Master Shifu's training routine was very strict. Po and the Five were expected to wake up and be out of their bedroom as soon as the morning gong's sound echoed across the Valley at the start of the day. Once done, they were given one hour to eat their breakfast before joining Master Shifu in the training courtyard and, from this moment all the way to the end of the day, there was nothing but training with the occasional launch break.
But not today. Today was Saturday, meaning the students of the Jade Palace were free. Po allowed himself to stay in his state of slumber without the stress of waking up late for training in his mind, not realizing his loud snoring bothered the residents in the other chambers.
The young panda woke up when the rays of the sun slightly pierced through the paper walls opposite to the other bedroom and illuminated his chubby figure. Pushing a huge yawn that almost unhooked his jaw, he pulled himself up in a sitting position over his bed, clicking his tongue to pull away the iron taste in his mouth and scratching his belly.
"Aww, feels so good to wake up late instead of always rushing up," he sighed in joy. A loud growling noise coming out of nowhere caused him to jump and to look all around, expecting Master Tigress to stand in his bedroom with one of her deadly glares. But she was nowhere to be seen. Blinking his jade eyes a few times, he slowly gazed down to realize this growling noise actually came from his stomach. "Yeah, makes more sense. Don't worry, buddy, I'm gonna take care of you right now."
Getting off his bed, Po went to change his trousers and sandals for the day, pulling the old ones into his laundry bag, placing his rice hat on top of his head, and then proceeded to walk out in the hallway. As he headed toward the kitchen, Po couldn't help but give a deep, thoughtful look around him. Even after all those days since he moved in, his mind couldn't believe he was actually in a real Kung Fu Dojo getting trained by real masters. His dream truly was coming true!
A sweet smell reached his nose as he approached the kitchen, teasing his hunger. Arriving at the entrance doorway, he saw the Furious Five seated around the dining table with plates of steaming food. Master Tigress was nowhere to be seen for some reason. Sitting at the opposite end of the table, Master Monkey was the first one to spot Po. "Hey, there you are, big guy! Come in, quickly!"
"Hello, everyone," Po greeted them back, overjoyed by the fact they warmed up to him, and sitting down at the other end of the table.
"We've kept you some blueberry oatmeal," Viper informed, using the tip of her tail to pull a bowl containing the delicious-smelling food toward the panda. This last one peeked inside to see its content which looked just as good as its smell. "I made it myself."
"Thanks, Master Viper!" Po beamed, quickly sitting down as he was eager to try the breakfast made by the Master of Snake Style. True to be told, he always wanted to use his cooking skills to make a good meal for the Five so that they could see how awesome a cook he was, but usually, when the day's training was over, he didn't have enough energy to prepare anything. Maybe he could finally do so tonight? "Where's Master Tigress?" he asked.
"She's already gone to do the only thing she likes to do: training," Mantis explained with a roll from his yellow eyes.
"Training? But didn't Master Shifu said that we were allowed to be free on weekends?" Po asked in disbelief.
"Indeed, but Tigress don't really likes to do anything outside practicing Kung Fu," Crane explained, a look displaying a little disappointment on his face. "While we do have our own hobbies, she just does Kung Fu and sometimes Tai Chi to ease her mind and body when not eating, sleeping, studying or cleaning up. And with the missions, of course."
"Believe it or not, but back when we actually started our training as the Furious Five, she liked to do other stuff with us," Monkey pointed out and started counting on his fingers. "We used to go on walks outside the village, play society games, go do groceries together in the village, and she even did some sleepovers with Viper! But then, one day, she just... became too serious. Kung Fu became her one and only interest in life."
"That sounds so... sad," Po remarked with a frown.
"Yeah," Viper agreed, looking down with a nostalgic expression. "I miss our sleepover nights... Anyways, we all believe she's doing this to impress Master Shifu and win the Dragon Scroll one day."
"You mean that scroll hanging from the dragon on the Hall's ceiling? What's so special about it; I never actually took time to learn more about this specific artifact," Po demanded.
"How can you not know? It's, like, one of the biggest Kung Fu artifacts in all of China!" Monkey exclaimed, surprised that someone as passionate about Kung Fu wouldn't know this. "But to answer your question, it's a legendary scroll created by Grandmaster Oogway himself said to contain the secret to limitless power."
