Po yawned as he sat around the resting spot everyone set up, they were taking a small temporary break around noon. They had to travel a long way from leaving Lee Da Academy. The panda was quite happy with their most recent recruit, and he was currently bouncing with glee over their highly impressive progress.

"Tigress! Fung! This is just so cool!" Po said as he lied on the ground on his back. "We've already acquired like...three friends in our team! And we're on our way to find yet another one! It's just so...it's just so..." He laughed as his feet wiggled in the air. "It's just so awesome! I really can't wait!"

Fung looked at Po with disbelief, sitting on the ground with a bowl of Mr. Pings noodles in his paws. "Dude. Why don't you get that much energy when we're on the road? Many other times, you're just acting how you look. When you're not fighting, you get tired VERY easily. Make up your mind, man." He kept digging into his bowl of noodles, sighing. "So good...so so good...Mr. Ping sure made a good call when he made that Noodle Cart. We have a restaurant on ago, all to ourselves. It is a shame that he didn't earn any money, though."

"What are you talking about, Fung?!" Mr. Ping said, holding two bags of money, and they looked pretty heavy. "Those Lee Da students are hard hungry students. I wasn't about to miss out on profit! And they pay quite hansomely." He held them up to his cheeks with stars in his eyes. "I can use the money to upgrade the cart! Then we can make more money! Tahahahahaha!"

Monkey turned to Po with a questioning look. "Okay, two things. First off...these bean buns are delicious. Second off...your Dad is kinda loopy. What are your thoughts on that?"

"I wouldn't want him any other way."

"...Fair enough."

Crane was currently putting down his now empty bowl of noodles, clicking his beak in order to save the taste. "That's amazing. Mr. Ping has only been making noodles, tofu, bean buns, and dumplings for many years. And he makes any other food compared to his seem nearly inferior. I almost couldn't stop eating."

"I know what you mean." Mei Ling sighed, rubbing her stomach. "He certainly does make them extremely well."

Mr. Ping turned to them with a smile. "Of course I do! I didn't know much outside of noodles, tofu, bean buns, and dumplings. But I was really good at making them, so I focused solely on them. And with my curious imagination and culinary skills, I was able to make many interesting combinations out of those foods. Now what many see as merely basic foods...I'm quite outmatched in making them." He folded his arms and held his head up high.

"He's not joking." Fenghuang said while yawning. "He got tofu to taste pretty amazing. Usually I hate eating that crap, but after he's done enough work on it, I couldn't help but ask for more." She admitted while rubbing her stomach with a wing. "Every time he cooks...I just can't help but eat so much...though the panda still beats me out in that prospect." She chuckled. "Funny thing is that he's not as good as his father in cooking. Though he is a very close second. Not surprising, really."

"A warrior and a great chef. What a combo." Crane smiled. "We sure could have used one in the academy..."He muttered. "Their lunches were so incredibly dumb...and nasty."

Tigress for one was clearly enjoying her tofu. Mr. Ping had managed to make a special one for her, which allowed flaver to envelop the food so she can enjoy it more. He always thought tofu was too dull for his taste, so he came up with ways to try and make it better. He learned from many books and other chefs, that tofu can be flavored and seasoned properly. He started off basic, with simple soy sauce. Something so simple that Tigress grew to enjoy very quickly. And that was only the first of many.

"As always. It's delicious." Tigress smiled, wiping her muzzle and setting her bowl down. "Mr. Ping's skills truly have grown over the years he was gone. And Po obviously learned much from him."

"Tell me about it." Fung sighed, sitting back in the grass. "The three of us became friends by sharing Mr. Ping's awesome cooking. Honestly, he played a big part in our friendship as much as we did. How weird."

"We bonded over food. That was a pretty great day." Po says, sitting back and placing his arms behind his neck, staring at the sky. "Say...what do you think Viper will be like?"

"Well based on her name, we can be pretty sure she'll be a...you know, viper." Fung said, stretching his arms and tail. "Having another reptile on the team may be pretty cool. For me, at least. I mean come on, I can't be the only one here who is a cold-blooded animal. Not that I don't enjoy hanging with you guys. It's just...a feeling I have."

Tigress folded her arms. "It would be quite a benefit to have yet another female among us."

Fung turned over to her. "You...really want some female friends, don't you?"

"SO much." She groaned, placing her face in her paws. "It's not that I mind you guys...but seriously. I can't be the only female. Mei Ling is a good start, but too of us are not enough. Fenghuang doesn't count hecause she's here for mentoring purposes."

"You're not completely wrong there." Po said while rubbing his chin with a pout. "It may have something to do with her and Master Shifu really hating one another. As much as I don't like it, it may not be going away any time soon. It really sucks..."

