. It was always nice when Po gave her special attention. She had always been derelict as a child, both from the orphanage and from Shifu. Po had been the first person in her life to show that he truly cared; even when she tried to push him away. Over time, she had not only come to accept his care but relish in it (secretly of course).
'Always looking out for me, big idiot,' she internally smiled.
The group eventually arrived at the entrance to the training hall.
"Where's teach?" Saber asked offhandedly, looking around for the red-panda in question.
The others shrugged, except Po and Tigress.
"Master Shifu, is on a business trip in Gongmen City, and he won't be returning for several weeks," Po informed the others curtly. He then opened the doors and entered the hall; the others following close behind.
After turning on the equipment and igniting the braziers, everyone began to stretch and warm up. As per usual Saber wouldn't shut up.
"Who's instructing if Shifu's gone?"
Everyone pointed towards Po, who was sitting quietly behind them, before resuming their stretches.
The white tiger raised an eyebrow before shrugging and returning to his stretch as well.
Po had his eyes shut in concentration as he sat behind the group.
'Inner Peace,' he murmured.
'Damn!'
Po let out a quiet sigh in defeat as he was brought out of his peaceful trance. What was Red up to now?
'What?' he thought in irritation.
'Okay, okay, look directly eleven o'clock,'
Po internally rolled his eyes, before opening them. He then swiftly glanced over at his eleven o'clock, only to see Monkey bending over, his pants with a slight tear in them revealing his heart underwear. The panda visibly gagged at the scene he had just witnessed before snapping his eyes shut in disgust.
'Ew! What the hell!' Po mentally berated Red.
'Oops! My bad, I meant your 2 o'clock,' he responded sheepishly.
Po opened his eyes again, this time more with more caution, and turned his head towards his two o'clock. His brain stopped functioning shortly after.
Tigress was bent over touching her toes as she stretched; her normally loose training pants straining around her shapely rear.
Po swiftly turned his head away, his face burning.
'Are you gay or something?'
"You need to stop," Po grumbled. He shut his eyes once again and tried to dispel the image of the female master's figure. It was difficult enough to ignore Tigress without Red's goading.
After the masters finished their warm up, Po put them to work on the training course as he supervised. Saber watched in admiration as the Five moved through the course. However, not used to waking up this early, the tiger's eyes began to droop.
Meanwhile, Po thoroughly examined the Five as they glided through the training course. Each warrior embodied a near perfect physical ability. Mantis was speed. Viper was flexibility. Monkey was agility. Crane was balance. Tigress was strength.
"Finish, and to the Front!" Po announced. As the panda waited for them to finish he heard a droning sound.
"Zzzzzzzzzz!"
The black and white warrior turned his head to see Saber in a deep slumber.
The Five eventually completed their stations. One by one, they made their way over to Po and stood at his attention in expectance. They were all breathing heavily from the brutal exercise. Po looked at them with a faint smile before speaking.
"Well guys I-"
"Zzzzzzzzzz!"
Po looked down exasperatedly at the restful form of Saber. The feline snorted a few more times before becoming silent. The Five stifled giggles as Po massaged his temples in annoyance.
"As I was saying, you guys are-"
"Zzzzzzzzzz!"
'Please shut him up. Gag him, collapse his lung, something!' Red groaned.
Po took a deep breath to calm himself before bending over and nudging Saber. The white tiger didn't even stir. After several tries, Po was about ready to slap the napping feline before Tigress intervened. She had seen that Po was about to snap, and she'd rather not have Saber on the end of the rare wrath of the Dragon Warrior.
Kneeling over him she said in a firm yet soothing voice, "Saber wake up, now."
No one expected anything to happen, so it came as a surprise when he woke up promptly after Tigress's command.
"I'm up!" the male tiger blurted in a groggy voice as he shot up tripping over himself into a standing position.
Tigress smiled and rolled her eyes before walking back to where the five were standing. Po, whose arms were crossed, looked back from Saber to the others.
"To keep it short, your improvement has been incredible! Your forms are near perfection now," he said briefly in a positive manner, not wanting to be interrupted again.
