Serpent's Tooth
Today's a beautiful day in the Valley of Peace. The villagers had gotten everything set up for the Aqueduct Festival. Shifu had given Po, the Furious Five and Leo the day off from training to enjoy the festival. They were walking down the Thousand Steps to the village. Viper was ahead of her friends.
"Hurry up, slowpokes! We're going to be late for the Aqueduct Festival!" Viper calls to them with excitement.
"Don't these villagers have anything better to do than throwing another festival?" Tigress asked a little annoyed.
"Just lighten up, Tigress. It's just an excuse to have some fun with everyone." Viper turns her head around.
Leo was ahead of them and leans against the pole to wait for them. He saw the villagers were talking amongst themselves. The human heard a crash near him and saw Po and the Furious Five laying on the ground.
"Sorry guys. I just have aqueduct fever." Po apologizes, sitting up as Leo approaches them.
"You know what aqueduct means, right Po?"
"Can you explain what that means?"
"We'll talk about that later. Let's enjoy the festival!" Monkey smiles as he went to catch up to Crane and Viper.
Mantis threw Po off of him and looks at Tigress and Leo. "I may need a bath."
The warriors started walking into the village. Many villagers stopped talking when they saw them walking in the village.
"Hey ev-" Po was saying to a boy bunny, but the bunny runs away from them.
Leo could see the scared looks on the villagers.
"Why is everyone staring at us?" Po lowered his voice.
"I think it's because they're staring at Viper." Mantis pointed out to them.
A little goat whimpers and runs straight to his mother. Viper approaches the mother and her son.
"Is everything ok?" Viper asks them.
"I'm so sorry. Because of the stories that are going around, we're just a little weary of snakes." The mother apologizes.
"What?" Viper was shocked.
"There's an evil monster out there in the forest! A snake just like you!" The little goat exclaims.
"Hang on little buddy. Master Viper isn't a bad snake." Po walks up to them.
"It's okay, Po."
"Hang on, Viper." Po said to her before looking at the little goat. "Don't be afraid, little guy. I used to be afraid of Viper before I get to know her."
Viper smiled and nodded. Her smile disappeared and stares at Po.
"Now I love everything about her! The scales, the fangs, the sinister fork tongue!" Po started listing off things about Viper.
Leo shook his head in annoyance. "He always starts listing off those things instead of the good things about Viper." Leo thought.
"This is nonsense. You're all acting like fools! This is Master Viper!" Tigress told the villagers.
"Hm." Leo crossed his arms over his chest.
"Come on, folks. There's no evidence that a snake is bad." Po assures them.
Leo heard some screaming and turns around to see a male goat running in fear.
"Ahh! I been bit! That snake is after me! Run for your lives before he bites you!" The worker yelled as he runs into several villagers.
Leo was quick to act than the rest of them and runs toward the worker. "Easy!" He tells the worker with his hands up to stop him from running into any more people.
The worker bumps into Leo and fell backwards onto the ground. Tigress came over and helps him sit up as Po kneels besides Leo. Viper slithers up besides the worker.
"Relax. You're safe now." Viper tries to calm him down.
The worker looks at in fear. "Fu-Xi! Fu-Xi!" He cries out.
"Fu-Xi?!" Viper gasps.
Leo looks around and saw Mr. Ping walking towards them. "Can you take care of him, Mr. Ping?"
"Of course, Mas- I mean Leo." Mr. Ping nodded and took the worker to a doctor's office.
"We should head back to the Jade Palace and talk about this in private." Monkey suggested.
"Then let's go." Leo nodded as Po and Tigress stands up. They started walking back to the Jade Palace. As Leo was about to walk over on the bridge, he stops and looks over his shoulder. He could see some of the villagers were still afraid of him every day. Leo doesn't even care anymore if they're afraid of him or not. It reminded him of what happened five years ago that night.
"Leo?" Mantis hops onto the human's shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Monkey asks him.
"Yeah." Leo growls softly. Ever since Leo arrived here, some of the villagers were still afraid of him.
Once they arrived inside the Hall Of Warriors, Shifu approaches them. "What is it?"
"There's an evil snake out there." Crane said.
"I think the villagers called him Fu-Xi." Monkey scratches his head.
"Sounds like a creepy belly slithering snake." Po shuddered.
