A/N: And here is the fourth chapter! This lacks a little bit of plot, compared to the others, but I had to occupy myself with this story, but don't worry; I'm saving it all up for the next few chapters. ;) So I hope you will enjoy this, if not, please forgive it. :)

Junjie smirked to himself. The red fox casually walked through the palace. It had been a pleasure to finally be there; the reunion with Master Chao and the rest of the council had been a bit tricky, but the reunion with Shifu had been quite thrilling.

Master Chao and some of the council members had been in a room, talking to Shifu about who knows what. Junjie had casually entered the room and enjoyed the council's reaction.

"Oh, I am truly sorry," Junjie had said. "I didn't know you were having another guest."

The expression on Shifu's face had been quite pleasing and Junjie had to contain himself in order to not smile.

Junjie was certain that Shifu was wondering why he was there this very moment. Luckily the two would have to attend dinner in the very same dining hall.

Junjie snickered lowly as he passed a few otter palace workers. It wouldn't be long now.

Junjie was dressed in a more attire more formal than his usual one. Black robes with white trims in order to honor the Sacred Onyx Council. He had had his new students dress in similar attires as well.

If Junjie was lucky, Shifu and his students hadn't. And if he was even luckier, the honoring through attire color would make a good impression. Junjie would need one, since part of the point in taking part in the tournament was to get himself back in the council.

To sum it all short, Junjie had to redeem himself.

Finally Junjie came to the entrance to the dining hall. It didn't look like his students hadn't arrived yet. The same went for Shifu and his students.

As he stood there, Junjie couldn't help but wonder how Po the Dragon Warrior would do against his grandson Jinshu. Jinshu, as well as the rest of the Selected Six, were all specially trained, just like the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. But Jinshu had one gift that made him superior to the Dragon Warrior – his ability to make cunning plans. He had that from his grandfather, Junjie knew.

Shifu and his students made their way down the hallway, passing by various artifacts on his way. Just like Junjie, Shifu and his students had changed into a formal outfit. Shifu wore a jade green shawl with golden trims on top of some black robes.

His students wore outfits that looked like their usual ones – only difference was a pallet swap from their usual colors to golden and jade green.

Po was excited – for multiple reasons. First and least important, he was wondering what they were going to eat and if it was as good as his father's food.

On the other hand, he was also excited because this was one of the few times that the panda had actually gotten to wear an outfit as fine as this one. It made him feel special just by wearing it!

But then again; there was the food. Po was wondering if they would get…

"Po, you're drooling," Crane pointed out. The bird was wearing a jade green Kung Fu vest, somewhat similar to Tigress' usual one, unlike the others, who wore jackets. Po quickly snapped out of his own thoughts and wiped the drool away with his arm. "Thanks, Crane."

"Just don't dig in like you do at home, when we get into the dining hall," Tigress told Po. For the first time this afternoon, Po actually noticed what Tigress was wearing; a jade green silk dress with golden trims, matching the others' outfits.

It was the very first time that Po got to see her wear such clothes and most likely also the last.

"Why don't you usually wear dresses, Tigress?" Po asked.

"Because I prefer not to."

"But it suits you," Po pointed out insistently.

"Yes, it really does!" Mantis agreed. He was the only one who wasn't really wearing anything safe for some golden robes tied around his legs, looking like pants and sleeves.

It didn't take long before everyone agreed. Suddenly Shifu stopped, causing his students to do the same. "Of course it suits you – that's why I had it made for you."

"… Thanks…" Tigress didn't seem to think so herself, but it did help that her friends did. And what Shifu had just said also took her greatly by surprise. So it was actually Shifu, who had had their outfits made – although it was most likely tailors who had actually made them.

"Students, before we go in there," Shifu said. "I expect you all to behave… Po."

"Hey, why only me?" Po asked innocently and tugged a little at his jacket's collar, not being used to wearing such constricting clothes.

Ignoring Po, Shifu took a deep breath and carefully opened the door, almost like the way one would handle a cup of tea.

The seven entered a room with one, very long table in the center. The long table was shaped like a horse shoe.

The walls were decorated with various decorations, mostly some beautiful paintings and paper cuts of phoenixes. There were also different colored lanterns hanging from the ceiling and some small ones that hung from various ropes that hung across the hall.

"Wow," was all that Po could manage to say about it.

"Double-wow," Monkey agreed.

