Chapter 2: Nothing Personal, It's Just Business
Review Replies
Artorias78: Ohhhh boy this is gonna be an interesting one i can tell, i can also tell these two are probably not gonna like each other at all at first. or maybe you'll surprise me idk. Anyway, a great new storyline, eagerly awaiting more.
ThermalsniperN7: They will be at each other's throats for a bit. Then again, Tigress will have been kidnapped by him, so that's to be expected.
Dragon Emperor0: But you have to keep in mind, to Bagheera this is just business. He has no personal reason to antagonize Tigress or the Valley of Peace. He's in this strictly for coin… Wow, he actually sounds kinda like Edward Kenway. If Edward were into human trafficking. (He isn't BTW)
ThermalsniperN7: … He kinda does sound like Edward…
Guest: Please update soon. I already love this story. Please make a happy ending. Make Bagheera and Tigress stay alive forever and together, get married and have children please.
ThermalsniperN7: … Well, I dunno about them becoming immortal, but I get the point.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah, as far as we know, there's no immortality stuff in KFP.
Central Intelligence Anon: This is good. pls continue.
ThermalsniperN7: It will, but we do have quite the workload.
DJ-Zombie: I think "Berdan" would be more appropriate than "Bagheera". This is the name of the cousin of Shere Khan created by Mondo World (YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE THIS STUDIO! But the name Berdan is perfect to refer to Shere Khan, without using the same spelling). The name is pronounced similarly to "Shere Khan".
Dragon Emperor0: Well, I remember reading somewhere that the word Bagh in Bagheera means "Tiger" in some Indian dialects. So I thought it was a name that was somewhat on the nose while also working in a reference to one of the greatest books (and Disney movies) of all time.
ThermalsniperN7: I was wondering where you got it from.
-Jade Palace, Valley of Peace-
The Furious Five and Po sat in the kitchen as they all ate breakfast, courtesy of the resident panda. Tigress in particular was actually feeling better after her burnout just a few days before, and it showed. The others saw it as well, but made no comment.
"Kinda weird that we haven't gotten any messages lately." Po noted idly as he ate a bowl of rice, dumplings and noodles.
"Really? Hadn't noticed." Mantis shrugged as he had a bowl of fried rice as his breakfast.
"That might change soon enough, though." Crane commented as he ate some dumplings. And sure enough, it did change when Zheng rushed in, trying to catch his breath.
"Dragon Warrior! Furious Five!" The duck quacked frantically as he waddled into the room as quickly as his little legs could possibly carry him–before accidentally tripping himself over.
"Whoa, calm down, Zheng. What's wrong?" Viper asked.
"A B-b-b-b-b-bounty hunter is just outside the gate limits of the Valley of Peace! He told me to tell you that he's going to start capturing everyone who goes in and out of the Valley until the one he's come to capture gives themselves up!" Zheng rushed out with a serious stutter.
"What?!" Monkey gasped in surprise. "Who is he hunting?!" He questioned as he stood up.
"He never said! He only stated that when the captures stop would be a sign that he got who he came for!" The messenger duck replied frantically.
"We need to tell Master Shifu, quickly." Tigress stated sharply.
"I'm with Tigress. This seems urgent." Viper added, before turning with everyone else to look at Po, who was currently slurping down the last of his noodles.
"... What? I can't fight on an empty stomach, I'll pass out!" The panda stated defensively, shoving a dumpling in his mouth.
(Later)
After Po had finished filling up his almost bottomless belly, the six Kung Fu fighters went to their master and informed him of the situation. When the last detail was given, he frowned in thought.
"Whoever this bounty hunter is, he is both persistent and patient if he is going to make such declarations." The red panda said. "Deal with him, but proceed with caution. We don't know what he's capable of." He told them.
"Yes, Master." The six replied before they blasted out of the door towards the valley gates.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the section of road that Bagheera was lying in wait, the Tiger was currently busy sharpening one of his weapons, an Indian weapon known as a Kalis dagger.
After sharpening and examining his weapon, he put it away and started loading his four flintlock pistols.
"I've set the bait. Now all that's left to do…" The bounty hunter sighed as he leaned back in the tree he was in. "Is to sit back and wait." He added, arms propped behind his head.
One way or another, he'd get who he came for. It was just business, after all.
(A day later)
The defenders of the Valley of Peace arrived at the gate to their home, and didn't see anyone nearby. Past experience told them that this was more than likely just a ruse to lower their guard, however.
"Alright guys, let's go serve up some glorious justice!" Po exclaimed as he charged ahead of his friends and teammates to try looking for the interloper…
*SNAG! THWIP! BOING*
At least until he suddenly found himself caught in one of Bagheera's traps, specifically a snare.