"I think we covered that, Po." Tigress said to him annoyed.
"Fu-Xi must be considered a grave menace." Shifu said, stroking his beard.
"That's not true!" Viper exclaims angrily, causing them all to look at her. "Lord Fu-Xi is not a menace!"
"Can you explain why Fu-Xi is not a menace, Viper?" Leo approaches her.
"Lord Fu-Xi is a descendant from the Dragon Gods. He's strong and fast as lightning. At first, he bravely defended China and his venom contains a mind-numbing fear to anyone. His enemies would simply flee, and he harmed no one. But there were those who would fear his power. Fu-Xi and his family was prosecuted. Enraged, he became renegade and swearing vengeance against his two-legged oppressors. Even now, every snake in China still looks up Fu-Xi as a hero." Viper explains.
"You saw what he did back there to that worker." Po said. "You can't possibly think he's a hero."
"I'm a snake, aren't I?" Viper asked him.
"You're not like those other snakes." Po approached Leo's side. "You're nice."
"And others aren't?"
"Yes, I mean no, trick question!" Po exclaims as he covered his mouth with his paws.
Viper stretches her body to tower over him. "Those are the kind of attitudes that made Fu-Xi go renegade!" The green snake yells in his face.
"That's enough, Master Viper!" Shifu calls to her before things can escalate. "We all need to work together to stop him."
"I'm sorry, Master." Viper lowers her body. "But I can't do that."
"What?!" Mantis gasps.
"We need you because you know this enemy." Tigress said.
"I won't fight against my own kind! I won't!" Viper shouts at them.
"You'll have to fight against your own kind." Leo said to Viper, causing the snake to turn to him.
"I said I won't help." Viper stares at him with an angry look.
"Then let me ask you something. How do you think I felt when I found out James is alive, and he turns out to be the Dragon Soldier I've been fighting with my friends?" Leo looks at her seriously.
"You were surprised and concerned."
"Yes. And I knew I had to fight him again!" Leo raises his voice towards her. "If I didn't find a way to break Sparta's control over him, I would've killed James!"
No one said a word.
"And if I haven't punched that dragon mask off of him, then I wouldn't know it was James!" Leo took a breath to lower his voice. "My point is, Fu-Xi has to be stopped no matter what, even if he's a hero you say. You can't ignore the fact of what Fu-Xi is doing. You saw the villagers were afraid of you down in the village today."
"Alright, you two, that is enough!" Shifu raised his voice as he walks up to his room. "I want to talk to you in private, Master Viper."
"Yes sir."
Leo and the others left the Hall Of Warriors.
Po, Leo and the of the Furious Five were doing tai chi in the training courtyard.
"Why did Viper get so mad at me?" Po wondered.
"Well let's see. One, she was upset because all the villagers turned against her. And two, you were extremely uncool, man." Mantis pushes Po's foot away from him.
"If you have a problem with snakes, then you have a problem with Viper." Crane said.
"That's not true. I love Viper. She's kind, generous and good. But it's kind of gross when she unhinged her jaws at lunch." Po said. He saw his friends stopped what they were doing and looks at him annoyed.
"I remember when Leo was eating with us for the first few weeks, he wasn't bothered about Viper unhinging her jaws during lunch." Monkey looks at the human.
"How does that not bother you, Leo?" Po asks him.
"It doesn't." Leo answered. "And it doesn't bother me if some villagers are still afraid of me. I'm still used to it."
Before Tigress can speak to him, Shifu and Viper entered the training courtyard.
"Students, Master Viper has something she would like to say." Shifu said as the two of them approached them in the courtyard.
"I may be a snake, but my duty is to the Jade Palace. I'll do what I can to stop Fu-Xi." Viper said.
"Viper, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings." Po apologizes to her.
"It's okay, Po. Just forget about it." Viper said.
"I'm sending Viper to the scene to investigate the attack because of her expertise." Shifu said. "Leo, Po, you're going with her."
"As you wish, Master Shifu." Leo bows his head. He went to the barracks to retrieve his diamond sword and met up with Po and Viper at the palace arena. They left the valley and entered the woods.
Po spots a couple of workers ahead of them. "Excuse me fellas. Have you seen a very large deadly snake around here?"
One of them spots Viper slithering towards them. "Ah, snake!" he screams.
