The Dragon Warrior Blues
These chapters seem to be getting longer and longer with each one, I wonder if this will be any different, I write these notes before I finish the chapter so it could end up being much longer then the Gongmen Shuffle, which in itself is the second longest thing I've ever written next to 'Death'. This chapter or the one after it will probably surpass it though.
I know I said I was taking a break but this was almost finished so I wanted to get this out before going on that hiatus, don't expect the next chapter for a while.
Session #5 the Ballad of Fallen Angels
The red panda ran his small knife across his finger drawing blood, he didn't even flinch from the pain showing that he had done this many time before, you had to if you were going to be a crime lord. He leaned forward in his chair and pressed his finger against the contract in front of him, he waited a few seconds before removing it and leaving his bloody fingerprint on it.
An antelope sitting across from him pulled the contract towards him and ran his eyes over it soaking in the information and confirming what he was looking for, he looked up at the red panda and smiled, "Confirmed". The red panda smiled back and withdrew a tissue from a box on the table, he dabbed at the small prick he had made on his finger, after he had cleaned the finger free of blood he placed the tissue on the table.
Both of them stood up and shook hands with each other, "To the new alliance" the mongoose said. "And perhaps even friendship" added the panda, "And to success for the both of us" the mongoose added.
The mongoose gestured towards one of his bodyguards and looked out at the amazing view from up on the balcony, the bodyguard grabbed a nearby coat and placed it over the mongoose's shoulders. "I had no idea that the view would be so breath-taking from up here, it kind of makes me sad to leave" he said.
The red panda nodded, "The next time you'll have to stay for dinner" he offered. "Our chefs can cook you up a cuisine that's just as superb as the scenery. It's to die for, so to speak of course" he added chuckling at his dark joke. The mongoose joining in, "Of course, thank you that's quite an invitation".
The mongoose picked his hat up off of the table and placed it on his head, he went to leave but stopped, "You know, I never thought that I would ever be breaking bread with a rival leader, especially one from the Red Dragon Clan".
The red panda kept the smile but there was a steely glint in his eye that was easy to spot, "Don't worry, the food won't be poisoned or something like that. No more betrayals, that won't be the way in which the Red Dragon operates anymore". The mongoose nodded and left with his bodyguards following close behind him.
The panda sighed and looked out on the Valley below, "Thank the gods, now I can finally relax and have a little breather". A pair of hands grabbed him from behind and a kick to the back of the legs brought him to his knees, the panda was turned around and he saw that all of his bodyguards in the room had been killed silently behind him, the floor was caked in blood and there were now unknown thugs standing around.
A large black bear walked into the room and looked around at the scene, as soon as the red panda saw him he understood, "This won't do you any good, the times have changed, the syndicates can't survive like this any linger with all of the pointless bloodshed" he struggled against the two Ox holding him, "It's tearing us all apart Vicious!" he yelled. Vicious just smirked evilly at him, "If Po was here you would never have done thi-".
A knife was drawn across the red panda's throat and he died instantly, the Ox let him fall to the floor.
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Two Days Later
The 'Bebop' was parked by a lake, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and it was generally a beautiful day until….."I don't feel up for this" Ping sighed in resignation, Po who had been shuffling a pack of cards with an absent mind stopped and looked up "Huh?" he grunted.
"I said I don't feel like doing this" the goose reiterated. Po put down the cards and stood up, "Then I have no choice", Ping put his wing up, "Hold on a minute Po", Po glared at him angrily, "Yeah I don't want to bother you".
Ping frowned, "Don't get salty with Po! Just how much do you know about these guys?" He pointed at the latest issue of 'Big Shot' that they had gotten earlier, on the front was a picture of a smiling red panda, Po looked at it with soft eyes, "Enough to get the picture" he clarified.
Ping folded his arms, "Well then?" Po regained his stony expression and glared at the goose, "There's a fat bounty, we have plenty of information about the guy and we have a lead. So what are you scared of?" he added icily.
Ping sighed, "Po, you're avoiding the subject and you know it" he leaned forward, "What are you trying to hide from me?" Po looked at him for a second, then his gaze flitted up to the scar over Ping's eye (Probably should have said earlier he has that…..sorry).
He looked back into Ping's eyes, "How did you get that scar above your eye Ping?", "What does that have to do with this?" Ping replied swiftly. Po closed his eyes, "Nothing at all", "So when are you going to answer my question?" Ping asked.
