A good night sleep is always the best to wake up in the morning ready for a new day with new challenges ahead of you.
That is, if you have managed to sleep at all.
Po had been unable to close his eyes all night. His encounter with Tai Lung's ghost left him more than a little mentally scarred. The panda found himself unable to even think of closing his eyes, afraid that, if he did, then Tai Lung's spirit would come to his bedroom while he was out cold and do unspeakable things to him, leaving whatever was left to be found by the other residents in the morning.
As a result, while everyone woke up feeling refreshed and ready for a new day, Po was tired and stressed out.
The panda's eye was twitching as he stood while his students all continued to train. They were doing very good today, as it seemed that tonight had been good to them and allowed them to wake up all pumped up.
Po didn't noticed, though, he was too busy looking over his shoulder, as if afraid that someone would try to sneak on him while he had his back turned to the wall.
Someone who, perhaps, could pass through walls...
"Master?"
"Pah!" Po cried in surprise, nearly jumping back as he looked at who talked to him.
Doe was standing before him, and she, like the other five students, was looking at him with a worried expression.
"Master, are you okay?" Scorpion said, as he was by Swallows One and Two side. "You have been weird all morning."
"W-what?" Po asked, "Weird? Me?"
"Yeah, you." Gator said. On his head, Toad croaked, apparently in agreement.
"You were still wide awake when we checked on you with the morning gong." Swallow One said, "You were staring at the ceiling as if there was something up there."
"You were jumpy at the breakfast table." Swallow Two continued. "You were hardly even touching your food! And when Monkey joked about Tai Lung's ghost having placed a curse on you, you had a panic attack or something."
Po reflected on what they were saying, and he realized that he could have handled Monkey's joke better back at the breakfast table. He only realized his freak out was too big when he noticed how everyone at the table was taring at him with a surprised, even shocked, expression.
Po really wanted to be able to disappear at that moment.
"O-oh... yeah... you see, about that is just I... I have been, a bit insomniac tonight." Po said, what was not really a lie. An insomniac was someone who could not sleep, and Po indeed could not sleep on that night.
"Master..." Doe asked, "Is this about the nightmare you had last night? The one about Tai Lung's ghost?"
It was not a nightmare! He was there! Po wanted to say, but he knew that if he did it would only seem like he was freaking out about a dream and trying to say that it was real. That would make him seem crazy.
And even sadder and more pathetic than he already made himself look last night.
Po made out some excuse. He was too distracted to even later remember what he told them. He simply told them that he would be catching a break and try to clear his head, and that they should continue training.
"Don't beat yourself too hard." Toad said, surprising Po and everyone. "I didn't had many teachers before but, from the ones I had, you are surely the best."
Po looked at Toad in surprise. This was one of the longest phrases that he ever heard the amphibian say on the year he had known him.
The others were surprised too, but they all agreed with Toad, and they all let Po know how much they admired and respected him.
Po would be lying if he said that hearing his students say that to him didn't warmed him up inside. It even helped him recover some of the appetite that he was lacking during breakfast. Enough for Po to want to make a quick snack on the kitchen.
Po left them to train as he went to try and get his head back on the game. Despite Toad's advice, Po was still nervous. He was nervous because of what happened last night.
I mean, he had a meeting with a dead guy in the flesh. Or... ghost flesh? Po was not sure how it worked, but he knew that Tai Lung had been in there.
He had come back and came for him. Po had the impression that he could still see those glowing golden eyes on the darkness of the night as he stood just a few feet away from him.
Curious, Tai Lung's ghost was a lot less ethereal than he supposed he would be...
Will he come back? Po caught himself thinking. He seemed mad at me. Why he is coming back now, after so long? Will I have to fight him? How do you even fight a ghost? Will it be the same way I fought Kai? Will I need everyone to lend me their chi again?
As Po reflected on that, he nearly bumped into someone as he was walking to the kitchen.
Feline! Was the first thing that Po's brain noticed as he saw the figure walking before him. He jumped back, immediately getting into fighting position, with Oogway's staff pointed at the figure before him. However, as he took a second to look, he realized that this figure was definitely not Tai Lung.
"Still a little jumpy, Dragon Warrior?" Tigress asked to the panda, and Po looked at her with surprise.
