WELP HERE I AM. And here's Chapter 8, and like I said, it's out before the fourth film releases. When have I ever let you down?

Now for some comments

Ke-Pa: No I don't think I've read incursion error, but it sounds familiar. And yes I will continue this until it's done. To be honest I always saw the KFP world as one different from our own, like something from Avatar where it's just one big Asiatic-like world and no other countries exist. Also that Netflix show is NOT canon. Fuck that noise. I'll also have to check out 1421, i could have sworn they made it into a movie or was that 1611? Eh either way it sounds interesting.

Footrot Flats: Thanks a lot. Glad you're still reading.

Markens: Thanks man. And yeah it was a flashback. Our girl has been through a lot.

SpiritChanellerJosh: Yeah she is. lol. Also I haven't really seen that Amazon show, but I could barely stomach the first episode of that dreadful Netflix series. Just a very unwanted character assassination that I fear might have been a key factor for the Zhen character… but I'm talking with my paranoia cap on.

And now without further delay…

Chapter VIII:

Running with Scissor Blades - Part 2

RYAN'S POV:

As I slowly started to wake up, I felt a throbbing pain in my nose.

Oh yeah. Now I remember.

She hit me.

And boy does it fucking hurt.

Shit, I know I must've been out for a while, but damn, it feels like she hit me only a minute ago. I should probably not try to piss her off again.

Wait.

Shit.

I quickly got up from the bed and realized... I'm... shirtless again? The fuck?

Nevermind that. Where's Tigress? God, I hope she didn't go outside. I ran outside my room and into the living room.

"Tigress?"

"Ryan!"

Phew. She's still here… Oh shit she's running right at me!

I braced myself for the oncoming world of hurt… but… it didn't come.

And… Now she's hugging me?

"Ryan! Forgive me!"

And… is she crying?...

Again?...

"Please forgive me! I should never have done that!"

Holy shit, she is crying…

Fuck. What should I do?

"You've shown me nothing but hospitality and kindness! I'm so very sorry!"

"I-it's okay… you didn't mean to."

"No, it's not! I could've killed you!"

"But you didn't. I'm okay. It's okay."

"I...I was so scared… I didn't think you'd wake up… if I had lost you… I don't know what I'd do…"

"Are… you saying… you need me, Master Tigress?"

"No!...I mean… Uhm."

Tigress stood back upright and let go of me.

"Um… how long have you not had a shirt?"

I couldn't help but smirk.

"How long did it take you to notice?"

Tigress couldn't really respond right. She was too embarrassed.

"I… You… It… oh, quit it. This is no time for jokes. I could've killed you, or at the very least I could have broken your nose."

"Hell, it still hurts. I'm surprised you didn't."

"Thankfully not. Or well... not completely…"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Uhm…"

Oh god no… I don't like the sound of that. She pointed to the bathroom. I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Yep… it's broken. To be specific, my nose was partially dislocated… in four places.

"WHAT THE FU- WHAT- HOW LONG HAS MY NOSE BEEN LIKE THIS?!"

"I don't know. It's probably just a little swelling."

"YOU DON'T KNOW?! OH MY- OH GOD…"

THIRD PERSON

Ryan at this point was freaking out. He's never had a dislocated body part before, so the whole ordeal was making him hyperventilate a bit.

"Ryan, you need to calm down, okay."

"CALM DOWN?!"

"Yes, just stay still, I think I got it."

"Wait, what're you- AHHHH!"

She began to push his nose back into place with her thumbs.

CRACK

"AHHH FUCK! Shit! That fucking hurt, that fucking….. fixed it…"

Ryan then let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Oh man… thank you Tigress…."

"You're welcome. I'll try to refrain from hitting you again."

"Heh. I'll try to refrain from pissing you off."

Tigress couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly from that remark. Ryan felt something wet drip from his face.

"Ah shit. I'm bleeding again."

"Here, use this."

She tossed him his black shirt from yesterday.

"Ah man, did you rip this one too?"

"I needed something to stop the bleeding."

"Damn, I liked this one."

He said as he wiped the blood off of his face with his now ruined shirt. As he wiped off his face he caught Tigress still looking at him.

"You need something or are you gonna keep staring? Unless… it's me that you need." He teased.

She looked away, embarrassed.

"Must you always ridicule me?"

"Ah c'mon I'm just playing with ya. You don't really feel like that. Heh… Do you?"

"Of course not…."

The awkwardness between the two was certainly… well… awkward, Tigress was about to speak, that is until Ryan spoke first.

"So… uh… you… wanna watch another movie?..."

"...Sure. I'd love to."

"Heh. Okay then, I'll be right back."

After rummaging through the shelf he came back to the living room to see Tigress on the sofa, patiently waiting to see what he had. He has one film in his hand and that's one he's quite excited to show her.

Tigress struggled to read the English that was on the case.

