The Dragon Warriors
Chapter 3 - The Furious Five Versus Goku! Return Of The Magic Cloud!
On a hill outside of the Valley of Peace
"I knew if I sent that brat here then I could get my hands on the Dragon Balls, and I know this because I am a brilliant researcher and an unrivaled mastermind, but why" the figure pointed towards his two cowering minions.
"Did you two FOLLOW HIM HERE!?" Emperor Pilaf yelled. Shu and Mai hugged each other in fear of their master's wrath. Pilaf reached into his pocket and pulled out his Portal Generator. He had created it in an attempt to send Goku to another dimension, with Goku gone he would be free to take over the world.
Upon inspecting the device he saw that it had run out of battery, luckily it was solar powered so the three of them just had to wait for a few days until it recharged itself.
"OK listen up Shu and Mai!" he ordered. His minions immediately dropped the parts of their broken robot suits and stood to attention, they had already wound Emperor Pilaf up a lot just by following his earlier order of following Goku so they didn't want to give him any more of an excuse to get overly angry about another defeat.
"We need to find someplace to hole up until this" he gestured towards the device in his hand, "Has recharged itself, so I'd appreciate it if neither could ruin my plans yet again, is that OK with you two?".
The two saluted and said in unison, "Yes Emperor Pilaf!". The three villains began to walk in a direction in order to find shelter.
XXXXXXX
"Wow! This is incredible" Goku said in awe. Shifu had led him into the Training Hall with Po and the Five, upon entering the Hall Goku had immediately started to grin like an excited idiot at the possibilities of getting stronger from using all of the dangerous and powerful looking equipment.
He looked at Po, "You use this stuff to train?". Po nodded smugly, "Yep, as the Dragon Warrior I get to use this place everyday so I can be the strongest warrior and be remembered for all of history". Tigress shook her head in amusement, "Seriously Po stop trying to impress him, when you first came in this Hall you ended up being beaten up by inanimate objects and being set on fire...several times" she said with a smirk on her face.
Shifu and the Five chuckled at her put down, Po blushed and frowned. Goku ignored the conversation, the fact that Po was trying to big himself up didn't register at all with him.
"Can we start now?" Goku asked excitedly. Shifu looked at him oddly, "Goku, you realize that you still have some injuries from your fight yesterday with Po don't you?". Goku shook his head, "I feel fine".
Mantis laughed, "Ha! Looks like the kid's got you beat Po, how are you feeling?" Po huffed, he was in fact still very sore from his battle. Shifu nodded at Goku and led them all back out into the courtyard.
"OK Goku if you're feeling up to it", Shifu gestured towards the sparring area of the courtyard. Goku removed his Power Pole and threw it towards Po who caught it with one hand, the panda began to twirl it about in his hand.
Shifu smirked, "OK boy, which one of the Furious Five do you wish to fight? Apart from Tigress of course you can fight", he pointed at Monkey. "Master Monkey who's fighting style dictates that he is quick, acrobatic and unpredictable", Monkey decided to show off by grabbing a staff and pulling off some impressive looking flips and tricks with it.
"Or how about Master Mantis who's size hides his strength and swiftness" Shifu said proudly. Mantis wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or not after all he had just been called small by his master who was himself very tiny.
Shifu continued his odd sort of roll call with Viper. "Viper's ability to contort into any shape makes her nearly impossible to hit. She uses her lighting fast reflexes to avoid blows before she counter strikes—then, by wrapping her body around opponents' limbs, uses the opponents' energy to counter strike with deadly efficiency". The snake beamed at Shifu's rare praise.
Crane waited for his time to shine, "Finally Crane" said Shifu. "Could you go down into the Valley and guard it just in case someone tries to attack while we're distracted. If it happens send a villager up to get us". Crane gaped at Shifu for a second before sighing, bowing and taking off into the sky.
"So which of the Furious Five will it be Goku?" Shifu asked. Po whined, "What about me?". "No Po, we already know the result of a confrontation between the two of you, Zeng does not need anymore work to add to his list of your messes". Tigress had a sneaking suspicion that regardless of his years of experience and his maturity Shifu was just like Po trying to impress Goku. Tigress smiled and grabbed his paw to cheer up the fuming panda, Po turned to look at her with a frown on his face. The frown quickly disappeared when he looked into her eyes, "Don't worry about it Po I'm not allowed to get involved either".