"When you answer mine" just when they both thought the confrontation would stop it started again as quickly as it had stopped. There was a tense silence as neither said a word, the atmosphere was broken by a cheerful humming quickly approaching, Tigress threw some bags into the 'Bebop' and hopped in, "Why is this door so small?" she asked no one in particular, Tigress was referring to the entrance which both her and Po had to crouch down to enter it.
She dropped her cheerful smirk when she saw the panda and the goose glaring at each other, "What's going on?" she asked with what seemed to be genuine concern, "That's none of your business!" Ping snapped at her without looking.
Tigress frowned, "Hey! We're supposed to be a team here you know", Ping rubbed his face with his wing in frustration, "Since when? You're just walking trouble so stay out of it!" he replied. Tigress shrugged, "Fine, like I care anyway" she leaned forward and picked 'Big Shot' off of the table, she saw the red panda at the front and held it out to the two of them, "So who's this guy? New hit?"
Ping snatched it off of her, "Ask before you look", Tigress pouted, "It was sitting right there lighten up". Po walked out of the 'Bebop', Ping got up and followed him, "Po! Wait a minute Po we weren't done" Po ignored him and started to walk off into the distance, Ping growled "If you leave then I'm not going to back you up!"
Po gave a nonchalant wave of the hand, "That's your call Ping", within a minute Po had left the 'Bebop'. Ping hit the entrance of the wagon with his wing, "Dammit" he muttered, he sat back down inside and folded his arms again, "Of all the bull-headed…" he complained. Beside him Tigress had picked up 'Big Shot' again, "Master Shifu of the Red Dragon Syndicate, a 28 million yen bounty for murdering a crime boss huh" Tigress read aloud.
Once again the paper was snatched out of her paws by Ping who glared at her, she fluttered her eyelashes at him and smirked, "Awww did you guys have a fight?" Tigress asked sarcastically. "Shut it Tigress, you're being obnoxious again." Tigress carried on, "What really?" Ping hit the table which made the cards fall onto the floor, "I said CAN IT!" he yelled.
He got up and went to get into the front of the 'Bebop' "He can do whatever the hell he wants!" he seethed, Tigress giggled and shrugged, "By the gods, men are such babies" she looked down and saw a particular card that stuck out to her.
She picked the card up and turned it over, it was the ace of spades which gave Tigress the idea to get the bounty herself, she looked across the table and saw Ping's notes about the bounty, she grabbed them and quickly scanned them. She found a lead and another idea formed, she looked at the bags she had just brought back and decided it was a good a time as any to try the stuff out.
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Two hours later
Tigress walked up to the opera house and took in its majesty. She had ditched Ping and made her way to the location that Po and Ping had narrowed down in their notes. She had changed from her usual green robes into a flowing strapless red dress, she had bought it earlier and this seemed the perfect time and place to try it out, the location would also help the reaction she would be trying to get.
She opened the double doors and walked inside, she was surprised at how many people that there were, though she had come here on the night of an opera so she wasn't too surprised, almost immediately upon walking inside a monkey wearing a nice white tuxedo came over to her, "Excuse me madam" he started, the monkey then held out a paw "I need to see your ticket for this show please".
Tigress smiled pleasantly, "Ticket? Oh I don't have any ticket", un-amused the monkey pulled his hand back towards himself and frowned, "Well then I'm afraid let you in madam". Tigress shrugged and went to leave, "Okay then but he is going to be very unhappy with you", the monkey gasped. Tigress looked over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes, "That's right, him in Balcony first box"
Tigress walked back over to him, "You know who right?" The monkey nodded slowly, "Master Shi-" Tigress placed a finger over his mouth cutting him off, "Just let me up and I won't tell him of your disobedience, is that okay?" The monkey sighed and moved out of the way, Tigress winked and blew a kiss at him as she made her way up to where Shifu was supposed to have sat.
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Meanwhile back at the 'Bebop' Ping was sitting and frowning to himself, he heard a creak from the 'Bebop's roof as Crane adjusted his position, the bird had been up there since this morning 'Working on his tan' as Po had jokingly put it. Ping grunted when he thought of the panda, "What makes them think they can do whatever the hell they like?" he grumbled referring to Tigress and Po.
