"To understand yourself is the key to wisdom." - Kung Fu-tzu Confucius (c. 551-c. 479 BC)

Previously on Kung Fu Panda…

"You don't belong in the Jade Palace." Tigress stated coldly as she glared at Po. "You're a disgrace to Kung Fu and if you have any respect for who we are and what we do you will be gone by morning." With a quick turn of her heel Tigress closes the doors of her dorm behind her, leaving behind a stunned Po facing the closed doors.

--

"Yeah, I stayed." Po began as he got up from the ground, his eyes set on Shifu. "I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled it hurt, but it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life being me…I stayed because I thought if anyone could change me, could make me…not me, it was you! The greatest Kung Fu teacher in all of China!"

"I can change you!" Shifu boldly stated as he tapped his staff into the ground. "I can turn you into the Dragon Warrior! And I will!"

Po scoffed. "Come on! Tai Lung is on his way here right now! And even if it takes him a hundred years to get here, how are you going to change this into the Dragon Warrior?! Huh?!"

--

"Not your fault?!" In a rage Tai Lung kicks down a statue as he proceeded closer to Shifu. "Who filled my head with dreams!? Who drove me to train until my bones cracked?!" Tai Lung then picked up a rack full of sword weapons and hurled them all at Shifu. "Who denied me of my destiny?!"

As swift and elegant as a bird Shifu skillfully parried and blocked every single of the weaponry thrown at him with skill before catching a huge blade, twirling it with the momentum with his hands before thrusting it harmlessly into the ground. "It was never my decision to make!"

Tai Lung snarls before leaping in front of a shrine and seeing Oogway's staff. He then picks up as he turned to Shifu, holding out to him, a smirk in his face. "It is now."

--

"Buddy…" Po panted before taking on one of the many Kung Fu poses he knows. "I'm…The Dragon Warrior…" He then dropped his paws to his knees as he began panting again from climbing up the stairs. "Hahh…"

Tai Lung stared, unable to believe this. "You?" He then chuckled as he threw Shifu down to the ground. "Him? He's a panda!"

--

"I'm not a big fat panda." Po declared with a serious look on his face before continuing as his eyes slowly narrowed in a glare. "I'm the big fat panda."

Tai Lung was horrified as he witnessed Po lifting his pinky as the panda had his finger in an all too familiar hold. "The Wuxi Finger Hold…!"

Po's eyes narrowed even more as he continued with an amused look. "Oh you know this hold?"

--

"It is as Oogway foretold…" Shifu smiled as he still lay on the ground from his fight with Tai Lung. "You are the Dragon Warrior…"

--

"Skadoosh." And with the simple flex of his pinky, a large explosion of golden light ripples through the valley…

You would think the story ended when Po unleashed the deadly Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung.

But you were wrong. Things were only just beginning…

The large explosion of golden light the Wuxi Finger Hold unleashed rippled through the valley. It was a magnificent view, but it was a deadly sight. A huge concentration of Chi it was, and it spread everywhere around the Valley of Peace. Everyone felt it like a strong gust of wind followed by a powerful shockwave; those who were far only felt the wind. Luckily, no one was too close to be injured by its first powerful shockwave.

However, a certain temple in the Valley of Peace felt the huge supply of Chi ripple through its halls, and something inside stirred…

Deep inside the temple lies a forgotten chamber where one would find a red urn with green dragons designed around its opening. Chinese text adorns around it, and its opening it covered by an enchanted lid sealed by powerful Chi from masters of old. Dust covers this beautiful looking urn, never touched for hundreds of years. Whatever this urn contains nobody wants to let it see the light of day ever again.

But then came the powerful shockwave of Chi from Po's Wuxi Finger Hold, its flow went through the temple's doors and struck the urn as one of many things the Chi touched. The powerful shockwave along with the tremor of the unleashed power caused the urn to crack and the lid to glow and shatter; its protective barrier of Chi broken.

The crack along the urn began snaking all over the vase's form, getting larger and bigger until the top half of the urn shattered into pieces as something from within struggled to escape. From within the urn an eerie blue glow emanated.

