Kung Fu Panda Fanfic - The Rise of a Hero

(VII) Alter Ego

Po woke up with a severe headache, his eyelids felt heavy, and his vision was quite blurry. He felt somewhat dizzy due to the strong smell he could smell, although he couldn't define what it was exactly. The panda slowly tried to stand up but noticed something strange. He was not in his bed, nor was Viper next to him. Where was it? Although difficult to accept, Po found himself once again in the spirit world.

The panorama was quite dark, and a dense fog barely allowed him to see a couple of meters around. The huge floating stones were static, and the river that used to run through the place had stopped, as if it was frozen.

Po looked everywhere, but nothing concrete caught his attention. He was nervous and felt a chill run down his spine. He remained motionless for a few seconds, until a strange noise caught his attention.

The noise came from the distance, just from the other side of the river that represented the flow of the universe whose waters were frozen. Po decided to go investigate, and carefully approached the edge of the rock he was on. Cautiously, he placed his foot on the water and realized that he was not sinking. In fact, it was as solid as rock.

Po walked slowly over the flow following the noise that grew louder and louder. It was like a hammer hitting a piece of metal, a sharp sound that caused Po's ears to ring irritably with each blow. PAM. PAM. PAM.

Po got close enough to see a strange silhouette in the dense fog. A silhouette that seemed to have its back to Po, and hitting something with a hammer. PAM. PAM. PAM. Po continued advancing and managed to see the being in more detail. But it was something he had already seen.

When Po positioned himself next to it, he was able to see it in detail. A strange bear-shaped figure. Its body was made up of some kind of viscous mass that dripped with a pitch-like secretion, yet it managed to maintain its figure. In its right hand it carried a huge hammer, similar to the hammer of Li Chan, Po's biological father, and used it to forcefully strike a small jade stone resting on an anvil.

Po tried to speak to it, but his voice was drowned out by the immense noise produced by the impact between the huge hammer and the anvil. PAM. PAM. PAM. Finally, the small jade stone shattered into pieces, and the strange creature tilted its head forward in a frenzy and began to devour the shards, despite lacking a mouth, eyes, or nose.

Po was shocked at such an act of savagery. He was shocked and somewhat fearful of the brutality of that entity. But as the jade shards dissolved inside its body, the silhouette slowly backed away, picked up another piece of jade from beside it, and placed it on the anvil.

Po: - Excuse me. - He tried to get its attention, but it didn't seem to pay attention to him. - Who are...? - BAM. BAM. BAM. Po's voice was softened by the loud sound of the hammer.

Po backed away seeing that it was a waste of time, but as he tried to withdraw, the stranger in between spoke to him.

Entity: - It's been a while. Tell me. Have you forgotten about me? - Po could hear the voice, although the entity had no mouth.

P: - Who are you? - BAM. BAM. BAM. The entity struck the anvil in rage.

Entity: - Who am I!? - He said something upsetting, with a cold and terrifying voice. - I'm everything! And you are nothing. -

Po: - What are you talking about? - BAM. BAM. BAM. He hammered again.

Entity: - You... you're just an empty shell. A lie. -

Po: - I don't know what you're talking about. I am Po. I am the Dragon War... -

Po suddenly stopped speaking when the silhouette suddenly turned its head towards Po, who was shocked to see what was supposed to be the entity's face. Po had only been able to see half of his face, the silhouette of a bear with no eyes, mouth, or nose, but the other side was completely different.