The five, Po and Harry were in a raft trying to approach the Harbor of Gongmen City, it was during the night a perfect time for no one to see them entering the city. During the journey both Po and Harry were haunted by night mares of they're past. Tigress tryed to talk to both of them to see what was bothering them but they couldn't tell her or the others.
Po was wimpering in his sleep it was an other one of his nightmares but this one seemed to be less troubeling then the other ones, for Harry it was the opposit it was more powerful, it was like a dark force was near him and wants to get him, in just a minute he wake up breathing heavely and his scar burning like fire, after he calmed down he took his glasses and placed them on his beak, after a minute Po woke up as well.
"Didn't slept well?" He asked the young crane.
"Yes." He answered with a mixture of thoughtfulness and distress.
"Neither did I, but unlike the others, this one was like a message, telling me that I need to help a person from my past." He said before taking a deep breath and said "It was weird."
"How was yours?" Po asked.
"Darker, like I am approaching something horrible who wants something from me but only to create evil." He said thoughtful didn't wanting to look in his eyes.
"In a way I felt that as well, but not this time." He said.
"Before leaving master Shifu told me that I should try to find inner peace, I think both of us need to find it. And maybe that person that you dreamed needs to find it to relief himself of something wrong he did in the past." Harry said turning to face him.
"Yeah." Po said before adding "Maybe after I find inner peace my nightmares would end."
"Yeah." He said thoughtful.
"Hey Harry." Po said.
"Yes Master Po."
"Please you don't need to be formal all the time." He said.
"Right sorry." He said.
"Well I was thinking about something." Po said
"About what?" He asked.
"I don't know something came into my mind." Po said.
"Tell us." A female voice said and they turned around to see Tigress who just came out from the tent of the raft.
"Mistress we were just." He was cut by her.
"You don't need to hide young one, none of you, I heard you're conversation." She said before turning to Po.
"Tell us." She said.
"Well I was in a way thinking about what you said" He said turning to Harry. "And maybe sometime people are doing the bad thing they are doing, out of fear not because they want that but because they are afraid of what could happen if they don't do that."
"You know, before you came, master Oogway told us that there are more kinds of reasons bad things are done; some are out from the lust for power, others from the pleasure to do them, some from the order to do them and others are from fear and uncertainty, the things that are happening in Gongmen might have been from one of them." She said.
"Yeah, one of them." Harry said, before everyone came out.
"Hey is everything all right?" Mantis asked.
"Yeah, everything is fine." Po said and after five minutes they looked and saw.
"Here it is, Gongmen City." Tigress said while trying to maneuver the raft to get a shore.
In the mean time
Shen was get to the Gongmen prison where a black hooded creature was guarding the prisoners; that included both the soothsayer and the master council. While he was transported to the prison the black hooded creature took the chance to use their powers to take a snack and take his dreams and ambitions forged in Shen's mind and leave space to making him remember and hear all of his most sad and dark memories of his life. By remembering them he began to realize that everything he has done that driven him to be in that status was only caused by one thing; fear. All the bad things he had done, all the bad things he had wished for others were only because of fear together with hate and useless ambition. The creature took him into the prison and threw him into a dark cell before turning around and leaving.
Shen looked outside the cell to see the rest of the prison being dark with a strange mist floating on the ground and noticed that it was from a dark hooded creature who was guarding the cells, all the prison was freezing cold the mist coming from his beak could be very well seen.
For Shen everything was like a hell, everything was giving him a sense of chill all over his body, not just from the cold but also from the look of what was there, the effect of the black hooded creature was also present, that was the worst of all, he never thought that he will be in such a place, he might have thought bad things for others in the past but now he doesn't wish that any more, especially what was happening in the present moment. In that moment he could only feel a great sense of remorse and pain inside his heart all this was making him feel only sadness and a wish to kill himself, then began to shed tears.
"What…..what I have done." He said sobbing. His voice attracted the attention of someone else who inhabited the cell; she took her walking stick and started moving slowly and noticing the white peacock who was crying. Her footstep sound didn't go unnoticed. The peacock turned around and noticed a figure he remembered very well. On seeing her he managed to remember all the good things that happened in his life before thinking that she might be mad at him for all he had done.
"Soothsayer." He said with a sad voice thinking she might not respond.
"Shen." She said and began to walk slowly towards him till she saw his full expression of sadness, his beak was trembling; he closed his eyes and threw himself at her putting his wings around her into a big hug before starting to cry.
The soothsayer was shocked for making this action, but inside her heart she was happy that she was reunited with him and placed her hands around him in a big hug.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything I have done." He said crying and shedding tears. From another cell Masters Ox and Croc were witnessing the event; they didn't expect that Shen will be sorry for the bad deeds he had done.
"I know, I know." She said with a tear trying to calm him down.
"Everything that I've done….was only for my parents to be proud of me….I wanted only our kingdom ….to be protected with my weapon…..and the Pandas…..everything was out of fear…..I didn't wanted to do that on purpose….. Only now I see everything clear….. I will never forgive myself." He said while still crying "I'm sorry…But…..I think….you will not forgive me for that."
"Shen." She said with a soft tone looking at him "I knew you since you were chick and I now know that you didn't done that on purpose." She said with a smile on her face "Of course I forgive you." She said putting her hoof on the white peacocks shoulder.
