In the student quarters…
When Shifu and the Four entered Tigress's room, Viper unattached from Crane (much to the fact that he found himself a bit disappointed with that, he couldn't understand why), then the avian laid her down with the rest of the crew standing around the bed. Not having a single feeling in her body, it was like the tiger was void of anything but her thoughts. With her shocked eyes, as well as her hands, arms, legs and feet, fixed in place, she had to bear the image of her so-called family standing around and looking at her as she had gone mad–well, most of them as Shifu's expression was unreadable (not so surprising…)
"Master Shifu, you weren't being honest with Po when you said we'd lock her back in the dungeon, were you?" Viper asked warmly.
"I mean, do we really have a choice here?" Mantis asked out of consideration. "With that whole fiasco back there…"
"She nearly got herself beat to a pulp," Monkey commented uneasily, scratching his head.
Like you would've done anything, Tigress denounced mentally.
"Viper, at this time it's wise we be apprehensive in our decision making," the red panda said monotonously, "Even if it's not in our favor."
"When it comes to Tigress, that is," Crane remarked.
"Crane," Viper pressed.
"I'm just grateful she didn't get us all in trouble," Mantis sneered, "Had it not been for Shifu bringing up his senses, we would've been back in the slammer ourselves. At least we can use this time to come up with more planning, if we can."
"Correct, Mantis," Shifu affirmed, then he looked at Tigress. If the feline was able to work the muscles in her face right then, she would give the red panda the most merciless look. He deserved it. He deserved all the wrath she had been harboring. Arguably–though he wouldn't say it aloud–the elderly master himself probably shared the same sentiment. Yet, he (they) had to be reasonable and the striped heroine was making the task rather difficult.
"We know we can't leave her like this…so what's the next step?" Crane asked with hesitation, eyes worrily fixed on the paralyzed tiger. "We just hope she doesn't try to kill us and you unparalyze her?"
"Crane," Viper pressed again.
"We won't be able to figure anything out if we're dead," Monkey commented nervously, "Maybe we should–"
"Students, let me handle this," Shifu instructed, then, with his blank eyes fixed on the striped warrior, sighed and reached a paw forward. At this, the rest of the Five backed away a little with a reasonable degree of wary, bracing themselves for a ferocious tiger to lunge at them the second she was capable.
The tiger would go after the red panda first though.
Shifu's paw tapped her chest and the feline master shot up like a bolt. The red panda managed to dodge her palm and grabbed her arm, dragging her off the side of the bed. The tiger flipped on her knees. "Tigress, this has gone on long enough," the elderly master affirmed, "You need to stop it." The feline only growled at the old man; her eyes burning with pure rage and disgust. No way she would listen to anything he had to say to her. He had some nerve to be trying to "reason" with her at this point; he'd done that multiple times but it didn't work. When was he going to learn? And, on top of that, she was so angry with him as well as the rest of the Five right now that she couldn't think of anything other than attacking them. She bared her fangs like a mad cat, her fiery orbs traveling around the room and not missing a soul. Shifu's expression remained mostly blank with a hint of seriousness while the Four's expressions were full of worry and nervousness. If I don't make it, Mantis muttered mentally, looking upward to avoid staring into the feline's death glare. Tell that hot butterfly girl in the peach valley I love her…
"Tigress, you have to listen to Shifu. Fighting us isn't worth it," Viper pleaded.
"Shut it, you traitorous snake!" Tigress hissed, baring her claws, "I fight for justice, not betrayal!"
"You're losing it, Tigress," Crane insisted, getting into a battle stance as soon as the feline laid eyes on him, "Just like Po, you've gone against your friends." The tiger let out a snarl at the avian's statement, causing him to flinch. But he didn't back down. "You could've got yourself killed out there. We barely managed to get you out of that and Po throwing you back in the dungeon."
"I didn't ask for a lecture!" the tiger barked, "And I didn't ask for your help!"
"Tigress, this time has been just as hard for us as it is for you," Viper reprimanded, "We didn't want to have to go this route."
"But it's necessary," Shifu said with determination, "For our sake."
"How!" Tigress spat, stunned at what she was hearing from her so-called comrades, "How the heck is giving up to Po and agreeing to help him for our sake! You all sound like complete morons!"
"Says the person who tried to fight him again and again," Mantis muttered, only to earn a growl from the feline master.
"Unlike a bunch of cowards you all are," she gritted, "I never turn my back on what's right. I stand against evil no matter what!"
"Tigress, we all have that sentiment," Shifu responded civilly, "But in this circumstance, we have to be mindful. We know what Po is capable of. He's more powerful than all of us combined. So I advised a subtle approach that should give us time to come up with a plan."
"However long that might take," Monkey chimed in.
"But something has to work," Viper said, "And we have hope in Shifu." This just made the feline angrier.
"His way of thinking is useless and has achieved nothing!" she growled, clenching her fists, "You all are seriously placing your trust in his consideration? You know how stupid that sounds? With the fact that he's putting you in alliance with someone that turned against us and the Valley of Peace! And you're telling me I shouldn't be fighting you right now!"
"It hasn't achieved anything…yet," Shifu explained, "But if we all work together, I believe we can figure something out soon enough."
"Nonsense!" Tigress protested, "Why should I help you? And getting back to the subject of going against your friends, it's the other way around! You all turned against me! I should be the one angry!"
"Tigress, you aren't able to fight him," Viper said, "None of us are. Like Shifu said, he's too strong. We have to think of something else."
"That's because you all are weak!" the mad cat snarled, "You're scared of the panda! What a pity!"
"She just might be correct about that," Mantis said lowly, to which Monkey agreed. Viper shot him a glare. "Well, some of us are…"
"See!" Tigress bellowed, "And you're supposed to be warriors! This is a disgrace!"
"Oh for crying out loud," Crane said, facepalming, "Tigress, did it ever occur to you that not every situation has to do with being a warrior?" Obviously, the feline wouldn't take well to that question. She slammed her fists against the wall, causing everyone (including Shifu) to back away further. Now she was absolutely fuming. Did that treacherous bird just ask her that?
