Zhao the Liar


He heard a noise. The panda suddenly woke up to the darkness of his tent. Po got to his feet and walked out of the tent flap. He shoved his foot through one hole of his pants and struggled with the other. "Ugh, stupid pants," Po grumbled.

"I didn't know you sleep without them?" said a voice in front of him. Po looked up and saw a jet black-clothed duck. He wore a Chinese black straw hat with a large quiver of arrows strapped to his back. His black band mask covered only his eyes while his buttoned vest had white lining down the middle. The duck sat on a large boulder with his left leg propped up and his left-wing resting on his kneecap. He wore a 'glad' smirk like he was pleased to see Po but had a trick up his sleeve.

Po's eyes widened as he rushed over to the duck. "Zeng!" He whispered loudly. Zeng quickly held his wing up. They couldn't wake up the others. "What are you doing here?"

"To make sure you got my message. Zhao's almost a day away from you guys. His army is stuck in the mountain," the archer explained, hopping off the boulder.

"They know you're Dead Shot Duck," Po said.

The duck paused then walked over towards the black fire pit from earlier that night. "I know," Zeng replied sadly, "And I can only imagine how Tigress felt." Zeng looked back. Po narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at the duck. "I was Tigress's eyes and ears for the village. I was a beloved uncle to her."

"She felt a little betrayed, but she understands why you did what you did," Po said. "I don't think she's not going to kill you, but I guess she'll be fine... maybe... soon... perhaps." Zeng simply smiled, gazing at the mountain in the dark night. "Well, at least you're not looking at the sky," Po muttered in annoyance.

Zeng rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. "There's not much time," He rushed, "I'm going to make sure that the Emperor sends reinforcements here. An outpost is not far from here. You guys have to stop Zhao at the Old Mung Lu Temple. The mountain pass is narrow enough for you to cut them off and finally beat them."

Po nodded. He grabbed the duck's wing. "There's one thing that I have to know. How do you and Zhao know each other?" Zeng looked at the panda's eyes with a raised eyebrow before Po let go of his wing. "You never explained how you knew him. I understand being a legend, but what would a Chinese legend know of a Mongolian? Plus, you said to kill his mouth. I don't understand what you meant by that."

Dead Shot crossed his arms and threw out a quick grunt. His glare at the tree gave Po the impression it was a long history between the two. Zeng sighed, "Zhao has always been an excellent liar since we got inducted into the Mongolian army."

"You were in the Mongolian army?! Wait! You're Mongolian!"

"SHHH!" Zeng hushed, "Yes, I'm Mongolian, but that changed when Zhao and I were inducted. I got into the army at a young age as did Zhao. He manipulated everyone around him to his will, even the supervisors above us." Zeng shook his head as he gazed at the ground. Was he shaking off a bad memory? Po couldn't tell. "The point is he's very manipulative. Kill his mouth first and don't let him get into your head, got it?" The panda slowly nodded. "Go back to sleep and make sure that you're prepared for tomorrow." Po walked back to his tent and disappeared under the tarp. Dead Shot sighed as he glanced over to his left. He casually walked over to two gray odd-shaped rocks. He stopped just in front of them. "I know you're there, Tigress," said Zeng. Slowly, the tiger emerged from the boulders. Her downcast eyes looked at Zeng's heavy weighted ones. "I'm sorry I never told you," He whispered. She thickly swallowed. The struggle in her mind pulled her to either rage or sadness. Tigress stayed stuck between those two, and Zeng picked up on this struggle. There wasn't much he could do, so Zeng, "But you do understand why I couldn't." Tigress nodded. "I'm sorry."

Tigress's voice crackled and broke like fabric slowly tearing. "Please promise me... one thing," she asked. "Promise me that you'll tell me about your stories when this is over."

Dead Shot's eyes widened. His mouth parted in shock for a moment then his bill spread in a wide smile.

"Of course," Zeng said as Tigress knelt down and hugged the duck. "Stay safe. Keep watch over each other. Make sure that you don't listen to Zhao's lies. I'll be back." He backed away from Tigress's embrace and flew into the air. Tigress watched the duck fly into the starlit night, remembering her childhood memories fly through her head into a similar darkness.


