She watched the first battle with narrowed eyes and a heightened sense of caution. It turns out that the panda was much mor capable than she's led herself to believe, and didn't want ti entirely believe it until she saw for herself. But there was the proof, as she watched Po defeat Master Bear all on his own, and with one of his arms being a prosthetic. Seeing his skill first-hand as given her a vague idea of whether or not he is someone to be messed with so carelessly. It turns out that would not be the best of ideas at all, at least not now. And if a mere panda was capable of such things...she really shouldn't underestimate him so highly.

...Still, he wouldn't stand in her way. She would simply have to keep a close eye on the competition, that's all. As long as she kept them away from her area of practice, everything would be fine. Time is what she would need, and this entire event was going to buy her plenty, as well as keep unwanted attention off of her. She just had to stay focused, then things would work out in her favor. But even so, she'll have to take a least a bit of direct action to make sure that the attention doesn't wander it's way over to her.

As such, she lifted her head and turned as Meng Tao and Fai Suan entering the dark room she currently hid herself in. The former cleared his throat and called her out. "I assume you're already well aware that the panda has achieved the first victory. That was certainly...unexpected. What do you think of it?"

"He has the Royal Family's attention. The more attention off of me, the more better off I'll be. I'll be able to work better in solitude than have them possibly discover me. It's actually great that the panda has their attention, it will better work out in my favor." She stated as she turned to fave them, her blue eyes gazin g at them. Though she stepped back a bit from Fai Suan while wrinkling her nose. "You're still disgusting with that garlic breath of yours...filth."

"Don't be cold to be just to be cold!" Fai Suan complained, shaking his head irritably. "At least give us crediti for providing you cover while this entire thing is going on? That shouldn't be too hard for you to do, should it?"

"Probably not. But I would rather not. It just feels wrong to me when you don't even have a pleasant aroma that I can be comfortable around." She rolled her eyes as she turned to Meng Tao. "You just keep doing what you need to do, and I'll keep doing what I need to do. There's no other goal that's needed for us."

"I see...we'll just have to hope that things keep going into our favor...and not completely collapse on our heads." Meng Tao sighed. "Still...what are we going to do about Shifu? Despite Fenghuang's...chaotic influence on the panda, Shifu is just as much of a threat to us as the others are. Shifu is a fool of a very considerable margin. But if there's one thing that is most threatening about him...it's that he's determined. He's a very skilled martial artist, but his determination is a grave threat in of itself. After all his hardships, he's going to be a lot more of a pain than we all might have anticipated."

"Shifu hasn't come here to redeem himself...at least, not on the traditional terms..." She stated, placing a paw on her chin. Her ears flickered udner her hood as she heard something enter the room with the trio. She slowly raised her head as the other two swiftly turned around. To their slight annoyance, someone came into the room. "Oh...Duke Zhihui is here...that's a bit unpleasant."

"Meng Tao...? Fai Suan...? What are you doing here? And who is this woman...?" The chicken asked them with some semblance of confusion.

She sighed as she shook her head and walked up to Zhihui. "This was a very unfortunate time for you to walk in on your colleagues, Zhihui. Very unfortunate indeed." She raised her paw towards him, and it began to glow softly.

Zhihui took a slight step back in surprise. "What is the meaning o-"

"You WILL obey..."

Those three words were all she needed as Zhihui's eyes glowed for a few biref moments, before they slowly turned to normal. His expression softened and he nodded quietly to the three of them. Mneg Tao raised an eyebrow and turned towards his accomplice curiously. "You've submitted him just like that? How useful."

"Indeed. Besides, having him under our thumb will be useful for a time, especially when it comes to managing the tournament lineups. The three of you decide how these fights turn out...this way, I can get an accurate read on who's the most dangerous and who isn't, at least to some sort of degree. Regardless, I'll be deciding who cmes under my control and who will be easier to pick off. it wn't be an easy decision to make, since all of them seem pretty determined. But still, I think I can work something out if I take the time to do so."

"Whatever you say. It's not like we can try to dissuade you from doing what you want." Fai Suan sighed, causing her to cringe and step back a few feet.

"Your breath is utterly atrocious. Begone already, before I throw you out myself."

"You're being ridiculously cruel to me about something so miniscule!"

"It's not miniscule if it's a major detriment to our health."

Meng Tao and a crying Fai Suan soon left with the mind-altered Zhizui as she turned back around and sits back in the darkness, closing her glowing blue eyes with a sigh. She was fully confident in her abilities to succeed in her endeavors. There was no way that anyone could stop her.

...Still. It was better to be safe than sorry, and that means she had to keep eyes on the panda...

(Meanwhile...)