"Po!" Mantis exclaimed in alarm as he moved to get the Dragon Warrior down, only to fall into a similar trap midway. This one was a cage made of bamboo.
"It's a trap!" Crane yelped in equal amounts of alarm as he rushed forward to try and cut the snare around Po's foot–only to snag a tripwire that sent bamboo stakes shooting at him, pinning him to a tree.
"How many traps are there?!" Viper hissed as she looked around with Monkey and Tigress.
"I don't know, but we need to be careful." The simian replied as he looked around warily, trusting nothing.
Viper slowly tried to slither towards Mantis to get him free, but as she reached his cage–there was a small *click* noise. "Oh no…" She groaned before a platform made of branches and bamboo rods launched her in the air, and caused her to land in a chainmail net–which automatically closed itself once her weight entered it.
"Viper!" Monkey exclaimed. He tried to get to her, but he paused when he spotted a trap in his path and disarmed it. This, however, was revealed to be a decoy trap and was restrained by all five of his limbs (tail included) by several snares.
Tigress stood there, shocked at the fact that all her friends were taken down so easily, and by traps no less.
'Whoever's trying to get us, they're definitely not the average bounty hunter.' The female tiger thought to herself with a growl, getting into a fighting stance.
"That's five down, guess that means…" A voice said before Bagheera dropped out of the tree behind her into a Superhero landing. "You're the one I'm supposed to capture." He added as he stood up, causing it to become abundantly clear that the White Tiger was several inches or even feet taller than his female counterpart.
"So you're the one who set this up. Who are you, and why am I your target?" Tigress demanded as she turned to him, slipping into her stance.
"My name is Bagheera Kipling of New Delhi, India. But most call me, the Trapper." The bounty hunter replied, his hand drifting towards his Kalis daggers. "As for why I'm here, that's because I'm here to collect the bounty that's been put on your head." He added, swiftly taking out one of the daggers and holding it in a reverse grip.
"Then you'll have to fight for it!" Tigress roared as she lunged at the White Tiger, who dodged the attack before he swung his dagger at her. The female tiger was quick, however, and evaded it, letting it swing through the space she was previously in.
"Oh I have no doubt." The trapper said as he sneakily pulled out several small pellets from his pockets.
Seeing this, Po's eyes widened in alarm. "Tigress look out!" He yelled as he tried to get himself free.
Tigress did so and jumped back as the smoke pellets hit the ground, but it unfortunately obstructed her view–allowing Bagheera to throw one of his more combat-oriented capturing traps: the Jaw Trap.
He quickly opened it and set it on the ground right in the path he predicted Tigress would run in–based on the vibrations his whiskers picked up–and he was not disappointed when she ran towards him from the path he anticipated and stepped in the trap, causing her to fall to the ground with a grunt.
"Gah!" The female master howled in pain as the smoke cleared, the teeth of the trap digging into her leg.
"And that's that." Bagheera smirked as he started walking towards her. Tigress, never one for giving up until she was out cold, punched the trap open, causing the trapper to pause in surprise. She used this to punch a tree into splinters and quickly fashioned a splint out of two large pieces.
This fighter would keep fighting with a broken leg, if need be.
"... Okay, that is cool." Po noted idly as he still struggled to get free.
"Get him, Tigress!" Monkey called, struggling against his own trap.
"Show him what you can do!" Crane added, pulling but stopping as the bamboo threatened to snap his hollow bones and pluck his feathers.
"We'll find a way to help–ngh–soon!" Viper added, still trying to get out of the metal net.
Mantis, meanwhile, was notably… Silent. He was either knocked out, or somehow dead… or neither.
"Seems I underestimated you, Master Tigress." Bahgeera mused as he twirled his dagger into a front grip. "You see, the traps I used, I placed and made over the course of several days and after several weeks of research and preparation." He stated, walking around Tigress as she kept facing him, balancing on one leg.
"How so?" The warrior questioned.
"Take a look around. Each and every trap you see before you was made and set with each other in mind." The cycloptic Tiger replied, scratching his patched eye. "For example, the Dragon Warrior's trap is a snare because it uses his own mass against him. The more he struggles and tries to loosen it, the tighter it gets when he lets himself back down." He added.
"And Crane's was designed to keep him immobile by capitalizing on his heed to keep his body from being harmed too much." Tigress noted, seeing a pattern.
