Po turned out not to be as annoying as Tai Lung was expecting him to be.
I mean, he was annoying nonetheless, but not as much as the snow leopard had imagined him to be.
He was mouthy, but he did shut up when Tai Lung told him that he wanted some silence. He was pathetic as he tried to go through the obstacles on their way, showing difficulty on things that the snow leopard thought to be easy to overcome, but he turned out to be more capable than the feline imagined, as he could, with certain struggle follow Tai Lung without being left behind.
All in all, his presence on this travel was being only mildly annoying. However, that didn't mean that his mere presence was not annoying at all. Especially with how often he stopped to play with those ridiculous dolls of his'!
And he even invited Tai Lung to play along with him like a child!
"Oh, come on!" Po said, "Just give it a try! Here, you can be you! I made it on the week after... you know, our fight. Oh, why don't we recreate our fight with them!?"
"I am not a child." Tai Lung said to the panda. "And neither are you, so put those stupid dolls away! We are nearly on the mountain!"
"Oh, great, I was getting so tired!" Po said as he started rushing forward, tossing the one toy he had on his hand to Tai Lung as he went, causing the snow leopard to reflexively catch it.
He was going to just toss it away, but he stopped to look at it for a moment.
So, he made it himself? He thought as he looked at the toy that had his likeness. He got my proportions right. That panda might not be as incompetent as I thought. He might be able to get a job as a crafter after I take his place and kick him down the stairs of the Palace...
Tai Lung continued to look at the doll as he went after the panda. As he did, he failed to notice the two figures that have been following them for the last two days since they left the Valley of Peace.
Viper had a natural knack for subtlety and silent approach, what one could attribute to her species, as racist as that could sound. The fact was that she could slither while producing little to no sound, and that made her perfect for the task of following the two of them right behind them. She was nearly undetectable.
Tigress was not bad on stealth. She was certainly better on "stealth mode" than Po. However, she was not as good on it as Viper. So, she stayed a little further behind, allowing Viper to go forward and keep a close eye to the two of them, and be ready to call Tigress to help her in the case of Tai Lung trying anything, so they could work together in beating him up.
Alright, maybe Tai Lung has won them both and the rest of the Five in the past, but they have trained a bit harder ever since, and they were confident that they could take on him. Especially if Po would be there fighting alongside them. There was no way Tai Lung would beat all three of them at once now that they were stronger and had the Dragon Warrior with them.
So, he better not try touching on their beloved panda.
Meanwhile, Tai Lung was not aware of the murderous intent of the snake coming right behind him as he went after the panda, silently swearing that she would eat his heart for dinner if he as much as laid a finger on a single fur of that panda's cute little head.
He went with the panda all the way up the mountain they were both climbing. Those were the Musuo Mountains, and the one that interested them the most was the one in the middle, which was by far the highest of them all, and they knew that they were the ones where what they looked for was.
That was what they talked about once they stopped, with Po resting and coughing hard as he had his hands on his knees and he looked like he was trying to not lose his breakfast.
No stamina at all... Tai Lung thought as he saw the panda retching and trying to hold his meal down. I heard that pandas didn't really had resistance, despite being quite though, but shees! Has this panda even been training at all on the last decade? Doesn't looks like it. I mean, he is still as fat as when I fought him.
"Right, I am fine!" Po said as he recovered. He then looked up, seeing the position of the sun in relation to them, and a smile came to his features.
"Okay then, time to break for lunch!"
Tai Lung could only roll his eyes as the panda opened that backpack of his' and started removing the things he would use as an ingredient to cook them food. So, as they set a fire that the panda was using to cook.
"Why going so far just to make food?" Tai Lung said as he looked at the panda. "We can just eat those vegetables you brought raw. And why did those fathers of yours packed dumplings!? Those things go bad after a few days, you know?"
"Hey, you cannot just eat anything." Po said to him. "Food is something to be enjoyed and appreciated, so you gotta make it worthy of being eaten."
"That's panda talk." Tai Lung said, crossing his arms as he looked at the panda. "Food is a necessity. Just something your body requires to keep working. It doesn't need to be fancy. In fact, it doesn't even need to taste good, it just needs to be edible. That is all that a true warrior's body needs."
"Man, that sounds lame!" Po said to the leopard. "Dude, life needs a little flavor! A little sweet and spice! As much as I love kung fu, it is not all that there is to life! There is more! Like delicious food that makes your mouth water and your tongue feels like it is in a party! Here, let me cook you something, you will love it! Dad taught me this new recipe he came up with and that it is one of the best I ever had!"
Po then put himself to cook, all the while trying to make conversation with Tai Lung and ask him if he had any preference for flavor or was allergic to rosemary.
He was being incredibly friendly with the snow leopard, what Tai Lung still found to be baffling.