"After…..everything I've done?" He said whimpering "Why?"
"I were you're nanny, but I always loved you like a mother, you recognized that you are sorry for the bad things that you have done, why shouldn't I forgive you for that?" She said and hugged him again, making him to feel for the first time in years loved and put a small smile on his beak.
"Thank you, nanny." He said with tears in his eyes.
"You're parents would have done the same thing." His nanny said.
"I know. I realize that I am missing them so much…..I wish only that they know… how sorry I feel for everything I've done." He said whimpering.
"They now know." She said.
In the city the Furious Five, Harry and Po were walking the dark streets of Gongmen City, for them it was quite odd that there were no guards and no soldiers in the city, the city was instead totally deserted, there was no one in the streets; no merchants, no shop keepers no nothing.
"Man, this place gives me the creeps." Monkey said.
"Yeah, me too, I mean where are the people it seems like everyone had, vanished." Mantis said.
"It shouldn't be that way." Harry said and everyone turned to him.
"How come?" Monkey asked.
"I read about the city, it is said that Gongmeng City is one of the richest cities in China and in this kingdom, it is usually packed with merchants and all kinds of people from every corner of the world, selling different valuable exotic goods." He explained.
"We believe that, but something seemed to have happened here." Crane said.
"Whatever happened, it is totally unnatural." Tigress said.
"Yeah, it seems like everyone wants to hide from something." Mantis said and they continued walking, the sky over the city was covered in dark black clouds that prevented the sun to appear in the sky, a once bustling city seemed to have been turned completely gloomy with a silence like in a tomb.
'Something is surely happening here.' Tigress said in her mind. After a moment something like a giant monster with a bat came out. The thing was three times bigger then Po and uglier.
"What is that thing? Monkey asked.
"Man that thing is really hideous." Mantis said.
"It might be a troll." Harry said tracking they're attention.
"I read about them in a personal book of mine they are mythical creatures mostly known in distant countries in the west." He said.
"Mythical creature or not we have to pass it." Tigress said.
"At least I am no more the fattest thing in the world." Po said, the troll turned around and saw the animals, he growled at them and began to charge at them.
"Well, it seems we will do this in the hard way." Mantis said before everyone took attack position. The troll hit the ground with the bat making the ground to shake.
"Harry, you stay behind." Crane said to his student.
"But master I…." He was cut by Tigress.
"We took you to begin to learn from experience, but this thing is too dangerous for you. Now go to that corner and only watch."
"Yes mistress." He said and did as he was ordered.
"All right, let's put that thing to sleep." Monkey said and attacked, the troll was confused to the different moves the animals were doing, but even with the kung fu moves done by the masters they couldn't put him down easy.
The troll then absentmindedly threw his hand and threw Crane at the wall where his student was watching.
"Master!" He said and went to him worried.
"This thing is much harder to put down then we thought." Crane said trying to get up and go back into battle.
"Master, wait I have to tell you something." Harry said.
"Harry it's not the time now." He said.
"I know, but it's about the troll, I know how to defeat him." He said tracking his master's attention.
"While watching, I realized that the trolls are usually using brute force, mostly using the bat, if we trick him to hit himself in the head we could put it down." He said.
"Great observation." Said smiling.
"Guys, we need to trick him to hit himself in the head with his own bat." Harry said.
"Himself?" Mantis asked while fighting him. After a second Tigress realized how to do.
"Monkey you attack up, I attack down." Tigress said and attacked the troll who growled and tried to hit them with his bat but he couldn't, when Monkey jumped on his face he said "Hey, freak you are so big that you're brain is smaller than a nut." Angering the troll who wanted to hit the monkey with his bat but he jumped and hit himself hard in his face making him to collapse.
"The bigger they are, the harder they collapse." He said.
"Well observation Harry." Viper said.
"Yeah, at least we know that they are more dump then Po." Mantis said.
"Yeah, wait, hey!" Po exclaimed.
"Let's not go too much overboard, we aren't event near the Tower of the Sacred Flame." Tigress said. "We have to move on."
"Wait, mistress, they might be more out there, one is easy to bring down, but if they are in a group it would be much harder to fight them." Harry explained.
"He might be right; they might be others in the streets." Crane said.
"Then what we will do now if there are more out there?" Monkey asked before turning to Tigress, after thinking for a minute she looks up.
"If we can't go on the streets we will go on the roofs." She said before starting to climb a building, once she was at the roof top she looks to see if the way was safe and climbed on.
"Come the path is clear." She said, the two cranes, Viper, Po, Monkey and Mantis followed.
"All right, here is how we will do, we will go on the rooftops until we reach the tower, if something appears on the roofs we will have to go back on the streets and find another way to get to the tower." She said before turning to the others who agreed, it doesn't seems that they got any other way.
"Let's go." She said and everyone began to run or fly on the roof tops, the jumping and climbing on the roofs wasn't very bad at all since they were used to thought training, while jumping Mantis observed what was happening on the ground. He saw all kinds of hideous monsters; Trolls, Rock and Mud monsters and ghouls.
"Man, good thing we are up here, this place is now crawling with monsters." He said.
"Yeah, it gives me the creeps, who brought them here anyway?" Monkey said.
