"I certainly hope you understand just how disappointed I am." Junjie crossed his arms behind his back and started walking back and forth in front of the Selected Six. "Some of you…" He looked at Lynx and Gorilla. "… More than others."
Gorilla was the one who was the most embarrassed here; being the perfectionist he was he had hoped that he had calculated correctly in a way that would have ensured him victory.
"Tomorrow," Junjie started. "I expect better results. We have not come all this way to lose… And we certainly didn't come to passively watch as Shifu's students win… did we?"
"No, Master," the Selected Six replied in unison.
"Good… that's exactly what I thought." Junjie turned to his grandson next. "Jinshu. I am satisfied with your result on the other hand. I did not know you had learned such moves."
Jinshu bowed for his Master. "Thank you, gr-… Master."
"And the rest of you – I expect no more failure from now on," Junjie said and turned to the others. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, master," they all replied in unison.
"Po, Po! My boy; I'm so proud of you!" Mr. Ping had his small wings around Po's big stomach. Po had been in his room at the palace, but suddenly his father had barged in.
"Haha, thanks, dad!" Po said, hugging his father back. "I thought you weren't going to show up!"
"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Ping asked. "Of course I came! Just like most of the village!"
"Really?"
"Yes, of course! You're the pride of the Valley of Peace!" Mr. Ping said. "It was just supposed to be a surprise!"
"And I have to say that it worked," Po replied happily. "I was so depressed when I left home!"
"I'm sorry, son," Mr. Ping said, a little embarrassed.
"Nah, it's okay, dad," Po told the old goose. "At least now it is!"
Suddenly it knocked on the door. Po turned his attention to the door. "Come in!"
When the door was opened, the Furious Five entered. They seemed very surprised to see Mr. Ping, considering that Po had told them that his father wouldn't be there. But none the less, it was also a pleasant surprise to them.
"Hello, Mr. Ping," Tigress greeted the old goose with a small smile.
"Hey, we didn't know you were going to be here!" Monkey said. Just like the others, Monkey wore his usual attire, which they did whenever they weren't at the tournament or attending dinners.
"Me neither," Po laughed. "So what's up, guys?"
"Well, we were going to check out the city," Mantis said. Mantis then showed Po a scroll, letting it roll out, so that it hit the floor.
"What's that?" Mr. Ping asked.
"A tourist's guide… They have… a tourist guide for this city!" Mantis said excitedly, though no one else seemed to share his excitement. Soon he came to realize this. "Oh, you guys are all so boring! You will never understand the greatness of my…"
"Either way," Crane started. "Are you coming along, Po, or…?"
Po quickly looked at his dad. Mr. Ping just smiled. "It's alright, son, I'll just see you later. But remember…"
"I know," Po said with a smile. Then he finished his father's sentence, "Don't trust strange noodles."
"Good boy," Mr. Ping said joyfully. "Now go have fun!"
"Hey, Mantis," Po started as he and his friends exited the palace. "Can I see that tourist's guide?"
"No, none of you guys appreciate it!" Mantis growled, keeping it to himself. "Hey, did you guys know that there are fifty different restaurants in this city?"
"Well, we would have if you'd let us see it," Crane pointed out.
"Alright fine! Maybe then you'll appreciate it!" Mantis growled, handing the tourist's guide to Po. Po looked at the top of the scroll. Apparently it was entitled 'A gentleman's guide to Beijing'.
Well, it did seem pretty legit to Po – obviously it was published by someone who lived in the city itself. Reading through it, it also seemed that the author of the scroll knew just about anything about the city – it was so detailed.
"I know!" Po said. "Why don't we go eat at some fancy restaurant?"
"Po, our amount of money is limited," Tigress pointed out. True, they didn't have very much money to use. In fact, this spoken of restaurant would probably cost them all they money.
"Eh… then we could find a relatively cheap one?" Po suggested.
"But there will be a party tonight," Crane said. "Do you really want to eat yourself stuffed before that?"
Po thought about it for a moment. He had completely forgotten about the party! But who knew if it would be as big as the feast the night before? Maybe it wouldn't even be fixated on a feast – maybe it was just to celebrate?
"… Maybe we could just go take a look at the city then?" Po suggested. The others weren't very fond of this idea, due to the fact that they had to be at the party once the sun had set in the sky.
"Fine, but make it quick," Tigress said with a sigh.
"Yes!"
"But we'll have to be back at sunset, got it?" Tigress asked sternly.
"Of course, of course! Now let's go!" Soon Po and his friends were walking through the streets. A lot of people quickly recognized the six and most of them came over to greet and congratulate them. One of them, a young rabbit, even described in detail how much he looked up to them.
"Haha, do you train Kung Fu yourself, kid?" Monkey asked.
