Hello everyone, For those of you who don't know me, I am Pandafan91 and I have finally returned to continue writing KFP fics for all to enjoy. After a series of events forced me to put Fanfiction on hold for the past 3 months or so, I am finally back and ready to get back into the swing of things. However...As I said I have been gone for a while so before I go back to updating my current stories, "Fate Can Be So Cruel Part 2: Return to the Iron Mines" and "Kung Fu Panda: Time Waits for No One" I'm going to use this short story to help be get back into the groove of things.

This will only be a 3 chapter story but I hope people can enjoy it all the same.

Enjoy the Read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, nor any of it's characters...or Po's action figures. Those are his.

"Action Figures and Dominoes"

Created by Pandafan91

Chapter 1

The Accident

The day had started out just like any other day would have in the Valley of Peace. The Sun rose up from behind the Mountains to greet the world and the inhabitants of the Valley had once again begun yet another glorious day. With the Sun now shining high and bright and the skies void of practically any clouds, save for a few here and there; the day was simply turning out to be absolutely perfect and everyone in the Valley was already out and enjoying it. But the villagers weren't the only one's who were excited about such a day.

Sitting up high above the Valley of Peace at the top of the infamous Thousand Steps, sat the glorious Jade Palace, home to Grandmaster Shifu, the Dragon Warrior and of course the Furious Five. Shifu, after suffering through several hours of one rather stubborn Panda's whining and begging for him to give the Warriors the Day off from training, eventually had succumbed to his student's pleas and granted the warriors a reprieve from their daily training; on the condition that Po agreed to not only clean the Sacred Hall of Warriors from top to bottom...without breaking a single artifact mind you... but also the Training hall at the end of the following Day...without any assistance from the Five or anyone else.

Of course Po agreed to his Master's terms right away without any hesitation and the Kung Fu Masters were granted their free day. Although, even Shifu had to admit the weather was perfect for allowing him to spend some time up at the Pool of Sacred Tears to meditate. A spot that the old Master cherished greatly, yet rarely visited those days thanks to his duties as Grandmaster. But now that he no longer had to oversee his student's training, he could be free to spend the morning up at the Pool. On top of that, he managed to get the Panda to agree to some additional chores around the Palace without so much as a ghost of an argument. A truly marvelous achievement in itself most of the time.

Although the majority of the Kung Fu Masters at the Palace were indeed pleased and grateful to their Master's kindness, there was one warrior in particular who wasn't as thrilled or excited about being given a day of relaxation. Her name was Tigress, esteemed member of the Furious Five and a dedicated Kung Fu warrior through and through. Kung Fu was, for the most part, her entire life. So whenever Shifu did in fact grant the students a reprieve from their daily regimen, Tigress was always left beside herself and this time was no different.

While the others enjoyed their given free time doing whatever it was they did, be it going into the Village to kill some time, practicing an art of some sort such as Calligraphy or maybe ribbon Dancing, or maybe even just taking it easy and taking an afternoon nap in the student barracks, Tigress was one to spend her free time just as she would spend it on any other day in one of 3 places: The Hall of Heroes, studying the Thousand scrolls of Kung Fu. The Palace court yard, practicing her meditation and peace of mind. Or the Training Hall, working on improving her skills for as long as she could before Master Shifu would chase her out and demand she take her free time seriously since it came around so little.

Today of course was no different and once again, while everyone else had been discussing what they were going to do with their allotted time off, Tigress had been hard at work inside the Training hall honing her skills.

While the Master of the Tiger was standing on the edge of the Jade Tortoise Shell of Wisdom on just one foot, her paws brought together in front of her chest, with her elbows straight, while her eyes were closed in concentration, the remaining four Members of the Furious Five stood along the walkway on the opposite side of the Training Hall watching her, while Viper tried to talk to Tigress one final time, "Tigress, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" while Crane called over from beside the snake, "Yeah Tigress, you never know, maybe you'll see something you'd like down in the Marketplace."

