Understanding Loyalty
Title: Understanding Loyalty
Fandom: Kung Fu Panda 2
Rating: PG
Pairing: Shen/Tigress
Word count: 4654
Constructive Criticism: Sure
Comment: Good God, it's been a while. A long, long, while. Been mighty busy with university stuff, so my writing was forced to idle. Let's hope things settle down after the winter. Anyway! (Kung Fu Panda 2 spoilers from here on, including the fic!) This fic had been in the pipeline ever since I watched KFP 2. That scene where Shen has one last moment with Tigress (before Po returns to kick off the epic finale) just made me think that there was something more going on. And seeing how we didn't get anything from Tigress's POV between the fireworks factory and the ships, my mind came up with this little midquel.
"Lord Shen?" It was a random wolf warrior, standing at a respectful distance.
Shen eyed him without breaking his stride. He's scared. More than usual, even. "I'm busy."
The wolf gulped. "Please forgive me, Lord Shen, but I have been tasked with delivering today's report."
The peacock who would undoubtedly lay waste to all of China sighed, still not slowing down and thus forcing the wolf to walk next to him. "I'm not in the mood for bad news."
A low whine. "I-... I-..."
Shen raised a wing, making the wolf flinch. "So just give me the basics. Is the plan in danger? Is the factory on fire? Did that panda come back from the dead after I turned him into confetti?"
"Well..." The wolf scrunched up his face. "No, no, aaaaand no," he finally replied.
"Good!" Shen cheered, trying to focus on the hopefully pleasant task ahead. "Dismissed!"
"But the inventory count..."
The future ruler of China stopped dead in his tracks, and the wolf immediately jumped away, pressing himself against a wall and praying for a painless death. "You," he hissed, "keep pestering me because of inventory irregularities?"
"Well... yes."
Shen blinked. Then he blinked again, just for emphasis. "Well, what is missing? Cannons? A metal shipment?" This could be a slight annoyance. Then again, we depart tomorrow and are already well equipped, so one missed shipment wouldn't be a deal breaker.
"No, no, no, no," the wolf quickly assured him. "We are missing a match and a straw hat."
"A match," Shen repeated, "and a straw hat." He waited for the wolf to start laughing, to tell him that he was just kidding. "...that's it?" he finally asked.
"Yes, Lord Shen. I'm very sorry."
"A match! And a hat!" The peacock burst out laughing. "One! Straw! HAT!" He held his sides, trying not to collapse from laughter. "Why are we even keeping count of our hats?"
The wolf laughed nervously, figuring that he wasn't going to die after all. "Well, you told us to keep close count of everything, and so... we did?"
"That's... that's rich..." Shen wiped a tear from his cheek. "Fine, I think we can accept a lost match and a hat. This time tomorrow, we will be well on our way to conquering the nation; there will be plenty of opportunities to recover these grave losses." He waved his wings down the corridor. "You're dismissed. Have a good night, prepare for our big day tomorrow."
"Thank you, Lord Shen!" The wolf hurried away, leaving a very amused peacock behind.
"Wolves," Shen muttered as he resumed his journey. "Loyal, but way too dependent on leadership for everything. Oh well." He opened the large door to his bedroom, nodding curtly at the two wolf guards standing outside. "Good evening," he greeted the two people waiting for him.
"Lord Shen," the gorilla guard replied and bowed his head. "You look quite happy."
The peacock nodded absentmindedly, his attention already focused on the second person, the one that hadn't greeted him. Understandable, of course, he mused.
The tiger warrior was slightly hunched over, her entire body communicating defeat and hopelessness. She wasn't fighting the cuffs that kept her hands firmly behind her back. Her feet were not shackled, and yet she was standing perfectly still. Shen gently removed her blindfold and threw it aside. She blinked against the light, but her eyes quickly focused on him. "You," she whispered.
"Indeed, me," Shen replied calmly. He looked into her eyes, searching for her intent to kill, her fury. And it was there, but it was drowned out by an immense sadness. Perfect. She hasn't recovered since we captured her in the factory. "Did you search her?" he asked the guard without breaking eye contact.
"No," came the surprisingly honest answer. "I have seen what she can do. I'm not going near her without someone to back me up, just in case."
"Understandable," Shen admitted, then chuckled. Not that searching her would have achieved anything. I don't care if she pickpocketed some knickknack; and given her raw strength and skill, she doesn't need to smuggle weapons. "But you needn't have worried." He held up a key and swiftly inserted it into her cuffs. Before the guard could protest, he had turned the key, and the cuffs hit the ground with a heavy thud. The warrior's eyes were wide with surprise, but she didn't move to strike him down, just as he had predicted. "She's not going to tear anybody apart."
The guard was understandably nervous by now. "I really don't know if this is wise..."
"Wise?" He laughed. It was meant to be a sympathetic laugh, but it still made the guard twitch a little. "You shouldn't carelessly throw such words around. Wisdom is based on realizing how people or things will behave and work. You have to... understand." He circled the feline until he was standing in front of her again. "And I do. For example, I understand how Kung Fu works."
"Well, you are a capable fighter, Lord Shen," the guard admitted.
"No, no... think beyond individual moves or even styles. I'm no Master of any style, but I know how Kung Fu works: It comes from the inside." The peacock pointed at the prisoner. "Look at her. Muscles. Reflexes. Skill. It's all there right now. So why is she not striking me down as we speak?"
"I don't know, but-"
"I took away her drive. I broke her will. For you see, Kung Fu is guided by emotions and willpower. Keep your emotions in check, maintain your focus, and you can defeat entire armies. But without that..." Shen sighed theatrically and looked into her eyes again. "You. Tigress, wasn't it?" He smiled when he saw her eyes focus on him. "You know what I mean, don't you? You've seen it at work. I broke the panda's will. I manipulated his emotions. And then..."