'Actually, Viper constantly leaves her head exposed, which will result in head trauma. Monkey's tail is a terminal weakness in his form. Mantis never checks his six, leaving him open to a rearward attack. Crane never utilizes his legs, disable his wings and he's useless. Tigress is extremely arrogant and her form entirely disregards any substantial defense. Target her kneecaps, because she exposes them constantly,' Red listed off.
Po gritted his teeth, 'Do you have to dispute everything I say?'
'Only when you're wrong. So…yeah.'
The panda was brought out of his internal conversation by a comment from Mantis.
"Yeah, well, we still aren't any closer to beating Tigress's time."
The others shrugged. None of them had gotten close to the female tiger's best course time.
Monkey scratched his head, "Well yeah, it's unbeatable!"
"It definitely is impressive."
"I can't even get within half a minute of it."
Tigress smiled proudly at this. Saber, who had been half-asleep, was now fully awake and extremely interested.
"What's her time?" he asked intrigued.
"Like a minute and forty seconds," Mantis answered.
"Actually it's a minute and thirty-four seconds," Tigress responded knowingly.
"Whatever."
Saber gave an audible hum and his gaze gravitated over to the course. After a few moments of inspection, he clasped his hands together.
"Can I give it a go?"
The others raised their eyebrows at this.
The last time someone other than the Five or Po had attempted the course was a few weeks after the Kai incident. He had been a cocky transfer student from the Shanxi Province. Jiao, a fox trainee, had been sent to the Jade Palace for a final examination before being bestowed the title of 'Master'.
*Flashback*
Po and the Five were in the middle of the training course when Shifu entered briskly through the doors. Immediately, they abandoned their stations and bowed in attention.
"Yes master?" they asked in unison.
Shifu waved his hand in dismissal, "Relax, there is-"
"A threat to the valley that needs to be taken down! Don't worry master; I'm so ready, let's go kick some tail!" Po bellowed, interrupting the red panda.
The Dragon Warrior was about to head out, before being stopped short by Shifu's staff poking him forcefully in the gut, knocking the air out of him.
While Po wheezed, trying to re-fill him emptied lungs, Shifu continued where he left off.
"As I was saying, there is an arrival of a Trainee from one of the provinces. He goes by Jiao. He should be here any moment. Your job is to evaluate him and make sure he's ready to become a Master."
Shortly after Shifu had finished, there was a knock at the door.
"I got it!" Po announced, jogging over to the door. He took hold of the handle and tugged but the door didn't move.
"Huh?" the panda muttered in confusion. He quickly checked to make sure none of the locks were in place before trying again. It still wouldn't open.
"What the heck?" Po grumbled in frustration.
He soon braced his feet against the wall and grabbed the handle with both his hands.
"ARgggg!"he grunted in exertion, pulling the door with all his might, but the damn thing wouldn't budge.
Meanwhile, the Five and Shifu just watched their friend as he struggled with the simplistic task of opening a door. Tigress face palmed in exasperation, Shifu had a dead pan look on his face, Viper and Crane just shook their heads.
Mantis smirked in amusement, "Should we inform him that the workers made the new training hall doors open outwards?"
Monkey stifled a laugh, "We should…but this is too funny."
Po was blue in the face before letting go of the door handle.
"Stupid door!" he yelled, before push kicking it with all his might, not expecting anything to happen. However, the door forcefully swung open at a blinding speed.
THUD!
Everyone winced at the sound. Po nervously looked out the doorway. No one was there.
"False alarm, no one's here," Po huffed in embarrassment.
Shifu and the others strode past him outside and looked around. Surely enough, the court yard was uninhabited.
"Uhh," a groan came from behind the door.
Shifu promptly walked over and swung the door away from the wall. Wedged between the wall and door was Jiao, a red fox.
Everyone gave Po a dirty look.
He just chuckled uneasily, "Uh, my bad."
The fox soon recovered from his daze and they soon realized that he was a complete brat.
"Are you alright?" Shifu asked kindly.
Jiao just gave him a snarky look before replying, "Do I look fine, gramps?!"
Everyone was left in shock of the young man's disrespect.
