A/N: Sorry it's late. This chapter is quite longer than most of the others so it took a bit longer to write. But enough of that. Enjoy the Chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Chapter 8

Revelations

"Good work 'Dragon Warrior'." An ominous voice spoke behind him. All he could see was a bloodstained dirty stone floor with torches lighting up a wall which had what looked to be shackles which seemed to be broken through sheer force. "I am glad 'you now see things my way, literally'." The creature said as it laughed evilly. "Now that you and I see eye to eye, how about we go to somewhere familiar to you?" It said as it chuckled. His body then forced him up out of the kneeling position that he had been in, however he wasn't in control of his muscles or bones, they seemed to move on their own. The creature then spoke once again and said "Dragon Warrior? I'd like a proper tour of the valley of peace if you please." It spoke in a sarcastic tone. He then moved his arm up without being to control his movement, then his hand punched right through the concrete wall in front of him with ease. When the rock wall collapsed, he saw blinding light, but beyond the blinding light, there was a large mountain in the distance with a building built on the top with a bunch of smaller buildings at the base of the mountain. As he saw the mountain from afar, he herd a different voice call out his name "Po?" He knew that voice, it sounded like… "What a shame, they will all soon have to see what the mighty Dragon Warrior is really made of." The creature once again spoke with an evil laugh at the last part. He then heard the familiar voice call once again "Po!?" But before he could look where the voice was coming from, his vision became a shade of dark red and his eyes began to close. "Like I said before Dragon Warrior, 'this isn't personal'." The creature said. And then…

"Gasp!" Po once again awoke uneasy from his nightmare, however he wasn't in as much of a panic as the other times when he had awoken from his slumber. This time he was slightly more relaxed, but only a little, he was still trying to catch his breath and grasp what had happened. When he caught his breath after a couple of seconds, he said to himself quietly "who or what is that creature!? This is the third time I've had that same creature in my dreams. And why were my limbs and body moving without my control!?" He said frustratingly. Po was deeply distraught by this, he didn't know why these dreams were consistently recurring or who the creature was who constantly spoke to him as if he was a pawn in some evil scheme. When he looked at his back wall in his room, he noticed that it was nearly 5:00 in the morning judging by how much sunlight was entering the paper wall. He figured since he was already up, he would go and train to take his mind off the dreams. And so he put on his training clothing and took his jade staff along with him while he exited his room quietly in order not to wake the others. However when he went to close his door after opening it, he was startled by a voice that said "going somewhere handsome?" He then stumbled across his words "Oh T-Tigress, I didn't see you there. Why are you up so early?" "I heard you wake up in a panic once again, is everything alright?" She replied worriedly. "Yeah, just another nightmare, I'm fine though." He said trying not to worry his new girlfriend. "Was this one related to the others?" She asked. "Yes, but that's about all that I am willing to share about it." He responded. She wasn't happy about this, this was the third time it had happened this week, however she respected Po's request and decided to drop the subject. "So, are you going to go train now?" She had a feeling he would go to train at the 1000 steps to the Palace, or that he would go to the Iron Wood Tree forest behind the Palace, however she didn't expect him to say what he said next. "Actually, since you're already out here, I was thinking we could spar for a couple of rounds in the Training Hall. I tend to learn more from fighting opponents rather than punching inanimate objects." Po said enthusiastically. Tigress delightfully accepted her friend's offer "that would be great Po, I haven't had the pleasure of beating up anyone since I destroyed Mantis the other day." She said that last part with a bit of a chuckle. "Who ever said you'd be beating anyone up?" Po said while quietly laughing. "Okay, now you're in trouble 'Dragon Warrior'." Tigress said with an evil grin. "Oh really? Then let's see what you've got 'Kitten'." Po said with a playful smile. She then laughed and shook her head saying "okay then, how about we make a wager like Monkey and Mantis always do? The loser has to do any dare the winner wants them to do...Do we have a deal?" Tigress held her hand out for a handshake. "Deal." Po said shaking Tigress' hand. "But I'm warning you 'my dear', I will not go easy on you." Po said with a playful smile. "Good, I always prefer a real challenge." She said in a confident tone.

