The Dragon Warrior Blues
I don't ask for a review often but I'd really appreciate a few for my story, I work hard on it and I want to hear what people thought of it, even if it's just a "It's good" it makes it worthwhile writing it if I know that people want to tell me what they think about it. People seemed to really like the changes I made to Tigress's character, I'm glad as I know it's a bit different and takes a while to get used to, admittedly it was weird writing her like this when I'm more used to her being a gruff, angry character.
Session #4 the Gongmen Shuffle
Tigress walked down the road panting heavily, it was incredibly hot and she had been walking for hours, as if to punctuate her misery her stomach growled loudly. "Oh shut up" she said to herself, she stopped for a second as her sensitive ears picked up a distant sound, it could have been her hunger, dehydration, boredom or that she hadn't spoken to anyone in days messing with her mind, but she believed she could hear movement.
She turned around and could have cried with relief when she saw a wagon in the distance coming down the road towards her, "YES! PEOPLE!" she yelled. Tigress quickly thought of an excuse she could use to guilt trip the people into giving her a ride to the nearest civilization, she pretended to interact with them.
"Hi, my names Tigress and I have a slight problem, I have been walking to find….well anything really for some time now, would you fine people consider letting me hitch a ride with you just for a little while?", she smiled when she had her story worked out and ran in the road and jumped up and down trying to get their attention.
The wagon completely ignored her and drove on, Tigress blinked for a few seconds to herself before the realization set it in on what had just happened, she face palmed. "DAMMIT! Why is everyone in such a hurry all of the time don't they know it's unhealthy?"
The tigress sighed and carried on walking, next time she would just steal some transport instead of appealing to people's hearts.
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Meanwhile
"Tao's specialty is 'Sea Ram'" said Ping looking over the menu again, Po scratched his head, "What's 'Sea Ram'?"
"It used to be a harvest-able food, it come out of the Gongmen Sea until they over-fished the stuff and then it became a delicacy only eaten by those with enough money to buy it". Po decided to ask the important question, "Does it taste good?" he asked whilst licking his lips, Ping looked over the menu at him with a frown, "It's totally disgusting, people only eat it now for status because it's "In" now".
Po and Ping were in Tao's restaurant which was a small, out of the way restaurant that was on the way to Gongmen, they were going there to try and find their next huge bounty, the 'delicacy' they were going to eat represented the last of the winnings they had reclaimed using their last chip.
The hungry panda looked at his menu and saw that the only thing that he could eat within his price range was a couple of prawns, his stomach turned at the thought of them. "Yuck, I hate prawns!"
Po sighed, "Well in that case" he put his menu down and leaned back in his chair, "I guess I'm out". Ping put his menu down too, "None of this matters anyway, we're here to get 'him'" Ping nodded towards an Ox sitting round a table surrounded by women, he wore an expensive suit, he looked like the kind of guy who was style over substance, who only cared about what other people thought of him and he was making a huge amount of noise.
"Oh yeah" Po said dejectedly, he was actually really hungry and had been looking forward to watching Ping pay for his food.
A couple of tables across from them sat a family…well to anyone else it would have looked like an average family, there was a majestic looking female peacock sitting at the head and further down the table sat other peacocks who looked like her sons.
She was picking at her food (A tidy salad) which gave her an air of pompousness and showed off her precision with a blade. Her "Sons" were tearing angrily at the messy, unrefined prawns that they had ordered.
One of the young peacocks looked up at her and spoke with a mouthful of food, "So, Gatler's a spy?" The female Peacock frowned at him, "Do not talk with your mouth full, not now not ever", the voice was quiet, calm, collected but gave off a coldness which commanded respect and authority.
The young peacock gulped nervously, "But Mom! There's nothing to worry about now right? I mean, we cut him and his family up into pieces", the barbarity of what he had just said didn't register at all with the rest of them who continued to eat.
"Mom" put her fork down and coughed into her hand politely, "No it doesn't matter" she agreed, "One lost Animade doesn't mean much. We'll continue as initially planned, but when things go wrong someone has to take responsibility" she glared at the peacock who had brought the conversation up, "Right Harrison?"
He start to pant heavily and his pupils dilated, the others peacocks felt bad for him but overtaking that was their foremost thought of happiness at not raising their voices. "B-but Mama!" Harrison pleaded.
"Mom" went to start another sentence but a loud "HEY WAITER! GET OVER HERE AND BRING ME MY FOOD RIGHT NOW!" "Mom" turned around slowly in her chair and saw that the culprit of the yelling was a large, dumb looking Ox surrounded by a load of different floozies.