"What are you guys staring at? You jealous? Never seen someone so handsome before? I can't really blame you; I would be extremely depressed if I was half as ugly as any of you."
If his impudence before had left them shocked, this had left everyone speechless, except for Tigress.
"Watch your tongue, you are speaking with the Furious Five, Dragon Warrior, and Grandmaster of the Jade Palace," she warned impatiently.
"This is the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior? Well, I have to say that I'm not very impressed," Jiao drawled.
He then leisurely walked into the training hall. The others hurriedly followed him into the hall. Po had been staring at his feet for the past minute and looked up to see everyone had gone inside the training hall, everyone except Tigress. With an irritated look, she marched over to Po. The panda gulped in fear.
'Uh-oh, here it comes,' Po mentally grimaced.
Tigress stopped in front of him, she was tight-lipped and it felt as if her eyes were burning holes into his soul.
"Po," she whispered disturbingly calm.
"Yes?"
"Next time…Kick the door harder," she finished before walking inside.
Po let out a sigh of relief before following her.
When he entered, he saw the fox warming up in front of the course. The Five and Shifu were watching with dark smiles. Po raised an eyebrow before joining them.
"What'd I miss?"
Monkey chuckled maliciously, "Pretty boy is going to try out the training course."
"Don't worry, he's so good he'll do it flawlessly on his first try," Mantis said mockingly.
Even Viper; normally sweet Viper, had an evil grin adorning her face, "This is gonna be good."
Shifu, Tigress, and Crane were quiet, but you could see anticipation seeping off them.
Jiao not hearing a word of their conversation, smirked in confidence, "This course looks like it was built by a five year old. It's gonna be a breeze."
Shifu just gave him a sinister smile, "Ready…Begin!"
*End of Flashback*
In short, Jiao's attempt at the course was a disaster. No one had ever failed so miserably; besides maybe Po on his first try. Jiao was supposed to stay with them for several weeks. Much to their relief, he was gone within a few days back home, sporting several fractures, a twisted knee, a concussion, and a plethora of other injuries he'd acquired from failing the course.
The course was one of the most difficult in all of China. It was built to train the most infallible warriors; it was not to be taken lightly.
The others contemplated whether they should let Saber try or not.
Po eventually voiced an answer, "Sure, why not?"
The Five gave him a look of disbelief. Honestly, he was quite curious to see whether Saber was skillful enough to run the course. Although he was a mercenary, that didn't necessarily equate Kung Fu skill.
"Sweet. Thanks man," Saber beamed as he gave Po a thumbs up.
As soon as the white tiger walked over to the start of the course, the Five gathered around Po. He couldn't get a word out before being bombarded with their concerns.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"What if he gets injured?"
"This could end badly."
Po waved them off.
"Guys, guys, he's a trained fighter, I'm sure he is very capable. Have some faith in your friend," he advised.
"You guys ready?" Saber called. They all quickly turned to watch him, their eyes glued to his figure. Mantis went over to the timer, ready to start it.
Po held up his hand, "Ready…Begin!" and his arm went down, signaling the start.
Mantis started the clock and Saber took off in an instant.
The Five watched in awe as he zipped through the course. His form was a blur as he sped through the swinging clubs and then the talon rings. He skipped along the edge of the jade tortoise before expertly weaving through the wooden warriors. Finally, he jumped through the fiery field and landed on the platform.
"Time!" Po announced.
The Furious Five were in complete awe of the skills demonstrated by Saber.
Mantis burst out laughing, "Hahahaha, he beat Tigress's time!"
This raised everyone's eyebrows. Monkey rushed over to Mantis and looked at the timer before breaking out in a happy dance. Viper slithered over and Crane followed, they both glanced at the time.
Viper gave a faint smile, "Wow."
"That is quite impressive." Crane nodded in agreement.
Tigress and Po walked over and they both saw the time.
Tigress huffed in slight annoyance but eventually she broke out into a smile. Po just tilted his head.
'Not bad' he thought.
Saber's time was exactly 1:33.00 minutes.
The Five were enthralled about this.
"You've got to teach us some of those moves man!" Monkey exclaimed, patting the tiger on the back.
The others soon agreed eagerly.
