The Dragon Warriors
Chapter 2 - Contests! A New Rivalry Is Formed!
Shifu inspected the scene before him, an unconscious Po and a unfamiliar opponent. "Who is that?" he asked Tigress while gesturing with his head towards Goku. Tigress was and had been standing in the same spot for about ten minutes now waiting for her master, she wanted Po's injuries to be seen to but she knew it was important to make sure that Goku wasn't a threat first, it was hopefully what Po would do in her situation were the circumstances reversed.
"He said his name was Goku" she replied. Shifu nodded, walked over and quickly inspected the two then turned on his heel and began to walk back up to the palace, "Bring both of them up to the barracks, they are merely unconscious and should be awake within the hour. Po can go in your room Tigress, wait with him until he awakes" Shifu then turned to the Furious Five who were all burning with questions about the mysterious youth like who was he? Why was he here? And why did he have a tail? "I want you four to split yourself into two teams, one to take Goku into Po's room to recover, the two that do this will then wait with him in case he wakes up. The other two will bring Po up to the barracks".
Mantis whined, "Ahh but why? He's sooooo heavy". Tigress glared at him for insulting Po, Mantis wilted under the warriors dreaded stare, Shifu smirked at the display, "Indeed Master Mantis" he finally answered, "That is why the two biggest of you four will lift him up there, you know Tigress can't do it in her present condition". Tigress folded her arms and rolled her eyes at her currently being designated so useless.
Mantis yelled happily, "Woohoo! Not me". The other's looked at each other nervously. "Good, I hope that you can all come to some sort of agreement" said Shifu bemusedly, he knew there would be an inevitable fight over duties but he was sure Tigress would sort them all out. Shifu then hobbled off to the palace to wait until Goku woke up so he could question him.
When he was out of earshot the four immediately started to argue and fight, Tigress sighed and whistled loudly. The others all stopped and looked at her, "Okay Crane and Monkey, you two take Po up to my room in the barracks and wait in there until I arrive". The two nodded and went over to get Po, the distaste and irritation at their result was evident.
Mantis tried not to smirk at his good luck, Tigress saw this and grinned evilly. "Okay Viper you take Goku up to the palace, I'm sure you can mange this by yourself he isn't that heavy", the snake smiled and nodded. Crane and Monkey had started to lift Po up the now impossible looking staircase, they were quickly overtaken by Viper.
Mantis looked at the three who been assigned role then looked Tigress who was giving him an odd look. "Now Mantis you can go and help the villagers with the clean up" she said. Mantis's feature immediately fell and Tigress felt satisfaction enter her and punishing him for his laziness and for his insults towards Po , it felt good to be back in charge for the first time in a couple of weeks!
He nodded silently and dragged his 'thingies' sullenly all the way into the village to begin his task. Tigress looked towards the village, parts of it had been destroyed by the battle but nobody had been hurt due to Po's quick thinking earlier. However there was one villager who Tigress cared the most about and whom she had to know was alright before going to check on Po.
She quickly but calmly walked back into the village to go and find Mr Ping.
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Tigress quickly padded towards the noodle shop, she knew this was where the goose would go to check on what had become of his precious business. Like she predicted, upon arriving at the place she saw the slouched over form of Mr Ping looking irritated at the damage done to his establishment. Tigress shook her head "This is happening far to often to him, first Tai Lung broke it, then Liu and Po did now Po's destroyed it again".
She walked over to him and prepared herself for his anger, "Mr Ping, are you alright?". He turned sharply and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was okay, he quickly ran over to her and hugged her leg catching her completely by surprise. Tigress knelt down and then hugged him back, but when she pulled away Mr Ping hit her in the head with his wing, it didn't hurt but Tigress clenched her fist in anger, she knew it was deserved for completely abandoning him earlier.
"You stupid girl, how could you do that to me and Po? Just throwing you and your child into that fierce battle. what if something had happened? Like if you got hurt you know Po would be devastated as well as your friends and me, you also knew Po could take care of himself but you decided to just be reckless because you missed the feel of battle didn't you?" he yelled. Tigress flinched, she had never had a father figure yell at her like this so she didn't really know how to react, she found herself unable to meet his gaze so she instead just looked towards the ground in a deep shame.