But that was when he saw him, standing there by the long table – Junjie!

"Guys, it's Junjie!" Po told his friends in a half-whisper.

Viper actually gasped. "But what's he doing here?"

"Shifu, it's Junjie," Po said – as if Shifu didn't have eyes himself. "Why is he here?"

"Look at the people around him, panda," Shifu said. "Then you might be able to figure it out."

Po looked around… then he noticed who they were; Jinshu, Eagle, Lynx, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra! But did this mean…? Did this mean that Junjie was also participating with a team of his own? Obviously it did! Now it all made sense!

"But…"

"No buts, panda," Shifu grumbled. "We just have to bear with it."

"But Shifu… I can't eat in the same room as someone, who tried to get rid of my Master! It'd be like eating naked, and-…"

"Oh, Master Shifu!" Po was interrupted by an unknown female voice. He looked to his right and saw a leopardess come towards the seven. She had golden fur all over with black spots and wore a black silk dress. Po also noticed just how old she looked and sounded.

"Master Ai Long," Shifu said with a smile. "It has been quite a while."

The two bowed for each other and just then, Po realized just how familiar she looked. It was like he had seen her before somewhere…

"Students, this is Ai Long," Shifu explained with a faint smile. "She was one of the original Furious Five."

"Wow, such an honor to meet you!" Po said excitedly as he and his teammates bowed in respect.

Ai Long smiled and bowed as well to return the respect. "No, the honor is mine; I've heard so much about how powerful you all are. But anything's possible with the right teacher, isn't it?"

"Ha-ha, I guess so," Monkey replied. "Shifu is the best."

"So very true," Ai Long said with a warm smile. "So tell me, are you all ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course!" Po replied.

"Oh my, Dragon Warrior," Ai Long said, both surprised and impressed. "Aren't you nervous at all?"

"Well, yes, a little bit," Po admitted. "But… we're just going to do our best."

"That is also a great goal," Ai Long said with a smile. Suddenly a familiar person came up to the little group – Master Chao.

"Welcome, Shifu, Furious Five, Dragon Warrior," the reptile said with a smile. "I see you're having a reuniting. It must have been decades since the last time you saw each other."

"Yes, indeed," Shifu said. "And my students haven't had the chance to meet Ai Long until now."

Master Chao looked around at the eight with a smile for a moment. "Do not worry, there will be plenty of time to talk, but I bet you are all hungry."

Just then Po's stomach growled so loud that the Council members that stood by the table a few feet away jumped. It also caused the Five to sigh, not being surprised by their friend.

Ai Long giggled a little. "I suppose we all are. Come my friends, let's eat."

The group and Ai Long followed Chao over to the table. Po and his friends sat by the right end of the table, while Junjie and his students took place in the left. The Council members sat in the middle.

Po sat down between Monkey and Shifu, discretely looking over at Junjie's end of the table. The Master and his six students just sat there; didn't talk; didn't look at each other; didn't have any interaction at all.

How boring, Po thought. How could they even be on the same team and act like they didn't even know each other at all? So in order to proof that they had a better team spirit Po and his friends quickly got into small conversations about all sorts of stuff.

Suddenly Chao stood up and everyone immediately fell quiet (It did take a little longer for Po and Mantis to notice). "First off, I would like to thank you all for coming; Shifu, Dragon Warrior, Furious Five and… Junjie and Selected Six."

Chao cleared his throat. "I want you all to understand that we have had our differences through the years, but we will all have to see past that tonight and the next few days. I expect all of you to play fair and follow the rules. But each thing has its time – now it is time for the feast to begin."

Master Chao clapped his hands once and soon the door to the dining hall was opened and several otters stepped inside, all carrying large plates – some even required two otters!

The dishes that were brought in looked delicious and smelled even better! Po quickly forgot about the fact that there was a hard tournament the next day.

As the first dish was presented – traditionally-made noodle soup with dumplings and spring-rolls on the side, much to Po's joy – something was going on by Junjie's end of the table.

Eagle looked over, got eye contact with lynx, who nodded in response.

The feline took his one chopstick with his right hand and made a quick flick with his hand. No one looked, and even if they did, they would have had a hard time see what happened.

At the same time, Tigress was about to put a dumpling into her mouth. But suddenly the dumpling was ripped away – almost as if it had had a thin thread around it.

The dumpling flew across the room and Tigress watched it hit the wall, expecting it to fall to the floor. But it didn't; it seemed that something held it in place somehow.