Tigress sighed in frustration as she cracked open her eyes into slits and began to roll them in annoyance. That morning, Po had proposed to the entire group at breakfast that they should all venture down into the village Marketplace with him as a means of something to do. Immediately Tigress declined, saying that she would rather use her time training and preparing for the next inevitable danger, rather than wasting it looking at frivolous nick-knacks, or whatever it was Po wanted to go and look at.

Of course, her instant reply to the Panda was a bit upsetting to the large bear, but Tigress barely even noticed. The rest of the group however did and were since trying to convince the Tiger to join them while Po was finishing up cleaning the kitchen. Monkey then called out for about the third time, "Oh, come on Tigress, what's the big deal? It's only for a couple of hours!"

At this point Mantis hopped down from Monkey's shoulder where he had been sitting and onto the Training hall floor and said, "I don't see what the problem is, Tigress. I mean, it's not like Po asked you out on a date or anything-" At this point, Tigress's eyes snapped wide open and her balance faltered just a bit, but she managed to regain it just as quickly. Thankfully her back was still to the Five so nobody was able to see her facial expression. Mantis then continued, "-He just wants to spend time with everyone together. And I think there was something about some super awesome vendor that was coming to the Valley this week that he wanted us to see."

Tigress then released an annoyed sigh as she fought to keep herself from growling at her comrades, "For the last time, I said I would rather train. The rest of you can feel free to leave the Palace with the Dragon Warrior, but I for one will not be abandoning my training for some random vendor."

Crane and Viper then looked at each other briefly before the avian asked, "You sure Tigress?-" While Viper added, "-Because it has been a while since any of us have left the Palace other than for a patrol. Wouldn't it be nice to get out, just for a little while?" Yet again, Tigress merely replied, "Have a good time." Resulting in both Crane and Viper to merely shake their heads in defeat.

Just then, the Training Hall doors opened up to reveal the Dragon Warrior walking through them and into the training hall, carrying in his right paw what the Four Masters standing off to the side noticed to be his treasured, hand crafted, Master Tigress action figure. As Po approached his friends, he asked each of them with an excited smile on his face, "You guys ready to get going!? I totally don't want to miss out on all of all of Xiao Xiang's wares. All of his best stuff get's sold first and goes fast!"

Monkey nodded as he looked over at the Panda and said, "We're all set Po, just waiting on you." Po nodded before he looked over at Tigress and called out, "Hey Tigress, are you coming with us!?" At this point, Tigress was about ready to use the Wuxi Finger hold on the next person who asked her that insufferable question...that was of course, if she actually knew HOW to use the Wuxi Finger hold. But it was a tempting thought in that moment all the same.

Tigress then shouted at the Five warriors behind her without turning around, "FOR THE LAST TIME, I SAID NO!" For a moment there was nothing but silence throughout the entire training hall as everyone stared at Tigress wide eyed. Po blinked at the Feline several times before his ears fell in disappointment and he muttered, "Sheesh... okay, it was just a question. What's with her today?" As Po asked this, he was now looking over at the rest of his friends who were merely shaking their heads while Viper answered, "She just wants to focus on her training Po, don't take it personally."

Po just nodded in response but the frown never left his face as he looked back and over at the Tiger. Seeing this, Monkey decided to try and change the subject by asking, "So, we all set for you to show us this Awesome Vendor of yours, or what?" Immediately Po's ears shot back up and his frown was instantly replaced with a smile as he said, "You bet! The kitchen's cleaned up, I've got my Tigress action Figure, my list-" at this Po's paw immediately reached inside his one pocket in search of this list of his he just mentioned, but instead of pulling it out, Po's face once again fell, only this time it was in confusion. "-Huh? That's weird... must of left it back in the kitchen. I'll be back guys, I just got to go grab it!"

The others just sighed but nodded in understanding all the same. Po then began looking around the training hall as if looking for something specific when his eyes finally landed on Mantis. Po then walked over to the insect and bent down, placing his Tigress action figure on the ground standing upright beside his friend while asking, "Could you watch this for me till I get back, Mantis? It'll be just for a minute." Mantis briefly looked at the wooden replica of Master Tigress before looking back up at Po and nodded his head while saying, "Sure Po. Hey, maybe I could actually beat this Tigress in a sparring match now that we're the same height! Heh heh heh."