Did he completely forgot that Tai Lung had literally tried to murder him on their first meeting? He was talking to him as if he was an old friend that he has not seen in years, instead of a mortal enemy that he once fought to death.
This was just another proof that pandas seemed to be incapable of holding a grudge.
"And, how does Jiao Din turn those guys into monsters?" Po said, "I mean, can you do that by putting your chi in someone else? I never knew that."
"Only if your chi causes an imbalance on the person's own chi." Tai Lung said to the panda.
"The balance of chi on the body is what determines ones mental and physical balance." Tai Lung explained to the panda as the black and white ursine continued preparing the food. "If your chi is imbalanced, then it will result in imbalance in both your mind and your body."
"Like, turning into a monster?" Po asked, "Is that what can happens if your chi is not balanced?"
"Normally it doesn't go this far." Tai lung said to him. "Normally, any physical manifestation of chi imbalance is more like a sickness. Like feeling sluggish or even in pain. It never manifests as a physical transformation. But, this is not a normal case. Jiao Din's chi is so imbalanced, so corrupted and vile, that putting it into a living being will cause them to actually change physically. Often suffering transformations that reflect their fears, vices and desires."
"Wow..." Po said, "And, about the mental part you mentioned..."
"In this case, we are talking about feeling of sadness, fear, hopelessness, even anger." Tai Lung said, "If Jiao Din decides to use his chi to affect a person mentally instead of physically, then he can drain them of all of their will to fight, sow seeds of doubt and fear on their minds, and even make them so furious that they will turn on their own allies."
"Man, corrupted chi is dangerous!" was all Po could say after hearing this, to what Tai Lung agreed that it was.
"And, if Jiao Din manages to reach the Tien Spring, he could infect the whole spring with his vile chi. And, if he did, then the chi would spread across the whole world like a plague until everything was infected with that lizard's corrupted chi. I guess you can imagine how bad that would be, right?"
Oh, Po certainly could. Now he understood perfectly why it was so important for them to get to Jiao Din and prevent him from making it anywhere near the Tien Spring. The future of the entire world depended on them stopping him.
No biggie. The Dragon Warrior certainly would solve this easily now that he had the help of a guy sent to him by Oogway himself.
"So, we have to go all the way to the top of the mountain and find a cave in the face of it that is illuminated by the sun when it is rising?" Po asked, and Tai Lung confirmed.
"That's what the poem says."
Po nodded, and he decided to just take Tai Lung's word for it. He really understood close to nothing about poetry.
"Right. And when we get there?"
"A new clue will be waiting for us inside." Tai Lung said.
"Really? I thought you said that the Dragon Scroll had the clues."
"It has half of them." Tai Lung said. "The other half will be encountered on each step of our journey."
"So, half of the clues that lead to the Tien Spring are on the scroll, but we have to go to the places that the half on the scroll points to find the other half of the clues?"
Okay, Tai Lung was not sure what exactly the panda meant, but he decided to clarify, just in case of the panda was misunderstanding it, what he thought very likely.
"Each clue is divided in two halves." Tai Lung said to the panda. "The first clue, which pointed to the Musuo Mountains, was a complete clue on itself. From there on, all clues are in two parts. One part will be on each stage of our travel, and the other parts are all in the scroll. When we arrive at the cave, there will be half of the clue waiting for us, and we will need the scroll to get the other half. By putting the two together, we will have the complete clue that will lead us to our next stop."
Tai Lung explained slowly and carefully, as if to a child.
"Do you understand it, panda?"
He, once more, asked Po as if he was a child. And the panda, seeming unaware of the mockery that Tai Lung was giving him, simply nodded and said:
"Okay, got it! Combine what we find on the cave with what is in the scroll, so we know exactly where to go next." Po said, and Tai Lung thought that maybe the panda was not as stupid as he spent the last decade thinking.
Then the panda nearly set his own pants on fire while stirring the flames for the small pot he set up.
"Okay, done!" Po said, as he poured himself and Tai Lung... whatever it was that he just cooked. "A little flavor for life to make everything better! Have a try and tell me if it is not delicious!"
Once more, the panda was proving to be way too kind to the snow leopard. Tai Lung took the food, which he was pretty sure that the panda had not slipped any poison in, especially when he had served a whole bowl of the thing for himself.
"What exactly is this?" Tai Lung said as he looked at the food.
"Just something using rosemary and a few ingredients." Po said, "Come on, give it a taste."
The excitement Po had in sharing it with the snow leopard was really child-like. The kind that made it honestly hard to say no to. So, Tai Lung just decide to try it on.
He let it run on his tongue for a while to get a taste, while Po kept looking at him.
"So...?" The panda asked expectantly. After a moment of silent, Tai Lung said:
"This... is actually pretty good."
"I know, right?" Po said, before starting to eat his own, making out exaggerated delighted sounds as he did, what actually made him seem like a big child. Tai Lung looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before going back to eating his own bowl of food.
