"Come on dad," Po said. "I'm the Dragon Warrior now. It's my duty to protect China."
"No son of mine is going on some Kung Fu adventure with a bunch of lunatics to fight bandits!" Mr. Ping scolded. "You are going to stay here and get back to making noodles. No more of these fantasies."
"Mr. Ping, if I may," Shen said, letting himself into the conversation. "I would like to have a private conversation with you."
"humph, fine," Mr. Ping huffed. The two birds went into the back of the noodle shop, away from Po, Karasu, and Crane.
"Now that we're alone, I must ask. Where did you find the panda?" Shen asked.
"I…I found him in the radishes all those years ago," Ping said. "He was so small, for a panda, and I couldn't let a child live without a father."
"…I must tell you something then," the peacock said. "When I was but a teenager, all those years ago, I saved a panda from a pack of wolves that slaughtered his entire village. I hid him in a radish cart, along with one of my train feathers." Looking to the wall, Shen saw the feather pinned to it. "I promise that as I did before, I will protect your son with my life. Any harm that comes to him I will repay you in any way I can, on my honor as a Master and the Prince of Gongmen."
"Wait, you're Lord Shen?" Mr. Ping said astonished.
"Don't go yelling it to the people," Shen said, deadpan in tone. "I don't mention my title to many, but I felt that it would assure you of my honor to my word."
Ping took a step back, unable to think of how to respond. "I know I can't convince Po to give up on his dreams, but as his father I can't help but worry about him. Please, keep my son safe, and bring him home to me."
Shen bowed to the goose. "You have my word. I protected him before, and I will do so again."
[***]
With their mission in mind, the four heroes made their way to Lotus Lake, with the fastest way to get there being through the bamboo forest.
"Guys, I don't think I'll be able to make it," Po said, straggling behind the group. "Go on without me, save China. I'll catch up eventually."
"Panda, we have barely left the Valley of Peace," Shen said. Indeed, the group had just entered the bamboo forest, with many miles to go to reach Lotus Lake.
"If you want to live up to your title, stamina will be key to success," Karasu said, doubling back to help Po carry on. "You want to impress Shifu and the Five, right? Then get up and continue the mission."
Nodding, Po continued to walk with the group, albeit everyone moving slower to let the panda stay at their pace. As they traveled through the bamboo forest, Karasu couldn't help but feel that they were being watched.
"The forest seems more quiet than usual," Crane noted. "Be on your guard, guys."
Shen readied some of his knives in his sleeves as Karasu focused on any unusual sounds that may occur. Crane looked around nervously as to be prepared for an attack, while Po was blissful unaware of any danger and decided to eat some of the noodles his dad packed for him.
"Shen, to your right. There's something in the trees," Karasu said.
Throwing a knife, the group was surprised when a crocodile fell out of the cover of the bamboo, clutching his arm the knife lodged into.
"Ack! Croc Bandits, attack!" said the croc.
Soon, other crocodiles came out of the forest, some brandishing axes and others fighting bare-handed. The four heroes got into battle stances, ready to face the enemy. Crane took to the sky, using the forest as cover for him to dive-bomb the crocs from above. Shen used his Guan Dao to disarm the bandits, with Karasu backing him up with his bow and arrows. Po, not fit for battle due to him still eating his noodles, stumbled through the fight and into the leader of the bandits, the croc getting a bowl full of steaming noodles to the face.
"Oh! I am so sorry about that," Po said.
"You stupid panda!" the croc said, "why would you-?" The croc stopped as he got a taste of the noodles, instantly ceasing his rant. "What is this?" he asked. "This is the most amazing dish I have ever tasted."
"They're my dad's secret recipe," Po said. "I probably have enough to feed all of you guys, if you want."
"Croc Bandits, stop attacking these guys!" the leader ordered. The other bandits stopped attacking the masters, but not before Karasu accidentally let an arrow lose at one of them.
"Ah, my leg!" said the unlucky bandit.
"Darn it, Gary!" said the leader, throwing his helmet on the ground. "I told you to wear your armor, but you didn't listen."
"Ghari? Wait a minute, Fung!?" Karasu asked in suprise.
"Wait, Karasu?" Fung said. "I haven't seen you guys in forever! Where have you been?"
The raven and croc shared a high-five as the raven replied, "You know, stopping bad guys, training hard on our abilities, earning our Master titles. The usual."
"You know these guys?" Crane asked, confused at the situation.
"We met Fung and his gang on our journey across China," Shen said. "Though I thought that you joined the Imperial Croc Army last we met?"
"We got kicked out since then," Ghari said.
"Shut up, Gary," Fung said. He took a sip from his noodles and continued, "We kicked ourselves out. The queen was a jerk and wanted to work for some snow leopard guy to terrorize the tortoises up at the Lake of Tears. That totally goes against our code of killing innocents."
"Wait, that's in the Lotus Lake region," Crane said. "And did you say a snow leopard? That means that the Imperial Croc Army is working for Tai Lung. Then we have no time to lose! We need to get to Lotus Lake as soon as possible."
"Oh, you're heading up that way? Then you should look out for Lidong. He's my cousin and a massive powerhouse. He's moved up the ranks to be one of the queen's top commanders, so be careful around her hideout," Fung warned.
"Will do," Karasu said. "Come on team, let us continue to Lotus Lake."
As they left the Croc Bandits, Po groaned as he realized something. "I just gave those guys all of my snacks," the panda whined.
'That was just his snacks?' the three birds thought to themselves.
[***]
At Lotus Lake, the Crocodile Queen looked down at the boar in front of her.
"What are you doing here, pig?" asked the queen, caressing the terrified baby tortoise in her grasp.
"Queen of the Imperial Croc Army, I am the only member of the Blackhoof Boar clan left," the boar said. "While our assault on the Jade Palace was a failure, I was able to steal one of the sacred artifacts from the Hall of Warriors." The boar presented the queen an artifact: a war hammer. "Let me present to you the Sacred War Hammer of Lei Lang."
Author' Note
And next time, our heroes will get to the Lake of Tears to take on the Imperial Croc Army.
I hope you guys like the interaction between Mr. Ping and Shen. I wanted Ping to know about Po's past before the panda did himself, so I wrote this scene to explain that as well as to give Mr. Ping some assurance that his son will be safe.
And hey, Fung and his Croc Bandits showed up. But we also found out the Croc Queen has her hands on a dangerous weapon (if you don't remember the episode the Sacred War Hammer was it, what it does is destroy anything it gets swung at, including entire villages). Let's hope our heroes can stop her and her army.