It had been a few hours since Mulan and the gang had left the Fa family home to join the army with the intention of saving the young woman's father.
At that moment, they were walking through a bamboo forest.
"How much farther to that camp?" asked Littlefoot.
"Not long, we should be very close by now." said Mulan still on Khan's back.
"Petrie, you can fly. Can't you see if we are close?" asked Cera.
"Me try, but me no promise." said Petrie before he took flight higher than the bamboo shoots and what he saw in front of him made him smile. "Hey! Me see camp ahead!" said Petrie before heading back down with the others.
Hearing that, Mulan got off her horse and she and the others approached a few bamboo shoots and when they pushed them aside, before their eyes and half a distance from where they stood, was the Wu Zhong camp.
"Yippee! We've arrived!" said Ducky excitedly.
"Wow. There are a lot of men there." said Chomper.
"Well, they said they only accepted men so it's only normal for there to be only men when they only accepted men." said Ruby.
"Let's not waste time. Let's go over there." said Littlefoot.
"Hold on, kids." said Mulan stopping them from taking another step.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me you want to back out now after what we've done." said Cera.
"No, it's not that. It's just that I'm not quite ready." said Mulan.
"What do you mean?" asked Chomper.
"I may look like a man now and I can fool them at a glance, but what will I do when I am or talk to them?" asked Mulan.
"You not able to do like you normally do?" asked Petrie.
"No. If I want to fit in among the men, I must not only look like them, but I must also act and talk like them. If I don't, I'll be found out the first minute I speak." said Mulan.
"No problem. We'll help you get ready for it." said Littlefoot.
"Thank you. So where do we start?" asked Mulan.
"How about we start with the name? Men have a man's name, so you'll need a man's name instead of a woman's name." said Ruby.
"You're right, but what name should I use?" asked Mulan.
"How about Olaf?" asked Ducky.
"Or Lumière." said Petrie suggesting another name.
"Where do you get such weird names?" asked Cera confused by the names they had suggested.
"I don't know, but I felt I heard those names somewhere. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky.
"Mmm." muttered Littlefoot thinking of some name that would be just right to help his friend and that's when a name crossed his mind. "How about Ping?" asked Littlefoot suggesting another name.
Mulan scrutinized the name the longneck suggested.
"You know what? It doesn't sound so bad. Okay, from now on, my name is Ping." said Mulan saying her name as a man.
"Sounds good." said Chomper.
"Okay, now I just need to know how to act like a man. That'll be a piece of cake." said Mulan with a confident smile.
Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Mulan spent so much time trying to find the perfect man act that Khan, Cera became bored while Spike focused more on eating the bamboo leaves.
"Okay. Okay, how about this?" asked Mulan before clearing her throat a little. "Excuse me, where do I sign in? Ah, I see you have a sword. I have one, too. They're very manly, and tough." began Mulan in a deep voice, trying to properly draw the sword from its scabbard, but her grip slipped and she ended up dropping it before she tried to catch it.
Khan and Cera couldn't help but burst out laughing at the pathetic performance of the young woman, who threw her shoes at their head to command them to shut up.
"I'm working on it!" said Mulan before putting her shoes back on.
"Ha. Well let me tell you, that was pretty pathetic." said Cera with a small laugh.
"Has it really been?" asked Mulan to the other members of the gang.
"Well... It was good. If that's how you think human men act." said Chomper.
"But you did much better than the previous times. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky.
Spike nodded in agreement.
"At least this time, you not trip." said Petrie.
"Thanks, kids, for being so honest." said Mulan sarcastically as she folded her arms with a frown.
"In our defense, we don't know how human men act, since we haven't seen many human men." said Ruby.
"Don't worry, Mulan. We'll help you as much as we can to join the army." said Littlefoot with a smile.
Mulan smiled back at the longneck before patting his head.
"Thanks, but who am I fooling?" asked Mulan before pushing aside the bamboo shoots to look around the camp. "It'd take a miracle to get me into the army."
"But miracles not just appear." said Petrie.