The ferocious feline scowled and moved forward as a savage snarl released through her gritted teeth. Crane quickly took several steps back, the bird's faint heart racing violently. One of the biggest mistakes, as anybody that lived in the Jade Palace could confirm, was asking what not to ask or saying what not to say to the striped heroine (whether it was noted or something out of random.) "You wanna ask that again, bird?" she growled mercilessly, fiery orbs boring into the terrified avian's soul. Instantly, and understandably, Crane regretted ever asking that question at all. But, was he wrong though? As everyone knew, Tigress took nearly every situation with a "fight first, ask questions later" approach; admittedly, this worked to a significant extent, though sometimes the others would have preferred she didn't. Specifically Crane was the one who had to keep her from going "too far" on occasion.
"Tigress, don't!" a fellow feminine voice demanded. The tiger raised her paw for a strike, but a certain snake swiftly slithered in front of her target and stretched upward, snapping her fangs. Tigress immediately pulled back before the snake's fangs could make contact with her paw.
"Why you," the striped cat growled.
"He's correct to ask that," Viper said bluntly, "What you did back there was unnecessary."
"Not to mention reckless," Monkey added unkindly.
"And you almost ruined the plan," Mantis chimed in with dissatisfaction.
"What plan?" Tigress questioned angrily, "Giving up on stopping the panda? What kind of plan is it! Only a bunch of morons would think so!" This made Shifu narrow his eyes in fury.
"I've had enough of your disobedience, Tigress. I've allowed you to test my patience for longer than I normally would," the red panda said coldly, "You have done nothing but cause trouble and I don't care if stopping the panda is the reason as to why you're behaving like this." The tiger didn't expect for her master to be speaking to her any other way, though his harsh words only made her resent him more. She was so ready to let the red panda have it right there.
"I hate you," she gritted brutally, clenching his fists so hard the pressure released a sharp, extended cracking sound. Gasps from the Four emitted; Shifu just kept a stiff expression of coldness.
"Tigress!" Viper exclaimed in disbelief at what she just heard from her friend.
"And it's confirmed, she's lost it," a stunned Mantis commented.
"No kidding. She's gone absolutely insane," Monkey said with a facepalm.
"Ooh boy…" Crane muttered timidly.
Not disregarding the Four's shock much, the striped warrior engaged in a staring lockdown with her master, who was glaring back with as much rage in his blue orbs. She didn't care that he was angry though; why would she anyhow? He didn't care that the Jade Palace had been taken over; nor that the Valley of Peace was under threat; nor that his daughter had been the only one trying to do something about the threat; nor that she took a beating for it and on top of that, her family assisted in her attack…
"Well," Shifu spoke, his voice laced with calm venom, "It will be like that. Since you want to act like a child who doesn't get her way."
"I don't give a crap, old man!" the striped cat barked.
"Tigress, how dare you!" Viper fumed, "We're only trying to help you and this is how you treat us! How pathetic!"
"I don't need your help!"
"Man, this is some stubborn tiger," Mantis commented, facepalming, "Honestly, locking her back in the dungeon doesn't sound like a bad idea at this point–"
"Mantis!" Viper hissed.
"Well, look at how she's acting," the insect protested, "She's not going to stop. And obviously we can't make her do anything."
"Viper, I'm afraid he's right on this," Crane said with hesitation, to which Monkey agreed.
"She'll stop at nothing," the simian said, "We know Tigress isn't the one to give up easily."
"Even if it means nearly getting herself beat to a bloody pulp," Shifu said sharply, "She's seen how it all turned out when the rest of us tried to fight him. If I can't defeat the panda, neither can you."
"You can't tell me anything!" the feline spat, "You're the one who surrendered. I'm carrying on the fight as a warrior should."
"Enough! I'm putting your reckless tantrum to rest at once."
"No you won't!"
"That's it!" Viper shouted as she lunged forward. The feline had no time to grab the snake before she wrapped herself around her arms like a pair of cuffs. While Tigress was distracted as she struggled to break free of the snake's grip, Monkey pounced forward and swept the tiger off her feet, causing her to land on her back. "Tigress, I can't let you do this," Viper said strongly, looking down at her friend, "Listen. Trying to fight Po won't work. We all want things to go back to normal but you're not thinking straight. You'll get yourself seriously hurt if you continue at this rate and we won't let you."
"Let me go," Tigress growled, "You're the ones not thinking straight. You're going to allow the Valley of Peace to suffer because of your cowardry."
"It's not cowardry. It's called using our brains," Monkey remarked savagely, pointing at his head, "Get that through your skull."
"You're making this harder for us than it has to be, Tigress," Viper said, nodding her head in pity, "We don't want to have to throw you back in the dungeon."
"Though that might be smart to do also," Mantis muttered.
"Might?" Monkey said with reevaluation.
"Traitors you all are! You want to lock me up for not abandoning my duty! And you're calling me pathetic!" Tigress argued, "You're supposed to be on my side. You're supposed to be my family!" The feline shot up and swung an elbow strike for the simian, who immediately dodged it. With a sigh, Monkey then spun around and launched a kick into the tiger's shin, causing her to fall on her stomach. Before she hit the ground, Viper quickly uncoiled from her arms and slithered in front of her. "I share the same sentiment," the snake said sharply, not fazed by the growl escaping the enraged tiger's throat.
"Don't we all," Shifu spoke, suddenly appearing beside the feline and extending his paw. The feline opened her mouth to shout, but before anything could come out…
Don't you dare!
Once again, the tiger found herself unable to move a muscle in her body–well, with the exception of the ones in her face this time. "You bastard!" she exclaimed furiously, imagining herself as tearing the elderly master into pieces if she could, "Unparalyze me, you treacherous rat!" The red panda snarled at that comment.
"Tigress, you continuously show me that you are incapable of holding your temper in this circumstance," Shifu stated, "Not to mention you've spoken to the rest of us with utmost disrespect. You may not agree with how we're handling things but you are to be civil with your fellow masters nevertheless."
"You've got too far, Tigress," Viper said with impatience, "This isn't just about you and what you want." The striped heroine just glared at her. "Tigress, you have to understand. The purpose of this is not only for protecting us."
"Then how would it benefit the Valley of Peace?" the tiger questioned, "What it's doing is giving the panda the authority to use you as dogs. Do you really want that?"
"No," the male members of the Five responded simultaneously with annoyance.
"Uh, does the word plan not register in your brain?" Mantis asked with a facepalm, "I just said this is supposed to give us time to figure things out. We aren't siding with Po for real."
