Twin Dragons
A Chameleon's Tale
"Our victory over the Emperor will be complete," Sanzu raised a glass.
"Indeed it will be," Pai Mei sat at the far end of the table in the seat of honor. "We will bring about an age where the strong will rule over the weak, restoring the natural order of things."
"I'm curious," Mugan asked. "When this country is yours, what will you tell the people to justify the regicide of the current Emperor?"
"It is a simple task indeed," Pai Mei waved his hand. "Over the years, there have been many rumors of the sick, depraved things Qianlong has done. After exposing his dark deeds into the light, I can easily claim the Mandate of Heaven over an unworthy ruler."
Sanzu took a drink as Lei Dian wrapped his body around his seat.
"You took me in and trained me when my own clan exiled me for being a mutant and an outcast among electric eels," Lei Dian stated. "There is no reason for the public not to view you as an upright candidate for the throne."
"So when do we attack the imperial capital of Luoyang?" asked Sanzu.
"In about a week or so," Hui spoke up. "Remember, there is still one more thing we are waiting for… and that is the surrender of Po and Tai Lung."
"Do we even need them?" asked Sanzu. "I mean, I already beat Po, who became renowned for defeating the legendary Tai Lung. By all rights, I'm more powerful than both of them and they won't add anything to our forces that we don't already have."
"True," Mugan looked at Sanzu. "But still, I'm interested in seeing the former Dragon Warrior and Tai Lung for myself."
"And having the former Dragon Warrior on my side would be a propaganda victory," Pai Mei pointed out. "In his region of China, Po is a hero and the fact that he would find cause with my righteous revolution would sway the hearts and minds of the people."
"Never underestimate the power of having good public relations," Hui reminded Sanzu who rolled his eyes.
"We will wait for Po and Tai Lung's answers before we move out to the imperial capital," Pai Mei declared. "Besides, lest we forget, I have the ability to unleash the hidden potential of any animal, big or small, just like I did for all of you. Who knows what I could unleash in someone like Tai Lung, given how he was locked up for so long and his skills ossified in prison."
"It was fortunate you did not provide training for one would-be student whose potential you did draw out," Prophet Yuan pointed out.
"Yes, I remember the Chameleon quite well," Pai Mei smiled.
oooo
Many years ago.
"Remember the bow I taught you," Hui told a young reptilian female.
The Chameleon nodded before the messenger goose.
"I swear I will not disappoint you," the Chameleon promised.
"Very well then," Hui smiled. "With the sum you've donated to our Taoist abode, I believe Master Pai Mei of Wudang would be happy to train you."
"Thank goodness," the Chameleon said in relief. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to even find a master."
Hui looked at her curiously but then decided that it would be better if the Chameleon explained what she meant to Pai Mei. After all, everyone had a story to tell and it was Pai Mei's right to know first.
"Come with me," Hui opened the gates of the temple.
Inside the temple, multiple students were practicing their sword forms. Hui took the Chameleon with him to the throne room where Pai Mei and Mugan were overseeing the students.
"Greetings Master Pai Mei," Hui got on one knee, as did the Chameleon.
The two of them did the traditional bow before the tamarin. Pai Mei stared down with interest as he stroked his beard, which was shorter and not fully grown out.
"What is this?" Pai Mei looked down.
"I bring before you the generous young lady who made the large donation three days prior," Hui told Pai Mei.
"Ah yes," Pai Mei's eyes glowed. "You must be the Chameleon."
"I am, sir," the Chameleon bowed her head again.
"Tell me, what brings you to our school?" asked Pai Mei. "Tell me about your past."
"Well, I was the daughter of a sorceress from a coastal city," the Chameleon told the monkey kung fu master. "Because witchcraft is outlawed, my mother had a hard time supporting me and wished for me to practice her craft. But my heart was always set on kung fu, much to her disappointment… and anger."
"I see," Pai Mei rubbed his chin. "And you've made attempts to secure a master before?"
"I have," confessed the Chameleon. "But each and every time I was turned down by all the masters I reached out to.
"For what reason?" asked Pai Mei.
"They… had their own ideas for what the ideal student was," the Chameleon confessed. "Most of their students are animals who are big and strong. In contrast, I am small and weak. I was rejected for both my species and my size."
"Hmm," Pai Mei stroked his beard. "It's unfortunate you had to go through such an experience. As you can see, such discrimination will not be a problem at Wudang. As you can clearly see, I am not a large animal myself and neither are many of the students and masters who study here."
"Master Pai Mei does not discriminate based on size or species," Hui assured her.
