Five reviews in the last couple of days… that's better but I would love to see a lot more as this story progresses.

Sorry to disappoint you, but Shen is definitely dead, and for two reasons: one- it's pretty clear that he could not have survived that cannon falling on top of him and exploding. Two- I couldn't find a way to fit him into this story. Please don't be too disappointed.

Oh, and PLEASE find it in yourself to write a review that's at least more than one sentence! Thanks.

Oh, and one more thing-

Since I am unable to reply to you directly for some reason, Shen's Follower, I'll have to ask you now before we begin- by Furious Five action, do you mean actual kung fu fighting, or just having them say more than just a few lines, like in the films? Probably a silly question, I know, but there's a reason I can relate with Po so well.

High up in the bell tower overlooking the Valley of Peace, two pigs grunted as they swung the hanging log towards one of the enormous pair of iron bells.

Dong!

"Good morning, Master!"

Down in the Jade Palace, as always, every student in the barracks was standing stock still outside their respective bedrooms exactly at same the time Master Shifu stepped into the hallway.

Every student… except one.

Not again... Shifu fought the urge to groan out loud.

"Po." He called out, shaking his head.

No answer.

"Po!"

Silence. Except for the occasional muffled snore.

"Oh, for crying out loud…"

Shifu strode straight past four of his students and rapped his staff on Po's door.

"Panda! Wake up!"

He was answered with a snore that rattled the doorframe. His tempered multiplied by ten.

"That does it!"

Shifu slammed the doors open and stormed up to the monochromatic lump on the bed.

"Wake up!"

He jabbed the panda's belly with the sharp end of the staff. Po responded by rolling off the bed… right on top of Shifu.

Monkey, Viper, Crane and Mantis stifled their chortles as they heard the violent commotion that ensued inside the room. Tigress herself was biting her lip in a desperate attempt to keep herself from laughing as she witnessed the red panda furiously pummeling his student, yelling about getting up when you're supposed to and respecting your master.

"If- I-" Shifu spoke with each whack as the panda wailed and cowered. "- catch- you- sleeping- after- the- gong- again- I'll- make- you- fast- for- six- weeks!"

Tigress stepped to the side as Po was sent cart-wheeling from his room, spinning right past the feline and into her own bedroom.

"In his defense, Master…" Tigress spoke up politely. "He was up all night helping Mr. Ping to pack."

"That's no excuse!" Shifu snapped as he stepped from Po's room, slightly dishevelled from Po's fall on him. "Now all of you, go to the entrance of the Hall of Warriors and wait with Qiang and Ming while I change!"

As Shifu turned on his heel and stormed off, his students saw the dark stain on his back- it seemed that Po had fallen asleep with a half-empty bowl of noodles on his belly again.

"Uh…" Po moaned as he staggered from Tigress's room. "I think I'm gonna hurl…"

"Vomiting will have to wait." Tigress said sternly. "We have to meet Qiang and Ming outside the Hall of Warriors, and we're running late."

She took Po by the arm and pulled him out of the barracks. Once they were gone, Mantis hopped on Monkey's shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Hey, buddy… did you notice the way Po was looking at that Ming girl yesterday?"

"Yeah." Monkey whispered back with a smirk. "I think he's got the hots for her."

"Hush!" Crane said in annoyance. "What the heck makes you guys think that Po has a crush on her?"

"Well, there was the way he stammered when talking to her…" Mantis raised his eyes to the ceiling. "… the way his eyes kept staring at her…"

"And don't even get us started on that flush in his cheeks!" Monkey added.

"Yeah, you could see it through his fur!" Mantis said.

"That's enough, you two!" Viper hissed like the snake she was, silencing the primate and insect immediately. "I don't want you teasing Po about this, it'll embarrass him!"

Mantis and Monkey nodded reluctantly.

"I'm serious! If you do, I'll make you guys punch yourselves into unconsciousness, and you know I can!"

Tigress poked her head round the corner.

"Hey, are you guys coming or not?"

"Sorry, Tigress." Viper said. She began to slither down the corridor, but then stopped and turned her head to glare at Monkey and Mantis once more.

"I mean it… not… one… word…"

The sun was low in the orange sky as the six warriors made their way down the small path to the Hall of Warriors. Halfway down, they encountered a dark-feathered palace goose.

"Oh, pardon me, masters!" Zeng bowed.

"Where are you going, Zeng?" Po asked good-naturedly.

"Grand Master Shifu asked me to clean up the mess in your bedroom. Since you are leaving early today, you can't do it youself."

"Oh. I'm sorry you have to do it for me." Po struggled to conceal his intense relief.

"Master Shifu also asked me to tell Master Monkey that Po ate all his almond cookies again and swapped them for flattened dumplings to hide the theft."

Monkey's eyes widened. Po gulped.

"PoooOOOOOOOO!"

"Mummy!" Po wailed as Monkey chased him down the latter half the path.

Qiang and Ming were waiting for them outside the entrance doors to the Hall of Warriors, a couple of sacks of supplies at their feet. Qiang grinned and waved when he saw Po approach. Ming, on the other hand, smiled shyly and nodded in greeting. Po blushed and waved back. Mantis noticed this and whispered something into Monkey's ear, making them both laugh. Viper silenced them with a hiss as Po glanced at them in confusion.

"Good morning, son!" Qiang stepped forward and put an arm round Po. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Said Po. "Well, almost. We just need to wait for Shifu to change, and then we've got to pick up my dad from his shop."