Goku sized the three masters up. He made his decision and stood in the center of the ring, "I choose all of em!" he said confidently. The three masters looked at each other like they didn't know whether Goku was serious or not, they looked at Shifu to get confirmation over what to do. The panda nodded and began to focus on the fight.
Mantis, Monkey and Viper spread themselves out in the ring, Goku crouched down low and struck a martial arts pose a very familiar one in fact. Shifu gasped upon recognizing it, "That the Turtle Style! I haven't seen anyone use it since Master Oogway", he stroked his beard in deep thought, "It will be interesting to see this child use one of the hardest kung fu styles to master".
For Po though it would be his first time seeing the style performed, he had never seen Oogway do it at all, he only had Shifu and the Five's varying descriptions of it.
Shifu stood at the head on the ring to act as the mediator. He raised his hand and looked at both parties who were gazing intently at the other, Shifu quickly swung his hand down, "Begin!".
Monkey was first to attack, he launched himself with his tail towards Goku. The monkey boy sidestepped it and threw a quick jab to where he knew Monkey's face would be. Monkey landed and felt Goku's fist hit him in the face, it rattled the inside of Monkey's head and he started to see stars. Mantis took the opportunity to attack Goku while he was distracted with Monkey, Mantis ran at Goku and managed to land a kick to his face.
Mantis gasped when he felt a sharp pain run through his small leg upon striking Goku's face. Goku stumbled and nearly fell, he managed to stand his ground however and went to counter. Goku was taken off guard by a sharp whip to the back, Viper had decided now was the time to give her allies some backup as they seemed to be struggling against one opponent.
Goku gaped wordlessly at the pain, Monkey had now recovered and was getting to his feet. Viper rushed Goku again but he was ready for her this time, he twisted his body and felt Viper fly past him almost too close for comfort, before she had moved out of reach Goku grabbed her tail and slammed her into the ground.
Po flinched as he felt the force of the impact reverberated under his feet. Monkey and Mantis zig zagged between each other in order to disorient Goku, he wasn't fooled however and he used Viper like a weapon hitting the two onto the ground again. After hitting them he threw Viper like a Javelin at them, she landed with a pained grunt next to Monkey.
"That's nothing!" Po scoffed jealously, in truth the panda could probably beat the Five minus Tigress by himself, he decided to keep his thoughts private however as he didn't want a punishment from either Tigress or Shifu.
Viper struggled to catch her breath through her winded chest. For the first time in a long time Mantis was getting angry with a fight, he got back up hastily, "I'm not gonna let some kid beat the three of us this easily!". In his anger he attacked too quickly and left himself open to Goku simply tripping him up, Po laughed, "It's not so funny now is it Mantis? How's that dirt taste?". Mantis got up yet again and resumed fighting.
Tigress smacked him upside the head, "You didn't do that much better Po". Po rubbed his now aching head, "Why'd you have to hit me there? It still hurts". Tigress smirked, "Thank you for proving my point". Po pouted and resumed watching the fight.
Viper and Monkey struggled to their feet panting heavily, "I'm surprised Po could even hit this guy" Monkey murmured to Viper. She nodded slowly in response, that last attack had quite literally knocked all of the wind out of her.
She managed to get out a few words, "You...have any st-strategies?". Monkey thought for a second, "If I throw you at him like I did with Tai Lung he'll be too distracted to block my attack, I'm okay with losing this as long as me and you hit him at least once". Viper nodded and positioned herself appropriately.
Mantis managed to connect another blow to Goku this time in the midsection, Goku's ribs moved of their own accord and he headbutted Mantis finally finishing the bug off.
Po quickly moved over to Mantis's unconscious form and moved him out of harm's way. Goku wiped a bead of sweat away from his face, when he removed his hand he barely had anytime to react to Viper arching her body like a whip again, she manged to cut his gi along the waist.