"Whoever it is, he truly likes to scare others." Po said.
"Quite there, they might here us." Tigress said and continued going till they reached a dead end.
"We can't go any further, we have to go down." She said.
"What?!" But there we could bump into monsters if we go on the streets." Po said.
"Maybe, but we have to." Tigress said before climbing down the building with the others, they began to walk the deserted streets with deep tension expecting an attack from the monsters, in the first twenty minutes the tensions were at its height but after a period of not being attacked they began to fade away.
"You know guys; I think we left the monster zone." Po said.
"Po don't be fooled by the silence, there can still be some around." Tigress said.
"I know, but why they didn't attack us till now?" He asked and just in that moment two trolls came out from the left and began to charge them.
"I shouldn't ask." Po said.
"Attack position!" She ordered and began to attack, Monkey threw some banana peels on the ground that made both trolls to fell to the ground while Po made a high jump in the air and hit one of them and Tigress gave the other one a heavy blow that made him unconscious.
"This was for being much bigger than me." Po said.
"Master Monkey I didn't knew you had banana crusts." Harry said.
"I usually keep them for pranks or for unusual events such as now." He said.
"Well now, let's move one, more might come." Tigress said and in that moment other trolls came and they prepared again to fight back but in that moment gnomes and rock monsters came out, there were too many for them to fight and too big, there was only one way to get out of there, although they usually won't run from a battle this was too overwhelming.
"There are too many." Monkey said.
"We will not manage to fight them." Mantis said, Tigress looked behind them and saw that there were monsters in the right and so there was only one way, looked to the building next to them.
"Follow me." Tigress said and began to climb the building, the others followed her to climb while the monsters were charging at them, one of them almost caught Viper but she slipped through his fingers.
"Come we need to find another place to begin again and fast." She said and followed her on the building. All of them were jumping or flying from building to building in order to find another starting point until they reached a Warehouse near the port.
In the mean time.
The Soothsayer, Shen and the remaining master locked in the prison had spend several hours with the two black hooded creatures that were in because of them they couldn't sleep without seeing dark moments and thinking about them, for them it was pure torture, for Shen it was the worst thing it ever happened in his life because only now he remembered his past and realized that all the bad thing that he had done in his life was purely useless, and he was now remembering and regretting everything, his nanny noticed that and tried to place her hand on his shoulder but then he moved away and looked at her with sadness in his eyes.
"Please." He said almost crying." I deserve this punishment, for all the bad things I have done." He said having a look of terror.
"No one has to suffer so much, not even for the things you had done." She said.
"You don't understand, I have to. All the things I have done were foolish, I made them just because I wanted approval and I never thought about what I was doing. Only now I realized, only now I see what I had done. I really deserve it." He said and turned to the masters.
"What do you consider grand masters?"
"To be honest we approve with you." Master Croc said.
"See." Shen said to the goat.
"But even you don't need to suffer so much." Master Ox said.
"What are you talking about?" The white peacock asked.
"You realized that what you did was wrong." Master Croc said but made him confused.
"You needed only a revelation to see that what you had done was wrong." Master Croc said.
"You admitted that what you did was wrong and regret what happened. And by doing this you already repainted for all of them." Master Ox said.
"I might be, but how could that be of use now, we are stuck in here. In the present moment I want to do what a true leader and a true lord would do, help and save his people. At least this good deed I want to do after so many years." He said but he knew that this isn't possible now. "I wish I could have done this earlier." Shen said.
"If only there could be a way, you saw his powers, he is unstoppable." Ox said.
"You heard what master Rhino said before being killed, that person sold his sole for power. Maybe he could be defeated by someone with a pure heart." Croc said.
"The question is who." Ox asked and in that some other monster came, they seemed to be on alert about something.
"Something is going on." Shen said a giant troll and a black hooded creature came to his and the soothsayer's cell and took him.
"No." She said and wanted to hold him but the monster pushed her away hard and dragged the lord out before the other creature closed the door behind them. He took him to some chains fixed on the wall and put them on his hands. But one of the black hooded creatures was a bit different from the others; he put his hood out from his head and revealed himself.
"You." Shen said with hate in his voice.
"Yes me." Quirrel said.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" He asked angrily.
"Let's just say that I will manage to take the boy, and thanks to you, Harry Potter will come to me, if the plan will work." That made Shen to be more confused 'a boy? What does he want from a boy named like that?' he asked himself in his though.
"Why do you want the boy?" He asked.
"He has the key to the source, which will give my master the powers that he had lost." The wizard said. "And you are the first step to make him come to me." He said, Shen gathered some saliva in his mouth and spit on his face.
"Let me tell you something, even a boy, no matter what age he has, will never help someone like you or your master." Shen said.
"That, we shall see." He said before placing his hood back and said to the creatures.
"Take care of him." And the creatures approached him, he began to remember the bad things from his past the destruction of the panda village to other things. They influenced him until…
"No, no noooooo." He closed his eyes and blacked out.
In the meantime;
The monsters that had chased the group arrived at the port where they tracked the footsteps of the masters who escaped them; they looked around the port but didn't found any trace of them. In a nearby warehouse the five, Po and Harry were hiding and waited for the monsters to leave, mantis was keeping an eye to see if there were any chances for the monsters to leave, in the meantime the masters were trying to compose a new plan to find another way to get to the palace. After half an hour the monsters began to notice that the monsters were beginning to leave.