"Yeah, keep trying to explain that and she'll catch on sooner or later," Crane remarked sarcastically, scratching the side of his head. Honestly, he was starting to get tired (physically)...and hungry. A low growl erupted from his stomach at that moment. "So are we gonna leave her like that or…?"
"I don't think we have much of a choice," Mantis said, appearing to have the same sentiment, "She won't allow us to let her out of watch if she's able to move. And knowing her, she'll do everything she's capable of to get back to the panda and then we'll be in trouble. Then, who knows what the big guy'll do about it."
"You're not leaving me like this," Tigress growled, "Unparalyze me now!"
"Shifu, what are we gonna do?" Viper asked her master. Looking away from the others and connecting his hands behind his back, the red panda went silent for a moment of consideration; then he sighed and shook his head. The snake continued, "The obvious thing is to make her stay in this room at least until we can figure out what our next step is."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Mantis asked, "I mean, I don't know about the prison thing but at least if we could put something like metal bars in front of the door or a lock or–"
"We can put her in a cage," Monkey suggested, earning a snarl from the striped heroine.
"Maybe that's not such a bad idea," Crane said carefully, nervously fiddling with his hat.
"It's the smart thing to do," Mantis continued, "It's not much we can do with an angry tiger."
"So that's it? Keep me caged like a beast," Tigress growled, her eyes narrowed, "You all disgust me."
"Tigress, it's for your own good," Viper explained directly, "You've been acting out and it's affecting the rest of us. You've gone too far this time."
"Me!" Tigress barked. I swear if I could move right now…
"So where are we gonna get this cage?" Monkey asked weakly.
"You aren't keeping me locked up!" the feline roared.
"Say, can I make it so she can't move her mouth either?" Mantis asked Shifu, "Because she's acting like a–how do I say this–jerk!"
"I guess we have no choice then," Shifu spoke with a sigh.
"Are you mad?" Tigress shouted, "First you got in the way of me from dealing with the panda, now you're talking about locking me in a cage! This is ridiculous!"
"Hey, are you guys almost done with your whole family meeting thing?" a voice revealing Fung asked as the nervous crocodile entered the room with the more uncomfortable Gahri behind him. He had bandages covering the marks Tigress imprinted. "I'm sure Po wants to know what you're gonna do with Tigress. Yeah, the cage idea sounds reasonable."
"What are you doing here?" Monkey asked bluntly, folding his arms, "Let me guess, Po's decided to hog all the food after that last incident?"
"Uh…no," Fung replied weakly, tapping his claws together, "We thought we'd be better use with you guys for now."
"And we aren't hungry," Gahri added with hesitation.
"In all fairness, after seeing all that go down, my appetite's a little depleted as well," Mantis commented, looking down at his belly, "Though I could go for a bowl of Secret Ingredient soup right now."
"Yeah, me too," Monkey said.
"Guys, this is not the time to think about food," Viper said, then she spoke to Fung with a strong tone, "We heard you were supposed to keep watch over Tigress."
"Yeah, we had a plan–sort of–and she almost messed it up," Mantis said, then after examining the bandages, added with understanding, "I mean, we get you're not exactly the best guy for the job but come on."
"Well, you think I'd find out about this plan before Gahri told me?" Fung defended, looking at his feet, "Besides, how was I supposed to keep her in here–let alone handle her? You know she's all fierce and tough and stuff. And I'm just? Well, I'm just me. Definitely not the boldest nor the strongest in this place."
"Well, while you two aren't occupied at the moment, you can help us with whatever we got going on here," Crane said dryly, "Since you both are mostly, if not all, responsible for this mess."
"Yeah, thanks for reminding us," Fung commented with mild dissatisfaction, moving to join the group with his fellow crocodile and folding his arms. "We figured that since I had such a tough time keeping her in line, we would offer the solution of putting her in something cagey but apparently you guys already got the idea."
"Yeah, thanks for tha–Ow!" Gahri started but was whacked in the arm by Fung.
"It might be the only way," Shifu said with slight disbelief of his words, "We know Tigress isn't giving up easily–"
"Unlike some others," the feline growled viciously, startling several of the Four, "And this is what you'll do, huh? Lock me in a cage like a beast and treat me like I'm the enemy here. You all disgust me!" That last sentence would not sit well with a certain snake. Viper frowned and moved right into her "former" comrade's face, her eyes cold and narrowed. This didn't faze Tigress; however, some of the others found themselves a bit unsettled with how close the snake was to the tiger's face. Almost as if Viper were to wrap around Tigress's neck and strangle her senselessly right there. Even the elder red panda was a bit surprised, though he knew this most likely meant nothing more than his students having a quarrel and Viper had enough restraint to keep herself in check. She certainly was nothing like Tigress in regards to her temperament; though at this point, it was understandable that the highly determined feline might have nearly pushed her to the breaking point.
"Listen here, Tigress," the snake spat in a tone so sharp that the rest of the room fell still at once. At that moment, it was as if Viper had become an extension of whom she was speaking to. She matched the powerful energy of the tiger's angry aura with no intention of backing down at all. The striped heroine's eyes widened into the size of fire balls. The crocodile bandits and rest of the Five were just as shocked while Shifu was perplexed. None of them had ever witnessed the typically soft and amicable snake stand up against the strong and hot-tempered tiger.
Dead snake walk–slithering, Mantis thought in disbelief.
Crane's beak had fallen in horror at the scene. Worried thoughts about his snake comrade were charging through his head like a rampage. Is she serious!? What was she thinking!?
Oh dear, so much for a fantasy, Monkey muttered silently before facepalming and falling backwards.
Fung and Gahri reacted as if they were the ones in hot water. What have we done, they thought with terror.
The tigress–one with such a level of fearlessness that no other could possess–almost swore she was talking to someone other than the snake. Viper's demeanor was something completely different. It seemed like she was ready to kill by any means necessary, even if it meant strangling the feline to death. Tigress had never seen the snake in such a state of fury to the point that she herself would become unsettled by it. The shock caused hairs on the back of the tiger's neck to poke out, which was strange because she could feel it clearly and most of her body was still paralyzed. The tigress questioned herself internally. W-what! How could that be?
"That is not your decision to make!" Viper spat coldly to the tigress, further stunning the rest of the room, "Your actions have consequences! You could've put us all in great danger out there and you're still acting out of hand! You need to stop this before it goes too far!"