She got up and slowly and walked over to him.
Over on the other table Po and Ping were still on surveillance. Po smirked, "Should we just go over and grab him? Or should we at least give him the courtesy of letting him finish whatever he's doing, I mean let's be honest when he's in Chor-Gom then he won't get much of a chance to be surrounded by food and women" Ping went to reply but something caught his attention.
"Hey Po, look at that", a female and arrogant looking peacock was slowly walking over to their target. "Who is that?" asked Po, Ping raised an eyebrow, "I think I've seen her somewhere before".
The Ox looked up, "What do you want lady?" "Mom" took out a fan and started to fan herself, "Sir, I must request that you restrain your vocal cords for just a few seconds, my family and I are trying to eat our meals and your obnoxious voice is distracting us" she said, again her voice was cold, calm and collected but it carried the same ice that it had when she was talking to Harrison.
The Ox snickered arrogantly, "And what if I don't want to lady, what if I-" he didn't finish his sentence, it had happened too quickly for him to react, "Mom" had slashed his throat with the fan she had been carrying, blood started to flow from his neck and fall onto the ground.
The Ox's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor, he had died instantly after the blow. The girls that had been sitting around him screamed, the panic seemed to affect everyone in the restaurant as if it were a tidal wave, as people started to see what had happened more people ran for their lives.
Po and Ping saw what had happened and ducked down in cover, "By the gods!" Exclaimed Ping, even though he had years of experience the goose rarely saw violence as extreme as this. Soon the restaurant was deserted with only the "Family" left and Po and Ping ducked in cover.
The family all came together and looked at what "Mom" had done, Harrison walked over with a smirk on his face, "Nice one Mom, that'll teach people to have proper table manners" he chuckled which in turn led to all of the peacocks laughing but "Mom" remained silent however, the blood ran over her feathered feet and stained the white, she was also still looking at the corpse with a mild disinterest.
As if on cue a light bulb went off in Ping's head, "I remember who she is!" He hissed at Po, after witnessing what she was capable of the panda replied without taking his eyes off of her, "What? Who is she?". "I saw her picture in 'Big Shot', it was the issue that had that tiger lady on the front cover. The report said that the gang leader known as "Mom" was quickly amassing a fierce gang of like- minded individuals that she referred to as her family, she thinks that the world is coming to an end and she's determined to see it off in style, most of her crimes leave multiple corpses or mass destruction. Only last week she destroyed a hospital! Her bounty is worth 25 Million!"
Po frowned, "She seems like a nasty piece of work" he smirked, "Still that 25 Million does sound enticing, I think the risk of death seems worth it for that kind of cash". Ping nodded, "I agree, let's wait and see what she does and we can improvise around her actions."
"Mom" wiped her fan on the Ox's pants, she smirked cruelly at his body, the other peacocks ran to the entrance and made sure that no one was in cover waiting to ambush her, they also check to see if any amateur bounty hunters or law enforcement were waiting outside for them, "Mom come on!" Yelled Harrison in a panic, the peacock glared at him icily, "Don't rush me you insolent little cur!"
She felt a knife press against her neck, "Oh I don't know Ma'am, I'd listen to the kid if I were you" Po quipped, he and Ping had moved and snuck up behind them, but Ping however stayed in cover just in case they got the drop on Po.
The peacocks started to surround Po, the panda pressed the blade harder against "Mom's" throat, "There there children take it easy. You don't want to see your dear old mom hurt do you?" Po sneered.
Po yelled over his shoulder to Ping, "Ping! I think we're fine here, just check Morgan's body to make sure we can't bring him in and get his reward too", the goose sighed at the panda's overconfidence and went to check, he felt for a pulse but he unsurprisingly didn't find one, "I don't know Po, I would of thought the knife wound to the neck would of tipped you off but my prognosis is that he's dead!" He yelled at Po sarcastically.
Po sighed, "That's a shame, and he was such a nice guy too, always giving to charities and looking after the less fortunate" the panda smiled at the back of "Mom's" head, "It's a shame that you killed our target, he was worth quite a bit of money. Fortunately you're worth quite a lot more, 25 million yen will bring in a lot of food for me!"
The peacocks started to become agitated due to Po's mocking, "If you hurt one hair on her head then we're going to make you pay!" said one of them, Harrison nodded, "Yeah! We're gonna tear you t-". "That's enough" said "Mom" she didn't yell but it caught their attention, "These people are professional bounty hunters, there's nothing you can do for now".
Po raised an eyebrow in surprised, he thought that he would have had a bit more fight than that considering everything Ping had told the panda about this peacock. The peacocks were despondent, "Mom!" one of them cried, Mom however remained cool as if the separation of her "Family" didn't bother her.