"Hey guys I think the path is clear now." Called Mantis.
"Are you sure?" Viper asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Let's be careful, they might be there." Tigress said, they all went out from the building and started to look around to see if there are monsters out there. But everything was very silent, like in the grave.
"Well, everything seems quite." Monkey asked.
"Maybe too quite, we need to stay on alert." She said and started to walk silently through the dark alleys again.
After half an hour of walking with vigilance they encountered another who began to charge at them with full speed and the masters took defensive position, they tried again to make him hit himself with his own bat but when Po tried to give him a blow the troll hit him and went inside a large building with a large room, Harry on seeing this he immediately went to him.
"Master Po, are you all right?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah, I got worst." He said trying to get up. When he got up rocks from a building hit by the troll collapsed and blocked the entrance.
"Ahh great, could it be worst then that?" Po asked before the floor above them began to collapse.
"I shouldn't have asked." He said and falls in the hole. In the hole, while trying to get up he noticed something like vines on the ground.
"Where have those come from?" He said wondering, it wasn't possible to be there underground.
"Master Po, is everything all right there?" Harry asked while flying above him.
"Yeah, but there is something here, some sort of vines." He said.
"Vines?" Harry said thoughtful before realizing what that could mean.
"You have to get out of there quickly." He said.
"Why, they are only vines, although strange it shouldn't be dangerous." He said not realizing that they began to move and one of them began to ravel his leg.
"It's not that, the vines belong to a plant called….."
"Whaaaaa." They took him fast.
"The Devil's Snare." Harry finished and flew through the tunnel after him until he reached a larger place where a giant hideous plant was controlling the others and Po was trying to fight against it but it only made worst.
"All right plants let's see if you can put yourselves with the Dragon Warrior." He was kicking the vines off him, but with every vine kicked others came out, after a small time he began to get tired and the vines took him.
"Po listen to me, you need to calm down." Harry shouted at him from the air.
"What are talking about?" He asked.
"I read about it, in order to realize you, you must relax your muscles, the more relaxed they are, the more the vines will realize you." Harry said but Po was still flexing his muscles.
"Easy to say, but how could I do that." Po asked.
"Remember what master Shifu said, try to find Inner Peace, let go of the bad memories from the past, they don't count any more, like you said once, only what you will do from now on will count." Harry asked and after Po rolled his eyes around him and noticed that the vines will not realize him.
He closed his eyes and remembered all the worst memories from his past and let them go, he said in his mind 'you don't count any more for me, from now on.' All his muscles began to relax and the vines began to calm down and putted him on the ground. He slowly started to walk towards the exit and Harry followed him until they reached the building where the vines took him.
"Hey Harry." Po called him when he got up the hole from where he felled.
"Yes mas… I mean Po." He corrected himself.
"Thanks for helping me. How did you know it would work?" He said.
"I read about the plant, the book said that if you don't calm down it will strangle you. And yeah I have to admit that I began to get interested in this kind of subject." He said.
"Aside from making odd potions." Po said with a smirk.
"Yeah like that." He said before asking. "How did you manage to find inner peace?"
"By forgetting what happened in the past and by forgiving the person that made the worst event in my life." He said before continuing. "Even if I will never meet him and know what was the reason for that. I managed to forgive."
"Great." Harry said before turning to the blocked exit.
"We need to get out of here." He said.
Outside the building the Five managed to put out the troll and began to look for the missing people of the group.
"The fight was really intense. I wander where Po and Harry are." Mantis said.
"From what I remembered Po was thrown into that building and Harry went to help him." Monkey said before turning to the building where Po and Harry were, but they noticed that the entrance was blocked.
"The entrance is blocked." Viper said.
"We must clear it quickly." Crane said concerned for his student blocked in the building.
"Po, Harry can you hear us." Tigress called for them.
"Yes we are trying get out." Harry said while he and Po were trying to get the rocks to get outside.
"Po if you hear me listen carefully." Tigress said and he stopped to listen.
"Use the kung fu move learned yesterday at training, go back to take full momentum and hit the boulders with all your weight put in it." She said.
"Harry, take shelter." He said to the young crane and he went back a few steps. "All right guys, step aside I will make the move." He began to run and jumped in the air to hit the boulders with his feet with all his weight and his entire straight, the boulders burst out.
"Oooh yeah, I'm in full straight." He said.
"Good job Po, now we need to go one, the monsters might have heard the blast." Tigress said and began to run straight forward. But after several minutes they reached crossroad. Crane went up in the air to see if there could be a way to go further, Harry had mixed feelings about this and hoped that he will return safe, he returned after five minutes with his report.
"We can't go straight forward, monsters are blocking the path, and the same thing is on the right side as well." He said.
"Then we will have climb on the rooftops like we did the first time." Monkey said.
"He might have brought creatures on the rooftops as well. But maybe this could be the only way." Tigress said.
"Yeah but it might take us more time to reach the Tower of the Sacred Flame." Viper said.
"Right, does anyone have other proposals?" Tigress asked and waited for an answer from the group, after two minutes Harry came out with an idea.