Goku yelled out in pain and clutched his side, Monkey decided to capitalize and kicked Goku roughly in the face knocking him out of the ring. "That's it!" yelled Shifu signalling the end of the battle.
Monkey and Viper stumbled out of the ring celebrating their victory, "I wouldn't celebrate too soon students after all it took three of you to even land a hit on Goku. Even though you won by means of ring out it does not mean that you were the better combatants in the fight". Monkey and Viper bowed shamefully. Shifu then smiled warmly, "I am however proud of your teamwork and your fighting skill though".
Viper and Monkey smirked at each other, Shifu looked at Mantis out of concern, "I don't think we should fight each other again for a while. If there's an attack on the village the only one left to defend it will be Tigress and she's not in any position to defend herself". Tigress rolled her eyes at his over protectiveness. Goku picked himself up and brushed the dust off of himself.
"You guys are really strong!" Goku said happily. He didn't mind losing to an opponent or opponents in this case of such high strength. "Yeah...you too" Monkey said exhausted.
Shifu rubbed his hands together fulfilled, it had been nostalgic seeing his master's style being used again after a few years. "I think that's enough for today, that will count as your training today", Monkey and Viper nodded, bowed and walked off carrying an unconscious Mantis. Goku rubbed his side painfully, "Well Goku seeing as we don't have anything else you are needed for today why don't you head into the Valley with Po and Tigress so they can show you around". He looked at Tigress sternly, "Make sure he gets a disguise of some kind, we don't need a panic from anybody about what he is...which we couldn't answer even if we wanted to I don't think", with that Shifu parted ways with the three and headed off to consult the records about an idea that he had been having.
"So what do you want to do Goku?" asked Tigress, Goku thought for a second but his stomach answered the question for her. "Uhhh, could we get something to eat I'm kinda hungry?" Po looked at Tigress, "Well we kinda destroyed my Dad's restaurant so we can't go there, why don't we just go to the barracks and I can make us all something there?".
Goku pouted at not being able to explore his new surroundings but the allure of eating more of this strange new food was simply too intoxicating for him, he smirked and nodded to confirm. Tigress smiled at Po as well to show her agreement, Po led the way holding Tigress's paw while Goku brought up the rear while all the time trying to get a glimpse of his friend's home.
Goku stopped suddenly when he remembered something, "Hey guys?", Po and Tigress both slowed down, stopped and looked over their shoulder towards him. "Yeah what is it Goku?" asked Tigress.
"After we eat can we go find my Nimbus?", Po raised an eyebrow at him, "Your what?". Goku walked past them with his hands behind his head grinning like an idiot at their confusion, "Oh don't worry you're gonna love it!". Po looked at Tigress questioningly, "What in the world is a Nimbus?", she shrugged "I have no idea Po, still, it will be interesting to find out".
XXXXXXX
Crane was standing outside the remains of Mr Ping's once great noodle shop which had been destroyed yet again by one of Po's over the top fights. "And guess who's going to have to rebuild it AGAIN!" Crane thought irritably. True while it was always a hassle to rebuild the shop Crane had to admit he had always felt a small sense of satisfaction when he had finished it, like an artist viewing their finished work. Crane sighed, "It's kind of sad that I consider rebuilding some random restaurant as some sort of artistic statement or achievement".
*Rustle*
Crane was snapped out of his random inner ramblings by a small noise coming from the rubble of the shop. He looked around the street which was deserted, Mr Ping had gone to see some friends and had left Crane here by himself.
"Hello" the bird asked cautiously.
*Rustle*
"There it goes again" he thought to himself.
*Rustle*
Crane gasped as a wave of clarity washed over him, it was coming from underneath the debris! He turned on his heel and slowly walked towards the rubble lowered down to the ground just in case whatever it was under there wanted to attack him. He got close when the rubble started to shake and Crane was knocked on his feet by the force.
A large yellow object burst out of the debris showering both Crane and the surrounding street with wood and small bits of stone. "What in the world?" Crane speculated, when the dust cleared and Crane moved his hand away from his face he gazed upon the culprit.