"Buh… Blahed… Blaa…"

Ryan found her trying to teach herself how to read English to be very cute. He finished it for her.

"Blade Runner."

"I could have gotten that…. but... thanks."

"No problem."

"So what's this 'Blade Runner's about?"

"It takes place in the future where people have created advanced machines. Machines so advanced they look like people. They're called Replicants and well… Hell, I don't wanna ruin the story, you just gotta watch."

He sets up the PS4 and puts the DVD of Blade Runner: The Final Cut inside.

Tigress is immediately blown away by what she sees and hears. The visuals are truly unlike anything she's ever seen.

"Is… is this world like this one?..."

"Unfortunately no, but damn I wish it were."

Needless to say, Tigress was glued to the screen and Ryan… well, he was glued to Tigress' reaction. He found her reaction to the film much more interesting than the film itself. He's already seen it many times, but when would he ever get the chance to see Master Tigress of the Jade Palace widen her eyes in awe when a wide shot of Blade Runner's L.A. landscape came on screen?

After about 30 or so minutes in, Ryan excused himself to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay…" She said, her eyes fixated on what was going on.

Ryan made his way to the bathroom and shut the door. However, as Tigress was watching, she heard a very familiar voice come from the TV.

"I… I just do eyes…" The voice said.

She inched herself closer to the TV so she could hear the voice more clearly. Certainly her ears were playing tricks with her.

"I just do eyes… J-j-just genetic design… j-just eyes." The voice said again.

Tigress' eyes widened in realization… This voice was all too familiar. She got even more closer to hear the voice on the television.

"You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes."

She needed confirmation and she got it. This wasn't just some voice, this voice was that of someone she knew.

It was the voice of Mr. Ping…

Just then a flush is heard and Tigress sits back down to where she originally was, Ryan then comes back and sits down next to her. She scoots aside, away from him a bit. She didn't feel comfortable anymore, she couldn't believe what she heard. The voice of someone she knew was coming out of someone she didn't not recognize. Did Ryan know about this… she had to see for herself.

"Ryan?"

"Yes, Tigress?"

"I didn't quite catch what the characters were saying… this is getting a little confusing…"

"Do you want to watch something else?"

"No no. I just want to know if you could like… I don't know… bring it back?"

"Rewind it?"

"Yeah like, put it back a few seconds."

Ryan picked up the controller and pressed L2 on the controller.

"Okay tell me when to stop."

As the images of various scenes fly back the images then hit on the scene she was scrutinizing before.

"Stop."

Ryan then let the film play and his smile then faded as he heard the all too familiar voice of a young James Hong from the 1980s.

"I just do eyes… J-j-just genetic design… j-just eyes…. You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes."

The look on Ryan's face was proof enough that he knew all along about whatever this was. Ryan wondered if he dared turn to see Tigress's face, as he just stared at the screen.

….

"...Tigress…"

"..."

"I… I… I didn't know how to tell you… I didn't think…"

"You didn't think what, Ryan?" Tigress said with a flaming scorn in her voice.

Ryan shut his eyes…

"I didn't think… you wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand? What are you hiding from me, Ryan?

"Tigress…"

Enraged, Tigress then pounced onto Ryan, pinning him to the ground, her claws unsheathed and dangerously close to Ryan's face as she pointed her finger at him.

"Don't 'Tigress' me, you lying snake!"

"I didn't lie! I just didn't tell you..."

"Liar!"

"I'm not a liar!"

"What else have you lied to me about hmm? Was nothing that came out of your treacherous little venom-filled mouth the least bit truthful? Is your name even Ryan, you liar?"

"I'M NOT A LIAR!"

Ryan then punches Tigress square in the jaw, knocking her off of him as he swiftly stood up to see her on the ground holding her mouth.

She then stood up and looked at Ryan with a cold stare. Ryan stared right back.

They did this, but neither of them dared to move. Ryan spoke up.

"Tigress… Tigress please…"

Tigress ignored his words and just made her way towards the front door.

"Tigress no, please… You won't find any answers out there…"

Tigress stopped in her tracks.

"What do you care?"

"You want the truth?..." Ryan said. "Trust me then… If you don't want to do that then walk right out that door… but I promise you I'll explain everything… just please… don't leave me… I didn't know it until now, but… you're the best thing that ever happened to me… I didn't get to finish before, but… My life had been cold and… a-and so empty ever since Sylvia…"

Ryan began to choke on his words as he broke down.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you… I… I… I'm sorry…"

No response.

"Look I know I've left you in the dark about some things but never again… I swear it…"

No response…

Ryan began to leak from his eyesbas he started to cry.

"What more do you want me to say?!... Huh?! What you want me to be more honest?! Fine! My father was a drug addict and a petty thief. He'd steal shit left and right from his friends, his bosses, my mom and even me just so he'd get high!..."

Tigress' ear perked up as she turned her head slightly to his voice.