Tigress then went back to her room to get changed into her blue training vest, she had previously been wearing her red vest, however she knew that Po preferred her blue vest to her red one, and if she could distract him in any it would benefit her. She then left to go and meet Po in the training hall where he was waiting, she was secretly really exited to spar against her new boyfriend, she always enjoyed sparring against him, mostly because he used to be a great punching bag since he wouldn't fight back as much against his friends. But now, she was looking forward to seeing how much he had improved over the past couple of months of his training. As she entered the training hall she looked over to where Po was wrapping his wrists in white training tape, however she wasn't focused on his wrist wrappings. 'Gods, Viper was right...He really does look hot...' She thought while examining the now shirtless Panda in front of her 'damnit, I can't let this distract me, if I lose, Po will get to make me do any dare that he wants me to.' She shook her head to try to get herself out of her trance. Little did she know that Po noticed this, he then said "something bothering ya?" She shook her head "not at all, just getting ready to kick your ass." She said with a smile.

30 minutes later in the Dinning Room

Tigress was in the middle of swallowing a cup of raw rice. Unfortunately for her, she had lost her sparring match against Po, and since they had agreed their bet, she had to do any dare that Po demanded. When shortly after becoming the Dragon Warrior and defeating Tai Lung, Po had wanted to prove to his friends that he could cook rice by eating it raw and then drinking boiling water. As could be expected this plan failed miserably as he quickly spit all the water out after it made contact with his tongue. Now he was daring Tigress to do the same thing. "Okay, now here's the pot of boiling water...Try not to burn your tongue" Po said as he laughed out loud. The other four members were also watching while laughing, they also remembered the time when Po tried this incredibly stupid idea. They had woken up when they heard Po and Tigress sparring and decided that they had to watch. "Come on Tigress! You can do it!" Viper and Crane yelled in sync. "Yeah come on Tigress! I bet 25 almond cookies that you could do this so don't let me down!" Monkey yelled while laughing. "There's no way She can do it! If even Po can't do it than how can Tigress?" Mantis said. Tigress took the pot of boiling water from Po's hands and poured some of it into her mouth. She then closed her mouth 'no wonder Po couldn't do this before...This is painful as fu-' she thought as she struggled to keep her jaw closed. "Holy crap! She's actually going to do it!" Said Monkey. "Wait, Monkey, you never did pay up on our last bet that Po was going to ask Tigress out!" Mantis blurted out without warning. This earned him surprised looks from everyone except Tigress, who accidentally spit most of the boiling water out and began to choke. "Tigress! Are you alright!?" Said Viper worriedly. "Cough-Cough-Yeah I ju-Cough-Cough" Everyone began to panic "someone do something!" Crane panicked. "Everyone stand back!" Po exclaimed as he knelt down beside Tigress who was coughing and chocking uncontrollably. Po then grabbed both of his own hands by the opposite sides and extended his right hand to heal Tigress using his Heroes Chi. Within a second, his hand began to glow bright gold and it began to radiate his Chi energy. All the others just watched in awe as the Panda rapidly healed the damage that the boiling water had done to the female Tiger's esophagus and her lungs. In seconds, Tigress began to stop coughing and her breathing became regulated which came to everyone's relief, especially Po's.

"How do you feel?" Po said to Tigress as she began to rise from the ground. "Like nothing ever happened, how did you do that?" Tigress asked, puzzled at how quickly Po had healed her. "Do what?" He said not knowing what she meant. "How did you heal me so quickly? I can barely heal a wilting flower with my Chi and you just healed my lungs in seconds." She responded. "Oh, that's what you meant! Well, the output of you Chi can be dictated by your connection to the person or thing that you are using your Chi on. I'll teach you all how to be able to master this soon." Po replied. "Oh, and sorry about what happened, this was my fault." Po said apologetically to Tigress. "No it's not your fault, I was the one who came up with the dare idea so don't worry about it, besides I am fine now. But as for you Mantis!" Tigress pivoted topics and gave the Insect a death glare. "Remember when I said 'losing your head would be the least of your problems'? Well now it is!" Tigress angrily as she rose from the ground (probably to destroy Mantis). As she stood up she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder "Easy there Tigress, he was only trying to get under your skin, don't mind him." Po said with a chuckle. Mantis then sighed in relief and said "thanks Po, she really needs to lighten up!" "I wouldn't be celebrating Mantis, I don't mind you making jokes, but try to refrain from making jokes about people's personal life." Po said sternly to the insect, which earned him an obedient nod from the arthropod. "Now, does anyone want to help me clean up this mess?" Po asked to all the others. The others agreed to help, and they cleaned up the mess quickly.