"I-I was just... training my dramatic pose! You know how much I love them, don't you?"
Did she buy it? Po asked himself, but seeing the way she was looking at him, his money would be on "no".
"Is this still about Tai Lung's ghost?" She asked him.
Once more, Po considering lying, but he knew immediately that Tigress would not buy that either, and he just sighed in defeat.
"You really got scared bad, didn't you?" There was no irony that Po could perceive on Tigress' voice. However, Po was never the best in perceiving stuff. As far as he knew, Tigress could be mocking him, and he would not even notice.
"Am I an idiot?" Po asked to Tigress. "Did Oogway made a mistake?"
Tigress looked at him. The panda sighed.
"How can the Dragon Warrior do as much stupid things as I do? Shouldn't the guy chosen by the universe be better than that?" Po asked, sounding that he was talking to himself as much as to Tigress. "I mean, I should be the Valley's greatest protector! A hero for others to look up and count on! How can I be that if I keep screwing up? How can people count on me if I keep making mistakes? How can I be looked up to if I let everyone down?"
Po sighed, looking at the ground.
"Sometimes, I wonder if Oogway made a mistake choosing me as the Dragon Warrior."
For a long moment, he only kept looking at the ground, not saying a word as he reflected on all the times he screwed up since he became the Dragon Warrior. Tigress looked at him, before saying:
"You have some weird ideas sometimes. You are a bit childish sometimes and fail to focus and take things seriously. You also make more mistakes than anyone else on the Jade Palace..."
Po looked down even more, and then Tigress continued:
"But you have defeated Tai Lung when all of us failed."
Po looked up at her, and she was looking at him as she said that.
"You also managed to save China from a crazy warlord who wanted to take over with his army of cannons." Tigress said, "You have also turned a whole village of pandas into kung fu warriors to fight the jade army of an evil spirit warrior. And, according to Shifu, you have mastered both inner peace and chi faster than any other person on the whole history of kung fu."
Po looked at Tigress, and she feline opened a smile to him. It was rare to see Tigress smile like that, but she was giving that smile just for him.
"I have to confess, back when Oogway first chose you, I was sure that he had made a mistake." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But, now that I have fought by your side and known you for so long, I think that he didn't."
She then leaned over and whispered on his ear:
"And, even in the case he did, I'd still think it was the best mistake he could have possibly made."
Po's eyes widened. He could feel his face heating up as the breath of the tigress tickled the fur of his ear as she whispered those kind words on his ear. His heart sped up for a moment, his whole body and face freezing as the feline moved away from him and continued her way.
As she did, she passed by a figure that had been watching them for a few seconds and saw clearly the way that the feline leaned over to talk to him.
"Morning, Viper." Tigress said, going her way as the serpent greeted her back, with a smile that might have been just a tad bit too big, before turning her eyes back to the panda, who was still frozen in place.
She looked at him for a few moments, before slithering to him and calling him by his name.
Hearing Viper's voice snapped Po back to reality, and the panda soon was looking at her, greeting her.
"So, how you doing?" She asked, and Po told her that he was "still trying to get on his game".
Viper nodded at him, and then she said:
"Hey, Po?"
"Yeah?"
"I just want to say that you are the coolest guy I've ever met." She spoke, and the panda looked at her.
"Oh, because I am the Dragon Warrior?"
"Because you are you." Viper told him. "I'm serious. You are brave enough to risk your life for the right thing, and you are kinder than any other person I ever knew. And you are never afraid of being yourself, no matter what happens."
Po looked at her.
"Yeah... and I sometimes screw up. Like yesterday..." Po said, and Viper was quick to tell him:
"Those lizards cheated!" She was so incisive when saying that the panda was caught off guard. She seemed to have realized that she snapped, so she continued, calmer now:
"You were only having a bad day. You were not on your game yesterday, and those lizards took advantage of it." She sounded like she knew what she was talking about. "Everyone has bad days. I had some, Tigress had some, believe it or not, even Shifu had some!"
"You mean, like when I was chosen Dragon Warrior?" Po asked, and he and Viper looked at each other for a few seconds, before both of them started to chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess that was not the best day he had, but I am talking about something else." Viper said, and then she resumed:
"My point is, having a bad day is normal. It happens to literally everyone. So, don't get too upset if you have one or two."
