Hello there!

Well, I'm glad that you've made it this far! Welcome to my first action sequence of Po and the Five! Here's to hoping it turns out alright!

On with the show!

The silence was broken as every bandit rushed forward, hoping to overwhelm the small group with sheer numbers. The rhino pushed a button on his glove, and the claws shot out of their resting place from the back of the gauntlet. He ran forward, and found himself in the front lines of the charge. There were only about thirty of them, but with the narrow streets, they seemed like a mob.

The Five were still in their stances, as still as statues, eyeing the hoard of bandits running towards them from the street, until they finally each came alive. Coming from the right side, Master Crane was the first to eye the claw-wearing rhino. He took to the skies and grabbed the rhino's shoulders, lifting him up in the air about fifteen feet before letting him go. As the rhino fell, he pedaled his bottom hooves and reached for something to grab, but to no avail. Right before he hit the ground, Master Monkey jumped up and sent a kick right at his stomach. It made a solid impact, sending the rhino flying until he hit a wall, where he fell to the ground unconscious. He would definitely have to go back to the pharmacy and purchase some better weapons next time.

Meanwhile, on the left side of the street, Master Mantis was facing two wolves, a rhino, and a leopard. The rhino quickly came forward to step on the small master, who didn't move to stop him. His heavy hoof came down on the bug, but it was caught. With the hoof in his thingies, Mantis took the rhino's foot out from under him and swung him in a full circle before throwing him at the two wolves. He then faced the leopard, who had an arrow notched on a bow aimed straight at him. The leopard let go of the arrow let go with a cruel smile as the bow went twang! Before Mantis had time to react, he heard the words,

"Mantis, watch out!" Suddenly, a light green blur passed in front of him. After he blinked, Mantis saw the arrow only a few inches from his face, suspended in the air by Viper's tail. Breathing a sigh of relief, Mantis launched his tiny self at the unhappy leopard's face and delivered a powerful strike. Meanwhile, two lions ran to where Viper was. One of them slashed at Viper with his sword, which she dodged. She then slithered up his leg and wrapped herself around the lion's chest while also wrapping some of her tail around the arm with the sword. Now in control of it, she used his arm to swing the bandit's sword at his companion, who blocked the attack with his own blade. With the opening, Viper partially uncoiled herself from the first bandit in a flash and whipped her tail at the second bandit's chin, sending him flying back a few feet. She then used the part of her body still coiled on the first bandit to flip him over on his back. She then uncoiled herself off of him and left to keep fighting.

At the same time, Master Tigress and the Dragon Warrior were facing down the bandits coming straight down the middle of the street. Po flashed Tigress a knowing smile, which Tigress immediately understood. He wanted to try out the new move they had been practicing. Right before the ten or so first group of bandits reached them, Tigress jumped up in the air several feet, giving Po just enough time to get underneath the spot where she was going to land. As Tigress came hurtling to the ground, Po slightly bent forward before thrusting his large belly forward, which met the bottom paws of Tigress. The impact shot Tigress forward head first, and she stuck out her fists as she rocketed right through the group of bandits, sending them flying to the sides.

Po ran forward to where Tigress now was and joined her in the fight. By now, the other four masters converged at that spot with them, and together, they stared down the remaining bandits. As the crowd closed in, Po and the Five each went to town on the bandits who had dared to show their faces in their valley. Bandits went flying and the ground started to become littered with unconscious bodies. As the fight wound down and the number of bandits started to dwindle to about ten, the bandits hesitated. They knew that they simply stood no chance against the skill of the protectors of the Valley of Peace.

Before anyone could engage in combat, a mocking voice came from behind the bandits.

"What's the matter? Are you too scared to fight?" The group of bandits parted to the sides, revealing a large crocodile approaching. He had on a suit of chainmail, with metal gloves and boots. In his back was a sheath that held a massive double-sided two-handed ax. He stepped forward.

"Hello," he started with mock politeness to Po and the Five. "My name is Duan Jing. I'm the leader of this operation. And you've been a thorn in my side for much too long now. Surrender."

Po only smiled and echoed his politeness. "Oh, you mean you surrender? Very well, we accept your surrender."

With a growl, the croc pulled his ax from out of its sheath. The bandits, now inspired by their leader's presence, readied themselves for another charge at the heroes. The bandits lunged at all of the Five except for Po, almost as if they were purposefully leaving him for Duan Jing to fight. The large croc was first to attack, swinging his ax horizontally. Po ducked underneath it, and then, with the opening, shifted forward and swung his fist at the croc's jaw. But instead of flying back like Po had hoped, Po's fist only twisted the croc's head in place a little. Immediately, Duan Jing kicked Po in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet. The croc stepped forward and lifted up his ax, preparing to make Po into two symmetrical halves, but a strong gust of wind from Crane blew in his face, making him shift backwards, where he lost his balance. Po, still on the ground, saw Tigress run up to the croc and use his lack of balance to her advantage as she delivered her signature double-palm strike in croc's belly.