It was a small yellow cloud floating in mid air, it was almost looking at Crane with an odd sort of distaste. Without warning it suddenly took off in the direction of the Jade Palace, "Wait come back!" Crane yelled, he immediately took off after the obscure thing. "Well Shifu did send me down there in case anything weird happened, but I get the feeling that this isn't exactly what he had in mind when he gave me that order".
XXXXXXX
Po, Tigress and Goku exited the Barracks feeling much more full then they had before entering it, Goku was now wearing a large cloak which hid his face, body and most importantly his tail. "Wow Po, you're a really good cook" Goku said cheerfully. Po smiled sheepishly, "You're just saying that...but I agree, don't you know how to cook Goku?" he asked innocently. Goku shook his head as they started to make their down into Valley, "Nope, I always enjoyed eating the food more then I even did cooking it" he started to chuckle and Po soon joined in.
Tigress smiled at the two of them showing signs of getting on, she stopped and frowned however when something in the sky caught her eye. "Hey guys?" she said shifting into fight mode. Po and Goku stopped laughing and looked at her questioningly. "What is it Tigress?" Po asked worriedly. "Is the baby coming?" Tigress looked at him bemusedly, "Po don't be stupid, I'm only a few weeks pregnant how is that even possible?" Po blushed at his over protectiveness.
She glanced back at the sky again seeing the incoming object get ever closer, "No, something in the sky is heading straight for us", she put her hand over the top of her eyes covering it from sunlight in order to get a better view of it. "It looks like some kind of projectile". The thing suddenly sped up like it had only just noticed the three of them standing there.
Po immediately picked Tigress up and moved her out of it's trajectory, the object suddenly crashed into Goku. Po went to help him out when he heard laughter coming from Goku. Po got a better look at the thing, it looked like some sort of large yellow...cloud...that could also fly. Tigress appeared by his side, "What is that?" she asked naturally confused.
Goku quickly stood back up and brushed the dirt off of himself for what seemed like the third time that day.
"NIMBUS!" Goku yelled happily, Tigress and Po looked knowingly at each other, "So that's a Nimbus?" Po said. Tigress simply nodded at his level of perception. Goku ran over to the cloud and leaped on it. It started to do loop-de-loops as if it was showing Goku that the feeling of joy at seeing his friend was mutual.
Tigress and Po gaped at the show of flight and speed that came from the cloud. Crane landed quickly next to them, "Oh hey Crane" said Po simply while not taking his eyes off of Nimbus, "What are you doing back up here? I thought you were supposed to be down in the Valley?". Crane caught his breath, "I was! But that thing exploded out of the rubble that used to be your Father's noodle establishment and flew towards the Jade Palace. I tracked it then it suddenly started flying towards you guys".
Goku flew Nimbus towards the ground, as he got closer he slowed his descent and hopped off of it. "This is a Nimbus" he said proudly. He walked over to Po, Crane and Tigress with Nimbus followed closely behind him.
Po went to touch the soft looking cloud but it moved away from him, "Where'd you get it? And what is it?" Po asked quickly. "I got it from Master Roshi, I'm not sure what it is though it's just a cloud that flies".
Po grinned like an idiot, "Can...can I ride it?". Tigress smirked at his childishness and Crane face palmed...or wing palmed. "Yeah sure" said Goku, "But you have to have a pure heart to ride it apparently". Wasting no time Po quickly walked over to it and leaped onto it.
Both Tigress and Crane closed their eyes waiting for the inevitable sound of Po loudly and painfully crashing into the ground, there were surprised when they didn't hear any such sounds but instead opened their eyes to see that Po was flying it around just as skillfully as Goku had been doing a couple of minutes previously.
Crane looked at Tigress, "Why am I surprised? He's already got both you and Inner Peace why should he not be able to fly a magic cloud from another dimension?". Tigress smiled, "I know, there doesn't seem to be anything he can't do" she said dreamily. Crane looked at her oddly, "Wow, he's really changed you, usually you'd be scowling into the distance and folding your arms but you're looking at Po like some over romantic little school gi-" Tigress cut him off by hitting him into a nearby tree.
Goku and Po looked towards the sound of the noise, "He fell" Tigress said dryly. Crane groaned and clutched his head when a large apple hit him.