"I'm sorry Mr Ping, but I had to know if Po was alright, we've never seen anything like that warrior before even Shifu doesn't know anything about him, I was just worried about him" she said truthfully. The goose's gaze softened but he still had that steely glint which was connotative of anger towards the tiger master.
He eventually sighed and dropped his glare, "Okay I will admit I might of done the same thing in your place but this does not excuse you, next time this happens remember you have your friends and Shifu who can help you and help to protect both Po and you okay?" he said softly. Tigress smiled and nodded, she then stood back up and looked towards the Jade Palace, "Mr Ping I think it would be a good idea if you came and stayed with me, Po, Shifu and the Five at the Palace just in case something like this happens again okay?".
He nodded but then chuckled, "It's not like I have much of a choice is it?" he said while gesturing with his thumb towards the wreckage of his once great noodle restaurant. Tigress chuckled with him and then began to lead the way back up towards the Jade Palace where she would go and wait for Po to wake up.
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Crane and Monkey panted heavily upon dumping Po on Tigress's bed, the two then collapsed to the ground. "Wow, Why is Po still so heavy after training for so long?" asked Crane to no one in particular. Monkey wiped a bead of sweat away which had been coming close to his eye, "I don't know, but it makes you wonder how heavy he might of been when he first came here without any of the training".
The two shared a laugh before deciding to check out the strange boy who was currently opposite them across the hall.
They opened the door and stuck their heads inside, they saw Viper laying him down and pulling Po's sheets over him, ever the considerate one, she left him dressed so he could have some sense of dignity and privacy. Monkey and Crane quickly rushed in and leaned over to inspect him, Viper acknowledged her two comrades but didn't do it vocally so as not to wake Goku, both because it was polite not to and because she was curious as to why the monkey tailed boy looked so strange.
Monkey poked Goku's stomach with his forefinger, "He doesn't look like any species that I've ever seen how about you guys" he said quietly. Crane cupped his beak with his wing in thought, "No me neither, though I do see a slight resemblance to you Monkey". Monkey looked at him in surprise, "You do?" he looked back towards Goku and shook his head, "No, I don't see it".
"Okay that's enough, you two wait outside until you hear him wake up, when you do go and get Master Shifu so we can find out who he is and where he came from" said Viper, Crane and Monkey nodded and they all left.
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Later on that day...specifically late evening
Goku and Po had woken up hours ago, Tigress had waited with Po for the past few hours and had explained to him what Shifu had ordered them to do. Po was really bad at being patient and started to pace about waiting for when he could talk to Goku, it was more frustrating for him because he knew he was only across the hall.
Tigress was sat trying to mediate on the floor, she had found it useful to maintaining her kung fu state of mind and for times like this when Po could be quite annoying.
Goku had been left alone by request of Master Shifu who wanted the boy to feel settled in and okay for when they were to talk to him.
"Ok Po, please stop doing that it's very irritating" said Tigress gritting her teeth, Po gasped, it was clear he had been deep in thought and had forgotten that she was even there. He smirked guiltily and nodded.
Tigress closed her eyes again to resume her meditation but her brow furrowed when she felt breath on her face, she gasped when she opened her eyes and saw that Po was now suddenly right in front of her. "Could you go and see him, Shifu won't get angry with you" he asked with neediness in his voice. Tigress picked herself up, "Why is it so important for you to go and talk to some who beat you up so badly" she said while smirking at him, Tigress hoped resorting to petty insults would deter him but she forgot how persistent he could be.
"Tigress you didn't see him! I could barely keep up and he used some strange attack against me" he got close again. "I just want to fight him again and to know where he got that awesome training".
Tigress sighed, "Fine, I'll go and ask him" she quickly got up and left Po with baited breath. Tigress faced Po's room with a small sense of apprehension towards Goku, he was a hard one to judge. Tigress had never seen anyone like him both because of his strange looks and because of the aura he gave off. She went to knock but decided to just open the door and enter.
Upon entering Po's room Tigress checked by looking at him whether Goku seemed like a bad kid, she couldn't feel anything bad coming form him. This instilled a weird sense of deja vu for her, the boy reminded her a lot of Po, they were both goofy, but had a calm heart and a love of fighting. Satisfied with her quick analysis of him she approached.
