A Better World?
Chapter 16- Po Ping Vs The Dragon Warrior
Po and The Dragon Warrior stood at a standstill scowling at each other, neither one moving a muscle.
"Y'know if you surrender and promise to never come back I might consider letting you go" Po said confidently.
The Dragon Warrior looked unsure of himself for a split second almost as if he were considering it, then he shook his head, he turned his back to Po.
"No, you don't understand how much good I can do here, In my world I have become justice, the only hope for China, since I started, wars in China have stopped and bandits don't attack the valley anymore, but it's not enough both of these world are still rotten with too many rotten people, I had to do it", he turned back round "WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT, AND COME THIS FAR!" he roared.
The Dragon Warrior calmed down and breathed heavily "The only one who can create a better world...is me, the only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta given to me".
Po stood resolute "NO!" he yelled, "I'm going to stop you, and instead of just telling you since you're obviously not listening, I'm going to show you how Po Ping is supposed to save the world".
He shifted into a fighting stance "Lets go".
The Dragon Warrior scowled at him "I'd thought you'd never ask".
He jumped at Po viciously and threw a fast kick at him, Po rolled out of the way barely dodging it.
He retaliated by sweep at The Dragon Warrior's feet.
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Tigress lifted her head up off of the ground to see Po and The Dragon Warrior locked in combat about twenty feet away. The older Po was clearly at an advantage due to Po's injuries and he was clearly winning their fight.
She struggled to get up, The Dragon Warrior was able to inflict a surprising amount of damage on her with only a few moves.
She collapsed on the ground again with a groan.
"That was a nasty tactic Master Shifu told me to use and it still didn't work, I don't know how we're going to win, but I can't give up, not when Po's life could depend on it".
With the thought of a world without Po spurring her on she managed to pull herself up and start to make her way over to the fight to help Po.
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The Dragon Warrior threw a punch which Po ducked "Why are you trying to stop me I'm trying to create the better world that you and me have always dreamed of, a world free from death".
"No!" Po yelled while jumping away to give himself some breathing room.
Po and The Dragon Warrior circled each other.
"You're just taking the easy way out!" yelled Po.
The Dragon Warrior snarled "What do you mean?".
"You just remove free will and kill anybody who dares to question you".
Po kicked him in the face which only served to annoy him more.
Po continued "The things that make a better world, truth, justice and most importantly love they are all things that have to be earned and I'll willingly give my life to protect them.
The Dragon Warrior yelled in frustration and lunged at Po, with his ferocious speed Po didn't get a chance to move.
"I'm stronger than you" he punched Po in the gut which made him double over.
"I'm more experienced than you" he kicked Po while he was down.
"And I'm not held back by mercy" he looked pitifully at the defeated younger Po.
Po struggled to get back up, The Dragon Warrior saw this and laughed "Stay down coward you can't win".
"He's too much I'm hitting him with everything but he just keeps getting back up, oh man I'm wiped I really need to sleep".
Po almost lost hope until he saw something in the corner of his eye.
Po stood up to his full height "You may be all of those things and many more , but I have one thing you don't".
The Dragon Warrior folded his arms and smirked evilly "And what's that?".
Po looked him dead in the eye and smirked back "An incredibly hot girlfriend for backup" he looked over his counterparts shoulder "NOW!".
Tigress leapt out from nowhere and kicked the older Po in the face which sent him crashing to the ground in a heap.
Po got up and walked over to Tigress who landed gracefully near him.
Tigress looked at him and smirked playfully "Incredibly hot? really Po".
Po smirked back "Oh you know you are". Po changed his cocky smirk into a warm smile, "Thank you Tigress, I honestly thought I was done for then"
She smiled back at him warmly "Of course Po", then the penny dropped, Tigress frowned "Please don't tell me you let your guard down again so you could let me make a sneak attack".
Po smirked again "Guilty as charged".
Tigress punched him in the arm "Po you idiot!", Po clutched his arm and groaned in pain.
Po saw her distressed look and immediately pulled her into a loving embrace, all of her anger melted away.
Po rubbed the small of her back affectionately "I'm sorry Tigress, but we need to win and if that's what it takes then that's what I'm going to do".
Tigress sighed "Just please stop making a habit of that".
The Dragon Warrior got up with a groan so Tigress and Po pulled away from each other and shifted into fighting stances.
The Dragon Warrior looked at Tigress confused "Why? Tigress I thought you loved me?".
