Author's note: Before we start this new chapter, I would like to say that I hope you, my friends, have all spent a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family. 2019 was a pretty hard year for me, but I keep my hopes up for a great 2020! And I wish the same to all of you.
After accepting Master Shifu's invitation to join his table, the masters of the Frog Dojo were now sitting down with the masters of the Jade Palace, enjoying their delicious meal. Everything was going well so far, the conversations being lively and everyone participating in. Well, everyone except Yukan who did not say anything since his friends and he joined the Jade Palace masters, doing nothing but eating and giving the occasional nod.
"So, did you all qualify for the next phase?" Shining Eagle asked.
"Not all of us," Po replied. "Only Tigress, Crane, Viper, and myself qualified. Monkey and Mantis couldn't find the victory zone in time."
"I tell you; it's because this tournament's staff placed us too far from it!" Mantis said in protest. "Had they given us a different door, we would have definitely qualified!"
"A Kung Fu master must be ready for anything in any condition, Master Mantis," Shifu interrupted him. "If you failed the tournament's first phase, you have no one to blame but yourself."
"Come on, guys. It's not that bad," Po said, trying to cheer his friends up.
"Easy for you to say; we'll have to wait another ten years before having the chance to participate again," Monkey said with a disappointed look.
"And everyone will mock us for failing to pass the first phase," Mantis added.
"I'm sorry," Shining Eagle said with compassion. "One of our friends failed as well; he too didn't take it very well. That's why he did not attend the feast with the rest of us."
"So, is Master Golden Cat still training at your Dojo?" Master Crane asked.
"You mean Mei Ling? Indeed she is, Master Crane," Shujinko answered before taking a sip from his tea cup. "She told me a lot about you after joining my Dojo. Is it true that you both trained together at Lee Da prior to changing Dojos?"
"Yes, Master Shujinko," the avian master confirmed. "In fact, Mei Ling is the one who convinced me to get into Kung Fu in the first place. Has she not been there, I would have never become a master..."
"Wow, looks like the flame of your old crush hasn't died, right, Crane?" Mantis asked with a snicker which got shared by Monkey. The two friends were almost immediately silenced by glares from Crane and Master Viper.
"Tell me, Master Tigress," Kivuli then said to the feline master, "is it true that your arms are stronger than steel? I heard rumors about it."
The orange feline took a sip from a cup of tea before handing one arm toward the avian. "Check for yourself."
The martial eagle poked at the orange arm with her feather tips and blinked her purple eyes. "... Wow, they really are strong." She then gave a little smile on her beak. "I hope I'll get the chance to face you during one of the following phases."
"You shouldn't try to eat more than you can chew, martial eagle," Tigress replied with a smirk of her own.
"There's a smell of rivalry in the air, huh?" Mantis asked toward Yukan who replied with a mere nod and kept eating his noodle soup.
The Jade Palace masters blinked their eyes at the sun parrot's attitude. Ever since they came to eat together, he didn't take part in the conversations and mostly ate and drank. Tigress remembered how he left after she came to see him and Po during the tournament's inscription time and Viper knew that he didn't like them because Shining Eagle told her just a few moments ago. Visibly, this avian had a problem with the masters of the Jade Palace, but they didn't know what.
"... So, that's a fun feast, right?" Monkey asked, trying to get Yukan to talk.
"Yeah..."
Monkey exchanged a glance with Viper who decided to try her own turn. "Po's noodle soup is delicious, don't you think? It's the best one in all of China."
"I guess..."
The two friends exchanged a look again and this time, Monkey grabbed a bottle of ketchup on the table. "Hey, you imagine if I decided to drink all this ketchup bottle by myself? Gulp, gulp, gulp!" he pretended drinking and laughed a bit. Yukan, however, did not look interested.
"Well, that wouldn't be nice for the next people who will come to sit down here."
Monkey gave up. Yukan did not want to talk to them and that was final. Seeing this, Shifu decided to try - maybe his reaction to a Grandmaster, and the late Oogway's own pupil, would be different. "So, I heard you have recently joined Master Shujinko's Frog Dojo?"
