Po Vs. Killers
"That was your fault!" Tigress exploded.
"It wasn't. You were at the bottom. How was that my fault?" Po remarked.
"That's enough between you two," Master Shifu instructed. This made everyone stop arguing. "Dragon Warrior, why don't you go down to the valley?" Master Shifu said, leading Po away from Tigress. "Po, please be patient with Tigress and try not to give her any reason to be mad at you."
"I don't!"
"I saw you two spar two days ago. I know what happened," Master Shifu said with his eyebrow raised.
"Okay, okay. I'll try. But she's not making it any easier."
"Nor is your constant teasing," Shifu mentioned. Po huffed.
"Fine," He grumbled. "I'll be in the village." With that, he was gone. Shifu turned to Tigress who was fuming and punching mercilessly at the dummies.
"You know that this is more damaging to you than to him," Master Shifu replied.
"I... apologize for my unprofessional behavior," Tigress said bowing, "It's just that Po is so... so annoying and maddening at times!"
"Careful Master Tigress," Shifu warned. "I know how you are with the panda when his life is on the line." Tigress looked away with a scowl on her face. "And I know how much the panda actually means to you." Tigress sighed. "Don't let your pride get in the way of seeing that. You may end up like me and Tai-Lung." That last comment made Tigress shake. "Consider it," Shifu said, going away. Tigress punched the dummy into dust.
"Urgh!" She growled.
Meanwhile, Po was angrily grumbling into the entry of the village. "I don't know why she treats me like that. I just try and be... blah! No need for that. Right now, I need some of Dad's good old food." It was morning so not many people were in the streets. However, Po could see two people standing in his way. They looked very strange. "May I help you," Po called out.
"You're Po Ping, right," Called the white dog. "The Dragon Warrior?"
"Why, yes I am," Po said proudly.
"We're here to kill you," He said with a smile. Po laughed.
"Do you know how many people have tried to do away with-" An arrow pierced his leg. "OW!" He looked at Sheng who shot the arrow.
"Don't worry, the first one's agony. The second is death," Sheng laughed. He fired another arrow with his crossbow. This one Po caught.
"Ha!" Po quickly figured out that there was an explosive on the arrow. He through the arrow back at them, but it blew up in front of his face.
"Told you, easy kill," Sheng sighed. When the dust cleared, they couldn't see any remains. They saw a glimpse of a white and black figure. "Okay, maybe not as easy as I thought." They ran after him. Po limped along to a small hiding. He grunted as he took the arrow out of his thigh. Luckily it didn't do much damage, but it still hurt. Po looked at the arrow. It was etched with an engraving: Killers. Was that their name. Why would they be doing this? He suddenly saw an arrow zip past him and land on the ground. Po ran away from the bomb. Now wasn't the time to ask stupid questions. Liexing and Sheng chased after Po.
"Interesting how a panda can run so fast," Liexing noticed.
"Meh, I've seen more amazing," Sheng commented as he jumped across from one roof to the next. He shot another arrow at Po. Po was able to deflect it, but he noticed something. Po could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Sheng's arrow was laced with a quick tiring liquid. Po looked around. He spotted a fireworks cart. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his stones to start a fire. He always had them on hand in case of emergencies. He urgently struck a spark setting the fireworks on fire. He turned around. Sheng and Liexing were right on him. They fired two shots which Po deflected. "Feeling tired," Sheng chuckled.
"Yeah," Po panted heavily.
"Yeah, that first arrow usually wears them out. It's kind of cheating but you weren't really a hard kill after all," Sheng said taking aim. Po looked at the fireworks, which were about to fire. Po said one last word before they went off.
"Wanna bet!" With that, the fireworks ignited and he shot up the Jade Palace mountain before Sheng could even take the shot. The Killers just watched the panda shoot up in the air and head towards the Jade Palace.
"Using fireworks display as a way of escape. That's a new one on me," Liexing smirked. Sheng shrugged unimpressed.
"He just bought himself time," Sheng said going away from the palace.
"Why don't we chase after him," Liexing asked.
"The masters in the Jade Palace would be on the highest guard. I personally don't want to have to fight anyone today. We'll wait until night time to get past all of them."
"Why couldn't we just do that the first time," Liexing questioned her husband. Sheng gave a corny smile.
"Where's the fun in that? This isn't much of a challenge. The panda will be done away with tonight," Sheng said dramatically and kingly. "Now," He said normally, "Let's get to the camp and eat."