She looked at him, and then she spoke:
"You are the Dragon Warrior, and you proved that you deserve this title. It doens't matter what some angry sheep has to say about it. You are still our Dragon Warrior, and you will always be."
Po looked at her, and he could tell that she really meant every word she was saying. This certainly made Po smile.
"Thanks, Viper. It means a lot."
Po really meant it, just like Viper did. She smiled at him.
"Po..." Viper said, looking the panda in the eyes as he kneeled in front of her, her tail slowly moving to his hand. "I really think you are one of the most amazing guys I've ever met."
She wrapped the tip of her tail around his hand and squeezed it very gently. Po, surprised, looked at it, and then back at Viper. She was looking at him.
"That's why, for the longest time..." Viper said, leaning in closer. "I have wanted to tell you that-"
However, Viper didn't had time to say what was it that she wanted to tell Po. For, in the distance, a familiar gong sounded.
"The village is under attack!" Po said as he stood up quickly, his hand slipping free from Viper's tail, as the urgency of the matter made him forget all the rest.
"We gotta go, Viper! Quick!" Po said, as he rushed forward. Viper looked at him as he went, as the alarm gong still sounded in the distance.
The serpent groaned to himself.
Ugh! Seriously, Universe!? Viper thought as she started slithering quickly after the panda. Now, of all times!?
However, Viper would have time to be upset at the Universe's terrible timing later. Now she had a duty to perform by the side of the Dragon Warrior. Her and the other members of the Furious Five, who were meeting with them on their way down the stairs, all of them showing great feats of speed and agility as they did, jumping across the many steps and landing at the feet of the stairs before they took of running, jumping, flying and slithering at great speeds.
On their way, they passed by villagers, who were yelling at them that "they've come back!" while pointing on the direction they were running from and continuing their retreat to a safe place.
On their way there, they passed by a familiar face...
"Hey, panda!" The sheep said as he ran, looking straight at Po, "Don't screw up this time!"
Po slowed down for the briefest of seconds, before he gained speed once again, looking forward with a determined look on his face as he led the Furious Five to the center of the village, where they found...
"These guys again?" Mantis said as they all stopped to see who were their enemies and found out that they were the same pricklenaples of yesterday.
Those guys had apparently had the nerve to come back!
"Well, at least that saves is trouble of having to look for them." Mantis said, as he and the others looked at the guys. This time they didn't had the cannons. In fact, they didn't even had any weapons. They were just... standing there. Walking, as if aimlessly, while grunting and hissing, some of them were knocking over a few stands and stomping on the fruits and vegetables, while at least two of them were slamming their heads on nearby walls.
"I got this." Po said, cracking his neck and knuckles as he walked to the lizard guys. He wanted to get them himself. This was the perfect opportunity to redeem himself after yesterday's fiasco.
"Po, wait!" Tigress said, taking in the weird way the pricklenackles were behaving. "There is something wrong! Wait! Po!"
However, the panda didn't listen to Tigress, as he went right to the lizards, standing before them:
"Enemies of justice!" He said, as he stood before the leader of the lizards. He was easy to spot due to his eyepatch. Why was it that the leaders of criminal bands tended to have only one eye?
"You have a lot of nerve coming back to this village after what you did!" Po said to the lizards. "Be ready to answer for your crimes!"
Po stood in fighting stance before the lizards, waiting for them to come at him...
They didn't.
They just continued what they were doing, seeming as if they didn't even notice the panda's presence.
"So, you think you can ignore the paragons of justice?" Po asked, looking at them. "Well, that won't stand! We are the defenders of this Valley, and we don't forgive those who come here causing problem! You will return all you stole and you will be sent to prison to atone for your sins! Surrender now and we shall show you mercy!"
The lizards continued what they were doing. One of them was sitting in a corner, gently butting his head on the wall of a house. One was stomping on crushed apples savagely, as if he hated apples. One was curled in a ball, whimpering softly.
Their leader, on his end, was just standing before Po, his head twitching to the side, as if he had a tic on his neck. The side of his face also twitched.
Po looked at all of them.