"How are we going to get those two to get along? They really do hate each others guts because of Oogway, don't they?" Fung groaned. "I wish they would just get along already, before it spreads to US."

Tigress had a painful hypothesis on their relationshiop with Oogway. She would feel so guilty for having to say it, but its been on her mind for a very long. She just had to voice her opinion on the matter. "Guys..."

"Hm?" Po and Fung turned to her, her sad tone bringing their attention to her.

Tigress hugged her arms and looked at them with genuine hesitation. "Do you...do you think Oogway being such a big influence on them...is the very thing that causes them pain?"

She suddenly had Po's full attention, as he sat up completely. "What makes you think that?"

She looked up at him. "I've been thinking about it for a while. Almost everything Father did in his life was based on Oogway's beliefs and decisions. He had a personal life. But because his loyalty to Master Oogway was so strong...that he threw most of them away to stay on his good side, to make him happy. Zeng told me about it. A best friend, a girlfriend, a classmate, his teammate...and my brother..." She hugged herself tighter. "He even picked Oogway's judgement over his own son...it must have torn him apart to do that..." She didn't bring up the Dragon Warrior part of the subject. They didn't need to know the exact details.

"And you're paying the price along with him on the last part. It was bad timing." Fung said solemnly. The feline nodded slowly. "Good thing you managed to mellow him out, even if it 's only a bit."

Po looked down. "I think I can understand. Master Fenghuang spent a large portion of her adult life in fear of Oogway finding her. She only came out when I came along..." He sighed. "And even then, she was still afraid of Oogway. When she stared him down...it was only because she knew she couldn't run. No matter how much she wanted to. She worked for Oogway's approval...and when she finally got so much of it, it got to her head. But me and Dad managed to bring her back down a bit."

Fung recounted the facts. "So Oogway had his two greatest students of all time. He made one student TOO loyal to him on accident, and made the other flee from him for years and spend decades surrounded by ice mountains." He sighed. "I can't help but wonder, too. Did Oogway do them more harm than good, even if it was unintentional...?"

Po rubbed his head and sighed. He never thought of Oogway as a bad person, he always wanted to help people in any way he can. Then he remembered. The turtle sage was a lot of things, and Po meant a LOT of things...but Oogway never once said that he was perfect. So the turtle was bound to make a couple of bad calls once in a while. Po sighed again. Oogway had asked Shifu to have fun. So far the red panda has done nothing of the sort. He just wanted to gather the recruuots and get back to the Valley as quickly as possible. That's what his look said most of the time. It was sad how dependent Shifu was on Oogway. It was to the poont where his own decisions reflect off Oogway's judgement by itself and never his own. That exact judgement also got his friends repelled from him, his son was off doing who knows what, and Fenghuang exiled for decades.

At this point, even Po had to consider the possibility. Does Oogway...cause Shifu and Fenghuang pain? Mostly Shifu, but he was still concerned for Fenghuang, too. It was an uncomfortable subject, but it had to be touched upon. There was no way it could be an impossibility, because they had evidence. Evidence in personal experience, and witnesses.

After a while of thinking about it, Po lied back again, and placed his hat on his face. "We can't worry about it right now. The only ones qho can confirm it are those three. We're no where near Oogway, and Masters Shifu and Fenghuang are obviously not gonna talk about it. This is personal."

Tigress pondered his words, and lied back on the grass. "You're right...when we're ready to hear them out on the matter...they'll tell us." The trio nodded to this conclusion, very reluctantly, as they continued to stare at the blue sky.

Unknown to them, Shifu could hear their entire conversation with his right ear, and his face became rather disapppinted. More in himself than others. He stared at his paw. My own daughter saw right through me. I don't know why, but a part of me is really worried about Master Oogway, and I really want to check on him. The other parr is trying to tell me how useless that would be...and... He placed a paw over his heart, clenched his robe. Why do I feel like an important part of me just disappeared...? What could have happened to cause me to feel this way...?

Mr. Ping placed his sacks of money down in order to stare at Shifu with concern. But before he could get a word out, he was pulled aside by Fenghuang. Knowing what she was asking for, he moved a bit farther away from the group, not wanting Shifu to hear their silent conversation. He took the Peach Petal out of his sleeve, and presented it to her. She looked troubled.

"Oh no...that's not from the Peach Tree..." She said quietly. Unlike the Peach Tree that had its normal color pink, this specific petal was continously glowing pink with a small trace of Oogway's chi. It was undeniable. "Dammit, you Old Tortoise...you croaked when we were away, didn't you...?" She shook her head. "The Midget is not going to take this well. Far from it."

