A Better World?
Chapter 8- Days of Future Past
The Future, five minutes after Po sent Crane to the past
The Dragon Warrior paced around waiting for Crane to reappear.
After a while he gave up and called Viper and Monkey in. Monkey was carrying a small cage that contained Mantis who looked very annoyed at his current predicament and very worried for Crane.
"Where did Crane go Dragon Warrior?" asked Monkey.
Po looked at the both of them "He got away".
Viper looked around "How?, there's only one entrance and we were standing on the other side of it".
"Never you mind" Po snapped. "All you need to know is he got away, send the rhinos to patrol the valley and it's surrounding areas just in case thats where he ended up".
Viper nodded and slithered out to inform the guards "I hope Crane's alright, I know he's defying Po but I just want us all to be friends again".
Monkey watched Viper's retreating form "What do you want me to do with Mantis?".
Po started to pace again "Put him in a cell in the basement, maybe we can use him later to find out where more of his pathetic resistance is".
Monkey left to follow Po's order.
"I'll wait a week, if he doesn't return I'll follow him and finish this off for good. What about Viper and Monkey what do I tell them? they don't know about the stone I made, they think I've just been having the criminals we capture executed, I'll just tell them I'm going out of the country to look for Crane alone and then I'll use the stone to follow him".
Po looked at his locket "I won't let him get away...I'll make you proud Tigress".
xxxxx
Monkey threw Mantis into a cell and stood guard outside.
Inside his cell Mantis gazed sadly into space deep in thought "I can't believe it! Crane just abandoned me here...No! he must just be biding his time until he can spring me out...I hope".
Mantis decided to try and irritate Monkey figuring his anger could become a useful weapon later.
"Hey Monkey does it feel good being Po's bitch!" Mantis yelled out to him.
Mantis heard Monkey grunt in annoyance, his plan was starting to work it just needed more time "I bet your dead mother would be sooo proud of you".
xxxxx
The Present
"You may want to have a seat, this is going to a long story" Crane said as he walked into the kitchen.
Everyone listened to him and sat down in a seat, Crane stood in the doorway looking glumly at them "This is going to be hard to revisit, but necessary".
"I'll try not to go into specifics about future events just in case it would affect positive aspects of your futures is that OK?.
Shifu nodded "Please begin".
Crane cleared his throat and began "Two years ago in my world it was an ordinary day, we had trained and Po and Tigress...My Po and Tigress I mean spent the day together as they usually did".
"Then we got an alert that bandits were attacking the village, naturally we went to repel them", Crane paused to consider his next words carefully.
"The battle was average and we finished it quickly...however we weren't thorough enough", Crane's face took a melancholy form.
"When we were celebrating our victory an archer tried to kill Po, Tigress saw this and pushed him out of the way to protect him...she was dead before she hit the ground".
Everyone gasped, Tigress was in shock.
"I die...protecting Po?...would I really be that reckless just to save his life. What am I saying to save him I would gladly give my life I just...never thought I would have t-" Tigress was snapped out of thought by Po grabbing her paw with both of his and squeezing it tightly.
Tigress looked at Po, his eyes had a flurry of emotions running through them, he was upset that she died protecting him but he was smitten by the fact that he meant so much to her that she would do that.
Crane noticed this interaction and continued "I can't say what Po said to Tigress in his grief just in case these two haven't got that far yet".
"Po was devastated...we all were but something...happened to him. He brutally killed the one responsible and he made me and the others follow his example".
Tigress stood up in anger "Now I've heard enough, Po would never murder someone in cold blood" she looked at Po "Right Po?".
Po looked conflicted "I honestly don't know Tigress, when Shen hurt you and everyone else with the cannon I was so angry that I wanted to hurt him...bad".
The older Crane was confused "Wait what?, when did he hit Tigress with a cannon?".
Viper looked at him quizzically "Yeah we were in the docks and she pushed him out of the way and took the blast".
Crane frowned at Po "Po in my world you killed Shen in the firework factory when you were trying to confront him about your parent's fate".
Shifu interjected "So in your world Po never came to terms with his past and he never learned Inner Peace?".
Crane shook his head "No it tore him up inside for years, he would only ever talk to Tigress about it".
Po suddenly looked happy "So that means I won't become a jerk because I learned Inner Peace...Wow am I lucky or what!".
Shifu looked at Po "Not necessarily Po everyone has the capacity for evil, remember what you just said about Shen".
Po remembered and looked disappointed, Tigress gripped his paw and turned his face to look at her's "I promise Po it will never get to that, I won't let you become that monster".
Po looked relieved "Thanks Tigress".
Shifu motioned for Crane to finish his story
"Viper and Monkey sympathized with Po and joined him on his mad quest to make the world a "safer place".
Viper and Monkey were heartbroken, "How could we just abandon what we've been taught?" asked Monkey sadly.
The younger Crane put a wing on his shoulder "Remember Monkey you and Viper were also mourning over Tigress's death you wouldn't have been thinking straight, in the heat of the moment it must of seemed like a good idea".
The older Crane nodded "Indeed".
Mantis finally spoke "So do I become like these two jerks as well" gesturing to Viper and Monkey.
Viper hissed at him "Shut up Mantis".
"No in the future me and you make up a small resistance to Po's regime" Crane explained.
Mantis chuckled "I've always backed the underdog".
Shifu angrily turned on him "You think this is a joke Master Mantis?, because if so then you are dismissed from this room and this conversation do I make myself clear?".
Mantis stopped chuckling and bowed to Master Shifu "I am sorry Master I am not trying to make light of this situation".
Shifu nodded "Good".
Crane finished his story "Anyway I confronted Po but he had a new weapon of mass destruction to use".
"It was a small red rock that could amplify his chi and grant him unlimited power, he tried to use it to kill me but I disrupted it's power and I woke up here".
Shifu gasped at the mention of the rock, he looked at Po who also had a look of realization.
Po spoke "Are you thinking what I'm thinking Master?".
Tigress asked "What is it do you know of this weapon?".
Shifu nodded "It is known as the Sacred Blood Stone it can grant the user an unlimited supply of power".
Shifu turned to Crane "How did he make it the original blueprint was lost".
Crane looked darkly at Shifu "How'd you think?".
Po and Shifu gasped "He sacrificed life?" gasped Po.
Crane nodded gravely "Yes".
"Wait so he made a sacred stone by sacrificing the lives of innocents" asked Monkey, he slammed his fist into the table "That's unforgivable".
Crane sighed "Po is going to come after me and try to finish the job, I feel it is pointless asking but wil you help me finally defeat him?".
Po jumped up enthusiastically "Totally, I'm gonna get what's coming to me...wait that's not right".
Tigress stood up up and put her hand on Po's shoulder "We know what you meant Po, and I'm in" she paused "We all are".
Crane smiled "You have no idea how much I've missed this".
Shifu stood up "Ok it's been a long day and it's been a lot to take in, we can discuss this more tomorrow now everyone get some rest".
Crane looked confused "And where do I sleep?".
Shifu looked at him amused "Just sleep in your room with your younger self, there's nothing in that room that you haven't seen before".
Monkey and Mantis laughed and everyone headed to the barracks, everyone went into their rooms until just Po and Tigress were left.
Po looked uneasy and nervously scratched his arm "Well goodnight Tigress".
Tigress also looked uneasy "Goodnight Po".
They both left each other awkwardly and went to sleep.