"At last…Freedom…"

A ghostly glow arose from theurn and floated up into the sky. At last, free to roam the world once more. He has not forgotten those who had sealed him away, and has bowed to resume what he started a long time ago. But alas, something is not right…His body, there it is not. Without flesh to wreak his revenge, this will not do.

The spirit made its escape from the temple and into the outside world. How different everything looks, the lush mountain range, the clear blue skies, everything seems so…Peaceful. This he did not liked. A world of peace was not in his vision for the future.

Things will have to change…

--

One month later…

So the story went that the Dragon Warrior successfully defeated Tai Lung after one huge battle full of awesome Kung Fu action. It was quite a victory; no one expected a big fat panda like Po to actually defeat such a powerful and evil leopard such as Tai Lung. So what happened to the Dragon Warrior after the battle?

Well, he often did two things. He either hanged out at the Jade Palace to train in his unique style of Kung Fu, getting his butt kicked around by the Five and the evil training dummy of doom in the process, and also on his free time he would return to the Golden Harvest Noodle Shop, where he would help with his dad, Mr. Ping, in running the shop. Although this was short lived, since Po didn't have an interest in following a life serving and preparing noodles. He very much preferred in training and honing his skills at the Training Grounds in the Jade Palace. It was pretty much where he belonged as the Dragon Warrior.

But then came those days where he would just head down to the village and, you know, walk around to see how everyone is doing. As the Dragon Warrior, it was his duty to protect the village and punish those who do evil. But today he was doing a little shopping so to speak. The Five grew to love Po's noodles; it was one of the first things of Po that the Five liked from the beginning. Sometimes he would head to his dad's shop to get some ingredients to serve them all a nice big bowl of noodles. Don't get him wrong, he didn't do it just to kiss up to his most favorite heroes, he liked cooking for them and…Well…Okay, so he mostly did it to get on their good side. But hey, who wouldn't treat to their heroes with something you're good at and they love?

As Po stopped in the middle of the central area of the village you could see he has changed (Even if just a little) during this month since his battle with Tai Lung. He was still big and…Well, fat, but with his daily and harsh training at the Palace he's been getting some muscle to replace some of his lost fat. His attire has changed as well to black silk long pants and top with long sleeves. His clothes were looking awesome for the designs they had. Gold silk around the end of his sleeves, around the end of his top adorns a belt-like gold scale designs. A similar design can be seen around the neck of the top to the shoulders and down to the half of the sleeves. On the back of the top resides the mark of a Chinese dragon as well as the same design on the front, all while a golden line moves from the back to the front and up to the neckline of the top. It's an awesome clothing for the Dragon Warrior and it fits him nicely (Or if you still can't picture it just boot up Kung Fu Panda: The Game and change into the Mystic Robes costume).

He slightly covers his eyes from the sun as he looks up at the Jade Palace standing majestically on top of the mountain, looking over the Valley of Peace. Po couldn't count how many times he drools and gets excited every time he sees the palace. It's every warrior's dream to set foot on the palace and walk in its halls, especially in the Hall of Heroes where one would find a number of totally awesome artifacts from Kung Fu Masters of old. It was so awesome to know that Po is now a part of the palace and can actually live there and train with the Furious Five, his all time heroes of Kung Fu. It was his dream come true!

Po looked at the sun and blinked. Dinner time is coming closer and closer with each passing second, and he still has to prepare and cook the food. He can't waste too much time at the village. "Okay." He muttered as he looked down into the bag he's carrying, going over the ingredients. "Let's see, I got onions, sauce, vegetables, and the noodles of course…Okay! I think I have everything I need for an awesome dinner with the Five!" Po smiled as he looked up at the Palace. "Oh yeah! It's not every day you get to prepare dinner for your favorite Kung Fu warriors of all time!"

