Author's note: Another chapter so soon after the previous one, you say? It's true that I usually take quite some time between two chapters, but hey, I'm on holiday vacations! This means I have more free time and I can work more on my stories here!

Also, before we start this new chapter, I'd like to remind you something I mentioned at the beginning of this story. I'm adding a lot of small details and other easter eggs in each of my chapters that serve as clues for big elements that will happen much later on. As such, I'm encouraging you to come up with speculations or theories. Believe me, there's nothing like keeping a theory for a long time and have it being confirmed.

Last thing; it's time for the second phase and it's gonna be longer than the first one. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

A few days passed following the Legendary Tournament's annual feast during which the participants either prepared themselves for the next challenge, relaxed, or both. And eventually, the day of the second phase arrived. Unlike the first one which took place outside the city, the second one was set to take place in the Jade Palace Coliseum Arena, the biggest arena in all the Valley of Peace which hosted many Kung Fu-related events in the past.

As they were led inside, the remaining participants who passed the first phase arrived into a huge circular arena with many stands which were all empty and two sets of stairs leading to a platform with a security barricade that overlooked the open area. The Imperial soldiers gathered the participants in a line with all of them standing side by side. They now waited for the information about the next phase to be given to them.

Since nothing happened for many minutes, Yukan decided to look around and see who were the remaining participants. Except for Shining Eagle, Kivuli, and himself, there was Po, Master Tigress, Master Viper, Master Crane... and a whole bunch of other participants Yukan didn't know. He did recognize some of them from the last moments of the first phase, but he didn't know their names or anything about their fighting skills.

"Attention, everyone!" the participants looked up as Nunzio, the referee/instructor they met before the first phase, crossed one of the arena's doors and walked before all of them, still holding his head high and his arms on his back. "First of all, allow me to congratulate you all for making it to the second phase of the Legendary Tournament. I can tell you the number of participants who failed is very high."

Yukan couldn't help but look down with sadness as he thought about Kodok and how his lost affected him. Sure, during the days following the feast, he did get back t his cheery self, but failing the first phase of the biggest Kung Fu tournament China truly did leave a mark on him.

"Anyways, welcome to the second phase of the Legendary Tournament," Nunzio continued. "You need to know that while the first phase was to test your speed as well as your abilities to adapt to a new environment, the second phase will test your fighting skills."

Upon hearing this, Master Tigress' interest perked up.

"Indeed, the second phase will see each of you facing one another in one on one duels with the winners of said duels moving on to the third phase. The rules for the matches are simple: your opponent and yourselves fights with everything you have until one of you is either incapacitated or decides to give up the match." The elephant then pointed a finger at the participants and started counting them. "Let's see... There is a total of sixteen participants. This means there will be eight matches for this phase."

"That's awesome!" Po beamed with throwing a fist in the air. "Who's gonna start?"

"Patience, Dragon Warrior. We're getting to that part," Nunzio replied and pointed his trump toward a screen planted high on the arena's wall. "This screen will randomly pick two participants. When you see your name appearing on the screen, you come down in the arena and get to fight. Now, without any further due, let us discover what the pair for the first match will be." After Nunzio said this, the screen turned on and all the participants' names started passing across the screen at a tremendous speed.

All the participants' gazes were fixed on the screen. They were holding their breath, waiting to see who would get to start the second phase with some of them hoping to face the strongest ones and others hoping they would land on an easy shot. Then, after many seconds that felt more like minutes, the screen stopped and revealed the two chosen ones.

Dragon Warrior Po Ping vs Enzokhule

"I get to start first? Awesome!" Po beamed, tossing his two fists in the air.

"The two whose names are on the screen may stay down in the arena. All the others, go up the platforms around the arena's walls to watch the fight," Nunzio instructed with pointing his trump at said platforms and everybody minus Po and his opponent did so, walking up the stairs.

Yukan, Shining Eagle, and Kivuli stood side by side which the Jade Palace masters also did while the others simply spread around, taking their own spots. "Time to see what you're capable of, Po," the sun parrot mumbled.

"This should be interesting," Daito mumbled with crossing his arms and resting against the arena's wall. Kira Lee was not too far from him, climbing up on the security barricade to get a better view.

"Think this flabby panda is as strong as the stories say he is?" Snow Kid asked Siax, his black cat partner.

She responded with a shrug. "If he truly managed to defeat Tai Lung, then I suppose he must be more than a capable fighter."

"Good luck, Po!" Crane shouted.

"We're counting on you!" Viper added while Tigress just crossed her arms and gave her panda friend a nod of approval.

Po gave them a thumb up before looking at his opponent who was a male blue falcon. His wings, head, and tail feathers were dark blue while his belly and back were white with a few black spots. His beak and talons were golden, just like the facial expressions around his emerald eyes, and his dress consisted of slightly dirty brown trousers held by a rope tied around his waist. In addition, white bandages were wrapped around the "wrists" of his wings, a spiked club was tied to his back, and some sort of hatchet was lodged between his shorts and the rope.

"So you are the Dragon warrior?" the blue falcon asked.

"I sure am, pal!"

The raptor suddenly planted his wing curled into a fist in the palm of his other one and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you in person, Dragon Warrior. Please, accept me as your student once our duel is over."

Po blinked his eyes at the blue falcon's demand. "... You want me... to take you as my student?"

"Yes. I traveled all the way from Africa to get here and meet you. I have no doubt that you are the best suited one to complete my martial arts training," Enzokhule said. "My name is Enzokhule, but please, call me Enzo."

"Listen, Enzo, I'm flattered that you want me as your teacher... but I've known Kung Fu for only a year now. I don't think I'm ready to take a student under my wing yet," Po explained with adjusting his rice hat on his head. Yukan just took notice of his new accessory now.

