Control
Tigress was, this time, absentmindedly punching the dummies, not noticing Po coming. He stopped one of her punches, making her look to her side, where the panda offered an understanding smile. "I know why you're upset," Po said. Tigress shook it off and continued punching.
"You know nothing about me, Po," She replied coldly.
"Listen, I know that there is a lot changing around you. Vince coming, Viper and I getting new bodies, Mantis leaving, it's a lot to take in," Po said as Tigress still kept on punching. "But trust me when I say it will get better." Po stopped her punch again. Tigress sighed and left the dummy alone. "Meow." Tigress heard a noise come from Po. Po covered his mouth.
"What was that?" Tigress wondered.
"Um...nothing nothing at all!" Po lied to the teeth, "I'm um...just going to go underneath the Sacred Peach Tree to meditate."
"You mean eat?" Tigress corrected as he ran out the door.
"Whatever!" Po shouted back. Po ran up to the Sacred Peach Tree. "Whew! That was close. I have to get control of this," Po spoke to himself. He sat down and breathed in deeply.
In his mind, Po saw complete darkness, except for a spot light that seemed to shine down on him. Po looked around to see nothing but darkness. Then in the darkness, he saw two beady jade eyes. The eyes came forward to reveal a big white and black tiger on its hands and feet growling at Po. Po slowly stepped to the side as the tiger did the same. Po was scared. Then the tiger pounced on Po.
Po shot up awake. He looked around him. His surroundings had changed. He was no longer at the Sacred Peach Tree. He was down by a riverside, though not being wet. He knew where he was, but the strange thing was that it was dark. He should have arrived in bed. He went back to the village, where he could see people cleaning up some serious wreckage.
"What happened here?" He asked one of the villagers.
"It was that tiger. He was down here fighting off some bandits, and then he seemed to go crazy. Like he lost control of his mind," the villager said. Po was frightened. He raced up the stairs of the Jade Palace where he saw Monkey lying down on his bed in bandages.
"What happened?" Po asked. The whole room turned to him.
"Po! Where were you? There were bandits down the mountain and you weren't here!" Shifu exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Master Shifu. I was meditating. Something...went wrong. What happened to Monkey?"
"He was battling those bandits when that tiger came. He started to help, but then he lost it and in his rampage he forced Monkey into a wall. He should be okay," Viper replied comfortably. Just then Vince and Leng found Po in the room.
"You. Me. Kitchen. NOW!" Vince said sternly. Po followed him out to the kitchen and sat down while Vince and Leng were pacing about.
"What happened?" Leng asked.
"That's the question that I've been asking for awhile now," Po replied.
"No jokes, Po. Something went wrong. You're never like this. I didn't even think you could go FANG at daytime. What were you trying to do?" Vince asked.
"I was trying to meditate. I was trying to get some control over this thing, but I couldn't. It lunged at me and I woke up at the river," Po explained, "Did I really do all of that?"
"Yes, and I fear you would do more if you didn't leave the village," Vince said. Po felt enormously guilty. Leng put his hand on the panda's shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll figure out how to control this thing," He said.
"Yeah, but I hope it's not too late before I do something really bad," Po said hopefully. Vince and Leng were the same. "I'm going to bed."
"Don't turn into the tiger," Leng suggested.
"I don't think I have a choice," Po said sadly as he went out the door.
Tigress had the midnight shift. She looked around to see no one was out on the streets. Nobody, but her. It could get very lonely on these nights. Suddenly, she heard a growl. She looked in the shadowy alley to see the big white and black tiger on all his fours. He had a kind face on, but Tigress wasn't buying.
"You! You hurt my friends," She said harshly. The tiger didn't take notice he just came up to her leg and rubbed his body against it. Tigress kicked him away. "Don't try and butter me up." Po was saddened by this. Tigress wondered why he had such a sad look on his face. "Why did you attack?" Po looked at the ground. "It wasn't your fault?" Tigress guessed. Po looked up immediately after she said that. He shook his head "Oh really? Then prove to me that you're sorry," Po came closer to her. "No," She said stepping back, "Show me someway that you're sorry," Po tilted his head for a moment. Then Po the tiger quickly stood on his hind legs, now taller than Tigress by 1/4 of a foot, and kissed Tigress on the lips. Tigress was shocked and didn't know what to do. As the tiger pulled away, he dashed off into the moonlight. Tigress just stood there wide eye.
"AAAAHH!" Po woke up shooting upright.
"Hello."
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Po screamed more looking at Vince sitting on a chair looking straight at him. "What happened?!"
"You're right, you have been asking that question a lot. I'm guessing you had a bad dream?" Vince asked.
"I had a dream where my tiger self met Tigress tonight and I kissed her," Po said slowly realizing it was only a dream.
"Hmmm, that would explain why she's acting the way she is," Vince muttered. Po darted his eyes at Vince.
"What are you talking about?" Po asked. Vince told him to follow him. Today was a festival were the villagers were coming to the Jade Palace, and the masters were decorating the Jade Palace. Tigress, especially, seemed a lot happier. She hummed a love song while hanging the ribbons. Crane, Viper, and Monkey all stood back in amazement as Po and Vince got there.