"Po!" Tigress said to the panda, as she, like everyone else, noticed that there was something off about those lizards. There was just something about them that was much different from yesterday.
Something VERY wrong.
Even Po was noticing that they were acting weird.
"Are you... guys going to surrender?" Po asked, looking at them all. "Because, it kind of would be nice if you guys did. You see, if you return the things you stole, you might even get a reduced sentence."
The leader of the bandits stopped twitching. He looked at the panda. That was when Po saw the tear tracks.
Purple tears streaming down the lizard's face, coming from his purple eye...
Wait, his eye was not purple yesterday. Was it?
"Uhhh, sir?" Po asked, as the lizard started coughing, and then retching. Then he vomited.
His vomit was purple, and it bubbled and emitted purple smoke from it. It reeked like nothing Po ever smelled before.
Even the panda knew that was not normal.
"Dude!" Po said, now worried with the bandit. "Are you okay?" He asked, reaching his hand towards him as he continued to retch.
"Po, get away from them!" Tigress said urgently, but it was too late.
The Lizard Boss' hand shot out and grasped Po's wrist. His hand was smaller than Po's, and it could hardly grasp around the panda's whole wrist, but he more than made for it with an iron grip so hard it made Tigress' seem weak.
The lizard hissed as he twisted Po's wrist, causing the panda to cry out in pain and surprise. That was when the lizard pulled, and Po saw himself took off his feet as the lizard spun him into the air and tossed him.
Tigress was ready, and she managed to catch Po, as the panda was thrown right into her. She was, however, forced back a few feet reeling on the ground by the sheer momentum of the throw, the soles of her shoes digging into the ground as she steadied herself so she would not actually go down into the ground.
As she and Po recovered, they looked at each other for a moment, before they turned their eyes quickly at the lizard boss, who was hissing as he glared at the two with purple eyes.
Then, he started to twitch again. Then to spasm.
His body changed before their eyes, as muscles expanded and bone popped bigger. The natural coloration of his scales changing to a deep purple as he grew bigger and bigger, his clothes tearing off his body until all he was wearing was his fundoshi. The eyepatch on his face fell, revealing an eye-socket filled with burning purple flames.
His hissing grew into a growling, and then into roaring, as he opened his mouth and flashed his huge fangs to the kung fu masters, all of which watched in shock.
"...eww." Was all that Mantis managed to say after witnessing this gruesome transformation from a normal lizard into a literal monster.
A transformation that soon happened to all other lizards, who hissed and growled and roared as they change into the same type of monster that their boss just turned into, with some slightly differences, as one of them had much longer spikes than the others, while another one had a huge, gaping mouth that nearly seemed to be dislodged.
However, they all had the same thing in common: they all were glaring with sheer, unadulterated hatred towards the kung fu masters.
"That's..." Po said, looking at them. "scarier than Tai Lung's ghost..."
The Boss roared, and with that, all the monsters attacked.
The masters, of course, didn't just stood there and allowed themselves to be attacked. They jumped out of the way, with Tigress hurling Po up before jumping after him, and the panda quickly got the hang of it and used a belly-thrust to send the feline flying to one of the monsters, on one of their rehearsed techniques. The impact was so great that was nearly like an explosion to everyone around.
The Boss, however, only stumbled slightly, as he shook his head as the feline jumped out of his head, landing on the ground behind him at the same time that Po landed on his back, quickly getting back to his feet as the monster turned to look their way.
"Okay, today just went from regular to freaky in record time." Po said, looking at Tigress, and the feline, for once, had to agree with Po fully on this.
Meanwhile, the Lizard Boss, now the Monster Boss, let out a huge, monstrous roar, which was echoed by his transformed followers.
Their roars were so loud that they echoed through all of the Valley of Peace. Including on the Jade Palace, where a big eared master got his meditation interrupted by the loud sounds in the distance, which he was pretty sure no natural animal could produce...
Meanwhile, the masters were all trying their best to deal with the monsters. It was though, as this transformation not only made the lizards bigger, but also turned them a lot stronger and tougher. I mean, their leader could take a direct kick from Tigress on the face and just shake it off! Come on!
However, those were the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior himself who w are talking about here. They are legendary warriors of great skill and even greater bravery. They would not back down only because they were faced by a few monsters. They continued to fight them with as much spirit as they did before this freaky transformation, as sudden and disturbing as it may be.