"Seems like it's gotten to that point," Mantis commented nervously, to which several others agreed.
"If we don't have a choice, neither do you, Tigress," the snake continued harshly, "Just because you got a different idea of what's going on doesn't mean we have to allow you to go along with it!"
"Yeah, because we know how that'll turn out," Crane said hopelessly, sort of hiding his head behind his wings.
"Either way, getting locked up back in the dungeon would be one of the only options for us had we not negotiated with Po," Shifu added in a civil tone with a hint of sour to it. "Then we wouldn't have gotten the chance to come up with a solution at all."
"Like we haven't been trying to get her to buy that for hours now," Monkey remarked, getting on his feet and rubbing at his forehead as if he had been greeted by a headache.
"Tigress, this isn't in our best interest at all. But we aren't going to get far taking your approach," Viper went on, tone and expression softening, "This isn't a simple get out and fight situation. We watched you get hurt badly out there. I honestly don't see what you're trying to prove with this and why but I do know that if we allow you to continue with your rampage, you're going to put yourself and us in greater jeopardy than we already are. This is ridiculous. Why can't you just understand that we're outpowered? You can see with your own eyes all six of us fighting against Po together hasn't worked at all."
"It only gets us hurt," Crane said unenthusiastically, secretly wanting to add more but held his tongue.
"Yeah, not to mention it's embarrassing," Mantis spoke up with slight irritation, "Six against one–I mean, we know he's a good fighter but come on."
"I hope you had that same energy when we fought Tai Lung," Monkey responded dryly.
"Uh, I wasn't even in the fight," Mantis recalled, "You guys had me holding up the bridge the whole time."
"Yeah, because you volunteered to," Crane reminded the insect with a facepalm, "That's not the subject here. We're talking to Tigress."
"Tigress, I know your intentions are for the greater good of common people," Shifu addressed sympathetically, calm eyes on his adoptive daughter, "Trust me, we don't disagree with you that bowing down to the panda is a foolish move on our part but getting into broader context here, a solution has to be there. We just need time and resources to figure it out. For now, Po isn't aware of our intentions. I'm trying to explain this the clearest way I can, but if we can get insights on what he's seeking to do with his rule, then we should be able to come up with something to counteract his plans." Tigress really wanted to snap at the red panda right there, verbally and physically. She would not believe anything they told her if there was this so-called "plan" they had come up with in her absence. What was it? "Tigress, you with us on this is one more in the battle."
"Battle? What are we fighting!" the feline barked, almost disregarding the fact Viper was still in her face.
"Tigress, enough!" the snake snapped, "You're lucky we don't have you put back in the dungeon!"
"Again, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Mantis said nervously.
"You're losing it! You've attacked your friends over this!" the snake shouted. That statement garnered no empathy from the tiger.
"You attacked me!" Tigress roared, "Besides, you're not my friends! You sided with the panda over me! You expect me to take your pathetic words into thought! And I don't care what your plan is! I highly doubt you have one!"
"Well, we–" Monkey began, but was cut off by Viper.
"Of course, you'd think that! You're too stubborn to see outside of your thick skull!" the snake hissed, "Nobody in this room is trying to jump on you, Tigress, but you're just making it more than difficult to reason with you! I'm beginning to think maybe we don't have any choice other than to lock you away for your good!"
"Bingo!" Mantis applauded.
"Not behind ya," Monkey agreed.
"You wouldn't dare!" the ferocious feline shouted.
"We may just have to," Crane said timidly. At this point, he would not argue with the idea if it meant hindering the tigress altogether. "What about that, Master Shifu?"
"It's reasonable in this case," the red panda answered flatly, "It's clear she's not going to listen, even to me."
"Traitors! Why should I!" Tigress yelled, "And the fact that you're willing to lock me up for seeking justice–you people, especially you make me sick to my stomach!" Tigress made it perfectly clear that she was targeting the red panda in particular when she spit out those words. If she had not had more tension with Shifu before, then she did now. Currently, she hated him for what he was doing. Previously, it was just that she had an uneasy relationship with the elder master. They had never been the closest when it came to adoptive father and daughter nor master and student; yet, this situation definitely would not make things any better between the two, driving them apart in terms of lessening the tight knot of a rope that defined their relationship. "And I'm the one losing it? The fact that a supposed group of heroes betrayed the valley to make a pair with the panda says much different! And If you lock me away, it'll only prove my point that you all are a bunch of treacherous cowards!"
"Man, I should've stayed in medical school," Mantis said, taking in the last statement.
"Tigress, that's enough!" Viper declared sharply, suddenly smacking her tail across the angry feline's face, causing her to wince and grit her teeth viciously. Several other members of the Five as well as Shifu and the crocodile bandits gasped. If Tigress could move her body right then, the snake would surely be feeling the lethality of her claws.
"You filthy little–"
"Viper, that wasn't necessary!" Shifu shouted in disbelief.
"Master, I'm sorry but I can't take any more of this!" the snake cried angrily, "She's not gonna listen at all!"
"Are you crazy, snake!" Monkey questioned with terror.
"Maybe I am. But I'm not insane!" the viper barked, furious eyes bearing into Tigress as if she could land another strike any moment. The feline just glared back without the slightest regard the snake was on the verge of losing it altogether.
"Viper, the point here is to not to attack your comrade," Shifu said calmly.
"What are we supposed to do? She's been unreasonable this whole time!" Viper exclaimed, "Shifu, we all know how she's always been. Do you honestly expect her to get with the program?" The red panda hesitated for a moment, but he let out a sigh of silent agreement with Viper. The snake's statements were not invalid.
"This has been a rather difficult situation, thus we have had to make a decision that stands against our true values," he said dryly, "We can't completely disagree that Tigress's sentiments are over the top." The striped heroine felt nothing but disgust hearing the old man speak. Of course, she was not wrong with how she felt about the situation. In her eyes, it was betrayal and treachery. "But…" the elderly master continued, "This is all just a learning experience."
"So, what is this about? Us taking the dark side to help the good side?" Mantis asked, confused. The old master sighed.
"The point is, sometimes we have to do or accept things that are not against our interest," Shifu explained with a monotone voice, "Though they may or may not make any sense in our eyes."
"I don't need a speech, old man!" Tigress snapped.