He fell on his back, but quickly rolled back on his feet. Po now stood with the Five, who had made quick work of the remaining bandits. They stood apart from each other and now took the offensive, rushing on the bandit leader from different sides.

Duan Jing reared back his arms like he was going to swing his ax again, but, to the surprise of the Five, he kept turning until he swept his huge tail, hitting everyone except for Mantis and Viper, who were too low to the ground to get hit by his attack. The others flew to the side and crashed through a wall into a nearby shop.

While they were dazed, Mantis ran up to the croc, who lifted his foot and brought it down on him. Unlike the rhino who tried the same thing, Mantis found that not only could he not swing the heavy crocodile, but he was actually struggling to keep the foot from crushing him. While he was straining, Viper came to his aid by quickly getting behind the croc and striking the back of his knee with her tail. The blow caused his leg, which was trying to crush Mantis, to buckle, giving him enough time to escape. As they backed away, Viper noticed that some bandits were waking up, but instead of trying to help their boss, they chose to run away.

Mantis and Viper backed up a bit to get a few seconds to breath, but the croc was relentless. He pressed forward, swinging his ax downward, aiming to split Viper in two. Unfortunately for him, though, his slow weapon did not match up well with Viper's speed and precision, and she easily dodged the blow, snapping her tail at his groin. Sure, it may have been a cheap blow, but if it works, it works, Viper thought.

The blow only seemed to enrage the croc, but he didn't have time to retaliate, as the rest of the Five had dug themselves out of the rubble by the wall, and now stood together again in front of him. The Five now knew that he was too strong to attack one-on-one, so they tried a strategy they hadn't used since Boar.

Monkey was the first to attack, jumping right on the croc's snout, hitting his face with his fists. The croc reached up to rip him off, but Tigress used his lack of guard to punch him in the gut. A small "oof!" escaped his throat. He quickly snatched Monkey and threw him to the side, but Viper and Mantis were now attacking his legs, causing him to lose balance once again. This time, Po reared back and exploded with a kick to the croc's face, which knocked a few of his sharp teeth right out of his mouth as he rolled backwards and landed on the ground.

As he laid with his back on the ground, Po and the Five walked up to him so they were almost on top of him.

"Do you surrender now?" Po asked. "Or do you need more samples of our awesomeness?"

The croc growled with frustration, as he knew he had been beaten, but he wasn't going to give up that easily. In a blur, he reached for his belt and grabbed something. Immediately, a thick smoke began pouring out of the object, which burned the eyes of the Five and scalded their throats. Caught by surprise, they back out of the ever-growing cloud of smoke, coughing in an attempt to clear their clogged throats.

By the time they were finished and they looked back at where the croc was, he was already gone.

"Oh man," Po whined, his voice still hoarse from the gas he inhaled. "We were this close to capturing the leader. That would have been a big deal."

"Yeah," Crane croaked. "But he'll be back, I'm sure. We'll be ready for… whatever that thing he used on us is called next time."

"I don't know what you call it," Mantis added. "But it's all in my throat. I could really use a drink right now."

"We'll be alright," Viper replied to Mantis. "Right now, we have to wait for more guards to arrive to take the fallen bandits to prison."

And that's exactly what they did. After more guards finally arrived and took them away, and the clean up was complete, Po and the Five headed back to the Jade Palace.

As they were walking through the streets, people came out and clapped and cheered them on, as they had protected the Valley once again. At one point, Po could make out his dad's waving from the side.

"Hey dads!" he shouted out over the noise as he walked over to them. The rest of the Five kept walking on.

Mr. Ping and Li Shan both blurted out at the same time. Mr. Ping started with-

"Are you okay?" whereas Li Shan asked-

"Did you win?"

Po laughed, and said, "Yeah dads, I'm fine. And of course we won, come on, you know we always win."

"Oh, well that's good to hear," Mr. Ping replied. "Do you need anything before you go back to the Jade Palace, though? Saving the Valley must make you hungry!"

"Thanks, but I'm fine! Anyway, I'll catch you later, my friends need me." With that, he ran back over to his friends, who were standing by the end of the street, turned around to look at him, waiting for him to catch up.

"Did you bring us anything to eat?" Monkey hopefully asked.

