//------------------------------// // 3: Training day // Story: Kung Fu Panda: The Dragons Destiny // by dragonfan101 //------------------------------// The rest of the week had went by, Spike had started to get along with the 5 outside of Tigress, Viper was like a mother figure to him as she and him often cooked and helped around the place, and he, Monkey and Mantis often would like to hang around and have some fun, while he and Crane often practiced art which surprised Crane on how nicely he was able to make some with him, Tigress didn't trust him still and Spike decided it was best to not do anything to make her upset. Spike had to wake up at a gong that rang at the start of sunrise, the others were almost instant after the gong rang while Spike was a few seconds behind. "How do they get out so fast? I just may have to wake up a little earlier then" Spike thought as they all were standing at their doors, Spike was right next to Viper's room while he was across from Tigress's room. "Good morning master!" They all said at once even Spike was able to get it right away, Shifu then walked down to Spike "It's training day, don't expect it to be easy" Shifu said coldly "Yes Master Shifu" Spike said a little nervous, he and everyone else went to the training yards with Spike next to Viper. Shifu opened the gates to the courtyard and he walked to the building in front of it, he opened the doors and it surprised Spike in what he saw. The place had moving platforms to be quick on his feet, a giant bowl of some kind, dummies with sharp spikes at every angle, and a pit that shoots out fire at multiple places, which may not be a problem since he's fireproof, and swinging chains in the air for acrobatics. "Let's begin" Shifu stated making Spike's eyes widen. "That entire thing?" Spike asked nervously. "Yes, That entire thing, unless you think Oogway was wrong and are not capable of training here" Shifu said a little coldly "Shifu he's still really young" Viper said worried "He may be young but since he's a dragon he shouldn't have much trouble." Shifu argued back "Guys i'll be alright, " Spike said making they're eyes widen as they were shocked that he was willing to go. "Dude you could get really hurt" Monkey said worried. It's okay, if i want to stay here, i gotta follow orders and prove i'm not wanting to give up" Spike told them making Tigress eyes widen in surprise that he was willing to do it. "He's a little foolish for agreeing to do it but it's also honorable to be willing to do it as well" Tigress thought a little surprised. Spike took a breath as he felt something click inside him" lets do this" Spike said and ran to the obstacle course, the 5 tried to stop him but Shifu raised his hand and they all stopped at it and looked at him worried while Shifu was slightly interested in seeing what he can do. Spike then jumped on to the spinning platforms, Spike had to be quick on his feet to not fall off, but it proved a little difficult as they were spiked chains swinging down at him, he punched off a few of them and jumped to the large bowl, he had surprised the 5 that he didn't fall off at that. Spike then tried keep balance as the bowl kept leaning all around as his weight made it move around, when the bowl was leaned high enough he jumped off a platform on it and grabbed on of the swinging chains surprising them on how well he was doing for a first try. "He's actually doing alright" Crane said surprised with the others surprised as well, Spike then jumped across as many chains as he could, he then jumped down and landed intron of the spiked dummies, he then ran through and did his best to block as many dummies as he could "He might actually have potential in this" Shifu said surprised as he was shocked that he wasn't getting hurt as much as he thought "He's using self defense instead of attacking the dummies aggressively like i normally do, good idea" Mantis said amazed. Spike then continued to block as many of the spiked dummies he got hit a few times but it didn't hurt much because of his scales, Spike then went onto the pit of fire, he could feel the fire about to erupt at his feet, he dodged as many fire blasts as he could, when he did get it, it didn't hurt however because he's a dragon. Spike then got an idea and used a fire blast and jumped back onto the chains, he leapt across each on and landed back in front of them, they were all shocked on how decent he did, even Spike himself was surprised at this. "Whoa, i didn't even know i could do that" Spike thought surprised. Shifu was dumbfounded for a minute before he regained focus and looked at Spike. "Not bad dragon, i expect you to improve upon what you demonstrated here" Shifu stated "Yes master Shifu!" Spike bowed as he took deep breathes. "Come outside with us, now you must face off against each of them to see what more you can do" Shifu ordered and Spike's eyes widened in fear a little "Facing off against each of them?! How am i gonna do that?!" Spike thought hocked, he took more breathes before walking out with them and Monkey came up to him. "How were you able to do that?" Monkey asked surprised with the others wanting to know as well, "I don't know, before i jumped in something just... clicked, maybe i do have potential" Spike said looking at his claws in shock. "Maybe you do" Viper agreed "Even though i think it was just luck, i can't say im not surprised in how decent you were" Tigress said looking at him, they all looked shocked for a minute before deciding not to say anything to make her mad. They all then were back in the training yard. "You are going to face off against each of them to see what your style is" Shifu stated "Yes master shifu!" Spike said, he was a little confused in what he meant by "Style" But decided to see for himself, Shifu snapped his fingers and the training started. First off it was Spike vs Viper, they stood across each other and Viper while not wanting to hurt him was in her fighting stance ready to go. "Are you ready?" Viper asked, Spike nodded and raised his fists, Viper then slithered fast and tried to whip him, but Spike was being sure to dodge as many hits as he can, he eventually got whipped by her tail and landed on his back "Ow!" Spike said a little hurt. "Sorry Spike" She said a little upset she had to do that. "It's alright, lets continue" Spike said looking at Shifu, he then snapped his fingers again and we cut to Spike fighting monkey with a staff, Spike was actually able to get a few hits on him and was doing his best in dodging and waiting for the right moment, and Shifu observed his style and was getting an idea on how he is able to do so. Spike then faced off against Crane, and Crane was flying down from the air at multiple angles, Spike dodged them as much as he could and even landed a few hits on him making them surprised. Mantis however was tricky, he was small and was very fast, Spike felt him on multiple areas smashing him to the ground, Spike trusted his senses and was able to hit mantis off him back to the others, and they were all surprised even more at that, the whole day had gone by and it was around sunset ,but now it was time to face off against Tigress. "Oh boy..." Spike thought as he and Tigress stood across from each other, she was in her fighting stance ready to fight, Shifu then snapped his fingers once again and she charged at him. Spike had a really tough time with her, she was fast and aggressive, Spike did his best to dodge her attacks, he managed to hit her a few times surprising her as she didn't expect that, but she eventually knocked him down into a wall hard, and Spike groaned as he was trying to get up. "That was hard, but at least i pushed through today..." Spike said weakly as he got back on his feat, everyone else then came up to him "You alright Spike?" Monkey asked worried for him with the others worried as well, even Tigress was worried she went a little to hard. "I'm a little shaken up, but i'm still standing so that's something" Spike said as he started to regain his balance, Shifu then came up to him. "Not bad dragon, your style seems to be about self defense and waiting for the right moment to strike, I expect you to improve on it and become more capable in it" Shifu stated and Spike bowed "Yes Master Shifu" Spike said breathing a little heavily. "We will resume training tomorrow, you all can rest now" Shifu stated and he left them all alone. "At least we can rest at times" Spike said as he started breathing normally again. "Come on, lets go get some food cooking, we all need to eat" Viper stated as they all headed to eat. Tigress kept looking at Spike shocked in how decent he was today. "Maybe he isn't so bad after all, we'll have to see what happens in the future" Tigress thought as they headed back.