"Limitless power?"
"Yup. Only a special guy named the Dragon Warrior is worthy enough to read the Dragon Scroll. When that special one will present him or herself, Grandmaster Oogway will return and give him the scroll. But it has been standing in the Hall of Warriors for nearly a thousand years. At this point, I'm not sure we'll live long enough to see who'll get it."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was Tigress; she's one of the best Kung Fu masters in the whole world!" Po beamed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
After this little discussion, Po finally decided to take a sip from his meal, and his fur dressed up when the taste settled in. "Mmm! This is delicious!"
"Thanks, it's an old family recipe," Viper said with a smile. "So? What were you guys thinking about doing today?"
"I'm gonna go to one of the neighborhood villages and... try to see how I can cheer their day up," Monkey replied, holding a hand to his mouth to suppress a chuckle.
Rolling his eyes, Crane leaned toward Po, holding a wing next to his beak. "By, 'cheering their day up', he means he's gonna spend the day playing all sorts of dumb pranks on them. Mostly pulling their pants down." He got back in the right position in his chair. "As for me, I'm just gonna fly around the valley to clear my mind and see if anything's wrong. Maybe doing some shopping and practicing my calligraphy too."
"Same for me; I'd like to get a bonsai tree to decorate my bedroom," Viper pointed out after taking a sip from her meal. "After that, I'll come back here to practice my ribbon dancing."
Po chuckled a bit. He heard stories about Viper's dancing skills with a ribbon; apparently, she was so good that she managed to take down a gorilla bandit with a simple ribbon when she was just a kid. It would be cool if he got the chance to see her perform one day. "What you gonna do, big guy?" Mantis asked.
"Me? Oh, I was thinking about just resting around, playing video games and reading books in my room," Po replied.
"Are you kidding me?!" the little green bug exclaimed. "Today's a beautiful day and you wanna spent it out locked in your room? No way; that's already what you've been doing since coming up here. Gotta socialize a bit once in a while, dude!"
"Oh?" Po said, a bit surprised by the master's statement. "Okay, what do you suggest I do then?"
"There's this awesome noodle shop called Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant down in the village, and they make the best food in the whole country! You gotta eat there at least once before dying!" Mantis declared with a smirk.
"I have to agree; I had the chance to eat there once, and it was a pleasant experience," Viper declared with a nod of agreement.
"You're gonna follow me to this restaurant today as soon as we're done with our breakfast!" Mantis declared, pointing a pincer at the panda.
"Okay! This is gonna be fun!"
Crane blinked his eyes curiously at the two boys. "Huh... You guys are gonna go eat at a restaurant right after getting breakfast?"
"I'm a panda, dude; my stomach is like a bottomless pit," Po proudly declared, adjusting his rice hat and placing a paw on top of his tummy.
"Makes sense, but I still don't know how Mantis can stock so much food in his small body," Monkey whispered toward Viper who placed her tail in front of her mouth to cover up an amused giggle.
A few moments later, Po found himself walking down the thousand steps leading up to the Jade Palace and down to the village. While he still didn't like climbing these steps, the idea of spending a day with a Kung Fu master - a member of the Furious Five that is - fueled his motivation. As he walked, the young panda turned his head to look at the green bug hopping four steps at a time.
Having no real conversation ideas, Po decided to just look at the clear sky, adjusting his rice hat to shield his face from the sun. Mantis was right: today really was a beautiful day. The temperature was pretty warm without being hot enough to make them suffocate and there also was a nice breeze brushing against his fur. Yup, the perfect time for a walk outside.
When they arrived down in the village and started crossing it, Po noticed that everything looked the exact same way as usual. Well, except maybe for the fact that the apple vendor, whom Po learned was called Mr. Tang, was nowhere to be seen. But who could blame him? He probably needed some time to recover from his encounter with that Yokai.
"There it is," Mantis announced when they arrived before a circular archway in a concrete wall. A sign reading: 'Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant' was stuck on the upper part of the archway. "The Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant, where the greatest noodles in all of China are made."
"Hum, I've never eaten here before, but in all of China might be a bit of a stretch," Po declared with a raised eyebrow. "My mom owns a restaurant in Gongmen City and I can tell you with certification that she's the best cook in the city."