"Aah, Master Tigress?" He said tracking her attention. "Maybe we can try to find the master council; from what I know the master council who supervise Gongmen City is composed of Master Thundering Rhino, Master Croc and Master Ox and from what we know only master Thundering Rhino was killed not the others, they might help us reach the palace faster, since they know the city better than we do."
"Maybe, but if they are still alive the only place they could be is Gongmen Prison and they might be guarded by other monsters." She said.
"Yeah but it might be the only way Tigress and surprisingly the path to the prison is clear, I don't know why." Crane asked.
"It might be a trap but maybe it will be the best we can do, we have to rescue the masters." She said and they followed her, surprisingly there were no monsters and no disturbances on the path to the prison, everything was rather calm, like someone wanted to go on that path.
"Now this was strange, it's like someone wanted us to come here." Mantis said.
"You tell me; it seems that this is part of a plan, but for what purpose." Viper said before stopping in front of the prison.
"Well here we are, let's go in." Tigress said and opened the door to the prison, everything was totally deserted, and everything dark and no guards at the gates that leads to the cells. They entered and looked for the masters, in the room it was a cold, four times the temperature where the water is freezing but no one knew from where it was coming from.
"Brrr, this place is more cold then the Northern Mountains." Monkey said trembling.
"I must say that it is not very good for snakes." Viper said trembling from every inch of her cold blooded body. Po was walking around to see where the master council could be when he noticed something that was hanged on the wall; it was a white peacock with red eyes markings on his feathers, he remembered his visions and the markings on the wolf bandit's uniforms but he wasn't scared or hurt by the memories any more, and on seeing him he could see that he was a victim of the one that took over Gongmen City. He began to walk slowly towards him.
"Hey is someone there." A voice came from one of the cells and everyone turned to see master Ox and Croc.
"Master Croc and master Ox, we are master's form the Jade Palace sent by master Shifu to investigate what is happening in Gongmeng." Tigress said with respect.
"You have to get out of here as soon as you can." Master Croc said.
"Why? What happened." Viper asked.
"Come; let's get you out of there and…." Po was cut while he wanted to free them but he closed the cells door back.
"You don't understand, kung fu is dead." The Ox said.
"What!?" Po said annoyed and tried to open it again but the two masters didn't let him.
"Kung fu cannot be dead." Po said.
"Yes, it is." The Croc said.
"No it isn't, I worked hard to become kung fu and I will not let it die." Po said trying to get them out but they refused.
"What could it be for kung fu to be dead?" Po asked.
"That person, has unusual powers, powers of darkness, he can control all the monsters and is making everyone who gets in his way to suffer in all unusual way possible." Master Croc said.
"And him." He pointed out to the white peacock.
"He is a victim of his own fears." They heard a female voice behind them and saw an old goat with glasses.
"And who are you." Po asked.
"I am the Soothsayer, adviser of the peacocks and of the master council and his nanny." She said.
"Right….and…..what happened." He asked. The Soothsayer began to tell everything that happened from the beginning to the end, including Shen's childhood, the fears and regrets he had after the experience he encountered.
"Well, it seems sometimes people need an experience like this, to see why they have done the things they had done." Po said before walking towards him to realize him.
"Hey, bud what are you doing?" Mantis asked.
"He might have done what he had done, but I learned that inner peace comes through clemency and forgiveness not through vengeance, and he realized that everything he had done wasn't right. So I will realize him. Maybe I can help him find inner peace as well." Po said and went to him and unlocked the handcuffs that made him collapse to the ground.
The Peacock weakly opened his eyes and see the panda who was looking at him, but instead to have a face a vengeance he had a calm and gentle face which he didn't expected from what he had done to them, but then he noticed something behind him and the other masters, it was something in the air, and he knew what it was. He tried to get on his feet but immediately collapsed, Po catcher his white peacock wing to ease the fall.
"Wow, wow, wow, easy there I am not going to heart you." Po said calmly.
"Be...hinde you." He said and they turned and saw in the air a flying black hooded creature emitting a freezing cold blue mist that was approaching slowly and was making a sound of a ghost.
"By heavens, what is that thing?!" Monkey asked.
"We have to get this thing out of here." Tigress said and the masters began to fight the flying creature, in the appearance it was easy but he didn't seemed to get tired and then Po one of the mystic techniques he learned to create green light in his hands to throw the creature out from the prison at far away distance.
"Man what was that thing." Mantis asked.
"It is the most terrible creature now known to this world; it makes people remember the worst events in the lives of every living bean, as if it happens in front of them and it feeds upon the good feelings of the victim, driving people mad. I felled that myself." Shen said with a weak voice getting up from the ground and looked at them.
"Everyone here did." He said leaning his back on the wall.
"Wow, now that is really scary." Mantis said.
"I wonder what name we could give to those creatures." Monkey said.
"You saw and heard how they are they are nothing but demons." Tigress said while Harry unlocked the door of the cell where the Soothsayer was.
"So, what do we do now?" Viper asked.
"We go one, we will stop him and save kung fu." Po said.
"I want to come with you." Shen said and everyone turned to him.
"I have done bad things in the past; at least now I want to do what is right and save others." He said.
"If you want to join us, you are welcome; we need someone to get us to the Tower of the Sacred Flame." Po said.