Her eyes were turning into small slits of pure hate.
"...and then..."
Dozens of muscles twitched, sending tiny ripples through her fur.
"...and then... I killed him."
"YOU MURDERER!" Tigress roared and brought up her right hand, razor-sharp claws springing free, ready to tear him apart.
Shen knew that the hand that was now speeding towards him had the power to kill him in one blow. In fact, he had no doubts that she had the power to cut him in half before the guard could even think of drawing his weapon. He allowed himself a smile. Perfect.
Under normal circumstances, the fight would have ended with this one blow. Shen's Kung Fu was enough to impress the masses, but fighting a Master was something else. Against Masters Croc and Ox, the element of surprise had been on his side. Would they have won against him eventually? Possibly, but it still would have been close. But Master Tigress of the Jade Palace, one of Grand Master Shifu's most famous students? She was raw destructive power, wrapped in gold and black. A walking force of nature. And right now, she was trying to kill him.
"See?" he asked calmly as he dodged her attack, allowing her claws to miss him by less than an inch. "You're-" This time, the claws of her left hand struck the air where his head had been a moment earlier. "-an emotional-" A foot struck out at his torso, only to be deflected by his wing. "-wreck." And with that, he finally drew one of his knives, whirled around and did a backflip over her, striking the back of her neck with his right foot in the process. The feline stumbled forwards, and he quickly held the blade against her neck, signaling that she should stay down. "And as long as you don't regain your self-control, I don't have to fear a thousand duels with you."
She was trembling, and Shen wasn't sure what was disturbing her more - the truth he had just revealed, the humiliating defeat she had just experienced, or the realization that she was unable to avenge her fallen friend. "What do you want?" she finally asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He smiled and sheathed the knife again. "For the moment, I want us to be left alone." He gave the guard a look. "It's fine, you can leave."
The guard gave him a "You're joking," look, but ultimately bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Now, where were we?"
Tigress rose slowly and turned to face him. "You were gloating," she muttered.
"Oh, please." He chuckled and idly waved his wing. "That was mostly for that brute. Do you think I would have ordered you here just for some petty banter?"
"Yes."
His smile froze briefly, but he forced himself to keep his emotions in check. "You wound me! I might have considered that years ago, but now? Hours before I set out to conquer the continent? Tsk." When Tigress merely gave him a bored-yet-judging look, he rolled his eyes. "I wanted to talk. About you, about me..."
"There is nothing to talk about."
"Believe me, there is plenty." He chuckled again, trying to ignore how hard Tigress was making this. She takes lack of respect to whole new levels... "Do you know why I use cannons as my primary weapon? Other than being powerful, I mean."
She blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "Same reason you have one in your bedroom, pointed at your bed," she replied and pointed at the large cannon he had installed earlier. "You are completely insane."
"I merely like to remind myself to respect the weapon that will lead to my rise to power," he corrected her and gave the cannon a nod. "Plus, you wouldn't believe how much a loaded cannon discourages thieves."
"It's loaded?" Tigress asked, unable to conceal her surprise.
Now it was Shen's turn to blink. "Of course it's loaded. What good is a cannon that is not?"
"I repeat," Tigress said and gave him a look, "you are completely insane."
"Getting back to my earlier question," he quickly changed the subject, "I use cannons because they do more than just defeating the opposition." He narrowed his eyes, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "They obliterate. They leave the other side in pieces."
"Like I said-" Tigress started, but stopped when he gave her a glare.
"And then I come in. And I look at the pieces. And then I pass judgment." He looked into her eyes, daring her to make another cocky remark. When none came, he pressed on. "The things I find worthy, I will rebuild in my image. They will be better than ever. They will be perfect."
"And the things you don't find worthy?" Tigress asked, but they both knew the answer.
"They won't be missed. Not in the long run."
"You're sick."
For long seconds, they merely glared at each other. Great, that went a lot better in my mind, Shen scolded himself. Way to kill a conversation. "Anyway. That is how I handle things. And this goes beyond physical force; it also applies to the mind. You see, this is where my method works better than merely stabbing somebody: Once you crush someone's ego and make them question who they are and who they want to be, you can rebuild them from the inside."
"Crush somebody's ego? Make them question who they are?" She huffed. "You mean the way you did with Po before you shot him?"
He sighed, and for once, it was completely genuine. "The panda... was a different issue. I had to be pragmatic in order to prove the soothsayer wrong. Without her stupid prophecy... ah, the things that could have been... He could have been a great ally..."
"So you believe the prophecy enough to worry, and yet you believe you can defy it?"
"The soothsayer is wrong," Shen hissed angrily. "I was never afraid of her stupid prophecy. And I proved it wrong hours ago, so there." He rubbed his eyes with one wing. "But enough about him."
"Ah yes," Tigress said and rolled her eyes. "This was about us, wasn't it?"
"Exactly, us!" Shen blurted out and immediately regretted it when he saw her blank expression. Oh, she was just being sarcastic. "Us," he muttered. "You and me. Especially you."
"What about me?" she asked and raised an eyebrow. "Private execution for me? Or maybe some torture to warm up?"
Why is she making it so difficult? "Look at you, Tigress. You're shattered. Defeated. In pieces."
Tigress looked extremely unimpressed. "And you looked at the pieces?"
"I did, and I passed judgment, yes." He lowered his voice. "And I found you worthy."
He could see in her eyes that she understood where he was going with this. Still, she was playing dumb. "Worthy of what?"
"Worthy," he whispered and carefully extended a wing to stroke her arm. He could feel that she was tense, but she at least didn't avoid his touch. "Worthy of being by my side."
"By your side?" she echoed, raising an eyebrow.