Truth was, that food was more than just "pretty good". It was the best thing Tai Lung ever ate. However, the snow leopard was not about to admit it to the panda. And he certainly was not about to make a scene out of it like the panda was.
And yet, Po still found time to try to make conversation with him. This time tackling on the theme of the Spirit Realm.
"I have only been there once, but it seemed like an amazing place!" Po said, "And you was there for a lot longer! Man, you must have seen such amazing things in there! Met amazing people!"
"Well, to be honest, I spent most of my time meditating alone." Tai Lung admitted. "I mean, there was nothing much left to do after I ended up there."
He looked at Po as he said that. He didn't spoke it with his words, but the way he looked at the panda made his thoughts on the "how I even got in there on the first place" rather obvious.
"Oh... yeah..." Po said to the snow leopard, looking down. "Sorry about that again."
That was the fifth or sixth time that the panda apologized for sending Tai Lung to the Spirit Realm on the last two days of travel. And, each time that he apologized to the snow leopard, the panda seemed more and more sorry for having done it, as his apologizes sounded more sincere.
That fat bastard was weak.
"So, you meditated to gain enlightenment, huh?" Po said, "Did you had a revelation?"
"Yes." Tai Lung said, and he looked the panda in the eyes.
"That Oogway made a mistake by making you the Dragon Warrior."
That was all Tai Lung said before he focused back on his food, while Po looked at him for a few moments, before saying "riiiiight" and started eating himself.
He didn't know that, while Tai Lung savored that delicious food that the panda made for him, he was thinking on how this mistake would be rectified soon enough.
Man, that panda knows how to cook! Tai Ling thought as he finished the rest of his meal faster than he did for anything else in a long time. Forget being a crafter! If he can learn to keep his mouth shut, I might just make him my personal cook at the Jade Palace once I am in control! Heck, this food is so good I am considering tolerating him!
Soon, however, the meal was done, and Tai Lung told Po that they could be continuing their way to the top. Soon, he and the panda were rising camp and moving on, and so were the two ladies who were following them right behind.
The more they walked, the rougher the terrain ahead of them became, much to Po's dismay. However, after a certain point, Po was able to keep up better as the terrain stabilized. They were now passing by an old forest that was formed by petrified trees, all of them looking like stalagmites with branching tips that were not too much different from the lower teeth of a gigantic monster ready to chew on them.
"And so, the two warriors continued their adventure..." Po narrated, now holding the dolls of himself and Tai Lung before his eyes and making them move as if they were walking. "On their quest for the evil Komodo dragon, they were now passing by the Forest of Terrifying Trees, on the Musuo Mountains, looking for the Riddle Cave, where they shall know the direction to the next stage of their adventure. What dangers lay ahead of them? What challenges will they have to overcome? And will Tai Lung stop frowning so much by the time they finally arrive there? Those questions hang in the air as they move forward without rest nor hesitation on their brave hearts..."
"Panda!" Tai Lung snapped, snatching one of the dolls from Po's hand so quickly that Po had the impression that the snow leopard had intended to rip his whole hand off, what was not that far from the truth, to be honest.
"I will not stop frowning until the end of this adventure for a number of reasons..." The snow leopard's voice dropped to a dangerously low tone that would have terrified most of the people, and even Po was slightly uneasy as the snow leopard looked at him.
"Starting with the fact that I'm in the company of someone who blasted me into the Spirit Realm after stealing my title, and who will not stop making such a ridiculous monologue with those ridiculous dolls!"
He tossed one of the dolls aside as he said that and kept glaring at the panda. Po, on his end, looked back at him.
"Okay, first, about the monologue, I am just trying to think of how I will narrate this story to the people when I am back home." Po said to him. "And I already apologized a lot of times for sending you to the Spirit Realm!"
Po walked a bit forward, and he kneeled to pick up his doll.
"As for the thing of 'stealing your title', well..." Po looked over his shoulder. "I don't think you can actually say that I 'stole' it when you never actually had the title, just saying."
There was no malice on the panda's words. He was only saying a fact. For it was a fact that Tai Lung was never the Dragon Warrior.
However, even Po was not meaning to say those words as an insult, they still stung into the snow leopard.
A growl escaped from his throat as he bared his fangs as the panda, his claws unsheathing as he walked to the panda with fast steps, his hands ready to grasp the panda and tear him apart then and there.
Po was unaware, as he was looking if his precious collectible had not been damaged by being thrown like that. Viper, on her end, saw this from where she was hiding, and her whole body tensed, as she was ready to lunge at Tai Lung like a scaly arrow that would wrap around his neck and suffocate him to death.
Except that she stopped just as Tai Lung did.
The feline was breathing heavily as he had his hands just inches away from Po's head. It would be so easy for him to just grasp it and crush that empty skull. Or twist his head hard enough to shatter his fat neck completely. Or perhaps he could just rip his head off his shoulders altogether. His hands were even shaking with rage as he was about to do that.