Leo watches the three workers flee. "That's just pathetic." Leo folded his arms.
"They think I'm a bad guy because I'm a snake." Viper said.
"Viper, do you want us to split up?" Leo asks her.
The green snake turns around and slithers to the two warriors. "Yes."
"But wouldn't it be safer if we stick together?" Po asked.
"We'll meet up later and gather more intel." Leo replied and walks away from Po.
Viper arrives in abandon warehouse as she slithers by several broken carts. "I don't why I'm helping these pathetic jerks." Viper muttered.
All of a sudden, a water buffalo and two fat pigs jumps out from behind some crates.
"That's as far as you go, snake!"
"Wait, I'm on your side!" Viper tries to reason them.
"You don't fool us." the pig sneered.
Viper was being backed into a broken cart. "Don't come any closer." she warns them.
A goat tries to punch her from above and Viper avoids the attack and wraps her body around the goat's arms to trap him. But she looks up and saw a pitchfork coming towards her and trapped her against the cart. Viper couldn't try to escape since she's trap.
But a king cobra jumps out from behind the cat and landed between her and the three attackers. His scales were all brown and black while his blue eyes stares at them. "Miserable two leggers! You won't harm another snake while I live!"
Viper struggle herself to get free as the king cobra makes quick work of the attackers. She manages to get free and called out the cobra's name. "Lord Fu-Xi!"
Fu-Xi tossed the unconscious goat away and slithers towards her.
"You saved me."
"Didn't I?" Fu-Xi hissed before he lunges above her and reflected an arrow back to a rabbit. He was about to slither after the bunny.
"Lord Fu-Xi, wait!" Viper stops him, causing the king cobra to turn and look at her. "You saved me... again."
"I would do the same for any serpent. Even for the great Master Viper herself of the Jade Palace, little sister." Fu-Xi smiled.
"You know me?"
"Of course we do. You're a serpent and yet you fight for the two-legers. Why?" Fu-Xi questions her.
"They're my friends and we protect the valley." Viper answered.
"I protect the valley as well, from your so-called friends." The king cobra circles her and slithers a foot away from her. "Are you here to defeat me? To obey the two-leggers bidding and lock me up?"
"I was, but now I'm not so sure." Viper admitted. "But I can't. You are a great hero. The others don't understand.
Meanwhile, Leo was walking through the woods by himself. He saw a black goose and a goat trying to put a wheel on the cart.
"Have you two gentlemen seen a large snake by the name of Fu-Xi around here?" Leo asks them.
"N-n-no." The goose stammered.
He watches the goose hides behind the goat.
"Are you sure?" Leo growls softly.
"Yes." The goat nodded.
"Did you meet anyone else here in these woods who were bitten by the snake?"
"Not that we know." The goat shook his head.
"Hmph." Leo nodded his head and walks past them. He continued walking and keeping an eye out for a villager or Fu-Xi. When he was with Crimson Dusks, he was hostile towards them at first, but not anymore. Leo was like that when Ju Fen started training him at fourteen years old while Lee trained him. Panther, Ava, Serena and everyone suspected of what Sying spoke to him back at the hidden base on top of Lee being distant and strict.
Panther did say to them when she was helping rebuilding the Jade Palace months ago. Now they understood why Leo was like that. His fear of felines went away after he told them what happened in the past. To Panther, it looked like Leo changed. Most of the Five wanted to have a conversation with him, even Po. But it wouldn't happen because Leo spends his time at the library, meditating and training. Leo didn't object to Tigress stay a little longer with him or spar one another.
He is still keeping some secrets from his girlfriend and the rest of the Five. Crimson Dusks and Crimson Dawn knew about Leo's secret for being the Black Spirit. It was completely stupid, and they did forgive Leo for what he did. He didn't like working with villains because it reminded him of what he did when he was the Black Spirit. But he told them knowing they would be angry at him.
"Preparedness is an adequate to victory."
That was something Leo knew what he had to do in case they did find out. Leo barely joins his friends in fun activities. Leo found himself happy that he's in a relationship with Tigress. He kept his emotions bottled up. After his last confrontation five years ago with prince talking about his parents, Leo had refused to believe the prince's lies and he still refused to believe it even to this day.