He watched her closely, looking for signs of rejection. What he found was turmoil, a mess of mixed reactions. If I play this right, conquering China will only be my second greatest achievement. "Indeed. You are strong and beautiful. And people respect you." He inched towards her, keeping an eye out for her claws.
"And you want to use this to do... what?"
"I don't have to level every city in my path if they acknowledge my wisdom; if I can make them understand." He was now standing close enough to her that their clothes were almost touching. "You can convince them to join me. You can be their savior." Trying to control his breathing, he brought his beak close to her face. "Be the lady at my side, Tigress. We can rule. Together." He took a deep breath. "As husband and wife."
For long, long seconds, neither of them spoke. Tigress was now impossible to read, with too many emotions clashing inside her. "This isn't how I imagined my marriage proposal to be," she finally whispered, and the smallest hint of a smile played over her lips.
Shen exhaled - he hadn't even realized that he had been holding his breath - and beamed. "We've had a rough start, yes. But you can see it, can't you? Our beautiful future?"
Tigress was now a lot calmer than ever before. Shen could see that in a way, she had found peace. "Yes, I see things clearly now," she told him and smiled. Her left arm slowly moved around his right side, her hand coming to rest on his left wing. "When I was dragged in here, I was... blinded. My emotions were clouding my judgment."
"But now you see that you will be able to do so much good," Shen said and moved closer against her. He smiled widely - decades in exile had made him forget just how much he longed for companionship. Everything will be perfect now... no, everything is perfect now... "Together, we can do anything. You see my wisdom now, don't you?" He looked up at her, into her golden eyes.
She was smiling, but for some reason, he didn't find her smile comforting. Something was wrong, and he was feeling slightly uneasy because he couldn't pinpoint the cause. "I see, yes," she told him, and the sinking feeling intensified. "I see a delusional bird who thinks he can buy me with promises of power, I see a murderer whose proposal is built on murdering even more, and I see the person I learned to hate when he killed my friend in front of my eyes."
Shen tried to back away from her, but her arm held him firmly - it might as well have been made out of solid steel. "So I guess that's a no, then?" He chuckled, trying to hide how nervous he was.
"My path is clear," she told him in a creepy matter-of-fact tone. "I am here to stop you. You won't leave this room alive, Shen."
"You can't kill me!" he taunted her, though it was a silly lie. At this range, she won't need Kung Fu. Just her claws against my neck, no space to dodge... Shen struggled openly now. This is bad. I need something, anything to protect me! He flapped his left wing - in itself a tough task since her arm was partially pinning it against his body - shaking loose one of the knives hidden in his sleeve. Yes! The knife slipped out of his sleeve, and he caught it with practiced ease. Far from a perfect fighting position, but if she tries to rip out my throat, I should be able to bring it up close to my neck, thus cutting her. "But go ahead, feel free to try! Show me those claws again!"
She laughed softly. Shen had learned to hate this laugh - the soothsayer had used it far too often. A condescending laugh reserved for children who lacked basic understanding. "Oh no, I won't just rip you open. You deserve a more poetic death."
"What, you want to take one of my knives and cut-" He choked when he saw the object she was holding up with her free hand.
Tigress's grip on him tightened, and she waved the match back and forth. "Thank you for mentioning that the cannon is loaded."
What is- How did she even- Where did that match- How long did she plan- Shen forced himself to break eye contact. CALM DOWN! THINK! A match. How did she get a match? Why did we not realize that we're missing- He groaned. Of course. We did. Minutes ago. That wolf told me. And we didn't bother to search the prisoner. "Wow, brilliant," he muttered.
"Not the famous last words I would have chosen, but I guess they'll do," Tigress mused, but he was ignoring her.
Okay, she's not going to just stand there much longer. Think, Shen! There must be a way out of this! Something she missed... or something you can use... He took a deep breath. "Wait, this won't work! Do you honestly expect me to just stand here while you fire the cannon? You'd have to hold me in place, thus killing us both!" He smirked. "And you won't do that. I know you. I understand you. You don't want to die. You want to live! Yes, you want to live a long life so you can properly mourn the panda you couldn't save. You owe him that!" Wow, I'm babbling...
For a moment, the immense sadness was back in her eyes, and she didn't bother to hide it. "I was supposed to die there in the factory," she whispered. "I wanted to push him out of the way, to give my life for his." And just like that, without any glorious ceremony, she lit the match by striking it against her chin. "I'm supposed to be dead anyway."
"But you're not, and dying now won't bring him back," Shen tried one last time to reason with her. But when he saw the tears in her eyes, he realized that he had been wrong in his assessment of her. She loves him. Maybe as a friend, maybe as more than that, but details like that don't matter right now. I expected her to be reasonable, but... no. This entire endeavor had been doomed the moment I shot the panda.
"I know," she told him. "That is my sole regret."
And before he could even think of another angle to get through to her, she tossed the match at the cannon's fuse. "NO!"
"You won't be missed, Shen." Tigress's grip tightened as the match hit the fuse, igniting it. "Not in the long run."
"GUARDS!" the peacock roared despite knowing that nobody would arrive in time to save him. NO! THIS ISN'T HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO END! THE PROPHECY! MY DESTINY! He suddenly became aware of the knife in his left wing again and somehow knew that it was his last hope. STAB HER! TRY TO MAKE HER FLINCH! He struggled, then gave up. NO USE, NO USE, NO USE! GOT MOMENTS TO SPARE, AND HER GRIP IS TOO TIGHT! His eyes darted towards the cannon. Was it just a pre-death hallucination, or was he really able to see the metal ball at the end of the barrel? FOCUS! IT'S A PRECISION-ENGINEERED BARREL! IF YOU CAN CLOG IT, MAYBE YOU CAN SURVIVE THIS! It was a long shot with only one chance; Shen normally would have laughed at anybody suggesting such a foolish plan, but with less than a second to spare, he instantly embraced this idea and threw his knife into the barrel. I really hope this- The blast hit him before he had a chance to even finish that thought.