"Yup," Yukan replied after swallowing his noodles.
"And you are from Japan, correct?"
"Yes, from Riho Village."
"Can you tell us more about this village?" the red panda politely asked.
Yukan's emerald eyes suddenly looked at the Grandmaster with an expression similar to that of someone who received an insult. "Tell you about my village? You want me to talk about a little village with nothing interesting about it?" he asked with an almost insulted and rebelled tone.
Grandmaster Shifu was unsure on how to respond. "Hum, well, yes?"
Yukan let out an exasperated sigh and then looked at Shujinko. "Look, can we just go, Master?"
Having had enough, Po finally decided to speak. "Aw, come on, Yukan! Can't you see my friends are trying really hard here?"
"Who asked them to try?" Yukan asked back in a rather dry tone.
"No one," Crane said. "We're just trying to be nice to you, but you keep rejecting us and you won't say why. Why are you acting so hostile toward us? Did we do something that insulted you?"
Yukan just stared at the master of Crane Style with his eyes half-closed. "So this is what it's all about? You guys wanna know what I hate you?"
"Yes."
Yukan looked at all the Jade Palace masters minus Po. "Are you sure you wanna hear my mind? It's pretty personal and could hurt your feelings."
"Go ahead," Master Tigress said, finally joining in the conversation. "We, masters of the Jade Palace, are more than capable of taking criticism. Besides, I'd like to hear if your reasoning is justified."
Yukan sighed. "Very well, you've been warned. Here I go." He took a deep breath and started talking.
"You guys are the worst people I know. A Kung Fu fan who has nothing but admiration for you comes up to your palace and how do you treat him? You beat him up and kick him out as fast as he came!"
"Come on, I know it was wrong, but he still did enter without permi-" Mantis tried to explain.
"That's not a freakin' justification! What's next? You're gonna slap a little girl if she comes up to you and ask for a cup of tea? And to add insult to injury, when the guy finally gets a chance to follow his dream and start training in Kung Fu, you try to bully him into giving up and go back to his job as a noodle seller! Kung Fu masters are supposed to encourage weaker people into wanting to become better; not the other way around!"
The Jade Palace masters couldn't help but either look away or rub the back of their heads as they remembered what the sun parrot was talking about. "Come on, Yukan," Po decided to step in. "You're being too harsh; I'm not mad-"
"Po, please, let me finish what I have to say," the sun parrot cut him off. "I'll listen to what you have to say after I'm done." He then turned his attention back to Shifu and the Five. "You guys have the guts to walk around this city and lecture everyone on Kung Fu and honor after you brought more shame and dishonor to our art than most criminals I now."
"Hey, hey, wow, I think you're a bit overreacting on this point, pal," Mantis said.
"Oh, am I?" Yukan sarcastically asked. "Let's talk about you, Master Mantis." He started talking in a mocking tone. "He's so fat that when he walks, the whole earth starts trembling." He then gave an angry glare at the bug. "Well, who are you to mock people's size, shrimp?! You're so small that most people don't realize you're here until you talk to them! And you're in no position to mock anybody's appearance either; you look like the result of a spider having sex with a green grape - and I'm not even talking about your weird antennas and crab pincers! Next time you wanna mock Po for his weight, look at yourself and shut your big - or should I say small - mouth!"
Mantis blinked his eyes a few times before looking down in shame. While there was some truth to what Yukan just said, the others thought he was being harsh on the bug. "Hey, Mantis did not mock Po's weight for a very long time. Don't judge him for being small!" Monkey decided to take his friend's defense.
Yukan let out a scoff. "Cause you think you can lecture me about mocking people, Master Monkey? Well, let me tell you something; you're not better than your bug friend. You mocked Po just as much as him, and all the others for that matter, when he joined your palace. But who are you to laugh at him or anybody? May I remind you that you grew up in the streets where everybody always laughed at you because you kept losing your pants? But what bothers me the most about you, Master Monkey, is that you go around thinking that you're this funny guy who makes everybody laugh. Well, you're not; nobody's laughing at your jokes - they're immature and childish! Don't come whining if everybody in your palace ends up getting married, except you!"