Po suddenly had an idea, "Hey Crane!" he called over to the currently grounded avian. "What Po?" he asked voice wracked in pain. Po sat down on Nimbus and looked down towards Crane. "Why don't we have a race to see how fast you are against this...Nimbus".
Crane's tolerance for getting made a fool of had peaked by this point so he decided if he could try and win some of his honor and dignity back by beating this near inanimate mode of transport. He stood up triumphantly the apple that had been on his head falling to the ground dramatically. "Ok then, what are the rules and boundaries?" he asked while taking his place next to Po and the Nimbus cloud.
Tigress sat down under the tree and relaxed, it had been a long time since she and Po had just had a day like this where they had fun with their friends so she decided to take as much of an advantage of the situation as she could. Goku walked up to the tree and sat cross legged underneath it's branches.
Goku decided to ask something which had plagued his mind every time he had looked at Tigress, "So Tigress what's it like having a baby inside of you?" he asked in his usual naive and blunt way. Tigress blanched, she caught herself and cursed internally at getting caught out yet again by Goku's childish curiosity.
Meanwhile Po and Crane had decided what route they would take, around the Village three times to determine the winner. They took their places and set off quickly, however their intended audience was distracted.
"I don't really feel that different to normal really" Tigress said simply while picking at some of the grass on the ground with her claws. "The only difference really is that everyone is being over protective and patronizing towards me, it's starting to get incredibly annoying, don't get me wrong it's not like I'm not excited, my heart flutters every time I think about it but I miss the thrill of the chase, the thrill of battle and the blood pumping through my veins". Goku frowned and in a rare state of clarity spelled it out.
"I think that you're just afraid that you won't be at your full strength after this has passed" Goku said simply whilst staring at the ground. Tigress gaped at his odd sort of insight.
She went to reply but was interrupted by Po landing on the ground first, he flipped off the Nimbus and bowed to Tigress and Goku who weren't paying attention, "Hey guys? I won", the two of them looked at him.
Po whined, "Tigesssss, you weren't watching?", Crane landed as well although he was a bit more worse for wear, he was panting and sweating heavily. "That cloud i-is really, really fast", he bent over to catch his breath.
Goku laughed and walked over to the cloud which judging by it's body language if it had a face it would probably be looking incredibly smug at this moment.
XXXXXXX
Goku and the others had spent the rest of the day hanging out in the courtyard outside the Hall of Heroes, getting to know each other and learning more about each other's worlds. When it had gotten dark they headed inside to get something to eat.
Goku, Po, Shifu, Tigress and The Furious Five were all sat around the table in the kitchen enjoying yet another meal prepared for them by The Dragon Warrior himself. Mr Ping had decided to stay with a fellow restaurant owner instead of struggling going up and down the Thousand Steps every day. Nimbus was also floating quietly in the corner like some sort of guard dog. Shifu and the others had been quickly brought up to speed on the why, how and where of Nimbus.
Naturally the others all viewed the 'magic cloud' with curiosity. Shifu however had some questions of his own. he placed his cutlery onto the table slowly and dramatically, "So Goku". Goku looked up from his meal and met the red panda's wise gaze, "Yes Shifu?". In previous years the red panda might have demanded some respect or insisted upon being called 'Master Shifu' but he had been lightened up by Po.
"We know who you are know Goku, but we don't know what you are. While you spent the day with Po and Tigress I went into the Hall of Heroes and went through some of our records in order to find out what exactly are you, as you can no doubt tell by our reactions to you we have never encountered such a strange looking being such as yourself, no offense".
Shifu looked at the table disappointingly, "I couldn't find anything to do with you not one thing! It's the only time I can remember that we've ever been let down by the records". He glanced up at Goku again who had been listening with rapped attention with a dumpling in his mouth. "I'll be blunt, what are you?" Shifu said seriously.
Goku swallowed the dumpling without chewing it, "I'm a human being", everyone frowned in confusion. "A what?" asked Mantis who had recovered from his earlier beat down. "A human being" Goku repeated patiently.
