Keep an ye out for any references. Enjoy!

Despite some Heartless appearing in their way, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy managed to catch up with Po, who was surprised to see them.

"Sora! Guys! Whaddya doing here?" asked a confused Po as they all stopped in their tracks.

"Gawrsh, we were worried about you Po." replied Goofy.

"Yeah, what happened back there?' asked Kairi, concerned.

Po hesitated, but seeing the caring expressions plastered on his friends' faces, he decided to tell them.

"Well... I don't know exactly what happened, but the moment I saw that symbol on that wolf's shoulder... I had a flashback." explained Po.

"What of?" asked Donald.

"It-It looked like a female panda in front of a crying baby." explained Po, a little uneasy.

"Female panda?" wondered Riku.

"Crying baby?" Kairi gasped in worry and confusion.

"Gawrsh, maybe it was your mom, Po." guessed Goofy.

Po shrugged. "Maybe. But there is one person who might know something."

At Mr. Ping's restaurant, now dubbed as Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu, the said owner was attending to his customers as they left from finishing their meals. Mr. Ping wore a simple red robe with light yellow lining, and a gold-colored belt with wave designs on it. He also donned a hat made to look like a bowl of noodles, seemingly made of fabric and balls of yarn, with a pair of chopsticks attached. He also wore bead-like rings on his ankles.

"Thank you for coming to Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu!" he called to his customers happily as he then started to clean up.

Through the crowd, Po, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy entered in the restaurant.

"So this is your dad's restaurant?" asked Kairi.

"Yep. I also lived here before moving into the palace." nodded Po.

Sora spotted the goose organizing some bowls.

"Hey Mr. Ping!" he called.

"Hello Sora." said Mr. Ping, distracted with cleaning He paused when he realized what he just said, stopped what he was doing, and turned around to see Po, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and three unfamiliar figures at the entrance of his restaurant.

"Po! Sora! Donald! Goofy!" he exclaimed. "You're all back!"

Immediately, he hugged his son and shook hands with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. He then took notice of the three unfamiliar people in his restaurant.

"Are these three friends of yours?" Mr. Ping asked Po, Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Yep." nodded Sora. "These are the friends we were looking for last year."

Mr. Ping smiled. "Oh! It's finally nice to meet you three. I'm so glad that Sora, Donald, and Goofy found their friends. What are you're names?"

"My name is Riku." said Riku.

"I'm Kairi." continued Kairi.

"And my name's Mickey." concluded Mickey.

Mr. Ping's eyes widened. "Mickey? As in King Mickey?"

"Yep." replied the mouse king.

Mr. Ping gasped and then suddenly went around the restaurant in a panic, trying to clean everything while mumbling about being "unprepared for royalty in his restaurant."

This caused Sora, Po, and their friends to trade glances before Mickey spoke up.

"There's no need to be so formal Mr. Ping, I'm not here on a royal visit, I'm just travelling the worlds with my friends to protect them." explained Mickey in a calm tone.

Mr. Ping stopped his rushing. "Oh..." he muttered. "Well in that case, welcome to my restaurant." he told them with a friendly greeting.

"I see you changed the name." noted Donald.

Mr. Ping nodded. "Yep. Since Po got to live his dream, I decided, 'What the heck? If he can do it, so can I!'"

"Is that why tofu is now on the menu?" asked Goofy.

Mr. Ping nodded.

Kairi looked at Sora confused as the latter explained, "He thought making tofu was a stupid dream."

Kairi mouthed an "Oh."

"Anyways..." began Mr. Ping before turning to his son. "You should've told me you were coming! I would have saved you some stinky tofu!"

Mr. Ping then went into the kitchen, Po following him. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy sat at the counter.

"Uhhh, Dad, can I talk to you?" asked Po.

"Of course, son." said Mr. Ping, before hugging his son again with a smile. "Oh, it's so good to see you, Po! Have you lost weight? I could almost put my wings around you!" he exclaimed.

"Ahh, well, maybe a little." replied Po.

Mr. Ping gasped. "Oh, poor you, you must feel weak! Let me get you some soup." He then began chopping some vegetables.

"Oh, that's okay dad, I'm not hungry." assured Po.

"Not hungry, Po, you alright?" asked the goose, confused.