And they actually manage to push the monsters into a corner with their skills.
Crane had the natural advantage of flying. And his Wings of Justice could produce blasts of wind that were nearly like blasts of sheer kinetic force, which managed to push the monsters back. Mantis and Monkey, using this chance, held Viper from both ends and stretched her like a rope to trip one of the monsters, making all of the others fall back into a pile.
All the while, Tigress and Po both worked together like a pro duo to bring down the boss. Po would go forward and hit him with his belly, disorientating him so Tigress could jump forward and slam both her fist on his temple. Then Tigress would grab Po by the hands and spin him around, tossing him into the great lizard like a big, black and white wrecking ball.
And, as Po bounced on the body of the monster, Tigress picked him up and flung him back at him, with Po gladly serving as a projectile to hit their monster with the "Living Cannon Ball of Oblivion". This was one of the things that he practiced along with Tigress, as another one of his unusual techniques that could be comic as well as highly effective.
After all, not everyone could handle having a two-hundred pounds panda tossed at them like a dodgeball. Especially over and over again. Po's own natural resilience to damage allowed him to keep this up for way longer than most of his adversaries.
Even when Tigress hit him with her two hands in a blow, sending him flying like a literal cannonball into the Monster Boss, sending him flying back and landing into a house, just like he had done with Po just the previous day with the hand-held cannon.
"Ha!" Po said as he was caught up by Tigress and placed into the ground. The panda was relying on her for support for, while he was resilient to damage, something like that was still enough to make him a little woozy. "This is the kung fu of the Jade Palace's masters for you! Still time to surrender!"
However, the monster showed no intention to surrender. As he got up, slowly but surely, and glared at the masters with both his good eye and his purple fire-filled eye-socket. Then, with a roar, the fire on his eye shot forward in a ball of purple flames.
Tigress and Po had both to dodge to avoid the fireball, which flew past them and exploded into one of the houses, producing a very strong blast that nearly threw them both back. And it was only the first of the many fireballs that came out of the eye-socket of Monster Boss.
And he was not the only one to display sudden freaky abilities.
The one with the big spikes could shot them with great speed, causing them to pierce anything, before new spikes grew nearly instantly from his body. The one with the distended mouth could let out screams that produced sonic attacks that could cause rocks to shatter completely.
This certainly proved to be more than a little challenge to the masters of the Jade Palace.
In fact, the monsters were managing to completely turn the tables on them.
Crane had to make crazy areal stunts to avoid the spikes. So had Viper to slither faster than she ever moved before to avoid the spikes that fell from the sky on her direction like a rain of spears. Monkey had to jump from one place to the other to avoid being blasted by the sound waves.
Not to mention about Mantis, who was barely keeping up with all that craziness.
"How can this Friday be so freaky!?" Mantis cried in frustration, just as he was hit by the gigantic fist of one of the monsters, which sent him flying like a green bullet that missed Monkey by a few inches, causing the simian to lose his balance due to surprise and stumble back, just when a spike was coming his way.
Then, a small blur came out of nowhere, hitting the spike with a staff and kicking it back to the creature, who hit it away with its huge hand.
"Master Shifu!" Monkey said, in surprise, to what the small master said:
"What, in name of the Eight Immortals, is happening here!?"
"Oh, nothing much..." Mantis said, as he got out of the wall he got embedded into by the force of the blow. "Just yesterday's lizards who came back and turned into monsters and now are fighting us with their special powers, that's all."
"When did our lives got so strange?" Crane asked, as he flew closer to his pals, right when some of the creatures roared and charged their way.
"Think about it later!" Shifu said, "Now we fight for our lives!"
And they were. So were Tigress and Po, who had to constantly dodge the explosive purple fireballs of the one-eyed monster, who roared as he fired a volley of those bombing projectiles their way, forcing them to move constantly to avoid the fireballs, and let me tell you, it was not very easy, but they still managed, somehow.
They even managed to keep scoring blows at the monster. Including one where they both charged forward, both slamming their fists on the creature's face so hard it bellowed in fury as it stumbled back, holding it's pained face with its hands.