"Tigress, I said that's enough!" Viper shot back right in the tiger's face.
"Stop it! Both of you guys!" a voice exclaimed in deep distress. Everyone turned to the source of the voice: Fung was holding his muzzle in his claws, nearly digging into his flesh.
"Please stop! I can't deal with this any longer," he pleaded pathetically, "This is just too much right now. You guys keep fighting and…nobody knows what to do. I-I just can't take it anymore, okay? We're supposed to be coming with a plan, but…aaawh, why do you guys have to make things so complicated? It's that serious to the point you have to fight instead of just putting Tigress in a cage like we'd expected to have happened by now?"
"Hmp, that's the smartest thing I've heard come out of his mouth," Mantis commented, obviously with the same sentiment. "Are we gonna waste any more time here or are we putting the crazy cat in a cage?"
"He's right, Master Shifu. We can see we're not getting anywhere with this," Crane said uneasily, his worried eyes on the striped heroine.
Shifu sighed without the need to think about anything else. "Get to the archives and make it quick," he ordered.
"No! You are not putting me in a cage!" Tigress roared, "Unparalyze me now, old man!" The male members of the Five and the crocodile bandits were immediately startled by the outburst; Viper felt her temper rising, but kept composed; Shifu stayed calm and continued his orders.
"Gahri, Fung, since Po has assigned you as his aide, I need you to follow him around and find out more on what he could be planning," the elderly master addressed the crocodiles, then speaking to the Five (excluding Tigress), "As for you all, act accordingly. I mean this especially for you, Monkey and Mantis." At that statement, the insect and simian cringed. "For now, we are to keep out of the panda's way. Avoid contact as much as possible. And don't try to make yourselves comfortable, around him or not."
The Four bowed and the crocodile bandits nodded anxiously.
"So this practically means we're babysitting Tigress right now?" Mantis asked with a slight tease in his voice, to which the feline let out a snarl. Another response was the whacking of the insect with her strong tail. He crashed into the wall and landed on his stomach with a thump. Uuuggh, the bug thought with a surging pain taking over his body as suddenly, all the memories of the snake being her typical soft and friendly self came back to him. Today seriously was not the day.
Shifu was slightly taken back by the action. "Viper," the tired red panda spoke with firm calm, "I will have a private word with you at some point." The snake's expression softened upon her hearing that; right then, she began to feel bad, as one would expect from her unlike Tigress, in most cases.
"Yes, Master," she responded obediently, though Tigress was still glaring at her. The feline would certainly not forgive her "sister" for this regardless if Viper genuinely felt regret from her actions or not. She loathed her, presumably just as much as her adoptive father right now. Viper, on the other hand, just could not bring herself to have ill will towards Tigress even if she thought the striped heroine had gone further than necessary in this case.
"As for Tigress…" Shifu added plainly, his eyes meeting the tiger's orbs of pure fury, "You will remain put here until we can get this resolved."
"What! You can't keep me locked here! You're m–!" Tigress barked.
"Crane, to the archives now. Gahri and Fung, go," the red panda asserted once more before the avian exited from the room, "Mantis, seek out a healer. I trust that you'll be able to stay out of the panda's sight for now. Monkey, you and I'll go look over some scrolls for the time being. Viper, you are to stay here and keep watch over Tigress." A ferocious snarl escaped Tigress as the last order caused the feline to become even more enraged; she had already had enough of him, but now she had to deal with her second least favorite person in the world currently. More evidence that the old man did not have the slightest regard for her feelings over this. "Crane will assist you in the task when he gets back," the elderly master added, which only gave a tiny ray of relief to the snake, "You know how to undo the paralysis, right?"
"Yes, Master," the viper answered softly.
"Good. Monkey and I will be back shortly," the red panda responded, beginning to leave with the simian. Before Monkey exited the room, he murmured a not-so-hopeful "good luck" to Viper. Somehow, he guessed the red panda did not mean shortly as one would have hoped.
Viper remained behind with Tigress. Oh dear, the poor snake thought as she mentally prepared herself.
At the feet of the Thousand Steps…
"Aw come on, Lidong. Being around us can't be that bad," Wong pouted as he, Wall Eye, and Irwin followed behind the much larger reptile with unease. Understandably, Lidong seemed to be in a worse mood than usual; he had been walking for a good while prior to them finally getting back to the Valley of Peace. Being accompanied by the others was certainly not making him feel any less frustrated either. "We're fun…you know, we like to do stuff that's edgy," a foolish Irwin added with a nervous grin, "Stuff that's not boring as what you would consider."
"At least we're almost there, right?" Wall Eye said stupidly, "It's just that we gotta…climb the stairs."
"Yeah, I know," Lidong responded bitterly before muttering "morons" to himself and began to climb the steps. As many would agree, the Thousand Steps were always a nightmare.
"So what are you gonna do when you get up there? Are you gonna fight the panda?" Irwin asked with hesitation. "Because I can definitely tell you he's really strong." Lidong snorted. If he had not considered Irwin to be an idiot, he would take that comment to heart. His disregard would not stop Irwin, already with bad nerves and who was growing more anxious with every step he ascended, from trying to convince him though. "Me, Fung, Gahri, the others…we've seen it," the smaller crocodile continued, "He beat up the Furious Five and Master Shifu without even knowing it." Lidong continued walking.
"H-he's right, Lidong," Wall Eye spoke weakly, "We told you. H-he was about to kill Shifu but…Fung had to stop him." Lidong had grown tired enough from hearing the same thing over and over throughout their walk.
"Fung stopped him? Or was it just dumb luck?" he dismissed, "You trying to fool me for not being an idiot?"
"But it's true," Wall Eye pleaded, "The Dragon Warrior is the bad guy now."
"And you morons are the good guys? Give me a break. Next thing I know, you idiots are gonna be telling me a stupid story about Tai Lung coming back from the dead and he somehow becomes allies with the panda, is that right?" That would at least be more interesting to walk through, the oversized reptile secretly thought.
"We wouldn't lie to you, Lidong. There's no reason for us to make this up," Irwin swore. Lidong did not believe him.
"You fools just want to prove that I'm stupid. But I know better than all of you put together," Lidong denounced sharply, "The panda's a moron and Fung's good at nothing but being barely useful to his pack. How could he do anything?" Honestly, the rest of the crocodiles could not answer that question themselves, thus, proving the large crocodile's point. He turned his head to them and scoffed. "Did I have to be born in order to grow up around you? Honestly, I would've rather been dropped off in an orphanage."