"Yeah, yeah, no, I'm fine. It's just... Earlier today, I was fighting these bandits." explained Po.

"Uh-huh..." replied Mr. Ping, only partially listening.

"Nothing too dangerous, they were just..." began Po, hesitantly.

"Yeah..." replied Mr. Ping.

Po seemed at bit nervous, but at Sora and Co.'s nods, the Dragon Warrior spoke up.

"Then the strangest thing happened. I had this crazy vision. I think I saw my mom... and me... as a baby..." continued Po.

Mr. Ping suddenly slowed his chopping as he registered what Po has said.

"You ok Mr. Ping?' asked Riku.

"Wa, Wa, Wow... a baby?" asked Mr. Ping in fear, ignoring Riku's question.

"Uh, Dad, how do I say this?" stuttered Po as he looked at a picture of younger versions of him and Mr. Ping.

"Aw, you were so cute Po!" cooed Kairi.

Po chuckled. "Thanks." he turned back to the nervous restaurant owner. "Dad, where did I come from?"

Mr. Ping's eyes widened. He turned to Po sadly and slowly, while the world-travellers looked on in concern.

"Well, you see, son, uhhh..." stuttered Mr. Ping before thinking up a lie. "...baby geese come from a little egg. Don't ask me where the egg comes from!"

Po and the world-travellers traded surprised and confused glances.

"Mr. Ping, I know that for a fact. I raised my sister's kids from when they hatched. But I don't think that's what Po meant." interjected Donald.

"Donald's right Dad, that's not what I meant." nodded Po.

Mr. Ping sighed heavily. "I know it's not. I think it's time I told you something I should've told you a long time ago."

The goose hesitated in his confession. "You might have been kind of a... a... adopted."

Po's eyes widened in shock. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy traded glances.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Po.

Mr. Ping was surprised. "You knew? Oh, who told you?" he groaned.

"No one, I mean, c'mon Dad!" replied Po.

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to say anything the first time we we're here, but we kind of figured that out." Sora pointed out. Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"We were just being polite." added Kairi, indicating herself, Riku, and Mickey, who nodded in agreement.

Mr. Ping was silent before turning back to his son. "But if you knew, then why didn't ever say anything?" he asked, incredulously.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Po asked. He paused before asking, "How did I get here, Dad? Where did I come from?"

"Actually, you came from this." said Mr. Ping as he pulled a radish basket from under the kitchen bench. Po clutched the basket. He, Sora, and Co. listened as Mr. Ping began his tale.

"It was just another day at the restaurant, time to make the noodles..." began Po's adoptive father.

Flashback:

A younger Mr. Ping was going into the back alley through the rear entrance of his restaurant to collect his vegetables. He wore a shiny purple overcoat paired with a long braid tied behind his head. He noticed that one of the crates was shaking.

Present day Mr. Ping's voice is heard.

"I went out to the back, where my vegetables, has just been delivered. There were cabbages, turnips, radishes."

Mr. Ping approached cautiously. The crate suddenly toppled over, spilling several half-eaten radishes... and a dirty infant panda.

"Only, there were no radishes. Just a very hungry, baby panda."

Mr. Ping stared in surprise. The baby burped then rolled on his back, smiling sweetly. Mr. Ping carefully walked round the baby and looked round the alley. There was no one around.

"There was no note, of course, you could've eaten it. I waited for someone to come looking for you... but no one did."

Mr. Ping picked up one of his crates and begin walking back inside. The baby began to whimper. His crying rose to a bawl, bringing Mr. Ping to a stop. The child cried quietly for some time... until a radish gently rolled over to him. The baby brightened up and grabbed the radish while Mr. Ping looked on nervously. The baby took a huge bite out of the radish and flashed Mr. Ping a cheeky grin. The goose smiled slightly, charmed.

"I brought you inside..."

Mr. Ping led the infant inside the kitchen with a trail of dumplings.

"...fed you..."

Mr. Ping tossed the last dumpling into a small bathtub, prompting the child to climb inside. Mr. Ping smiled as the baby began happily nibbling on the dumpling.

"...gave you a bath..."

Minutes later, Mr. Ping was gently scrubbing the baby, whose face was the only thing visible in the mountain of soap suds. The child swallowed a soap bubble and grimaced.