As Po made his way back to the Jade Palace his happy smile suddenly turned upside down into an aggravating sigh. The evil stairs to the Jade Palace, oh how much he loathes them. And if he didn't know any better, they loathed him back. He couldn't count how many times he's been thrown or tripped down these long agonizing stairs only to bounce all the way down to the bottom. Grabbing his bag of ingredients tightly in his paw he began to climb up the seemingly endless stairs. This in combination to the scorching sun today, maybe he should've just worn his shorts today instead of his awesome black clothes…

As the Dragon Warrior began his painful ascend up the evil stairs, things aren't exactly smooth up in the Jade Palace. No, it has nothing to do with the Furious Five. Those guys have everything together. However, their defeat at the hands of Tai Lung helped them to find new motivation to train even harder. They would hit the Training Hall everyday as usual and train hard, often doubling or even tripling their training's difficulty (Which was hard enough as it was) to become even stronger! Now these masters are true Kung Fu Warriors! Always training to stay in their prime and aiming to become even stronger!

Master Tigress, the feline of the Five and master of the Tiger Style, had successfully dodged a couple of pendulum axes and jumped over an incoming log swing before delivering a flying kick to a second log swing, exploding the log into hundreds of pieces as it connected to her foot. She nimbly lands on the ground and takes up one of the many stances of the Tiger Style, her breath heavy and chest heaving as she takes a breather from the harsh training.

She glances to her other comrades as they train hard as well. Master Monkey, with his agility and flexible tail, swings from loop to loop avoiding the same log swings and pendulum axes Tigress dodged, throwing punches and kicks to parry and destroy any incoming projectiles from the many traps and gunners placed in the hall.

Master Crane, with his elegance and watchful eyes, flies over the burning infernos from pillars of fire shooting upward and avoids the many pendulum axes swinging in the room before landing in the middle of the room on top of a balancing bowl-like platform. As soon as he did a handful of knives and kunais are shot toward the warrior who began to effortlessly parrying and blocking them with his wings. Just suddenly he jumped, avoiding one of the swinging pendulums and spots two log swings coming at him almost immediately. He glared and spun in mid-air, his wings outstretched and cutting through the logs as they got closer, cutting them in two.

Master Viper, with her swift moves and slender body, moves over the furnaces as they shoot fire upward, swiftly turning and changing direction avoiding fire that would not even give you a chance to blink before they incinerate you. The speed rate between these fire pillars were increased to nearly triple from that last time. To avoid them without being burned…Such speed and reflexes. It's quite a sight.

Master Mantis, his small size but powerful blows, he jumps into an overwhelming group of spinning dummies equipped with spiky arms and body. If one's not careful they would be easily butchered and become a bloody pulp in no time. By their requests the spikes were sharpened to cut by even the simplest of touch. But Mantis showed no fear, he jumped in and, to tone his precision and accuracy, jumped from dummy to dummy while their arms were spinning savagely, impressively landing in-between the spikes from dummy to dummy. He even kicked off of them to increase their already mind-numbing spinning speed for more challenge.

All of these warriors together make the Furious Five, a group of Kung Fu warrior masters who strike fear into evil-doers whoever set foot in the Valley of Peace. Oh yeah! These are the warriors people like Po look up to for bravery, and it's Po's dream come true to become a part of them now as the Dragon Warrior; to train with them every day and earn their respect.

So what's exactly not going smoothly here? Well…

Tigress' ears twitched as she caught something in the corner of her eye. She turned and was a little surprised to see her teacher, Master Shifu, standing before her by the frame of the door. "Master…"

The others were quick to take note of their teacher and father-figure standing in their presence. As quick as they were dodging and attacking dummies they rushed to stand alongside Tigress facing their master in straight and formal positions. And they didn't miss a beat as they formally bowed to him in respect, a closed left fist into the open palm of their rightmost paw. "Master, it is a refreshing sight to see you up and about from your secluded room." Tigress began as she took her respectful bow to her master with the rest of the Five.

Master Shifu nodded in return to his students as they bowed. "It is good to see you all again." His eyes wander the Training Hall before returning them to his pupils. "I see you all have been hard at work training and honing your skills during my absence."

"Yes, Master." Tigress continues. "Since our shameful defeat at the hands of Tai Lung, we've been hard at work honing our skills, next time we won't fail if evil shows its face once again."

"But Master Shifu, is everything okay?" Master Viper inquires, worried about the recent absence of Shifu in the Palace. "We've been worried about you; you've been meditating more than usual lately."