Po stretched out his hands to either side. "Does it look like it?" he asked with a playful tone.

"Well," Mantis started. "Did you at least get us something to drink? My throat's still burning."

"Oh, come on, guys, we'll survive," Viper replied. "Let's just get back to the Palace."

With a few groans coming from the boys in the group, they headed back to the Thousand Steps. As usual, Po was huffing all the way up, although he had gotten better with it over time.

Grandmaster Shifu was waiting on the top of the steps. His eyes were closed as he balanced himself on the top of Oogway's staff, his green shawl gently blowing in the wind. When his students reached the top of the steps, he dismounted his meditative position and took the staff in his paw.

"Well, students," he said. "I can see that you have defeated the bandits."

Tigress was the first to speak. "Yes, we have, but we were not able to capture their leader, Duan Jing. He escaped."

Shifu's eyes went wide for a brief moment. "Duan Jing? He showed up to fight you himself?"

Po was bent over with his front paws on his knees, still gasping for air. He finally answered Shifu's question with a nod. After he regained his breath, he said, "We beat him, but he had this smoke bomb… thingy, and he got away."

"Hmmm," Shifu replied as he got lost in thought for a few seconds.

"Duan Jing himself, here?" Shifu thought to himself. "He would never come out of hiding unless he's getting desperate."

After a few seconds, Shifu finally responded with, "I see. Well, this is good news. If he dared to come out once, he would surely come out again. We must remain vigilant and be ready for his return."

His students put their fists in their palms, bowed, and simultaneously replied, "Yes, Master." With that, Shifu turned to enter the Palace, and his students followed him.

A little while later, Po and the Five once again found themselves in the Training Hall. As disastrous as Po's first training lesson had gone, he was still in charge of the lessons. Shifu occasionally came to watch, but he never said anything, instead choosing to meditate by the corner, listening and watching Po and the Five grow in their skills. Today, however, he was not there to watch.

When Po took over the training exercises after Kai's defeat, he had stuck with the basics that they had always been doing. He had them running on the same devices they had always been using, and they spared against each other like they always had. Eventually, though, Po had suggested that they start to switch training devices. Of course, they had struggled at first, but they were learning, and they were coming along nicely, Po thought.

At the moment, Po was watching the Five perform on these devices. Everyone was dodging, striking, swinging, or doing whatever they had to do to defeat the challenges before them, but Po's eyes kept wandering back to one person in particular.

Master Tigress. He wished his eyes didn't disobey his brain like they did, but no matter what his brain said, his eyes wandered to her in the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors. She had always done pretty well on those before the new training methods, but she was really crushing it now. She dodged, swung, twisted, kicked, and punched her way through the course.

The Dragon Warrior had been glancing her way a few more times than what might be considered normal recently. He had something he wanted to tell her, but he was unsure of how to go about it. Would he approach her, he thought? Or should he wait for her to approach him? What would he even say?

"Hey, Tigress, there's something I have to tell you," Po practiced in his head. "No, too cliche. Hmm, what about… Well, Tigress, I've been meaning to tell you about this for some time, but- no, no, that's not right. Uhh, oh come on Po, can't you think of something? Just come right out and say it, 'Tigress, I like you. Not like, as a friend, but I 'like-like' you.'' Oh, but what is she going to say back to me? Will she just stare at me for a few seconds and walk away? Will she laugh in my face? Will she just stutter and be unsure of what to say, since I just had to be an idiot and make everything so awkward? Oh, what's everyone going to say? Master and student, in a relationship. No, no, what were you thinking Shifu? How could I be her master? She's been training in kung-fu for years longer than me. What could I have that she doesn't?"

He didn't know it, but the master of the tiger style of kung-fu found her eyes disobeying her brain just like his did. They occasionally drifted over to the spot where Po was standing, overlooking the training exercise. She had something she wanted, no, needed to tell him, but she just didn't know how to go about it.

As Po and the Five had been walking through the streets, Shao had been standing at the sides, clapping his hooves together as they walked past. Even though he may not have liked all of their members, he did like having a place to live and things in that house to live with, so he was appreciative of that. After they passed by and the general excitement settled down, the people in the streets either went back to their houses or shops, Shao headed over to his favorite restaurant.

He entered a shop called Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu. Over the counter, he could see a goose and a panda happily chatting to themselves and anyone who came up to order. Shao walked across the eating area and stood in line at the counter. When it was finally his turn, the goose was taking orders while the panda was in the back doing something he couldn't see. The goose took his eyes up from his writing pad to look at the goat. Immediately, his face brightened up.