Monkey just blinked his eyes a few times before looking down sadly. As much as he hated to admit it, it was true that he didn't have that much success with girls. His comrades constantly scolded him for his immaturity... but they never did it in such a harsh way.
"Don't you think you're going too far, Yukan?" Viper asked with a frown.
The sun parrot sighed. "Look, Master Viper, except Po and the late Grandmaster Oogway, you're the only Jade Palace master I respect. That's because you're very kind and generous." The avian then gave a small frown. "Which brings me to this question: why didn't you stand up for Po when your master and comrades were bullying him? You could have told the other Five members that they were being horrible at their job. Or better yet, you could have gone to Shifu, slapped him in the face, and told him that what he was doing was perfectly dishonorable and against everything Kung Fu is standing for! Why didn't you do anything?"
The snake blinked her turquoise eyes a few times before looking a bit guilty. "Well, it's true that the others weren't very kind to Po at first. And he had nothing to do with it. But do you really think slapping anybody would have made things better?"
"Better than doing nothing."
"Stop talking to her like that! She's not responsible for what happened," Crane decided to defend his reptile friend.
"You're right, so how about we stop talking about her and start talking about one of the responsible ones, Master Crane?" Yukan asked, his voice once again filled with disgust. "I've heard a lot of talking about you, the Master of Crane Style from the Furious Five who is said to be amongst the most kind-hearted masters you can find in China." The sun parrot frowned. "Then how is it that your actions say otherwise?"
"What are you talking about?" Crane asked with a confused look.
"Oh, please! Everybody knows that you opposed Po joining the Jade Palace simply because he was a commoner and a noodle seller." Yukan then tossed his wings in the air. "What the heck do you have against noodle selling?! That's a perfectly honest and respectable job! As much as being a janitor!" He pointed an accusing feather at Crane. "And for the record, being a master doesn't give you the right to look down on anyone. Mei Ling told me that you have been a janitor at Lee Da for five years before finding the guts to stand up and become a Kung Fu student. Five freakin' years! Po did not hesitate taking his chance for a second and his determination alone could have allowed him to become a master of the Bear Style. What's YOUR excuse? You have, what, over ten years of Kung Fu experience? But even then, you're nothing more than a skilled aerial fighter - and a despicable one at that. Next time you wanna look down on Po or any commoner for that matter, remember that you used to be bullied for having skinny legs!" He rubbed his eyes with his feathers. "I'm glad Mei Ling did not come to participate in this tournament: she would have been heartbroken to see her childhood friend has turned into a total dick!"
Everyone just kept silent the whole time, not daring interrupting the sun parrot's speech. The other avian master just stared blankly at him for a moment before lowering his head, covering his face with his hat and his beak pointing at the floor. This made the others understand that Yukan had hit a sensitive spot. After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze toward the only Furious Five member he didn't not roasted so far.
"And now, for the one I was the most impatient to get to," Yukan said as he looked at Master Tigress. "Leader of the Furious Five and favorite pupil of Grandmaster Shifu, Master Tigress. The perfect embodiment of what a Kung Fu master should NOT be!"
Some of the masters backed away a bit, knowing that pissing Tigress of wasn't a good idea, but the sun parrot seemed more than ready to do it. "You're thinking this because of the way I treated Po at first?" the feline asked with a small glare. "Listen up, I already apologized for it and Po forgave me; it's behind us now. I know I made a mistake, but I learned from it and I'm a better master because of it now, Sunbird."
"Oh, are you really a better master, Master Tigress?" Yukan asked with a hint of sarcasm. "You gotta excuse me, but it's hard to believe that someone who tried to break a good guy's dream simply to satisfy her selfishness can ever become a good master or person for that matter." Yukan pointed an accusing feather at Tigress just like he did with Crane. "A person obsessed with Kung Fu to the point that she neglected her own friends and have the guts to still call them her family!"