"Based on the sum of money you allocated towards us," Pai Mei told her, "we can happily accommodate you and train you in the art of kung fu. In fact, I would like to introduce you to the master who will personally oversee the beginning journey of your training. Mugan, please come forth."
From a small artificial stream, Mugan leaped out and bowed before the Chameleon.
"I would be honored to train you," Mugan told her. "But be warned. I am a strict taskmaster and expect you to work hard."
"I happily accept," the Chameleon said graciously.
"Tell me, even if you have no kung fu capabilities, what are you able to do?" asked Pai Mei.
"Well, I only know a few minor spells my mother taught me and I can change my color to reflect whatever I'm standing on," the Chameleon answered.
To show Pai Mei what she meant, the Chameleon immediately crawled down on all fours and transformed into a gray color, matching the stone floor.
"I see," Pai Mei noted.
"That is a useful technique," Hui nodded.
"You will undergo a three day period where you will stay with us and observe everything we do in a prolonged tour," Pai Mei told her. "After which, you will serve me tea and officially be accepted as a student."
"Thank you Master Pai Mei," the Chameleon bowed.
"And one more thing," Pai Mei told her. "Because of the generous donation you've made to us, I've decided to grant you a little something extra."
"What would that be?" asked the Chameleon.
"I don't do this often, except with an elite few," Pai Mei walked towards the Chameleon. "But I have the ability to use my chi to unleash the potential of others. You have earned that privilege."
"What will happen with me?" the Chameleon looked curious.
"Oh, I'll simply use my chi to unlock the powers inside of you that your chi was always innately capable of," Pai Mei informed her. "Now hold still."
Pai Mei's palm began to glow a golden color as he grabbed the Chameleon on the head. Immediately, he unleashed his power into her as the Chameleon began screaming.
"Aaaaahhhh!" she shrieked.
Soon after, Pai Mei let go as the Chameleon's eyes began to glow an ominous blue color.
"Her potential has been unleashed," Mugan smiled.
The Chameleon stood up straight and concentrated, thinking of some of the martial artists she had admired. Soon, her body began to change and contort, taking on a different form. Before long, she transformed into Master Elephant.
"Well done," Pai Mei smiled.
Then she transformed into Tai Lung, a wolf, and several other kung fu masters she admired over the years.
"Splendid," Hui complimented the Chameleon.
"Such power," the Chameleon said as she continued transforming.
Finally, she transformed into Pai Mei, looking at him square in the eyes.
At once, Pai Mei felt something deeply unsettling after looking at the Chameleon take on his form. It was difficult to say exactly what kind of disgust he felt but it was a raw antipathy nonetheless.
"Get out of that form," Pai Mei ordered her. "Now."
"Err, sorry," the Chameleon changed back into her original reptilian form.
"You are welcome to take any form you want," Pai Mei said to her. "But not mine. Is that clear?"
"Absolutely, sir," promised the Chameleon.
"Good," Pai Mei seemed to cool down. "Now, you will be shown your room. You will be sharing a room with another recent student named Sanzu. He is another promising prospect so I hope the two of you will get along."
oooo
"Nice to meet you," the Chameleon said as she set her belongings on her bed.
In the bed next to her was a pangolin who looked at her with interest.
"What brings you here?" asked Sanzu.
"Oh, I wanted to learn kung fu all my life but I got rejected for my size and species," the Chameleon replied.
"I see," Sanzu grinned. "Well, you'll find out here that the masters of Wudang will not treat you the same way those other elitist masters did."
"That is a relief," the Chameleon sighed. "I've searched far and wide for a place where I feel like I could belong and I think I've finally found it."
"You'll find your place here," Sanzu reassured her. "We all did."
oooo
"Greetings Yuan, old friend," Pai Mei said as the white gorilla walked into the throne room where Pai Mei sat.
The gorilla knelt before Pai Mei, acknowledging his loyalty towards the monkey.
"How was your visit to your old hometown?" asked Pai Mei.
"It was largely an uneventful trip," confessed Prophet Yuan. "Those villagers are still living the same dead end lives they did when I was a child. And none of them have developed the gift of prophecy like I have. I'm starting to regret going back."
"I see," Pai Mei nodded. "Well, at least now you've found a place where you talents can be put to good use."
"There is something else you need to know," Yuan said to his master.
"What is that?" Pai Mei frowned.
"On my way back, I was haunted by premonitions of your downfall," Yuan told him. "Something unforeseen has happened and it could spell your downfall."
"What is it?" demanded Pai Mei.
