"This is...this is...um..." Fung mumbled. "This is...what is this exactly? I seriously cannot comprehend what I'm seeing right now. How are they doing this? I mean, they're rats, and they're pretty small...even if they're pretty strong, one shouldn't be able to control one entire suit of armor."

"That's some impressive teamwork they got going on." Song observed, with one paw on her hip, and the other holding her parasol. "A dozen of them are operating these suits a piece. It tales some pretty high leveled cooperation to be able to move it as if it we're any other normal person wearing it. Very impressive indeed, I gotta admit."

"I don't think that this is the time for us to be impressed by their surprisingly accurate coordination." Fund said blankly.

"Still, it's not if I expected less from the Lao Shu. We're just lucky there are three of these suits. Because the entire renegade group number surpasses a thousand. THEN we'd be in serious trouble."

Fung's mind went blank for a second. The Lao Shu consist of more thsn a thousand rats...that's a pretty large number. And those armors they inhabit look pretty tough, so it was unknown whether or not they could take them down with a lot of effort, or unable to do it at all. All he knew for sure was that they we're in serious danger with no clear escape in sight. They had no to fight their way through...

"And now!" Their sudden shout brought his attention back to them. "Now that you face such poor odds on your part, what will you do next?"

Song knew the answer. No one else expected it though. "I'm gonna grab something to eat back from this warehouse. I feel peckish."

"W-What?! You can't do that! We're being threatening here, you can't just grab a snack whenever you please!"

"Already did." Song said lazily, as she bit into an apple.

It took a couple seconds for the action to fully sink in. Even Fung was caught off-guard. How did she do that?! Didn't even see her move!

The Lao Shu rats saw her with the apple in her paws, and gaped at the sight. "How the hell did she do that?!"

"Oh it's quite simple really. I just took the apple while you weren't paying any attention. And now I'm munching on it." Song said casually, her tail swishing in amusement of their reactions. She finished her apple and tossed it to the side. "Now I'm finished with my apple, which was my snack. Now maybe I can focus by helping return all of those crates of food you jerks stole from the villagers back in Moshou Town. So...can you do us a favor and back off? I'd really appreciate it."

Is she being serious right now? She's just as bad as Po when it comes to acknowledging a minor enemy. The disrespect is real...Fung sighed, his mind already partially exhausted from thinking too hard. "Hey, I don't think you should-"

"Relax. The two of us are more than enough to handle them." Song waved off, much to Fung's surprise. "You just have to hit the armor really hard in one spot, and it'll do major damage."

"How do you know...?"

"No matter how many rats occupy a suit, they can't occupy every single part of it. So if we strike a point that they're least likely to be, then they'll lose their balance."

"Um..."

"HEY! YA MIGHT WANNA FOCUS ON US AT THE MOMENT!" Their conversation ended with the rat's frustrated shout, as one of the armored suits rushed forth to strike Song. But to their disbelief, she avoided this by stepping to the side.

"Oh boy. Look at that. Ya kinda missed me there, guys." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing around right now. She twirled her parasol as she gracefully spins sideways to avoid a kick. "Dear me, you missed again. This just isn't your day, is it?"

Yep. The disrespect is definitely real. Fung inwardly sighed. It only ended when he noticed two of them approaching him, and he had to roll out of the way of their combined charge. "Okay, numbers is still a serious problem right now. Whether we know their weakness or not, they'll be sure to ovverun us before we get the chance to exploit it."

Song thought about this. "In that case...let's just avoid. There ought to be someone on their way by now. Crane went off to get help for these boxes, after all."

"We don't know how long that will take, and these guys won't be willing to wait." Fung blinked. "...Did I just rhyme? I think I just rhymed. How did that happen? I seriously have no idea." He rambled a little, and was once again thrown out of the loop as one of the armors raised their fists above him and tried to slam him with them, thought he narrowly avoid that one as well. "Hey, I was having a reflection-DAGH!" He was then punched straight in the snout as he slid into the the wall, hitting his head as his helmet fell off his head. He groaned and placed his helmet back on his head. "That was a cheap shot. Do you rats hear me? CHEAP! SHOT!"