Po slept through the night until he found himself in a weird dream. His eyes opened to see the vacuous green-hued realm of the Spirit World. "Oh man, did I die again?" He mumbled, rubbing his eye.

"No, panda. You're still alive," Said a voice behind him. Po turned and saw the spirit of Oogway. "It's good to see you, Po," Oogway smiled.

"Oogway? What's going on?" Po asked.

Oogway's smile vanished to a serious frown. "I must tell you about Zhao's life," Oogway said. So he told Po all about Zhao.

"Whoa, that's...whoa. That explains everything," Po said.


The Mongolian army marched at dawn break. Thick clouds above circled around the mountain's top as the fog slowly cleared from their trail. The narrow route only allowed the men to go five in a line. Zhao led the gorillas, tigers, and rhinos down the rocky winding path. Soon they saw the temple courtyard gate insight. The Mung Lu temple had two large courtyards separated by a wall down the middle. Its place on the mountain was more spacious, allowing several men to form in a line. It was probably the widest part of the route. The gray red-roofed building sat facing both of these courtyards with its entryway stairs in the front. The temple had three stories with a large circular five spoked window in the second-floor wall. Zhao stopped his troops just before the first court. "General Zhao, is everything alright?" Asked one of the lieutenant rhinos.

"Send the scouts ahead of us," Zhao ordered, glaring at the dismal mountain. Three small foxes examined the first courtyard site. The huge lot was could hold about a quarter of Zhao's army which was roughly 2,000 strong. The scouts looked at the second courtyard. Still nothing. They walked back to Zhao.

"No one around, General," Said one of the foxes in a salute. The lead tiger glared at the mountain before moving ahead. The entrance to the courtyards had a two-door wooden gate. Zhao ordered the men to open the gate, then a quarter of Zhao's men walked through the first courtyard before they reached the second gate.

"I should just demolish the walls and let the whole army through," The tiger thought to himself, "But then, these bums might grow lazy." Whether or not he was making slaves out of his men is not important.

"Hiya!"

Suddenly, as Zhao's men finally got through the second gate, a loud noise rang throughout the mountainside. Zhao looked behind and saw huge boulders plunging down the mountain. The rockslide wiped out the rear end of his military procession. Then another bang sounded, this time in front of Zhao. He saw large rocks pile up before him, blocking the route down the mountain. Suddenly, both the courtyard gates slammed shut. Zhao and his army were trapped in the two courtyards.

"Zhao! This is as far as you go into China!" Shouted a voice. The tiger's scowling eyes shifted up towards the roof of the Mung Lu temple. Zhao's eyes aimed at a black-cloaked jackrabbit.

"Ah! If it isn't my old student, Zheng-Hau," The tiger grinned wickedly, "How is your little 'army' going? Are they the ones that made the rockslide?"

The jackrabbit held his steady gaze. "Your reign of terror stops here," Zheng-Hau announced, pulling out his dual swords.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! You and what army?" Zhao sneered. Suddenly, the two courtyard gates swung open: Tai-Lung, Viper, and Monkey on the left entrance, and Tigress, Yun, Crane, and Mantis on the right. Po jumped up from the back of the temple onto the roof with Zheng-Hau, wearing his red weapons' cloak.

"Hiya!" Po shouted with a smirk.

Zhao's eyes went wide. "The Dragon Warrior." His eyes darted around as he straightened up and gave an easy smirk. "Zheng-Hau, come now. We know this fight is pointless. I taught you everything you know. No amount of Kung Fu lessons is going to change that." Zheng-Hau lowered his swords as Zhao spoke, "You don't think I heard about your debouched attempt to make an army out of citizens? Do you really think you can defeat me?" Zheng looked at the ground with a defeated look. "Gotcha," Zhao whispered with a grin. Suddenly, Zhao threw a kunai at Zheng-Hau.

"Zheng, watch out!" Yun screamed out. Zheng rose his head and saw the kunai coming. He couldn't move fast enough. He shut his eyes.

Sssshhooooopp!

The jackrabbit slowly opened his eyes. Po caught the kunai with his hand, looked at the kunai, and discarded the knife. "So that's what Zeng meant," Po mumbled to himself. Then he shouted to the rest. "LET'S GET THEM!"

Continued...