"Alright, monster!" Po said, "Now we bring you down!"
The monster shook his head, and he smirked.
"Oh, really?" He asked, with a distorted, monstrous voice. "Like you should have done yesterday, panda?"
Po paused at this.
"What?"
"You wasted your chance to stop us yesterday." The Monster Boss said, removing one of his hands from his face to look at the panda with one purple eye as he continued to smirk. "You didn't, and here we are now. We are going to destroy your precious valley and kill everyone you know and love, all because you didn't stopped us when you got the chance. Quite the Dragon Warrior you are, no?"
Po paused, the sudden words of the monster getting to him. This was the opening the monster needed, as he uncovered the other half of his face, shooting a fireball from his eye-socket straight at the panda.
"PO!" Tigress said, tackling Po was getting him out of the way right as the fireball hit. The explosion was pretty strong, and sent both of them hurling back, as they both reeled into the ground.
Po groaned as he got up, and he then looked at Tigress, who was laying on the ground unconscious.
She had apparently taken most of the brunch of the impact, just like what happened with Shen's cannon.
"Tigress..." Po said, reaching for her, only for a voice to call him back.
"She is hurt because of you." Monster Boss now had Po's full attention. "She is hurt because your screw up of yesterday. Because you wasted a chance when it presented to you by being a stupid panda. It is your fault she is hurt now. It is your fault that everyone will be getting hurt today."
Po looked at him, and he looked around.
His friends were having problem with the monsters. Even Shifu was currently being backed on a corner by the much bigger creatures. At this rate, they would all be killed.
And then the monsters would proceed to destroy the village and kill everyone else.
Was it really his fault?
Was it really because he screwed up the day before?
The idea that it was weighed heavily on the panda's chest.
"Some hero you are." Monster Boss said, "Now, you die like one."
And with that the eye-socket of the monster started burning even brighter with purple flames, getting ready to let out a fireball that would completely obliterate the panda.
Suddenly, the air was pierced by a roar, as a blur flew through the air and landed on the back of the monster head right when he fired, causing him to miss his attack. The purple fireball flew over Po's head, causing him to recoil due to the heat, but otherwise missing him completely, and exploding far away from him.
The blur made a moonsault over the monster's head and landed before him. Then, this figure put both hands forward, as they glowed with their own blue flames, which fired into the monster, causing him to scream in pain as he retreated several steps back, holding his head as he shook from side to side.
Po looked in surprise, as the figure stood with its back turned to him, before looking over their shoulder to look at him with a familiar pair of golden eyes.
"You..." Po said, as he looked at the figure, knowing exactly who it was. Tai Lung then said, with a cold voice:
"Don't just lay low and admit defeat, panda. It is beneath someone who holds the title of Dragon Warrior. Now get that fat butt of yours off the ground and help me out."
With this, Tai Lung turned his attention back to the Monster Boss, who was recovering and glaring at him with anger. Tai Lung growled at him, as his hands ignited in blue flames, and he charged at the monster.
Monster Boss fired more purple fireballs at the leopard, only for him to retaliate with his own flaming fists, hitting the fireballs with them and causing them to explode in rains of purple and blue sparks, as the snow leopard didn't slowed down even a little and continued forward until he was close enough to start punching the bigger monster, slamming his flaming fists at him with violent impacts.
Po could only watch in shock.
Is he… helping me? Wait, didn't he come back from the grave to have revenge on me? Po thought, his mind trying to take a grip on what was happening. A groan coming by his side made him turn his head to look.
Tigress was stirring, but it was clear that moving was a great effort for her. As po looked her way, he took in how wounded she seemed.
She could not continue to fight. And the other ones would not hold back for much longer.
They needed him. Even if this was his fault, they all needed him now.
This was what motivated Po to get back to his feet and charge into battle once more, just as Tigress lifted her head and looked at the panda charging into battle before she could tell him to wait...
Tai Lung was still trying to make the big guy reel back, but it was a great challenge and his increased size and strength. Not to mention he, much like a certain fat panda, was surprisingly fast for someone his size.
That was why Tai Lung nearly felt glad when the help came. Even if this help was someone who he honestly could not stand.