Shifu lets out a sigh. Yes he has been meditating a lot lately, he's been plagued by a disturbing premonition. He can recall it clearly. A dark mist clouding and covering the village, dark Chi could be sensed within the mist as it traveled through the village, covering it up in its darkness. Anyone standing in its way would be swallowed in the darkness. But what disturbed him the most was the heroic figure who stepped up to fight the darkness, only to lose and be swallowed by the mist. He was sure this figure was the Dragon Warrior, and he was destined to…Lose? He was sure this was the case before he saw the rest: The warrior would stand up again to be wielding a staff which glittered light, piercing the darkness with it. This vision confused the Master. If the warrior was the Dragon Warrior, then what of this staff? Where did it come from? What or who does it represent? And what of this dark mist…

"Darkness is coming…" Shifu informed his students as he turned his head away slightly. "A darkness that will cover the entire valley…"

"Darkness, master?" Master Mantis inquired. The Five looked at each other before back at their master; they were worried by what their master had told me. Darkness? Was another evil force going to attack the valley? And more importantly, was their increased training enough to stand up to this 'darkness' whenever it comes?

"Yes." Shifu turns his back to his students, his mind still on his vision. "And I believe the Dragon Warrior somehow has a part in this."

"Po?" Master Viper blinked.

"The panda?" Master Crane tilted his head.

Shifu nodded. "Yes. However…According to what I have seen…" He hesitated to say. Besides, how is he supposed to tell that in his vision he witnessed the Dragon Warrior fall to this darkness? "…The Dragon Warrior will fail…"

The Five gasped and exchanged shocked glances. The Dragon Warrior will fail? It couldn't be, could it? How could the mythical Dragon Warrior, the one who defeated Tai Lung, could fail? It was a hard thing to swallow, that's for sure. If the Dragon Warrior did fail, what then? Can the Furious Five succeed if this is all true?

"Are…Are you certain of this, master?" Master Mantis inquires.

"I am afraid so, Master Mantis…"

The Five was worried. How could this be? The Dragon Warrior? Fail? Po was beginning to blossom into the Kung Fu warrior of his dreams as the Dragon Warrior. To be struck down so early…

They had to do something. Perhaps their enhanced training could help in changing the Dragon Warrior's destiny. And maybe help the Dragon Warrior himself to prepare him for this. After all, the Dragon Warrior has been a little…laid back despite his eagerness to become stronger as a Kung Fu warrior. He trains hard, but he could still train harder.

"However," Master Shifu began again. "There is something that baffles me…A part of my vision that I cannot decipher…"

Shifu can recall it. After the darkness swallows the warrior and engulfs the entire land the warrior stands once again with a golden staff in his paws. But what does it represent? Is this warrior Po or another warrior who wields a staff as a weapon? Is Po destined to perish to bring to light another warrior who will succeed against this darkness? Or does the staff represent something that'll help Po to stand up once again and face the darkness? Shifu needed to decipher this riddle, for the Valley of Peace's sake and for Po's sake as well.

Master Shifu turned his head to his students and gave them an order. "I will return to my dorm for further meditation and decipher the remains of my vision. I trust you all to continue your training and more importantly to help Po train for this."

The Five nodded. They know now what must be done. The Dragon Warrior must be at his best to face a new threat that's as powerful if not more powerful than Tai Lung. Together they nod and bow, their closed left fists into the open palm of their rightmost paws. "As you say, Master."

Shifu nods and turns to leave, leaving the Furious Five alone in the Training Hall to resume their training. They still couldn't believe the vision Shifu told them. What is this darkness that engulfs the valley? And does it really mean the Dragon Warrior will fall to this evil? Master Tigress' eyes lowered to the floor before turning her head to one of the windows in the area, wondering if the light of the sun will shine them through this oncoming darkness…

Darkness is indeed coming…And they need to be ready for it…

A staff that sheds light…Was it golden? Was it mystical? Master Shifu needed to carefully meditate and decipher this message. Po's life could be at stake. He must figure out the importance of this staff of light from his vision. It must be Po's key to survive this battle if he is the one wielding it in his vision. But what…What does it mean? Is it Po's destiny to find and wield this weapon?