"I do not know," Yuan shook his head. "For now, all I see are visions of Wudang burning down and your defeat. I have yet to pinpoint the person responsible for all this. Perhaps once I see that person myself, I can see more clearly what is going on."
"This is very troubling indeed," Pai Mei sat down, feeling very disturbed by what Prophet Yuan had told him.
oooo
In the grand halls, Pai Mei and Prophet Yuan walked together. The other students took notice that their master seemed bothered by something.
"You know I would never lie to you about such things," Yuan said to Pai Mei. "My prophecies have never failed and my consul has always led you to victory."
"That is true," Pai Mei admitted. "Perhaps there is something we could do to circumvent this dark future that you foresee?"
"It would be possible," Prophet Yuan told him. "I would need to get a lock on the person responsible."
"Ah, anyways Prophet Yuan," Pai Mei seemed to brighten as two figures walked by. "I have taken in a new student. She is the Chameleon and she has joined us after years of searching."
The Chameleon and Sanzu were walking together. Sanzu was the one who was giving her a tour before her official training would begin in a day or two. The two saw Pai Mei and bowed respectfully.
"Greetings Master Pai Mei," the Chameleon said to Pai Mei who nodded in acknowledgement.
"I think she's going to do real well here," Pai Mei smiled.
As soon as he saw the Chameleon, Yuan's eyes opened wide in shock as his prophetic powers began to kick into overdrive. At once, images flooded his mind… images of the Chameleon being trained under Pai Mei, growing in power, and accumulating Wudang's skills… up until the day she would decide to turn against Pai Mei, draining and killing him after a duel. Afterwards, she would go on to conquer Wudang and use a deadly combination of kung fu and sorcery to bring about an age of darkness.
Yuan's body was seized up in complete shock from his vision. After the Chameleon and Sanzu walked off, Yuan dropped his staff in response to seeing such a disturbing vision.
"Prophet Yuan, are you alright?" asked Pai Mei.
"She… the Chameleon," Yuan told Pai Mei once the Chameleon was gone. "She is going to be your downfall."
"What?" Pai Mei snorted. "Do not be ridiculous. She is just a mistreated young lady who's looking for purpose in life. And I'm happy to give her that purpose in Wudang."
"We've known each other for a long time," Yuan said to Pai Mei. "And I would never lie to you. If you don't want to take my word at face value, then let me show you."
Gently, Yuan pressed his finger against Pai Mei, power up his chi and transferring all of his visions into the Emperor tamarin. At once, Pai Mei saw the same visions that Yuan did… of the Chameleon growing powerful and ambitious enough to one day kill Pai Mei, taking everything that he had and burning Wudang to the ground.
Finally, Yuan stopped as Pai Mei stumbled back in horror.
"This… this vision must not come to pass," Pai Mei breathed heavily, still reeling back in horror from everything that he had seen. "I will make sure of that personally."
oooo
The next day, the Chameleon found herself being summoned before Pai Mei.
What she was not counting on were all the other students giving her funny looks and whispering among themselves. It was almost as if she was in trouble for something. Soon, she found herself before Pai Mei's throne. Hui, Yuan, and Mugan stood there next to Pai Mei and all of them were giving her piercing looks.
The Chameleon bowed before Pai Mei but wondered where the tea was so that she could begin the tea serving ceremony.
"Greetings to the esteemed Pai Mei," said the Chameleon. "I would be glad to be your student."
"That will not be happening," Pai Mei told her plainly.
"What?" the Chameleon looked up.
"I will not be taking you on as a student," Pai Mei told her. "We will be keeping the financial contribution you made to Wudang and in return, you will be allowed to keep your unleashed potential of transformation. However, the knowledge of kung fu will not be bestowed upon you."
"Why… why not?" demanded the Chameleon who was clearly very confused and hurt.
"My reasons are my own," Pai Mei said strictly. "All I can say is that you are not welcome here anymore. You will not be my student and I will not be your master."
"Why?" demanded the Chameleon. "I believed in you… I TRUSTED YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"
"Because he can," Hui said coldly, creating red energy spear in case he needed to go down there and get violent.
"But I didn't do anything wrong!" the Chameleon shouted, clearly broken and distraught from what was going on. "I've done nothing wrong to you to be treated like this!"
"Not yet anyways," Pai Mei remarked.
"What… what does that even mean?!" screamed the Chameleon.
"Leave now, or things will get ugly for you," Pai Mei walked down the steps personally.
"You…" the Chameleon sputtered with tears in her eyes. "You can't do this to me!"