However, he held back, his hands curling into fists.
Keep it together, Tai Lung... He thought to himself, as he steadied himself. Do not lose your cool. That was how this imbecile managed to defeat you in the first place, because you lost control of your emotions and made one stupid decision after the other. You could have defeated him if you had just not lost your calm back on the day. Don't let your anger ruin everything a second time.
The snow leopard took a deep breath, his hands relaxing as his claws sheathed again.
Stick to the plan. Guide the panda to the Tien Spring, put an end to the lizard, and take the panda's place as the Dragon Warrior. The snow leopard thought, while he heard Po go on about how the foot of that little toy of his' had been damaged by Tai Lung flinging it like that, and how it would be hard to fix.
Then rip out the panda's vocal cords so I will never have to hear his blasted voice again!
"Let's just keep going." Tai Lung said finally, to what Po agreed, and they continued their way into the forest of petrified trees.
However, as they continued forward, the terrain ahead of them once more suffered a change.
The ground felt different in there, feeling softer. And... stickier?
Not only that, but the branches of the petrified trees also seemed different in there. Whereas the ones from a while before were completely empty, those had something hanging in and on them, shaking slightly with the breeze that passed by and carrying a characteristic smell with them. However, those were definitely not leaves. They were...
"Webs?" Po said as he looked at the things hanging from the dead trees. "Is there a clan of spiders living in the Musuo Mountains?"
"Not that I ever heard of..." Tai Lung said, feeling a shiver run down his spine. The fur on his body, especially his forearms, the back of his neck, and across his tail, was standing on end. "Something is off. Stay on guard."
"Right!" Po said, as he spun the Staff of Wisdom, holding it with both hands as he walked forward, ready to use it to defend himself and face any danger that came their way.
The more they walked, the more uneasy they both felt.
The air was heavy with a strong scent, both sulfuric and electric. The fur on their bodies was standing as they walked deeper into the dead forest. Each tree had more and more webbing the deeper they walked, coating the trees into masses of silk that danced softly in the wind, giving the whole place a phantasmagoric look. And those webs were not white like normal, but they had a purple tint into them, and this same tint caused the light of the sun that passed through them and reflected on them to come out with a purple shade, what only made the place look all the eerier with that purple coloration tinting everything.
"Is this all work of Jiao Din?" Po asked, as he looked at the amount of webbing that there was on the trees, and thinking that the Komodo dragon should have been busy to make all of that... wait, could Komodo dragons even make web?
"Yes and no." Tai Lung said, "Eyes peeled. This place reeks of danger."
"It kind of smells like that old storage house where Shifu used to keep the backup scrolls." Po said, "Me and my friends went there to get the backups of all of the scrolls that got destroyed when Kai attacked the Jade Palace."
"Hush, panda!" Tai Lung said harshly. Not only because he was tired of hearing the panda go on and on no stop, but also because he had heard something among the trees around them.
Something fast.
Something big.
Something with many legs...
Po seemed to be less aware of what the snow leopard was perceiving, but he certainly knew that something was up. He could feel something in there with them that made him really uneasy.
And soon, he would come to understand why.
It all began when he felt something wrapping on his ankle.
Po nearly jumped, but he looked down, and saw it was just a strand of that purple web. Po calmed down and just shook it off his ankle before resuming walking close to Tai Lung. However, he barely gave three steps before he felt it again, and he looked down to see that another strand of that weird web had wrapped around his ankle.
"What the...?" Po said, shaking his ankle again to get rid of that strand, and he resumed walking. Only for three strands of web to wrap around his ankle.
"Hey! What gives?" Po said, as he started shaking his leg to get rid of those. However, they were stuck this time. Not only that, but those strings were starting to get stuck on his other ankle as well.
Soon, the panda was hopping and dancing into place as he tried to shake those webs out of his legs, but they were fast stuck. And there were more of them coming! They were wrapping themselves around his ankles and even of his wrists, nearly as if they were alive!
Soon, the Dragon Warrior's antics were caught by his travel companion, and the snow leopard could only look at the panda hopping around and flailing his arms.
"Panda! What the heck are you doing!?" He said to him, completely exasperated and sounding a lot like Shifu. "Stop playing with those webs!"
"I'm not!" Po said, "The webs are playing with me!"
Just as Po finished saying this, more webs come, and they wrapped around Po's torso and even around his neck. Then, next thing Po knew, was that the web strands that wrapped around him started pulling, causing the panda to be pushed back and forth by them, nearly like a puppet being tossed around by its' strings.
Tai Lung quickly realized that the panda was not playing around, and he watched in astonishment as the webs pulled him in all directions, causing him to drop the Staff of Wisdom, before tossing him in direction to a great curtain of web that had been built in between two particularly big fossilized trees. The panda was then stuck into it like a moth, trying vainly to wriggle himself free but only getting himself more stuck in the process.