Master Shifu looked left and right as he found himself in the Hall of Heroes, where many artifacts from heroes of old are in public display for everyone to see. He looked from the mystical Sword of Heroes to the Legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors, which Po accidentally broke but now stands repaired. If these artifacts could talk they would have one heck of a story to tell from their old warriors and legends.

Shifu continued down the hall as he scanned the hanging scrolls on the walls. Some had Chinese text while others had ancient illustrations. All that the Palace had in its possession are on display here, all of the legends were here except for one…

The Stone Warrior Legend.

Scrolls and documents of the Stone Warrior were scarce to almost nonexistent today. Sadly most of them were destroyed when a temple housing them was destroyed a few years ago. Those that survived where housed in two separate temples: The Stone Shrine to the south west from the Jade Palace, the other on the Mystical Temple to the east. The Mystical Temple was raided and ruined by bandits a couple of years ago, the scrolls there were thought destroyed or robbed along with other scrolls and documents from the war…

The War…The Mystical War…Gosh that war happened hundreds of years ago and took place in the Field of Peace, just south from the Valley of Peace. It was documented that the Stone Warrior himself participated in the war and led them all to victory with the aid of the Mystical Seven, upon where the Stone Warrior was declared as one of them after the war ended. To date only six of them are known. Nobody knows who the seventh one was or if there even was a seventh warrior. It has been and forever will be a mystery.

Master Shifu then had a thought. The Stone Warrior's weapon…From what he read and knows of him his weapon of choice was a staff; but not just a staff, but a golden staff. Somehow it all clicked together. The glowing staff in his vision and the staff the Stone Warrior wields. What could it mean? Does it mean Po needs said staff? Or does he need to study anything the Stone Warrior knew, his style and techniques? Or does it mean something entirely? Besides, a staff is only a mere weapon, and there are other warriors who wield staves. In addition, teaching Po anything the Stone Warrior knew would not only be difficult, but impossible with the loss of the scrolls. It may be only a coincidence…

The sound of doors opening startled Master Shifu out of his train of thought. Swinging his head over to the main doors he saw the figure of a familiar panda crawling his way into the palace, out of breath and holding a bag. "Hahh…Hahh…Finally…" He panted, trying to catch his breath at the foot of the door. "Stairs…Oh how I hate thee…"

Seeing his master standing in the hall in front of him Po tried his best to not look so out of breath and stood up, placing his left fist into his open right palm in respect. "M-Master Shifu! It's…Hahh, great to see you again…Hahh…!" He drops his paws to his knees, his chest heaving as he continues to pant.

Master Shifu chuckled as he turned to Po. That boy needs more cardio and aerobics exercise. Perhaps he should take him out into the mountains again. "It is good to see you too, Po. Busy as usual with the stairs, I see?"

Po wiped his forehead as he slowly made his way into the hall. "Hahh…Like you wouldn't believe…It's a nightmare climbing back up every time I get into town…I don't know how you guys do it and still have energy left over…"

"Years of training, Dragon Warrior." Master Shifu simply responded. "One must train his body to confront what we are dealt with and still be enough for the next challenge. I would assume you resumed your training with the Five even during my absence in meditation, have you?"

"Oh, totally." Po responded with a fib. To be honest he's been slacking off a bit lately, but he didn't want to disappoint his master with that. "The Five and I have been breaking dummies together all day and night long. We trained until our biceps ached, you know? Heheh, lots of Kung-Fu action! Hai-ya!" He threw a punch forward; unfortunately it was the arm the bag was hanging from, which Shifu didn't ignored it. Po's eyes darted back and forth from the bag to Shifu before retracting his arm, continuing as he slowly went around Shifu to continue down the hall and to the kitchen. "Um…Heheh, but today I uhhh…Took a break from all the training to umm…Well, to cook for tonight. Since I know you all…love my uh, noodles and all…So yeah, I better get to the kitchen and start on these before it gets any later, all right? Good, hope to see ya there. And um, great to see ya again out of the room! See ya."