Po just rolled his eyes and shook his head briefly before straightening up and began rushing over to the training hall doors while shouting back, "Be right back!" But just as Po rounded the corner he stopped abruptly and turned back to look around the corner and back into the training hall and said, "Please don't let Mantis break my Tigress Action Figure! It's totally one of a kind and Super special to me and-"

But before Po could finish rambling, the other Masters all shouted over at the bear, "Just GO!" causing Po to be taken aback a bit before muttering, "Okay, sheesh... touchy." and with that, he disappeared around the door once more to head back over to the kitchen.

Once Po was gone for good this time, Viper the stated to the group, "Honestly, I love Po like a brother, I really do. But sometimes I just can't help but worry about him." The guys all continued looking over where Po had disappeared from, as they each replied in perfect unison, "Yup." before taking up various places nearby to wait for the black and white bear to return.

Once Po had finally vacated the training hall, the other Masters seemed to have lost the need to talk amongst themselves and a relative silence seemed to fall over the training hall. "Finally." Tigress thought to herself before taking a deep breath as she prepared herself. Now she could finally concentrate on her training.

Monkey, who was now leaning up against the wall next to a weapons rack happened to look up and notice Tigress was now stretching her arms out from side to side and so the primate motioned over to the tiger with his head and alerted the rest of the five, "Check it out." The 3 remaining masters then looked up and over at Tigress just as the Feline snapped her eyes wide open and instantly leaped backwards into the air off of the Tortoise shell and right into a triple back flip, twisting her frame around at just the last moment so that she could land on all fours ontop of the spinning logs, which she then immediately proceeded to dash across of as quickly yet gracefully possible.

The others watched as Tigress maneuvered across the spinning logs, never faltering or losing her footing even once as she sped across the obstacle while she narrowly avoided each of the Seven Swinging Clubs of Oblivion. The second she reached the end, instead of jumping off to the side to stop, Tigress then surprised the other Masters and immediately pushed off the logs and flew off to her right, landing straight in the middle of the gauntlet of wooden warriors where she proceeded to then assault the wooden targets with no mercy.

As Tigress proceeded through the sea of warriors, it was Viper who stated out loud, "She must be going for a new personal best for how fast she can make it through the obstacle course." Crane, who was standing over near monkey nodded his head while saying, "That'd be my guess. But look at her move. She's so focused right now that she's already just about out of the gauntlet."

It was then that Tigress had leaped up and delivered a powerful spin kick aimed at the final wooden dummy in her way, releasing a mighty, "Hyah!" before landing on her feet momentarily in her fighting stance, before she leaped up onto the next level and dove straight into the center of the Field of Fiery Death!

The instant she landed, Tigress's ears caught the sounds of several wheels and gaskets turning beneath her and quick as lightning, Tigress side stepped to the left to avoid a deadly stream of fire shooting up from the vent underneath her. But the instant she arrived at a new spot, Tigress was only given the briefest of seconds to determine where to move next to before more fire proceeded to shoot out from underneath her. This dance went on for several seconds as Tigress continued to dance around the field, bending and swerving around the fire that was trying to catch her, but to no avail.

As Tigress continued to dodge the intense flames, Monkey then whistled before saying, "Wow, look at her go. She really is trying to get that personal best. So far not a single flame has managed to catch her. She probably isn't even sweating over there and those flames are no joke." The others just nodded in agreement as they watched Tigress maneuver around the Field.

Finally, after managing to narrowly avoid the latest stream of fire from beneath her, Tigress finally saw the opening in the flames she was waiting for and immediately jumped forward as far and high as she could, where she proceeded to reach upward and grabbed onto the first of the Seven Talon Rings hanging above the training course.

In no time, Tigress began to swing from the rings one by one, reaching forward and grabbing the next ring in front of her while using her momentum to swing forward as she managed to keep herself from getting cut by the many blades decorating the rings. As she reached the last ring, Tigress then proceeded to shift her weight to the right and she then used the ring to carry her over towards the walkway where her comrades were standing by.