"I respect your decision. But please, reconsider it after our duel," Enzo demanded.

Nunzio cleared his throat to get both fighters' attention. "The first match of the second phase is about to start. Any objection?"

"Nope."

"Not a single one."

"In that case, let the match... BEGIN!"

Po found himself yelping as Enzo flapped his wings to charge at tremendous speed and went for a dive kick which the panda somehow managed to block with his arm. However, the raptor did not stop there and unleashed a storm of punches upon the Dragon Warrior who found himself forced to step back to avoid the violent blows.

"Is that kickboxing or something?" Crane asked.

"It looks like it, but looks somewhat different," Tigress remarked, her eyes never leaving the fight. "This falcon sure is aggressive from what I can see."

"Don't worry about it," Viper said with a positive smile. "Tai Lung was even more aggressive, but Po still managed to take him down, right?"

Back in the fighting zone, Po got tired of being on the defensive and decided to go on the offensive. Ducking a right from Enzo, he fought back with a good belly slam that knocked the avian back, but didn't make him lose his balance for more. However, instead of being shocked, the blue falcon just smiled. "You managed to block and dodge all my blows before knocking me back with ONE hit? You're up to your reputation, Dragon Warrior."

Po smiled. "Well, thanks for remarking it, Enzo. I trained a lot to master-OH MY GOSH!" In a split-second, the panda found himself ducking to avoid the hatchet launched at him by the blue falcon. Before the weapon could hit the arena's wall, Enzo pulled at a bandage tying his wing to his hatchet, bringing it back into his waiting wing.

"And you have good reflexes too," he remarked with a chuckle.

Po placed a paw on his chest to recover from the shock before giving a glare. "Alright! No more Mr. Nice Guy! It's time for you to feel the THUNDA!"

The bear started running toward Enzo who attempted to welcome him with a good roundhouse kick. Po managed to duck it at the last moment and performed a leg sweep which knocked Enzo on his back and jumped surprisingly high despite his weight. "Watch out! Here comes the PANDA QUAKE!"

Enzo widened his emerald green eyes and rolled out of the way in time to avoid getting turned into a pancake. By the time Po got back up from his failed attack, the blue falcon delivered a right hook to his jaw followed by a bicycle kick to his chest that knocked him back a bit. "Are you crazy?! You almost squashed me there!"

"We're not exactly here for exchanging hugs, are we, pal?" Po asked with adjusting the rice hat on his head. Enzo frowned and charged to deliver a dive kick right across Po's face, stunning him long enough to follow with a series of punches to the panda's torso.

"Things don't look good for Po," Shining Eagle said with a worried look. "His attacks are too slow and Enzo is much faster. If this continues, I don't think he's gonna win."

"I wouldn't say that, Shining," Yukan said with a smile on his black beak.

"What do you mean?" the golden eagle asked with a curious look.

"From what I've seen, Po is a warrior who finds his strength in motivation. And right now, he's participating in the most important tournament in our country. This alone must give him plenty of strength and energy for this sole fight," Yukan explained. "Though I doubt Enzo has the same level of motivation."

"I agree," Tigress said from her spot on the platform. "Po's methods can seem dumb and devoid of any logic, but he's actually very wise."

Back in the fighting zone, Enzo finished his punch combo and grabbed his spiked club in his wing which he swung at the panda. This last one managed to recover from his diziness in time to duck the potentially deadly blow. He then grabbed the blue falcon's leg and started spinning before tossing him right into the arena's wall.

"ARGH!" Enzo groaned and held his back in pain. "Forgive me, Dragon Warrior, but I came all the way here to prove my worth; I cannot just lose like this!" Pushing a battle cry, he grabbed his spiked club in his talons and took off in the air for a diving attack toward the panda.

However, Po did not look intimidated in the slightest and even smirked. Instead of running or moving out of the way, he changed his stance, sucking his belly in, pulling his back back. Tigress widened her eyes as she realized something. "He's not gonna...?!"

He did. Just as Enzo came close enough, Po delivered a good belly smash that sent him flying upward for him to hit the ceiling, just like he did with Tai Lung. The avian smacked the ceiling and then started falling down, crashing to the arena floor with a loud thud. Seeing as he did not stand up for twenty seconds after this, Nunzio decided to check on him.

"Is he okay?" Po asked in worry.

Nunzio waited for a few seconds before looking at the panda. "The damage participant Enzokhule just took is too much for him to continue. As a result, I have no choice but to give the victory to the Dragon Warrior, Po Ping!"

"Skadoosh!" Po said with a big grin and tossed his fists in the air.

"He did it!" Viper beamed brightly and jumped.

"Attaboy, Po!" Yukan cheered for his panda friend as well.

"I've gotta admit his fighting style is unorthodox, but nonetheless useful," Daito said with a little chuckle.

Po was about to go back to his friends on the platform, but stopped to look at Enzo getting carried away by the medical team. "I'll think about taking you as my pupil, okay?"

Author's note: Po is the first one to qualify for the third phase. But you all saw it coming, didn't you?

Believe it or not, but I wasn't sure about who I wanted to put Po against. Yesterday, I watched an African animated movie called "Adventures In Zambezia" whose protagonist is a blue falcon. This gave me the inspiration for the character of Enzokhule. His fighting style is called Dambe, which is an African martial art focused primarily on boxing but also uses kicking techniques.

His hatchet weapon is called a Nzappa zap hatchet, which is a ceremonial weapon used in Congo. His other weapon is a traditional spike club; I got the idea from a fighting video game character that I actually like: Kai from Mortal Kombat.

One fight done, seven to go. The second phase is only beginning!