Mantis shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so, big guy. But don't be surprised if you end up changing your mind after tasting their food. Now let's go!"
Crossing the circular entrance, Po and Mantis entered an outside room that probably served as the dining area. Small square-shaped tables were set up everywhere with little bench-like seats for the customers to sit on and enjoy a good meal. These tables were arranged in a way that wouldn't prevent animals from circulating around. At the far end of the area, Po could see an open window with a counter before a room that probably served as the kitchen. A door on this window's right seemed to lead inside. The ambiance in this restaurant was rather pleasant with all the customers having positive conversations.
Po and Mantis went to sit down at a free table (well, Po sat down while Mantis just hopped up on the opposite side of the table), taking the menus lying on it, and proceeded to read its content. The restaurant mostly offered noodle soups, dumplings, bean buns and tea, all with different flavors. And they all sounded delicious! "Excuse me," a voice demanded, making the panda and bug look up from their menus to see the waitress standing next to their table.
A gazelle who seemed to be about the same age as Po. Her fur matched the color of a hazelnut with her face, underbelly, forearms and forelegs leaning more on the white. Unlike most antelopes like her, she did not have hooves on her hands instead having five coal-black fingers. Her feet, however, looked like normal hooves. The dark brown hair on top of her head fell on both side of her hazel eyes while also allowing her backward-curved woods to stand up proudly. Black streaks ran from the sides of her little black nose across her eyes and all the way up to the base of her long ears. Her upper dress consisted of a light green zip-up hoodie with purple accents that exposed some of her tummy, allowing the black streaks running down her sides to be visible. Her shorts of the same colors were kept in place by a belt, allowing her legs to breathe freely, and had a little hole in the back for her little fluffy tail to come out. Finally, some green bracelets decorated her wrists.
"Hello, Jin Cei!" Mantis said, waving his pincer at the female antelope. "What's up? You're fine?"
"Fine like a deer on fire, Mantis!" she replied with giving him a friendly wink. She then turned her attention to Po. "And you are...?"
"Jin Cei, this is Po, the new student of the Jade Palace and our new friend. Po, meet Jin Cei, the waitress of this restaurant."
"Nice to meet you, Jin Cei," Po said, politely reaching his paw for a shake with the young gazelle.
"Same here, Po," Jin Cei affirmed with a smile, shaking the panda's paw with her hand. Then, she pulled a notebook out of her hoodie's pocket alongside a pencil. "So? What would you guys like to eat today?"
"We just ate, so we should go light," Mantis remarked, tapping his chin with his pincer. "I'm gonna take... a bowl of Secret Ingredient Noodle Soup, steamed dumplings and some jasmine tea."
"The same as usual," the gazelle remarked with a chuckle, taking everything in note. "What will it be for you, Po?"
"Hmm... I'll take the same thing as him," the bear replied, pulling the menu down on the table.
"Nice! Be right back with all of this!"
As Jin Cei disappeared behind the door leading to the kitchen, Po engaged into an interesting conversation with Master mantis. The green bug told him about one of his most famous feat: his capture and conflict with the gang of crocodiles on Crocodile Island before he became part of the Furious Five. Back then, he was considered the fastest bug in his homeland, hence why they nicknamed him the "Emerald Lightning".
"I never heard anyone calling you that," Po pointed out, blinking his eyes.
"Don't interrupt me: we're getting to the best part."
One day, he was asked by a villager to retrieve wool coats back from crocodile bandits, but, lost in his arrogance and impatience, ended up getting caught in a cage and captured by the bandits. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't escape and had to wait for days. This is when he managed to develop his patience skill alongside a very useful new technique.
"The Staying-still-for-a-really-long-time technique?" Po asked with an excited smile.
"Exactly!" Mantis confirmed with a big and proud smile. "I managed to fake my death long enough to actually convince those dumb crocs. As soon as they opened the cage, BAM! I knocked them all out before they could understand what happened to them!"
"That's awesome!" Po beamed. "Having super-speed is very cool, Mantis, but I'm glad you managed to learn patience too. Quickness and patience are kinda opposite to each other: I'm sure most people aren't capable of having both!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that," Mantis nodded with a chuckle. "What can I say, I'm an amazing guy!"