As soon as Tigress began swinging over towards them, Crane then shouted, "Everyone look out! She's coming this way!" Immediately, all four of the other Master's scattered to get out of the way, including Mantis. But as soon as he got a safe distance away from the area Tigress was no doubt about to land in, Mantis realized that he had left Po's action figure behind in the heat of the moment. Mantis then turned around quickly and shouted "Oh man! Tigress, wait!" But it was too late.

As soon as Tigress was carried over the Gauntlet of wooden warriors below, she quickly released her grip on the final Talon ring and proceeded to allow herself to fall down to the walkway beneath her, allowing herself to perform a quick flip while she was in mid air.

Mantis and the others watched as Tigress exited her flip and landed onto the walkway in a dismount. But instead of landing with what should have been an almost inaudible "Thud" what the Masters each heard instead was a rather loud "Crunch!" Mantis then muttered out once more, this time in a far off tone, "Oh man."

Tigress's eyes snapped wide open at the unexpected sensation she had felt underneath her right foot. It took less than a second for her mind to register the pain that was now coursing through her foot before the feline released a vicious roar as she shouted, "GAAAH!? What in the name of...!?" but while Tigress was shouting into the air around her, she carefully lifted her foot up and tilted it to the right so that she might examine what foreign object she had managed to land on top of.

She was expecting to see one of the throwing stars they used for training or perhaps some other piece of equipment that Po probably had forgotten to put away once he was through with using it. Imagine her surprise when what she saw was in fact a wooden replica of her own head wedged in between the paw pads on her foot. As soon as her eyes discovered the object, they narrowed in an instant as the Tiger master growled dangerously, "Po...of all the stupid things for him to do-" but Tigress was cut off as Viper called over to her, "Tigress, are you okay?"

Tigress then quickly brushed the wooden head off her foot and watched it fall onto a mass of what she quickly discovered to be a pile of what was now crushed and shattered pieces of Po's one and only Tigress action Figure. Apparently this was what Tigress landed on top of when she dropped from the last talon ring.

Once the rest of the five had gathered, Tigress then answered the serpent, "Fine Viper...but that Panda and I are going to have a few words when I see him next." It was then Tigress and the other Masters heard Mantis groan, "Oh man, look at it! How could I have let this happen!?" It was then that Monkey, Crane and Viper all looked down and saw what Mantis was talking about and each of them gasped lightly in shock and horror.

"Oh dear." Viper whispered while Crane stated, "This isn't good." Monkey then added, "Dude, Po's going to completely lose it when he sees this!" while Mantis groaned again while saying, "What am I gonna do? The big guy trusted me to watch his action figure and I let him down." Monkey then looked over at the insect and warned, "You better think of something quick, Mantis. Po will be back any minute now!" but before the insect could ask for any suggestions, Tigress rolled her eyes before nearly shouting, "Oh for the love of... do you people even hear yourselves!? It's just a stupid doll! It's not as if it's a priceless artifact from the Hall of Warriors."

Viper then looked up at Tigress and said, "Somehow, I don't think Po is going to feel the same way Tigress. You know how much he cares for his action figures." Tigress just huffed as she stated darkly, "Well it serves him right for leaving his little toys lying around. The training hall is the last place that...THING... should have been in the first place!" It was then that Monkey suddenly heard their Panda friend humming to himself outside the hall and the Primate quickly warned the others, "Shh! Here he comes!"

Immediately both Monkey and Crane moved to stand in front of the destroyed action figure while Tigress refused to move from her spot behind them as she folded her arms and muttered, "Perfect timing."

Po then walked in through the opened Training hall doors waving his list he had gone and fetched around while saying, "Got it! You guys ready to go and see Xiao Xiang, the greatest vendor of all time!?" but as soon as Po finished his sentence, he was met with nervous smiles all around. Well, except for Tigress of course, she was just glaring at the Panda like she did whenever Po did something to annoy her, which was pretty often.