He looked back over the notes for Shifu that he and Po had been going over earlier, he read through them again, not because he felt like going after him but because it gave him something to take his mind off of his departed teammates. "So I was right, there seems to be a lot more to this then just a normal bounty" he said aloud.
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Back with Tigress the opera had started, it was a tragedy about two young star crossed lovers whose deaths were caused by the jealously of their former friend. Tigress wasn't here for that however so she stopped watching it and continued on her way to the seats that had been booked under the name of her target, she saw a large bear standing outside of the balcony's entrance so she used her best seductive walk up to him, he looked at her with an almost bored expression.
"Hello, is this Master Shifu's box?" she asked sweetly, "I've been looking all over for it, actually I-" "Yes we've been waiting for you" he replied swiftly, Tigress's blood ran cold, "Y-you have?" she had a bad feeling about this but she decided to run with it, the thought of the money kept her going. Before she could do anything she felt a sharp object press into the small of her back, she drew in a sharp breath from shock, "We request that you remain quiet during the performance" came a cold voice from behind her.
Tigress thought of several plans straight off the bat, unfortunately there wasn't an outcome where she would escape with her life, she relaxed herself and walked into the box.
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Two young gooses looked up at the tasty looking apples that were on display, they looked over towards the old female bear that owned the stand, she was currently counting the money she had earned that day, the two kids looked at each other, gulped and nodded. They grabbed an apple each other and began to quickly walk off, "PUT THEM BACK!" roared the bear, the goose's nearly jumped out of their skin, they didn't look back to see where she was they just ran away.
In a surprising move she quickly grabbed one of them and wouldn't let go, she moved her face close to his and yelled, "What makes you think you can steal from an old lady!" the other goose ignored his friend's situation and continued to run, he ran around a corner straight into what felt like a brick wall, it had fur however and when the goose picked himself up he saw that he run right into a confused looking panda bear.
"Get out of my way!" the goose ordered, the panda scratched his head and picked the apple off of the floor. The goose frowned when he realized it was the apple he had just stole, he leaped at the panda's apple hand, "Give it back you dumb ass!" the panda quickly moved out of the way and tripped the goose in mid-air.
The old bear walked over and grabbed the other goose, she now had one suspended in the air with one hand, "Kids these day, I should hand you over to the police!" The bear looked up to thank the stranger but felt her blood run cold when she saw who it was, her grip on the gooses relaxed and they ran away, the panda ate the apple and smirked "Hey".
The bear put her paws over her eyes, "Oh by the gods!" she removed her paws and almost fainted when she saw him still standing there.
"Po!?"
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The old bear's shot glass of strong alcohol slammed onto the table, they had gone back to her house in silence since Po had revealed himself to her after certain...events. Po looked up at her in amusement, "Isn't it bad for your health to drink the whole thing in one gulp Annie?" he asked cheekily. Annie scowled at him, "What's bad for my health is seeing you come back to life, it's a shock to the system".
Po chuckled, "That's a pretty warm welcome coming from you". Annie grunted and poured herself another shot "Why welcome the dead? It's all futile", Po just watched the liquor pour into the glass with disinterest, he had never liked the taste of alcohol, also he wasn't a fan of the lack of control it gave him over his own body.
"But I'm alive" Po said as if it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world, "Not you're not! You died three years ago, that's how things work here!" Annie replied angrily. Po looked away guiltily and saw a small painting sitting near them, in it was Annie, Shifu and another person that Po didn't recognize. "I know why you're here Po" she said wearily, Po looked into her sad eyes, "You wouldn't of come here unless you needed some information, am I right?" Po nodded, "Well I'll help if I can but don't ask too much of me, I am a feeble old woman after all" Po smiled softly.
"Anastasia" Po said softly, once again Annie slammed the glass down, "No! Don't you call me that! There are only two people who can use that name!" Po didn't flinch, Annie sighed, "So, what do you wanna know?"
Po picked the picture up, "Shifu. What happened to him?" Annie's face seemed to lose it's color and go white as a sheet, the glass in her paw began to shake from the force that she put around it.
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Tigress walked into the box and saw Shifu sitting in a chair, his face from the direction it was facing seemed to be completely absorbed in the opera which would be reaching it's interval soon, Tigress tried not to stop her legs from shaking, she didn't want to show her fear in front of these lowlifes. "Shifu, what's the reason for this?" she said trying to project confidence. "There is no need to speak Miss Tigress" said the gorilla from outside who had followed her inside.