Po's mind still had a bit of a hard time accepting the fact that a member of the Furious Five actually enjoyed spending time with him. Back in Gongmen City, he didn't have that many friends - outside Pinggguo and Kozlov, of course. He always thought that he wasn't the kind of guy others liked to hang out with, but the little bug standing before him changed this perception.
Then, Jin Cei returned with two plates and two bowls that she immediately pulled down on the table before her customers. "Here's the food you ordered, misters! Your jasmine tea should be ready in a few minutes. Enjoy!" And with that, she just walked away to go attend to other customers.
Po stared at the plate of steamed dumplings before him. While they looked soft and tasty, just as he liked them, it was the noodle soup that mostly caught his attention. The broth looked almost golden in color (and the sun's rays had nothing to do with it), the mountain of noodles releasing the amount of steam that indicated it was still warm without being burning hot. And the carrots and celery, even those lying out of the broth, seemed wet and juicy. Overall, this noodle soup seemed rather... simple. With the name 'Secret Ingredient' in it, Po had expected to see a unique meal with ingredients he never got to see before. Yet, in spite of its simple appearance, there was something oddly attracting about this meal - and it wasn't the sweet aroma teasing his nostrils.
"So? What do you think?" Mantis asked.
"It looks rather... promising, I must admit it," Po affirmed, not looking away from his bowl.
"Come on, dig in! You'll see how awesome it is by yourself!" the green bug urged, grabbing his two chopsticks to start digging into his meal.
Deciding to follow his example, Po also picked up his wooden utensils which he trapped some noodles between, lifted it up to his mouth, and slipped it inside. In a split-second, his jade-green eyes widened, his free paw grabbed his bowl, and he found himself slipping more and more noodles between his jaws, as if he had a limited time to eat all of it. Why couldn't he stop eating?!
While the noodles themselves were delicious, it was the sauce and spices that were doing a huge difference. The dark soy sauce mixed with dried oregano and dried bay leaves were not only excellent for the appetite but formed a unique flavor he never got to taste before. In addition, he could tell that the vegetables had been sautéed while the noodles got taken care of in a way that brought a good amount of creaminess. Even thought this meal was strong in flavor, Po felt like he could eat this forever!
"Wonderful, isn't it?" Mantis asked with his mouth half-full, chuckling at his friend's reaction.
"What. Is. This. THING?!" Po exclaimed without taking the time to swallow the food in his mouth, involuntarily disgusting the customers at other tables. "I can tell the way the noodles have been prepared as well as the sauce and spices, but I can't seem to detect the secret ingredient! Where is it?! Where is it?!" Lost in his world of tasty wonders, Po took quite a moment before noticing Mantis giving him an odd stare. "What?"
"How can you recognize all the ingredients in the soup, dude? I've come to eat here plenty of times in the past, and I never managed to guess anything in the recipe outside the noodles and vegetables."
Po chuckled a bit. "Well, when you're a cook, you end up developing the required skills to recognize almost any ingredient inside a meal, dude!" He then took realization of something. "I did mention I was a cook, right?"
"Nope. That's the first time." The green bug pointed at the panda with his chopsticks. "If you're really a cook, would you mind try to make us some dinner and breakfast once in a while? Viper's blueberry oatmeal is pretty good, but she isn't exactly cook-level, you know what I mean. And, to be honest, I'm getting a bit tired of always eating tofu and pre-cooked noodles made by Zeng."
"Sure, if you want, I can make dinner tonight," Po offered.
"That'd be cool!"
The rest of the breakfast went by rather silently as Po and Mantis were too busy stuffing their mouths with their wonderful meal to talk. By the time their bowls were empty, most of the other customers were gone and an elder goose whom Po assumed was the chief walked out of the kitchen. "Alright, everyone out! The tools in my kitchen need to cool off, and I also have to clean the restaurant! We'll open again in two hours!"
"Awww, already? I was thinking about commanding a second service!" Mantis whined, causing Po to blink his eyes. How could such a little bug stuff so much food in his body? "Come on, Po, let's get out of here."
"Wait guys!" Just before they could exit the restaurant, Po and Mantis were stopped by Jin Cei who approached them from behind. "You said you were free today, right? Why don't you stay for a while? We could play a game of Warriors & Dragons; that'd be nice!"
"That's a good idea. Been a while since we've played it; it'd be cool to start a new campaign," Mantis replied.