"-think he's waking up!"
Shen groaned quietly. "Wha..." Hesitantly, he opened his eyes. It took far longer than usual for them to focus, and the various pain signals his body was sending to his brain told him all he needed to know. The cannon likely exploded in my face. The bird grimaced. Pretty sure I've never been in this much pain before. Then he realized what this implied: I'M ALIVE!
"Lord Shen, please!" the wolf next to him protested when he struggled to sit up. "You're lucky to be alive at all; take it easy until a doctor has-"
I'm alive! Shen laughed. Briefly. Quietly. Of course I'm alive. I'm not destined to die at the hands of some tigress. Not even the soothsayer predicted that I'd die this way, so there. "Shut up," he snarled and used the people around him to drag himself onto his feet. It was a painful process, but he was determined not to let the limitations of his body stop him. "Quiet, all of you. I'll let a doctor have a look later." He looked down at himself. His clothes were torn, his feathers slightly singed, but all in all, he was in surprisingly good condition for somebody who had just had a close encounter with the most dangerous weapon in all of China.
"Lord Shen, I beg you to-" another wolf started, but he was quickly silenced by Shen's glare.
When he had the silence he desired, the peacock took a moment to gather himself. "First things first, gentlemen," he said, consciously keeping his voice even, as if this was a simple business meeting, and not the aftermath of what looked like a war zone. Oh my, indeed it does. Tsk. Someone should clean this up. Oh wait, we'll move out in the morning, anyway. Heh. "What's the situation?"
The guards looked at each other, then back at him. There was no doubt that they all thought that he had lost it. But still, they respected his authority. "Your room exploded, Lord Shen," a gorilla guard - Shen was fairly sure that it was the same guard who had been waiting in this room earlier - replied, somehow managing not to make the statement sound sarcastic. "Damage was mostly limited to this one room. No casualties that we know of, but the two guards at your door are-"
"Yes, yes, who cares." Shen waved his wing at him. "You said that there were no casualties?" He took a look around. "So the prisoner also survived?"
"She did, yes." The massive guard stepped aside, revealing the unconscious tigress lying on a pile of rubble.
"Is she responsible for this?" one of the wolves asked. "She is, isn't she?"
"We should cut her throat before she can try anything else," another wolf added and drew his sword. Several of his companions voiced their support for this idea.
Ahhh, it's hard to find minions who understand the finer points of life. He sighed deeply and shook his head. "No, no... that would be far too petty. Please, we're no barbarians, so put the sword away..."
"But I-"
"...before I have you executed," Shen finished his sentence with a polite smile.
The guard exchanged panicked looks with his friends before sheathing his sword again. "Of course, Lord Shen," he whispered.
"Excellent. Now... here's what we will do with our prisoner..." He walked over to her, desperately trying to look dignified while struggling to maintain his balance. Tigress, just like him, didn't seem to be injured, but her clothes were as dirty as his. Mh, remains of gunpowder. Nothing that can't be washed off. She probably doesn't even need a doctor. Pah. She probably could've taken a full blast to the head without any major injuries. Stupid, beautiful, unstoppable Tigress. "Bring her back to her cell," he finally whispered. "Help her clean up, get her a doctor if she needs one, give her something to eat." He lightly kicked her arm. "However, search her and her friends. Take everything but their clothes."
"As you command, Lord Shen, but-"
"But, but, but," the peacock imitated the low whine of his guard. "But what? Are you so utterly unable to understand? Do I really need to spell it out for you?" He sighed. No sense of class. Just dumb muscle. "If we simply murder her now, she'll have died thinking that she succeeded. And I refuse to let her have even this small victory. No, her defeat must be absolute."
The wolves looked up at the gorilla, obviously hoping that he would be able to keep the conversation going without attracting their employer's glare of death. "So," the towering guard finally began, "how will you do that?"
"Oh, it's quite simple, really." Just follow my orders without question! There, how's that for simple? But noooo, the moment the boss is almost killed by his own invention, people think they have a right to question their orders! "You will bring her back to her cell, clean her up and let her recover. And tomorrow, while the fleet is getting ready to move out, you will tie her up, along with her friends. And then I'll show myself, and she will realize that she failed. And then, then, once she knows that I truly bested her, I will have her and her friends moved somewhere close to the city gates. And then I will personally man the large cannon on my personal ship. And then I will take aim. And then... and then..." He was openly grinning now, impressions of insanity be damned. "And then! I will FIRE the CANNON! Right! THROUGH! Her! CHEST! And she WILL be DEAD! Yes! YES! Yes! DEAD!" He cackled, shuddering in sheer delight at the mental image of Tigress paying the price for her betrayal, for her stupid loyalty to a dead panda.
It took him a full minute to recover from his brief descent into madness. "Everybody got that?" he asked and wiped a tear of joy from his cheek. "Any questions, maybe? None? Great! Great! Then you're dismissed. Do your thing. And get some sleep, we'll have a busy day tomorrow."
The guards practically dashed out of the remains of his room, with the slowest members of the pack getting stuck with the duty of taking care of Tigress. But Shen paid no attention to them. In his mind, the feline was already dead. Though I can't fight the feeling that I'm forgetting something... hmmmmmmm... He scratched his beak, then froze. Of course! The other missing item! What was it... something small... oh right, the straw hat. He frowned. I should probably have somebody look for that. On the other hand... "Bah," he finally muttered as he made a decision. A straw hat won't hurt me or the plan. Utterly inconsequential. What's somebody supposed to do with it, anyway? Throw it at me like some sort of... disc of destruction? The peacock allowed himself a quiet chuckle. "Oh Shen, now you're just being silly..."