"Take care of the base while I'm away, and wait for my signal" she commanded, the peacocks nodded, she smiled softly at them showing real emotion for the first time, "Don't worry children, I'll be back in no time". Po heard the distant sounds of law enforcement, "I'd skedaddle if I were you fella's, you really don't want to be here when they show up" Po said referring to the police.
The peacocks went to leave but not before a final goodbye from Harrison, "Hang in there Ma!" She regained the cold look in her eye when he spoke, "That reminds me Harrison, you'll get your punishment later when I return." A chill went down the peacock's spine, he went to bolt but the others grabbed onto him and started to drag him back to base, "Mother! MOM!" He yelled in terror as they left.
Po watched them leave then returned his attention to "Mom", "Its Harrison's lucky day, he's not going to see 'Mom' for a while". "Mom" simply ignored him and allowed herself to be taken away without a fight. "Po we have to bring her to the place in Gongmen to claim our reward" explained Ping, Po rolled his eyes, "I always hate getting the region specific bounties; they always want people to be brought to them"
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Tigress rummaged through the wreckage looking for something to eat or drink, she had found the upturned cart after another three hours of walking. Tigress had actually thought she had gone insane for a little bit when she saw it just sitting there, on the off chance she wasn't going insane she decided to her indulge her potential insanity.
She almost wept with relief when she spotted an apple sitting on the ground, she rushed over to it, picked it up and without wasting anytime began to devour it, she wanted to savor the taste but her rumbling stomach refused to let her.
When she finished it she continued to look around to see if she could find any other useful things. After about ten minutes of searching she quit and decided to carry on down the road to find civilization.
A little way down from the wreckage she saw a sign that had been placed on the ground, graffiti covered it but she could just about read the message on it. "Gongmen City, 5 miles ahead" she said aloud, Tigress scratched her chin in thought, "Gongmen City? I've never been there before, I wonder why it sounds so familiar?"
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Po pushed the peacock onto the 'Bebop', Crane saw who they had brought aboard and frowned at Po, the panda shrugged at him, "What? She's worth a lot of cash" Crane continued to look at him knowingly, Po groaned and rubbed his face tiredly, "She's not going to be like Tigress I promise".
Ping pushed past Po and went to get the 'Bebop' moving, Po hoisted "Mom" up and bound her wings together with a nearby rope, Po looked up at her but she just glared at him coldly, the panda huffed and sat down opposite her.
An awkward silence fell over them all, Po was getting a sense of déjà vu as he remembered Tigress and decided to take the same approach with the peacock. "So what's with your 'family' back there?" he asked.
"Mom" sneered at him, "We are not a family; we are the protectors of China!" Po smirked and rolled his eyes, "Oh great, you're either a cult or you're environmental terrorists", "We are trying to save China from its own excess and filth" she declared, Po chuckled "Terrorists it is".
"Ok a serious question" Po leaned forward and looked her in the eye, "What does killing people, especially killing them as excessively as earlier have anything to do with trying to save China from itself?" Po was surprised as he got a small smile as a response, she beckoned with her wing to whisper it in his ear, the panda complied and out his ear next to her beak, "Because it makes me happy" she said softly.
Po recoiled and looked at her worriedly, Crane had been watching her the whole time and something was incredibly off about her, the avian figured that Po had just been told what that thing was and that was why he know looked troubled.
The panda moved about in his seat, "So what was the plan you were discussing earlier? Was it another one of your sick plans?" The peacock raised an eyebrow, "I didn't think anybody heard us" Po managed a small smile, "I'm not like anybody else". "Mom" fluttered her eyelashes at him, "No you're not are you, we could kill your partners and escape together; you do look like the kind of person who would enjoy that".
Po felt his skin crawl, he managed to save face and ignore it, "Usually I'd agree to it, but the people who ask are much more attractive" a look of fury flickered across her face, Crane watched the entire display with a look of confusion, he didn't understand mating traditions between people, the panda folded his arms, "So, I'll ask again. What are you and your little gang planning to do in Gongmen?"
"Wouldn't you like to know panda? All I'll say is that Gongmen has been the center of weapons manufacturing for years now and I'd like to put a stop to it". Ping saw something on the horizon, "Hey Po there's someone walking along the dirt path ahead of us, should we stop and see if they want transport into Gongmen?"
Po shook his head and replied, "No, let them get some exercise" Ping ignored him and went to pull over next to them, as he got closer he started to recognize the figure, "Oh no" he said under his breath.