"Precisely." The hunter nodded, twirling his dagger as he continued to circle her. "Meanwhile, Viper and Mantis have traps that play into their one weakness: they can't escape through holes that are smaller than they are." He continued, whipping out one of his pistols and attempting to shoot her.
Tigress barely dodged the shot, her wounded leg impeding her movement slightly.
"And Monkey's was designed so he couldn't use his limbs or tail." She noted as she regained her balance. "And mine was designed to immobilize me, but that failed." She added.
"Yes, that was a miscalculation on my part." Bagheera nodded, accepting his mistake. "I hadn't expected you to be able to destroy metal. I figured it would have caused you too much pain afterwards."
"I punched the Ironwood trees outside the Jade Palace for twenty years. I no longer feel pain." The female warrior growled.
"Ah, but that can be a detriment, you know." The male replied. "But, I think you already knew that." He shrugged with a chuckle, a chuckle that got on Tigress's nerves.
"I only need one leg to beat you!" She roared before using her good leg to leap at him.
Bagheera dodged, and was forced to block when she whirled on him with a punch aimed at his face.
This turned out to be a fake-out when her other fist buried itself in his stomach, causing him to grunt.
The White Tiger skid backwards as the impact struck him in the stomach, and he couldn't help but feel his insides convulse from the sudden strike.
"Alright… Alright… You wanna play rough, fine." He snarled as he put his weapons away, before deploying his claws. "The Sultan said that I had to bring you in alive. He never said anything about bringing you in one piece!" He roared as he lunged at Tigress again.
The two ambush predators clashed, their claws scraping against each other's as they swung them at one another. Tigress proved why she was a master of her art by fighting with one leg while Bagheera demonstrated that he knew how to fight, even if he preferred traps to catch his targets.
However, this prowess was unfortunately not enough to overpower his opponent, as Tigress punched him back several times before kicking him into a backflip similarly to how she did with Tai Lung, and then drop kicked him so hard that he crashed into a tree and reduced it to splinters.
"Okay… I'll definitely feel that in the morning." The White Tiger winced, feeling pain all over his body and did his best to shrug it off.
"Now you should quit while you're ahead." Tigress warned, the pain in her leg starting to feel worse, especially given that there were puncture wounds on it.
"As much as I agree that it would be more logical to call it quits…" Bagheera sighed as he got back up, reaching behind his waist and pulling out a Sheng Biao Rope Dart. "I'm afraid that I can't afford to lose this bounty." He added as he twirled the rope.
"A poor decision on your part, then." Tigress stated before lunging at him once more, the trapper swinging his rope dart at her. The female tiger tried to evade it, but Bagheera manipulated it to swing around her and tie her up. This made her fall over.
"Finally." The male feline growled as he walked towards the finally captured Tigress, ready to haul her away, when someone or something suddenly picked him up off the ground and slammed him down on his back.
"I don't think so!" Mantis growled.
"Mantis?! How did you escape the cage?!" Tigress gasped.
"I moved too fast for it to get me." The Kung Fu insect replied before throwing the trapper a good distance from them, causing him to grunt as he landed on the ground.
"Alright, that's it." Bahgeera growled as he pulled something from his belt. "I'm done dealing with this Kung Fu bullshit." He continued as he got up and crushed what looked to be an egg in his hand before throwing it at Mantis, sending a cloud of salt, pepper, chili powder, onion powder, and ash into the bug's eyes, blinding him.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH! IT BUUUUURRRRNNNNS!" He cried in agony as he ran around blindly at the speeds he was known for… and ran into a tree, knocking himself out.
The Trapper let out an angered sigh as he got back up and knocked Tigress out before slinging her over his shoulder, his leg and body still aching from the beating he just took.
"I apologize for all the violence, everyone. But please, just know that this isn't anything personal…" He said as he walked away from the still captured Kung Fu warriors. "It's just business." He added as the bamboo of the forest slowly covered him up as he walked away, his tail swinging behind him.
Dragon Emperor0: Well that was a rather embarrassing note to leave the gang on for a chapter. Though I guess it does help characterize Bagheera as a credibly dangerous opponent.
ThermalsniperN7: True. It does show that a creative mind can take down the strongest of opponents, and that Bagheera can fight hand to hand, though he does prefer his traps to do the work usually.
Dragon Emperor0: And for any of you asking, he wanted to minimize how much damage he put on Tigress because he knew he'd have to patch it up. And that would have cut into his head start on the others if he were stuck treating his quarry's wounds for days on end.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. In cases like this, it's best to keep damage to a minimum in order to extend your head start. If you go all out and cause severe damage, you'll be liable to being caught and defeated.
Dragon Emperor0: Yep. Anyway guys, see you next time!