Tigress coldly rebuffed him "No I don't love you Dragon Warrior, you kill in my name and expect me to think it's right? I'm glad I can't see the things you've done in your world, I'd rather die and so would your Tigress".
The Dragon Warrior looked crestfallen, Po watched him just in his case he tried something in retaliation.
Tigress grabbed Po's paw "I love Po, my panda, as far as I'm concerned Dragon Warrior you aren't Po anymore.
Po smiled at Tigress's show of affection and stuck his tongue out at The Dragon Warrior, "
The Dragon Warrior looked like his world had ended until he sighed and glared hatefully at the pair of them, "Fine, you leave me no choice, you're not the Tigress I love".
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his locket which he had put in there to protect it from the Palace's destruction, he held it out on his palm and showed it to Tigress and Po.
She gasped at the sight of her future self's fur sticking out of the locket, "He kept me with him all this time".
"This is the Tigress I love, as far as I'm concerned you're just another threat" he growled.
Po blanched at the sight of his counterpart's obsession, he gripped Tigress's paw in case he had to throw her out of the way.
He reached into his other pocket, Po knew what was coming and quickly threw Tigress out of the way to protect her.
He leapt at The Dragon Warrior and grabbed his paw to stop him aiming the stone at anyone.
Tigress landed hard on the ground and looked up to see Po grappling with his older self who had the stone in his hand.
They were evenly matched, Po found his strength from his love for Tigress while The Dragon Warrior found it from his rage.
"I know what I'll do" said the Dragon Warrior angrily, "I'll trap you in my memories of the worst day of my life so you can see why I'm right, why I'll always be right".
"No!" said Po, "If I focus I might be able to use the stone to send him back to his own world".
As the two fought over control of the stone the light coming from the stone was getting more intense, Po looked up at Tigress sadly.
"Goodbye Tigress, I love you too".
The light was becoming unbearable to look at, Tigress shielded her eyes and tried to make her way over to help Po.
The light dimmed and a huge gust of air pushed Tigress on her back, Tigress got up moved her paws away from her face to look for Po.
Nothing was left of Po apart from some dust.
Tigress's heart hammered against her chest and time slowed down for her.
Tears began to cloud her vision and sobs began to escape her chest.
"Po...No" she whimpered softly.
She heard Shifu and the Five gathered around her. Shifu looked at the area and gasped at the area where Po and his counterpart had fought.
Viper began to cry silently, Monkey closed his eyes and looked away, Mantis just stared into space and Crane took off his hat and hugged Viper almost as if he was scared to lose her too.
Shifu looked at Tigress sadly and realized she needed comfort not his usual cold manner, he dropped his guard for the first time since raising Tai Lung and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry for your loss Tigress", Shifu sounded surprisingly emotion.
Tigress could feel her heart begin to break, she fell to her knees and hit the ground as hard as she could, a crack formed in the ground from her blow.
Crane put a wing on Tigress's shoulder "Do you want me to tell Mr Ping?" he said sadly. He knew that him, Shifu and the rest of the five were hurting badly but he knew Tigress felt much worse so he stayed composed for her sake.
She brushed his wing off of her shoulder coldly and walked off without a word.
Shifu sighed and watched her retreating form, "She is going down the same path that the Dragon Warrior did, we cannot let that happen...I cannot let that happen", Shifu turned to the five "I'm going to help Tigress, the rest of you see if the villagers are okay, do not however tell them of Po's fate, we don't need a panic at this present moment".
Shifu limped off after Tigress, The five stood there for a little longer then slowly skulked off to the village. Crane looked over his shoulder one more time at
"I wonder what happened to the Dragon Warrior?" asked Crane to no one in particular.
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11 Years after Lord Shen's defeat
"So what did you drag me up here to talk about Po?" asked Tigress with a soft smile on her face.
On the inside Po was panicking, "No! not again, I need to warn her, I can't let her die again, but I can't move, I'm just acting the same way I did on that day".
Suddenly time flashed forward to her death.
Tigress was laying face up with an arrow firmly planted in her chest right where her heart was.
"TIGRESS" Po yelled, he ran over to her and cradled her, "No, it can't end like this" he pleaded.
"NO! I failed her again, please just let me save her...please" Po pleaded internally
The Dragon Warrior was stuck in a loop of the worst day of his life for all of eternity. It was the heaven he wanted with his Tigress and the hell he deserved. He was aware of what was going to happen but he couldn't do anything to stop it, he was a prisoner in his own mind and body.
"So what did you drag me up here to talk about Po?".