"Ah, hello Shao!" Mr. Ping greeted him. "Did you see the spot where my son fought off those bandits!? It looked like quite a fight!" He was quite fond of bragging about his son, which any parent might be.

"Yes, Mr. Ping, I saw it. It was quite impressive."

"Hmmm," Mr. Ping happily replied. With that, he flipped his writing pad back open. "Well, would you like your usual?"

Shao nodded. "Yes, if you wouldn't mind."

Mr. Ping chuckled. "It's a restaurant, my boy. It doesn't really matter if I mind or not." With that, he handed the order back to Li Shan, who glanced at it and began his work.

After he paid, Shao went to sit at a table by the corner. He looked out over the eating area and saw plenty of happy families and couples, but no one like him. Alone at a table by himself. Of course, that wouldn't last too long, the goat thought as he reached in his pocket. He pulled out a pocket-watch and glanced down at the time. 11:45.

"Just in time for 12:00," Shao thought to himself. In a few minutes, Li Shan came out with two bags and placed them on the table.

"Enjoy!" the panda chirped. With that, he quickly turned back around to serve more orders. Meanwhile, Shao took the two bags, got up, and left the shop.

Shao had been a regular customer at Mr. Ping's restaurant for a few years, and the old goose made it a habit to learn the names and usual orders of his customers. His order was always the same. Every day, right before twelve, he ordered two to-go bags of simple noodles. He never ordered anything else.

Shao walked through the streets, eager to do something to get his mind off of the morning. He had a lot to think about, but he didn't really want to think about it right now. Before heading to the Valley park as he usually did, he stopped by a store that sold drinks. He went in and looked for a specific bottle of wine, which he found, bought, and left the store.

After walking for a few more minutes, Shao found himself in the Valley park. It was nice, with the grass and leaves on the trees fluttering with the wind, and the shade that the large bamboo trees provided on the walking trails. At the center of the park was a fountain. Shao headed for the fountain until he came across a park bench facing the fountain. On the park bench was a dirty-looking old pig. His clothes were old and torn, and were pretty much stitched rags by now. He was dirty and he didn't smell that great. He was sleeping at the moment, with his head drooped over and a light snore coming from his throat.

Shao plopped down right next to him and put the two noodle bags in the space between them, but he put the third bag on the ground on his side where the homeless pig couldn't see it. He pulled out his watch and looked at the time again. 11:59.

"Just on time," Shao thought to himself. With that, he gently shook the old pig by the shoulder. He woke up and turned to look at Shao. When he saw his face, the old pig smiled, revealing the three yellowed teeth he had left.

"Ah, it just ya," he said. He looked down at the bags and sniffed the scent coming from them. "Oh, ya brought me 'unch again. How kind of ya, sir."

Shao smiled and handed him one of the bags. The old pig took it with a slow motion, and then opened it up, taking the chopsticks inside and slowly adjusting his hooves to hold them. Shao did the same, and they began to eat together on the bench, looking out at the fountain and the park.

Shao had seen the old pig sitting at this very spot about three years ago and had felt a pang of sympathy for him. He had gone to his favorite restaurant and ordered two bags of noodles, and offered one to the homeless pig. He had accepted it, and Shao had come back the next day during his lunch break. And he came back the next day, and the next day, and the next, until he had done it everyday for three years. Shao never thought about it much, but he realized that he still didn't even know his name, nor did the pig know his.

Lunch always went the same way between the two of them. They would be silent for the first few minutes. Shao glanced over at the old pig, who's eyes would be darting around to all the young women in the area. He may not have had a job, or a house for that matter, but he would have lived in a palace if he could make money staring at girls. He was truly a master of it. Eyeing them just enough, but never letting them know he was eyeing them.

Shao found the hobby to be a little weird, but he knew he was completely harmless. After a few minutes of ogling, he would ask Shao, "So, 'ow's it goin' with ya?"

"Oh, fine," Shao thought to himself. "You know, my boss just sold some illegal weapons to a criminal. Oh, and he gave me a bonus out of nowhere, I mean, what a good guy, right? Oh, but instead of money, the idiot gave me a murder weapon."

"Oh, you know. The usual," is what he actually answered, as that was what he usually answered.

"Dat's good," the old pig would reply. Then Shao would always ask him-

"And how about you?"

The homeless pig would then answer, "Oh, I been 'ere, ya know. Just sittin' 'ere." Shao would then nod, and they would finish their meals in silence. After they finished, Shao would take the old pig's empty bag, and they would stare out at the park for a few minutes until Shao had to return to work.