"B-but Lidong, w-we really aren't tryna work on your nerves," Wall Eye assured, a little taken back by Lidong's confession. "We're sorry we kind of…picked on ya as a little kid but–"
"Don't remind me!" Lidong snapped, silencing Wall Eye at once, "I don't need your pity nor regard! You're the ones who are gonna need it when we reach the palace and I find out you dragged me all the way up there for some bogus. And until I can see that, I don't want to hear another word from your traps. So just shut up and let me at least climb the dumb stairs in peace."
The other crocodiles would not dare to say anything else. Lidong would only huff and continue ascending the stairs. What a waste of breathing…
In the Jade Palace dining room…
"Come on, get cleaning. He said for us to do this before anything else," Fung said with utter annoyance, taking a mop and stomping about the dining room, which, from several minutes prior, had been occupied by a rather hungry and sloppy-eating panda stuffing his face with bowls of noodles, bean buns, rice balls, and vegetable soup. The food remnants and empty bowls were all over the table and floor and Po decided it would be some extra satisfaction making Fung and Gahri clean up after he was done with his solitary feast. Like he had not already given them an order to do a bunch of laps up and down the Thousand Steps for the night.
"Seriously though? Did he have to make this big of a mess for us to clean up?" Gahri said enthusiastically with a facepalm, "Have you ever met anyone else that eats like he does?"
"Gahri, that's the point here," Fung responded dryly, "Remember if we don't clean this up now, we'll be up later than we want to doing laps. Now get busy please. At least look like you're doing something besides standing there and running your mouth about things that aren't our business."
"Hey, you don't wanna do this any more than I do," Gahri argued, gathering some bowls, "And anyway, this is your fault. Why did we have to come and bother the guy while he was having his him time?"
"Uh, we're supposed to be following Shifu's plan, remember?" Fung countered with his hands on his waist, "That or we just stick with following the panda around like complete morons according to what he says. And you're right, this was not a part of the plan, but we don't need to mess something else up, do we? No, so just shut up and clean, will you?"
"So you're basically saying we're supposed to be doing this until close to morning, right?" Gahri asked flatly, examining the room. For certain, as one other than the crocodile could visibly tell, the panda had made a big enough mess for him and Fung put together to be cleaning up for a good while. "It's already past the time we normally go to bed. And you know I'm not a morning person. It doesn't help the fact that we're gonna be up for hours more on our poor feet up and down the Thousand Steps. That and we have to clean up after the big guy? You've really got us into some mess this time."
"Yeah, yeah, do you need to remind me for the one hundredth time, Gahri?" Fung stressed "Look, you take care of the dishes. I'll handle the…rest of the stuff–gosh darn it! Look, you take that half of the room and I'll take this half, got it! Does that make things easier?"
"Barely," Gahri responded dryly, unfazed, "And you think you're capable of working faster than I am? Yeah right."
"Gah! Gahri, could you please just be quiet for now?" Fung fussed, throwing his arms up, "Things are already bad enough." Gahri snorted.
"And again, why do you think that is?" he retorted, practically throwing some bowls into a cart. And from then on, their petty argument continued.
Outside the kitchen…
"Stop it! I told you not to remind me!" Fung was heard exclaiming from the other side of the entrance. Unbeknownst to the bickering crocodiles, a red panda and a simian were listening in on them.
…
"Master, do you think they'll be at that all night?" Monkey asked with slight pity. The red panda was not surprised.
"Our concern is if those two can manage not to mess up the plan," Shifu responded flatly before adding dismissively "What I can say is at least the panda found some more use for them. This should keep them from interfering with what we're doing. Regardless, we move wisely."
"Say, do you mind a quick snack first?" Monkey asked uneasily and rubbing his stomach stupidly, knowing what the elder master's answer would most likely be to that question. As expected, Shifu gave him a rather unflattered look.
"Of course, you think this is a time for food," the red panda responded dryly with a facepalm, "We can't lose focus."
"Oh right, I was just asking," Monkey replied nervously with a small chuckle, then foolishly adding, "I guess this means afterwards, we might have dinner? Because coming up with ideas is harder on an empty stomach, right?" The only response Monkey received was a hard look from the elderly master for a couple of moments (which made the simian feel just as awkward), then the red panda sighed and nodded with a second facepalm.
"Now I definitely see that the panda's habits have certainly rubbed off on most of my students. And yet I still manage…" Shifu found himself speaking to no one in particular as he resisted the urge to bury his fist into the simian's overinflated belly. "… Once we get through with finding at least one thing in the scrolls we could use–as well as–ensuring that Tigress is put. then yes, you and the others will eat. If, the panda himself hasn't already cleaned out the kitchen." At that remark, the simian sighed in reminder that the Dragon Warrior would willingly eat the palace out of food if he could. And, in this situation, the black and white warrior had that authority. Most likely, he had already beaten Monkey to finish off his cookies (seemingly, there would never be a proper hiding spot for those when it came to the panda, the simian automatically concluded.)
"So you don't think we'll be all night with this?" Monkey asked with disappointment.
"We should be able to find something that could help us in a fair amount of time," the red panda responded; honestly, even he was not too certain his answer to Monkey's question was definite. But… "I can't say this will be an easy task for us. But wasting time isn't going to help much either. As I said, we move accordingly." With that, Shifu continued to process down the hall with Monkey behind him.
And, the two crocodiles persisted arguing like children over how they got in trouble.
Back in Tigress's room…
"No! You are not locking me in a cage! I'll kill you all for this!" the enraged feline snapped, still paralyzed. She could feel herself boiling mentally. She kept imagining Viper being that stupid to the point she would take her out of paralysis before they managed to throw her in the cage; for real, she knew the snake would not. Viper wrapped around the tiger and lifted her from the floor; Crane held the door open to a metal cage big enough for Tigress to move around as necessary. Tigress snarled at the avian's worried face as well as a terrified Mantis standing atop of his straw hat. Viper gently laid her on the floor of the cage and unwrapped her body followed with a gesturing nod to Crane.
"You said the healer will be here when?" she asked Mantis, who paused for a moment and leapt off Crane's hat.
