Monkey was highly unsure what to do in this kind of situation. He has been in a plethora of situations before. Corrupt mafia, mob of villagers, revenge pranking...angry women. Okay, two of those he usually brought on himself, due to his playful pranking nature and his tendency to tease women...most of those teases aren't always innocent. He guessed that this may go into a new category, due to the fact that there was a high chance Viper was attacking him just because he was in her line of sight. And she was going for the kill, a thought he seriously did not enjoy.

Instinct gave his body the most obvious action to take in a situation like this. Dodge.

"AW CRAP!" He shouted out loud as he barely dodges the high speed lunge. Although Viper predicted this, and grabbed a hold of his tail with her own, and swung him in a spiral, sending hom barreling into Crane, knocking them both down in a heap and making Crane drop his hat. Relentless in her pursuit, she slithers after him again.

With her temporarily distracted with the others, Fung ran over to Lidong to try to get him to wake up. But he was immediately aware of just how hard she made him punch himself, as a trickle of blood slid down his head. The assasult was ruthless and lasted a minute, so of course he wouldn't regain consciousness for a while. Viper was aware that beating everyone here would be troubesome if Lidong took spotlight as well. It's was a pretty bad and unexpected turn of events. Especially since they were supposed to recruit this person.

He was contemplating the thought on how Po was taking this, then he remembered: Po was persistent. This setback wasn't going to stop a panda reaching his paw out in friendship, and it wasn't going to stop Fung either. He didn't want to get left behind, after all. Their first objective was to get his fellow reptile to calm down.

He ducked as Monkey flew over his shoulder and crashed face-first into a tre, landing on his back with a groan. "Why is she so hostile towards me, first?!"

"Not sure! There is just something about you especially I don't like!" She hissed as she lashed her tail ag him, he dodges with a backflip and caught onto a tree branch above him.

"Well THAT'S real specific!" He said with a tick mark on his forehead. "You're being a complete jerk!"

"How dare you call me that!?"

"There's another word I can call you, but Tigress will hurt me if I do, because we just met you!"

"It's true, she will hurt him!" Fung shouted.

"You two leggers are all extremely annoying!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS A TWO-LEGGER?!" Monkey shouted.

Tigress snarled slightly, after making sure Crane was alright. "She's too much of a threat with the speed she's going and the length of her body. If we all just surround her and box her in-"

"No!" Po shouted over everyone, bringing all of the attention towards him. He was still holding his stinging cheek, but his eyes seemed more relaxed now. "We are not going to gang up on her. That isn't fair. She's not doing this on her own will."

Viper turned to him with a questioning look. "What are you going on about? I'm fully intent on taking all of you down."

Po took his paw off his cheek and folded his arms. "Let me be honest here...I don't believe you."

"What?!"

The panda nodded. "Everyone...stay where you are. I'll handle this."

"Are you crazy?!" Fung said, grasping his head with both of his paws. "You saw what she did to Lidong in a minute! And she sent you flying with a tail slap!"

"We don't know what her true intentions are, Po. Are you sure...?" Tigress asked, lowering her paws.

Po turned to Tigress with a small smile. "Not to worry, I got this." She kept eye contact for a couple seconds, and she nods, stepping away to give them space. Po then took off his hat, strap included, and tossed it towards Monkey and it landed on his head. "Mind holding that for me, Monkey?"

"Uh...sure." He tilted the hat slightly, and smiled. "Hey...this look isn't bad. Maybe I should get one for myself...wait. Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Po waved, as he turned around to face Viper, who's face was full of confusion, which then turned to a cruel smirk.

"I don't know what your game is...but you're obviously messed up in the head if you think you're going yo fight me alone."

Po smiled. "Oh. Oh you're mistaken. I'm not gonna fight you."

Viper blinked. Then everyone else blinked. "...Heh?"

"Nope. You're gonna attack me. I'm gonna keep defending. While we do that, you tell me ALL about who's making you do this. So I'll know who's butt to kick later." He was saying all of this as if he was planning out his morning. This kind of laid-back attitude, combined with the subject at hand...really made Viper angry.

"You truly must be brain-dead if you think you can defeat Fu-Xi!"