"...and fed you again..."

After the bath, Mr. Ping began feeding the child soup. The baby ended up consuming the entire spoon. When Mr. Ping took it out again, dismayed to find it drenched in saliva.

"...and again..."

Mr. Ping then began chopping vegetables rapidly, all the bits going straight into the baby's mouth.

After feeding, Mr. Ping approached the baby with some pants.

"I tried to put some pants on you."

Before Mr. Ping could put the pants on, the child began playfully crawling around, bumping into a table and knocking over its contents before moving beneath a shelf and bumping his head, spilling dumplings and a wok which fell on his head. A concerned Mr. Ping approached as the child sat up and began to cry. The goose grabbed the wok, which was sitting on the child's head like a hat, and gently turned his head around. The baby whimpered before brightening up, giggling at Mr. Ping. Mr. Ping's heart melted completely.

"And then I made a decision that would change my life forever:..."

That evening, Mr. Ping cooked up a bowl of noodle soup...

"To make my soup without radishes..."

...and brought it to the baby, who was sitting in the radish crate which was reconfigured into a makeshift crib.

"...and raise you as my own son. Xiao Po... my little panda."

Mr. Ping lovingly fed Baby Po.

Present:

Po stared at his adopted father in shock. As did the others, but Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and even Riku had tears in their eyes as the sniffed a bit at the story.

"And from that moment on, both my soup and my life have been that much sweeter."

concluded Mr. Ping, who was tearing up as he stroked the edge of the basket. "And, little Po, that's end of the story. Look at me! No, don't look at me."

"That was one of the most beautiful and sad stories I've ever heard." sniffed Kairi.

"You did such a generous thing." sniffed Mickey. Sora and Riku nodded, wiping their eyes.

"Reminds me of when I had to raise Max by myself." sniffed Goofy, trying not to cry his heart out.

"And when I had to raise Huey, Dewey, and Louie after Della was lost in space." sniffed Donald, also trying not to cry his heart out.

But despite being touched by the story, Po wasn't convinced that was all he was looking for.

"That's it? That can't be it! There's gotta be more, dad!" he argued.

"Well, there's that time you ate all my bamboo furniture. It was imported too." added Mr. Ping, tears gone.

Sora and Donald snickered, Kairi, Mickey, and Goofy giggled, and Riku smirked, all with tears gone.

"Oh Po, your story may not have such a happy beginning. But look how it turned out! You got me, you got kung fu, you got your kung fu friends, your islander friends, your royalty friends, and you got noodles!" assured Mr. Ping.

"I know, I just have so many questions: like how did I ever fit in this tiny basket... why didn't I like pants?...And who am I?" Po asked, as he was met with uncertain glances from Mr. Ping, Sora, and his fellow travellers.

Meanwhile, in Gongmen City...

In the palace courtyard, two kung fu masters named Master Storming Ox and Croc were sparring while the mater of the city, Master Thundering Rhino, oversaw their training. Nearby, a sheep who was a soothsayer watched among some bowls and incense.

Storming Ox was an ox that wore a pair of puttees around his legs, a pair of thick wristguards, a metallic kilt, and a harness across his chest.

Master Croc was a crocodile who wore a kilt of brown armor around his waist, two matching guards on both shoulders, and six more brown pieces of armor on his back. The kilt was held up by a black belt covered in tiny spikes, and his two wristbands were made of a similar material. He also had some strips of fabric wrappings on both legs and a spiked metal ball attached to the end of his tail.

Thundering Rhino was a large rhino wore garments consisting of white robes held in place by a large gold waistband and a gray jacket with black trim and gold details. The shoulders of the jacket flared out and up. The base of his horn was also decorated with a cloud design that matched the carvings on his hammer weapon.

Finally, Soothsayer was an elderly goat who's clothing consisted of eight layers of cloth, all with different patterns and colors. On the back of the topmost layer of clothing was a large, round, golden symbol resembling the sun with a swirling black design resembling vines on the inside. She also wore a pair of glasses and had five black beads in her beard. She also had an extremely gnarled and bent walking stick to help her walk, like how Scrooge McDuck used a cane to help him around as well.