"What's wrong?" Po asked.
"I don't know, this is the happiest I've ever seen Tigress. She must be in love," Viper smiled. Vince snickered nudging Po in the arm.
"To a certain tiger we know," He snickered. But Po didn't seem amused. In fact, he seemed very angry and went out of the Hall of Heroes. Vince later found him punching away at the wooden dummies. "And you're upset because...?" Po stopped punching the dummies and sighed.
"I...I didn't want Tigress to be in love with a part of me that isn't me," Po said sadly.
"Why not? Your feline twin seems to like her," Vince said winking. Po looked furiously at him. Just then Tigress came by, happy as ever. She heard the two speaking to each other and she listened in.
"I just didn't want her to love him," Po said almost jealously.
"Why?" Vince asked.
"Because! She just met him and she already likes him! I've been here for how long and I've still seeking speaking terms?!" Po exclaimed.
"Oh! You're jealous," Vince said smirking. Po was incredulous.
"What! How am I suppose to be jealous of Fang Po!" Po said in an outburst. This took Tigress and Vince by surprise.
"'Fang Po'?" Vince asked.
"Yeah, his name is Fang Po," Po said.
"And you know this how? The guy never speaks," Vince wondered.
"I...just have a feeling," Po briefly explained going back to punching.
"Okay. Fang Po, I like that name," Vince said going out the other door. Tigress was at the other door. She came in to see Po still punching. Po stopped to realize it was her. They looked at each other for a look time.
"You're on more than speaking terms," Tigress argued. Po sighed out of embarrassment.
"Okay, okay. So I'm a little," Tigress gave him a look, "Okay a lot jealous. It's just difficult for this one."
"Why?" Tigress asked crossing her arms.
"It's just that...I...um..." Then Zeng came in.
"Song of the Ladies of the Shade is back," Zeng announced.
"Whew! Thanks Zeng. Wait WHAT?!" Po exclaimed as he just realized what he said. Pretty soon, a slim familiar feline figure came from behind Zeng. "Oh, Song! It's um...nice to see you again." The snow leopard looked at Po with a confused face.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before," Song replied. Tigress and Po looked at each with confused looked. Then Po slapped his head.
"OH! The body, right! I'm sorry. It is me, Po. I went under some physical changes lately," Po replied. Song's eyes widened. She ran up and hugged Po. Tigress stood by the side, watching in quiet rage.
"It's so good to see you, Po. Wow! You've lost a lot of weight," Song marveled, as her hand lightly touched his chest, "And grew some muscle." Tigress's glare was unbroken. Po noticed and smiled a little.
"Song, you've met Master Tigress before, right?" Po introduced, forcing Tigress to drop her glare into an emotionless face. The two felines bowed to each other.
"It is a pleasure to meet you again, Master Tigress," Song said hoping that she forgot the whole stealing incident.
"It's nice to see you too. You're not here to steal anything, right?" Tigress said menacingly. Po was unusually quiet in this dispute. Song frown and replied.
"No, and I'm sorry for what I've done. I'm just here for a visit. I've left the Ladies of the Shade at the campsite." Tigress's stare at the feline shown an unbelieving stare. It was banished when she looked at Po beside Song. His eyes had changed from their usual round greenness to slitted ones. He looked at the ground intently.
"Po?" Tigress said making Song look at the panda. Po continued to look at the floor. Tigress checked the floor to see nothing. "PO!" Tigress shouted snapping Po out of his trance.
"Wha?" He said in a daze. His slitted eyes went back to round green ones.
"Are you alright, Po? You looked like you were off somewhere," Song said. Po shook his head to get rid of the fuzziness.
"No, I'm fine. I...just blanked out," Po said reassuringly. "Fang Po is making me do some weird stuff," Po thought to himself. Then he saw Leng in the doorway.
"Oh Pooo," He singsonged in a smug little grin. He pulled out a ball of yearn. Po's eyes widened and went to slitted form.
"You wouldn't," Po said.
"Go on! Get the ball of yarn!" Leng said excitedly as Po suddenly rushed out the door and chased after the yearn. Leng laughed as they went out the door and down to Vince's secluded place.
"What was all that about?" Song asked as the two were still in the training hall.
"I have no idea," Tigress replied, but Song was still swooning.
"Man, Po has physically change for the better. It almost makes me sorry I'm married," Song said making Tigress look at her.
"Wait, you're married?" Tigress asked.
"Yes, why?" Tigress almost smirked.
"No reason, just...very interesting," She mused. Song still looked at the door.
"So aren't you going to get your boyfriend?" Song said looking at Tigress now. Tigress growled.
"He's NOT my boyfriend," She said angrily but still blushed. Song smiled mischievously at her.
"You should work on that," Song said as she exited the Training Hall through a different door, leaving Tigress to think about what she just said.
to be continued
Trivia
1. What happened to Po when he meditated?
2. Why was Tigress so happy?
3. What did Leng do to make Po act like a cat.
Answers for chapter 6
1. He was losing control and acting like a cat.
2. Red
3. Mantis