It's why he kept training long when training was over. He wasn't going to rest easy so he can keep training on his skills. But even some warriors need rest. It was a rare occasion for Sheila to see Leo to watch the calm ocean with Crow instead of training.
As Leo was thinking, a loud roar snaps him out of his thoughts. The young man draws his blade out into the open. That was a roar he was all too familiar with. Leo quickly looks around at his surroundings.
"Preparedness is an adequate for victory." Leo thought as he prepared for an attack.
He started running in the direction of the roar without hesitation.
"Viper!" Po called out to her. He trips on the ground and stands up. The panda didn't understand why she escaped with Fu-Xi instead of stopping the cobra. "That creepy cobra must've brainwashed, and my stupid comments didn't help!"
"But it would help if you find her and stop Fu-Xi!" Leo exclaims as he ran up to the panda.
"Leo! Viper helped Fu-Xi to escape."
"We have another problem too."
"That roar? I heard it too."
"It's Saber!" Leo snarled.
"Shit! Now what do we do?"
"Po, you need to find Fu-Xi and stop him. I'm going to find Saber. Meet up with me after Fu-Xi is stopped."
"Be careful."
Leo said nothing and nodded before watching the panda run off after the two snakes. He looks down and picks up the two-lotus flower clips and puts them in his pocket before running off.
Back with Fu-Xi and Viper, the two snakes entered a ravine.
"So, are you ready to help me, little sister?"
"I am." She answered.
"Ready to restore, peace, justice and freedom throughout the land for snakes everywhere?" Fu-Xi slithers onto a rock.
"Yes. How do we do it?" Viper tilts her head.
"By driving every two-legger mad." Fu-Xi smiles evilly. "My bite entails terror, but the effect wears off eventually."
Viper watches him lifts a rock and grabs a bag to set it on the ground.
"But if I mix my venom with Mutoon Root, then the effect becomes permanent." He slithers around her. "There will be madness throughout the two-leggers. We shall receive the power that is rightfully ours in the chaos."
"But how could you have more than enough venom?"
"I have more in a secret location and you're going to help me deliver it to the valley's water supply." Fu-Xi slithers back to the rock.
"But-"
"You prefer to go back to the two-leggers?!" Fu-Xi hisses angrily, slithering to her make her slithers backward. "To their hate and fear?! Joking at your expense?!"
Viper lets out a low sigh and the two snakes heard the panda's voice calling out to Viper.
"Viper, where are you?!"
"It's time to make a decision, little sister. Are you a snake, or aren't you?" Fu-Xi asked her before he hides.
Po spots Viper and walks up behind her. "Viper, I'm so sorry about the things I said."
Viper turns and stares at him. "Po."
"Look, Viper, you're not like that scaly loser. You're one of us. Now let's catch that creepy cobra and lock him up for good." Po turns and starts walking away. He stops and sees Viper is not following him. "Viper?"
Viper quickly bites him, making the Dragon Warrior yell in pain.
"Viper you... bit... me..." Po moans as he fell backward on the ground.
"That was excellent!" Fu-Xi smiled as he slithers out his hiding spot and slithers up next to Viper.
Viper smiled evilly.
"Ha ha! I love it when that's cold and ruthless!" Fu-Xi laughed.
Viper attacks Po and the panda lands on his stomach. "Nothing cleaver to say now, Po? No stupid snake jokes?" She quickly ties him up with rope and tosses him back on his stomach.
"Oh ho ho." the king cobra chortle. "You are bad, little sister."
"You lose panda, we win." Viper looks at the tied-up Dragon Warrior.
"Now, let's get to my hiding spot, shall we?" Fuxi started slithering away.
"And what shall we do after we take control of the valley?" Viper asks him.
Fu-Xi stops and turns to look at her. "Once we take control of the valley, then we must come up with a plan on how to deal with the giant monster that's been around for several months."
"Giant monster? You mean Saber?" Viper asks him.
"I wasn't aware that the white tiger had a name. It doesn't walk on two legs after seeing those giant pawprints and I don't think my venom will be enough to make it mad." Fu-Xi replied. "We'll come up with a plan once the valley is ours."
Meanwhile, Shifu and the rest of the Five were keeping an eye out for Fu-Xi. The villagers were getting ready for the water to flow through.
