A Better World?
Chapter 13- Master and Student/ The Two Reunited
Po and Tigress entered the now empty kitchen, Po spotted a note on the table and picked it up to read it.
Monkey and Mantis are hanging out in the village and Me and Crane went for a picnic, hope you and Po will be alright together.
Po chuckled "It looks like we're not the only ones who've seen the light, have you noticed how much time Crane and Viper seem to spend with each other...especially recently?".
Tigress nodded and smiled "Yeah I saw them hanging out together the other day when we "trained" together in the Wu Dan mountains", she aired quotation marks when she said trained.
Po walked over to the cooking utensils to make him and Tigress something to eat, Tigress sat down and watched Po work.
"So Tigress, after we've eaten what do you want to do?" Po asked without looking at her.
"We should probably go and talk to the Future Crane" said Tigress without taking her eyes off of Po.
Po raised an eyebrow in surprise although this went unnoticed by her, "Why?, I thought you hated him".
"Oh don't get me wrong Po for trying to hurt you I do hate him", Po smiled at her protectiveness.
"So I'll be watching him very closely for your sake, it's just that I want to know more about your counterpart, like how he fights and moves, I get the feeling we'll be seeing him soon".
"Ok then", Po finished making their meal, he brought it over to the tables but before they began to eat.
"I love you Tigress" Po said softly,.
Tigress blushed "I'm still not used to his affection, well it has only been about ten minutes since I knew about it".
Tigress smirked "Shut up and eat Po", Po's face fell.
"And I love you too Po".
xxxxx
Po reached the top of the stairs and took a good look around the courtyard, "It looks different from how I remember it, the air feels much more relaxed".
Po walked across the courtyard looking at how neat and tidy everything was before reaching the entrance.
The Dragon Warrior opened the door to the Hall of Heroes, he stepped inside and made his way down to the prison cells.
He reached the cells and saw Master Shifu meditating in front of a cell.
Po gasped in happiness, "MASTER SHIFU!".
Shifu opened his eyes and looked at the source of the voice, he looked sorrowfully at Po knowing that he would soon have to fight him.
Shifu took in Po's appearance "He definitely gets more mature that's for sure, there's no childishness to him either, he won't be easy to beat".
Shifu stood up "Hello Dragon Warrior, you have come to kill Master Crane have you not?".
Po's face hardened "So he told you".
Shifu nodded "Yes he did, he told me about the atrocities you've committed and the monster that you've become".
Po shook his head "I'm not a monster I'm doing this for the good of the Valley and eventually the rest of China".
Shifu sighed "I'm sorry that you've lost your way panda, all I can say is that I'm ashamed of you and your Tigress would be as well if she were still alive", "Ok here he comes that should have riled him up a bit".
Po's eyes narrowed and his blood began to boil "Don't ever talk to me like you know her, I love her more then you ever did, and if I wasn't so weak then she would still be alive". Po threw his cloak and hat off fiercely.
Shifu frowned, that comment Po had made had hurt him deeply but he refused to show it, "Po, it is not weakness to show mercy, it is weakness however to allow darkness to infest your heart like a cancer, I'm done talking, I'll give you a chance to surrender".
Po snorted arrogantly "It's been years since I've seen you Master, but if you're not with me then you're my enemy", Po shifted into an unfamiliar fighting stance.
Shifu gasped "He's using Tiger Style in combination with his Panda Style, I need to finish this quickly, no..I can't beat him, the best I can do is stall him and stop him getting to Crane".
Po looked questionably at Shifu "Why hasn't Crane said anything?, wait a minute his chi's moved, Shifu's been distracting me".
"Where have you moved Crane?, and don't lie to me" said Po threateningly.
Shifu kept a stern expression, Crane had already told Shifu that Po had learned to track using chi years ago so Shifu had come up with the plan of moving Crane".
"Beat me and you'll find out" said Shifu while moving into a defensive stance.
Po growled in annoyance, he dashed towards Shifu with great speed.
Shifu dodged the blow, Po's fist connected with the wall and knocked a chunk of brickwork out of it.
"He's so much stronger and faster then the Po I trained, I have to make him angry then he might make a mistake".
Shifu landed gracefully on the ground and taunted Po "Did you really manage to conquer the Valley?, you're pathetic".
Po calmly turned around, "Nice try Shifu, but you taught me how to anger a foe years ago, and you taught me how to ignore it".