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Tigress was still walking glumly along the road when she started to hear another transport behind her, she turned around and her face fell at the sight, "Oh no".
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Ping pulled over next to her and got out, "You again!?" he yelled exasperated, Tigress frowned, "That's no way to treat a lady!" Ping rolled his eyes, "Well I'll be sure to improve my behavior when I actually meet one" Tigress punched him in the face, "You little!"
Inside Po heard the scuffle and decided to go and investigate, he turned to Crane to tell him to stay here but saw that the bird had already taken his position, Po nodded and got out of the wagon. He rounded the corner of it and stopped in his tracks when he saw her, Tigress looked up and their eyes met, they stayed that way for a little before Po spoke.
"Hello there" he said simply, Tigress nodded, "Hi" she responded. Ping picked himself up and rubbed his beak painfully, "Po get her! We can get her bounty too" Ping went to capture her but Po stopped him by raising his hand, "No, I let her go Ping, she didn't escape" Ping's beak fell open with a creak and he looked from one to the other.
"WHY!?" he yelled, Po shrugged and looked at Tigress knowingly, "I don't know, I guess we just connected" when he said that Tigress blushed and avoided his gaze, Ping missed this and hopped back onto the 'Bebop'. "Let's go Po, I'll deal with you later but let's just get away from her as quickly as possible" he snarled.
"Wait!" Tigress yelled, she jumped in front of the 'Bebop', "Please don't leave me! I've been walking for an eternity, I don't how much more of this I can take! Please just drop me off in Gongmen and I'll never see you again". Ping shook his head furiously, "No! You stole my money and I want it back! Although I'll be just as happy if you leave and I never have to see you again".
Po thought for a second, "C'mon Ping, let's just give her a ride until Gongmen and she can pay us back when we're there" Tigress nodded although she had no intention of doing that for them. Ping grumbled, "All right! But she sits in the back with you Po and I don't want to hear her speak once, got it!"
Tigress bowed, "Thank you master, I forever promise you m-"Ping glared daggers at her which shut the tiger up instantly, Po climbed into the back of the 'Bebop' and held his hand out to Tigress who accepted it gratefully, they sat down next to each other and tried to avoid each other's gaze, they hadn't expected to run into each other so soon after Urumqi and they both still remembered her kiss.
"Mom" noticed this, "So, who is this Po?" The panda looked at her, "Why is that any of your business? You're our prisoner, so be quiet!" Tigress smirked, "I didn't know you often had so many women on here panda, so how many before and after me?"
Po groaned, "Shut up the both of you!" Crane woke up with a start and his eyes widened when he saw Tigress, Po jabbed his finger in the birds face, "Not a word bird" he ordered. Crane said nothing but a huge smirk made its way onto his face.
They spent the rest of the trip in silence.
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Ping stopped the 'Bebop' when he saw Gongmen on the horizon, "That look amazing" he muttered to himself and it did, the light glowed in the sunlight and a huge regal looking tower rested in the center of it, it almost looked like it was trying to reach the heavens themselves.
They reached the building where they were to exchange "Mom" for cash, Po stood up and stretched in the back, he the peacock's wing and dragged her out of the 'Bebop', Tigress was left with Crane who didn't take his eyes off of her, "What?" she asked, Crane remembered the last time she had been here she had got the drop on him, he wouldn't let that happen again.
Po walked around to the front of the 'Bebop' to Ping, "I'll be just a second" he said to the goose, Po walked into the dull looking building and walked up to the counter. A fierce looking gorilla walked up behind it, "What do you want?" he asked rudely. Po pushed "Mom" in front of him, "I've come to collect the reward on this peacock; she's a gang leader and a murderer".
The gorilla nodded and opened a filing cabinet next to him, the gorilla put some tiny reading glasses which didn't suit him and picked up a random file. He went through it and stopped on a page, it was clearly a picture of "Mom" as the gorilla's eyes flitted between the file and the real thing.
He slapped the file shut and put it back, "Everything seems in order panda, bring her in" Po nodded and escorted "Mom" through the counter and into the back of the building, he threw her into a cell and mockingly waved at her, "See you lady, hope the foods nice" Po walked away and left the oddly calm peacock to herself, a small smile found its way onto her face.
"It's all going accordingly to plan…albeit I didn't expect to get to Gongmen this way"
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Po went back to the Gorilla and held out a paw, the gorilla looked at him with a frown "What?" Po gestured with his hand to indicate that he wanted something, "Money please. Now" he demanded, the gorilla sighed and reached under the counter, he picked a sack of money up and threw it at Po, it struck the panda in the chest and floored him.
