KFP - Origins - Chap. 16

Rated "PG" for violence and some frightening situations.

Kung Fu Panda: Origins
Chapter 16: Traitor

He first became aware of a surge like an electric shock racking through his arms, legs, and head. He then realized that his arms were moving and his mouth was open in a gasp. His eyes instantly opened to stare at Mantis standing on his chest and staring at him.

"Augh!" Po held his throat and chest, aching all over as he sat up. "What…?" he looked up and blinked a couple of times, just now noticing the remainder of the Five. A long, awkward silence followed in which they stared at the panda incredulously, and Po took a look around. They were right back at camp, under a small overhang of rock. "Guys? Where…?" He rubbed his throat again, and it slowly began coming back to him. He remembered being there with his dad, seeing him and Shifu fight, trying to keep his master at bay, and then a sudden shock making him black out.

So that explained why the Five looked so stunned and freaked out.

"…All right," he admitted, dragging a paw over his face. "I know what that looked like, but it really…" The panda let out a breath. He had to say it. "…Okay, guys, look… Izotakeshi, h-he's my dad. My real dad. I-I know it sounds crazy, but back when I was a cub, Hei Long killed my mother and demanded that Dad joined them. A-And Dad only did that because he was trying to protect me! He didn't want to get caught up with these guys, he's just suffered a lot more than he could take, s-so we have to help him!" There, I said it!

He then observed his stoic companions for a moment. He would've expected at least a little shock from them at the news…yet none came. It then dawned on Po.

"…Shifu told you, didn't he? You guys…knew this already…"

"Not until after you defeated Tai Lung…" Crane clarified.

"Then it made more sense how it was you learned kung fu so quickly," Mantis added.

"…Great… So I was the only one to not know, then." Po lowered an irritated eyebrow.

All this time, Tigress had been the only one not to speak. She looked too mad. No, mad didn't quite describe it… Enraged was more the word. Or livid. Or seething. Or…dare he jest… Furious. If she finally would speak – and she did – everyone knew that all heck was going to break loose.

"I'd like to have a word with him alone, if I may," was all that came out of her mouth.

Though he kept his frustrated countenance, Po couldn't keep his eyes from widening a little. I…am going to die.

Mantis wasn't sure which he'd need to prepare: the acupuncture needles or a funeral pyre once this talk was over. "…Nice knowin' ya, Pokey," he muttered to the panda before taking his hasty leave with the others.

Don't leave me with her! Po shifted and stared at the ground when he felt Tigress turn towards him. She looked as if she was yearning to just swipe at the panda, leave a few claw marks on his face, and be done with it. By this point, Po didn't care.

"…I withhold and live by every moral of self control been taught to me by my master…" Her ears flattened, "…but I have a solid mind to claw your face off, Dragon Warrior."

"Then do it."

"Master Shifu was trying to protect you back there," her voice held an eerie calm.

"Protect me from what? There was nothing to protect me from, Izo wasn't attacking me, we were just messing around! He was teaching me!"

"All the worse, you idiot." Her voice rose a little. "Why do you think he was training you?"

"Because he's my dad!"

"Because he's a manipulative criminal! Po, look at what he's done!! Whole villages don't exist because of him! You think just because he's found you, he's going to want to change? You think that's an excuse to trust him after what he's done?"

"Well, maybe he—"

"He's dangerous, Po! He could be leading you into a trap!"

Now the panda was getting mad. "Don't you think that'd he'd have killed me by now if he had wanted? You guys just want him to be bad! How do you know what he's done, huh?? Do you just believe everything Shifu tells you or are you just assuming?!"

And immediately, he could tell he had seriously tweaked a nerve. At first, Tigress's eyes had widened a little in a mix of incense and shock. And before Po had registered the weight of what he'd said, they were quickly reduced to slits.

"…I was there, Po. And I recall everything. Every little detail that I've somehow been cursed to remember all my life. When Tai Lung rampaged on the Valley, he was charged with the crimes of your father and the rest of the Alliance in addition to his own. I'm not the one for you to ask what I know about him, Po. When you're four years old and you watch someone slaughter your only protection right there in front of you, it leaves an impact. Had he had the opportunity, I guarantee he would've killed me too."

After the initial shock of the story, Po shook himself off and furrowed his brow. "Y-You…don't know that! I-I'm sorry about what happened to your parents, b-but…" The panda treaded carefully. "…Believe me, I really am sorry…b-but Dad wasn't in his right mind when it happened, you c-can't blame him!"

"That's pure garbage and you know it," she hissed.

"L-Look…" he tried to not get his fur ruffled, instead changing his tactic. "Nobody has to get hurt here… I-I have an idea, but I need help. Your help, if I can get it. I think there might be a way to just talk things through with Dad. A-And he'll listen to me, I'm sure of it! Us representing the Jade Palace as students, we could make it work, a-and Shifu's still too unstable to fight anywa—"

"You don't get it, do you?" Tigress's ears flattened, arms crossed across her chest. "You have no concept of the repercussions here."

The panda's face now held blank confusion. He blinked, brow furrowing in a questionable crease.

"You turned on your own master, Po. You betrayed him and almost killed him to protect his enemy. Do you not recall the ancient precepts every kung fu student is sworn to upon his or her initiation?"

"I didn't exactly get here under traditional methods, Tigress…"

"According to the laws laid down by Master Oogway upon the birth of kung fu on the apprenticeship between master and student, we owe our master the utmost unwavering obedience and reverence. We are to regard him with the respect we would show our mothers and fathers. Such impudence as you showed him today is unforgivable. And if you had any humility for what we strive to perfect in our years of training, you would not call yourself worthy to be a student of kung fu. Don't you get that's what happened with Tai Lung? He betrayed his master and Shifu had no choice but to expel him from his apprenticeship!"

Po's ears flattened at this, but he could only sit there and let Tigress revile him.

"You wanted to know the repercussions, Po… The moment we get back to the Jade Palace, you will no longer be Shifu's student."

Crush.

"Know that you have violated the very code of honor each and every one of us has been bound to since our first day as students," she hissed. "And if you want to make it up to Shifu at all, you're going to have to show him in your last days as his pupil that you are willing to stand by his side against Izotakeshi."

Po's brow wrinkled a little at this, and he stared at the snow with pursed lips. The last thing in the world he wanted to give up on was kung fu, a passion he'd had all his life…yet his father was the last person he wanted to give up on now.

"…Tigress…I can't. I can't fight him, much less kill him…"

"…Then leave," came the quiet, stone-faced reply. "If you're not going to help us with that ambush, nobody's twisting your arm. After all, you've broken both our code of honor and Master Shifu's heart. What's one more betrayal to us all…"

Eyes lowering back to the ground, Po could hear her footsteps slowly growing distant. Her parting words came in a low voice that dripped with scorn.

"Go home, Po…"

TBC...