"So about our date today, I was thinking that we could meet at the Palace gates before we go." Po quietly spoke to Tigress on the way back to their rooms. "That sounds good Po, I'll be there, oh and thanks again for saving me." Tigress said and gave Po a kiss on the cheek as she walked to her room. "Think nothing of it..." Po mumbled to himself while staring off at his feline friend who walked gracefully to her room, swaying her tail from side to side. "Don't stare too long Romeo." A voice said from behind, this broke Po out of his trance as he shook his head trying to focus. "Monkey, didn't anyone ever tell you not to eavesdrop?" Po responded to the simian who was laughing. "Master Shifu may have mentioned it." Monkey replied sarcastically. "But you gotta admit bro, you're one lucky man!" Monkey playfully elbowed Po and winked. "I sure am..." Po said as he just starred at the end of the hallway. "Anyway, we all hope you guys have a great date night!" Monkey said enthusiastically. "About that, how did you all know that I asked Tigress out?" Po asked. "Oh...Uhhh...Actually, it's a long story, but to be honest I believed that you wouldn't ask her out, I even bet 100 almond cookies on it! I'm regretting that bet every second now..." Monkey ranted. "Let me guess...Mantis?" Said Po seeming slightly annoyed with the antics of the simian and the insect. "Yep." Monkey said. "When are you going to stop betting those almond cookies? I swear your gambling is out of control! Besides, how is Mantis even able to eat that many cookies? Hes like half the size of one!" Po said that last part with a chuckle. "I heard that!" Mantis loudly said from his room. "That was the point!" Po joked to his insect friend. "Anyway, have fun on your date bro!" Monkey said cheerfully. "Thanks Monkey." Po replied as he left to go to his own room.

4 Hours later at the Jade Palace (At the top of the 1000 steps)

Po patiently waited at the foot of the Jade Palace gates, he was waiting for Tigress eagerly. For their date, he had worn one of his nice green tunics with the golden dragon pattern along with his black training pants, he had also worn his large golden cloak which made him look quite sophisticated and elegant. He had also brought along his staff, he believed it would make an excellent walking stick as well as look nice along side him. Just then he noticed Tigress descending from the Palace, she wore her golden robe with Lotus plant designs (Po's favorite of her outfits) and her signature black training pants. However she was also wearing a beautiful orange Tiger Lily flower on top of her left ear, it especially caught Po's eye as it reminded him of the lotus flowers that Viper would wear as well. "You look absolutely gorgeous." Po complimented. "You too handsome." She replied back. "I assume Viper helped you out with that?" Po pointed at the Tiger Lily flower on her ear. "She thought you'd like it, does it look alright?" Tigress asked. "It looks as beautiful as the person who wears it." Po commented. Tigress blushed slightly, though not enough to see through her orange and black fur. "You're so sweet Po." She said with a smile. Po smiled and replied "shall we?" we asked as he held out his hand for her to hold. She took his hand and said "Of course, 'Lotus'." Po was stuned at what she had called him, the only one who ever called him by that name was his father Li Shan. "I know, I know, it's a childish name..." He said as smiled and looked at the ground. "I think it suites you, after all the Lotus flower represents purity." She said in a kind tone. Po just smiled and the two walked down the 1000 steps holding each other's hand.

Once they passed the bamboo forests at the edge of the village, they reached a clearing, it was a very open meadow with a large pond in the middle of the area. The sky was a bright yellow which complemented the steamy clouds in the air, this made for a very vibrant sky, the mountains in the distance were faded into the horizon due to the distance they were from the area, the Jade Palace was still visible from where the two were as it was perched on a nearby mountain. Around the pond, there was long grass along with many beautiful flowers and some small trees. "Po. How did you know about this place?" Tigress questioned. "I found it while looking for cooking ingredients for my father's restaurant, in fact, this area grows many of the ingredients in the noodle soup dish, things like bok choy, garlic and even ginger." Po answered. "But I don't only come here for the scenery, I also used to come here when carving my action figures of the Furious Five." Po finished. "It's beautiful!" Tigress said while still looking at the meadow in awe.