"That's an argument only a wimp would make."

"...Ooooohhh no. No. You rodents did NOT just call me a wimp! That tears it! I know I just put my helmet back on...but now I'm taking it back off!" Fung snarled, taking off his helmet and letting it fall to the ground. "Get ready you filthy rodents! I'm gonna seriously kick every one of your tails!"

"Hah! As if you could ever..." their eyes widened when the croc pounded his chest twice and made a full-on charge.

"GRAAAAAAH!" Fung growled as he raised both of his paws and slammed them both into the centers of the armors. His momentum allowed him to keep going without restraint, then his claws dug slightly into the armor which freaked out the rats inside, then he bashed them through the wall of the warehouse, smashing the entrance down with ease. At the very least, the place was no longer locked down. And their armors were partially smashed in due to his strength, it forced them to run off in different directions after escaping their crushed armor. "You guys are so lucky that i'm not Tigress, then your day would have been so much worse compared to dealing with me. Now to help out...Song?"

Song was standing casually in front of the armor, which had been completely abandoned due to the smell of smoke and it hindered their sight. It caused them to retreat early. Except she was able to catch one of them by the tail with her paw, and she held him up with a smile. "Well what do we have here? A captive? A bargaining chip? A hostage? Nah, not a hostage. Your 'friends' couldn't care less if you were captured or not. Maybe...you'll serve as our informant?"

"Gah! Our boss never informed us of people like you snooping around here! We barely had a chance!"

Song shurgged at their complaining, not caring much for it. "You guys are the ones who ticked off Fung and gave him a bit of a anger-fueled strength boost. As for me...well...i'm just smarter than you. And you...you're just rat bandits. Together you're actually pretty strong but once you get scared you scatter. And then you're threat level drops significantly. Which leads you to being a bunch of whining cowards because they didn't win." She turned to Fung. "I believe we'll have to take this one with us, Fung. He might provide us with more info when we get to the others." She looked up towards the skies and saw Crane making their way back to them. "Oh! He's back already, how fortunate for us."

Crane landed in front of them. "Alright guys, I've informed the villagers of the food stash, they'll be here in a matter of moments. It seems you two we're able to take care not to let anyone steal any of it." His eyes gazed towards the rat in Song's grasp. "Annnnnnd apparently with a captive. Lao Shu?" Song nodded. "I thought so. Well, the villagers have this under control, we can go back and enjoy a couple of cakes."

Fung heard the word 'cake' and grinned. "Oh yes. Cake! If someone's baking cake back in town, then I want some of it!"

"Oh...we have cake lovers?" Song smiled. "I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself, so this will be quite an experience...as long as Tigress doesn't loom over me."

"She's spending time with Po and the others. Trust me, she won't do any looming. Now...shall we go?"

"Hm...yes, I guess we shall."

"I wouldn't get too comfortable." Song's eyes glared at the rodent in her paws that said this. "There's way more of us out here than you think there is...and they might be deciding at this mokent to cut their losses and just ransack the village entirely!"

"Don't bandits have anything better to do than be bandits?" Crane sighed. "Now I have to fly all the way back again, right when I gave good news...great. Wonderful." Crane was oushed aside as Fung began to run towards Moshou Town. "Fung hold on, we have plenty of time!"

"If those jerks so much as try to even look at my cake, they're dead!" Fung shouted whike pushing past the trees.

Crane sighed in exasperation, tilting his hat downward. THAT'S what he's worried about? Good grief, we all really need to work on our priority organization...

(Meanwhile)

"Hehehehe! Alrighty then, it's time we get a bit busy!" Po smiled as Mr. Ping was going through his Noodle Cart. Mr. Ping didn't just make noodles, dumplings, and tofu. Hr had a bit of knowledge in cake construction as well. Those seasonal festivals had improved his skills in making sweets, most of them went to Po, of course. He never minded one bit.