"Alright then, that's the first match quickly out of the way!" Fenghuang beamed as she flapped her wings before closing them. "So which one of our brats is next, huh? LEt's hope that the next one turns out to be a good one like my Panda's performance!"

"A bit more patience on your part would be appreciated, Fenghuang. We really don't want anything going out of turn because we got a bit anxious." Shifu reprimanded her slightly, causing her to huff and fold her wings. "...But if you must know, the next one to go up is to be Peng. The others seem to be hiding their distaste for him rather barely, because they now know of his relation to Tai Lung. He may have a hard time..."

"Bah, you worry too much." Fenghuang waved his concern off. "The kid's tough enough to take whatever is thrown at him. We've seen it ourselves." She took on a more serious expression, her eyes darkening slightly. "And besides, those that try to judge him based on who they're related to...they'll be in for quite a shock once their expectations have been blown away. With that in mind, I really want Peng to kick some ass."

She wasn't the only one who thought so. Lian was the one who's encouraging Peng to hurry and get onto the arena. After sharing a few brief words of encouragement, as well as kiss to his cheek. Wan smirked mischievously at the scene, seeing how brightly he blushed at the gesture. Such an innocent little kitten we have here...I do wonder what Lien has done to him behind closed doors...

SMACK!

"OW! Wing, why did you hit me!?" Wan pouted as she rubbed her aching head. Wan and Wing were wearing bandages around their foreheads from when Su smacked them together.

"I just had a feeling." WIng shrugged. Su rolled her eyes at their banter, shaking her head and simply focusing on what Peng would be able to do.

Peng entered the arena and bowed before his current opponent. Said opponent was Master Ox. Tai Lung was watching Peng with more focus than anyone aside from Lian, as well as Tigress. Po...was busy eating multiple bowls of dumplings that Mr. Ping prepared after his match was completed. Master Bear had a couple bowls as well, though both of them were very much eating a great deal of them. It was rather humorous to see the two bears eating together in such a way.

Mr. Ping smiled softly towards them. He saw the look of glee on Po's eyes aside from his eating of food. It was also the fact that he was eating with a fellow bear. It felt...really nice for him, and Mr. Ping was glad he could experience it.

Master Ox gazed sternly upon the young feline, his arms folded. "Hmph. I will admit, that the strength you showed in Gongmen City was impressive. However...do you think you shall be able to control said strength? Do you have the self-discipline to not let that control slip from your paws...?" Peng raised his head, briefly confused by Ox's request. Though he immediately understood what he meant, and narrowed his eyes.

"My uncle has learned from his mistakes. He's learned self-control." Peng said strongly. "And so have I. I won't be falling to those same mistakes."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"I can understand your skepticism, but I won't let it hold me down. I will prove myself on my own terms, not yours." Peng said as he prepared himself to face Ox.

They were given the signal to begin.

Ox charged towards Peng, horns first. Peng held his paws out and caught Ox by the horns. He gritted his teeth as he was being pushed back to the edge of the arena. He nearly fell off due to the amount of force Ox was putting into his charge. Peng's eyes slitted and he planted his feet hard against the ground. Just like that, Ox was stopped in his tracks. Peng narrowed his eyes as he tightens his grip on the horns, pulls one of his fists back, and punches Ox away from him.

Ox landed a few feet away, his hooves creating tracks in the ground. When he eventually stopped, he glared towards Peng and charged him again. He stopped just before reaching him, and attempted to strike him from the slight feint of movement. Peng wasn't fooled by it for long, as he caught his fist in one of his paws. Though he was unfortunately stopped by Ox placing a well-placed kick to his side. It knocked him aside a few feet, though he manages to roll into a recovery, just barely managing to avoid falling out of the arena.

It was becoming quite difficult. As impulsive as Master Ox was, he was still a skilled Master with plenty of experience. He wasn't underestimating him at all, but he still felt like this was much more difficult than he was expecting. Maybe it was easier last time because he had the help of his friends. But on his own ,he was already able to see that Ox very well earned his place in the Kung Fu Council. Despite this, he didn't plan on losing so easily.

He decided not to let Ox go on the offensive again, jumping at him with numerous aerial kicks. Ox was relatively quick to defend against most of the blows, until Peng stopped mid-kick to force himself back to the ground and jump kick right into Ox's stomach. The force of the blow causes him to skid back again, though this time Peng follows up with another aerial kick before he could properly recover from the shock of the blow. Ox gritted his teeth and charges Peng again. However, Peng charged towards him in return. Though instead of clashing fists with him, he stops before Ox and jumped right over him, grabbed him by the horns mid-flip, and completed said flip by slamming him into the ground, bouncing him slightly off the ground.

Lian watched Peng's battle with hidden glee, pumping her fist outwards slightly. "Yeah, yeah! Get to it, Peng!"