"There's no sign of Fu-Xi." Mantis tells Shifu.
"Perhaps Po, Viper and Leo caught up to him already." Shifu replied.
"And if they didn't?" Monkey asked.
"You're not a teacup half full kind of guy, are you?" Mantis looks at him.
Leo arrives at the canyon in a large area. There was no sign of Saber. It was quiet out here except the rushing sound of water above him. He had his guard up, looking from left to right. Then Leo looks above him and saw Saber landed several feet in front of him.
"Gr!" Saber growls at him.
"Ha!" Leo hisses back at her angrily, getting into his fighting stance.
The two slowly advance one another before they broke into a run. Leo collides his fist against Saber's paw. He quickly dodges the tiger's bite backwards and lands several blows. The human had to form an inside block to take the force of Saber's paw smacking him away several feet.
Saber lunges at him and started swiping her paws at Leo.
"Hmph!" Leo grunted as he blocks her attacks. He jumps over the paw and lands an elbow strike on her head. Leo didn't waste time by punching her head repeatedly. Saber started shaking her head to get the human off. Leo didn't let go and kept punching her several more times to the head before he was thrown off and hits the ground.
He rolls out of the way to avoid her paws. Leo was about to roll out of the way, but Saber was successful pinning him hard against the ground. She grabs him by the jaw and slams him on the ground hard several times and throws the human against the wooden pole. He nullifies the impact by placing his feet against the wooden pole and flung himself to deliver a strong headbutt against the white feline's skull.
Leo shook the stun off of him and lets out an angry growl. He took the opportunity by delivering a close-combat kick combo to her side. The white feline shouted and was able to grab him again and threw Leo hard against the wall. She swipes him into the air while slashing him across the chest.
"Gah! Gr!" Leo lets out a yell in pain. He felt his body slamming against the ground and hits the wooden pole. Leo looks up and saw Viper above him pulling on the pole. He drew his blade and was getting ready to attack until Viper landed on him. "Vi-" Leo was saying as he looks up in time to see part of the aqueduct was falling.
Saber roars and flees from the falling debris.
The water fell to make the ground wet. Clouds of dust has settled the surrounding area. Po was on the ground. He sits up and moans, shaking his head.
"Viper?!" Po calls out to her. He starts looking for her and gasps. "Viper!" The Dragon Warrior saw Viper laying down on the ground unconscious with a piece of wood on her. He runs to her and throws the wood off of her and saw blood on her. "Are you okay?"
No response came from her. But she lets out a moan and talks to her, opening her eyes. "I'm sorry I had to trick you, Po. It was the only way." She apologizes to him.
"Well, you saved everyone at the Valley Of Peace. I can't say the same for Fu-Xi." Po chuckled. Then Po was sent flying above her after getting hit by a log to the head.
Viper lifts herself up and saw Fu-Xi approach her.
"I would've shared my kingdom with you." Fu-Xi said.
"How is hurting others will fix you who has been hurt?" Viper questions the former hero. "Forget your hate. Become the hero you once were many years ago, Fu-Xi."
"How could you possibly choose the two-leggers over me?" Fu-Xi asked her. "Especially that panda. He hates all snakes."
Po tackles Fu-Xi and held him in place. "Not all snakes. Just you." He told him. "Now Viper!"
Viper quickly wraps her tail the cobra's tail and started spinning him around before throwing him far from in another area.
"Great throw, Viper." Po said as the two warriors and smiles to one another.
"Thanks." Viper thanks him and notices the blood on her scales. "Why am I covered in blood? And where's Leo?"
"I'm right behind you two." Leo said behind the two masters.
The two masters turned and saw Leo was bleeding on the chest.
"What happened to you, Leo?" Viper looks at him concerned. "Was that the white tiger you were fighting against before I destroyed the aqueduct?"
"Yes. I heard her roar in the woods when I was searching for Fu-Xi. I met up with Po and told him to come find me after Fu-Xi was stopped." Leo answered.
"You're going to be okay?" Viper watched the blood.
"I'll be fine." Leo gritted his teeth as he dried his blood a little from his shirt. "Right now, we need to find Saber-"
"Or she'll come to us!" Po exclaims pointing a finger behind Leo.
Leo swiftly turns around to see the giant tiger behind them.
"Gr!" Saber growled.