She gasped and turned on him, he remained stony faced, "We've done a very thorough background check on you. Rest assured, you'll be held in a very...safe location". Tigress got the feeling that he wasn't being entirely truthful with that last statement, he gestured with his hand to the only other seat in the box, "Now please Miss, take your seat" he ordered softly.
She sat down slowly and tried to get her heart rate down, if she was to get out of this she would need to be calm and collected. She looked over towards Shifu and her heart stopped, he was very pale there wasn't a breath coming from him, if there hadn't of been a huge slash across his throat then he would of looked quite peaceful, Tigress felt vomit rising up her throat.
"You're trembling, aren't you?" came a cold voice from the shadows, Tigress gasped and looked around, a large black bear with cold, dead eyes was standing slightly to her left, with everything else that had happened she just must of not noticed him...or he might of just appeared there like a specter. "Who are you?" Tigress hissed, her question was greeted with silence and a cold stare, "Tell me!" she insisted.
The opera was reaching it's peak down below and the applause had started, it was loud but a murmur from the bear seemed to cut straight through that and reach into Tigress's ears, "Vicious" he replied slowly. Time seemed to slow down for Tigress as his name rang throughout her brain, she had heard of this Vicious many times when she had been travelling throughout China, they had merely been whispers of a dangerous and brutal warrior, his crimes were unspeakable but the name associated with it had been 'Vicious'.
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Annie placed some throwing knives onto the table and pushed them over to Po, the panda inspected them before putting them into his pockets, the bear looked sadly at the headstrong panda. "Y'know I don't tell you what to do with your life, just, promise me that you won't get tangled up with Vicious again Po." Po looked at her silently before she sighed, "Why am I even telling you this? It's useless", Po mumbled "Sorry".
"You've never listened to anyone in your whole life" she said sadly, she then downed another shot which seemed to reignite her fire, "And why should you? You're a massive show off! You'd think it would kill you to listen to your elders for once!? Nooo that's too much to ask for the 'Indestructible Po'" Po smirked and closed his eyes, he had to admit that he had missed Annie's ranting, it brought back many memories.
"About Shifu" she added, Po's eyes snapped open and he saw that she had gotten serious again. "He had a lot of guys out looking for you, he was convinced right up until he died that you were still alive, he said something about being about to feel your spirit on the wind or something like that. No one could talk him out of it. So now, here you are back again and Shifu is-" a sob left her throat.
Po looked at the bottle she had been drinking which was nearly empty, "Annie, I think that you've had enough, don't you?". She ignored him and poured the rest of it into the glass, "Not yet" she held the glass up, "This one is for Shifu" she then downed that once as well. Po stood up and slowly left the house, he looked back at Annie and said a silent goodbye as she laid her head onto the table and fell asleep, the alcohol had gotten to her after a while.
He quickly left town and went back to the 'Bebop' there were still some things he needed to get before he could find Vicious and finish their fight. He spotted the wagon where he had left it earlier and a small smile formed on his face as he knew Ping wouldn't just desert him like he said he would. As he got closer he didn't spot either Crane or Ping, he climbed in and started to gather some other small and easily concealable weapons.
He picked a knife up and looked at it, he then heard a creak from behind him, Po turned round to see what it was and saw Ping frowning at him. "Alright, now what are you planning to do with all of that?" he asked referring to the armory that Po had gathered. Po ignored his question, "Where's Tigress?", "When she saw the bounty figure she had a lapse of sanity, I'm sure she's out there somewhere screwing up and getting into trouble."
Po stood up, "I see". Ping moved over to him and pointed in his face, "Let me tell you something Po! You aren't going to get any reward money for Shifu, he's already dead, he was assassinated due to the internal politics between rival crime syndicates, that lead we got was obviously a trap!" Po frowned, "How did you find out all that information?"
"You think I was just sitting here waiting for you to come back?" asked Ping, Po pushed his pointing finger out of his face, "I know, I know the whole sad story." Ping looked in puzzlement at him, "And you're still going?" Realization fell over Ping, "Wait, does this have anything to do with Shifu?" Po nodded, "Yeah I have a debt to pay off" he said simply.
Ping's expression softened, "You wanted to know what happened to my eye" Po raised an eyebrow, he hadn't expected Ping to ever tell him that story. Ping ran his wing across it, "This is the price I paid for being too gung ho and running ahead of the game, do you get the point I'm making?" Po sighed, "I don't want to do this Ping".