Fandom: Kung Fu Panda 2
Rating: PG
Pairing: Shen/Tigress
Word count: 4654
Constructive Criticism: Sure
Comment: Good God, it's been a while. A long, long, while. Been mighty busy with university stuff, so my writing was forced to idle. Let's hope things settle down after the winter. Anyway! (Kung Fu Panda 2 spoilers from here on, including the fic!) This fic had been in the pipeline ever since I watched KFP 2. That scene where Shen has one last moment with Tigress (before Po returns to kick off the epic finale) just made me think that there was something more going on. And seeing how we didn't get anything from Tigress's POV between the fireworks factory and the ships, my mind came up with this little midquel.
"Lord Shen?" It was a random wolf warrior, standing at a respectful distance.
Shen eyed him without breaking his stride. He's scared. More than usual, even. "I'm busy."
The wolf gulped. "Please forgive me, Lord Shen, but I have been tasked with delivering today's report."
The peacock who would undoubtedly lay waste to all of China sighed, still not slowing down and thus forcing the wolf to walk next to him. "I'm not in the mood for bad news."
A low whine. "I-... I-..."
Shen raised a wing, making the wolf flinch. "So just give me the basics. Is the plan in danger? Is the factory on fire? Did that panda come back from the dead after I turned him into confetti?"
"Well..." The wolf scrunched up his face. "No, no, aaaaand no," he finally replied.
"Good!" Shen cheered, trying to focus on the hopefully pleasant task ahead. "Dismissed!"
"But the inventory count..."
The future ruler of China stopped dead in his tracks, and the wolf immediately jumped away, pressing himself against a wall and praying for a painless death. "You," he hissed, "keep pestering me because of inventory irregularities?"
"Well... yes."
Shen blinked. Then he blinked again, just for emphasis. "Well, what is missing? Cannons? A metal shipment?" This could be a slight annoyance. Then again, we depart tomorrow and are already well equipped, so one missed shipment wouldn't be a deal breaker.
"No, no, no, no," the wolf quickly assured him. "We are missing a match and a straw hat."
"A match," Shen repeated, "and a straw hat." He waited for the wolf to start laughing, to tell him that he was just kidding. "...that's it?" he finally asked.
"Yes, Lord Shen. I'm very sorry."
"A match! And a hat!" The peacock burst out laughing. "One! Straw! HAT!" He held his sides, trying not to collapse from laughter. "Why are we even keeping count of our hats?"
The wolf laughed nervously, figuring that he wasn't going to die after all. "Well, you told us to keep close count of everything, and so... we did?"
"That's... that's rich..." Shen wiped a tear from his cheek. "Fine, I think we can accept a lost match and a hat. This time tomorrow, we will be well on our way to conquering the nation; there will be plenty of opportunities to recover these grave losses." He waved his wings down the corridor. "You're dismissed. Have a good night, prepare for our big day tomorrow."
"Thank you, Lord Shen!" The wolf hurried away, leaving a very amused peacock behind.
"Wolves," Shen muttered as he resumed his journey. "Loyal, but way too dependent on leadership for everything. Oh well." He opened the large door to his bedroom, nodding curtly at the two wolf guards standing outside. "Good evening," he greeted the two people waiting for him.
"Lord Shen," the gorilla guard replied and bowed his head. "You look quite happy."
The peacock nodded absentmindedly, his attention already focused on the second person, the one that hadn't greeted him. Understandable, of course, he mused.
The tiger warrior was slightly hunched over, her entire body communicating defeat and hopelessness. She wasn't fighting the cuffs that kept her hands firmly behind her back. Her feet were not shackled, and yet she was standing perfectly still. Shen gently removed her blindfold and threw it aside. She blinked against the light, but her eyes quickly focused on him. "You," she whispered.
"Indeed, me," Shen replied calmly. He looked into her eyes, searching for her intent to kill, her fury. And it was there, but it was drowned out by an immense sadness. Perfect. She hasn't recovered since we captured her in the factory. "Did you search her?" he asked the guard without breaking eye contact.
"No," came the surprisingly honest answer. "I have seen what she can do. I'm not going near her without someone to back me up, just in case."
"Understandable," Shen admitted, then chuckled. Not that searching her would have achieved anything. I don't care if she pickpocketed some knickknack; and given her raw strength and skill, she doesn't need to smuggle weapons. "But you needn't have worried." He held up a key and swiftly inserted it into her cuffs. Before the guard could protest, he had turned the key, and the cuffs hit the ground with a heavy thud. The warrior's eyes were wide with surprise, but she didn't move to strike him down, just as he had predicted. "She's not going to tear anybody apart."
The guard was understandably nervous by now. "I really don't know if this is wise..."
"Wise?" He laughed. It was meant to be a sympathetic laugh, but it still made the guard twitch a little. "You shouldn't carelessly throw such words around. Wisdom is based on realizing how people or things will behave and work. You have to... understand." He circled the feline until he was standing in front of her again. "And I do. For example, I understand how Kung Fu works."
"Well, you are a capable fighter, Lord Shen," the guard admitted.
"No, no... think beyond individual moves or even styles. I'm no Master of any style, but I know how Kung Fu works: It comes from the inside." The peacock pointed at the prisoner. "Look at her. Muscles. Reflexes. Skill. It's all there right now. So why is she not striking me down as we speak?"
"I don't know, but-"
"I took away her drive. I broke her will. For you see, Kung Fu is guided by emotions and willpower. Keep your emotions in check, maintain your focus, and you can defeat entire armies. But without that..." Shen sighed theatrically and looked into her eyes again. "You. Tigress, wasn't it?" He smiled when he saw her eyes focus on him. "You know what I mean, don't you? You've seen it at work. I broke the panda's will. I manipulated his emotions. And then..."