"I might know Gongmen City like the back of my wing, but there is no certainty the roads will be safe but I will do my best." Shen said.
"So, will you two come?" Po asked the masters.
"You didn't hear us; he is too powerful he can't be defeated." Master Ox said making everyone annoyed. For Shen it was too much, he woke up to reality while he was affected by that black hooded creature and for them it had a different effect.
"Heh, look at you the master council, the ones that should protect Gongmen City refuse to stop this menace, where is the confidence from earlier when you still believed you can beat him, it seems that the effect from the creature affected you more than me. I woke up to reality and want to do the right thing and help them, while the great kung fu masters of Gongmeng refuse to defend the city they have vowed to protect. I wander what would Master Thundering Rhino would say about you now." Shen said while looking at them with rage.
"That was different when you came in." Master Croc said.
"How different exactly, the black hooded creature didn't start to unleash his powers? That's why?" Shen said now catching them off guard and Shen came out with an idea.
"Look how we will do, the door's cell will be opened, if you decide to come you will be welcomed if not maybe two more demons will come and give you company. The decision is yours." He said.
"Even if you will go to stop him you might not survive Shen." The Ox said.
"Even if I will not survive at least I will do what it should and must be done." Shen said.
"In a way I have to be on his side in this case, if you will not come, hope you will think about this before more of those creatures arrive." Po said before leaving the cell room with the others and went outside the prison. Although the atmosphere is gloomy Shen and the Soothsayer were relieved to be out from there and breath the cold fresh air.
"So, what road should we take to reach the palace?" Po asked the white peacock.
"If we go straight forward on this street and turn left we will get on the main road that leads directly to the tower, but the road could be heavily guarded by the monsters, this is what I remember while they carried me here. But if we turn right we will reach one of the main warehouses that stores a mass quantity of fireworks, near it is a second road but it is much slower than the main one." He explained.
"Are there any creatures?" Tigress asked.
"I think so, but I don't think they are as many as on the main road." He said.
"Let's try it. If it is much safer I don't think there is something to lose." Tigress said, but before leaving the masters Ox and Croc came.
"Wait, we will come with you." Master Croc said.
"So you decided to come." Mantis said.
"It seems that we needed only some time to think over. We will help you in the mission; it is better than having those creatures all-around us and turn us mad." Master Ox said.
"Great, now, let's go and save Kung Fu." Po said and the group started to walk in the way pointed by Shen. At the Tower of the Sacred Flame professor Quirrel received the news that Harry Potter was in the city together with the other animals. The plan seems to work perfectly, now he needs only to get them to the tower.
"Master the plan works exactly as we anticipated. They are going right into the trap we have prepared." He said to his master while looking in the horizon from the balcony.
"Excellent, now you need to make sure that they will get into our trap, but remember, we need the boy alive." Lord Voldemort said coldly, Quirrel took his cape and rolled around him to turn into black mist to fly towards the warehouses where he set a trap to get rid of the masters. Everything works exactly as he hopped.
Back at the road the masters, Harry and Po were cautiously walking the deserted streets to reach the warehouse to go on the presumed safe road. The tension was high no one knew what could come and how it would be; many of them were hoping that they would not have to encounter the monsters again or everything else related to them. Shen was in that time thinking about what he did in the past, even if he would help them defeat that imposter he was still having great regrets and a high sense of remorse of what he did in the past, for him the list of bad things was ten times much greater than that of good ones, not even what he was doing now wasn't enough to clean everything off him, Po and the Soothsayer noticed his face and new about what he was thinking but didn't said a word about that.
"Well, somehow everything went normal." Po said before turning to Shen to ask.
"So? How much do we need to walk now?" Shen didn't respond for a second before answering.
"We only need to turn left and we arrive. After that we will take the road to the tower." He said still thinking about his past. Harry knew about the fact that the Lord was still trying to face what he did in the past but he couldn't say anything about this fact, he was sorry for him and wished to help but he felt that it wasn't quite the right moment, didn't knowing why. Just in that moment three wolves came out from nowhere into attack position ready to attack them, the wolf in the center with only one eye was ready to attack before noticing his master.
"My Lord." He said bowing to the white peacock with the others.
"Chang I am glad that you are alive, my friend." He said shocking the wolf commander; he didn't expect to call him 'friend' or to address in such a soft manner or call him on the name.
"My lord?" He asked confused.
"Where is the rest of the army?"
"Do you know him?" Po asked a bit confused.
"He is the commander of the wolf army and in many cases my only friend I had in childhood." Shen said before the wolf turned his head up to watch him.
"They had been thrown back outside the city wall's, we tried to fight the creatures and get into the city as fast as we could, but only a handful of wolves managed to get in from what I know. But we have been attacked again and we had been scattered around only we managed to stay together." He said.
"It is good that you managed to find us, we need to help the masters to free Gongmen City." Shen said.
"But my lord, the plan consisted of taking over the city and put down the masters council." He said.
"Chang, while I was captured I managed to do something I never did till then. I revised my life and I realized that everything evil that was done was in vain. Now the plan had changed we now need to help the masters to stop him, it's the only way." He made a small pause "And, I'm sorry for being so harsh with you and the others I will understand if you will not help."