"T-Tai Lung?" Po said, "A little help, please?"
The snow leopard did not immediately go to help. He was too busy looking intently at the figure that was coming behind the webs, and which the panda failed to notice, at least until he heard its' chilling voice.
"Well, well, well. Just look what has landed on my web..."
Po looked to the side to see... the biggest spider he ever imagined he would see on his life!
Each one of her legs was as long and thick as one of those threes, and she towered over him as she looked down on him with her twelve glowing yellow eyes with pupils shaped like four-pointed stars, which contrasted with the pure purple of her exoskeleton.
"A helpless little morsel!" She said, looking down at the panda. "And this one looks super tasty..."
"Oh..." Po said. "Uhhh, hi?"
She leaned over, approached her fanged face of the panda.
"Your smell is not the most alluring, but you certainly look tasty. With the right amount of fat and muscle. Oh, you must be so easy to chew! I am going to enjoy eating you!"
Po squirmed, but he was really stuck into the web, and he was not able to escape as the spider licked her chops, as she mentioned how Po would be her first panda, and how she hoped he would not give her indigestion.
"W-wait! Wait!" Po said, "Look, if you are hungry, I can cook something to you! Maybe noodles? You like noodles? No? Then what about soy and bean dumplings! I just need some soy... and beans... and dumpling dough!"
"I wonder if you taste like bear, or more like something else?" She said, as she was approaching the panda while ignoring everything he was trying to say to her. She looked like she was ready to open her mouth and sink her fangs into him, when a rock came flying and hit her right into one of her eyes.
"OUCH!? Hey, what's the big idea!?" She said, looking at the one who threw the rock at her, and it was Tai Lung.
"Step away from the panda, now." Tai Lung said, as he had another rock on his hand, and he was ready to throw that one on the spider as well. She looked at him and she chittered in anger, before saying:
"Why does everyone always interrupt my snacks!? I am just trying to eat!"
"Well, look for something else to eat, that panda is with me!" Tai Lung said to her.
"No way! That lizard who came here before you two promised this panda as my meal!" She said, gesturing to Po. "You know how rare it is to get the chance to eat an endangered animal? I am not passing this up!"
"Let. The panda. Go." Tai Lung said slowly, as he squeezed the rock he had on his hand, crushing it until it was nothing more than dust, which he let fall from his hand right on the spider's sight. "I need him."
However, the spider was not one to get so easily intimidated.
"No!" The spider said. "I am eating this panda! I will inject my stomach acids in him and then I'll drink his liquefied inwards! You can have the husk after I'm done!"
"I'm sorry, don't the panda get a saying in this?" Po asked.
"No!" The spider said, as she slapped one of her legs on Po's mouth. As a result, Po's lips were sealed shut by a layer of web, rendering his speech to nothing more than muffled screams and groans.
"Oh, thanks for that!" Tai Lung said, "Seriously, I have been tolerating his yapping for the past two days, it is so good to finally have him silent. But I still need him, so step back from the panda now. This is your last chance, bug!"
"BUG!?" The spider blurted out, looking at the snow leopard in rage. "I am an arachnid, you stupid pussycat!" And she chittered in rage as she attacked the snow leopard. Tai Lung answered in kind, as he roared as he charged forward, claws unsheathed and his blue chi already filling his hands as he got ready to fight.
The impact between the two was so intense that it resounded all over the side of the mountain. Waves and sparks of blue and purple flew everywhere as Tai Lung's hands collided with the spider's head.
The spider, however, showing to have a resilience that matched her size, shook her head before charging at the snow leopard once more, trying to stab him with the tips of her legs, which were as sharp as spears. Tai Lung dodged them with skill, often using his hands to deflect and block the blows, before he jumped forward and used a drop kick on the spider, causing her face to slam on the ground so hard a small crater formed, and then he jumped back as the spider got up once more and lifted her legs again.
This time, however, the webs around started to move, and they went for Tai Lung, just like they did for Po, aiming to trap him as well. However, the snow leopard was prepared for this, and he was faster than Po. He managed to dodge most of the webs, being able to avoid them completely and still attack the spider, even having the chance to use a little of his nerve-attack blows, which had been enhanced by the mastery of chi that he achieved during his meditations on the Spirit Realm for over ten years.
However, against the spider's evil chi-enhanced body and capacities, even Tai Lung found it hard to keep fighting. For that was when, as he was attacking, the strands of silk managed to finally grab his wrists. In just a few seconds, Tai Lung's hands had been forced together and wrapped in a thick ball of web, connected to the ground by a strand of silk that was as thick and strong as an iron cable.
"Ha!" The spider said, "I got you now! I will have you as my entrée and then I'll devour the panda next!"