The two just sat peacefully in the meadow for hours holding hands, speaking about various topics from the lights of Monkey's and Mantis' gambling addictions to how far Hao was progressing in his training. "Tigress, I just have one question." Po said abruptly. "Yes Po? What would that be?" Tigress asked. Po looked away at the sun setting over near the mountains as he said "why me? There are so many men who you could choose, and you chose me. Why?" Tigress also looked towards the sunset, she couldn't understand why Po asked this question. "Po, there isn't another man in China-no, the world that I would rather be with! You're funny, you're the kindest person I know and you're actually very handsome..." She said. Po stopped staring at the sunset and looked to his left where Tigress was sitting beside him holding his left hand. "I don't know what to say...I mean, this is a dream come true for me, the love of my life sitting down next to me while watching the sunset across the mountains." Po said happily. "I thought your dream was to become a master of Kung Fu?" Tigress said giggling. "It was, I guess I checked that one off the bucket list a while ago." Po jokingly replied. Tigress then leaned her head against Po's shoulder and said "thanks" Po then raised an eyebrow and asked "for what?" "For being perfect." She replied and she kissed him on his cheek.

What seemed like an eternity, the two sat at the meadow together, and neither of them wanted it to end. However unbeknownst to them, a threat was looming nearby which would quickly create chaos and disorder in the valley of peace.

Half a Mile away at the Bao Gu Orphanage

Knock! Knock!

"Okay I'm coming! Just wait a second!" Mrs Yu the caretaker of the Bao Gu orphanage called out to the person knocking on the doors outside of the building as she quickly made her way over to the doors. She arrived at the door and opened it to be greeted by several figures, one was a large silver back Gorilla as well as a large reptilian (Wearing a similar outfit to Scorpion from Mortal Kombat) with a prosthetic red eye which looked to be made of a stone of some kind (probably a Ruby or Garnet) which she guessed was a Komodo Dragon. "O-Oh! H-Hello...Welcome to the Bao Gu orphanage." The caretaker nervously stuttered in her speech, this wasn't uncommon for her species, goats and sheep were known to stutter sometimes, however this time it was out of fear. The caretaker had never seen such animals in the valley, in fact she had never seen them in any other part of China that she had visited. The caretaker quickly cleared her throat and said "How can I help you?" She said trying to seem less anxious than before. The Komodo Dragon then spoke in intimidating but respectful tone "Hello Madam, you see, we came here to find the Dragon Warrior, and we heard that he visits here quite often, would you happen to know where we could find him?"

"Oh yes! The Dragon Warrior does visit the Orphanage a lot, especially recently! But I'm afraid he won't be visiting today, he said he had something important to do." The caretaker said. Then before either of them could continue, they were interrupted by a young and innocent voice "did somebody say 'Dragon Warrior'?" Hao Liang had heard a conversation at the front door of the orphanage, usually the conversations that he would overhear would be about some other kid in the orphanage being adopted or something he wouldn't care about. However when he heard the words 'Dragon Warrior' he got exited and rushed to see what was going on. When he got to the scene he saw the caretaker as well as a towering Gorilla, and a strange reptile creature which had a fake red eye. He was slightly disapointed that the Dragon Warrior wasn't really there "Oh, I thought that Po was here, sorry Mrs Yu." He said apologetically, while hanging his head in shame. "Oh don't worry Hao, just get back to your room please." Mrs Yu said kindly. Hao bowed and also apologized to the 'guests' "I'm sorry I bothered you mister." The Komodo Dragon responded again an intimidating but also respectful tone "It's not a problem 'young one', and if I may, where did you get that 'figurine'?" Hao looked down at the action figure of Master Tigress that he had in his right hand "Oh, you mean this action figure? The Dragon Warrior gave it to me himself!" The young Tiger cub said enthusiastically. "Oh, how fascinating...It seems that you know the Dragon Warrior very well, may I ask what your connection to him is?" The Komodo Dragon said in his menacing but polite voice, while he was using his tongue to sense something in the area. "Oh, he's actually my teacher! Or trainer...Or whatever you wanna call it. He's almost like a father to me! And right now he's teaching me how to control my strength!" Hao said with just as much enthusiasm as before. "Interesting, do you know where he could be right now?" The Komodo Dragon questioned. "Sorry, but I don't, all he told me yesterday was that he had something important to do today." Hao told the large reptilian. Mrs Yu then realized something and said "From what I know, 'the Dragon Warrior almost always comes down to the village when it is under attack', however since there is no such commotion it is likely he and the other Kung Fu Masters are training at the top of the mountain at the Jade Palace." "Is that so...So if this Orphanage were attacked he would come down?" The reptilian questioned with a hint of dark intent in his voice. "Y-Yes?" Mrs Yu said becoming a little nervous with the tone of voice that the reptilian had used. The Komodo Dragon then looked at the Gorilla beside him and whispered something to the primate's ear that could not be heard by either Hao or Mrs Yu. The Gorilla then nodded and left the doorway and seemed to go around the building somewhere. "I-I never got y-your name, a-are you new in town?" Mrs Yu nervously questioned.