Viper was shocked to see the white tiger. Leo and Po shifts into their fighting stance. She heard Leo lets out an angry growl at the white feline.
The three warriors charges at Saber. Viper slithers up her leg as Leo and Po dodges the paw.
"Ha!" Po punches her in the stomach.
Leo collides his fist against her paw. He was swatted away from her and hits the wall.
"Groar!" Saber roars in pain as she felt Viper's tail whipping her lower back.
Po was able to pull Leo back on his feet. He rushes toward Saber and saw she was about to bite him.
"Hmph!" Leo threw his sword, cutting the cheek to her roar in pain and missed the chubby panda, who narrowly dodges by jumping on her back.
Viper slithers in and used the paralyzing shoulder pinch on the tiger.
"Gr!" Saber growls as she shook the two warriors off of her.
"Why didn't it work on Saber?" Po groans as he sat up.
"Saber is tough when it comes likes this. She's not going down easy from that nerve attack." Leo ran to the panda's side and picks up his sword.
"Then what can we do?" Viper asks him.
He glances at the stone wall, and he had an idea. "I need you two to be decoys to get her attention. Then I'll have her come towards me."
"Let's do this!" Po stands up as Leo runs to the stone wall. "Over here, you freak!"
Saber snarls and went after Po and Viper. Leo made it to the stone wall and sheathes his sword. There was a pile of boulders on a ledge above that was about to give way. He turns around in time to see Saber nearly killed Po with her paw. "Over here, you fucking bitch!"
The white tiger stops running and saw Leo. She lets out a roar of anger and went after him. Leo didn't move until she was close and jumps over onto her upper back as she slams into the wall. He started running and fires a beam to the ledge and the boulders fell, burying the tiger alive.
"Is she dead?" Po asked him.
Viper slithers past Leo to inspect the debris. She went a couple feet away from the two men and saw the ear sticking out of the rubble. "Looks like it." Viper answers Po's question and slithers back to them.
But when Po looked at Leo, he saw the human still had his guard up. The Dragon Warrior looks back at the debris.
Saber bursts out of the debris.
"What?!" Po gasps.
"How?!" Viper exclaims.
The clone lets out an angry roar at them and flee the ravine before the three can act.
"Damnit!" Leo cursed, breathing heavily.
"How the hell did she survive that?" Po looks at Leo.
"It's what the fucking hell she does, Po." Leo growled, casting a glare where the clone flee. "I know that the original survived much worse than having boulders crush her. Come on, we should head back to the valley. The others must be wondering what happened. Oh and Viper..."
Viper watches kneels down and reach into his pocket to reveal her two-lotus flower clips.
Leo, Po and Viper enters the village where Shifu and the rest of the Five were waiting.
"You did an excellent job, Viper." Shifu said to her.
"Thank you." Viper bows to her master.
"You know, you didn't have to keep me in the dark. It wasn't like I was going to spill the whole plan and- I see your point." Po said, noticing the deadpan look on their faces.
Leo saw the villagers were cheering for Viper as they approached her.
The little goat from before hugs her. "I love you, Viper."
"Ah. I love you too." Viper places her head on his back.
"I'm sorry I was such a jerk, Viper." Po approached her and Viper turns around. "I hope you know that everyone loves you."
"I do. I just feel bad for Fu-Xi. He was a great hero and noble soul once." Viper said.
"Yeah, well, you know what they say about snakes." Po said. He saw everyone gives an annoyed look on their faces. "Uh, they're fantastic! Am I right? Give it up." Po raised his hand.
Leo watches the green snake wraps her tail around Po and slaps across the face as he fell downs sideways.
"I had that coming."
"Leo?" A goose approaches him.
"What is it?" Leo asks the goose.
"We wanted to apologize for being scared of you since your arrival here." the goose answered. "You helped protect the valley with Master Shifu, the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five from the people who tries to destroy our village or take control of it."
Leo folded his arms. "Don't worry about it." He sticks his hand out to the goose and the two shook hands. "If you all excuse me, I have to wipe this blood off."
"I'll come with you, Leo." Viper said, slithering besides him.
The two warriors arrived back at the barracks. Leo tosses his shirt to the side and dips a towel to start washing the cuts he received. Viper slithers into his room.
"Is it alright if we talk, Leo?" Viper asks him.