"Yeah! And one day I will become just as good as you guys!" he said excitedly. Po chuckled and patted the kid on his head.
"That's great – just keep training, little friend," Po said with a smile. "Maybe you can come to Jade Palace and train someday!"
Po and his friends continued down the street after encouraging the young rabbit to follow his dream. It really felt great for Po to do it and mostly because he had never had that encouragement himself – he saw a lot of himself in that kid.
Soon the six came to a marketplace. It was very different from the one in Gongmen City; there were lots of big stands with a lot of exotic items that Po and his friends had never seen before.
Walking past the many stands, Po and Crane ended up by a Japanese stand.
"What is this stuff?" Po wondered, looking at the small green, cake-like spheres that were presented.
"Wasabi," the wolf who owned the stand replied. He had a foreign accent and Po probably wouldn't be able to have a conversation with him.
"Can we taste it?" Po asked. The wolf nodded, understanding so much.
"Wait, Po," Crane said. "I've heard about this; they say it's very…"
"Ah~! Spicy!" Po said, still having a few of the wasabi-things in his mouth.
"Po, just swallow it!" Crane kept telling the panda as he started freaking out. Eventually Monkey had to come over and place a hand on Po's chin, forcing the panda to chew the green objects. Eventually Monkey also had to force Po to swallow it.
"Ugh, I certainly don't like that wasabi-stuff," Po groaned, causing the wolf who owned the stand to chuckle at the panda's reaction. Po grimaced as he still had the taste of wasabi in his mouth. "Can we go get something to drink?"
Po and his friends eventually found some kind of bar. It seemed somewhat crowded with lots of loud people in there – the majority was men, who immediately turned their attention towards Tigress and Viper.
But the two women took on a very cold persona in order to repel the men. As the first man approached Tigress, she simply interrupted him with a "No." at everything he said or tried to say, eventually just holding up her paw, telling him to talk to the paw.
Po and the others had never seen or heard Tigress like that, but it was still somewhat impressive. Po and the others made their way to the bar where Po quickly ordered some water.
"Po, what did you eat, man?" Mantis asked and jumped onto the counter. Before Po could answer, since he was busy drinking water, Mantis heard another voice.
"Well, nothing… just yet." Mantis turned his head and almost jumped out of his skin.
"Wha! Don't touch me, woman!" Mantis said, getting into a defensive stance.
The female Mantis simply giggled at him. "Suit yourself, honey."
After winking at him, she jumped off the counter, allowing Mantis to calm his nerves. "Whew, that was close!"
"What are you talking about?" Viper asked. "She just wanted to talk to…"
"Didn't you see the way, she looked at me?!"
Viper was somewhat startled by his question, but simply replied, "Yes, but…"
As Mantis went on with explaining everything (About Mantises and love) Po suddenly noticed someone familiar sitting by a table in the most distant corner of the bar.
"Guys, look," Po said, pointing towards Jinshu. "What are they doing here?"
As I he had heard him, which would have been impossible, Jinshu looked up and got eye contact with Po. The silver fox stared for a moment, then eventually signaled for Po to come over.
Po looked over at Tigress, unsure of what to do. She shook her head and simply said that they had to get going. But Po was curious; he wanted to know what Jinshu wanted.
As the panda made his way towards the competitive group, Jinshu quickly snapped his fingers, getting the attention of his peers. Eagle, Lynx, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra quickly turned their attention towards the approaching Dragon Warrior.
"Dragon Warrior," Jinshu says with a fake tone of surprise, sounding somewhat similar to his grandfather. "What brings you and your friends here?"
"Well, just… came by and, well, I was thirsty," Po replied. "What about you?"
"We had to find somewhere to be, right?" Jinshu asked with a somewhat sly smile. "Besides, we like this city."
"You've been here before?" Tigress asked as she and the others joined Po.
"No, actually we haven't," Eagle replied before Jinshu could. "We just happen to fit in so well."
"It seems," Mantis said in a somewhat teasing, yet insulting tone of voice.
"But don't you have a party to go to?" Jinshu asked and took a sip of his drink… whatever it was.
"Yeah, we do, but… aren't you going as well?" Po asked, somewhat confused. "I mean, you're obligated to come, right?"
"Yes, we are obligated to… but do you really think that we would attend a party held for you?"
"For us?" Po asked. He didn't know that. Had the Onyx Council really planned to hold this party, just to celebrate Po and the Furious Five's victory earlier that day? "But… No hard feelings, right?"
None of the six answered. Soon the Selected Six focused back on their drinks (Stag focused back on his dumplings as well). Po and his friends stood there for a moment, not saying anything.
"Eh… I guess we should get going," Po said, somewhat awkwardly. "Uhm… we'll just see you at the party tonight… right?"
No response.