"Akuma"

The Komodo Dragon responded. "And to answer your second question, yes, I am 'new' here." He said in a tone of voice even more intimidating than before. "Oh, please to meet you mister Akuma." Hao said abruptly. "Do you mind if I ask you why you're so interested in the Dragon Warrior?" The little Tiger cub asked curiously. The Komodo Dragon then answered "Well young one...Let's just say, I'm interested in seeing how 'powerful' he is." After he said this, a what seemed like a horde of armed mercenaries broke into the building through the windows. This startled all the children and they screamed in panic, as did the caretaker who then ran out of the building right past the large Komodo Dragon who now looked down at the Tiger cub who had been startled by the commotion as well. "Now, believe me when I say that 'this isn't personal' young one." The Tiger cub was now extremely frightened and he said "w-what are you doing?" The Komodo Dragon pulled out a Kunai throwing knife and then began to laugh evilly as he said "just giving you a visit with the 'mighty Dragon Warrior'."

Back in the meadow outside of the village

"Did you hear that?" Tigress said getting up from the ground. "Yeah, that sounded like the bell from the courtyard...But we haven't had an attack from bandits in months..." Po said sounding slightly worried. "We'd better return to the village to see what's going on!" Po exclaimed. And the two masters swiftly left the meadow trough the bamboo forests.

Once they arrived at the village square everything seemed fine however they were shortly met by Zeng who seemed like he was looking for them. "Dragon Warrior! Master Tigress! You must help! The Orphanage is under attack by bandits!" He quickly recounted the situation. Tigress and Po then looked at each other in sync and said "Hao!" Zeng then seemed confused as the two masters rushed off in the direction of the orphanage. "What do they mean 'How'?" I just told them the Orphanage was under attack and they ask 'How'? I swear I'll never understand these Kung Fu Masters." Zeng said to himself.

Meanwhile at the Orphanage

"Let me go! I've done nothing wrong!" Hao screamed at the Komodo Dragon who was now holding him tightly by the arm. "I assure you, you will not be harmed young one." The Komodo Dragon responded with an evil chuckle.

Just then the Orphanage doors slammed open and the unconscious bodies of 6 Gorilla and Rhino bandits slid through the doorway. "Dragon Warrior! At last! We've been expecting You!" The Komodo Dragon spoke in an evil tone. Po then gasped as he heard the voice of the large reptilian "I-It cant be..." Tigress who was standing in a fighting stance looked over at Po and worryingly asked "Is something wrong Po?" Po just starred at the Komodo Dragon "No...It can't be...Hes the one from my nightmares..." Po said seeming very distraught. "Po! Help me!" Hao screamed trying to get Po's attention. It was then that Po noticed that the Komodo Dragon was holding Hao against his will. This drove Po over the edge and he let out an angry growl and charged at the horde of mercenaries taking out nearly 20 of the Gorilla's and Rhino's in a fit of rage. Tigress just watched in shock, she had never seen the Panda so emotional during a fight before. 'Po has never fought like this before, he is attacking those bandits so violently almost like he does when he punches the Ir-wait...Oh no!' Tigress thought. Po had just taken down half of the bandits and was about to punch a large Gorilla unconscious in his rage, however he was stopped when he heard the Komodo Dragon call out "I wouldn't do that..." Akuma said as he held a Kunai throwing knife to Hao's neck. "Po!" Hao desperately called to his teacher. Po then broke out of his trance and pleaded "No! Hao! Let him go!" The reptilian gave an evil grin and said "Now, I have a proposition for you 'Dragon Warrior'." Tigress who had been watching Po take down all the bandits now ran up bu his side. Akuma then continued "Surrender, and I let this poor young one go without being harmed." Tigress then interjected "No! Never! We will never submit to you!" A circle of thoughts went through Po's head at that moment, he knew he couldn't let the Komodo Dragon hurt Hao or worse, kill him.

'Clang!'

Po's jade staff fell to the ground after he dropped it on purpose. He then knelt on both knees on the floor with both of his hands falling to the ground. "Okay...Just let him go..."

A/N: First cliffhanger of the story! Again sorry that this Chapter took a little while longer to make than expected. As always thanks for reading! Make sure to favorite or follow! And

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