While his friend seemed just happy, Po's eyes widened and blinked multiple times at the gazelle. "... You... You like to play Warriors & Dragons?"
"Of course I do; it's one of the best social games in the world!" she responded with enthusiasm.
"It's my favorite one too!" Po suddenly exclaimed, shaking with his two fists in front of him. "I used to play it all the time with my two friends back in my old home! I wasn't expecting to meet someone else who like it in the Valley of Peace!"
"Well, it's your lucky day, there's a gal right in front of ya!" she beamed, sharing the same enthusiasm as the panda. "Come on, it's the 5.2 version: you're gonna LOVE it!"
As Jin Cei led Po toward a table at the far end of the restaurant, Mantis couldn't help but roll his yellow eyes with an amused grin. "Nerds..."
A few moments later, Po and Mantis embarked on an adventure in the ancient world of Grobjand as two noble heroes in quest of adventure. Hidden behind her GM panel and using at least two different information books, Jin Cei used a spooky voice as she narrated the story into which both heroes were involved.
"You advance in the dark tunnel, your torch barely illuminating the rocky path ahead. Suddenly, a mysterious, hissing-like noise reach your ears, striking some fear into your hearts," she mumbled behind her panel.
"It's the Alpha Gorgon, isn't it?" Po guessed.
"You cannot see anything; there's no way to be sure what lies around you in the dark..."
"Definitely the Alpha Gorgon," Mantis deadpanned, his eyes half-closed and his pincers crossed across his chest.
"Then, after five more steps, you stop in your tracks as two glowing golden orbs shine in the dark ahead of you. The hissing sound grows bigger and bigger. Suddenly, the two globs get into the light of your torch, revealing..." Jin Cei jumped out of her chair, stretching her arms to both sides. "THE ALPHA GORGON!"
"Of course," Po and Mantis mumbled at the same time, the bug rolling his eyes while the panda chuckled in amusement. Tossing their dices, it was decided that Po would act first followed by the monster and then Mantis.
"Alright, time to kick off the battle! What's your first move, Po?" the gazelle asked her friend.
"Let's see...," Po mumbled, rubbing his chin. "I have no clue if my items will affect it and I don't have much far-ranged combat attacks, so... I'm just gonna attack it with my sword."
"Very well. Throw your 20 dice." The panda grabbed his strangely-shaped dice, tossed it on the table, and landed on... 16. "16! Your hit lands! Now, throw your 6 dice to see how much damage you cause."
"No problems!" Po replied, grabbing his normal dice which he shook in his paw and tossed down, dealing 3 damage points. With his turn being done, it was the Alpha Gorgon's turn to attack, and she took on Po's character with a bite attack that caused 8 damage points along with giving him the poison status effect. Mantis eagerly took his dice and got ready to attack, happy to finally have his chance to play.
"Help! Help!" Or so he thought. A sheep villager came rushing through the restaurant's archway with a look of panic on his face. "Bandits! Bandits are attacking the village! Help us, masters!"
A loud groan escaped Mantis' beak as he dropped his dice on the table. "Seriously? We can no longer have just one weekend day off without having to deal with bandits? God dang it!" He hopped down on the ground. "Let's go, Po!"
"Okay!" The panda quickly stood up from his chair, pulled his rice hat on top of his head, and went after his comrade. Before leaving, he turned around toward his new friend. "Stay here, Jin Cei! We're gonna take care of those bad guys in no time! We'll finish our game of W&D after, okay?"
Jin Cei blinked her eyes as her friends and grinned. "Staying out of a true fight? And missing all the action? Heck no!"
All the villagers were running in the opposite direction of the two Jade Palace warriors in the main road. It looked a lot like the day bandits attacked the district of Gongmen City where Po and his mother lived and ended up getting saved by Master Croc and Ox. The young panda mentally hoped they wouldn't find a group of villagers gathered in the middle of the street with the bandits keeping them hostage.
Once they made it past the fleeing villagers, Po and Mantis found a group of warthogs armed with battles axes sacking crates and stands, grabbing everything they had, money and supplies. "Hey, you! Stop stealing stuff right now!" Po yelled at them.
The two Kung Fu warriors took their fighting stances as the warthogs turned their attention to them and brandished their axes. "Look! There are two valley guards! Take 'em out!"
