Chương 18: Another world
(Petyr POV)
After my clone dissolves, I smile thinking about what just happened. Anyone else in my place would have died, crushed under the King's Warhammer. But that wasn't really what this was about. The show, I put on was for them to have to take a step back. The money they want will never arrive here. Not because I can't pay it, but because I don't want to. I need to keep this appearance. The time for keeping up appearances is over now. This was the last cheek I held for them to slap. Now, I will start slapping ... hard.
The reason why I accepted the group of idiots who will try to spy on me, is simple ... they will all die. And despite that, their report will be the best they have ever written. Everything is set for me to take a vacation and go on my first longer trip. I have been playing around with the Mirror 'dimension'. I say dimension, but reality is more like it. It connects every single reflective surface in the Omniverse there is. And I literally mean EVERY SINGLE reflective surface.
After I got more familiar with it, I knew that I wanted to go and have a look. And that's what I will do right now. The new position they gave me was the best way for me to have enough time and do what I wanted. I will simply leave a clone to do the basic work and go through with the plan here, while I check out a world as a test. For now, the world is but a simple one.
.
.
(3rd Person POV)
20 years ... 20 years have passed since Tai Lung was imprisoned in this prison. He was raised by Shifu, who recognised his potential in martial arts and taught him everything he knew.
Over time, Tai Lung became proud and overly confident in his abilities, having mastered Leopard-style Kung Fu and advanced techniques such as nerve attacks, as well as all one thousand scrolls of Kung Fu. But despite all his accomplishments, Tai Lung still sought the power of the Dragon Scroll and firmly believed he was the Dragon Warrior.
It was this overwhelming pride and lust for power that alerted Oogway of the darkness in Tai Lung's heart. He refused him the title, surprising and disappointing both Shifu and Tai Lung, and Tai Lung looked to his master and father figure for support, only to be further dismayed when Shifu did nothing to object to Oogway's decision.
Confused and outraged, Tai Lung laid waste to the Valley of Peace, cutting a swath of destruction in his fury before charging back to the Jade Palace to try and take the Dragon Scroll by force.
Shifu charged to stop the snow leopard with a direct attack, but hesitated, unwilling as he couldn't bring himself to properly fight Tai Lung due to having raised him as his son. Still furious that Shifu had let Oogway's decision stand, Tai Lung did not hesitate to knock Shifu aside, shattering his hip before he leapt for the scroll. He was halted in midair by Oogway, who jabbed multiple pressure points in Tai Lung's chest, blocking his chi and knocking him out as Shifu watched in horror as the warrior he'd raised and trained fell before him.
Leaving him under the supervision of Commander Vachir and the Anvil of Heaven, Shifu and Oogway parted ways from Tai Lung, leaving him in prison as punishment for his crimes against the citizens of the Valley of Peace.
Now, 20 years later, Tai Lung's rage had only intensified. Today, on this fateful day, a messenger goose named Zeng arrived at Chorh-Gom Prison, carrying a message from Shifu to Commander Vachir: Orders to double the guards and tighten security due to a vision Oogway had of Tai Lung returning to the Valley of Peace.
Commander Vachir only boasted he had everything under control and that escape from Chorh-Gom was impossible
...
Well, it wasn't.
Tai Lung managed to get free and stormed his way through the entire prison, beating all the rhinos in his path and making an explosive exit.
*BOOOOM*
The heavy door of the Chorh-Gom prison was blasted open and the dead rhinos were flung in all directions. The only two survivors were the messenger goose Zeng and Tai Lung himself.
He grabs Zeng by the neck.
"Haaa ... I'm glad Shifu sent you. I was beginning to think, I'd been forgotten. Fly back there and tell them ... the real Dragon Warrior is coming home."
After watching the goose fly for a moment, another sound was heard.
*Clap clap clap clap*
"That was an impressive show. Truly remarkable how powerful you are, despite not moving for two decades," a voice was heard behind Tai Lung.
The leopard looks back and sees ... a rhino standing there. He smiles arrogantly, thinking that this is another of the same rhinos he has just crushed on masse.
"Oh, you sure are strong and brave for standing up again, after all that. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to pummel you to the ground and teach you some humility," the rhino says and smashes his fist into his palm.
"Heh, funny," Tai Lung says and rushes towards the unnamed rhino. With decades of training, he uses his strength and technique to deliver a powerful punch that hits the rhino's stomach.
*BANG*
But what he expected, doesn't happen. The rhino doesn't shoot back at all. Instead, it is Tai Lung that feels a lot of pain and is flung back, hitting the wall of the mountain.
*Boom*
"Grrrr ... what was that?" Tai Lung questions the rhino who is still standing there like nothing happened.
"He, is that all you got? If you wanted to become the Dragon Warrior with that amount of strength, then I understand Oogway for sending you to prison for your audacity."