Po picked himself up with a groan, "Don't spend it all at once panda!" The gorilla chuckled, Po scowled at him but left without a word. He got back into the 'Bebop' and put the sack of money down, he sighed and leaned back on the seat, he closed his eyes for a second before he heard something rummaging through the sack, he opened one eye and blanched when he saw Tigress trying to sneak some money from it.
The panda sat up sharply and slapped her hand away from it roughly, "Hey! Don't take our stuff!" He ordered. Tigress brought her hand away quickly and scowled at him, "Hey you kidnapped me again so I just trying get some compensation for it!" Po grit his teeth in frustration, "Kidnapped you? You specifically asked us to bring you here".
Tigress folded her arms, "Whatever panda", Ping shouted to her from the front, "Where do you want me to take you? It doesn't particularly bother me where we go after all you're paying me in a minute so I think it's fitting for you to tell us where your money is", Tigress thought for a second, "Where can I lose these guys?" a thought suddenly came to her.
"Just drop me off here and I can come back with my money", Ping didn't believe her for a second, "Ok you do that, but you can take Po with you to make sure that you actually do it. We'll wait for you outside of Gongmen so hurry up!" Po sighed and got up to follow her, they both exited and Tigress led him down the street into the market.
They walked for about ten minutes, Po was starting to get more aggravated by the minute and he considered asking Tigress to hurry up until she veered down an alleyway sharply, she stopped in the middle of it and looked at Po.
Po looked around, "So where is this money?" Tigress walked up to him and traced her claw down his chest, Po just blinked at her un-amused by her attempts at seduction, "You did this before Tigress, I'm not letting you get away this time". Tigress smiled and pushed him up against a wall, a metal pole dug into Po's back painfully but the panda was too preoccupied to notice, for the second time in a week Tigress planted her lips onto his, this time however she waited for a second and let the panda get into it.
Po had almost forgotten about the money until *Click* Po pulled away from Tigress and sighed heavily, he tried to move but one of his paws was handcuffed to the metal pipe, Tigress smirked and slowly backed away, Po pulled with all of his strength but he couldn't get himself free, he looked back towards Tigress and held his free paw out, "Give me the key. Now!" he barked.
Tigress giggled and began to saunter away. Po watched her walk away with a scowl on her face, "Why do you even have handcuffs on you?" he shouted after her, his question was lost to the wind however and she left the panda in the alleyway.
Po tried to think of a way out to no avail, he thought about trying to send a signal to Ping so the goose would come and get him but he didn't have anything he could use….or did he? Po reached into his pocket desperately and smiled in relief as he felt the firework that Ping had given him in case of an emergency (Session #2). It was lucky that Po was too lazy to empty out his pockets every so often.
He put the bottom close to his face and pulled the tab at the bottom to set it off, Po braced himself for the burns and pulled. The sparks hit him on the nose and burned him, Po hissed and held out the firework, it was going to explode in his hand which he knew would be more painful.
The firework went off and Po gasped as his paw was burnt, he looked at the firework and he saw that he had been holding it upside down, the firework had just embedded itself in the ground. Po blinked in disbelief, "AHHHHHH" he yelled in anger and he turned to the wall, he began to hit his head on it.
A huge explosion suddenly happened in the distance, Po stopped the self-abuse and looked over at its source, the regal tower that they had seen on the way into Gongmen was collapsing down onto itself and the smoke could be seen for miles, Po realized he needed to get out of here before the wave of dust reached him because when it did it would become a huge smokescreen.
Po pulled hard on the handcuff again, it was harder for him this time due to his injured hand but still the chain would not break. Po made a choice.
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Tigress was quickly walking down the street trying to put as much distance between herself and the 'Bebop' as possible before she heard it. *BOOM!* the explosion rocked the entire street and made Tigress lose her balance, she quickly picked herself up and looked up at the huge tower which was no collapsing down onto itself.
She went to leave but she felt a twitch inside of her heart, Tigress knew that there could be someone who need her help…..besides she'd probably get a reward too, this seemed a better incentive for the tiger as she got on all fours and began the fast dash up to the tower to put a stop the whatever was going on.
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About twenty minutes before the tower exploded
"Mom" paced her cell patiently, Po had only just left and she already had a plan formed, the key to the plan was patience. She had a noise outside of her cell and smile formed at the edge of her mouth, two peacocks appeared covered in blood, "Mom!" one of them yelled happily.
"Mom" walked over to the cell door and gestured at them to open it, they produced a set of keys and unlocked the door, as soon as she walked out "Mom" was hugged by the two peacocks, she patted their heads affectionately.