"I know I have it in here somewhere...I just need to...ahah! I knew I wasn't going bonkers! Here it is!" Mr. Ping took out a book, lifting it and placing it on the counter. "I've finally found it! My Cake book!"

"You...keep a cake book?" Bian Zao asked in confusion.

"Of course! I keep a separate record of most foods and desserts within my skill set! It's quite handy when you memorize all of them appropriately." He confirmed with a grin. "I have memorized every single page. Po...memorized half of it."

"I'm pretty sure I memorized the entire book at the same time you did." Po said with a pout. "I was reading it a lot since we set out. I know every cake in your book. And we both already know that I did it, so you can't say I didn't."

"Ah Po. This goose is just messing around, is all. I know how eager you are to see these cakes in action. By action I mean you want to eat them."

"Of course I do! But we gotta pass em' out to the townspeople first. Although...there's always gotta be a tester, righr?"

"Figure's you'd find a way to sneak your eating habits into your genuine good deeds." Monkey stated with a straight face. "You are quite the clever panda, Po."

"Nah. At this moment my gut's doing the thinking. Weird, huh?" He then turned to Bian Zao. "Hey there, B.Z. Which cake do ya wanna make?"

The warthog didn't expect to be abpe to pick which cake to make, since it was Po's idea to bgin with. But he shifted his face into one of the smallest smiles Po has ever seen. "If I really gotta pick...I'd say Red Bean Cake. Can make plenty of those."

"Excellent choice! We should get to work right away!"

Mantis looked outside the house, sighing with slight irritation. "You guys might wanna hurry up with that. I think the Lao Shu caught on to our location, and they don't look happy. That's a good thing, obviously. But still, it can be quite a problem if they decide to come in and make a mess of the place."

Mr. Ping sighed, shaking his head. "Those guys don't matter right now. My son and Bian Zao are busy cooking the cakes. So the rest of you have to do something to hold those rude rats off or get rid of them entirely. Make them go away or something."

"How are they supposed to do that, exactly?" Zeng asked, hesitantly.

"Beat the stuffing out of them, of course! They're really good at that."

Mei Ling yawned a bit, stretching her arms and tail. She then stood up and grabbed her staff, heading out the door with an eager look on her face. Tigress saw the look she had, and found it best that they not try to stop her. Though she didn't prevent Monkey and Mantis from following her, deciding not to take too many chances. Po then grabbed her by the paw, directing her attention towards him.

"Come on, Tigress! You're gonna be a taster too!"

"W-Wha...?"

"You're not gonna get anything on your shirt, you're just tasting with me as I help Bian Zao make the cakes. You don't have to cook at all. Let me take care of that."

Tigress felt compelled to heed his request, even if she also felt like she had to assist the others in beating down the Lao Shu. Placing confidence in her friends outside, she gave up resisting and allowed Po to drag her into the kitchen, where Bian Zao and Mr. Ping had already begun their baking, and planned to join them.

(Outside)

Mei Ling had her arms crossed as she stood beside both Monkey and Mantis. They stared out in the open, where the Lao Shu rats occupied the multiple armors they someone managed to obtain. Again, theft is a high possibility for these armors. Mei Ling honestly didn't care that much. Monkey and Mantis cared even less. They only cared that these guys we're jerks that needed to be taught a lesson.

Plus, their precious cake was in danger. There was no way they would allow the cakes to be ruined.

"You rats shall not pass!" Mantis chanted loudly.

"We will not allow you to defile our sacred cakes!" Monkey chanted just as loudly, puffing out his chest while his tail lashed strongly.

Mei Ling just laughed at how random that was. She then turned her attention to the armor wielding rats. "They work together as a large team to use these armors...they're clever ones. But...those are pretty heavy looking. You won't be able to move very fast."

"And we're currently one of the most agile fighters in our group, plus Viper. Well the younger agile fighters, but you get the big picture. Overall, it kinda sucks to be you guys!" Monkey beamed with confidence.

The rats all scoffed at his cocky attitude. "Tch...you may be faster but you all look pretty weak when it comes to actually hitting something."