Tigress growled a bit at the avian's words. "Well, yes, that's what I did! I'm not a perfect master, it's no big deal! No one can ever be!" she defensively said.
Yukan let out a mocking chuckle. "Not only are you not the perfect master, but you're the total opposite of it. I don't care that you pushed the Tiger Style of Kung Fu to perfection or that you trained to the point your arms became hard like steel. There's no point in having strong skills if you're not using them for good causes! Having strong skills is horrible when you're using them for selfishness and for bullying!"
"I already told you that I never bullied anyone again after Po became the Dragon Warrior!" Tigress defended herself. "And you should watch what you're saying; I never once in my life used Kung Fu for any selfish purposes."
"Oh yeah? Then what about that time you guys went on a mission that could have possibly led to Po finding out about his origins, but you forced him to stay behind and went after the criminal with the other Five by yourselves?" Yukan asked with placing his fists on his hips.
"That was because Po's judgement was blinded by this fact; it could have led to him letting his guard down and getting killed! I couldn't allow this!"
"I. Don't. Give. A. DAMN!" Yukan shouted back. "If Po wants to put his life on the line, that's HIS choice to make, not YOURS! You're lucky that Po is such a nice guy; if you had tried to get in my way, I would have made myself a pleasure to break your darn neck!" He then took a mocking feminine voice. "I can stand you questioning my authority, but here, you're under my responsibility, so this is no up to discussion! Think before addressing your superior!" Yukan then talked normally again, tossing his wings toward Tigress. "My god, you're pretentious! No one gives a damn about an arrogant brat's authority!"
Upon hearing this, many heads turned around toward the table, listening to the conversation going on. Many were surprised to see the new master making a stand against the Jade Palace masters of all people.
Tigress' growl became louder and she seemed ready to jump on the parrot to tear him apart. "Don't talk to me like this, parrot! You might be okay with your friends getting killed, but I'm not! You have no idea what it's like to be a leader."
However, Yukan did not let himself get intimidated and got very close to the feline's face. "You don't know me! Neither do you know Po or anyone else for that matter! You're stuck in your little Kung Fu world where nothing but Kung Fu and discipline matters. Well, sorry to break your hardcore walls, but there are other things in life that matters as well. Family and friends matter too! Of course, I wouldn't expect you to understand; after all, you grew up in an orphanage with not a single person wanting you. And after this, you got raised by this heartless master," he said with pointing at Shifu, "who never showed you the slightest bit of love! As a result, today, you have become a brick wall!"
Upon hearing this, Tigress' expression softened a bit. The others were shocked that Yukan would have the guts to openly insult Master Tigress, but they never thought he would manage to make her look so weak and... sad.
"You see, that's what bothers me the most about you, Master Tigress," Yukan continued in a low tone. "Trying to crush Po's dream, hating on him for no reason, acting like an arrogant brat toward your own comrades, I could forgive all of it... if you were not such a brick wall. That's the truth, Master Tigress. You are nothing but a pitiful, pathetic, sad, and empty brick wall."
After finishing his long speech, Yukan took a deep breath and exhaled softly. As much as he wanted to brash against Shifu too, doing so with a Grandmaster in such a place probably wouldn't be a good idea. And besides, he was already tired from the long talk he just did. Looking at the Five's expressions, he could tell that what he said did indeed hurt them... but he wouldn't feel guilty for it. He warned them and told them the truth.
"I'm going to sleep now," Yukan said with standing up and handing his noodle soup bowl back to Po. "Thanks for the invitation..."
After the sun parrot left the feast, an awkward silence settled between the Frog Dojo and Jade Palace masters. "I think we should go too. Thanks for the invitation," Shining Eagle said and left alongside Kivuli.
Not too long after, Master Shujinko sighed sadly and pulled his finished tea cup down. "Please pardon my pupil's reaction. That's just the way he is. I thank you for this enjoyable night." And with that, he left the feast too.