The goose threw his wings into the air, "Then why are you going!?" Po smirked, "I guess you could say that my past if finally catching up to me". Ping sighed too, "I guess if you're going after whoever did this then you might as well bring Tigress here back with you, like I said I have a feeling that she's in trouble somehow".
Po nodded, "I will, but I'm not doing this for her", he grabbed his straw hat before leaving.
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Po walked up the street trying to not draw any attention to himself, he was wearing his straw hat which was pulled down over his face and a long flowing travelling cloak complimented it, it wasn't just for fashion however, concealed under it was a number of throwing knives and all sorts of daggers, he knew from experience that when fighting Vicious you should never expect anything less then a fatal encounter.
The cloak was also there for personal reasons, he had 'died' once before in this cloak and he wanted to make sure that if it happened again today that he was prepared to go out in this life as he had entered it. Po stopped walking and looked up at his destination, it was a huge church that had seen better days, the decorative pillars outside of it had mostly crumbled away and there was moss growing all over the door.
As Po got closer he could see that the wood on the door was withered and old, Po reached up and push softly on it, further showing it's age was the fact that Po only gently pushed the door and it had opened. The cautious panda walked inside and looked around, the place was dark, the only light coming in was the colored kind which had come through the stained glass windows, Po looked at these for a second, he saw that the images on them showed a mother weeping whilst holding her child.
Po shook his head and carried on, he couldn't afford to get distracted by the architecture when he knew the monster he would be facing soon, he walked further into the church and came across a number of pews which were all facing a huge alter, this had also seen better days.
A voice came from the dark and reverberated around the holy place, "When angles are forced out of heaven then they become devils" echoed Vicious's voice, Po whipped around and saw the large black bear walk out of the shadows, Po wasn't sure if had been there the entire time or if had just appeared there like a specter.
Vicious smiled darkly, "You agree, don't you Po?" The panda smirked cockily, he felt more comfortable know that he could see his enemy out in the open, "I'm watching a dream that I can't wake up from" he replied. Vicious made a subtle movement towards the katana that was almost glued to his hip, Po shifted slightly as he could feel that an attack was due, "I'll wake you up right now then Po".
"What's your rush Vicious, after all, it's been a long time", Vicious chuckled, "Are you pleading for your life?". Po frowned, "Hardly, begging doesn't work on you remember? Even coming from the one who took you in and made you what you are", Vicious titled his head, "Perhaps, but he was a beast who lost his fangs, that's why he had to die Po. And that's why you also have to die".
Po heard a whimper come from his left, he pull a knife out and aimed in that direction, he stopped however when he saw that it had come from Tigress who was being held by a large, muscular gorilla. The ape smirked, "Now then panda, we'd like you to drop the knife slowly", Po looked back at Vicious who hadn't moved at all, the bear looked at the scene with a mild disinterest as if he already knew the outcome...hell he probably already did.
Po looked back and saw that a blade was now being pressed against Tigress's heart, "What's wrong?" mocked the gorilla, "If you don't comply then she'l-" Po threw the knife as hard as he could, it flew into the gorilla's eye and he died instantly, Tigress gasped as blood flew onto her, Po remained steely eyed throughout the entire display.
He grunted however when something sliced his arm, he looked up and saw that another gorilla had thrown a small balded start at him which had skimmed Po's arm and drawn blood, Po saw that there were more up there as well as him so he quickly got into cover behind a nearby pillar. He heard the *chink* of the knives hitting the pillar and readied himself, it wouldn't be long before Vicious got bored and involved himself, Po needed to take them out before fighting Vicious, fighting him would be a challenge in itself and the last thing he needed was these mooks getting in the way and making him make a possibly fatal error.
Po peeked around the pillar and threw a knife, it took out one of the gorillas and made them fall over the balcony crashing onto the ground, Po quickly took the opportunity during the conclusion to run over to Tigress and get behind a different cover. He slid next to her, Tigress gasped in surprise at Po's appearance, "Go away" she hissed, "You're just going to draw their attention to me and I don't want to die here!" Po rolled his eyes but didn't retort.