"Care to test that?" Mei Ling growled playfully. "I've been waiting this smack things around with my staff again. That armor can't protect you."

"And what makes you think that-" Mei Ling swiftly moved forth and spun her staff in an unseeable blur of speed, which sent one flying through a wall behind them, part picking up dust where they fell.

Monkey laughed. "Hahaha! Serves you rodents right!" He paused when one stood over him, and he turned around. "Eh?"

"Gotcha, ape!"

"Hm...nah, pretty sure I'm a Monkey. That is my name after all." Monkey grinned. The armor attempted to strike Monkey upside the head, but he swiftly dodged the strike and hopped onto the head of the armor, gripping the helmet. "Ya guys don't really need this, so I'll just take it off your rodents paws, is that okay with you? Thanks." Monkey took the helmet off, revaling the culprits inside. "Hey. How's it going?"

"BAH! Get off of us right now!"

"Thanks!" Monkey grinned and took off the helmet, then knocked over the armor completely, as the rats panicked and scurried out in a hurry. He then placed it on his head, waited for a couple moments, and sighed. "Ha...it just doesn't feel as cool as Po's hat...here. You can have it back." Monkey took off the helmet and tossed the helmet onto them, crushing a couple of them and making them cry out in pain. "Oh come on, it's not THAT heavy!"

Mantis swiftly moved forth and kicked multiple armors aside, making them land on their sides and the rats pour out. Not missing a beat, he then zoomed again and knocked them all out with precise kicks to the face on every single one of them. "You tried to go in and ruin our cake fest! I'm more pissed off about you picking on little kids, but now you try to interefere with the cake makers! I'm kicking every single one of your tails outta here! Those armors do nothing but slow you down even when working together. So we're taking you all down before you built up your momentum."

"Like so." Mei Ling jumped in the middle and swung her staff in an arc, knocking the armors down and watched them fall apart. No longer willing to stay behind, they all scurried off and retreated away from the danger they possessed. "And now they're gone. They were a bit of a nuisance, but nothing out of our control. So, shall we go back inside? They might be done with those cakes by now."

"Oh you're right! We need to find ourselves the cakes!" Monkey and Mantis shouted together. They were soon comically knocked aside as Fung rushed in trying to catch his breath. Both Monkey and Mantis recovered and glared at hom from both sides. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

"Never mind that! Is the cake alright?!"

"We truly do need to properly organize our priorities..." Crane sighed as he caught up to Fung with Song right next to him, with her rodent captive in tow. "We have someone who might have information we need. We should bring him inside and ask him a couple things, ya know?"

They all stared at the rather helpess rat in Song's grasp, nodding silently, and going back inside Taotie's house. They had a couple things to do at the moment.

(Back Inside)

"Hahahaha! All done!"

It had taken then quite a while, and the only things that truly got dirty were Po's apron and paws, and the same went for Mr. Ping. But they finally got it done...Red Bean Cakes. With combined skill from Po, Mr. Ping, and Bian Zao leading, they were able to make quite a lot of them. Tigress was rather impressed with how much they were able to make with the amount of time they had.

Bian Zao sighed. "Okay...I gotta admit it. That was so...not lame. No, that was actually pretty fun."

"Ha! I agree!" Mr. Ping grinned.

"Now that's outta the way, time for some...'experimenting'...Ya know..." Po elbowed Bian Zao softly, who rolled his eyes.

"Just take one."

"Oh goodie!" Po clapped and eagerly takes one, also making sure to give one to Tigress. He places it in his mouth, widened his eyes and placed his paws on his cheeks. "This...is...awesome...cake! Tigress?"

"It's amazing, Po."

"Yay!" He smiled widely. "Now we just gotta deal with that interrogation in the next room. Bian Zao and Dad, pass this out to the kids and townsfolk. I have a feeling that they'll be very happy!" Po takes off his apron, washes his paws and went into the next room. Tigress followed after him. Bian Zao and Mr. Ping nod as they began their small operation.