Tigress knelt next to the bed and checked Goku for any injuries. Goku started to move about in protest, "Lemme go, I wanna go see your Valley". Tigress frowned to herself, "Lay still, I need to make sure you're fine before I let you go, then you need to find some sort of disguise".
"Why?" asked Goku. Tigress smirked "Me and the other masters see strange things all the time so this wasn't too much of a shock compared to most things, but the people down in the village have never seen a creature like you so we're just being careful. After all you wouldn't want to scare anyone".
Goku nodded, "Say can I ask you a question Tigress?". She nodded "Fire away". Goku kicked her in the crotch lightly, "Are you a boy or a girl?". Tigress froze completely in place and blushed furiously, she leapt away to the other side of the room "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed angrily. It was hard to tell whether she was more angry or embarrassed.
Goku looked oddly at her as if this was a completely normal thing to do, "I'm seeing whether you're a boy or girl". Tigress slowly stomped over to him, pulled back her fist and then punched him in the face, Goku flew out of his bed and crashed into the wall. "I'm a girl you idiot! Po already told you I was pregnant and my name is TI-GRESS! How much more of an indication do you need?" she yelled angrily.
Goku clutched his new injury painfully, "Sorry jeez! you don't have to be so mean about it". Tigress growled at him but she calmed down at his childlike naivety. She huffed irritably, opened and then slammed the door to Po's room and walked off back to her own room,
Goku looked at the door that the very angry Tigress had just slammed. "Why is it whenever I do that I get hurt?" he sighed to himself before turning in and deciding to sleep, the fight earlier was intense and he was still exhausted from the exertion of it all.
When she was inside Tigress folded her arms and blushed heavily at the nonchalant way with which he had just done that. "Idiot kid", she growled internally. From the bed Po turned over to see who had just entered the room, when he saw it was Tigress he beamed which then slowly faded away after looking Tigress's expression.
Po looked at how flustered and angry Tigress looked, "What is it?" he asked innocently while smirking . She scowled at him and instantly a wave of fear hit him and Po immediately stopped and smirking and scooted over so she could lay next to him.
He turned over and wrapped his arm around her waist protectively, "You okay?" he asked nervously. "Fine" came the answer swiftly and sharply like a blade, Po grew braver"You wanna talk abo-", "No" Tigress said coldly.
Po frowned and nuzzled his head between her shoulder blades, "Okay then" he said resigned to defeat but before he slept he decided to say one more thing...which might get him killed. "Night kitten", Tigress's pupils dilated in shock at being called that hated no detested nickname. She quickly turned over and pinned Po down, she out her head close to his "Don't. Call me that" she said.
When Po nodded silently, she smirked evilly and kissed him. "Good" Tigress said, she hopped off of him, resumed her position and grabbed his arm and put it back where it had been.
Po meanwhile was smiling, "I love her so much." he thought dreamily.
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Day broke over the Valley, the sun shone in through the open window and onto Goku's face.
In the room opposite the same thing had happened to the Dragon Warrior, both their eyes snapped open and they got up. Po looked at Tigress and smiled, he stroked her paw before leaving to get something for both of them to eat from the kitchen.
Goku attached the Power Pole to himself over his Gi, he gasped when he realized what he was missing. "Nimbus! It fell in with me, I need to find it. Master Roshi wouldn't be happy if he found out that I lost it". Goku resolved to ask his new friends whether they could help him find the mystical flying cloud, it couldn't have gotten far.
As if on cue Goku's stomach rumbled and he could feel himself start to get weak, "Uhhhh, I haven't eaten since before I got here, if I don't get something to eat soon I'll pass out and die". He heard some movement outside and decided to follow them in the hopes of finding the kitchen or hopefully finding something to eat.
Po entered the kitchen and started to root through the cupboards so he could make some bean buns for him and Tigress, it took him no time at all to finish making them and to put them on a plate. He turned round to grab some condiments and when he turned back round he saw that some of the buns had disappeared. Po frowned and looked about the kitchen, he suspected a thief but he only had to look up and he would of seen Goku hanging from the ceiling eating two of them.