"Fenghuang, what do we do?" Mr. Ping asked, his eyes filled with worry. She turned and gently swiped the petal away from him, tucking it in her robe.

"We don't say anything about this to anyone. He needs to find out for himself. Besides even if we did tell him, he won't believe us. He sure as hell won't believe me."

"I don't like this, Fenghuang. Isn't the Valley defenseless, now?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. We can only hope the Valley is still intact when we get back there." Fenghuang said grimly, in a tone that tells Mr. Ping that she didn't believing those words. She knows something bad was going so happen to the Valley, and they can't stop it. Not when they were so far away. Her instinct tells her that going back to the Valley would be pointless. For all of them. Yet she didn't know why.

All they could do was wait and see what happens.

(A short distance away)

"Nothing..." Mantis groaned, now facedown on top of Lidong's head. "We've been walking...for hours...and we haven't found anybody or anything useful...I'm...so tired..."

Lidong growled in disbelief. "You're tired? YOU'RE tired?! You're just lying on my head overseeing everything, you didn't walk an inch! If you're tired, I'M exhausted!"

"I'm sorry...and I'm hungry..."

"So am I..." They both sighed and looked down at the ground for a bit, defeated...until a scent got their immediate attention. "Hey...Mantis...you smell that?"

Mantis was suddenly on his feet. "How can I not? It's the most pleasant and most important scent of all the scents!" This was one of the things they have in common. And it really shows.

Lidong grinned. "As it always will be."

"It's the smell of..." Mantis began. Then he hopped on the croc's snout and looked him right in the eyes, both grinninf widely.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Mantis flipped around and pointed his pincer forward. "Onward towards food!" His call was well-met, as Lidong was charging forth with a force a stampede would have no chance against.

(With The Main Group)

Crane suddenly looked up, as he could see the pebbles on the ground beginning to bounce a bit. Likewise, he swore he could hear small quakes constantly rumbling through the area. This immediately got the others attention. "Guys...what's that noise?"

"No idea. But whatever it is, it's really big." Tigress concluded, narrowing her eyes. "And heading right for us. Brace yourselves."

"What is it? An enemy?" Fung rose up and stood cautiously. Then he listened to the footsteps carefully, and recognized the pattern between each step. "Wait a minute..."

CRASH!

The one they were thinking about crashed right through the row of trees, and fell forward in a heap, groaning as it rubbed it's head. "Ugggh...maybe full speed ahead wasn't the best idea..."

"Yeah...no kidding..." The smaller one groaned, trying to regain his balance. Then he caught his bearings, to see that he was surrounded. "Ah crap! Please don't be the guards! I told them it wasn't my fault!"

Fenghuang blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?" She then pointed to the large croc before them. "And what the hell is that? Is...is that a croc? What are they feeding them these days?"

"I had a growth spurt, dammit..." Lidong groaned, as he stood up fully. "I definitely smelled food here, so it has to be he-" his mouth fell agape when he spotted the smaller croc before him. "No way. Fung?"

"Lidong?!" Fung gasped, as the larger croc had scooped him up and caught him in a bear hug...a rather painful one. "Gagh...too much hugging...lemme go...please...ugh...ribs...cracking..."

"Sorry." The larger croc set him down while setting his helmet up correctly. "I keep forgetting that you're so puny compared to me."

"Are you STILL gonna talk down to me like that?!" Fung growled. Everyone else was looking at them with confused expressions. He sighed. "Everyone...this is my cousin, Lidong."

Mantis looked up at Lidong. "THAT'S the guy you kept talking about?" Lidong nods. "Huh...how weird."

Tigress raised an eyebrow and walked up to Fung. "Well this is a surprise. You never told us you had an older couson, Fung."

This was it. This was one of Fung's pet peeves. Is when they mistake Lidongz size and consider hom the older one because of it. He growled as his left eye twitched with annoyance. "He's...not...the older one..."

"He's not? No way. I don't believe it." Fenghuang shook her head. "Big Croc, how old are you?"

"20."

"And Scales...How old are you again?"

"I'M 23, DAMMIT!" Fung shouted, throwing his helmet to the ground. This got Mantis to laugh.

"HAH! Now I remember! This was the cousin you talked about who got upset easily and throws his helmet!"

"I'M NOT UPSET!"

"You kinda sound upset." Monkey pointed out. Fung turned slowly to the primate with a look of fury, that instantly got him to be quiet.

With Fung fuming over his embarrassment, Tigress was left to ask Mantis her question. "And you must be...?"

