More than a Dragon Warrior

[Tai Lung's POV]

Hopefully, that's the end of it. I feel a lot better than I did before and I was relieved to finally come to terms with whatever issue was between us.

I was really not good with these emotional things, I'd rather punch some evil villain or train until my bones cracked.

In the end, I had already come to terms with everything and I have accepted myself when I attained Inner Peace. What happened was simply a manifestation of my emotions.

Hopefully, Shifu find his inner peace too. I did not know if he achieved such a thing in the movies but I could help him this time around. 

I left the passed-out Shifu lying near the pond in the Jade Palace as I made my way outside. The Palace was mostly destroyed and absolutely wrecked, with a giant crater in the middle. 

That would take some time to fix but it can definitely be restored so I was not worried.

I went out of the Jade Palace and stood at the top of the steps as I stretched my body. There really was no place like home as I felt my soul at peace.

I looked at the horizon and my eyes took in the magnificence of the clear sky. The dark clouds have dispersed and the storm had retreated, as if to represent the end of the emotional turmoil I was in not too long ago.

I stayed like that, enjoying the first rays of the rising sun until my peace was disturbed by the sound of rough breathing.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the steps and I could see a Panda crawling up the stairs. He was already halfway the thousand steps but he still had a long way to go.

I couldn't help but crack a smile as I watched him face his greatest adversary in his words, stairs.

It was amusing, to say the least.

"Haa.....Huaaaaaa...Hiiiii...." He breathes heavily and his needy gasps sounds like a fish trying to breathe in a desert.

"Huaaa..Huaaaa..Haaaahh!" And now he was choking on air. I never knew it was possible to choke on air so points to the Panda for teaching me something new.

"Hey!! Panda!!~" I called out and he turned his head up as his exhausted eyes looked at me lazily. Seriously? How do you get your eyes tired from climbing up steps?

"Ahhhh Wha!" He suddenly realised who I was and he nearly lost his footing and fell back down to the beginning of the stairs. Luckily, he managed to catch himself.

"You don't have to hurry!! I will wait for you!!" I said as a giant smile split my face. I gave him a thumbs up which he returned.

"Okay!! Thank you sir!!" He yelled back, waving his hands at me before he flopped down on the steps like a dead meat.

I thought for sure that he'd be much better and would even be able to climb the stairs properly considering he had more time to train, but it seemed stairs were his kryptonite. Something which he could never overcome.

"You can do it Dragon Warrior." I cheered and laughed while I watched Po slowly drag himself up the final steps.

At last, he was able to bring his body to the top of the stairs and he immediately laid down, exhausted and with his tongue rolling out. He panted like a dog for a while until eventually, he stood up.

"So, you must be Po. I have heard a lot about you." I said while taking a few steps toward him.

"Yes, I am." Po said before he paused, "Wait you've heard about me? Where? I mean, all good things I hope? No?" He said the last part unsure and insecure.

It was truly amusing seeing him like this and it made me realize just how much of a character development he went through during the three movies.

Who'd have thought that this Panda would become one of the most powerful Kung Fu masters that ever lived, rivalling the likes of Oogway himself?

It was equally amusing and frustrating.

"Enough about that. I think you have something I want." I said as my eyes narrowed at him. My carefree attitude disappeared in an instant and my face morphed into something cold and serious.

"Oh, right." Po said and he took something from the back of his pants. It was the Dragon Scroll, in all it's glory.

I decided to not question where he hid that.

"You want it? Come and-WHAAA!!" He screamed as I moved with lightning speed and punched him, sending his body flying like a ragdoll while I stole the scroll from his hand.

*Boing~*

His body flew away and fell on the stairs. His body started bouncing like a ball as he fell down, crashing one at a time on the stairs.

Did I feel a sick sense of amusement when I saw him fall down on all the steps he climbs so hard? Maybe.

Did I also revel in seeing all of his effort going to waste as he found himself at the bottom of the stairs? Just like how all my efforts to be the Dragon Warrior went to waste? 

I won't speak until I meet my lawyer.

"Uhhhh!!" "Ahhhhh!! "Ahhahaha!!" "Ouuuh!!" "Ouch!!!" I watched as Po fell down the stairs comically until he stopped in the market at the end of the stairs.

I looked at the Dragon Scroll in my hand and although I knew it was blank, it held an important place in my life. So I decided to keep it.

Besides that, no one else in the world other than us knew it was blank so it could be useful to distract an enemy or use it to trade for something more precious someday.

But for now, let's keep those thoughts away cause I have more important things of interest.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked myself and looked at the hand with which I punched Po.

I knew how to punch, I knew it so well that it was like breathing to me at this point. So I knew my punch landed on the Panda. 

Yet I also knew my punch did not hit him.

It was strange. It reminded me of my childhood when I used to hit a certain dummy made of rubber.

As I grew, I made it a tradition to destroy a dummy or training material in a way they were meant to be used. It was a show that I have mastered the thing I was training. For example, if it was wooden dummy made to train kicks, I would destroy it with a powerful kick, and if it was a ball of iron to train my claws, I would cut it with my claws.

Yet that dummy was the only thing I could not destroy. Shifu used to joke that Oogway made it to train his very first student after he invented Kung Fu. Yet even after a thousand years, it had never required a repair once.

Now how is that related to Po's body? Why did it remind me if that dummy?

There must be some interesting thing about him that makes him tick. He was supposed to be one of the strongest, after all, there must be a reason besides just plot armour.

'Well, let's find out.' I thought with an evil smile as I felt my obsession with Kung Fu begging me to learn everything.

I threw the Dragon Scroll at the roof of the Jade Palace before I cracked my neck and put a huge amount of strength into my legs.

*BOOOOOM!!!*

With a loud explosion of force that devasted the ground where I stood before, I shot into the sky. I did a flip to control the trajectory I was falling and aimed right at the market where Po was standing.

I used my limbs to guide me when I started free-falling to the ground. The air rushed pass my fur as I enjoyed the feeling of freedom right before landing on the ground.

*PHEWWW~*

*BOOOM!!* 

I did a superhero landing as a controlled shockwave welcomed me. I stood up and nodded in satisfaction when I saw the admiration on Po's face.

"Whaoooo! Awesome." He said, almost fanboying before he collected himself.

"So, Dragon Warrior. Let us fight to decide the fate of the Valley. If I win, I will destroy all and everything you love." I said to him and I saw his face get serious, good.

"And what if you lose?" He asked me and I looked at him like an idot.

There are no such thing.

"Do you accept?"

"I won't let you destroy the Valley Tai Lung. No matter how cool you are, I will protect my home as the Dragon Warrior." He said and got into his famous stance.

"Good." I said and a savage grin spread my face as I raised my fist. 

"Our battle will be Legendary!!"

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[IMAGE]

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Author : I did the meme, therefore I deserve stones.

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