Po came in like he usually did, slamming his stomach into Monster Boss' face and dazed him enough for Tai Lung to deliver a double flaming punch, causing the monster to fall back and land heavily on the ground, now truly dazed.
Tai Lung grunted, as he cracked his flaming knuckles, while the panda stood by his side.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Po said, looking at the blue flames. "Is this some kind of ghost ability? Are those the flames of the underworld that people talk about on horror stories? Wait, you don't plan to use those on me later, do you? Or are you really a friendly ghost?"
Tai Lung wanted to give the panda a few answers. However, he didn't had time, as he saw that Monster Boss was already starting to get up.
"Dammit, they are more resilient than I thought." The leopard said. "They might just be a challenge too great for me..."
"Wait, so you can't defeat them?" Po asked, to what the leopard said:
"Not without a lot of effort." He then turned to the panda, "But you can defeat them."
"Wait, I can? How?" Po asked, to what the leopard said:
"By doing exactly as I say."
As everyone around continued fighting, Tai Lung gave Po a series of instructions, which the panda paid very close attention to, even as Monster Boss was getting up while holding his head, before turning his gaze to the leopard and panda, and growling at the two of them.
"...then you project your chi forwards by thrusting your hands and focusing all your aggression." Tai Lung finished, just as Monster Boss roared as he got ready to attack them again.
"Got it!" Was all Po had time to say, before he did as the leopard instructed, focusing the chi from his body into his arms and hands, and using his anger to make the chi ignite.
It produced an effect nearly immediately. Po's paws erupted in golden flames at the same time the lizard monster shot another fireball at him, which Po blocked with his hands, generating an explosion of purple and golden sparks, as the panda reeled back, but was completely unarmed, much to Monster Boss's shock and confusion.
"Wooooow..." Po said, as he looked at his paws, enveloped in bright golden fire. "Next. Level. Awesome!"
Lizard Boss recovered, and roared at the panda, charging at him just as Po finished following the leopard's instructions and thrust both of his hands forward, sending a stream of golden flames washing over the monster.
All the while, Tai Lung could only look in shock.
It took me two years of practice in the Spirit Realm to figure out how to do that right... The leopard thought to himself as he looked at the panda, who figure out the same trick mere seconds after a brief explanation.
As Po fired his golden flames on the Monster Boss, the creature howled in what seemed to be pain. Po stopped, and the golden flames continued to burn on the monster, who roared and howled as he was affected by the flames, causing everyone to stop and look his way as he burned and... shrunk?
Slowly, the howls of pain stopped, as Monster Boss became smaller and smaller, until he was back on the size he originally was. The golden flames ended, leaving behind a normal pricklenackle, with one eye closed and the other one only slightly open as he swayed back and forth as he stood there only on his fundoshi, before he groaned and dropped on his face on the ground.
Everyone looked at the lizard, before all eyes turned to the panda.
The monsters then roared as they all charged at the black and white warrior. This, of course, prompted an immediate reacting from the others. Including from Tai Lung, who jumped in front of the panda and slammed his flaming fists on the first monsters that was coming the Dragon Warrior's way.
"Wait..." Mantis said, "Is that...?"
"No way!" Crane said, as they looked in direction to the snow leopard who was currently protecting Po from the monsters, giving the panda the chance to use his golden flames on them like he did to their boss.
As soon as the monsters were hit by the panda's golden flames, they would howl in agony as the flames washed over them, causing them to shrink and to change back to normal, leaving them as normal lizards only on their underwear and looking dazed and tired, with some of them dropping to the ground alongside their boss.
Po was not sure how he was even doing it, but he knew that he was, and that it was working. So, he continued doing it, turning the monsters back into lizards with his golden flames.
He was going to call them "Dragon Warrior Force".
As the monsters turned back into lizards, the people who didn't fled and were only hiding were all looking, and many of them were cheering for the Dragon Warrior as he defeated the monsters and saved the day once more.
Then, the last one of the monsters, the one with a tail that split in three when he transformed, attacked Po with his three tails, wrapping them around his waist and around his arms, immobilizing them and leaving the panda unable to fight back.
Po squirmed on the grasp of those whip-like appendages, as the monster brought him closer to his face, opening his mouth as if getting ready to eat the panda.
No! Tai Lung thought when he looked to the side and saw that Po was about to be devoured. I need that panda to live!