"I told you I'd see you again soon, well done children" she said happily. She looked around, "Where are your brothers?" The two peacocks exchanged glances, "Everyone else is outside Mom" she nodded and walked slowly out to the lobby.
She wondered where all of the guards and other staff were but her question was answered as she saw a pile of bodies dumped in the lobby, the gorilla that the panda had exchanged with was on the top gutted.
The other peacocks were trashing the place, when they saw "Mom" they crowded around her and whooped with joy. "Mom" held her wings up for silence, a hushed excited silence fell over them. "Where is Harrison?" she asked, they all moved out of the way to reveal that he was standing at the back trying to not be noticed by her, "Mom" beckoned him with her wing and he approached nervously.
"Mom" patted him on the head, "I've thought about your punishment while I was away boy" she said calmly, Harrison closed his eyes and prayed to the gods for a good outcome, he felt something slip between his ribs and life started to rush out of him, his legs gave way and he collapsed in a heap onto the floor.
"I decided to stick to my original decision" said "Mom". She lifted her cloak over the blood spilled and walked out of the building, the peacocks looked at their fallen brother for a second before filing out after their 'mother'.
"Mom" began to walk up towards the tower that they had been scouting for the past couple of weeks. When they reached the top they saw that there was a huge wooden gate blocking the way into the tower, there was a huge wooden beam that went horizontally across it. The peacocks all furrowed their brows and questioned how they were to get past the large door, "Mom" however simply walked up to it and held out her right hand, a peacock realized what she was asking for so he ran over and placed the object in her hand.
"Mom" swiped her hand outwards and the fan cut up through the wooden beam easily as if it were made of water. The beam split in half and fell to the ground, "Mom" simply pushed on the door and it slowly swung open revealing a plain looking courtyard.
"It must be so bare as to lessen the amount of hiding spaces that an intruder could possibly use against the council here" she reasoned. The other peacocks all followed her in nervously, they didn't see any people on the way in which made them tense as they waited for some guards to randomly spring up out of nowhere and throw them all into the local prison, they had already been there and wanted to make sure that they never went there again as long as they lived…they were barely in there for ten minutes!
As if on cue a bunch of rhino guards exited the tower and formed ranks in front of it, a huge rhino pushed his way to the front of them and scowled at "Mom" when he saw her, "What do you want scum?" asked the rhino angrily, he obviously didn't appreciate being disturbed at this hour. "Mom" smirked, "Ahhh Commander Vachir is it? I just came up to here to ensure the survival of China by destroying the industries that are polluting and ruining its natural state" she said simply.
Vachir huffed and folded his arms, "I know you lady! You're that gangster that everyone calls 'Mom' aren't you?" the peacock rolled her eyes, she hated being known for such things, she would of preferred to be more well known for the positives things that she contributed to the world, such as her quest to rid the world of corruption and filth one life at a time. "Yes I am" she replied.
The rhino laughed, "And how are you going to get past all of us? There's hundreds of us and only about thirty or so of you!" the rhinos all chuckled with him, "Mom" smiled. "I'm so glad you asked that Commander" before he could respond she leaped up and sliced his throat with the fan, he gurgled for a second before collapsing to the ground.
The rhinos gasped and began to panic as their leader quickly died in front of them, as "Mom" had heard while they were plentiful and strong, the rhino guards were notorious for having weak morale and not a lot of conviction. A few stayed to fight them off but "Mom's" 'Family' saw to them. When there was no-one left the peacock made her way into the tower and up to the top, unsurprisingly it was now deserted, she had been hoping to take some people out with it but the tower's destruction would be seen as a good symbol none-the-less.
She looked out onto Gongmen while at the top, all of the people looked like insects from up here and "Mom" felt like a god, she addressed her 'Family' before leaving to get to safety, "Plant the explosives and then leave, you will want to get to a good spot for this my children".
They whooped with delight and began to set everything up, "Mom" watched the process with a wide, cruel glee. She loved the feeling of watching symbols be destroyed.
When they had finished they lit the fuses on the explosives and quickly flew out of the tower. There was a small pause before the tower exploded and showered Gongmen with debris, dust and splinters. "Mom" smirked and her 'Family' cheered at the building crumbling down onto its own layers.
They watched the tower's wreckage burn into ashes before deciding to leave the city and move onto their next target, they flew down to the step leading up to the tower and started to walk down them. "Mom" felt pretty smug when she was walking away from a destruction that she had caused, she looked down the stairs and gasped in fright as she saw a very angry looking panda glaring up at her, she stopped in her tracks and took in his ragged appearance.