However, as she tried to attack the snow leopard, Tai Lung proved that having his hands stuck was no impediment for him, as he started fighting the spider off with only his legs, jumping and kicking her with no mercy. One of those kicks was so strong that the spider was sent flying into the air and landed flat on her back with a booming sound.
As the spider flailed her legs and cursed while on her back, desperately trying to get back to the right position, the snow leopard freed himself from the webs by calling onto his chi and burning it with his chi-based blue flames. His hands were still flaming as he turned to face the spider and charged at her once more.
All the while, Po had been trying to pull himself free from that web, but it was finding it hard. However, he had an idea as soon s he saw Tai Lung freeing himself from his webs by burning them with his chi.
He could free himself with the Dragon Warrior Force!
And it worked!
Po just had to focus his chi and ignite it like Tai Lung taught him, and he was able to burn right through the web with his golden flames. He was soon freeing himself as the entire curtain of web he was stuck into burst into flames, and he even removed the web on his mouth by burning through it with is golden chi, before turning his attention to Tai Lung, who was still fighting the spider.
Po was soon rushing into action and joining the snow leopard with the fight, but not before retrieving the Staff of Wisdom and rushing into action to help Tai Lung. Soon, the leopard and panda were fighting together against the spider, both doing their part as they attacked and dodged the blows of the spider to the best of their capacities.
And it was quite hard, especially when the spider showed that she could release a spray of purple-colored venom that was like an acid, as it burned through some fossilized trees that were on the way as the two of them jumped out of the path.
"Don't wanna be sprayed by that." Po said.
"Well, duh!" Tai Lung said back, before the two of them had to jump out of the way once more.
They both failed to notice the two females watching from hiding, crouched in between the web-filled trees as they watched from a distance, both of them ready to jump into action in the case Po needed them.
If Tai Lung needed them... well, too bad for him.
"Will you two stop fighting already!?" The spider said, "I just want to eat that panda!"
"Why is she so keen on eating me!?" Po asked Tai Lung as both landed back from being pushed by her legs.
"Well, maybe she thinks you are delicious food that is worth being eaten." The snow leopard said with a smirk as he looked at the panda. Then, he choked as a strand of web wrapped around his neck and he was swung around and collided with a three so hard that the tree broke apart like a chopstick as Tai Lung crashed right through it.
This left Po alone to fight the spider, who was attacking him with four of her eight legs, and some of her blows came way too close for comfort.
In fact, one of the grazed so close on his skin it drew blood.
As Po stumbled back, nearly dropping the Staff of Wisdom again, he covered the shallow wound on his arm with his other hand and looked at the spider.
She had a little bit of his blood on tip sharp tip of her leg. She looked at it for a moment, before taking it to her mouth and slurping on it.
Her eyes widened, and her whole body shuddered as she delighted on the flavor that danced on her tongue.
"Oh, wow! Pandas are delicious!" She practically squealed. "Oh, I am so going to eat every last bite of you, fat little morsel!" She was walking to him with a wicked smile on her big mouth and with a glint on all her eyes as she glared at the panda with hunger.
"And then, I am going to look for that secret village where the rest of you pandas are said to live, and I'll eat every single one I can get my webs into." She said, "But first, I will pass by that little Valley of yours to see if there is any other panda there for me to eat."
As the spider was coming in direction to Po, both Viper and Tigress were both getting ready to charge and save their friend.
However, Tai Lung beat them to it.
He roared as he jumped on the back of the spider's head. He had one of the web curtains on his hands, and now he used it against the spider by wrapping it around her head and squeezing, as if he wanted to suffocate her.
The web did not suffocate her, but it blinded her and made her flail around, trying to get it out of her face as she screamed curses at the snow leopard who was doing that to her. Meanwhile, Tai Lung continued to pull on the webbing on her face with all his strength, causing her to tumble around as her head was pulled in every which way by the leopard's tugs.
All the while Po looked in shock.
Man, that was so cool! But also so terrifying!
This spider was like a demon! Could they even win? Could they achieve victory over something like that? Po was honestly not sure.
Right now, he wished that he could do something about it and help Tai Lung. He wished that he had something he could use to fight!
Well, he had his chi and the staff of wisdom, but would that be enough? Po wished that he had something more.
Man, how he wished he had followed Doe's advice to take a real weapon with them!
Just as Po was thinking that, he noticed a glow coming from in front of him.
The Dragon Scroll!
It dropped off Tai Lung's belt while they fought, and it landed unfurled on the ground. And Po had been touching it with the tip of the staff while he was channeling his chi through it while preparing to charge and fight the spider!
Talk about luck! Or destiny, whatever you prefer to call it.
For, as Po's chi washed through the scroll, the previous thing that was in it, the poem that told them where to go, vanished and was replaced with a series of drawings and instructions.
Drawings that depicted the Staff of Wisdom itself! And how to make it...
"No. Way." Po said as he read the instructions, shock and awe all over his face.