"I second that!"
"Definitely!"
"Some advice would be generous."
Saber just smiled before waving his hands in a calming manner.
"I would be glad to, as long as it's okay with the big guy."
He quickly looked at the panda on his right. Po shrugged his shoulders in a neutral manner.
"If that's what you guys want."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the five circled around Saber, and began asking him questions.
"How did you do that spin?"
"Have you ever practiced on a course like this before?"
"Can you show us that flip you did at the beginning?"
Saber quickly interrupted the bombardment, "Whoa, Whoa, one at a time!"
The masters soon zipped their lips and began listening intently as the white tiger began answering their queries.
Po just watched the scene with a raised eye-brow. They were never this enthusiastic when he was teaching.
'Whatever,' Po dismissed the topic.
Seeing no point in staying any longer, he turned around and left through the doors.
The Dragon Warrior was greeted by a cool breeze as he exited the hall. The sun was high in the sky now, and it shone intensely, warming Po's fur from the late autumn weather.
After filling his lungs with fresh mountain air, Po let out a deep sigh.
'What to do now?' he thought.
He began to walk around the vast palace aimlessly. A bored look was plastered on his face, as he ambled. After passing through the hall of heroes, his gaze came across the scroll room. He had always hated reading the scrolls, preferring to just do Kung-Fu rather than read about it.
However as time had gone on, he had learned the importance of learning new techniques and reading through them.
'Why not?' Po mentally shrugged before entering the room.
It seemed more spacious than the last time he had been inside. Then again, it had been demolished and rebuilt, so an exact replica of the former room wasn't very likely.
"How many scrolls are in here?" he wondered aloud.
'Including the scrolls of Kung-Fu? Roughly two thousand, five hundred twenty-five,' Red responded dully.
"How-" Po asked before being cut off.
'I heard big-ears rambling about it the other week.'
Po shut up after this and just scanned the rows upon rows of scrolls. He was way behind in this department. The others didn't read very often, but compared to him, they were scholars.
Monkey was the worst of the five with only 152 scrolls under his belt. He followed closely behind Viper, who had read 167 scrolls. Next was Mantis with 201 scrolls and Crane with 274 scrolls. In first place unsurprisingly, was Tigress, with a whopping 945 scrolls; more than the others combined. These numbers absolutely decimated Po's pitiful 13 scrolls read.
Sighing, Po walked up to the front shelf and pulled out scroll number 14. He turned around and strolled over the lounge chair before plopping down.
'Better get started. I've got a lot of catching up to do,' he thought drearily.
Shifu wiped a bead of sweat from his greying brow. He closed his eyes listening to the calm current of the river, parting against the bow of the passenger ship; a vessel in which he had traveled for the last stretch of his trip. As the boat glided around the final stretch of the river, the towering mountain range along the canal ended, resulting in a wave of sunlight.
The aging grandmaster shielded his eyes from the sudden harsh rays being emitted from the golden orb in the sky.
"Port arrival in ten minutes!" yelled the captain from above.
Ahead of them stood a gorgeous city of architecture and edifices ahead of its time. The sunlight reflected off the metropolitan area, resulting in a remarkable display of beauty.
After several days of voyaging he had finally made it; Gongmen City.
The ten minutes passed by in the blink of an eye and the boat docked on the front end of the harbor.
Shifu grabbed his travel pack, before rummaging inside and retrieving a substantial sack of yuan. The red-panda then walked toward to exit of the boat, where the captain was waiting.
The captain was a peculiar fellow. Jeffrey was his name. He was a beaver, most likely in his late thirties, with one of the strangest accents that Shifu had ever encountered. He wasn't from around here either. According to the Jeff, he was from far out west across the endless Indian Ocean. As delusional as he sounded, he was quite amusing, so Shifu put up with him despite his antics.
The beaver gave the older man an awkward hug, before putting him down and showing a crooked smile.
"It's been an hona grandmasta! I wish yuh luck on da rest of yo journey," Jeff slanged.
After dusting himself off, Shifu gave the beaver a deep bow in thanks.
"No the honor is mine. You've provided me a welcome and…interesting experience to say the least," Shifu replied with a faint smile, handing over the sack of coins.