Goku had reached down with his long tail and stolen two of them when the panda's back was turned. He chewed and gulped them greedily savoring the simple but delicious taste of them, "He's a pretty good cook!" Goku thought excitedly, the panda could fight and cook what a combination! While Po looked threw the cupboards and pantries again for the culprit Goku crept off back to the room.
"Weird, maybe I didn't make as many as I thought I did. Oh well there's still enough for me and Tigress so I'll just bring them into her" Po picked the now lighter plate and brought it into Tigress's room where said tigress was now awake, yawning and stretching. "Good morning Po" she said softly, her smile widened at seeing the gift that he had brought her.
"You read my mind panda" she said while padding over to take some. Po held the plate out as she took some, Tigress took a bite out of one and hummed happily to show her content. Tigress gulped, "These are really good Po".
The Dragon Warrior grinned, sat down on the bed and began to help himself to his spoils. Tigress ate some more and then rubbed her stomach affectionately, it had only been a short while but she was beginning to feel the effects of the child inside her.
Po offered her some more which she accepted gratefully, it surprised the both of them to see how hungry Tigress actually was. They eventually finished and Po put the plate down, Tigress wiped some of the flour that had fallen off of the bun off of Po's cheek. He smiled gratefully and felt her stomach, "I can't wait until I'll be able to feel a kick" he said cheerfully.
Tigress put her paw over his, "Me too" she agreed. The two were interrupted by Shifu opening their door, "Good morning you two, we are all meeting in the kitchen with Goku for something to eat, after that we will talk to him in the Hall of Heroes". Po stood up and helped Tigress to her feet, the two followed Shifu into the kitchen and Po gasped when he saw Goku sitting in his usual spot.
The two met with glances and the room feel silent at the two warriors sizing each other up. They both dropped it when Shifu coughed to get their attention, he gestured at the table for Tigress and Po to take their seats, "No fighting you two" he said referring to Goku and Po, "This is a time for nutrition and refreshment, we can discuss Goku and what we are going to do afterwards".
The two nodded and started t eat the buffet that Mr Ping had prepared for them, Tigress didn't eat anything because of the earlier bean buns but was shocked at Po's willingness to continue eating despite his earlier meal.
Throughout the meal Goku and Po each ate a sizable amount of food, they noticed how much the other was eating and they soon began to eat faster and faster . Nobody else noticed at first but eventually at the rate the food was disappearing it was hard not to.
Goku and Po thought it tasted great and the two of them were close to bursting, but because of their new found rivalry they didn't want to show weakness towards the other. Thus they exchanged powerful glances and without taking their eyes off of each other began to shovel in all of the food that was in front of them, everyone watched in shock as the food quickly disappeared especially Mr Ping who had never seen anyone put more this amount of his food in their mouths before calling it a day.
Tigress smiled at Po's childishness and determination to appear cool to someone he didn't know, it reminded her of when he had first arrived in the Jade Palace, desperate to impress the Five and most of all her he told wild outlandish tales of when he would cook with his father in the noodle shop. She was snapped out of her nostalgic trip by the slamming down of two bowls, Po and Goku had finished and were still staring each other down.
"Were...were you two having a starring contest while eating?" asked Monkey bemusedly, they both nodded without breaking contact. Shifu rolled his eyes at the two children then spoke up, "Now that you two are finished it's time we found out who Goku is and where exactly he came from, or would you two like to continue showing off?" Po blushed.
Goku wiped his mouth, "Sorry". Shifu nodded, "It doesn't matter, now Mr Ping would you mind staying here while we talk to Goku?". The goose nodded and began to clear up the cutlery and plates.
Shifu stood up and gestured for the master and Goku to follow him, "We shall go the Hall of Heroes to discuss this, there may be some information there in case we need it".
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They entered the Hall of Heroes, Zeng had done a good job, the jade floors were gleaming and all of the precious kung fu artifacts were in tip top condition. Goku couldn't absorb the sensory information fast enough, his head kept whipping around at a alarming rate. His gaze fell on the tapestry of Oogway and he felt a deep sense of respect towards the turtle despite not knowing who he was or how skilled he was.