Po took this chance to look to see where Vicious had gone but to his panic he couldn't see him anywhere, he looked to Tigress to tell her something but she had disappeared, Po heard movement at the entrance and saw her running towards it, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" he yelled, she turned around and smirked, "I just realized I can leave anytime!", Po sighed and let her leave, she would just get in the way anyway.
The panda took a deep breath and then sprinted around the corner towards the balcony, he jumped off of the wall and grabbed it's edge, before the gorilla could respond Po grabbed his throat and threw him off of the balcony, the gorilla screamed like a child before becoming a stain on the floor. Po climbed onto the balcony, when he put his feet down he gasped and felt a wave of pain shoot up his side, he looked down and saw that a star had hit him in the side, "It must of happened earlier and the rush made me not feel it" the panda speculated.
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Tigress got outside and looked back at the church, she didn't feel bad about leaving, this wasn't her fight and it had nothing to do with her, besides she didn't really care about Po, the money was the only important thing to her and this particular mission looked like a lost cause.
She turned on her heel away from the war before a pang came from her chest, the thought of leaving Po to die wasn't as easy as she had thought it was going to be, she weighed up the pros and cons in her mind before coming to a decision.
"Damn you panda!" she cursed aloud, she then sprinted away to find some backup for Po, there was only one goose for the job.
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Po breathed deeply and tried to reduce his heart rate, there was nobody left now, only him and Vicious remained standing and he hadn't seen the bear since before the firefight had started. Po stumbled about on each looking for him, Po speculated that Vicious was toying for him and waiting for Po's wound to leak enough blood before striking, the panda walked next to a large stained glass window before he heard a movement behind him. Po instantly ducked and felt a shiver of air go over his head, Vicious had swung his katana at Po's head!
Before Po could stand up to face him Vicious swung vertically to split the panda's head open, Po pushed off of the ground and felt himself slam into the railing of the balcony, a wave of pain went up Po's back and he knew that he was close to passing out from either the pain he had endured that night or from the blood loss from said wounds.
Vicious thrusted with the blade and Po moved to the left, he wasn't fast enough to dodge the next slice and felt a gash open up ion his face, Po gasped and he could already feel warm blood trickle down his face. Po fell on his back and quickly got a knife out of his cloak, Vicious pressed his sword up against Po's heart and Po pressed his against Vicious's heart.
It was a standoff and neither of them dared make a move, Po looked into Vicious's cold dead eyes and saw a twinkle of fear, he imagined that Vicious saw the same thing in his own eyes. "You should see yourself, do you have any idea what you look like right at this moment Po?" asked Vicious casually.
Po smirked despite himself, "What?". "Like a ravenous beast, the same blood runs through both of us, the blood of a beast who wanders, hunting for the blood of others", Po chuckled, "I've bled all that kind of blood away".
Vicious's eyes narrowed dangerously, "THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!" He lost his cool for the first time in a long time and they both pushed their blades into the other. Po yelled in agony while Vicious screeched like a raven, they both dropped their weapons, Po's paw immediately flew to his gushing wound while Vicious quickly Po up by the throat and pushed him against the stained glass window, it was now also stained with Po's blood.
Vicious smiled with pleasure at seeing Po suffer, he then threw Po against the window, the window broke and Po flew out. Time seemed to go in slow motion as Po started to reach the street below and a montage of his former life flashes before his eyes.
The images speak without context but show Po fighting alongside Vicious; Vicious in bed with a female panda, and Po walking underneath her window with a bouquet of red roses.
He had forgotten how long he been standing in the rain now, in the distance a bell tolled loudly its ring reverberated throughout the cold dark streets of the rundown town that he had found himself in. He was leaning against a wall waiting for something, a signal to tell him when he should execute his plan.
He was a panda, the last of his kind he had been told. He didn't let that thought dictate his life however and he lived his life how he wanted to.
He held a bouquet of roses in his hand, the material that was supposed to be protecting the flowers from weather such as this was useless and soaked. He moved off of the wall and stood up straight, when he wasn't slouching he made for an imposing figure.
His footsteps echoed down the alleyway as he walked slowly towards his destination. A nearby puddle caught his attention for a second, he pulled a single rose out from the bouquet and let it fall into the puddle, the red from the rose created a juxtaposition against the dull skies and dark streets.
He saw the building he was looking for, he looked up and both the full majesty of the house and the weight of the task in front of him almost overwhelmed him and sent him running for the hills. He gulped and remembered who was waiting for him, his courage returned soon after that.