"Aha! That's his name! I gotta kick his butt, then we can recruit you, right?" He said, pounding one fist into his palm. Then he faltered and scratched his head. "But first we gotta take care of Lidong's injuries and stuff...but only after we get you to stop trying to hurt us...ugh, so much to do in so little time..." He groaned as he placed his paws on his head. "Man! This is gonna cut into my cooking time! Everyone is gonna be hungry after this!"

Viper jaw-dropped. Then she turned to Fung. "What...is wrong with him?"

Fung turned to her while rubbing his head. "When you put together a slightly bloodthirsty kung fu owl who has very poor-developed social skills due to living in isolation for decades...and a panda who only had friends for a single week and was raised by a jolly unpredictable goose cook who also has poor social skills...you get this guy." Fung gestured to Po, who was just wore a carefree smile on his face.

"To be honest...I really don't wanna do the whole fighting with you thing. So can we...not do that? And you can just tell me about Fu-Xi?" He briefly dodged a tail swipe from Viper, stepping back slightly. "...is that a yes or a no?"

"Take me seriously!" She hissed, repeatedly lashing for his face, though he kept dodging as fast as she was striking.

Po looked at her with confusion, as he briefly cocked his head back and caught her tail for a moment. "What do you mean? I AM being serious." He let go of her tail and jumped back from more of her swipes. He begins to see that she uses her tail like a whip, a whip with an even more painful tip. He inwardly giggled at the rhyme, then he regained his focus.

Her attacks were fast and ruthless, while Po was entirely focused on avoiding and defending. He did admit that trying to block those tail lashes was incredibly painful, and it was evident on his face, but he did not take the offensive. "So, tell me about this Fu-Xi guy." He asked while once again catching her tail, and harmlessly threw her a couple feet behind him as if she were rope. "You seem really loyal to him."

"Of course." She said while slithering back at him quickly and did an upward tail whip, which caused a pained groan to come from his mouth. "He saved my life, and he's a great role model for snakes everywhere."

"Role model, huh? Sounds pretty serious." Po remarked as he was again smacked back in the face by her tail, and he rubbed it again. "The same cheek again?! Come on!"

"Fu-Xi was a noble warrior, and a descendent of the Dragon Gods.." Po's eyes sparkled at the name. He wondered how cool these 'Dragon Gods' were back then. He was snapped out of his daze as Viper wrapped her tail around him. "He was always defending China from evil...until the two-leggers turned on him and killed his entire clan because they feared his power, or what he could become." She then tossed Po to the side, causing him to crash straight through mutiple trees, ending with one falling over him. He pushed it off of him easily, though now he was sporting mutliple scratches and was bleeding slightly, but he kept his calm face.

Tigress...was a different story. She was extremely ticked off at the sight of Po receiving a beatdown and not resisting the assault. She was tempted to jump the reptile herself, which was shown through her claws slowly easing out.

"Easy, Tigress..." Fung said to her while grabbing her left arm, as she didn't realize she was trying ro move forward. "Po says he has this under control."

"This doesn't look very controlled, Fung!" She snarled.

The croc very cautiously continued. "Look, Po obviously has something in mind. If you jump in now, you'll mess it up. Just keep those claws sheathed, okay?" Tigress looked very reluctant...but she let her claws slide back in, and Fung sighed. That was too close.

Po recovered enough to make eye contact with Viper, who was continuing to slither up to him with her eyes slitted. "That was a great injustice for him, and for many others. Because people lost trust in him, and therefore lost trust in many other snakes in China, including my father, Great Master Viper. It doesn't matter how much either of them did for others, their faith in snakes can never be fully restored again. People were actually happy that Daddy lost his preciois poisonous fangs, because that's what makes us so dangerous. People were also glad that I was born without fangs. But that wasn't enough. Despite being only a little girl at the time...I wasn't very trusted. My father made sure they never made any hostile moves towards me, but they still found a way to hurt me. I couldn't make any friends at all...I hated them...they hurt me just for being who I am...two leggers are two afraid of us snakes to even try to make peace..." She glared. "Not to mention...a two legger gorilla bandit smashed the eggs of my sisters...so I never got to even see them..."