"Soon…ish…" the insect responded uneasily, making both the snake and Crane roll their eyes much to his confusion. "What?"
"What did you tell him?" Crane asked skeptically, folding his wings.
"Uh, you mean her?" Mantis corrected sheepishly with redness beaming in his cheeks. He looked down to hide the awkwardness, but the snake and avian read him out.
"Don't tell us you were flirting with the healer," the snake said dismissively while Crane facepalmed.
"Yeah, and that it had to be a woman for your sake," the avian added with a sigh.
"Uh, didn't I just basically tell you that? I said her," Mantis argued, then drawing back a little, "And I didn't flirt with her…we were just talking about…how we're so much alike–well, she's a, she's a mantis…just like I am." That detail made Crane and Viper exchange a look. The insect continued awkwardly. "Except she's brown and I'm green. Not that that's too important…" The snake and avian just responded with silence. "And she wears makeup. Name's Ning Ning by the name. She just moved to the valley some months ago from Mongolia."
"O…kay, and she does realize this is…sort of urgent, right?" Crane asked, nervously eying the mad tiger a few feet away.
"I did tell her we needed a healer right away, but…she was still working on a goat with a broken horn when I found her so–" Mantis was caught off guard by a sudden outburst from Tigress.
"Who said I needed medical care, you idiots!" the striped warrior barked, causing the three warriors to flinch. Crane let out a small whimper. "Unparalyze me and I can show you that I don't!"
"Uh…are you sure we can't just leave her like that…for the time being?" Mantis gulped anxiously. Viper let out a deep sigh of disappointment.
"No, it's been long enough," she answered softly, then she spoke to Crane, "On cue." The nervous bird nodded in accordance as Viper prepared to slip out the cage. In a snap, she unleashed her tail and struck the tiger in the chest–not powerful enough to harm Tigress, but to release her from the paralysis. The feline wasted no time springing into action once she could feel her muscles again, shooting the other warriors a ruthless growl and drawing her paws into a fighting stance. Finally, she could go after that stupid, traitorious snake as well as the others, or that was so she had anticipated. Unfortunately, for Tigress, the snake was rather quick to dodge her paws and used her gifted speed to launch back before the striped warrior could land a palm strike to her face. And pretty soon, she was on the outside of the cage, leaving Tigress barely a second to get out. Instantly, the door swept shut on the striped heroine with the lock already fastened. No, the feline roared mentally, pounding her fists against the bars. Bang. Bang. Bang.
"Hyah! Yah! Yah! Grrr!"
"Good work, Crane," Viper said warmly, to which the avian nodded gratefully and backed away from the cage right then. The pounding on the bars caused them to vibrate violently and loudly as Tigress banged on the door to get out. The three other warriors imagined ways to soundproof the cage; Mantis wished there was an off button for the mad cat.
"You cowards!" Tigress roared, trying her hardest to squeeze her fist through a space, but it was no use as the bars were built very close together.
"I guess that takes care of that," Mantis said with uncertainty, "At least the thing looks strong enough to hold her." Tigress growled ferociously as she threw her fists faster and faster.
"Let. Me. Out!" the tiger's orbs beamed with fire as she bared her fangs with her fists pounding with more force each strike. "I swear I will rip you all to shreds for this! Let me out of this cage or regret it! That's a promise!" Viper, with little courage in her body at the moment, would have the first response to Tigress's threat.
"No, sister. It's for your own good," she said softly with a firm hint to her tone, her eyes halfway to the floor. To be honest, she was having a more difficult time looking the feline in the eye than trying to talk to her. "We made it clear we didn't want to have to do this but you left us no other choice. I'm sorry, but this is the way things have to be now. If only you would understand, Tigress…this hurts us more than it does you." Viper almost sounded as if she wanted to break down in tears right there and everyone (minus the striped warrior) could tell there was nothing other than genuinity in her explanation. Crane especially felt bad for her, but he knew that Tigress's stubbornness made her far too serious to be reckoned with. For what seemed like the longest time in a crisis, he and the others had been trying their best to reason with her. Mantis, on the other hand, personally felt Viper was being too nice to someone that would give her–along with the rest of them–a hard time regardless. He would not admit that out loud in front of Tigress though, even if she was locked in a cage. Part of him thought she might have been able to break out if she tried hard enough.
As expected, Tigress did not take any regard to Viper's words. "I said let me out!" she continued to bang on the cage door, "I don't care what you feel! Your feelings are meaningless, ever since you decided to side with the panda."
"Did you ever think of anyone besides yourself in this?" Viper questioned sharply, to which the feline was appalled.
"Yes! The valley! The common people!" Tigress snapped back with gritted teeth, "You foolish, pathetic snake! You are asking me that question when you gave up on protecting the innocent! You have some nerve calling me selfish!"
"And what about your friends? Are you thinking of us? We've put ourselves on the line for you," Viper responded strongly, narrowing her eyes, "You have done nothing but give us more conflict than we already have. You're a loose canon, Tigress. Your temper is way too much to handle at this point." Tigress only gave the snake a deep glare of disgust. "If we hadn't done anything about it, who knows what could've happened out there with you and Po. You allowed your anger to almost get the better of you." The striped warrior let out a savage snarl and struck the bars again. "This isn't the first situation that's happened, Tigress. You have a problem with controlling your emotions sometimes."
Mantis snorted. "More like a lot of times," the insect commented flatly, earning a furious response from the striped warrior.
"You stay out of this!" Tigress thundered, causing the insect to draw back with terror and let out a whimper. Viper was absolutely outraged at the tiger's response and found herself yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Who are you to tell Mantis to stay out of it!" she exclaimed powerfully, "This concerns all of us! You don't get to decide who has a say in this or not just because you're used to telling us what to do on a regular day! And Mantis isn't wrong about what he said! And your reaction just now proved his point fair enough!" And the mad cat would prove the bug's point even further by slashing at the cage bars with her claws. "No use in doing that!" Viper continued, her voice full of anger and raised as high as it could possibly get, "Keep acting out like that and this is where you'll be! You're practically out of control, Tigress! How do you expect us to allow you freedom when you can't hold your temper?"
"And keeping caged like an animal is better!" the feline snapped back.
"For the sake of the rest of us, it is," Crane responded, finally gaining a bit of confidence to speak.