Qiang frowned.

"Your… dad?"

"Sorry, I mean my goose dad!" Po said quickly. "You know, dad number two!"

"He's definitely coming with us?"

"Yeah. Why, is there a problem?"

Qiang's frown softened. Slightly.

"No… no there isn't."

"Excuse me… Ming, right?" Tigress spoke up.

"Yes?" Ming replied.

"You left this in the barracks last night. I found it this morning and figured it was yours."

Tigress held out a gorgoeous multi-stringed jade bracelet.

Ming gasped.

"Oh thank you!"

She took the bracelet, held it lovingly for a few seconds and then slipped it back on her wrist.

"It was my mother's! I searched all night for this!"

Tigress smiled slightly and nodded.

"Thank you so much, Master… uh…"

"Oh, I haven't introduced my friends yet, have I?" Po said. "This is the Furious Five. Master Monkey…" he gestured to Monkey, who gave a small wave.

"Hey." He said.

"… Master Viper…" Po continued to introduce his friends.

"Hello." Viper flicked the tip of her tail.

"… Master Mantis…"

"S'up?" Mantis grinned as he waved from Monkey's shoulder.

"… Master Crane…"

"Greetings." Crane bowed his head.

"… and this is Master Tigress."

Tigress simply nodded her head again.

"So this is the Furious Five." Qiang said, putting his hands on his hips as he gazed at the quintet. "I must confess, your reputation is not so well known in our village. We're very isolated up in the mountains, you see."

"And we also couldn't leave because we were afraid of Shen finding out about us." Ming added.

"You guys must be feeling pretty relieved, now that Shen's gone." Said Crane.

"Yes, we are." Ming said. She glanced up at the barracks in the distance. "Is your master going to be much longer?"

"No he won't." Shifu scowled as he made his appearance, treading down the small path. He was wearing his normal attire, albeit without the noodle soup stain. "No thanks to the Dragon Warrior."

Po chuckled sheepishly.

"Let's go pick up Mr. Ping." Shifu walked straight past Po and was the first down the steps.

"Alright, let's get goOOOOOO!" Po wailed as he tripped on a tiny rock and once again tumbled down the thousand stairs.

"Aw jeez…" Crane sighed.

"Son!" Qiang yelled and ran forward. "Son, I'm comAAAAA!" he yelled as he tripped on the exact same tiny rock and tumbled down after his son.

Ming giggled as the five warriors stared.

"Like father like son!" She said inbetween laughs. "This is the real reason why it took us so long to find Po!"

Crane, Monkey and Mantis couldn't help it… they started to laugh too.

"OH! AH! OUCH!" Po yelled in pain as he bounced every ten steps, finally coming to a stop at the bottom.

"Owwww…" he moaned, waiting until the soreness died down before getting up… and promptly getting slammed down again as Qiang bounced off the last step and landed on his son.

"HA-HA-HOOOW!"

"Sorry, son!" Qiang quickly lifted himself off of Po and patted the dust off his robe. "So where's this goose father of yours?"

"His name's Mr. Ping." Said Po, wincing as he got to his feet. "Come on, he should still be in the noodle shop."

Qiang scowled as he followed Po down the main street, eventually reaching the restaurant where father and son had reunited after twenty five years.

Standing waiting in the archway was Mr. Ping with a small noodle cart. He grinned when he saw Po approach, but then the grin faltered when he saw Qiang standing behind him.

"Hey, dad." Qiang's scowl deepened when Po leaned down and hugged the goose. "Are ya ready to go?"

"I've been ready since last night, thanks to you, son." Said Mr. Ping.

Po felt a pang of dismay when his eyes fell on the noodle cart, which was as laden with bowls as it had been the day he had inexplicably become the Dragon Warrior.

"Dad, why are you bringing your noodle cart? It's a seven day journey."

"Well I need something to cook the noodle with, don't I?" Mr. Ping said. "I doubt that any of the people in Qiang's village have ever tasted my secret ingredient soup."

"I have a stove in my house." Qiang spoke. "You can use that, if you want."

"No thank you, my cart will do just fine." Mr. Ping replied. "Son, I am so happy that you will be there to sell them with me!"

"Uh… dad…" Po rubbed the back of his head, unsure how to explain. "The point of me visiting the village is so I can spend some quality time with my birth father. Is it alright if you do it yourself, just for a little bit?"

Mr. Ping blinked. His face slackened with barely concealed displeasure.

"Oh, um… okay… anything you want, son."

Mr. Ping struggled to hide his dismay as Master Shifu, Ming and the Furious Five made their appearance at that moment.

"Shall we set off, then?" Shifu asked.

"Oh yes." Said Mr. Ping. He began to pull the noodle cart.

"I'll take care of that, dad." Said Po. "Like I said, it's a pretty long journey."

Only Shifu noticed the dark expressions on Qiang and Mr. Ping's faces as the small group began their journey down the main street.

By now, you've probably figured out the drama in this story: while Po is dealing with a 'minor' crush on Ming, Qiang and Mr. Ping are both vying for the role of big daddy. I must admit that my story was originally going to have Po suffer the anguish of having to choose between two fathers, but I realized that there would be better drama if Po was focusing more on young love, while the anguish would be between his two dads. Expect hilarity to ensue!

Watch out for the next update, and don't forget to send a lot of reviews! Cheers!