"She seems awfully invested in this...I think she takes a bit of pleasure in seeing her boyfriend kick someone's ass, especially those who look down upon them." Wan noticed. "I guess it can be set up as pride in her beloved lover...hm..."

Ox slowly stands up from the slam, shaking himself off and wiping some blood away from his mouth. "You're more impressive than I thought...and you say that you were completely self-taught. I find that incredibly hard to believe...you don't have the skill of a mere beginner...you're far above that. Then again, I shouldn't expect any less from Tai Lung's nephew." Ox says with narrowed eyes.

"I'm regarded as a skilled prodigy among most beginning kung fu students. it still feels a bit strange for me to take such a thing at face-value. I really don't see myself as such an impressive force to be reckoned with. I really did have to work hard, even though most things came pretty easily to me." Peng shook his head. "Still, I already know that there's still so much for me to learn...though I do know how to do a few things that work rather well for me...something like this." Peng leaps towards Ox once again, as well as a repeated grab of his horns. Though this time instead of flipping over him like before, he bends forward slightly and then kicks into Ox's face with both feet, sending him flying straight across into the wall. Ox grumted before falling to the ground on his side. Meng tao could see him from over the arena edge, pullng back and gesturing towards Peng, declaring him the victor.

Rhino and Croc visibly winced when the kick made contact with Ox's face. The latter sighed as he got up from his own seat and began descending. "I'll go get him...I'm hoping he doesn't have some sort of concussion...though considering how hard-headed he is, I think he's somewhat fine."

"Whew...he made it out alright..." Tigress sighed softly, rubbing her forehead slightly.

"Course he ended up alright. I never doubted him for a moment." Tai Lung huffed.

"It's not that I was doubting him, but Ox was looking pretty fiercesome. I thought he was going to seriously hurt him..."

"Hmph. Spoken like a worried aunt."

BAM!

"Ngh!" Tai Lung doubled over from the fist buried in his gut. Tigress folded her arms as he sheepishly collapses next to her, breathing hard and laughing slightly. "yeah...I saw that one coming...gah..." Tigress huffed at him while turning away, leaving him to wallow in the pain. Monkey and Crane looked upon him and pitited the poor snow leopard.

Peng soon jumped up back to the seats, immediately hugged by Lian with a big kiss to his cheek. Bian Zao yawned loudly as he placed his arms behind his neck. "So, you've gotten yourself a win against one of the pros. It must be nice being a prodigy and all. A seriously tough prodigy capable of takin' on pros."

"Seriously, I don't think of myself as a seriously big deal...but since I'm related to Tai Lung, there's going to be those out there that WILL take that kind of information seirously..." Peng smiled as he wraps an arm around Lian. "Though...it won't hurt to prove that I'm a different person than Tai Lung...that I'm not trapped in his shadow. I don't want to be trapped within his shadow. And I think that he thinks the same way oof me. I think he wants me to grow up better than he is. Maybe not as a martial artist, but as a person in general."

"And you think that this is one of those opportunities to prove those intentions?"

"Probably not, but it would really help to get those more jerkish Kung Fu Masters off of our backs. Not ALL of them are jerks, after all." Lian pouted. "...Just most of them. Which is no doubt gonna make things hard for us, but we're gonna power through that negativity, no problem! Right, Bian Zao?!"

"...Meh."

"That's the Spirit, Lazy Ass!"

"Grrr...!"

The sun was beginning to set. With the night quickly approaching, it was decided that the events would end for the day. Citizens were being escorted out of the arena, after the Royal Family left first. The Kung Fu Masters were soon to follow, a limping Ox and a friendly Bear both leaving with defeat on their minds, though the latter was simply happy that he got to meet someone like Po.

Speaking of said panda, he and Mr. Ping were making their way away from the stadium, the former having a sufficiently filled belly and a good attitude from his victory. "Man...this was a prety good day for us, wasn't it? I'm feeling great about this!"

"Peng was amazing out there, wasn't he son? And there are those who don't believe in him because of Tai Lung's past sins...I hope that judgement goes away with time. Peng deserves more than that." Mr. Ping says with a nod, having a few empty bowls carried within his wings. "Perhaps tomorrow will be a fresher day, with fresher foods and fresher minds!"

"...That's a lot of fresh, Dad."

"So much fresh it's remarkable!"

"Hehehe, I guess so!" With this, they both regained their carefree grins and continued on their way with their friends in tow. But...

"Excuse me, Panda?" Po stopped and turned to see the Wu Sisters on the side, with Su obviously being the one to call him out. She smiled as she walked up to him with folded arms. Fung and Croc understandably tensed when she got close, while Po was simply wondering what they wanted. Su smiled up towards him. "You've done rather well today, Panda. I'd like to think that even without that prosthetic of yours, you would have been able to achieve victory."