*ROAR*
Tai Lung roars and rushes towards the rhino again. He sends out a series of quick and powerful punches that combine his decades-long experience. But to his surprise, the rhino manages to block and deflect all of his attacks as if knowing what to expect. The anger intensifies in Tai Lung and he lunges at the rhino with more ferocity. More and more punches meet with the impeccable defence of the rhino and without warning, kicks are also introduced into the scuffle. From one combination to another, Tai Lung throws everything he has at the rhino.
And yet ... nothing works.
Tai Lung is perplexed. He feels like he is fighting himself. It's like fighting a mirror that does the same thing at the same time. He tries something else. Seeing as the rhino clearly is copying him, he goes for a feint.
Tai Lung starts a series of combinations he is very much used to, which he has already used in this fight. A punch from the right and an uppercut from below, followed by a high knee and a flip kicking the face. As he expected, the rhino managed to block everything, but then he suddenly changed his approach and kung fu style. He increases his speed as much as possible and spins around, using his claws to act like blades, cutting anything they come in contact with.
The rhino moves back a bit, to dodge the claws and distances himself a bit. That was what Tai Lung wanted though and he changes his posture mid-rotation, in a physically impossible way and kicks the rhino in the face with a force that is multiple times his maximum strength.
*BOOOM*
However, similar to the first time he punched the rhino, instead of doing damage to the rhino, he receives the force instead. His head snaps back, cracking and almost breaking his neck as he shoots back and nearly loses consciousness.
The rhino meanwhile walks forward slowly, stopping when he reaches Tai Lung.
"You are an impressive fighter, Tai Lung. I would have lost if I didn't have my abilities. But using the abilities we were granted is not weakness or cheating. It's just me fighting smartly and you losing."
*BANG*
A thunderous right hook finally knocks the snow leopard out for good.
The rhino slowly begins to change and the face as well as the body recedes, revealing the face of Petyr Baelish. His face and body have undergone a change again. His facial features are sharp and his body gained slight mass to accommodate the strength, he copied from Tai Lung.
He had come to the world of Kung Fu Panda, for his first try. It was a good world for him to go and copy the martial arts of some masters. Tai Lung was an amazingly dominant fighter and presence in the movies and one he actually enjoyed while watching. Being voiced by Ian McShane also helped him set that intimidating presence. He didn't know that the magic of the Faceless Men could work this way, but he was happy that it did.
With him having defeated the antagonist of the first movie, he wasn't sure what to do exactly. He has now established that he can travel to different universes and realities using his Essence of the Mirror. But could he also travel differently, like ... through time?
Only one way to find out.
He focuses on the time and the place he wants to go and then disappears into a reflective surface. Navigating through the Mirror reality is not easy for him yet. But he follows his instincts. Slowly he flows through the mirror reality and then rises. His form rises through the reflective surface of an ethereal golden pond of some kind.
He can tell that he has entered a world that exists in a separate plane from the one he was before. Golden light shines all around and he sees a peach tree on a very small island in front of him.
[Picture]
Underneath the peach tree, an old turtle is meditating with a jade staff on his knees. Petyr smiles knowing that he managed to travel not only into the future but also into the Spirit Realm.
The Spirit Realm, which is also called the Spirit World, is the name of the world where Kung Fu masters go in the afterlife. It is a plane of existence described as 'an undefined world, an alternate reality where perspective is skewed.'
The appearance of the Spirit Realm directly relates to the spirit energy of the strongest presence currently residing in it. Kai's battle with Oogway reflected hues of jade green, and after his defeat, the realm took on a solid golden tone, mimicking Po's arrival as the Dragon Warrior and subsequent victory over Kai. Green and gold are the contrasting and main thematic colours of the third film, representing the chi of the antagonist and protagonist respectively.
Similarly, the amount of chaos in the realm is reflective of the current balance of yin and yang. 'In its most chaotic existence, namely when Kai is in control, the terrain appears the most damaged, with a variety of debris floating every which way.' In contrast to peaceful times, 'the terrain of the Spirit Realm appears more stable,' displaying visual elements like a chi lake with ripples, where peach blossom petals drift by and movements that "echo the circularity of yin and yang, and the energy of chi circles.'
The turtle, who is Master Oogway, opens his eyes and looks at Petyr who stands in front of him.
"Hmm, a visitor. How peculiar."
"Is it? Did you not see this coming? Has the universe not warned you yet?" Petyr asks.
"Ah, it appears you know more than I do. Why are you interested in the future, when the present is what you came here for?"
"Clever. I like to prepare for the future and as many eventualities as possible. That keeps you alive after all."
"You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There's a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."
"That sounds like something out of a fortune cookie."
"Hehehe, I suppose it does. I did say that more than once after all. So what can I do for you ... Petyr?"
"..."
"..."
_________________________
Now that Pandora's box of the multiverse has been opened, please tell me what other worlds you might like to see him travel to.
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