His arm was in a hastily constructed sling and his shorts had a tear in them across the thigh part, he had obviously ripped part of them off in order to create the sling. "Mom" regained her composure and yelled down to him, "If you're here to catch me panda then you're too late, my plan is already a success and you've lost", Po snarled, "I don't care who you kill or what you destroy, I'm just annoyed that because of what I'm going to do to you now that there won't be any parts to give up for a bounty!"
The peacocks crowded around "Mom" protectively, "It's that jerk who took Mom from us earlier, this time we won't let you get away so easily!" One of them shouted down to Po, Po's eyes narrowed at him, "Who said anything about running away? I'm running straight at you!"
Po started to walk up towards them, his walk turned into a run which turned into a sprint, they almost couldn't believe that this wounded panda was recklessly running towards an entire army of them without a flicker of fear on his face.
He jumped at them and kicked one of them in the face, the peacocks all dived at him at once, Po rolled backwards and allowed them all to get into each other's way, their numbers were both a blessing a curse to them, sheer strength was the blessing but their potential for getting in each other's way had now been proven to be warranted.
Po tried to take them out as quickly as possible, his wound was making that difficult however as he had to turn his whole body if he wanted to punch someone and the peacocks seemed to be coming from all over the place at once, Po regretted just stumbling into a fight he hadn't prepared for or that he was in any condition to fight.
However a striped ally came to his rescue just before it all proved to be too much for the tiring panda. Tigress jump kicked a peacock in the face just barely saving Po, she frowned at his wounds, "How did you even escape?" she asked in shock. Po merely chuckled and pointed at his sling arm, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you sweetheart" he replied cheekily.
She looked at him oddly, Po ran at her and Tigress thought that he was attacking her as part of his revenge but his paw flew past her face and she heard a sickening crunch near her ear, she turned around and saw that he had punched a wolf in the face and broken his muzzle, she looked at Po again who almost seemed to stand over her in that moment, "Why did you save me?" Po smirked at her, "I still need to get my partner's money back for him".
Tigress smiled back, "It's always money with you isn't it?" they had almost forgotten the angry cult that was surrounding them, the tiger and panda fought together for the first time and they had to admit….they made a pretty great team, their fighting styles seemed to complement each other and though their prides' wouldn't admit it, if one of them hadn't shown up then the other one would almost certainly have died.
"Mom" didn't like the way that this was going, she stepped in to help but Po spotted her and focused his attacks on her, Tigress covered him by getting the rest of them off of the panda's back while he tried to end this. Both Tigress and Po had figured out that if they metaphorically cut the head off of the snake then the rest of the peacocks would just give up leave.
"Mom" seemed to understand this as well as she sliced Po in the face with her fan and quickly darted to what was left of the tower she had destroyed. Po grasped his face then pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood; she had given him the right kind of cut above the eye, the kind that bleeds.
"Go panda! I'll take care of these small fry! Just finish this!" Shouted Tigress, Po nodded, kicked the peacock he was fighting away and then give chase after his target.
XXXXXX
Po climbed up the wreckage chasing after "Mom", however because he only had the use of one arm it made it difficult to climb up after her, what was left of the tower had formed a small unstable platform, this was where Po was heading after the head of the 'Family' in order to finish this once and for all.
He gasped heavily when he reached the top, he looked down and then immediately regretted doing so as it was pretty high up. Po turned around and saw that "Mom" was looking out onto the Valley like she had been doing earlier, she looked down and saw Tigress finishing off her 'Family', "This is where it ends panda" she said softly, it was almost sadness that Po could hear.
"I don't just mean for me and my children but for you as well!" She jumped at Po and desperately tried to finish the tired panda, Po managed to avoid her attacks but he was starting to feel the day's exertion weighing on his tired muscles. Po grabbed her wing and twisted it until he heard a snap, "Mom" shrieked and held out her now useless appendage. Po had broken it beyond use, even with the proper healing it would never be the same.
Po didn't stop there however he started to brutally punch the peacock and finally put her madness to an end, he knocked her to ground and then leaned over her. Her face was bloodied and she could barely concentrate due to the ringing in her ears, Po knelt down in front of her and wrapped his large paws around her throat, he squeezed until the life seemed to fade out of her eyes, she didn't seem to protest in the slightest.
Po took his hands off of her when he was sure that she was finally dead, he took a sigh of relief but he felt a dizzy spell come over him, the panda wasn't sure if it was because of the blood loss from the recent battle or whether it was because of the vertigo he felt being up on this very tiny platform, all Po knew that he stumbled towards the edge of the platform to climb down but inside slipped and fell off of it, he blindly reached a paw up and caught a hold of the edge of the platform.