Mantis decided to make the first move and dashed forward. One of the bandits only had time to widen his eyes and cough as a green blur slammed into his torso, sending him to crash into three of his comrades. "Fear the bug!" Not giving them time to recover, Mantis went to grab one of the lying warthogs' tail, swinging him around at full speed, and then tossing him into more of his comrades who all fell like bowling quills.
"That was AWESOME, Mantis!" Po beamed before turning toward the bandits who approached him. "Time to show off what I'm capable of!"
The bandits went down with relative ease. Po only needed either one or two punches or kicks to send them to the ground. He finished the last one with a good belly smash that sent him flying all the way into a pile of crates lying conveniently in the way. Funny coincidence. "You just got to feel the thunda!"
"That was the last of them!" Mantis announced as he hopped onto his friend's shoulder. "Nice job, Po!" He held his pincer up for a high-five.
"You too, Mantis. But it's still a bit sad; I didn't even had the time to use my Panda Quake technique."
"What the living hay is going on here?"
Po jumped a bit upon hearing this voice, having thought all the bad guys had been defeated and the villagers gone. Upon turning around, he realized that wasn't the case. Standing in the middle of the main road was a male cheetah whose golden fur was covered in black spots. Black glasses were preventing his eyes from being visible and his jacket that was just as black alongside his blue jean pants gave him the look of a teenager thinking he was the coolest thing in the world.
"What's going on here, buddy, is that you disrupted my day off, and I really don't appreciate that!" Mantis declared with a glare, pointing his pincer at the feline. "But if you get away from this village with your little goons right now and let us return to our game of W&D, I'll let it slip."
The cheetah let out an arrogant, amused scoff. "Yeah, sorry, but you can forget about that, little shrimp. I swore to myself that I was gonna show my older brother that I could gain more money by being a criminal than he could by working in the Imperial Army. Wouldn't want me, the great Dice Daong, to lose my bet, do ya?"
Mantis' eye started twitching, soon narrowing his face into a glare. "Did you... call me... little shrimp?" The bug went from green to red as steam comically erupted from his ears. "NOBODY MOCKS MY SIZE! YOU'RE GONNA LEARN TO FEAR THE BUG!"
"Fear bugs? Sure, when wolves will start fearing pigs," Dice Daong replied, reaching his paw into a pocket of his jacket, and pulling out red dice that was big enough to fill his whole paw.
Having had enough with that guy, Mantis hopped off Po's shoulder and charged toward him. Not seeming intimidated at all, Dice Daong simply tossed the dice on the ground for some reason. It landed on 5. Suddenly, just as Mantis ran by it, the little item started glowing into a bright light. "What the he-"
BOOM!
The explosion caused Mantis to be sent flying in the air and forced Po to cover his face with his paws. Once it passed away, he stared ahead just in time to see his little friend landing on the ground, looking more roasted than steamed dumplings, steam emanating from his body and his eyes all white. "Mantis!" he exclaimed in horror.
Looking back at his enemy, he saw the dice was no longer where the explosion occurred. However, some of the smoke caused by it seemed to move toward Dice Daong. It gathered into the palm of his paw and... took the form of the red dice once more? This caused the young panda to blink his eyes in complete confusion multiple times.
"Dude, what's with that dice? Is it magic or something?" he asked, pointing at the item in question.
At this question, a grin formed on the cheetah's lips as he pulled the dice on the tip of his index finger and made it spin. "I'm glad you asked. This little wonder is indeed magic: every time I toss it down, it activates a special attack depending on the number the dice lands on. As you just saw, the number five causes an explosion."
"Really? Dude, that's super awesome!" Po beamed, not doing any effort to hide his excitement. "What can the other numbers do?"
"Well, if you really wanna know, number six provokes a...?!" Dice Daong stopped his explanation and shook his head as he realized a detail. "Wait a minute! You're my enemy here; I'm not supposed to tell you that! Sorry, dude, but I decided to attack today because I know that this is a day off for the Furious Five and wanted to take advantage of their absence. The boys and I have to act quickly before they can come back! If you're getting in my way, I have no choice but to take you out!"
"Okay, too bad." Po shrugged and then took his fighting stance with a grin. "Get ready to feel my fist of justice!" Since he didn't have any other way of attacking, Po started running toward the cheetah, giving himself the mental note of avoiding the dice at all cost.