"Now little rat fiend...you have a chance to cooperate without any problems." Fung growled...slowly taking a bite out of a red bean cake in his left paw. "Lao Whu rat, tell us-wow this is really good-where your boss and tell us whoever it is!"

"Forget all of you! I don't wanna talk!"

"He truly does know how to make things difficult..." Viper mumbled, also eating cake. It seems the entire group had taken at least one, as well as the children. The rest are currently being passed out to the townspeople.

Fenghuang swallpwed her cake and cleared her throat to gain attention. "Alright, we've tried asking nicely, he ain't budging. So now what will you lot do?"

Monkey tapped his cheek a couple times...then snspped his fingers. "I have an idea. Po, Crane, you two follow my lead." The two were initially confused by his eagerness, but nonetheless nodded to him. Now having their support, Monkey turned to the rat, balancing on his tail and stroking his chin. "Are you sure ya don't wanna talk while you still have the chance?"

"No way."

Monkey clicked his tongue. "Really...? That's too bad. We didn't want to subject you to your painful fate...but that's what you chose." He looked to see the rat suddenly getting nervous.

"W...What do you mean?"

"Bro...can't you see? You're surrounded by animals who should have a taste for rodents...but they don't do such a thing. But they could." he nodded towards Crane. He got the message, smirked a bit, and tilted his hat so that his eyes were covered.

"He's right you know. My friend Mei Ling here is a feline. Ya know, with sharp teeth, her tendency to act predatory...she could easily completely turn." Mei Ling blinked a little, before grinning and extending her claws towards the rat with a silent growl that sent shivers up his spine.

"What about Tigress?" Po piped up, holding said friend by the shoulders. "She's able to do even more damage since she's quite a powerful...Ya know...Tigress. Also a fellow feline that could prey upon rats such as yourself...but she doesn't do that either." She just raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and turning her glare towards the rat, who's heart almost felt like stopping.

"Check out Fung though." Monkey hopped up and partially open the croc's jaws, exposing his sharp teeth. "Look at these powerful jaws...they could snap someone like you in two...or more pieces."

"T-They can...?"

"Oh yes, indeed they can." Monkey nodded with wide eyes. He had to turn around for a couple moments to stifle his snickering. He cleared his throat and turned back around. "But I do believe the worst cases for someone like you would be Fenghuang and Viper."

"H-Huh?" Viper blinked, not understanding.

Crane patted her head, silently telling her to roll with it. "She's a serpent. And of course if she feels like it, she can suffocate you by coiling around you and slowly squeezing the life out of you..." Crane said this in a monotone voice. "...She also has the capability to swallow you whole. And you know where that leads."

"WHAT?!"

"Not saying she will, because she doesn't do that kind of thing to small people, because she's very kind herself...but even she has a limit of patience at some point. We all do. And when that omit is reached, we become unpredictable." Monkey nods. "Don't believe me, just ask Tigress. Her limit is pretty short sometimes."

"What was that?" A low growl was heard.

"Ehehehe...I'm acting, Tigress. Acting." Monkey whispered nervously to her so their captive couldn't hear them. "Anyway, as for Fenghuang, she'll be the most brutal. Because-"

"My talons can penetrate your skin and stab into your vitals." Fenghuang cut off Monkey, as she leaned into the rats face, wearing a crooked smile that scared him out of his wits. "Then I can just use my beak to geeeeeeeently tear the skin off your flesh, and feast on your still beating heart...and leave the remains for some passing vulture bandits or something." She noticed that the young adults were staring at her in shock, as she blinked in confusion. "...What? I thought we were all going through with this."

"I'm glad I sent the kids outside before this officially started." Tigress shook her head.

Monkey cleared his throat again before turning back to the rat, who's fur suddenly went from black to white, something Po found awkward. "Yes...that. Now I'm trying to save you, bro. Do you want to go through any of those treatments?"

"I'll tell you what the Lao Shu knows! Just get the owl away from me! I can't breathe right under her cold merciless eyes!"

Fenghuang rolled her eyes. "Tch, if this is the kind of rats the Lao Shu consists of, they all lack spines just like this one."