Po looked around to see if there was something he could use to hoist himself back up, he was spent and whatever energy was left was either going towards keeping him suspended there or from slipping into unconsciousness. He couldn't see Tigress anywhere so he assumed that she must of deserted him again when he actually needed her help.
Po could feel his paw start to lose its strength, this was the end for the panda and he knew it. Po began to make peace with himself and prepare for the oblivion, he felt a soft paw grab his. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into a pair of amber ones, "Having trouble?" Tigress said starkly, Po rolled his eyes, "A bit" he had easily slipped back into bounty hunter mode. She pulled him up to a point where he wouldn't fall immediately but where he still needed her help if he was going to climb up.
Tigress sat down on the ledge next to him, "I'll help you if you give me 80% percent on the reward". "You're insane!" Po yelled at her, Tigress shrugged and got up to leave, Po sighed, "Ok, I'll go no higher than 40%". Tigress turned around and smiled at him, "Deal, I'll get the 60%" Po frowned, "Fine".
Tigress reached down and helped the panda up, he groaned and leaned on Tigress for support. His injuries had taken their toll on the panda and his shoulder flared up whenever he moved. "Damn you panda!" screeched a voice, Po groaned and looked to his left, standing heavily wounded and carrying her fan was "Mom", Tigress moved back slightly with Po, "Don't you ever die?" asked the tiger. Honestly Tigress didn't know whether she could fight the peacock off while defending Po, or if she even wanted to.
"I won't let you leave her alive!" Mom screamed, she started to move towards the pair of them, Tigress continued to back up whilst desperately trying to think of a plan, Po was on the brink of unconsciousness so he was pretty much useless, Tigress gasped when she felt her foot move off of the edge, she hadn't realized how close they were to a huge fall.
Tigress looked around for a ledge to possibly jump to but no such luck, she looked at the ever advancing peacock and once again Tigress found herself praying to the gods to get her out of another life threatening mess.
"Goodbye panda!" Mom nearly reached them but stopped in her tracks, a huge cracking noise was heard by all three of them, "Mom" looked down and saw that the part of roof that she was on had become unstable, she looked up at the tiger and panda before she felt it give way completely underneath her.
The peacock didn't go out quietly and screeched loudly as she fell onto the ground below, the pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced, but it faded instantly. Her blood stained the tiles and could be seen even from up where the warriors stood, Tigress almost felt sorry for her….almost.
Tigress sighed with relief, she looked at Po who had fallen asleep, "Of course" Tigress groaned, "Let's get out of here"
XXXXXX
Two hours later
Po and Ping were sat down in the 'Bebop' staring down at the ground in disappointment, Po's arm was in a hastily crafted sling and he had various cuts and bruises on his body, due to their not being a body to show the authorities, they couldn't claim any reward which was the reason for their current mood.
"Yeah yeah, all that work and no reward, for a couple of 'tough guys' you sure seem to complain a lot" scoffed Tigress mockingly, she was leaning up against the entrance to the 'Bebop' grinning like an idiot at the two of them.
"Now don't take it so hard boys, we'll make some mad cash on the next one" Tigress yawned, "Think I'll go take a nap on the roof, tell me when we're leaving", Tigress left the two of them alone.
Po sighed, "Next time? We'll make money?" he looked over at the goose, "Ping, is she saying what I think she's saying? Because if she is th-"Ping cut him off, "I don't know and I have no opinion".
Po tried to fold his arms, he forgot about his wound and hissed sharply instead he settled for just sitting, "Man, she's taking a nap on our wagon!" He complained, he looked at Ping again, "Now that's not ok right?" Ping shook his head, "I don't know and I have no opinion" he repeated.
Po stood up, "Fine I'll go and tell her myself that she's not welcome here, he left the wagon and climbed up to the roof, Ping smirked to himself in anticipation, as if on cue he heard Po wail in pain and crash down onto the ground, Ping face palmed, "Bad move Po".
See You Dragon Warrior
Teaser
Po sighed, "The music box is broken, or is it? It starts to play and a haunting tune fills the air, I awake suddenly from my dream, there is no music box and yet there it is! A tiny one, nestled in my hand, and I awake from my dream again as if I were peeling an onion, it's a dream no matter how far I go, I can never reach reality and trapped in an endless nightmare."
"Next session, The Ballad of Fallen Angels"
So Tigress has joined the crew of the 'Bebop', how will she fit in? And what further adventures await them? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you find it in yourselves to review it.
See you!