Goku frowned, "I'm sorry guys but I'm not good with explaining stuff, my friend Bulma is much better at it then me. I'm actually different to most other humans anyway so I'm probably not qualified to explain it to you", he sighed.
"How are you different?" asked Monkey. Goku's tail appeared from behind him, "Nobody besides you that I've met has a tail like this". Shifu looked at Monkey curiously, "I wonder, are you and Monkey connected in some way?"
Goku gasped when he had an idea, "We could gather the Dragon Balls and ask the Dragon to tell us. Everyone frowned, "The Dragon Balls? What are they?" asked Viper speaking for the group.
"You don't have the Dragon Balls here?" Goku asked, Shifu shook his head "No we've never even heard of them, would you care to fill us in?"
"The Dragon Ball are these small orange orbs that can grant you one wish when all seven of them are gathered in one place, I was actually casually looking for one when I ended up here" Goku explained.
Wish granting? Everybody thought simultaneously. "What would you wish for Po?" asked Tigress. Po thought for a second before leaning over to her, "I already got what I wanted", Tigress's heart warmed at his admittedly cheesy statement. Mantis groaned, "Dude, you're so lame", Crane and Monkey chuckled but even they had to admit it was pretty sweet of the panda to say that.
The romantic overtones flew over Goku's head immediately, "So if there are no Dragon Balls here then how am I supposed to get home?". "Honestly Goku I don't know, but we can talk about this tomorrow there may be some artifact in the vaults that we can use. Had you come here a couple of months ago there was a little stone that could've helped us return you to your proper place but it is lost to use".
Shifu stood up from the table and made to leave, "I suggest that we sleep now, it has been a long day and there is a lot of ground to cover tomorrow in order to get Goku back to his world". His students bowed, "Yes Master Shifu" they said in unison. Although there was a new voice there, Shifu raised an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing that Goku had joined Shifu's students in bidding the panda goodnight. He merely nodded in acknowledgement deciding to confront Goku about it tomorrow.
The others copied Shifu and went to their rooms to get some sleep, Goku made sure that Nimbus followed him to the room that Goku had been allotted and Nimbus 'slept' in the corner that night.
XXXXXXX
Tigress had been thinking for the past couple of hours now on what had been said earlier, specifically by what Goku had said. She was standing up and pacing the room, Po was asleep on the bed as he should be as it was quite late.
Tigress laid down next to Po slowly, she could feel his soothing heartbeat through his soft fur. She decided to talk to him about what Goku had brought up earlier to see what her love felt about it. "Po, Po are you awake?" she said softly.
In response Po started to snore, Tigress turned over and shook him softly. It didn't work so she decided to wake him up by means of a less goodwill approach. She leaned near his ear and whispered, "Po I need you".
He got up like a shot and struck a pose to fight off the supposed would-be attackers. Upon seeing that there wasn't nobody there he yawned and turned irritably towards a guilty looking Tigress.
"What'd you do that for?" Po said sleepily whilst rubbing his sleep filled eyes. Tigress bit her lip, "I want to talk to you about something Po, I'm sorry for waking you up." Po saw how sad she looked so he immediately sat down, grabbed her paws and immediately paid attention.
Tigress was flattered at him taking something so small about her so seriously. "Well Po the thing is...do you think I'll still be a good Kung Fu master after the baby is born, I mean it's going to take a long time for me to get back into shape. Do you think that I'll still be able to protect the Valley?".
Po gaped at her, "I didn't know you felt this way, honestly it doesn't matter if you are or not. To me at least, you'll always be tough and an awesome kung fu master but yes I do think that you'll still be able to protect the Valley, after all you'll be fighting for more then the villagers, you'll be fighting for me and our baby. I know from experience Tigress that fighting for you makes me stronger then I've ever been, I mean look how I fought Goku yesterday. I never would've been able to beat him if I didn't think that he was going to hurt you or the baby in some way".
Tigress beamed at him, "Thank you Po". Po nodded and hugged her, "I love you" he said with a ton of warmth in his voice. "I love you too" she replied, "Although, for being so nice to me I think I can show it in a different way" she said seductively.
Po smiled at her as they embraced.