Shifu decided he had to dig deeper, "If only I had taught you to mind your surroundings then you wouldn't have gotten Tigress killed", it hurt Shifu to say that comment but it had the intended effect.
Po shook in anger "SHUT UP!" he roared in rage, Po threw himself at Shifu again this time actually hitting him.
Shifu hit the ground hard, he blocked out most of the pain but that blow was a lot harder then he was expecting.
Po walked over to him and picked up by the throat, "Don't insult me old man, Tigress's death wasn't my fault, it was some scumbag who got what he deserved".
Po began to choke Shifu, "I can't get him off he's too strong, this might be the end".
Before Po could finish Shifu off a kick to the head sent him flying over to the other side of the hallway, before Shifu hit the ground a pair of stripey arms grabbed him.
Shifu looked up to see the emotionless face of Tigress who was glaring at the downed Po, the younger Po landed in front of her after kicking his future self.
"Oh yeah the cavalry's arrived, you were right Tigress we did see him soon" Po exclaimed excitedly.
The Dragon Warrior stood up and turned to face his attackers, he glared at his younger self but gasped when he saw Tigress.
"Tigress?, is it really you?" he said softly, The Dragon Warrior could feel tears coming.
Tigress put Shifu down gently, she got a better look at The Dragon Warrior.
She nodded sternly "Yes it is", "Wow I never thought Po would grow to look more attractive, c'mon Tigress focus!".
Tigress tried to reason with him "Po just stop this, what you're doing is wrong".
He ignored her "I've missed you so much, and I know that you're not my Tigress but I just want to say that I love you, that's what I wanted to say to you before you died".
Tigress sighed "I know you do Po, and I love you as well, but this has to stop".
Po frowned "But you'd still be alive if I had done this years ago".
The younger Po began to get irritated, "Hey, stay away from her you jerk, don't try and poison her mind with your insanity".
The Dragon Warrior looked at his counterpart and finally acknowledged him "Oh shut up you little moron , I forgot how annoying I was".
Po scowled at him "Well I forgot how evil I was...wait that doesn't make sense, oh well you're going down anyway".
Both of the Dragon Warriors ran towards each other and started to fight.
Tigress tended to Shifu and waited for an opening where she could assist Po, at least that's how she rationalized it in her mind.
"I know he's evil but I don't know whether I can fight this Po, he's still the panda I care about regardless of age and he clearly loves me, but my Po should be able to beat him if he focuses, what should I do?".
xxxxx
Monkey and Mantis walked into Mr Ping's noodle shop to get something to eat.
"Hey Mr Ping how's it going?" asked Monkey as they walked up to the counter.
Mr Ping smiled at the members of the five, he liked getting celebrities in the shop because it increased profits.
"Not bad, seeing Po earlier has definitely improved my day though".
Monkey and Mantis looked at each other and frowned "But Mr Ping, Po hasn't been down to the village in two days" said Mantis confused.
Now it was Mr Ping's turn to frown "But he was here about twenty minutes ago".
Monkey gasped in realization "Did he seem odd in any way?" he asked .
Mr Ping contemplated for a second and then nodded "Now that you mention it he did seem a little overenthusiastic to see me, not that I don't mind of course, oh and he had a scar across his right eye".
Mantis and Monkey gulped nervously "Oh dear" they both said simultaneously, then they ran to get Crane and Viper to get them back to the palace.
xxxxx
Crane and Viper were sitting in the middle of a field having a peaceful picnic.
"It's so nice to get away from all that drama even for a little bit" said Viper who began to rest his head on Crane's shoulder.
Crane began to panic at the sudden closeness "Y-yeah I agree, I can't believe I met my logical, paranoid future self...boy I don't change much in the future do I?".
Viper giggled "Oh I don't know, you definitely get more handsome and tough looking".
Crane rolled his eyes at his jealousy of his older self "Great so I only have to wait a minimum of fifteen more years until girls will start to notice me".
Viper giggled again and batted her eyelids at Crane, "Oh I don't know Master Crane I think some notice you now".
They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Monkey and Mantis.
"You guys stop making out, the evil Po from the future is at the palace" said Mantis in a panic.
Crane and Viper sharply stood up "Wait what?" said Viper.
Monkey made a "follow me" gesture, "C'mon we'll explain on the way".