The Next Journey


Li-Dong, Gar, Rae, and the others celebrated at the Jade Palace of the Emperor's coronation. Garfield played charades with Lueduo and Lei-Lei while Raven and Tigress joked about Po and Garfield. Just then, Po came into the room, bring more food with him. "My dads want to give you some parting gifts. Annnd also remind you that emperors' get half off... with every purchase," Po chuckled awkwardly. The whole room laugh. As it was nearing Lei-Lei and Lueduo's bedtime, Garfield walked over to Po.

"Po, that energy you were using when Roshu smack talked you," Garfield started, "What was that?"

"Smack, what?" Tigress asked Raven. Rae sighed and shook her head as she explained to her master. Po chuckled nervously, twiddling his fingers.

"Well, it's an interesting story," Po started. "Being the Dragon Warrior has its perks. I have the ability to use Chi, the life-force that everything living thing uses."

"We're both familiar with Chinese spirituality," Garfield mentioned.

"Well, when the power of healing came to me, it came with something else: Aura control," Po explained. "It's basically the ability to see and use someone else's aura... but I can."

"While Po can never use a person's aura for a long time, he can use it for a little while to amplify their effect," Tigress finished.

"Meaning?" Garfield asked.

"Po can greatly boost the Animalists' powers if need be, but the aura power is only given to the people who are purest of heart, which he is," Tigress explained. Po smiled at the tiger's comment on his purity.

"Whoa, so that energy we felt-" Raven questioned.

"Was me boosting my own chi power using my aura power," Po finished. Raven and Garfield looked at each other.

"Wow, that's amazing," Garfield explained.

"And dangerous," Raven noted, causing Garfield to look at her with a side-cocked glance, raising his left eyebrow at her.

"She's right. I can never be mind-controlled because of that power, but if I were to make the mistake of giving that boost to an evil Animalist, things could get dangerous," Po sighed.

"Has that happened before?" Raven asked.

"Not yet, but there's always a threat," Tigress sighed. The tiger shook her body, throwing her shoulders back and perking her head up with a large formal smile. "So, what made you two decide to come back?"

"We just wanted to Animalia," Raven explained, "Beast Boy has never seen this place for himself."

"It's wonderful," Garfield replied in wonder, "I'm surprised a place like this is around."

"Well, it is," Tigress returned, "But something tells me that this is just a pit stop in your journey. Where did you intend to go after this?" Garfield and Raven looked at each other a bit confused. Ed the raven flapped onto Garfield's shoulder.

"You two don't have a single clue as to where you want to go, do you?" He squawked, laughing at the two. Raven growled gruffly like her feline teacher, shutting the bird up.

"I... I didn't expect to go somewhere else," Raven replied in a calmer tone. "I would go Volent but since he's gone."

"We...we could journey around the magical realm a bit. I know there are some places you haven't seen there," Garfield pointed out.

"I guess we could visit Fallitur," Raven smirked as Garfield nervously chuckled. "And I think I do need to visit my mother."

"Could we come?" Po said, wrapping his arm around Tigress.

"What?" Tigress, Raven, and Garfield all bumbled out.

"Well, we want to see what these other humans look like, and these other worlds you told us about sound awesome!" Po excitedly explained.

"Well, I don't know..." Raven said a little unsure.

"Po, don't you think we have to do work here?" Tigress reminded her husband.

"Yeah, but what if we're needed over there as well?" Po proposed. Raven and Tigress looked at each other in worry. Garfield was the only one to excitedly grin.

"Why not? If anything goes wrong, Grootslang will tell us what's happening in this world," Beast Boy explained. Raven eyed the green teen a bit skeptically before nodding her head.

"I would like to explore these worlds you speak of," Tigress mentioned with a smile, "But do you think we will be well received?"

"No," Gar and Rae both muttered.

"But most people aren't," Raven said.

"GREAT! I'll be able to try new foods as well!" Po excitedly exclaimed. Garfield looked Raven and whispered to her.

"Should we tell them about meat-eaters?" Raven shook her head.

"Let's just be careful about who we see," Raven cautioned as they continued chatting the night away. Later on, Tigress and Raven walked out into the night air, talking to each other.

"So, tomorrow we explore your magical new realms. And I get to see what humans both normal and not normal look like," Tigress smiled. Raven simply sighed in worry. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that I can learn quickly."

"I don't doubt that. I'm more worried about how you'll eat. Some of the humans eat meat where I come from."

"What are you talking about?" Tigress asked. Raven painfully explained it to her. Tigress's eyes widened but then laughed with her hand over her mouth.

"Haha, so Uchawi's stories were true. I thought she was just joking," Tigress smiled.

"Wait, Uchawi told you guys stories about the human world?" Raven asked curiously. Tigress nodded. "It's not what you think. Trust me."

"Well, with you and Po around, everything is an adventure," Tigress smiled. Raven nodded, but still wore her worried face. "You're worried that we may be hurt?"

"A little."

"Don't worry, we've been in worse predicaments," Tigress answered with a reassuring smile. "So, where do we go next?"

"Something tells me we should go to Corinth. You'll meet Gorthan and Grootslang, two of the most annoying people to Beast Boy," Raven smirked. She explained how the place was like.

"Hmm, a giant snake. That may scare Po a bit," Tigress replied. "But thank you, Raven, for helping with our situation here."

"You're welcome," Raven smiled, bowing before her, "Master."


The panda strapped his pants up, fitting snuggly around his waist. Tigress bent down and kissed the foreheads of Lueduo and Lei-Lei. "We'll be back. Behave and listen to Grandmaster Shifu."

"Yes, Mama Tigress," the small tiger and panda dutifully answered. Tigress smiled as she hugged them tightly before heading over to where Raven and Beast Boy were standing. The two humans double-checked their supplies.

"Why are you two so nervous?" Tigress asked, noticing their joined fear. Garfield looked at Raven then sighed.

"It's because we're not sure if this is going to work out," he confessed. "This is a magical world filled with different kinds of creatures and people. It also has a huge amount of technical stuff that can be overwhelming. It could be too much for you guys." Garfield nearly doubled over when a heavy hand slapped him on the back.

"Don't worry about it," Po smiled. "We've been in weirder situations. I think we can take it." Garfield looked at the panda with a long stare before sighing. Raven rested her hand on his shoulder.

"We might as well get started. If they're as stubborn as us, we're not going to convince them to change their minds," Raven said. Garfield nodded.

"Alright everyone, stand back," Garfield instructed. Beast Boy slowly started moving his hands, chanting an old mantra before a shining and whirling portal of light danced before the panda and tigers' eyes. "Are you sure about-"

"Bring on the thunder!" Po exclaimed in excitement. Garfield smiled as they jumped through the portal.

Continued...