Pulling his paw backwards, Dice Daong launched his magical dice once more, sending it to roll across the ground. It landed on 2 and started glowing once again. Po stopped in his tracks, not wanting to get caught in another explosion or something like that. To his surprise, it did explode, but instead of a blast, it was a thick wall of smoke that blinded him.
"Aw, dumpling!" Po exclaimed as he started coughing and rubbing his teary eyes. Gotta believe he didn't put enough distance between this magical dice and himself.
While blinded by the smoke, the panda warrior received a hit in his stomach that knocked the air out of him. Opening his eyes, he saw through his tears the figure of Dice Daong just before he span on himself and delivered a devastating spin kick across his face that knocked him a few feet away.
"Ouch! Didn't see that coming!" Po groaned, clutching his hurting jaw while looking up to see the smoke gathering into Dice Daong's paw and turning once more into his dice. "Just how many tricks can this dice do?"
"Six. There are six faces: so six tricks," the cheetah obviously pointed out. He then adjusted his glasses in a cool way and made his dice spin on the tip of his index finger once again. "Listen man, I don't know who you are, but I don't have any grudge against you. I've come here to collect some money and other goods that can be sold on the black market. My goal isn't to hurt anyone, so could you please stay out of my way and let me do my business?"
Fighting through the pain, Po managed to stand up and use his rice hat to hide his eyes in a cool pose. "You can forget about this, dude! The reason why I left Gongmen City and joined the Jade Palace is because I wanted to become a great Kung Fu warrior and beat bad guys like you. What kind of warrior would just let someone with a magical toy get away with stealing and hurting my friend, huh?"
At this statement, a surprised expression appeared on the cheetah's face (Po could see it even with his black glasses) who dropped his dice back in his paw. "You... You're from Gongmen City, dude?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I have a big brother living up there. Have you ever met a husky guy named Ryker?"
"Ryker? Hmm..." Po rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky. "Ryker, Ryker... Nope. Sorry, can't say I have."
An amused scoff escaped the feline's mouth. "Of course. That old idiot must have been promoted beyond the rank of local city guard by now. Good for him." He then looked back at Po. "Alright then, if that's what you want, no hard feelings, dude."
He once again tossed his magic dice directly in front of Po. This time, it landed on 4 and exploded once more. But instead of smoke, some sort of goo splashed everywhere, covering the ground and Po's fur. "Argh! This is disgusting, man!" the panda exclaimed with a frown of disgust. He attempted to charge at the feline before he could recuperate his dice, only to find out he could no longer move. "What the...?"
"Sorry, dude, but you ain't going anywhere. The goo all over you is so strong that the only way to get it off is to either make it melt or cut it with something sharp. It will hold you down long enough for me to go around and finish my little robbery," Dice Daong declared with a grin as his dice appeared once again in his paw just before he started walking away.
"Hey! Come back! I'm not done with you!" Po yelled, desperately trying to break out of the goo, but in vain.
The feline bandit just chuckled in amusement and kept walking away. However, before he could leave the scene, an item came flying out of nowhere and hit him right in the face, releasing some sort of smoke that made him cough and cry, exactly as his dice did to Po moments ago. "What the *cough* *cough*?! Who tossed this at me?!"
"That would be me!"
Turning his head, Po was surprised to see a familiar antelope standing on top of a crate with a grin, holding some round object in her hand. "Jin Cei!"
"Herself!" she affirmed with a playful wink.
"Who the hell are you?! What's that thing you tossed in my face?!" Dice Daong asked, still coughing a lot.
"Those little wonders are a creation of my own. Smoke bombs, if you really wanna know," Jin Cei explained, holding the round object in her hand forward for him to see. "It's made with silk, nitrate, granulated sugar, and all the dust gathered by Mr. Ping after cleaning the shop."
"That's disgusting! I feel like my throat and lungs are on fire!" Dice Daong exclaimed before narrowing his eyes at the newcomer through his black glasses. "You're gonna regret that!" He tossed his dice toward the antelope.
"Watch out, Jin Cei! This dice will release an explosion or something!" Po tried to warn his friend.