Her eyes were turning into small slits of pure hate.
"...and then..."
Dozens of muscles twitched, sending tiny ripples through her fur.
"...and then... I killed him."
"YOU MURDERER!" Tigress roared and brought up her right hand, razor-sharp claws springing free, ready to tear him apart.
Shen knew that the hand that was now speeding towards him had the power to kill him in one blow. In fact, he had no doubts that she had the power to cut him in half before the guard could even think of drawing his weapon. He allowed himself a smile. Perfect.
Under normal circumstances, the fight would have ended with this one blow. Shen's Kung Fu was enough to impress the masses, but fighting a Master was something else. Against Masters Croc and Ox, the element of surprise had been on his side. Would they have won against him eventually? Possibly, but it still would have been close. But Master Tigress of the Jade Palace, one of Grand Master Shifu's most famous students? She was raw destructive power, wrapped in gold and black. A walking force of nature. And right now, she was trying to kill him.
"See?" he asked calmly as he dodged her attack, allowing her claws to miss him by less than an inch. "You're-" This time, the claws of her left hand struck the air where his head had been a moment earlier. "-an emotional-" A foot struck out at his torso, only to be deflected by his wing. "-wreck." And with that, he finally drew one of his knives, whirled around and did a backflip over her, striking the back of her neck with his right foot in the process. The feline stumbled forwards, and he quickly held the blade against her neck, signaling that she should stay down. "And as long as you don't regain your self-control, I don't have to fear a thousand duels with you."
She was trembling, and Shen wasn't sure what was disturbing her more - the truth he had just revealed, the humiliating defeat she had just experienced, or the realization that she was unable to avenge her fallen friend. "What do you want?" she finally asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He smiled and sheathed the knife again. "For the moment, I want us to be left alone." He gave the guard a look. "It's fine, you can leave."
The guard gave him a "You're joking," look, but ultimately bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Now, where were we?"
Tigress rose slowly and turned to face him. "You were gloating," she muttered.
"Oh, please." He chuckled and idly waved his wing. "That was mostly for that brute. Do you think I would have ordered you here just for some petty banter?"
"Yes."
His smile froze briefly, but he forced himself to keep his emotions in check. "You wound me! I might have considered that years ago, but now? Hours before I set out to conquer the continent? Tsk." When Tigress merely gave him a bored-yet-judging look, he rolled his eyes. "I wanted to talk. About you, about me..."
"There is nothing to talk about."
"Believe me, there is plenty." He chuckled again, trying to ignore how hard Tigress was making this. She takes lack of respect to whole new levels... "Do you know why I use cannons as my primary weapon? Other than being powerful, I mean."
She blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "Same reason you have one in your bedroom, pointed at your bed," she replied and pointed at the large cannon he had installed earlier. "You are completely insane."
"I merely like to remind myself to respect the weapon that will lead to my rise to power," he corrected her and gave the cannon a nod. "Plus, you wouldn't believe how much a loaded cannon discourages thieves."
"It's loaded?" Tigress asked, unable to conceal her surprise.
Now it was Shen's turn to blink. "Of course it's loaded. What good is a cannon that is not?"
"I repeat," Tigress said and gave him a look, "you are completely insane."
"Getting back to my earlier question," he quickly changed the subject, "I use cannons because they do more than just defeating the opposition." He narrowed his eyes, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "They obliterate. They leave the other side in pieces."
"Like I said-" Tigress started, but stopped when he gave her a glare.
"And then I come in. And I look at the pieces. And then I pass judgment." He looked into her eyes, daring her to make another cocky remark. When none came, he pressed on. "The things I find worthy, I will rebuild in my image. They will be better than ever. They will be perfect."
"And the things you don't find worthy?" Tigress asked, but they both knew the answer.
"They won't be missed. Not in the long run."
"You're sick."
For long seconds, they merely glared at each other. Great, that went a lot better in my mind, Shen scolded himself. Way to kill a conversation. "Anyway. That is how I handle things. And this goes beyond physical force; it also applies to the mind. You see, this is where my method works better than merely stabbing somebody: Once you crush someone's ego and make them question who they are and who they want to be, you can rebuild them from the inside."
"Crush somebody's ego? Make them question who they are?" She huffed. "You mean the way you did with Po before you shot him?"
He sighed, and for once, it was completely genuine. "The panda... was a different issue. I had to be pragmatic in order to prove the soothsayer wrong. Without her stupid prophecy... ah, the things that could have been... He could have been a great ally..."
"So you believe the prophecy enough to worry, and yet you believe you can defy it?"
"The soothsayer is wrong," Shen hissed angrily. "I was never afraid of her stupid prophecy. And I proved it wrong hours ago, so there." He rubbed his eyes with one wing. "But enough about him."
"Ah yes," Tigress said and rolled her eyes. "This was about us, wasn't it?"
"Exactly, us!" Shen blurted out and immediately regretted it when he saw her blank expression. Oh, she was just being sarcastic. "Us," he muttered. "You and me. Especially you."
"What about me?" she asked and raised an eyebrow. "Private execution for me? Or maybe some torture to warm up?"
Why is she making it so difficult? "Look at you, Tigress. You're shattered. Defeated. In pieces."
Tigress looked extremely unimpressed. "And you looked at the pieces?"
"I did, and I passed judgment, yes." He lowered his voice. "And I found you worthy."
He could see in her eyes that she understood where he was going with this. Still, she was playing dumb. "Worthy of what?"
"Worthy," he whispered and carefully extended a wing to stroke her arm. He could feel that she was tense, but she at least didn't avoid his touch. "Worthy of being by my side."
"By your side?" she echoed, raising an eyebrow.