But today, Shao broke the routine by reaching into his robe pockets and pulling out a bag of coins. He placed them in the space between them, and the old pig looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure of the meaning of the gesture.

"That's enough to buy you meals every day for about three weeks," Shao said.

The old pig blinked a few times, and then replied with some disappointment, "Are ya leavin' 'ere?"

Shao laughed. "Oh, no. I've spent a good bit of my life here, and I'm probably going to die here. No, I'm just thinking about going on vacation. Maybe. Oh, I don't really know. But, either way, I promise I'll be back soon."

The old pig didn't seem very content with it, so Shao decided it was time to pull out the olive branch. He reached down by his side and pulled out the paper bag that contained the drink. He handed it to the old pig.

"I got you your favorite." The pig stared at it with wide eyes.

"Oh, man, ya didn't 'ave to do dat," he said, but his tone was grateful, suggesting that he liked his present very much.

"Oh, it was the least I could do," Shao started. "Especially since you won't have anyone to accompany you on your lunches." The pig was about to open it, but Shao put his hooves forward. "No, no, don't drink it now! Just… drink it slowly. Enjoy it."

The pig let him finish talking before twisting the cap open anyway. Shao groaned.

"I'm gonna enjoy it right 'ow, with ya," the pig said with a tone of stubbornness. He took a large gulp of the wine, which wasn't exactly the way one was supposed to go about drinking wine, Shao thought. When he put the bottle down, he handed it to Shao.

"Oh, no, it's your gift, I can't-"

"Just 'rink it."

"Well, if it makes him happy," Shao thought to himself. He grabbed the bottle and took a small sip out of it.

"Na, that ain't how ya do it. Ya gotta take a big swig." Shao rolled his eyes, but he did as he was told, placing the bottle on his lips and leaning backward. After the drink slid down his throat, he coughed most of it back out, as it burned his throat. There was a cheerful cackle from the pig as he took the bottle and took another swig. He waited for the goat to stop hacking, and then gave him back the bottle. Shao took it with a grimace, and then went back to taking small sips.

They went on like this until the bottle was empty. As Shao picked up the bottle and the two empty noodle bags, the pig said-

"I'm gonna miss ya."

Shao chuckled. "I'll miss you too. Don't worry, though, I'll be back before you know it." And with that, he left the pig on the bench, heading back to the pharmacy to complete his hours for the day.

Shao walked through the streets once more until he arrived back at his workplace. He entered, where Qian was at the counter, ready for any customers who came while Shao was gone. The ram's eyes had an unusual glow to them. Shao had seen that glow just this morning. Right before he gave him his "surprise."

"So, have you made your decision yet?" the ram asked with some excitement in his voice.

"He just wants the pride of having made something capable of such things," the goat thought to himself. "Now he just needs a test subject. Two, actually. One to use it and one to be used on."

But at that moment, Shao's childhood memories came back to him. Memories of his parents when he was very little. Memories of the orphanage. The orphanage itself wasn't too bad, it was just an inhabitant of the orphanage that was the problem. How many nights did he lay there, sleepless in bed, praying that it wouldn't get out of its cage? Oh, and the gods knew it needed a cage. He had seen that for himself, as it once let loose its wrath on some dumb pig that had the stupidity to mess with it. After they scraped him off the floor and the doctors came to treat him, he hardly ever had more than one or two hours of sleep. It lurked in its cage, until the day came where someone had the nerve to take it home with him. A kung-fu master.

Master Shifu. He still had the creature with him, training it. Didn't he know how dangerous it was? Didn't he know what that monster was capable of?

He shook the thoughts out of his brain, but he knew it was too late. The nightmares would come that night. They always did whenever he thought about his childhood for too long. Shao sighed, and the ram's eyebrows raised in anticipation of the answer.

"I think I'll take a few weeks of vacation, if you don't mind."

So… what did you think? Once again, if you liked it, feel free to let me know in the review section below!

Fun fact: the character of the homeless pig is inspired by a song (I mean, do you expect anything else from me?). I got the idea just a few days ago while listening to Jethro Tull's Aqualung, which is literally about someone who passes by and talks to a homeless person every day. The opening lyrics of the song are literally, "Sitting on a park bench/ eyeing little girls with bad intent/ snot's running down his nose/ greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes" I think you can see the resemblance.

Now, there's going to be a pause in the making of this story as I'm going to switch between chapters of this and The Truth Shall Set You Free. But, I hope you'll stick around until next time!

By the way, a huge (I can't express just how huge) shout out to Frozen Wolf heart 22 (check out Stuck in Kung Fu Panda, it's well worth your time) for helping me with this story! Thank you so much!

Keep being awesome!