Jeff just shook his head, "No need for dat good sir. Providin a service fo' a noble masta such as yo self is payment enough."
Shifu gave a faint look of surprise before gently, but forcefully placing the sack of money in the beaver's hands, "I insist."
Beaver scratched the back of his head in bashful manner, "Well I say dis is one of da dern nicest things anyone's eva done fo' me. Is it really mine?"
"Absolutely, it's yours to spend."
"Well gosh darn! I sure old Betsy could use some patchin' up. Don't yuh dearie?" Jeff rattled on before giving the worn out boat a couple of pats.
Instantly, one of the hanging lanterns broke off and fell down; shattering on the deck.
Jeff just stared blankly at the spot. Shifu gave a brief smile before exiting out of the boat onto the pier. As planned, waiting on the pier was Grandmaster Ox's new apprentice, ready to escort him to the palace.
A snow leopard in her teens, she was wearing a light blue silk training vest embroidered with white trimming; Nicki was her name.
"Hello grandmaster! It's an honor to meet you in person," she beamed. The feline quickly bowed in respect for the elder master.
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well," Shifu returned giving her a slight nod.
Soon after, he went over his mental checklist to make sure he had all of his belongings before looking back to her, only to see her intently looking around behind him.
"Is something the matter, my dear?" he inquired.
The female apprentice was jolted by Shifu's voice. She soon recovered and gave him an inquisitive look.
"Oh! I was just wondering where the Dragon Warrior is. I was informed he would be joining you on your travel and I've been looking forward to meeting him in person."
"Naturally," Shifu grumbled.
"What was that?"
Shifu gave her a polite smile, "Unfortunately, the Dragon Warrior needed to remain and watch over the valley in my absence."
"Oh," Nicki murmured, seemingly deflated.
Shifu felt rather rotten. He now remembered that Master Storming Ox had requested the Dragon Warrior's presence due to Nicki's eagerness to be acquainted with the panda. The grandmaster had promised that Po would accompany him on his trip, initially.
However, after Saber's unexpected arrival, Shifu had realized that Po remaining in the valley would be wise. After all, he was sure that the five other masters would be preoccupied catching up with their former friend. Po was just the fail-safe. Better to be safe than sorry.
Back to the present, Shifu gave an apologetic shrug which seemed to go unnoticed. After a few moments of awkward silence Nicki let out a frustrated sigh.
"I suppose we should get going. Follow me," she concluded, far less zealous than before.
The feline then turned tail and headed off down the street, with Shifu in tow.
As one could guess, the combination of an elder and adolescent isn't ideal for conversation. This led to uncomfortable silence and awkward attempts at discussion. Adding to the fact that Shifu was never gifted in small talk, and Nicki was in a sour mood.
Shifu made an effort to start small talk, "The weather is nice today."
"I guess," the feline returned dully.
Not satisfied with her answer, the grandmaster tried a different route, "Do you like Gongmen?"
"Sure."
Shifu was grasping straws at this point. He was now severely regretting not taking Po up on his 'lessons' that he'd offered the older master a few weeks ago. Being a natural socializer, the panda had offered to help his master become more skilled in verbal communication, especially with the younger generation. Unwittingly, he'd declined Po's offer, deeming it unnecessary. Oh, how wrong he was.
'Think, Shifu. What would Po say?' the red-panda thought desperately.
"Do you have a favorite food?" Shifu finally managed to spit out.
Nicki shrugged in an uninterested manner, "Not really."
Shifu gave up after this.
'Forget it! Next time I'll just bring that blasted panda. I'm getting too old for this,' Shifu scowled mentally.
The duo continued to make their way through the crowded streets of Gongmen towards the reconstructed Gongmen Tower, where the Council of Masters was waiting.
Little did they know that a pair of ominous, pitch-black eyes was watching them.
The figure smiled, "Excellent."
A/N: Whew! Finished with Chapter 4! Do you guys like all of the flashbacks or do you find them annoying? Feel free to applaud or criticize me to your heart's content in the reviews.
Hope you all enjoy and I'll catch you later!
Frost2001 out.