The figure slowly walked up to the door and pushed it open, there was a stillness in the air just before the ambush happened. It was as he expected, upon entering the building he was attacked by several members of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. He dropped the bouquet of flowers and threw a throwing knife that he had been holding onto for the past few hours, it streaked across the room and embedded itself into the forehead of one of them.
The panda dived across the room and engaged in combat, he smashed the flat of his palm into an antelope's nose. He felt the bones crack and turn to dust from the blow. A fist found its way into the back of the panda's head, he stumbled and walked into a vicious kick from another assassin.
He tried to gasp but the air had left his lungs, he didn't give up however and finished the antelope off with a swift but brutal punch to the throat, the antelope fell desperately trying to breathe through his destroyed larynx, he fell to the ground and didn't get back up again after that.
The panda got into a martial arts pose and proceeded to dispatch the remainder of the scum that had been lying in wait for him. In a few seconds he managed to take out another two of them. The panda went to kill the remaining one, he turned and found him leaned against the far wall looking fearfully at him, he moved closer to seal the deal until the remaining gangster moved his hand, there was a flash of silver for a second and then the panda felt a sharp object pierce his stomach.
He grunted in pain and fell to his knees, the gangster laughed victoriously and causally walked over to finally end the fight, the panda felt some blood leak out of his mouth and saw it drip onto the floor. He glanced up at the gangster and grinned cockily.
And finally there was the female panda again singing him a lullaby while his injuries healed, Po eyes opened and he saw the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes upon, "Just like that, sing for me please" he pleaded, the panda smiled softly at him and continued to hum that infectious melody.
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Po opened his eyes slowly and heard a familiar melody being hummed, he saw Tigress looking at him while he slept, she had been humming the same melody that was in his dream! She was back in her usual green outfit and she was smiling softly at him. Po looked down and saw that he was completely covered in bandages, even his mouth was completely wrapped, he groaned at his injuries and tried to get up.
Tigress softly placed a paw on him and pushed him back down, "So you're finally up huh, you sleep too much Po, you've been asleep for nearly three days", Po just looked at her blankly.
"I...was worried that you wouldn't wake up, you took one heck of a beating from that guy didn't you" she said rhetorically, Po looked around and saw that he was back in the 'Bebop' although Ping wasn't currently there. Po lifted his finger slowly and beckoned Tigress to come closer, her eyebrows raised in surprise but she nodded and put her ear to his mouth so he could speak through his bandages.
"You...you sing...off key" Po said dryly, Tigress grit her teeth at his obnoxiousness and responded in kind.
Ping walked back towards the 'Bebop' with some more medical supplies, whenever Po got in a fight he ended up cleaning them out, as he got closer he heard a punching sound and a muffled "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Fearing a reprisal on Po he ran the rest of the way and looked inside of the wagon, Po was hunched over and clutching his head and Tigress was sitting across from him with her arms folded and glaring intently at the poor panda, when she saw Ping she looked at him and said dryly "He fell".
Ping smirked, "Oh well", Crane peeked his head inside the wagon and upon seeing the display went back to the roof and laid down to catch more sun, "I wondered what happened with them? Oh well, it probably wasn't that important" thought the completely oblivious bird, he then pulled down his new straw hat over his face and went to sleep yet again.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was the first big plot one and the first time we are seeing the overarching story. As you may have guessed the first couple of chapters were to introduce the characters and the world while also providing entertaining standalone adventures, but there will be a more focused narrative from now on. This also seems to be a natural place to go on a hiatus. Next time will be another standalone tale though before we head back into the more story driven stuff.
Teaser
"You know what? This has become a world with no integrity" Po grumbled.
"What are you talking about Po?" Ping asked in disbelief.
"Everybody is putting a lid on something that smells"
Ping shrugged, "Yeah, and?"
Po leaned forward, "And we let it happen!"
"Could you tell me what you're talking about Po?"
"The world Ping! The world is being covered up and soon everything is gonna be covered in lids!"
Ping sighed, "You lost me bud, and I also think you're taking this analogy too far"
Po leaned back in his chair, "They keep us from seeing the truth".
Ping smirked, "Truth huh?"
Po nodded, "Yeah, it all those lids, I'm gonna crush them all away!"
"Next Session Sympathy for the Devil" Po concluded
Ping laughed, "It sounds smelly"