"ENOUGH!" The spider said, her voice muffled by the webbing being pulled over her face. She lifted her legs, and it caused the webs all around her to lift into strands, and to go straight for the snow leopard, drawn by his chi and wrapping around his wrists and pulling him out of her back as they holstered him into the air, while the snow leopard was now unable to free himself.
The spider grabbed the web on her face with one leg and pulled it, tearing only some of it, but it was enough to free her eyes so she could look at the leopard, and then prepare to deliver one of her sharp leg tips straight into his heart.
However, that was when Po rushed forward, a determined look on his face as he did exactly as the Dragon Scroll instructed him. He spun the Staff of Wisdom as he focused his chi through it, focusing it all on the very top of it, causing it to glow golden as he jumped into the air in direction to Tai Lung just as the spider attacked with her leg.
With a series of movements, Po batted the leg away and sliced clean through the webs, freeing Tai Lung.
Soon, Po was landing on the ground with Tai Lung in one of his arms like a damsel who was just rescued while the spider stumbled back.
Quite comical, considering that Tai Lung was at least a whole head taller than the panda.
"What the..." Tai Lung said, confused by what just happened, and then he looked at the panda, and at the staff he was still holding with his other hand. He was in for a shock when he looked at the tip of the staff and noticed that the staff no longer had a yin-yang emblem on its tip, but an ornated, sharp-looking, leaf-shaped blade.
The Staff of Wisdom turned into a spear!
"Are you kidding me!?" Tai Lung said in shock. Meanwhile, the spider lifted her legs once more, causing nearly all the webs around to lift as glowing strings of purple silk and charge at the two warriors.
Po reacted immediately, channeling chi through the staff, now a spear, as he placed Tai Lung behind him and acted as his protector.
Each movement of the chi-charged spear was enough to slice through each of the strands of silk clean. Not only that, but it was as if the reach of the spear was nearly tripled by the chi, allowing the panda to slice through them before they even came close to the two of them, as all of them fell to the ground inert and devoid of any chi right after being sliced by the attack of the spear, which Po showed to be able to swing like a pro.
Has the panda always been this good with a spear!? Was all that Tai Lung could think as he saw how the panda sliced through the hundreds of strands of silk coming their way nearly effortlessly.
Eventually, the spider got tired of it, and she charged forward, her legs ready to strike the panda all at once.
That was when Tai Lung snapped out of his shock and attacked, telling the panda to "get down!" as he but both of his hands forward, sending his flaming blue chi forward, incinerating the strands that were coming as a stream of the fiery chi was aimed right at the head of the spider, causing the webs in it to ignite, making the spider back away and scream in surprise.
That was when Po decided to put an end to this. So, he focused a good deal of his chi into the tip of the spear. It ignited with the golden flames of Po's Dragon Warrior Force, and then, with a few swings, which spread the golden flames everywhere with each spin of the spear, Po slammed the blade into the ground.
Then, like fire spreading through straw, the golden flames spread quickly into the webs like a wave, burning them all into literally nothingness in seconds. Tai Lung jumped back in surprise, and so did Tigress and Viper from where they were watching in hiding, but the golden flames did nothing to them. They did, however, did something to the spider, clinging to her and spreading over her body as she squirmed.
She chittered as she danced around on her eight legs. Her body was shrinking as she returned to the size and color she normally had. By the end of it, she had shrunk back to her normal size, losing her purple coloration and the extra eyes as she landed flat on her abdomen on the ground, the golden flames on her body going out completely, just like the flames that were on the trees and the ground, as all of the corrupted purple webs had been destroyed, leaving anything behind.
"Ohhhh..." the spider groaned, as she tried to get up, only to have the green blade of the Spear of Wisdom pointed at her.
"Don't move." Po said to her as he looked at her. And, of course, the spider didn't dare to move.
"Well, that was quite impressive." Tai Lung said, referring to what the panda just did.
"Thanks!" Po said, "I kind of improvised, you know?"
"That was obvious." Tai Lung said matter-of-factly. "But, how did you know your chi fire was not going to set me on fire as well?"
Po blinked, looking at him.
"What."
"Wait..." Tai Lung said, "You were not sure if your fire was going to set me on fire or not!?"
Po blinked again, and then he looked away.
"I... didn't really thought about it..." He admitted, while Tai Lung could only look at him with a "are you friggin serious!?" look. Po decided to diverge the subject by looking at the spider and pressuring her for answers about Jiao Din.
"H-he passed by here a while before you guys did!" she said, sounding distressed. "He attacked me and then did that crazy purple thing in me! Told me to wait here and devour a panda who came through! I-I didn't want to, but I was so hungry after that thing hit me! I couldn't think right! I am so sorry! Please, you gotta help me! Please!"