Ah...there it is. Po said in his thoughts. He knew if he listened long enough he would discover the real reason for why she was doing this. When one has such a deep hatred for something, there is always something personal in the mix. History has proven this time and again. His own Master was a very good example, so of course he had some understanding of it. He has found Viper's reason for hating the so-called 'two leggers' which is all creatures that walk on two legs. Because her unborn sisters were seemingly killed in a bandit attack. He has found a way to connect with Viper.

Their species aren't very accepted by others. He knows what his next move was...and it had a pretty high chance of being painful. But the outcome would be worth it.

"Viper...I kinda know how you feel." Po said slowly.

"Shut up! How would you know how I feel!?" She hissed.

Po looked her in the eye. "From what my childhood has taught me, pandas aren't very well liked, either. And I haven't seen one for years. It feels kind of lonely when you're the only one of your species seen for miles. No one liked me, either. Making friends was close to impossible, because people just decided that I wasn't worth their time." He rubbed his neck. "Being on the receiving of racism is never fun. But...returning it doesn't help much either. I'm gonna be honest...I think this Fu-Xi guy is setting a bad example for you."

Viper was temporarily stunned by Po revealing something personal about himself. He had the same harsh treatment as others had for snakes...except there are no other pandas around, none that can be seen. Only Po. Then she hears the last part of the sentence and shook her head. "Don't badmouth Fu-Xi! I won't let you badmouth Big Brother!" The panda was now even more aware of her relationship with this Fu-Xi person, and knew why she was trying so hard to defend him. He watches as she slithers back into the bushes for a couple moments, then she comes back out...with steel teeth designed to fit her jaws. Tigress resisted the urge to pounce on her. She was well aware of what would happen next, and Po was going to let it happen.

Viper continued to glare at Po. "You're deceiving me. I won't fall for it. He always said that two-leggers will try to show sympathy to me in order to make me lower my guard! It won't work!"

"Viper. I don't lie about stuff like this. One, I would suck at at it. Two, I don't want to." Po said, his arms now unfolded. "And I'm speaking my mind here. Someone who teaches you to respond to hate with even more hate is not a good role model."

"Be silent! I can't trust anything you say!"

"You wanna know if you can trust me? Fine." Po resolved, holding his arms out. "Bite me." He asked of her, causing her to flinch. "I'm not here to deceive you, I only want to be your friend. I can see that you won't trust me, until I prove it to you. So go on...bite me anywhere... I won't move a muscle."

Crane's beak dropped, Monkey was lowering his hat over his face, Mantis was in top of said hat, Tigress was still resisting the urge to pounce, and now even Fung was starting to doubt Po's risk-taking. "Um...Po...those are steel jaws...I'm pretty sure that's gonna hurt like hell when she bites into you! Isn't there another way to prove you're trustworthy?"

"There might be...but I think this fits better."

"THAT'S NOT REASSURING! OR SAFE!"

Viper inserted the teeth into her jaws, and glared at Po. If this was what he wants, he would receive it. She opened her jaws and lunged forward quickly, appearing as a blur. The steel teeth made contact with his shoulder...

Everyone around them wore shocked faces as they saw blood spatter onto the ground. Tigress's face was soon twisted into rage, as Fung and Monkey tried desparately to hold her back. Crane flinched at the scene, while Mantis was in disbelief that Po took a gamble like that and went through with it. Lidong couldn't witness it because he was still very much unconscious.

But no one shocked than Viper. She backed away in horror the damage she inflicted, now that her blind loyalty was wiped away for the moment. Po's shoulder was currently bleeding profusely. And combined with the many cuts he received from crashing into trees, she wondered if he would pass out from blood loss. But he seemed determined to remain standing.

"I told you I wouldn't move a muscle." Po said. Even with a bleeding shoulder he was keeping his full attention on Viper. "Do you trust me now, Viper?"

"...I'm sorry..."

"What?"

He could see her face in better detail when she looked up to meet his eyes. The killing intent was gone, her eyes were no longer slitted...and she was babbling apologies. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! So so sorry!"

The rage Tigress felt was now shifted to confusion, as well as everyone else. One moment, Viper had killing intent and she gave Po a serious thrashing, even if he didn't fight back. And seconds after she bites him hard in the shoulder with steel teeth and drawing a lot of blood, and then rapidly apologizes for it?