He watched her closely, looking for signs of rejection. What he found was turmoil, a mess of mixed reactions. If I play this right, conquering China will only be my second greatest achievement. "Indeed. You are strong and beautiful. And people respect you." He inched towards her, keeping an eye out for her claws.
"And you want to use this to do... what?"
"I don't have to level every city in my path if they acknowledge my wisdom; if I can make them understand." He was now standing close enough to her that their clothes were almost touching. "You can convince them to join me. You can be their savior." Trying to control his breathing, he brought his beak close to her face. "Be the lady at my side, Tigress. We can rule. Together." He took a deep breath. "As husband and wife."
For long, long seconds, neither of them spoke. Tigress was now impossible to read, with too many emotions clashing inside her. "This isn't how I imagined my marriage proposal to be," she finally whispered, and the smallest hint of a smile played over her lips.
Shen exhaled - he hadn't even realized that he had been holding his breath - and beamed. "We've had a rough start, yes. But you can see it, can't you? Our beautiful future?"
Tigress was now a lot calmer than ever before. Shen could see that in a way, she had found peace. "Yes, I see things clearly now," she told him and smiled. Her left arm slowly moved around his right side, her hand coming to rest on his left wing. "When I was dragged in here, I was... blinded. My emotions were clouding my judgment."
"But now you see that you will be able to do so much good," Shen said and moved closer against her. He smiled widely - decades in exile had made him forget just how much he longed for companionship. Everything will be perfect now... no, everything is perfect now... "Together, we can do anything. You see my wisdom now, don't you?" He looked up at her, into her golden eyes.
She was smiling, but for some reason, he didn't find her smile comforting. Something was wrong, and he was feeling slightly uneasy because he couldn't pinpoint the cause. "I see, yes," she told him, and the sinking feeling intensified. "I see a delusional bird who thinks he can buy me with promises of power, I see a murderer whose proposal is built on murdering even more, and I see the person I learned to hate when he killed my friend in front of my eyes."
Shen tried to back away from her, but her arm held him firmly - it might as well have been made out of solid steel. "So I guess that's a no, then?" He chuckled, trying to hide how nervous he was.
"My path is clear," she told him in a creepy matter-of-fact tone. "I am here to stop you. You won't leave this room alive, Shen."
"You can't kill me!" he taunted her, though it was a silly lie. At this range, she won't need Kung Fu. Just her claws against my neck, no space to dodge... Shen struggled openly now. This is bad. I need something, anything to protect me! He flapped his left wing - in itself a tough task since her arm was partially pinning it against his body - shaking loose one of the knives hidden in his sleeve. Yes! The knife slipped out of his sleeve, and he caught it with practiced ease. Far from a perfect fighting position, but if she tries to rip out my throat, I should be able to bring it up close to my neck, thus cutting her. "But go ahead, feel free to try! Show me those claws again!"
She laughed softly. Shen had learned to hate this laugh - the soothsayer had used it far too often. A condescending laugh reserved for children who lacked basic understanding. "Oh no, I won't just rip you open. You deserve a more poetic death."
"What, you want to take one of my knives and cut-" He choked when he saw the object she was holding up with her free hand.
Tigress's grip on him tightened, and she waved the match back and forth. "Thank you for mentioning that the cannon is loaded."
What is- How did she even- Where did that match- How long did she plan- Shen forced himself to break eye contact. CALM DOWN! THINK! A match. How did she get a match? Why did we not realize that we're missing- He groaned. Of course. We did. Minutes ago. That wolf told me. And we didn't bother to search the prisoner. "Wow, brilliant," he muttered.
"Not the famous last words I would have chosen, but I guess they'll do," Tigress mused, but he was ignoring her.
Okay, she's not going to just stand there much longer. Think, Shen! There must be a way out of this! Something she missed... or something you can use... He took a deep breath. "Wait, this won't work! Do you honestly expect me to just stand here while you fire the cannon? You'd have to hold me in place, thus killing us both!" He smirked. "And you won't do that. I know you. I understand you. You don't want to die. You want to live! Yes, you want to live a long life so you can properly mourn the panda you couldn't save. You owe him that!" Wow, I'm babbling...
For a moment, the immense sadness was back in her eyes, and she didn't bother to hide it. "I was supposed to die there in the factory," she whispered. "I wanted to push him out of the way, to give my life for his." And just like that, without any glorious ceremony, she lit the match by striking it against her chin. "I'm supposed to be dead anyway."
"But you're not, and dying now won't bring him back," Shen tried one last time to reason with her. But when he saw the tears in her eyes, he realized that he had been wrong in his assessment of her. She loves him. Maybe as a friend, maybe as more than that, but details like that don't matter right now. I expected her to be reasonable, but... no. This entire endeavor had been doomed the moment I shot the panda.
"I know," she told him. "That is my sole regret."
And before he could even think of another angle to get through to her, she tossed the match at the cannon's fuse. "NO!"
"You won't be missed, Shen." Tigress's grip tightened as the match hit the fuse, igniting it. "Not in the long run."
"GUARDS!" the peacock roared despite knowing that nobody would arrive in time to save him. NO! THIS ISN'T HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO END! THE PROPHECY! MY DESTINY! He suddenly became aware of the knife in his left wing again and somehow knew that it was his last hope. STAB HER! TRY TO MAKE HER FLINCH! He struggled, then gave up. NO USE, NO USE, NO USE! GOT MOMENTS TO SPARE, AND HER GRIP IS TOO TIGHT! His eyes darted towards the cannon. Was it just a pre-death hallucination, or was he really able to see the metal ball at the end of the barrel? FOCUS! IT'S A PRECISION-ENGINEERED BARREL! IF YOU CAN CLOG IT, MAYBE YOU CAN SURVIVE THIS! It was a long shot with only one chance; Shen normally would have laughed at anybody suggesting such a foolish plan, but with less than a second to spare, he instantly embraced this idea and threw his knife into the barrel. I really hope this- The blast hit him before he had a chance to even finish that thought.