That was close, Po thought as he turned and made to the kitchen in a fast pace. He didn't want to spill the beans that he spent almost the entire day at the noodle shop and neglecting his training duties. He really should be honing his skills and his unique style like he was told. And while he did loved training with the Furious Five, sometimes he found himself straying away. Po made a promise to himself to focus on his training from tomorrow onward. No slacking off.

Master Shifu just watched Po leave and shook his head. That panda is a handful, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to dinner. It's been a while since he last ate one of Po's delicious noodles. His thoughts on the panda were then put on hold as he recalled his vision. What if it really meant…That Po is destined to perish to bring about a new warrior to slay this darkness? Could it really be true? Was there no other way?

No, he couldn't think like that. He shouldn't. Surely his vision means something else. It involves Po, that's for sure. But what does it mean? When the darkness overwhelms and engulfs the warrior…What does it mean?

And the staff…Does it have something to do with the legend of the Stone Warrior in some way?

Shifu needed to meditate some more. He returned to his dorm, where he keeps personal and potentially dangerous scrolls and items away from the public. Stored along with them were items from other masters he personally knew, especially his own teacher, Master Oogway. He sighed heavily. How he wished Oogway was here to aid him in these troubled times. He would know what his premonition meant. He would decipher it in an instant.

Sitting down in the middle of his room Shifu closed his eyes and relaxed, allowing his Chi to flow freely and his mind to become clear. His thoughts returned to the vision, his meditation allowing him to dive deeper within its meaning. He saw the same events. A dark mist, the warrior's fall and rise with the staff of light in hand.

But then his vision began to grow long. He saw the warrior's skills with the staff, twirling it and swinging it in blows. The staff grew in brightness and from the light rose a second warrior. Together they faced the darkness, pushing it back from whence it came…

Master Shifu slowly opened his eyes. He began to see clear through this vision. The second warrior and the staff of light…

His eyes browsed the many artifacts and personal items in his room. His eyes stopped upon a couple of weapons in his room, more importantly the staff resting against a shelf. This staff has been in the temple for as long as he can remember. Rumor has it that this very same staff was 

wielded by the Stone Warrior himself. Some say it is made of gold, Chinese dragon etches can be seen all around it along with some other designs. The staff of light in his vision…It couldn't possibly be…

Master Shifu moved to a few shelves in his room and began going through his scrolls. His vision reminded him of something. Of an ancient scroll his ancestors have left behind in the temple; a scroll that he's been told to be of outmost importance someday. Perhaps that day is upon them…

He found the scroll and rolled it open, his eyes set on the Chinese text within. If history serves him correct this scroll speaks of a prophecy. One written hundreds of years ago sometime shortly after the Mystical War, written by one of the masters of old, Master Shen…

When the darkness comes

A warrior may fall.

But with staff in hand

Returns he born from stone.

A battle in the land of peace

Shall end when two fight as one.

But when darkness recedes

The true battle will begin.

With victory meaning a cherished end

And one's true beginning.

Master Shifu took his time to think about the text he just read. It matches his premonition without a fault. "A warrior may fall…" He muttered to himself, thinking thoroughly the line. "A warning…?"

It must be a warning of sorts. It most likely means that alone the Dragon Warrior cannot defeat this darkness. But with this staff of light in hand and a second warrior's aid he will be capable of defeating the darkness. But this staff…And this second warrior…

His eyes went back to the staff in his room. It couldn't possibly mean this same staff, right? And this second warrior must certainly not be the fabled Stone Warrior, could it? The Stone Warrior legend is hundreds of years old. This warrior would certainly not be alive today unless he was an immortal…

The red panda reached over to one of his many scrolls and rolled it open, revealing an old illustration of the Stone Warrior wielding his trusty staff. Despite the drawing, there's no certain identity to the Stone Warrior, there's no concrete record or evidence of the sort. But the staff he's wielding…And the staff in his premonition…What could it mean…There must be something about here, and Shifu is certain this 'staff of light' is the key…

Master Shifu took another glance at the staff before darting his eyes back to the scroll, spotting something new. There's a tear on the scroll…This was never here, he always takes good care of his scrolls…

This could only mean one thing…That panda has been here…

END OF EPISODE 1