"My Lord, since I was a guard at the palace I vowed to protect you and never abandon you and for me you became not just a friend but a brother. We will follow you everywhere." He said making Shen to place a smile of confidence on his face.
"Great, if more people join us we might still have a chance." Monkey said.
"So, how many monsters or traps are on that road from the where house to the tower?" Po asked the Wolf Boss.
"There aren't too many from what we encountered." The wolf in the left side said.
"We have to stay on alert even if they aren't many." Tigress said, the group began to move forward the dark streets full of mist there was no sound aside from their footsteps, but even with the silence they were looking for potential surprise attacks, some were looking up to the buildings others to the streets around them and more. Po was looking at the warehouse, it wasn't such a large building it had only three storage, but it was 17 m long, he also noticed the door open didn't knew why, it was empty or the employees run in panic. Just in that moment near the corner of the building someone wearing a black came with a hood on his head appeared was walking it didn't seemed to be one of the demons. 'What is he doing here?' He thought to himself.
"Hey you!" Po called making the person to turn to them. "What are you doing here?" Shen then turned to the person Po was talking to, in one second he realized who he was through the black hood.
"It's him." He called taking out his blade the Wolf Boss gave to him. Followed by the rest who took battle position.
"Well, it seems that you don't forget." The man said.
"Why did you come here?" Tigress said in her interrogation manner.
"Catch me to find out." He said and went inside the warehouse. The masters and Harry began to follow him until they reached the third floor where there was a labyrinth of bags and boxes. They scattered to search for him but they didn't found him.
"He isn't here." Master Ox said.
"But how this was the last floor." Viper said.
"It might be one of his tricks." The wolf boss said. Shen at the end of the hall noticed a broken window; he might have disappeared in a pile of smoke, but there was a question that came to mind.
"Why was he here, something is wrong." He whispered to himself, after a moment he began to sniff something that was really familiar, and in a warehouse like the one they were it meant only one thing. He looked to his right and saw a lightened fuss, everything was a trap.
"It's a trap." He called everyone turning towards him.
"Everyone, out of here. Through the window behind you." He said and just in that moment one barrel exploded and all began to go and jump through the window from behind them, fire began to take over the building luckily there were empty spaces from each other and the group managed to escape without being injured, Shen tried to the Soothsayer to get out from the building with the help from the Wolf Boss but just after that the rest of the gunpowder exploded and threw him several meters away in the air.
Po immediately went to him, he was gravely injured his tail feathers suffered some burnings and blood was coming from his mouth and from a small hall from his head, he was breathing heavily and he was barely moving, he heavily opened his eyes to look at the panda who seemed scared for his life.
"chough, chough…..Dragon…Warrior."
"Please don't say anything, save you're strength." He said.
"N-no…..I….have to….tell you…I'm sorry….for everything I have done to you…..I only acted with fear….without thinking….what was I chough doing." He said.
"I know that, and I forgive you." Po said before the rest appeared and looked at the wounded Peacock.
"chough, chough, why…..could you…forgive….me?"
"Because you realized it was wrong and you regret that. But now you need to save you're strength, you can still redeem yourself. If we all do this together." He said.
"N-no….I think my time…..had run out." Shen said weak.
"No it didn't you only need to trust you're self and you will survive." Po said.
"caught, maybe….but if not….I wish you….." He placed his head to whisper in his year. "stop him ….save the city…and the people."
"It will be done." He said before turning to the others "We have to go one and reach the tower, but first we need to see if there are any monsters."
"But someone need to stay with him." Viper said pointing at Shen. Crane thought for a moment.
"Harry stay with Shen and don't move until we return." He said to the younger crane.
"Yes master." He said
"And don't worry we will return soon." He said before they together with the wolves began to scout for more monsters.
"I hope they will be all right." Crane said to himself.
"All right we must split I groups of two, if we see a creature we must not engage but return here," Tigress said before splitting in the next way. Monkey and Viper to the left, Mantis and Crane to the left, Tigress and Po to the front, Chang with the Soothsayer to guard her and the two wolves on the buildings.
In the meantime back at Harry and Shen.
"So that is why you did what was done." Harry said after Shen related his story with sorrow in his mind.
"Yes, up until now I didn't look or thought of what I had done back then." The lord said with a sad weak tone. "This is something I will never forgive now." Harry was feeling bad for the white peacock about what he had done back then, in a way it was really something he couldn't forgive but there was a reason for why he had done it and that was fear, in a way he was a victim of his own fears and in the same time of the black thoughts he had.
"I don't think I deserve the kindness of others for what I had done, especially from the Panda." Shen said.
"You know sir; Master Shifu once told me that the things that happened in the past doesn't matter, because they are history, it is of course important to remember them and learn from it. But even with that they don't have any more importance. And Po have found inner peace through forgiving you and told me that he will also help you found it as well." Harry said.
"Maybe, but that doesn't change anything what I had done can't be redone." Shen said.
"Maybe not but maybe you can redeem you're self." Harry said.
"What makes you think that?" He asked.
"What was in your mind when you thought about you're cannon, what purpose you would have given to it at first?" Harry asked, Shen though for a moment before remembering the first purpose of it.
"Before hearing the prophecy I intended to construct it to use it for defending the kingdom and protecting the people, but when I heard the prophecy everything was like vanishing in the air like the words we spoke." Shen said.