"Yeah; I watched your fight!" The young gazelle used her strong legs to hop high in the air and away from the crate just as the dice stopped before it and landed on 1. A jet of lightning escaped the dice and stroke the surrounding zone, destroying the crate, but missing Jin Cei as she jumped too far.
While flying in the air, the female antelope, reached into the pocket of her jacket, taking out another smoke bomb, and tossing the two of them in her hands down at Dice Daong. As the round objects released their smoke, the cheetah once again coughed and attempted to clean his face, missing his magic dice that returned to him and dropped to the ground.
Taking advantage of his stunned state, Jin Cei started diving down toward the cheetah who only had time to look up a split-second before receiving two powerful feet into his torso that slammed him hard enough into the ground to form a little crater underneath. Hopping off once again, the female antelope gracefully flipped through the air before landing down away from her enemy.
Following this attack, Jin Cei turned around to see Dice Daong wasn't moving anymore and some blood even came out of his mouth. He was out cold. "I... I did it. I took out a bad guy! YES!" she beamed, jumping and throwing a fist in the air before doing a little victory dance. "Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
"Hum, Jin Cei? Little help here?" Po asked, referring to the fact that he was still stuck in the glue.
"Oh, right. Wait a second."
Following her victory, Jin Cei went to the Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant to quickly grab a knife that she used to cut Po free from the goo. There was still some of it stuck in his fur, meaning he'd have to clean it off with a good bath later on. At the same time, Mantis finally returned to the world of the living after getting knocked out by the explosion and asked what exactly happened. Po and Jin Cei told him the whole story.
"If anybody asks, you don't tell anybody I got knocked out by a dice, got it?!" the green bug firmly ordered, pointing his pincer at Po.
"Don't worry; I won't tell anyone," Po assured before turning back toward Jin Cei. "What you did back there was amazing, Jin Cei! You took out that guy before he could run away while neither Mantis nor I could defeat him! Have you ever thought about thinking Kung Fu lessons? You'd make a great warrior!"
At this statement, the antelope looked down and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, Po, but I don't really have time to take any form of lessons with my full-time work at the restaurant. Mr. Ping accepts to host me at his home, so the least I can do is help him with his shop."
"Oh, okay," Po mumbled, a bit disappointed as he was sure his antelope friend would've been good as a kung Fu practitioner.
"I'm totally gonna have to make a drawing series about what happened here! That way, I can start a fanfiction!" Reaching into another pocket of her hoodie, Jin Cei pulled out a sketchbook and pencil, staring at the defeated figure of Dice Daong before starting a drawing.
"Wow! You can even draw, and you like to write fanfictions?!" Po exclaimed in surprise.
"Totally: it's one of my favorite hobbies!" the antelope replied, looking away from her sketchbook. "If you want, I can show you guys all my drawings and fic books at the restaurant!"
"That'd be awesome! Come on, Mantis!" Po beamed, rushing back toward the Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant.
This caused the green bug to roll his eyes in amusement. "Nerds," he mumbled before hopping after his panda friend.
Jin Cei pulled her sketchbook under her arm as she was about to follow her two friends. However, on her way, she noticed something lying on the ground. The red dice used by the criminal they just defeated. Leaning down, she picked it up in her hand and inspected it from every angle. Shrugging, she pulled it into her shorts pocket and went after Po and Mantis.
Author's note: Yup. I just pulled a fanfiction writer inside my fanfiction. Twisted, right? XD Wonder if she's gonna cause any trouble with Dice Daong's magical dice.
Fun fact: 'Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant' was the name of Mr. Ping's noodle shop in the first film before he decided to change it in honor of his son. While on the subject, you guys really thought I was gonna leave Mr. Ping out of the story since Po wasn't adopted by him as in the movies? He, he, nope! Here, he serves as the guy hosting Jin Cei at his home and, since Po is already practicing the art of cooking, maybe the two of them could bond over that later on.
Before any of you point it out, yes, the game 'Warriors & Dragons' is this world's equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons. In this version of the KFP world, they have their own pop culture!
Mantis' backstory from 'Secrets of the Furious Five' is also canon here. Honestly, I hope I'll get the chance to use Mantis' patience technique as, while very useful, he never makes use of it in the movie or TV shows: we just see him kick the bad guys' butts with his super speed.
I hope you guys had a fun time reading this. Stay safe during these dark times and may the gods watch over you all. Always.