"-think he's waking up!"
Shen groaned quietly. "Wha..." Hesitantly, he opened his eyes. It took far longer than usual for them to focus, and the various pain signals his body was sending to his brain told him all he needed to know. The cannon likely exploded in my face. The bird grimaced. Pretty sure I've never been in this much pain before. Then he realized what this implied: I'M ALIVE!
"Lord Shen, please!" the wolf next to him protested when he struggled to sit up. "You're lucky to be alive at all; take it easy until a doctor has-"
I'm alive! Shen laughed. Briefly. Quietly. Of course I'm alive. I'm not destined to die at the hands of some tigress. Not even the soothsayer predicted that I'd die this way, so there. "Shut up," he snarled and used the people around him to drag himself onto his feet. It was a painful process, but he was determined not to let the limitations of his body stop him. "Quiet, all of you. I'll let a doctor have a look later." He looked down at himself. His clothes were torn, his feathers slightly singed, but all in all, he was in surprisingly good condition for somebody who had just had a close encounter with the most dangerous weapon in all of China.
"Lord Shen, I beg you to-" another wolf started, but he was quickly silenced by Shen's glare.
When he had the silence he desired, the peacock took a moment to gather himself. "First things first, gentlemen," he said, consciously keeping his voice even, as if this was a simple business meeting, and not the aftermath of what looked like a war zone. Oh my, indeed it does. Tsk. Someone should clean this up. Oh wait, we'll move out in the morning, anyway. Heh. "What's the situation?"
The guards looked at each other, then back at him. There was no doubt that they all thought that he had lost it. But still, they respected his authority. "Your room exploded, Lord Shen," a gorilla guard - Shen was fairly sure that it was the same guard who had been waiting in this room earlier - replied, somehow managing not to make the statement sound sarcastic. "Damage was mostly limited to this one room. No casualties that we know of, but the two guards at your door are-"
"Yes, yes, who cares." Shen waved his wing at him. "You said that there were no casualties?" He took a look around. "So the prisoner also survived?"
"She did, yes." The massive guard stepped aside, revealing the unconscious tigress lying on a pile of rubble.
"Is she responsible for this?" one of the wolves asked. "She is, isn't she?"
"We should cut her throat before she can try anything else," another wolf added and drew his sword. Several of his companions voiced their support for this idea.
Ahhh, it's hard to find minions who understand the finer points of life. He sighed deeply and shook his head. "No, no... that would be far too petty. Please, we're no barbarians, so put the sword away..."
"But I-"
"...before I have you executed," Shen finished his sentence with a polite smile.
The guard exchanged panicked looks with his friends before sheathing his sword again. "Of course, Lord Shen," he whispered.
"Excellent. Now... here's what we will do with our prisoner..." He walked over to her, desperately trying to look dignified while struggling to maintain his balance. Tigress, just like him, didn't seem to be injured, but her clothes were as dirty as his. Mh, remains of gunpowder. Nothing that can't be washed off. She probably doesn't even need a doctor. Pah. She probably could've taken a full blast to the head without any major injuries. Stupid, beautiful, unstoppable Tigress. "Bring her back to her cell," he finally whispered. "Help her clean up, get her a doctor if she needs one, give her something to eat." He lightly kicked her arm. "However, search her and her friends. Take everything but their clothes."
"As you command, Lord Shen, but-"
"But, but, but," the peacock imitated the low whine of his guard. "But what? Are you so utterly unable to understand? Do I really need to spell it out for you?" He sighed. No sense of class. Just dumb muscle. "If we simply murder her now, she'll have died thinking that she succeeded. And I refuse to let her have even this small victory. No, her defeat must be absolute."
The wolves looked up at the gorilla, obviously hoping that he would be able to keep the conversation going without attracting their employer's glare of death. "So," the towering guard finally began, "how will you do that?"
"Oh, it's quite simple, really." Just follow my orders without question! There, how's that for simple? But noooo, the moment the boss is almost killed by his own invention, people think they have a right to question their orders! "You will bring her back to her cell, clean her up and let her recover. And tomorrow, while the fleet is getting ready to move out, you will tie her up, along with her friends. And then I'll show myself, and she will realize that she failed. And then, then, once she knows that I truly bested her, I will have her and her friends moved somewhere close to the city gates. And then I will personally man the large cannon on my personal ship. And then I will take aim. And then... and then..." He was openly grinning now, impressions of insanity be damned. "And then! I will FIRE the CANNON! Right! THROUGH! Her! CHEST! And she WILL be DEAD! Yes! YES! Yes! DEAD!" He cackled, shuddering in sheer delight at the mental image of Tigress paying the price for her betrayal, for her stupid loyalty to a dead panda.
It took him a full minute to recover from his brief descent into madness. "Everybody got that?" he asked and wiped a tear of joy from his cheek. "Any questions, maybe? None? Great! Great! Then you're dismissed. Do your thing. And get some sleep, we'll have a busy day tomorrow."
The guards practically dashed out of the remains of his room, with the slowest members of the pack getting stuck with the duty of taking care of Tigress. But Shen paid no attention to them. In his mind, the feline was already dead. Though I can't fight the feeling that I'm forgetting something... hmmmmmmm... He scratched his beak, then froze. Of course! The other missing item! What was it... something small... oh right, the straw hat. He frowned. I should probably have somebody look for that. On the other hand... "Bah," he finally muttered as he made a decision. A straw hat won't hurt me or the plan. Utterly inconsequential. What's somebody supposed to do with it, anyway? Throw it at me like some sort of... disc of destruction? The peacock allowed himself a quiet chuckle. "Oh Shen, now you're just being silly..."