When nobody answered the Panda right away, Po lowered his list to his side and asked with a raised eyebrow, "What's going on?" Viper was the first to snap out of her thoughts and quickly slithered forward up to the Panda saying, "Nothing Po, nothing at all. How about we get going so you can take us to this vendor you've been talking about so much right away!" As Viper was trying to Push Po out the door with her head, she only managed to get him a few steps back towards the door before Po stepped around her while saying, "Just a minute Viper, I have to get my Tigress Action Figure first." As Po was now walking away from her, Viper called after him in a nervous tone, "But uh...um...you see..." but she couldn't think of anything to say to stop the bear.

Soon Po came to stand before Crane and Monkey and immediately Po tried to step around them while saying, "S'cuse me guys." but as Po stepped to the right, both Monkey and Crane stepped to the left blocking his path. "Whoops." Monkey muttered anxiously while Crane stuttered, "S-S-Sorry Po." But whenever Po tried going left, Monkey and Crane each went right, continuing to block his path. "Guys, come on!" Po whined slightly, though you could easily hear the growing irritation in his voice.

Eventually though, Po decided enough was enough and so he reached forward with both paws in between Monkey and Crane and pushed them both in opposite directions so that he could get through between them. "Seriously guys, I just want to grab my Tigress action figure and then we can all-!" but as soon as Po's eyes drifted towards the floor, his voice along with he heart practically all but stopped. "-...go."

There, lying on the floor next to an incredibly nervous Mantis, was perhaps the most horrifying sight Po had ever seen before in his entire life. His most prized action figure out of his entire collection, was now lying before him in a heap of splintered pieces. Everyone waited for the Panda to say something... to do SOMETHING... but not so much as a sound came from the Panda, at least not right away.

His eyes never once leaving the remains of his action figure, Po's legs suddenly gave out from underneath him and the Panda fell to his knees with a low thud, completely unaware of the fact that he almost dropped on top of Mantis, or that Tigress was still standing a few paces in front of him while glaring in his direction.

The other Masters just watched helplessly as Po slowly reached forward with shaking paws while whispering, "No...How...what happened to you?" as Po carefully began to pick up the pieces of the action figure and held them in his paws while his eyes continued to stare at them in absolute horror. Mantis then stepped forward and tried saying, "Po...Po I'm sorry. It was an accident, I swear. It all just kind of happened so fast...Man, I'm sorry."

But Po never answered the insect. Instead, he slowly began to piece together the toy's broken parts piece by piece in his paws, but of course that was going to be useless and the bear soon realized this once his paws shifted and the pieces did the same.

Po's eyes were quickly filling up with tears as he brought his shattered treasure close to his heart and released a quiet sob that he was trying to suppress. This single action however was enough to push Tigress over the edge as she threw her paws up in the air and shouted, "Oh for crying out loud! Get over it Panda, it's just a stupid doll!"

The other four Masters gasped at the sudden outburst, while Viper cried out, "Tigress! Now isn't the time for-" but Tigress cut her off as she took a few steps forward, now standing directly in front of Po and said, "Are you kidding? Now is the perfect time to say it." Tigress then looked down at Po who had yet to tear his eyes away from his shattered toy and snapped, "It's high time someone told him to grow up already. And since none of you will say anything, I will." Tigress's eyes then narrowed even further as she looked down on the Panda and stated, "You're supposed to be the Dragon Warrior for crying out loud. A Kung Fu Master and protector of the Valley of Peace! One of China's great heroes! The Time for playing with dolls is long since past, Panda!"

At this, Po's grip on the pieces of his action figure tightened significantly, yet he refused to raise his head to look up at the Tiger Master, as more and more tears continued to fall from his face and onto the wooden floor beneath him. Tigress then continued, "Besides, it only serves you right for leaving your little toys lying around in the first place, but more than that, Dragon Warrior name aside, you're a grown Panda, you can't be playing with dolls like this all the time or even at all! It's pathetic." At this point, Po's body was slowly beginning to shake and his breathing was starting to pick up.