Meanwhile, Po soared up to the door of the Jade Palace, where Monkey was just about to descend down the steps. He came down with a thud. Po got to the Jade Palace battered and bruised, but alive. "Master Shifu!" Monkey called. "It's Po! He needs help!" Master Shifu and Crane carried Po to sick bay, where he was treated. When Master Tigress, Viper, and Mantis saw Po, they asked who did it.
"They were assassins," Po panted, still out of breath.
"You've dealt with assassins before. You've never come nearly dead," Monkey mentioned.
"These were different. They knew me, they used some kind of stuff when they shot me in the leg. AH! Still hurts," Po groaned, trying to move it.
"'They'? How many were there?" Tigress frantically asked.
"Two. Only two. They didn't kill me right away because they didn't think I was hard to kill. But by the way, they were trying to kill me, I don't think I would be hard to kill either. These guys are tough to beat." Po showed them the arrow that shot him. "I think they call themselves the Killers."
"Killers? I don't know anything about this group," Master Shifu said. "I'll write to the other masters. Maybe they know of these assassins." While Shifu exited the room, Crane did his best to bandage the leg.
"That should be able to help you. Try not to exert yourself too much," Crane conditioned.
"In the meanwhile, we'll secure the Jade Palace. They won't be able to get past us," Monkey said confidently. When Crane, Monkey, and Mantis went out, Tigress was about to go too but Viper stopped her.
"Someone has to stay with Po," She explained. Tigress nodded. Viper slithered away.
"Well, Po," Tigress said, "Looks like you'll be able to use that 'weapon' of yours to good use." She said this in a joking manner, but Po was upright in the bed, rubbing his leg. He narrowed his eyes at the ground thinking. "What's wrong?"
"'Not hard to kill'," Po mumbled. He was thinking of the words Sheng had said. "He said I wasn't hard to kill. Like I was nothing. Am I easy kill?"
"What?" Tigress asked. She couldn't really hear Po, but she knew he was in distress. Think outside the box, Shifu said. Po looked to the sun. It would be nightfall soon. He growled angrily
"Two can play at the killing game," He murmured. Then he spoke clearly to Tigress. "You're about to see a part of me that no one has seen before," He warned. "Tigress, I need some ingredients."
"You're going to cook a cake?" Tigress guessed as Po hobbled out of the room.
"Nope, I'm going to cook a trap," Po smiled evilly.
When night came, Sheng and Liexing could see Masters Shifu, Viper, Monkey, and Mantis guarding the barracks. Crane was high in the sky looking over the territory. "Well, this is going to be easy," Liexing said. There was another way to enter the barracks other than the stairs. They went through the rough terrain under the cover of bushes and trees. They made their way in through the back door, without Crane watching.
"I thought there were five of them," Sheng mentioned to his wife. "Where's the tiger the villagers talked about?"
"She's probably standing guard. We can get around her easily," Liexing said. They quietly found Po's room, which cast a big shadow.
"Ready?" Sheng asked, getting his arrow ready. They slid the door open, but they didn't fire. There was something strange about the shape of Po's covered body. They gingerly stepped forward. They threw off the covers to reveal a big pot sealed with a half foot wide hole on the top. Sheng sniffed. "That smells like a whole lot of... strong liquor, rum, and alcohol." Liexing stepped forward and made a squeak. Then they heard a hissing. Then the two looked up. There were fireworks about to fire straight into the pot. Sheng quickly tried to move the pot, but it was securely strapped to the bed. "RUN!" The Killers made a beeline to the back door as the fireworks went off. The pot burst into flames and made an explosion that shook the ground. As they ran under the cover of the trees, they could see the masters running towards the house.
"Well, that was interesting. But where is the panda," Liexing questioned as they ran. Sheng spotted something from the Jade Palace reflecting the moon's light. It looked like an eye-scope of some kind.
"The panda was watching us the whole time," Sheng said, "He set a trap for us." At the Hall of Heroes, Po put down his eye-scope.
"Gotcha," Po muttered.
"So you burned the barracks just to scare off two assassins?" Tigress accused.
"Would you rather I die?"
"No! Absolutely not," Tigress retorted. Po smirked.
"Nice to know you care for me," Po jested. "Come on, let's go help the guys with the fire."
The Killers rushed down the mountain and vanished into the woods. Sheng laughed as Liexing paced around the camp. "What are you laughing at," Liexing retorted. "We didn't get the panda."
"I'm laughing because I honestly thought this would be an easy kill. The panda tricked us and nearly killed the Killers. I find that funny. My dear Liexing, we finally have a challenge. Alright, panda. Game on," Sheng laughed his hyena laugh.
to be continued.