Everyone was officially confused.

Viper kept bowing as she hastily forced the steel teeth out of her jaws. "I didn't think you'd actually stand there and take the bite! I thought you were bluffing!"

"I'm just gonna break it to you. I'm not good at bluffing." Po said, rubbing his shoulder...big mistake. "Agh, dammit! Forgot you just bit that shoulder!"

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine...hey...what's with the whole mood change thing?"

Viper looked to the ground. "I...only chase off people...my fighting skills would have chased them out by now...yet you chose to stay here and take my abuse...and you're still here."

"Sure I am. I want to recruit you. And by that, I want to be your buddy. What do you say?"

Viper's eyes widened, while Mantis looked on with disbelief. "Seriously? She almost killed you, dude. And you very well almost let her if she wasn't careful. And you're not gonna hold that against her?"

Po looked up to the sky to think about it. He then shook his head. "Nah. Not really. Might have something to do with the fact that Fu-Xi convinced her that everything that walks on two legs is the enemy...she doesn't seem like the type of person who believes in that." He turned around to face her. "Are you, Viper?"

"I...I..."

"I took a steel chomp to my bad shoulder without a second thought, just so I could provw that I could be trusted. It's pretty stupid, but I believe it worked." He gave a softer look to Viper. "Be honest, Viper. Do youtruly believe EVERY word Fu-Xi has been telling you about us?"

The snake eyed the panda with much shock. Po had just said that he was terrible at lying. So what he thinks of her is what he truly sees her as. Someome who needs a friend. Not as a simple snake. All the people she met on two legs were people who wanted to harm her or her father. Fu-Xi always told her that two-leggers can't be friends with snakes because there were so many evil ones out there...he never told her there were actually nice ones. Viper looks up at Po, unsure of what to say.

"I-" She began to speak, but she felt something strike her head, and her world went black.

"I am sorry, sister." Po's eyes widened as he sees the large cobra gently set the younger snake on the ground, before glaring at Po. "I will not allow you to fill her head with your blatant lies."

"The only one lying here is you!" Po pointed with a glare of his own. "You're closing her off from any potential friends!"

"She'll find friends in her own kind. Not with filth like you." The cobra lashed his tail at Po's bleeding shoulder, making a sharp cut to go with the bite.

"AGGGGH!" Po screamed out as he gripped his injured shoulder and got on one knee, looking at the cobra. "You...can't...do this...to her..."

"This is for her own good. I know what's best for her. You'll ruin all the progress I made with her. And I cannot allow that. So do us both a favor..." He raised his tail high. "And leave us be." He swung his tail in an arc, and slapped Po away.

And unlike Viper's tail slaps to the face which only stung, Fu-Xi's tail slap actually rattled his skull and sent him flying a greater distance than before. And unlike the other times, he did not immediately recover from this one. It was significantly harder than Viper's. He was lying on the ground, his eyes wide from the shock of the blow. It gave enough time for Fu-Xi to grab Viper and slither away with her.

Tigress rushed for Po the moment Fu-Xi knocked him away and checked on him as the cobra disappeared. "Crane, see if you can keep track of him! And if possible, get Viper away from him!"

"I-I got it!" Crane nods as Mantis hopped on his hat. Appreciating the unspoken offered help, Crane flew off to the sky, keeping an aerial view on Fu-Xi's movements.

Monkey and Fung ran up to Po to help him up. "Are you alright?! Dude, we could hear the blow from where we were! That had to have been painful!"

"I m fine." Po said through gritted teeth. Hw recieved a harsh blow to the head, and his shoulder was still bleeding. This was attributed to him feeling extremely lightheaded and could lose consciousness if he keeps pushing himself. But he refused to acknowledge this. "We need...to go save...Viper..."

"We need to get you patched up." Monkey shook his head. "You took multiple small blows to the head, one HARD blow to the head, and that bite mark drew a lot of blood. Still think that was a crappy idea. If you try going after Fu-Xi in your condition, he'll kill you for sure."

"Besides, Lidong is still down, too. And who knows where the others went." Fung added. "Look, Crane and Mantis will keep track of them and let us know where he's keeping her."