Tai Lung scoffed at this spider. If there was one thing he could recognize, was bad acting. However, it seemed Po was not that good at recognizing it, because he was soon lowering his spear while saying that they could help her. He was about to offer his hand at the very venomous spider who had been trying to kill them just moments ago, when Tai Lung stopped him.
"What do you think you are doing!?"
"I am helping someone in need!" Po said, as if not understanding the problem.
"You mean, the someone who had wanted to devour you just a few minutes ago!?"
"Hey, she needs our help!"
"She is an enemy!"
"It was not her fault!"
"How do you know that!?" Tai Lung said, growing more and more exasperated at how gullible that stupid panda was. "Just because she told you!?"
"Well, yeah!" Po said, looking at him.
"Haven't Shifu taught you to never lower your guard with an enemy? Haven't he taught you to never give them your back!?" Tai Lung asked.
"Well, he taught me to help those who need it!" Po said, "Him and all of the other masters who I admired since I was a teen! A great warrior must help and protect all of those who need! This is what Oogway was all about! And that is what I stand for! So, if someone in front of my is needing help, you can bet I will help them!"
As Po was saying that to Tai Lung, he had his back fully turned to the spider, who decided to use this chance.
With a cry, she jumped with her legs all outstretched and her fangs bared, ready to poison that panda with her bite and doom him to a painful demise. At least this way she would have the satisfaction of getting another taste of him...
However, Tai Lung was faster. He moved past the panda and slammed his hand into the spider, sending her hard into the ground.
She was shaking her head and looking up.
The last thing she saw was Tai Lung's foot coming down on her.
The sickening sound resounded on the forest, followed by the gasp of a panda and the sound of his spear clattering into the ground as he dropped it in shock.
Tai Lung remained where he was for a few moments.
"This." He said, looking back at the panda with an indifferent expression. "Is why you don't turn your back on your enemies." He then lifted his foot from what he just stepped on, looking at the bottom of it.
"Ugh, nasty..."
He seemed only a tad bit disgusted by it. Meanwhile, Po was downright horrified. So much that, the next thing he did was turn around and start puking.
The panda emptied his stomach, and that was even more disgusting to the snow leopard. However, he was still composed as he simply wiped the sole of his shoe clean on a nearby rock, before walking to the panda, who was still retching and gasping.
"You done?" The leopard said as he stood by the panda's side, holding the spear he dropped.
"Y-you..." Po said, still gasping and trying not to vomit again. "Y-you k-... y-you killed..." Po turned to look at him. The leopard had a hard expression on his face as he looked at the panda.
"You killed her." Po finally managed to get out. "You killed her!"
"Yes." The snow leopard said. "What about it?"
The snow leopard's nonchalant attitude shocked Po even more than the gruesome scene of a few moments ago.
"Why did you do it!?" Po said, looking at him.
"Why?" Tai Lung asked, "Are you kidding me?"
"You didn't had to do it!" Po blurted at him. He looked at what was left of the spider, only to fell his stomach lurching again. "You didn't had to kill her..."
"What, I was supposed to let the one who tried to kill both of us just go so she could try again in the future?" Tai Lung demanded of the "Or maybe to try and kill someone else?" The leopard demanded. "Is that what you would have done?"
Tia Lung looked right into the eyes of the panda as he waited for his answer, but Po gave none. Ironically, his silence was all the answer Tai Lung needed, and he scoffed.
"You really are weak, panda." The snow leopard said to him. "You are too nice. A warrior needs to be able to do things like that."
"You say that you admired warriors like Shifu when you were younger? That you learned from them that you need to protect and help those who need help? Well, here is something that you still have not figure out yet, panda: saving and protecting innocents is only a part of what a warrior does. A warrior also has to end their enemies. They have to punish those who have hurt innocents and, in last case, make sure they can never do it again. Like I just did."
Tai Lung gestured to the remains of the spider, which Po refused to look at.
"A warrior gets the job done when he needs to." Tai Lung concluded. "I was pretty sure that you already knew that, considering that you didn't hesitated to finish me off. At least, I didn't saw any hesitation when you had that smug smile on your face right before blasting me into nothingness."
Po flinched as he heard those words.
"But now you are squeamish about finishing off your enemies?" Tai Lung said to the panda. Po looked down, and the leopard scoffed, before tossing the spear back at him.
"Get your head on the game, panda." Tai Lung said to him. "If you want to save the Tien Spring, then you have to. Because, believe me, when we catch up with Jiao Din, talking him into giving up will not be an option."
With that said, Tai Lung turned around and started walking again. Po looked at him, before looking back at the staff he was holding on his hands. He looked at the blade on top of it, seeing his own reflection on it before the spear morphed back into the regular yin-yang it was before.
"We gotta go now, Dragon Warrior..." Tai Lung said, the mockery clear on his voice (for more reasons than one) as he looked over his shoulder at the panda.
Po then started following him, all the while his mind kept replaying everything he just witnessed and was told...