He huffed. "If it isn't obvious already, my name is Mantis. Pleased to eat your food-I mean, pleased to meet you."

"Wait...Mantis?" Po repeated, as he checked over the recruit list. He plastered a big grin on his face. "YES! It is him, he's on the list! What a stroke of luck for one to come to us, this time!"

Mantis stared quickly at Po. "What list? You mean a hit-list?!" He glared. "I may be surrounded, but I'm not going down qithout a fight!" He said, rasing his pincers up. Monkey scoffed.

"Dude you're so small. What are you gonna do?"Mantis shot his head at him and aimed a kick at his arm. Monkey winced. "AGH! That hurt you little...what?" He stared in shock as his arm suddenly went limp. "I can't move my arm..!"

Fenghuang's eyes widened with interest. "Oh my. This one knows how to use the Nerve Attack."

"What?"

"He just pressed a pressure point in your arm, Primate. That arm is currently useless unless he sets it back the way it was."

"Hey, no fair!" Monkey snarled, glaring at Mantis. "Undo this!"

"Apologize for calling me small!"

"Like hell I will!"

"Then have fun having a paralyzed arm!"

"JERK!"

"IDIOT!"

POW! POW!

Seconds later, Monkey and Mantis were lying face-down on the ground, with bumps in their heads. Tigress's right fist was emotting smoke, showing how fast she punched them both. She sighed, but kept her stern glare. "Okay...I think it's safe to say we got off on the wrong foot here."

"No kidding..." Lidong muttered.

"But this can easily be rectified, if we allow it to." She turned to Mantis and Monkey. "Mantis. Undo the paralysis on Monkey's arm and apologize. Monkey, you apologize for calling him small."

"What?! No way!" Monkey shouted in protest.

"Forget it!" Mantis folded his pincers.

A vein pulsed in Tigress's head. "Do it...NOW!"

Both of them turned ghost white at her roar. Mantis quickly undid the paralysis and he and Monkey shook paw/pincer. "Sorry." They both said just a quickly.

Tigress nodded, and took a deep breath. Now calm again, she rubbed her neck. "I apologize as well. I'm usually far more composed."

Po and Fung knew very well that Tigress's temper was not to be messed with, so they were always very careful not to do so. Mr. Ping, Shifu, and Fenghuang were unfazed. Mei Ling was simply surprised. Crane and Zeng were shivering behind a tree. And Lidong was smirking.

"I like her."

Mantis and Lidong were both served noodles by Mr. Ping. They were both surprised that he was able to cook among the temporary chaos. They eagerly dug into their food, their hunger now disappearing rapidly. Most of them were extremely surprised at Mantis, who was able to eat food that surpasses his height. When they finished their spearate bowls, they had faces of content.

"Best. Noodles. Ever. I have GOT to have more of this!" Mantis turned to Po. "What do we owe you?"

Po chuckled. "Ahah, nothing much...just you and Lidong here. Join our team!"

"What? Join your team?"

Po began to continue, but Tigress pulled him back, a concerned look in her eyes. "But Lidong isn't on the list, Po."

"That's right. But Oogway said we can also take other recruits that catches our eye. Lidong will be the first." Fung added. Tigress blinked, then shrugged. That was fair enough.

Mantis folded his pincers. "Sorry dude, I'll pass." This causes Po to pout.

"Aw man! Why not?"

"Me and Lidong are all we need to power through anything. Always have been. Appreciate the offer, but we'll have to refuse."

"You'll never taste food like ours, again."

Lidong blinked, and stared at Mantis for advice. "Mantis. He's bribing us with food."

"I know."

"But we love food. Especially this awesome food."

"I know..."

"We already tasted their food, it's in our memory. If we never taste it again, it'll haunt us forever."

"I know..."

"And-"

"I get it!" Mantis snapped. "Okay, we'are not agreeing to join this team. But wewill tag along with you guys to the next village. We've been wondering for days and we really need a place to stay."

Po grinned. "Fair enough. You'll change your mind."

"How do you know?"

The panda placed his paws behind his neck, and smiled. "Just a feeling. Juuuusssst a feeling."

"Ooookaayy..." Mantis had no idea what he was getting into.

Tigress turned back to her list, and looked forward. "Now we head forward...to find Viper."

(Unknown)

In one of the darker parts of China, in a run-down building that would be able to hold many sorts of unsavory characters. Like for criminals.

This was also one of the many hideouts to the Lin Kuei.

Heilang, the leader of the organization, was sitting in the center of the building, checkinf all of his weapons. HE's been quiet for a while. Until a familiar takin entered his space and introduced himself. He looked carelessly at him. "Jong Sung...what do you want?" The takin said nothing, but he placed a large chest in front of the wolf, causing him to stare at with curiousity. He opened it, and was surprised to see it was filled to the brim with gold. He closed it, and pushex it to the side. "You want something, is that right?"