"Uh...can I have some of that Red Bean Cake?"

"Nope." Po rejected. "This is for good people only, and you sir, are not a good person, plus you tried tried to steal food from everyone with the rest of your gang. Nope, you don't get anything from us right now."

Viper waved her tail in front of him. "No cake for you."

"I didn't think so..."

(Later)

"So that is what he's been doing down there, huh?" Taotie mumbled, eating some Red Bean Cake for himself. "Bian Zao made this many cakes just so I would notice him...? I seriously let my obsessive hatred take my mind off my own son...I'm almost as bad as you."

"Haha, very amusing, Taotie." Shifu rolled his eyes. "So what will it be? Bian Zao managed to quickly warm up to Mr. Ping and Po because they're fellow cooks. He's agreed to join us, by us wants to know what your input is on the entire thing."

"My input, huh? He still wants to know how I feel. Well in that case...I'll have to let him go with you. I'be been filling his head with my own problems and I paid no attention to it...and I plan to make up for that as soon as I possibly can. So...I'll be coming with you as well."

"What?!"

"Shifu, Bian Zao is fifteen. Do you truly think that I'm just gonna leave with you folks without my own assurance on his safety? No. I'm coming with you, and that'll be the end of that."

Shifu stood up a bit. "I just can't seem to understand how you feel so strongly about this even with your son as a factor. You've never put so much effort into something that isn't your inventions."

"And you had a similar mindset when it came to Kung Fu." The red panda's eyes widened. "We are both very different, Shifu. But in a way that makes us similar, somewhat. We are passionate about different things, and both of us have our fit of suffering for when we took it too far. Now we're both gonna have to work together once again in order two fix our little mishaps to we can make he on from it, even if not completely. Whaddya say, Shifu? For our sake, for Bian Zao's sake, and for the sake of those children...well...children compared to us."

"I get it."

"Right. Do you think we can...I don't know...start over? Since the Valley Is pretty much gone...still trying to process that by the way...we can start with a clean slate. As clean as we can get, anyway." Taotie shrugged. He held out his hand. "What say you, Shifu?"

Shifu looked towards Taotie with a contemplating look, trying to figure out if he should accept or not...

But then he saw memories...

(Flashback)

Younger Shifu was sitting calmly outside the Jade Palace, his eyes closed, legs crossed, and breathing very steady. He had bested the Training Hall that Taotie created once again, which slight frustrated said warthog. But he was however proud that his creation was such a success. He merely wished that he was able to do the same thing.

"Ow...Ow..." His ears flickered and he turned to see Taotie limping with an arm cast and a patched up eye. "It is quite humiliating that I can't pass through my own Training Hall...what a load of crap I gotta go through for this Kung Fu stuff."

"Everyone has their trials, Taotie. You are merely making an effort to get through your own. I have so far passed all the ones that are of importance."

"Your meaning of important is sometimes pretty crappy too." Taotie shrugged. He then elbowed him. "So...how's the thieving girlfriend? She come by today?" His mouth was immediately covered by a paw, followed by a shushing motion from a brightly blushing Shifu.

"Shhhh! Oogway doesn't know about her yet! I don't need him to know that my girlfriend is a thief. I'm still trying to work that out..."

"You still haven't introduced her to him? You can't hide her from him forever, you know. He's OOGWAY."

"I know, I know. It's just that...she's very..." Shifu's blush deepened. "...Distracting."

"Yeah...your mind does tend to wonder to her once in a while." Taotie sighed. "Look, I'm sure you'll work something out with her sooner or later. You have the ability."

"I know..."

Taotie looked down towards the Valley. "Shifu...I'm not sure I'm cut out for this Kung Fu thing. It may just be out of my ability..."

Shifu patted his friend's back. "It isn't for all to know, Taotie. If you cannot learn Kung Fu, then maybe you should stick to your most practiced skill. Your inventing skills are superb. Maybe you should just stick to them and see where things go?"

Taotie looked at Shifu, and nodded. "Yeah...that may be what's best for me. Thanks for being supportive, Shifu."