"The facts are facts, Tigress. Why do you believe many in the valley are so terrified of you?" Viper went on, her voice lowering slightly but remaining sharp as swords, "Never mind, have you even thought of that? Sorry not sorry that you're too stubborn to see things from any other perspective besides yours. But this isn't just about you or what you feel. I won't go back on my word that you have been nothing but a selfish b*tch in this case."
What! Did this pathetic simpleton just call me… Tigress fumed mentally, even more enraged as well as in disbelief that the snake even had the audacity to call her a b*tch. She did not consider what the snake mentioned about many having a fear of her; but to be honest, she had grown used to knowing that over time. The other two in the room, Crane and Mantis, were not surprised as they would have been a little while ago as they had seen enough that shocked them for the night; they stood aside with caution. They had the same sentiment, though they most likely would have voiced their regards a little differently. Viper would not hold back with some other things she had to say to the feline; with every word she lashed out, her patience diminished.
"And a horrible friend at that," she hissed at the striped warrior, "All we've done was try to help you and in return, you give us nothing but trouble. You think you're so smart that you know how to fix everything. But at least I'm smart enough to know that if we were to let you have your way, we'd still be prisoners in our own home. In our own home for goodness sake!"
"And how is keeping me locked up in this cage any different? Am I not being held prisoner?" Tigress shouted, "That point makes you a hypocrite!"
"You deserve it!" Viper yelled back, "You've shown that you aren't willing to cooperate with Shifu. Nor that you are willing to listen to what your comrades have to say. So yes, my point is justified. Really, I don't have anything to tell you at this point because it's clear that you are only thinking about yourself. You're not about protecting the valley and doing what's right. You're about satisfying your ego. You think you're more moral than anybody else in this situation, think again. If anything, you're standing in the way of a solution. You pose a bigger threat than the panda does!"
"How!" Tigress roared, "How do I pose a threat when I'm the one trying to take out the greatest one to the valley right now! You sound stupid! And you have me locked in this cage for what!"
"We wouldn't have had to do this if you would just listen to Shifu," Crane pleaded with mild exasperation, "Viper's right. You are doing the most for practically nothing and we aren't going to get anywhere with how you're acting."
"Yeah. That and you've threatened us," Mantis added stressfully, "So we're also keeping you in here so you don't cause physical harm to anybody! You really think we're supposed to let you roam free as if you aren't in complete kill mode right now? I don't even believe Shifu's safe at the moment. Honestly, if I hadn't seen enough to guess it, Tigress, but you're seeming more like Tai Lung by the minute."
"WHAT!" Tigress fumed, no less than completely enraged by that comment, "You foolish bug! I'm nothing like that monster! How dare you even put my and his name in the same sentence! You truly deserved to be squashed and walked over like the traitorous piece of scum you are for saying that!" Then, she proceeded to shout at Crane and Viper. "And you two agree with him! You're not going to denounce him for saying that nonsense! You make me sick!" The snake warrior only narrowed her eyes at the feline.
"If the shoe fits," she spoke coldly and without an ounce of sympathy in her tone, "And why are we obligated to say anything to that? We're not on the same side anymore, remember? And, how about not making it look like you're proving his point? Because you've been doing a terrible job at that all night." The tiger snarled and banged her powerful fists on the cage once again. It was obvious they were not going to let her out, but that would not stop her from unleashing her anger. Truthfully, them being in the room with her only made her feel just as much resentment as she had for the panda as well as their betrayal.
"You all are a disgrace!" she growled, "My blood is boiling just by the sight of you."
"The same could be said from me to you," Viper responded sharply, looking the tiger directly in the eye. "You've tested my patience far enough. I don't need any more from you."
"Fine by me," Tigress snarled, folding her arms and turning away, "And you can bother telling Shifu every word out of my mouth while he was not in the room because I don't care. And since you're working with the panda, tell everything to him, too."
"Fine by us," Viper shot back, "And you'll just stay locked up in this cage while we're at it."
"Good! As long as I don't have to interact with you," Tigress said harshly, "I would prefer to be alone now. The one favor you can do for me is to get out of my sight and keep it that way."
"Gladly," the snake warrior hissed.
"Uh…," Mantis butted in with a reminder, "Technically, Shifu did let us know we were supposed to be keeping watch over her–"
"I don't need you for anything! Just get away from me! Get out!" Tigress snapped, clenching her fists hard as she could, "Unless you need any more of my wrath."
"You mean your nonsense? No we don't. And yes, we are leaving now–before I lose my temper for good. No need to worry about us intruding on your little space for you to let out all your misplaced anger. Take all the time you have for all we care," Viper declared strongly, turning around and beginning to leave with a gesture to Crane and Mantis, "As for us sane beings, we're done with this ridiculous fight. Evidently, she needs as much time to herself to waste on all that negative emotion she's got bottled up." The avian and mantis mostly agreed with Viper on her sentiment. However, they were still in somewhat disbelief at the level of rage the snake displayed towards the feline given that Viper had practically been the closest with Tigress of all others of the Five. But, that was in normal times before the unexpected occurred. So, things now would have to be considered to happen out of the ordinary or not.
Tigress, as she meant, did not care at all. "If that's what you want, then so be it," she stated with venom.
"So I guess this officially means the end of the Furious Five…" Mantis proposed with uncertainty.
"This conversation is over," Viper declared, slithering off to get out of the room immediately, "I have nothing else to say."
"That works perfectly well. You are nothing but traitors to me now," the striped warrior applauded dismissively, "Feel free to leave now and allow the panda to have his way with you for all I care."
"Crane, Mantis, let's go," the snake warrior declared without hesitation, out the door before the avian and mantis. Crane and Mantis, with awkwardness but highly in favor of the reptile, followed Viper from the room. And Tigress was left alone.
Hello, my fellow Kung Fu Panda fanfiction writers. It has been a while. I did say it would be a while before I upload again but I'm back. This chapter may not be as good as some others. You are very free to let me know if I made any writing errors in regards with anything with your comments. I assure you, my writing for this chapter might be bland (according to some opinions, but I am working on better ideas for future chapters. Work with me, I am working to improve as I make it known.) I am still learning so feedback helps. Thank you for your exposure and feedback.
ALL RIGHTS TO DREAMWORKS ANIMATION LLC. I DO NOT OWN KUNG FU PANDA.