Leo lets out a low sigh. "About what?"
"About what you said earlier before we left the Jade Palace." Viper replied. "Would you kill the Dragon Soldier if it wasn't James?"
"Yes." Leo turns to her. "But I couldn't do it when I found out that day. I wasn't planning on losing him last time. I'm glad I didn't kill him."
"I know."
"If I was the one who killed him and didn't know James was alive, I wouldn't forgive myself. It's why I had to try and snap him out of it." Leo said.
Viper nodded her head.
"But there is something you shouldn't forget."
"What's that?"
"Never ignore the fact what someone has done. If you can excuse yourself, I have to wash my blood off."
Viper nodded and slithers out of his room before taking one last glance at Leo as he turns his back on her to wash the blood off. The green snake did hope Leo would open up and have a normal conversation. But she and the others knew that Leo has been slowly changing these past few months. She lets out soft sigh and closes his door.
Po did point out that the air did became hot when he was fighting Hundu on Dragon Warrior Day. The Dragon Warrior didn't know what would've happened if he didn't call out to Leo. Hundun was already defeated, and he didn't need to go through whatever Leo was planning to do to him. And Leo did say he didn't have a weakness. Leo had been training hard every day.
Leo did took on the bandits by himself when Tigress went with Mugan.
Shifu had watched Leo carefully whenever they're training. They had exercises to loosen up and lessons to learn. Then Shifu would have them spar one-on-one. But when it comes down to Leo, he would let the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior decide who gets to spar Leo after their one-on-one. Leo had kept his guard up in all training sessions and sparing matches at all times.
Leo didn't mind it was random. That helps him to be prepared when he fights different enemies of their fighting style or the same fighting style, even if it reaches to a point where it could be boring. They did know that Leo had kept his focus during training and sparing. He ignores most of the conversation when they watch him spar, but mostly the conversation would start with Po. Monkey did joke that they got themselves another Tigress.
After Leo was done washing the blood and drying himself, he applied a couple bandages where the clone scratched him. He walks over to his chest and opens it to pull out the mask. It reminded him how he met Rick on the seventh month when Leo visited the Tao Palace. Leo had heard that an old former contact of Sying, Patrick, was in the city. He found the old man walking alone in the park.
Leo demanded to know where the exiled prince has fled. Patrick tells him he didn't want anything to do with Sying since he left him for almost thirty years ago. The young man didn't believe him and before he did anything reckless, he heard a scream in a nearby construction site and rushed over.
Rick appeared before him and told Leo he lured him away from the old man before he does anything reckless. He took Leo back to Crimson Dusks Tower while the two insult each other on the road. Rick explains he was the former leader of the Crimson Dusks several years ago.
The two had sparred one another when they got back to the tower, who saw Rick initiated the sparring match. Rick won the match. Rick explains why he had to stop Leo because the old man already lost his son in a mining accident five years ago. Leo tells Rick he wasn't planning to do anything reckless to Patrick before he heard the scream. Rick believed him and Leo planned to apologize to Patrick despite he still doesn't trust the old man.
Leo and Rick return to the park and saw Patrick getting attacked by thugs. Some of the thugs notices Leo from the incident and runs away in fear while a few of them stayed behind. The young teenager didn't like the idea of protecting a former contact, but he had no choice but to help Patrick. Leo and Rick made quick of the remaining thugs. Before Leo could apologize, he saw the last thug pulling out a pistol and shoves Patrick out of the way as the bullet grazes him. Rick knocks out the last thug.
The three of them heard sirens meaning the police was on their way. Patrick thanks Leo for saving his life. Leo apologizes to hear that Patrick's son passed away. Patrick accepted his apology and watches Leo left the scene back to the tower. Rick thought Leo might not be that cold or harsh to some people he meets.
Leo sets the mask down and opens the window to have fresh air flow into his room. He sits down and began meditating in silence. The young man will have to give his report to Shifu after getting some rest from his battle with Saber today. No matter where Leo goes, their paths will cross again. And he'll have to train hard before their battle in the future.
Author's Note: That's the end of this chapter. I'm glad I went with the idea to have Leo, Po and Viper fight against Saber. Now, all the villagers are not afraid of Leo anymore. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to Follow, Favorite and leave a review, everyone!