The red panda smiled, patting his shoulder.. "It's not a problem."

(Present)

Shifu blinked. While he was reminiscing, he died realize that he took Taotie's hand. Shifu lowered his eyes. "I made a promise to you...and my devotion to Kung Fu broke that promise..."

"We were young, and we were kinda stupid. You grew a bit too devoted to Kung Fu...and I was kicked out for trying to use my inventions as a substitute...when I should have never strayed from those skills in the first place...we both made mistakes, Shifu. Many mistakes. Now that we're older, we somewhat know better."

Shifu sighed. "Indeed. With Master Oogway gone, and the Jade Palace and Valley of piece utterly destroyed...my own title will officially be dropped for my failures. I can't even be called Master Shifu anymore...I can only be known as Shifu at this point..." Shifu thought over this...and his eyes widened, he also stood up in realization. "Of course..."

"It doesn't matter what trouble comes your way. I know that you'll be fine, as well as the others. I have full confidence in you."

"Oogway sent me off with a smile...then he passed on days later. Which means after that point, all choices would be my own...Fenghuang was right. I can't lean on him anymore...or I won't advance..And in a time such as this, advancement is a necessity. My title of a Master is now rendered useless...so now I can make my own choices and not worry about my reputation. Indeed...my reputation means nothing to me now. I have something more important to preserve..." Shifu walked towards the door and opened it slightly.

He calmly took in the scene before him. Tigress, Po, Monkey, Crane, Mei Ling, Viper, Mantis, and the new additions, Song and Bian Zao all wearing cheerful smiles...well...the closet Bian Zao can get to a cheerful smile. Mr. Ping, Mrs. Yoon, and even Fenghuang looked like they were having fun. The orphans would have a fine home to be a much better orphanage, and hopefully they'll be put into a proper home, so they will be happy too, soon enough. They'll be on the move again soon enough.

"I'm sure that more will be added to this group...and I can't wait." He turned to Taotie and smiled. "I'm glad I ran into you here."

"Eh? But all we did was talk, shout at each other, then talk some more..."

"I didn't have anyone to talk to about my problems...but seeing you being in a situation very similar to my own and trying your hardest to do better on your own terms, you've inspired me to do the same...on MY terms, and not Oogway's. I think that may be what he was secretly telling me in his farewell to me..." He reached into the bag he brought along with him, and pulled out a peach sapling. Taotie...can I trust you to keep this sapling safe for me? I feel as if it will play an important role later on in our journies..."

"You're trusting me with a Peach Tree Sapling...? Um...sure Shifu. You can trust me."

"I'm glad to hear it." He sat cross legged again, ad the two old frends sat in silence. "...Do you want some more Red Bean Cake?"

"Sure thing. And another thing. Since you're learning to fully embrace the deep sensation of your freedom...what will you do next?"

"Well first, I'm going to assist these young ones in getting all of their recruits. And along the way..." Shifu clenched his fists. He never thought it would come to this, but he doesn't regret it at all. "I want to ask Mei Ling...to take me back."

"Woah, really? Because I heard from rumors that your break up was pretty ugly. How do you know she wants you back?"

Shifu thought about this question, then carefully rubbed his staff. "I guess I'll just have to look for her while on our journey, and find out for myself...but for now, I must oversee the young ones. And we still have to get to the Kung Fu Express Headquarters and spread our message."

"I hear ya." Taotie yawned. Shifu smiled at him as he sat down and gently cut a piece of Red Bean Cake, then gave it to him. The warthog smiled as he takes the plate of cake, and the two of them began eating their cake together.

A friendship that was intensely damaged by their devotions to two different things they thought could never go together...has finally begun to repair itself.

Well, I'm ending this chapter right here. Seemed about right at the moment. With Mosho Town's situation now straightened out, the group will be moving on. With Bian Zao, Taotie, and Song as new additions. Wonder where they'll be going next?

Taotie's significance will be revealed much later on. He's been a busy warthog and made decisions that will have heavy consequences on everybody else...

Well, see Ya~