"Yeah, well, it's best for me not to get too cocky. Things are just beginning, after all."

"I agree..." Su says as she walks near him. Wing and Wan listened intently to what she was saying next. "Say...you know how another major factor of this tournament is to decide who recieves Oogways grand treasures, right...?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, who's to say that someone won't try and snatch them in the middle of the night, hm? The Emperor was clearly aware of the dangers, and he expects the more respectable martial artists to cover for that hole." Su sighed as she shakes her head with a shrug. "It can't be helped, I suppose. Someone is bound to get their grubby paws all over those artifacts without earning them."

"...Hey, you're right! That's not gonna be great for anyone!" Po said firmly, narrowing his eyes.

Su's smile took a turn for the mischievous. "So..s wondering if you and I can form...a bit of a partnership of sorts. Nothing official. In fact, you're entirely inclined to say no to this request. Do help me protect those treasures from those that try to run off with them unfairly, and that might get us a bit of favor for the Emperor. And besides...you'd like to become friends, wouldn't you? You seem to the type who'd be thrilled for more companions~"

Po smiled. "Course I wanna be friends!" He blinked twice and folded his arms with a pout. "Waiiiit...you're not gonna steal anything behind my back, are you?"

"Heavens no! I wouldn't betray your trust like that! We Wu Sisters have our own sense of honor, you know!' Su declares with a huff. Besides, I've found something infinitely more interesting than any treasure that I could steal. Su slowly moves towards Po while standing on her toes, her eyes halfway open. "Does that mean you don't trust me?"

"...I dunno...you did do plenty of bad stuff in the past..." Po wondered, his eyes wandering towards the sky for a bit. After a few nods, he turns back towards Su and smiles again. "Alright, I guess I can help you protect Oogway's Artifacts. Shifu would get really mad if they were to just up and disappear. Then again his ears are pretty good, so he might be able to hear it..."

"That's true! But it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it? Helping me also means helping Shifu. And you really want to help Shifu through this, right?"

"Of course! I'll definitely do this if it means helping Shifu! But I'm serious about the 'behind my back' stuff. So...don't do that."

"You have my word. My Wu Word. It sounds silly, but what doesn't these days?" Su smirked as she brings her paw towards Po's cheek. "Hm...what chubby cheeks you have..." Po winced slightly as one of her claws cut his cheek slightly. Su then mock gasped. "Oops, silly me! These claws just have a mind of their own these days! Here, allow me to get that for you." Wing and Wan were outright shocked out of their minds as Su rather casually leans closer and licks the blood away, and even further by the slight purr that she emitted while doing so. She swiftly pulls back and licks her lips. Po blinked and tilted his head.

"You...licked the blood away? I'm no expert on blood, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't taste very good."

Such a strong-willed soul, yet so innocent...how cute. "When you live like me, you get used to it." Su remarked mischeivously. "Well, I must be off for now. I'll see you in a few hours, we've got a night shift to attend." Su says as she turns around, intentionally raising her tail and letting it gently brush across his nose. He sneezed slightly from the gesture, and Su inwardly laughed. Even the way he sneezes is somewhat adorable.

Po sniffled slightly as he watches the one confident Wu Sister and her two baffled sisters leave the scene. He rubbed his nose while scratching the back of his head. "Huh. She seems to be really nice so far. Not at all evil like people say she is. What do you think Ti...gress...?" Po blinked as he could see Tigress was slowly walking away...with her claws out and scratching deeply into the wall of a house. "Tigress...? Are you okay?"

Tigress stopped in her tracks, sheathing her claws as she slowly turned towards him and smiled. "Why yes, Po. I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"Oh...so are you fine with this? I don't want to worry you more than I already do. Ya know, with this prosthetic and all."

"It's okay Po, really. Just make sure to stay safe while you're out there." Tigress reassured him as she turned and continued walking away from him, knowing that if she kept looking at him she would do something she would regret. Not to him, but to Su Wu. And judging by the playful look that the older feline shot her way while teasing the oblivious Po, it was obvious she was toying with her for her own amusement.

It's not his fault. It's not his fault. You don't fully trust her, but you DO fully trust Po! He can take care of himself! Show some restraint and leave them be! Don't let it show that she was getting to you!

She had to recite this mental mantra multiple times as she summoned most of her willpower to not outright order Po to stay in the inn with her so he could be far away from Su. Po watched in confusion as he watched his friend mentally seethe to herself, not knowing why or over what. He could only scratch his head slightly and tilt it to the side.

"Uh...did I do something to upset her?"

Fenghuang silently sighed at her poor student's obliviousness.