But outside the palace, Shen slowly marched toward the palace gates. Shen wore a long, white robe held with a black-colored belt. Sewn along the edges of the robe was a silver silk patterned with flame-like designs. On the back of the robe was an emblem of a flying bird (presumably a peacock) with its tail feathers on fire. He also wore metal talons on his feet for protection.

The antelope guards in front of the gates aim their spears and charge at the peacock. Shen only grinned evilly as Maleficent and Young Xehanort came out of a corridor of darkness from behind Shen, staff and keyblade in their hands as they stood beside the peacock.

A second later, the guards were blasted to the ground, injured or worse, as the peacock, witch, and keyblade wielder marched by. Swiftly slicing through the bar holding the gates, Shen kicks the doors open, attracting the attention of the kung fu masters and the Soothsayer. They recognized the intruder as he enters the courtyard, but didn't recognize Maleficent and Young Xehanort.

"Shen?" the three masters exclaimed in shock.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen." greeted Shen with a sly smirk.

"Who are those two?" asked Croc.

"I am Xehanort. The young incarnation of the one who has plans for this world among others." said Young Xehanort.

"And I am Maleficent. The most powerful and evil fairy and witch the worlds have ever scene." said Maleficent.

"Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way... please leave my house." ordered Shen.

"Your house?" asked Ox, indignantly.

"Yes, did you not see the peacock on the front door?" asked Shen. The evil peacock then noticed the soothsayer. "Ah, there you are, Soothsayer...It seems that your fortune-telling skills were not as good as you thought."

The soothsayer glared at Shen. "We shall see, Shen." she replied, coldly.

"Actually, you shall see, inferior one." said Maleficent with an evil smile.

"Now where were we?" asked Shen.

"What do you want, Shen?" asked Rhino.

"What is rightfully mine... Gongmen City!" replied Shen, evilly.

Thundering Rhino scoffed. "Gongmen City is under the stewardship of the Masters Council, and we will protect it... even from you and your friends!" he snarled.

Young Xehanort smirked. "I'm afraid that is where you are wrong Thundering Rhino. Once Shen is done, this world will be governed by him... under Maleficent and my future incarnation's guidance." he told them.

Maleficent turned towards the gates. "Bring it in!" she shouted.

At that moment, several wolf bandits appeared, led by Wolf Boss. Among them were Saïx and Pete, hauling a giant crate. To their sides were Ansem and Xemnas, who joined Maleficent and Young Xehanort behind Shen.

"I'm so glad you think that you could protect this town from the darkness." Shen chuckled evilly. "Otherwise, I would've dragged this all the way here for nothing."

"What's in the box, Shen?" growled Ox.

"You want to see? Oh, it's a gift. It's your parting gift... in that it will part you. Part of you here, part of you there, and part of you way over there staining the wall!" Shen explained with a crazed look in his eyes.

"You insolent fool!" snarled Ox.

Ox leaped at Shen, but Maleficent blasted him away with a spell from her staff. Croc lunged at Shen, but was whacked away by Young Xehanort after he attacked with his keyblade. Ansem had his guardian grab and hold on to Ox tight while Xemnas summoned two Samurai Nobodies to restrain Croc.

Shen turned to Rhino, and smirked as he launched his knives. The more powerful warrior deflected all knives with his hammer and horn and pushed Shen backwards with a thrust of his hammer, destroying his remaining knives.

"Wha-Why that no good-!" snarled Pete running forward to assist Shen, but was stopped by Saïx when he held his arm out.

Shen got up unharmed. "Showoff." he huffed.

"That is a warning." said Rhino firmly. "You and your friends are no match for our kung fu."

"I agree..." muttered Shen before he smirked evilly. "...but this is."

He leaps backwards onto the wooden box, which falls apart to reveal... a dragon shaped cannon. He turned to Saïx and Pete who stood before him. "You're dismissed." he said.

"Good." said Saïx. "I have other... important business to attend to." He then opened a corridor for him and Pete to RTC, which the immediately did.

Thundering Rhino prepared for combat. Shen only smirked as Maleficent, Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas smiled evilly as they moved to the side with Ox, Croc, and Soothsayer watching anxiously.

Shen then lit a spark with his metal talons and... KABOOM!

To be continued...

Things aren't looking so well in this world. Rate and review, ans see ya soon!