"Indeed I do, my friend. We don't have to talk anymore than we're doing now. So I''ll just leave this to you." He placed a scroll in his paws, and walked out as calmly as he walked in.

Heilang looked through the scroll and read the details of his assignment. He grinned. "This involves a lot of blood...my kind of job." He closed it up amd turned to his comrades. "Off your asses! We got a job to do!" He startled the other wolves awake, and he headed towards a room in the far back, a room of privacy.

He kicked it open. "Hey brat! We have a job to do!" He threw the scroll in the room.

A much younger wolf slowly picked up the scroll and opened it. The young wolf was wearing a chinese hoodie which was colored pure black, black training pants, a tantō sheathed on his back, and he was barefoot. He has a mohawk starting from his head and running down his back. His eyes were a clear, dark purple. His age was around 20. He was looking through the scroll, and his eyes were wide with horror. He slammed it to the ground.

"This is crazy! I took part in a lot of your stunts, but this is now dead-on insanity! This is mass massacre! I won't take a part in this!" He was swiftly punched in the face, knocked into the ground. Heilang picked him up by the throat and slammed him into the wall.

"You defying orders from your Alpha...pup?" The tone he said that was cruel and condescending. "Ànyǐng, you have a job to do, and you'll do it with no complaints."

"I can complain as much as I want. You can't order me to take such a request. I won't take part in it!" The younger wolf glared back with furious defiance, despite the black eye he now had. His eyes were filled with hatred towards his 'leader'.

"You'll do your job. And you'll like it. Because you don't have a choice. Anyone who backs out of the Lin Kuei, dies horribly. I'm not bending the rules for my stubborn nephew's sake." Heilang let Ànyǐng slide to the ground, and walked away. "You shouldn't be hating me so much. Compared to my brother, I'm a small time criminal. He's a lapdog for Shen, after all." He called over his shoulder, and slammed the door shut.

Ànyǐng sat alone in his dark room, his black eye pulsing from the pain, but it paled in comparison to his heart. He had done any things in his forced recruitment into the Lin Kuei, but this will undoubtedly be the worst.

"This clan...is losing hope in ever being redeemed...this act will make it permanent..." He said to himself. The deed hasn't been done yet and he already feels guilty about it.

Heilang rolled his eyes as he met up with his other pack members. "Looks like the Lin Kuei is hitting the Valley Of Peace, fellas."

"Is that so?" One wolf asked.

"Anything specific?" Asked another.

"It's actually quite simple." He said darkly. "The Valley Of Peace will live up to it's name...once every single one of the villagers has been silenced. And according to rumors going around in the Valley, Oogway won't be able to stop us. The old bastard's dead." Multiple wolves reacted diffrently to this.

"The reptile finally checked out? About time."

"Jong Sung paid us for a massacre operation? Wow, someone from there must have really pissed him off."

"You're right about that. That's our mission. We plunder, we steal, we kill. Simple. But we have one major goal in this simple task: Destroy The Dragon Scroll. That'll sure put a lot of people around China on edge. And it'll piss off that Tai Lung cat enough to come out of hiding."

"What's the purpose in destroying the Dragon Scroll?"

"Logic Jong Sung goes by, but is good enough for me." Heilang smirked. "No Dragon Scroll= No Dragon Warrior."

"Seems a bit farfetched...but who cares, we're getting paid." Another wolf yawned, getting up and grabbing a sword.

Heilang sees Ànyǐng reluctantly exit his room. He then turns towards the darkness. "I dunno who pissed off that petty takin, but that doesn't matter to me." He said emotionlessly. "Whoever you are...your actions just cost you your home." He had a thought about something...something from 15 years ago. His grin turned sinister.

"And if this person is who I think it is...then this operation also involves payback. Time to pay for humiliating us, Fenghuang." The owl had stopped one of their spies from completeing a job years back, and their reputation plundered because of it.

It was time for retribution.

...Well...that can't be good.

The heroes won't be able to get back because they don't know what's going on...Uh oh...

Anyway, that's it for this one. The next four chapters will be like "Serpent's Tooth" in a way. Because the focus is on Viper. A focus between her, Po, Fung, and Tigress for separate reasons. Will they be able to recruit her? First they have to get past Fu-Xi, the first antagonist of the story to pose a true threat to the heroes lives.

Thanks for reading this chapter, feel free to review, and see you when I post Part One of my version of "Serpent's Tooth".

See you then!