"Yeah… And my mother?! My fucking mother where do I begin… She was a fucking control freak, always wanting me to socialize and do shit that I didn't want to do, and you know why I never liked socializing? It's because everyone around me is a fucking asshole! Everyone! Fucking horrible people that I see no intrinsic value in socializing with! And that's not all!!! When I was a kid I never liked socializing because it was exactly the same shit when I was in school. Everybody was an asshole! And the precious few who weren't, either left or fucking DIED!"

Tigress turned around. A look of concern and disbelief was plastered on her face.

"Yeah, I said it…. You wanna know the second most fucked up thing to ever happen to me? One day in class… I was about 17 years old at the time… It seemed like it was gonna be a normal day… back then… i was actually doing well… I had friends… like actual fucking friends I'd hang out with. Class is all normal and shit… you know?... Then it just fucking went to shit. BANG! BANG! BANG!" Ryan yelled. "Some kid, some fucking guy no one knew or hung out with… he came in… armed with a fucking automatic rifle… meaning he had a big fucking gun… He just killed anyone he saw… you don't know what fucked up is until you've walked over the bodies of dead kids you once called your fucking… friends…"

Ryan began to break down again… He lost his footing and fell to his knees. Tigress knelt down beside him, her eyes glowing full of sympathy.

"You want to know something else? After the incident… No one looked me in the eyes. No one wanted to hang out with me… you know why? Me and that other kid… we were the only white skinned guys in the school… those fucking assholes avoided me because they thought I'd be the one to pull out a weapon next!"

Tigress saw his crying… it reminded her of someone she knew…

FLASHBACK

A sobbing tiger cub lay down in her bed. She held onto her knees as tears fell from her eyes and onto the velvet sheets she rested on. She heard a knock on her room door. She immediately stood up and wiped off her tears.

"Come in…"

The door slid open. It was Master Oogway. Tigress immediately stood upright.

"Master Oogway, what may I do for you?"

The old tortoise chuckled.

"No need for the formalities dear. Please, sit."

The little tiger girl sat back down on her bed. Oogway sat down next to her.

"Is something troubling you, little one?"

Tigress lowered her head.

"Why does Master Shifu hate me?"

"My dear Tigress, Shifu doesn't hate you. What gave you that impression?"

"He's always… so strict… when he adopted me… I… I thought he'd… I don't know… I thought it was going to get better…"

"Tigress, I know Shifu can be a little hard, but you must understand. He recently lost… someone of great importance to him… someone he raised like a son. He's only hard on you because he was never hard on him. He just wants to protect you. Because he loves you."

Tigress looked up at Oogway.

"What do I do?"

"Just know that whenever he shouts. Just know he doesn't intend to hurt you. He just wants the absolute best for you. He sees you as a daughter. Just as you should see him as your father. Love is a strange thing at first, but someday you'll understand."

FLASHBACK OVER

Tigress looked to Ryan, she held the bottom of his chin and turned his face towards her so that he was looking at her. Their eyes once again locked, Ryan slowly stopped crying… he oddly felt at peace looking at her.

"I forgive you."

With those words, Tigress held onto Ryan and gripped his body into a warm, soft, fuzzy hug. Ryan felt all kinds of tingles in himself but ultimately he succumbed and found his arms wrapping themselves around her, returning the hug. With a sigh of relief he uttered:

"Thank you, Tigress…"

They held onto each other for what seemed like hours, and Tigress was the first to break it off as she helped Ryan to his feet. She looked at him with a stare of seriousness as she made it clear as crystal to him.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

…

WHEW!!! FINALLY!!!

So how bout that KFP4 trailer huh? Can't believe it's finally happening. I hope you're more excited than I am because I have absolutely no hope at all that it'll be any good… Don't know about you guys but I wouldn't let the director of Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 or fucking Deuce Bigalow: American Gigolo to be allowed anywhere near this franchise, but oh well. I'm certain DreamWorks knows exactly what they're doing T_T

For those wondering where Tigress is in that trailer, well, I'd like to think she's busy comforting Ryan in our world ;)

Sorry I made you all wait so long for a very short chapter. You can call me an asshole in the comments if you like, I'll completely understand. Anywho, I said I'd finish this story. This is just another step in doing so. Don't worry, I'm not dead. Sorry for the wait, I'll try to do better. Why I took so long with this one was the immense lack of drive, focus and the excruciating block I had as I was writing this. The inspiration just wasn't there and to let you in on a little secret… I'm kinda making this story up as I go along. Don't get me wrong, I have a basic outline for how I want major events in the fic to go, but as for right now, I'm sort of winging it. Bear with me guys, and pray that I finish this soon. I at least want to finish before the fourth film comes out and inevitably sucks all the joy out of me. Yes, I'm THAT cynical about it. So I guess I'll see you next time guys. Peace out. Love you all.