"But right now we need to get that shoulder fixed." Tigress said. "I'll carry you."

"No Tigress, that's okay. I can walk...I'm fine, really." Po weakly tried to stand. He didn't want to burden them more than he already might have. But his feline friend wasn't having it.

"You look like you're gonna fall over from all of those head blows and blood loss! I'm. Carrying. You." Tigress insisted, poking his chest three times with the three words. Then she hurried and scooped him up in her arms with no effort and began running in the direction the Masters, geese, and Mei Ling went. Monkey and Fung were left behind, as they were struggling to lift the unconscious Lidong and carry him with them.

Monkey didn't enjoy this arrangement one bit. "The hell?! She's lifting him like he's a feather! Meanwhile she left us with the heavier load! If she's so physically strong why can't SHE lift this guy and let US carry Po?!"

Fung sighed. "Tigress hasn't really gotten too close to the others like she has with Po. I wouldn't be surprised that he's her main priority until further notice. I'm a mildly close second."

"That's SO not fair!"

"Is it really unfair? She's only known you guys for less than a week and a half." He frowned. "Then again, we only knew each other for a week before we split up for 15 years...I dunno. All I know is that I don't have full understanding on how she thinks. Just like I don't have a full understanding on how Po thinks." He sighed. "Sometimes reading either of them is completely impossible..."

Monkey sighed. "And you're supposed to be the sane one of the trio?"

"Probably. Depends on your definition of sane."

(With the Masters)

Shifu's unwanted battle with Great Master Viper has not made any real progress for a long while. For the most part they were evenly match. An important factor may be that they didn't really want to fight one another, another would be that they were both supreme in terms of speed, and most annoyingly...Shifu didn't want any help.

Not that Fenghuang was complaining. In fact, she was fully content with allowing Shfiu to handle this alone. She was perched on a nearby tree branch, watching on with neutral interest. Mei Ling, Mr. Ping, and Zeng were all extremely concerned for how this may turn out.

"Should...shouldn't you help Master Shifu?" Zeng asked Fenghuang, his wings on his chattering beak.

"Hey. The Midget says he's got this, he's got this. Calm your feathers, Palace Servant." Fenghuang said casually. "Plus...I don't feel like it."

"Well that's a perfectly good reason." Mei Ling mumbled, crossing her arms. The owl shrugged at her remark.

Shifu admittedly had a hard time at first, but it was becoming clear that he had the upper hand after all. "I don't know why you're doing this, Great Master Viper, but you are at a disadvantage after all."

"What makes you so certain?" The serpent asked as he swiftly moved around Shifu and trapped him in his coils.

"Because you've lost your Poisonous Fangs, and you were far too reliant on them." The red panda easily broke free with the use of his walking stick and sent him flying with a spin kick. "Otherwise this 'battle' would have been incredibly troubling."

"I'm not the only one who is handicapped." Great Master Viper said, gazing at Shifu's leg. "Your right leg seems to be a limp."

"Yes...I'm sure you've heard of the incident..." He said quietly as he jumped up from the whip attack towards his feetand balanced on his staff.

"Yes...I am sorry for bringing that up." The serpent apologized before slithering up and again and attempting to lash his tail again at the elder panda, however this was easily avoided, and Shifu pinned him to the ground by landing on his back and directed the pointed end of his staff towards his face. His eyes lowered slightly. "You are right. Being roo dependent on my Fangs has deeply weakened me..."

Shifu acknowledged his victory and stepped off the elder snake, allowing him to recover. "Now...would you mind telling me what exactly is going on here? What has Fu-Xi done to your village?"

The serpent was about to answer, but Shifu heard his name being called loudly, and he turned around to see Monkey and Fung struggling greatly to carry Lidong along, while Tigress was carrying Po in her arms. Fenghuang would have smirked and teased the young feline about it, but her smirk swiftlt turned into a concerned frown when she saw Po's shoulder sporting a deep bite mark on his shoulder, as well as many other injuries on his body. She flew down from her branch and landed un front of Tigress and Po.

"Panda, what happened?" She asked quickly.