It was here where Monkey interjected, "Hey Tigress, maybe you should ease up." while Crane added, "Yeah Tigress, maybe now isn't the best time to talk about this." but the feline just said, "Nonsense. If someone doesn't give it to him straight, then he'll never grow up. He needs to learn that there comes a time in life where you just can't keep playing with stupid toys any more like a child and you have to grow up. Personally I'm glad this happened. Maybe now he can start taking his duties as the Dragon Warrior more seriously. Honestly Panda, I don't understand what you see in those stupid things. Tell me, when was the last time you saw a Kung Fu Master playing with some stupid little-"

But It was in that instant that Tigress's sentence was cut short, as Po abruptly shot up to his feet, his paws still holding his Tigress figurine close to his chest. But what silenced Tigress in that moment wasn't the fact that Po had suddenly moved, but it was the new sound that was now coming from the Giant Panda. No longer was Po crying over his damaged Action Figure. Now...Po was growling.

Tigress blinked a bit before looking at the Panda's face and admittedly was surprised at what she saw. Tears were indeed still flowing from the Panda's eyes, but Po's brow was now furrowed in anger while his teeth were now clenched while also being slightly shown. Nobody said anything at first, simply due to the fact that no one had ever witnessed this side of Po before. But after a few seconds, Tigress eventually straightened up and stood her ground as she shifted her person slightly and asked, "Do you have something to say to me, Panda?"

Po's growling then ceased, yet his glare seemed to only intensify. At first both Po and Tigress continued to merely glare at each other, but after a moment Po took a few steps closer, past Mantis and was now standing almost nose to nose with the Tiger Master. Tigress was about to push the Panda back when Po whispered in a voice clearly fueled by anger, despite him trying to hide it, a single word that stopped Tigress in her tracks. A word that she never in her wildest dreams ever thought would have such an effect on her mentally and certainly nothing she expected Po to say to her face while in the presence of so many others. Or for that matter ever at all!

"Dominoes."

Immediately Tigress's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened significantly while Po continued glaring into the Feline's fiery amber eyes. The remaining Masters were now all looking at each other clearly confused, when suddenly Po had turned around and began leaving the Training hall. "Po?" Viper called out in concern, yet the Panda never so much as acknowledged her as he continued holding his broken Tigress action figure close to his chest and continued on out of the training hall.

Viper then looked back to Tigress an said, "Tigress, you really did go too far! You should really go after him and-...Tigress?" the others then turned from watching Po storming out of the training hall to look over at their other Comrade, who now appeared to be starring off into space. "Tigress?" Monkey called out to the Tiger who suddenly shook her head briefly before saying, "Huh? I...I'm sorry... there is something I need to take care of right away." But before anyone could question the Feline any further, Tigress had dropped down to all fours and began sprinting out of the Training hall and began heading over into the direction of the student barracks.

Viper, Monkey, Crane and Mantis all watched Tigress practically flee from the training hall, each with their own looks of confusion etched on their faces, "Umm...what just happened?" Crane asked as he adjusted his hat while Monkey was scratching his head in confusion while he said, "I...have absolutely no idea."

Viper then looked over at Mantis and said, "Come on, let's go and try to find Po. The poor thing looked really upset." Mantis nodded in agreement, and together he and Viper began to leave the training hall followed closely by Monkey and Crane.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to any of the warriors, Master Shifu had bore witness the entire situation from above, as he kept himself hidden from within the shadows of the rafters. He had originally planned on heading up to the Pool of Sacred Tears earlier that morning but had decided to observe the Results of Tigress's training beforehand, as he knew she would more likely than not refuse to skip out on her training, and it was a rare opportunity to see how far she had come without one of the other Masters present to distract her.

Once the coast was clear, Shifu quickly dropped down from the ceiling and walked over to stand outside the training hall doors. As he looked off to the right, he could just make out Tigress disappearing into the Student barracks, while his other students appeared to be searching the grounds for Po who had managed to give them all the slip.

As Shifu's eyes drifted back to the student barracks, he began to stroke his beard lightly as he said thoughtfully out loud, "How very interesting."

And there you have the first chapter. Like I said, it'll only be a 3 chapter story and this is purely just to help me get back into the swing of writing. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and remember...

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