Cloudless Authors

Chapter B

"Po?!" Tigress exclaimed. 

"Tigress, what's going on?!" Po asked in shock. "What's he doing here?!" 

Tai Lung laughed and got up from the floor. "And he's a late trainer too?" he commented. "You're full of surprises, panda." 

"I was planning to tell everyone! Honestly, Po!" Tigress promised. She hastily got up and added, "I wasn't sure how to word it without causing mass hysteria!" 

Tai Lung let out a chortle. "First I'm a fiend, and now I'm a hysteria-causer. Any other names I go by nowadays?" he asked. 

Tigress snarled at him. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes right now, traitor!" 

"That's three...." 

Seeing that Tigress was on the verge of losing her temper, Po quickly cleared his throat and called out, "Tai Lung! Why are you in the training hall? You know as well as I do that the Dragon Scroll isn't in here." 

Tai Lung rolled his eyes and let out a curt laugh. "You're all very assuming! What in the world makes you think I still want the Dragon Scroll?!" 

"You said it yourself earlier!" Tigress pointed out. 

"No, I never said that. In fact I told you the exact opposite. I said that I put the scroll far behind me, but I still want something." 

"Well whatever it is, you're not getting it!" Po told him firmly, getting into a fighting position. 

"Aw, well that's a shame. You offered it to me the last time we talked about the Dragon Scroll." 

Po did a  double-take. "I did what?" he asked. 

"You gave him something?!" Tigress exclaimed. "Po!" 

"I didn't give him anything!" Po cried. "I swear! I don't know what he's talking about!" 

"Think, Dragon Warrior," Tai Lung piped up. "You offered it to me right after I got my hands on that scroll." 

Tigress gave him a look and yelled, "No one is giving you anything!" 

She moved to attack him, but Tai Lung grabbed her wrists and and effortlessly tossed her over his shoulders and into the side of the training hall. "You really need to stop doing that," he commented. 

Po narrowed his eyes at the snow leopard. "Hey! You leave her alone! This is between you and me!"

"I don't recall there bring anything between you and me," Tai Lung told him. "I'm not here to pick a fight; I'm just trying to maintain a civil conversation." 

"Well you sure have a funny way of having a conversation," Po told him, walking towards him at the ready. 

"Look, if you really want to fight, it's no fur off my back," Tai Lung told him. He straightened up and cracked his knuckles, adding, "It is kind of hard to talk normally to someone that you've attempted to kill in the past. Speaking of which, does Shifu still study his scrolls before he goes to bed, or does he do that Tai Chi stuff like Oogway used to do?" 

Po's response to that was to grab a pair of nunchucks and hurl them at Tai Lung's head. The snow leopard caught them and sighed dramatically. "Honestly, Dragon Warrior," he said. "I kind of expected better." 

"If you want to fight," Po told him. "Then I'll bring the thunder!" 

"I really hope you're not going to say that every two seconds."

This time, Po picked up the entire weapons rack and threw it expertly at Tai Lung. A few of the weapons fell out, but a majority of them stayed in. As the rack came closer, Tai Lung took a step back and then launched himself into the air, kicking the weapons rack away and breaking part of it off in the process. Po then reached for a vicious looking weapon in the corner of the training hall: a thick staff with spiked gauntlets at each end and a sharp metal edge on both sides of the middle part. Seeing this, Tai Lung immediately ran towards Po, leaping up towards the talon rings to get a better aim. 

"Po! Look out!" Tigress cried, managing to get to her feet. 

Tai Lung lunged at Po, but the Dragon Warrior quickly swung the staff at him, knocking him into the wall. 

"Why are you warning him?" Tai Lung asked, wincing in pain. "He's the one holding the Opposing Staff of Fear!" 

Po twirled the staff threateningly above his head as Tigress started to run over in the boys' direction. Po swung the staff at Tai Lung's shoulders, but the snow leopard flipped backwards out of harm's way and began to charge at Po. Po held onto the Opposing Staff of Fear and struck at Tai Lung once again. The snow leopard continued to block the sharp attacks however, no evidence of pain shown on his face. After a few more unsuccessful hits, Tai Lung managed to snatch the staff and toss it, along with Po, into the middle of the training hall. 

Tigress, who was running past the Jade Tortoise, ducked to avoid getting hit by the flying Po, and then proceeded to charge violently at Tai Lung. Tai Lung dodged her kick and proceeded to throw and avoid a few punches and even more kicks. 

"You certainly don't know when to quit, do you?" he noted, grabbing a hold of the master's wrists and heaving her over to the swinging clubs. Tigress caught hold of the machinery and used it to launch herself back at Tai Lung, but the snow leopard moved into a roundhouse kick and knocked her straight back into the Jade Tortoise. 

Po, who during the commotion got his hands on a loose chain (to this day, no one knows where it came from), used it to grab a hold of Tai Lung's wrist and yank him towards him. Tai Lung let out a cry of surprise as he was greeted with a swift kick to the face that sent him crashing to the floor. Tai Lung tried to quickly get up, but Po immediately belly-bumped him into the side of the training hall wall. 

"Okay, Dragon Warrior, that's enough. You win," Tai Lung groaned as he tried to stand up. Usually he wouldn't have minded losing fair and square, but considering who he was fighting, he had a bad feeling about what was coming next. 

Po didn't listen however, and he proceeded to grab Tai Lung again with the chain, yanking him back and kicking him into the Jade Tortoise.

"Po! Please! I asked you to stop!" Tai Lung begged. He scooted back into the icy bowl as Po picked up the Opposing Staff of Fear, preparing to hit him hard with it. 

Choose what happens next. Skip to chapter:

d- Tai Lung is beaten, but spared

e- Tai Lung is beaten and Wuxi Fingered

f- Tigress gets hurt during the fighting