And Tai Lung was not the only one who wanted to protect Po. All of his friends, including Tigress, all attacked the monster, and they managed to cause the monster to let go of Po, causing him to fall down into the ground, dizzy from the experience, as all of his friends attacked the monster and forced it back. At least until the monster whipped his triple tail and smacked all of them back, making them crash into a nearby house.
Po was getting up, as the monster charged at him again. That was when Tai Lung once more jumped on the way, thrusting his flaming paws forward and letting out a stream of blue flames into the monster's open mouth.
The monster swallowed the flames, making a sick expression, before coughing out smoke.
"Now!" Tai Lung said, turning to look at the panda and Po followed his lead and focused his chi once more, igniting his golden flames and releasing them on the monster.
Like all others, the monster roared in pain, waving its members and whipping its three tails, which merged back into one as it shrunk back to the size of a pricklenackle. And the lizard on his underwear blinked as he looked around, seeming confused for being in the middle of a village, before realizing that he was only on his underwear in public and using his hands to cover himself.
Po was panting after this whole ordeal, and he looked around, taking in the scene that followed all that craziness. And then his eyes landed at the snow leopard, who was now looking at him with his golden eyes.
"Thank you." Po said, bowing to the leopard, who looked back at him with surprise.
"Thank you for coming back from your grave to help me." Po said, causing the leopard's expression to get even more surprised, then the panda added:
"Well, I'm just glad that you are not one of those spirits who are only after revenge... I mean, unless you saved me from them to take me with you..." Po paused after that. "Wait, you did saved me to take me to the grave with you? I mean, you are not that resented of a ghost, are you? Are you?"
Before Po could continue his questions, a hand shot forward, grabbing his muzzle and pulling him closer.
"I...!" Tai Lung snarled right to Po's face. "Am not a ghost! You stupid panda!"
Po blinked, looking at the snow leopard's golden eyes as the feline grasped his lower muzzle.
"You're not?" Po asked, what seemed to infuriate the snow leopard even more.
"Idiot..." Tai Lung said, as he pushed him back, causing the panda to stumble back and land on his butt. Po continued to look at the snow leopard with surprise.
"You... are not a ghost..." Po said, looking at the feline with bewilderment, and what Tai Lung could identify as... relief?
"I'm not a murderer..." Po said, looking at him.
"YOU!" Said a voice, causing both the panda and the snow leopard to look and see all of Po's friends come at him, all of them glaring daggers at the snow leopard and seeming like they were ready to fight.
Tai Lung looked at all of them.
"Seriously?" He asked, as he looked at all of the six warriors who looked ready to go to battle with him. Including Shifu, who was pointing Oogway's staff at him.
"Step away from the panda slowly." Viper said, as her usually kind features were showing nothing but pure aggression towards the snow leopard, like that of her five peers. They all remembered very well their last encounter with the snow leopard.
"Okay, first of all, you all can relax." Tai Lung said to all the six of them. "I didn't come here to kill your panda. The fact I just saved his sorry fat ass should be enough proof of that."
They didn't lower their stances to it, and instead they all continued to glare at the snow leopard.
"Why are you here?" Shifu asked to the snow leopard, "How can you be here?
Tai Lung only looked back at him. Then he chuckled.
"Well..." Tai Lung said, casually scratching his chest. "Let's just say an old acquittance has finally recognized my value."'
Shifu looked at him in confusion, and then, as Tai Lung casually scratched his left pectoral, Shifu noticed something on his fur. A familiar marking in golden.
"That's..." Shifu said, looking at the mark. "That's Oogway's crest!"
Tai Lung smirked.
"That senile turtle thought you could use some help." Tai Lung said to them. "And, considering what I just saw, I think he was right."
The seven warriors continued to look at Tai Lung. And they were not the only ones.
"Is that really..." Someone on the crowd said, as the villagers were looking at the snow leopard, many of them having already figure out who he was and seeming like they could not believe it.
Tai Lung's smirk widened as he looked at them, and the addressed all of them.
"That's right, dear denizens of the Valley of Peace. Your eyes don't deceive you."
He had his arms open, as if he was a noble hero who just returned home from a long peregrination.
"Tai Lung is back."