Tigress turned her head to see if anyone was acting strangely – she tried to see if she could spot whoever had done it. She couldn't see anything strange, other than Lynx receiving a new pair of chopsticks from one of the otters, claiming that he had only gotten one.

Tigress raised an eyebrow, immediately figuring that it was Lynx, who had done it. But when Eagle looked up with a somewhat cocky and teasing look in her eye, Tigress flattened her ears in annoyance.

Sighing to herself, Tigress returned to her food – she was sure they wouldn't try the same thing again.

At the same time, the warriors by Junjie's table snickered between one another at Eagle's idea (All Jinshu did was smile faintly and Junjie didn't seem to have noticed).

"The kitten didn't even see what hit it," Eagle said with a snicker. Po and his friends all heard this and nervously looked over at Tigress, waiting for a response from her.

The feline didn't do anything – she seemed to grip her chopsticks a little tighter now, but other than that, there was no real response. This greatly surprised everyone, especially Eagle.

"My, the kitten lost its hearing as well," Stag whispered to his friends, but Junjie quickly ruined their fun.

"Students, please behave yourselves," Junjie said, somewhat sternly. Junjie knew that he would have to make a good impression – and that meant that his students had to as well. The only ones, who had been doing a decent job this far, were Jinshu and Gorilla. They had simply just sat there, talking about all kinds of things.

"Sorry, Master," Eagle said, bowing her head slightly. Luckily for Junjie, none of the Council members seemed to have noticed anything.

All through the appetizer, people just sat, talking about the upcoming tournament. Once in a while, someone also told about a certain mission, training session or another important event. For example, Po told about the battle he had once had against some bandits in order to save some villagers.

Once everyone had finished the appetizer, Master Chao got up, calmly waiting for everyone to take note of this. It didn't take long before everyone was focusing on the age master and he soon started speaking. "Everyone, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the appetizer."

"That was just the appetizer?" Monkey wondered to himself; he was almost stuffed already!

"Now for the main dish," Master Chao continued. "The Palace Chef himself will present it for you all."

The door to the Dining Hall opened and a pig entered. He wore some white robes with black trims and smiled at all the Masters as he entered. He walked up so that he stood in front of the table, so that everyone could see him properly. First off he bowed. Then he spoke.

"Good evening, Masters," he said after bowing. He had one hand behind his back and held out his right hand towards the next dish that was carried into the Dining Hall. "My name is Zhu Huoyan. For the main course, we have Buddha's Delight."

As the cook started naming the many ingredients in the dish, Po got excited. He had never had this dish before and he was already certain that it would be tasty. Mr. Ping had once told him: "Half the taste is in the smell."

"And lastly but not least, there will also be extra tofu served for those who desire some," Chef Zhu finished. How many ingredients had there been, fifteen? Po hadn't been able to keep up with the little pig. Chef Zhu bowed again. "I sincerely hope that you will find my cooking pleasing."

All the Masters in the room bowed for the chef before he retreated to the Palace's kitchen, a smile on his face.

"Say, Shifu," Junjie called from the other end of the table. Master Shifu's ears perked and he looked up from his dinner. "Do you remember the first tournament that we were in together?"

At first Shifu was very skeptic about the question. Was he going to make fun of Shifu? Shifu did remember that he had messed up at least once. And that smile of Junjie's simply appeared too friendly… But eventually Shifu said: "Yes, I certainly do… quite a long time ago, I'd say."

"Indeed, it is," Junjie said, keeping up his smile. "And now our students will be the ones participating… Brings back old memories."

"Supposedly," was all that Shifu replied calmly. "We will just have to see how they all do – I'm certain that you have trained your students well."

"You too, old friend," Junjie said with a smile. Po and the Furious Five looked back and forth between their Master and Junjie as they followed the conversation.

None of them really bought into Junjie's sudden display of kindness – it just seemed false somehow, even though it didn't seem so. Besides, who knew if they could even trust Junjie at all?

It was probably all just for show in order to create a nice image for himself; Master Chao did seem to like it, so it was probably just for that reason.

Po looked back at his plate again. Wait; was there suddenly more food on it? He looked over at Monkey's; his was almost empty. Had he given Po some of his food?

"Why'd you do that?" Po asked confused.

"Because I need room for the dessert," Monkey said, putting up an innocent grin.