Shifu stopped at the edge of the Moon Pool and began to stare into it as if he was looking for an answer from within the waters themselves. "So" he said when turning around to face them all, "Does anyone have any questions for Goku before I ask him anything?".
"Say Goku, what was that technique you used against me when we were fighting in the forest?" asked Po. The fan boy in him was excited at the prospect of learning such a flashy and devastating technique, he tried to hide his excitement but he couldn't stop a grin from forming on his face. Shifu sighed at the seeming irrelevance of the question but seeing how he had never seen the technique in person he had to admit that he had never seen anything like it and was also curious at the though of it.
Goku chuckled, "Oh you mean the Kamehameha, it's something I learned from my martial arts teacher Muten Rōshi the Turtle Master". Shifu gasped "Your teacher know the Turtle Style?".
Goku nodded, "Yeah why?". Tigress answered him, "The Great Master Oogway" she pointed at the tapestry of Oogway "Was the only one throughout Kung Fu history who was able to learn and master that particular style".
Goku furrowed his brow in confusion, "What d'ya mean was?". Shifu subtly shifted uncomfortably, he didn't want to show any sign of being upset in front of neither this newcomer or any of his students, the truth though that Shifu did indeed still miss his old master. "He died of old age, years ago" Shifu said simply, Goku looked sympathetically at him, "I'm sorry". Shifu waved his hand nonchalantly to show his acceptance, "It's okay Goku you didn't know".
Goku then started to get excited "This guy sounds really strong, I wish I could've met him!". Po joined in not wanting to be upstaged, "Well I've met him and he was awesome" he said smugly. Tigress rolled her eyes in amusement at Po's attempt to impress the boy.
Shifu coughed into his hand to get Goku's attention back. "What is this...Kamehameha?". Goku got into the stance, "I'll show you". "Wait shouldn't we do this inside" said Crane who was ignored.
Goku took a deep breath and concentrated his chi, "Ka. Me. Ha. Me...". The palace started to shake and a small blue blue of energy formed between Goku's palms. Monkey laughed "It doesn't seem that impr-". "HAAAAAAA", Goku fired the beam at a bare wall. Po and the others shielded their eyes from the blinding light of the beam.
When the dust had settled the others looked at the damage done. The wall had been completely destroyed and Goku was panting heavily.
"Why is it always that wall that gets destroyed?" asked Mantis to no one in particular. Shifu gasped, "How are you able to harness such a huge amount of chi?"
Goku shrugged "I don't know, I thought everyone could do it". He wiped a bead of sweat away from his forehead, "Wow that one took a lot out of me".
"But Master I thought we all had access to chi?" asked Viper. Shifu nodded "Indeed Viper but we can't use it to that kind of degree, our chi is attached to our life force, observe".
Shifu held his palm up and began to focus, the others noticed his body start to shake from the strain and his face showed clear signs of being uncomfortable. A small ball of yellow energy exited Shifu's hand and quickly evaporated. Shifu gasped and fell to his knees.
Goku quickly helped Shifu back up, "Master are you ok?" asked Tigress. They were all surprised at Goku's selflessness to someone he had never met, it reminded Tigress and the Five of Po.
Shifu took a deep breath and stood back up, "I am fine Tigress. As you can see students, compared to Goku's wave my attempt was pitiful. If I used any more of my chi it could of rendered me unconscious or catatonic".
Goku scratched his head, "So why can I use so much even though you've all trained longer then me?". "I don't know Goku, maybe it has something to do with your unique anatomy or maybe you're just naturally gifted with a large well of chi" Shifu speculated.
"Until we find a way for you to get back to your own world I suggest you stay here and train with us, as you train here with us maybe some of our questions will be answered. Tomorrow we will question you more, I feel that today we learned enough to satisfy our curiosity for a while, I bet you're longing for some training right about now" Shifu said, in truth the red panda had never encountered anyone like the monkey boy and was excited at the things the boy could teach both him and his students such as chi control for a start.
Goku grinned "Awesome". Mantis chuckled "Watch out Po he's stealing your lame catchphrases" he said while looking at the panda. Po smiled but on the inside, "They're not lame...", okay now the panda wanted a rematch!