He smiled nervously while wincing. "The recruitment...didn't go as well as I hoped. Viper bit my shpulder with steel teeth..." He hissed from the pain while he turned his attention towards his shoulder. "And then Fu-Xi whipped it really hard, which is making the pain so much worse..."

"Fu-Xi ambushed you and took the girl...?" The owl repeated, while rubbing her skull. "Of course he did..."

"You ran into Fu-Xi?! He said he wouldn't come out unless he felt that he needed to..." Master Viper said as he realized something else. "Where's my daughter...?"

"He knocked her out, knocked me aside, and slithered off with her. Couldn't stop him..." Po said, staring at the ground. "I need to get my shoulder fixed up, go after him, and get Viper back!" He said with a determined face, but then he sees his father looking incredibly angry. "Uh...Dad-"

"Where is this Fu-Xi snake?! How dare he make my son's injury worse?!" He yelled aloud. "I'll smash his skull in with my frying pan!"

Fung pulled him hack and stared into the goose's eyes. "Not a good idea, Mr. Ping. He's big enough to swallow you whole."

"Then I'll take a knife with me and cut my way out! Then I'll carve out his cold unfeeling heart and make him eat it! THEN I'LL CHOP HIM UP INTO TINY PIECES AND SET EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ON FIRE!" He was panting heavily after the outburst, his feathers ruffled from all the fury he feels right now.

Everyone was staring at him with a surprised look on each of their faces at the goose's outburst. Everyone except Fenghuang that is. She was observing the goose as if she's seen this multiple times. Which she has. Fung and Monkey would have taken a step back, but remembered that they were carrying Lidong.

Shifu glared accusingly at the owl. She sensed this, and waved him off. "Don't look at me! He's always like this." She shrugged. "What can I say? The goose is awfully protective of the panda. Those near-death experiences he had a cub really put the geezer on edge."

"Come now, Po." Mr. Ping says while patting his son's side. "Let's get your shoulder fixed up so you can show that cobra what for! Then you'll be able to get your friend back!"

Great Master Viper was looking in surprise as the goose and panda both spoke to one another with determined faces even while Po was in pain. He would not lie, he admired the duo's relationship, because they were the same, yet at the same time they were not. He wanted a relationship like that with his daughter, but he himself ruined that chance. And everyone in his village had gotten caught up in that mistake, and many were suffering for it. But that ends now. Because he was going to reach out for help, like he should have.

"Everyone follow me. We're going back to my palace. I'm sure Fu-Xi won't try to go back there. Did you say that one of your friends is following him from overhead?"

"Yes. Crane and Mantis should be able to keep track of him from an aerial view. They'll get Viper back, and it'll force Fu-Xi to confront all of us." Tigress said. "Then we take him down."

"Very well. Come, we should go to treat your friends." He slithers ahead of the group, heading towards his palace with the unconscious Lidong and injured Po. The latter looked behind him and towards the sky.

Crane and Mantis...you guys have your part. Get Viper back to us. And when you take care of that, I can do my part. And that's to kick Fu-Xi's tail! Then we'll have another friend with us! Po nods. We're counting on you two...

(In The Skies)

Crane's eyes widened as he looked behind him slightly. He blinked. For some reason, he feels ever more determined to make sure he and Mantis succeed in their objective. Mantis sees the look in his eye while he hangs from his hat carefully. "Hey dude, what's going on?"

Crane spaced out for a couple moments, before he nods and turns his head forward. "Mantis. Even if you haven't officially joined our team, just know that I'm depending on you anyway! We won't fail!"

The insect had no idea where this confidence came from, but he wouldn't question it. "You got it, man." He lifted himself back on top of the hat. Crane's face was looking more determined than before.

They're depending on us, aren't they? We can't let them down! He flapped his wings, picking up speed. He didn't know what Viper's relationship with Fu-Xi was, but it didn't matter. It's now obvious Viper was just a pawn, and the cobra insists on keeping her that way. They were going to put a stop to that.

"We got off to a bad start, but that doesn't matter to us." Crane stated strongly."Just hang tight, Viper. We're coming!"

Part Two of Serpent's Tooth has been completed. Part Three shall be out soon. It may not be as good as I hoped it would be, so I hope you can forgive that.

Farewell, for now...