At once, the Chameleon struck out with her tongue in an attempt to catch Pai Mei but the monkey step-sided the attack and grabbed her tongue, violently spinning her around multiple times before throwing her. The Chameleon skidded against the floor multiple times before she crashed into the wall.
"You were trying to steal my chi with that tongue lash," Pai Mei commented. "I unlocked your hidden potential. Did you really think I wouldn't be prepared to deal with your new, untrained abilities?"
"You won't get away with this!" the Chameleon got up once again.
This time, her eyes glowed blue as she transformed into Master Elephant. While she did not have the master's skill, she still retained an elephant's massive strength in transformation. At once, she charged Pai Mei a second time.
This time, Pai Mei's palm charged up with energy as the Chameleon drew closer. Finally, he leaped up and struck the Chameleon in the chest with an energy-infused palm strike, sending her crashing through a wall.
"This is your second and final warning," Pai Mei cautioned her. "My third strike will be fatal so I suggest you know your place and scurry off."
Finally, the Chameleon's shoulders sank as she realized just how out of her depth she was. If she continued attacking in a rage, she would certainly die, because Pai Mei was on a level far beyond anything she had encountered before, even compared to the other masters she met. There was no choice now but to retreat and lick her wounds.
Getting up, the Chameleon lowered her head and began walking off as Pai Mei crossed his arms.
With nothing but the stinging taste of defeat and bitterness over her recent rejection, the Chameleon seethed inwardly.
"Maybe mother was right," the Chameleon whispered to herself. "Perhaps the art of kung fu is out of my reach for the time being. It's time I consult her tomes and immerse myself in the dark arts like she always wanted. And if I cannot find someone to willingly teach me, then maybe I'll just have to take what I want by force…"
Transforming into a big cat, the Chameleon ran off into the night.
oooo
Present day.
"This is what's left of it," Po said to Shifu and Tigress.
"I see," Shifu looked at the broken staff of Oogway.
"It was broken in the fight with Sanzu," Po informed them. "He did the unthinkable and shattered the staff."
"I didn't think that was possible," Tigress noted.
Tai Lung and Bao were also there, looking at the broken staff in sorrow.
"I've been working on a new move which I think will help us against Pai Mei," Po told his former Jade Palace compatriots. "But I'm not totally sure if it'll work yet."
"Well, what's done is done," Shifu picked up both pieces. "But Po, perhaps it's not over."
"What do you mean?" asked Po.
"What I mean is that the staff can be repaired," Shifu smiled.
"Wait, really?" Po looked shocked.
"I've accompanied Master Oogway on many adventures before," Shifu told him. "On one journey, Oogway's staff was broken in a fight but together, we were able to repair it. Oogway showed me how back then and I never thought I'd ever be faced with a similar situation again… until now."
"Really?" asked Po. "How?"
"Once I would've told you to watch and learn back when you were my student," Shifu said. "But now, I want you and everyone here to watch and participate."
At once, Shifu allowed chi to flow into his hands as he held it above the two broken parts.
"Everyone, together now," Shifu requested. "Po, we'll need your power for this the most."
Tigress, Tai Lung, and Bao all held out their hands, engulfing the broken staff with their chi.
"I see now," Po smiled before joining in, being reminded of how everyone had empowered him against Kai by lending their chi.
Po added his chi to the mix and before long, the ends of both sides of the staff began to glow.
"Take it, Po," Shifu told him.
Po took the staff and put it back together as the combined chi of everyone repaired the damage done to the staff, fusing the two broken pieces back together once more.
"Whoa," Po exclaimed.
"Because the staff is yours now, you've infused some of your own chi into it," Shifu said to him.
"Not just mine," Po smiled. "But everyone's here. Thanks, guys."
"It looks even better than ever," Tigress looked at the staff up close.
"Master Shifu," Po bowed. "Thank you."
"Now, given that extreme display of power we saw from the Pai Mei clan, I think it's best if we have every ace in our sleeve we can, even if Oogway's staff has been repaired," Shifu sat down. "Po, would you mind showing me that new move you said you've been working on?"
"Yeah, we haven't seen it yet," Bao told him.
"Just what move is this?" asked Tigress.
"Well, it's actually two moves," Po told them. "I picked them both up from Fenghuang when Tai Lung and I had a brief rift and separated temporarily."
"Fenghuang?!" Shifu's jaw dropped.
"Yeah, let's just say I learned this stuff from her before I found out about the whole poisoning Shifu thing," Po looked embarrassed.
To be continued.