"That is an honorable idea. I think it would have worked." Harry said.
"I only wanted my parents to be proud of me and accept me. If I only have told them what my intention was none of it would have happened and my parents would have still been here." He said with a tear in his eye "Only now I realize how much I miss them…..I miss them so much."
"I know how it is." Harry said to him kindly and took a few steps towards him. "My parents had also died when I was one year old and for six years I stayed at my relatives who had always harassed me, blamed me for thing I haven't done and punished me for strange things that had happened and put them on me. But when my master found me everything had changed radically I felt accepted and appreciated for the first time in my life. If something is to happen to him I don't know what I would do." That made Shen amazed by the young one's loyalty, he never though there could be someone so young but yet so loyal towards his master.
"You're loyalty towards your master is really impressing in many points of view. You're master…is truly a lucky person for having a student like you." He said.
"Thank you sir." Harry said with an encouraging smile on his face. "You know, after you said what you're initial intentions were with your weapon I think that what you said still can be done."
"What makes you 'chough, chough' think that? In the eyes of many I am seen as a murderer, not as a hero like you're Master or the others." Shen said.
"I don't see you as a murderer sir but a victim of fear. In my opinion you can be a great leader for your people, one that would make the kingdom to prosper more and the people would love you for your good deeds. Like what you have done now in this moment, you decided to help us to liberate the city and saved the Soothsayer from the warehouse that was almost to explode. You truly can be the leader you're parents wanted you to become." Harry said going near him.
"And I believe in you Lord Shen." He placed a wing on his right shoulder, the white peacock after hearing what he had said gave him more confidence in himself and for a moment he thought that he could do it, but the question was how he was gravely injured and it was like he could pass away really soon if a creature would come near.
"You know, the thing that would give me inner peace is seeing my people free and safe. But it is like my time is coming, I am too gravely injured to help you now, I wish I could have 'chough' more time." Shen said weakened, Harry knew that he was right; he was too injured only a miracle could help him. He think to himself for a moment and looked around him, when he turned his head to the right he noticed a flash of light from behind a building. 'Maybe there is something that would help.' He thought to himself.
"Is everything all right?" Shen asked.
"Don't worry I will be back immediately." Harry said and flew behind the building from where the light came, he gently landed and started to look around and noticed a circular bottle of potion with a note on it. He took the note attached to the bottle to read. But unfortunately it was too dark to read and he began to concentrate his power in his right wing and said "Lumos" and a small bean of light came from his bigger feather.
"The potion is a stronger variant from the Wiggenweled potion used for more major injuries."
"Excellent, this is just what I needed." He said cheerful and immediately went back to the white peacock who immediately noticed him.
"Where have you been?" He asked.
"Don't worry I found something that would help you regain your strength." Harry said while going near him with the potion in his wings.
"What is that?" Shen said confused noticing the bottle.
"It is something that will help." He said getting the bottle cork off "Try to drink." He placed the bottle at the peacock's beak and started to drink the content, the substance was icy cold but he didn't complained and pulled on his neck but some had spitted on his feathers that seemed to make recover. After he finished drinking he began to feel that he was beginning to feel better, all the burning marks and all the wounds were healing and in just two minutes he was back in full strength. He got up on his feet and began to walk without feeling anything.
"I am back in full strength." He said amazed of how he was back to normal so fast. He then turned to him and asked.
"What was in the bottle?"
"This is my little secret." Harry said and Shen smiled at him, he began now see that the young crane has something special in him that he would rather keep it secret, who could blame him everyone is allowed to have secrets. But this one really tracked his attention.
"Hm, very well then, everyone have they're secrets." Shen said still smiling and just in that moment they heard the other masters and turned their heads.
"All the paths are blocked by the monsters we can't advance." Crane said.
"It seems that he expected we would try this path." Monkey said, while walking they noticed Lord Shen who was now fully healed and back to normal, but how they had been missing only for half an hour and he was gravely injured and now he was healed completely.
"Shen." The Soothsayer said amazed "you are healed."
"I know." He said with a friendly smile.
"But how have you healed so fast?" Master Crane asked. Shen placed his right wing on Harry's head and said.
"Let's just say that your student has a special power in him, you are very lucky to have a student like him." He said with a smile before asking.
"So how is the situation?"
"They knew we are taking this path, the streets are packed with demons and monsters." Master Croc said.
"Now this is getting even more complicated." Shen said thinking with a wing under his beack.
"Isn't there another way one that he doesn't know?" Mantis asked the lord thought for a moment before remembering.
"Well now that you asked I remember something that might work. Under the city there are some escape tunnels that only the royal family knew about, they are usually used in case of emergency. My father showed them to me when I was seven I know them like the back of my wing."
"Great but where we could find the entrance?" Viper asked.
"Judging by the position of where we are, the nearest entrance is at the docks. We need to get there." Shwn said.
"But we don't know if that road is safe." One of the wolves said.
"Actually from what we have checked, the only road that is safe is the one leading to the docks." Mantis said.
"We must get there before they realize our new destination and in order to do this we need to run as fast as we can no stops and no distractions." Tigress said and everyone noded.
"Let's go." She said and all began to run on the road that leads to the docks.
This is Chapter 10 Please leave a review.