"Did I hear someone ask for a miracle! Lemme hear ya say, 'Aaah!'." said a loud voice startling them all as they turned around to see the shadow of a certain dragon displayed in enormous size on a rock with the help of a small fire.
"Aughhh!" shouted Mulan and the gang going to hide behind a rock.
"That's close enough!" said Mushu.
"A ghost!" said Mulan as she, Khan and the gang peeked behind the rock.
"Well done, Petrie. You've brought us something very bad." said Cera.
"Why me open my beak?" asked Petrie.
"Get ready, Mulan, your seventeen halation is at hand, for I have been sent by your ancestors…" began Mushu before noticing the cricket gesturing with his paw in a sign of acting too much, which could be seen by the shadows made by the fire, and kicked him out of the light zone. "To guide you through your masquerade!" said Mushu.
"C'mon, you're gonna stay, you're gonna work with me." said Mushu crouching down to keep his shadow from coming out and handing a leaf to the cricket which he used to fan the flames and power them up.
"So heed my words, cause if the army finds out you're a girl, the penalty is death." said Mushu as the fire increased in power to put on more of a show.
"Who are you?" asked Mulan.
"Who am I? Who am I? I am the guardian of lost souls! I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu." said Mushu stepping out from behind the rocks to show his true appearance as the fire from earlier died down.
Needless to say, Mulan and the gang were surprised and disappointed, as this wasn't what they expected him to look like.
"Ah, I'm pretty hot, huh?" asked Mushu before he was suddenly trampled by Khan, but Mulan managed to stop him.
Mushu coughed a little from the dust.
Mulan bent down and lifted the dragon a little before letting go and dropping him.
"My ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?" asked Mulan confused by her ancestors' decisions as she reached out to touch the dragon that had risen.
"Hey." began Mushu pulling her finger away from him. "Dragon, dragon, not lizard. I don't do that tongue-thing." said Mushu offended before letting his tongue out like a snake.
"You're… um…" began Mulan trying to find a word to define him.
"Intimidating? All inspiring?" asked Mushu with a smug grin.
"Tiny!" said Mulan.
"Skinny!" said Petrie.
"Scrawny!" said Cera.
"Not scary at all!" said Chomper.
"Nor anything you said before!" said Ruby.
"I come in travel-sized, okay? I didn't come here to be insulted by some..." started Mushu before noticing the gang's presence, which confused him. "By the way, what are you supposed to be?" asked Mushu.
"We're dinosaurs." said Littlefoot.
"We coming help Mulan join the army." said Petrie.
"That's what friends do. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky as Spike nodded.
"Great. As if taking care of a young girl wasn't enough, now I have to take care of a bunch of kids. Who am I? Mary Poppins?" asked Mushu to the cricket in a very low voice as he covered the side of his mouth with the back of his hand.
The cricket shrugged in response.
"Uh..." began Mulan catching the dragon's attention. "Not to offend, but... is there anything you can do?"
Mushu climbed like a snake up a bamboo shoot to be at her height.
"My dear, my powers are beyond your mortal imagination. For instance, my eyes can see straight through your armor." said Mushu.
Guessing what he was saying, Mulan covered the side of her chest and slapped Mushu's face which knocked him to the ground.
"Alright! That's it! Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Make a note of this." said Mushu to the cricket who took a sheet of paper and a pencil to write down. "Dishonor on you, dishonor on your little friends, dishonor on your cow, dis..." began Mushu before Mulan crouched down and covered his mouth to shut him up.
"Stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry." said Mulan apologizing to the dragon. "I'm just nervous. I've never done this before." said Mulan worriedly.
"Don't worry. We'll be right by your side." said Littlefoot.
"True, but if you really want to get off easy, you're gonna have to trust me. And don't you slap me no more. You clear on that?" asked Mushu receiving a nod from the young woman.
"Well, just know that we've helped her more than you can." said Cera.
"Oh yeah? And tell me, young lady. How have you helped her so far, huh?" asked Mushu standing in front of the threehorn's face, who, with a snort of her nose, sent him tumbling backwards to the ground.
"Well, so far, we've managed to find a name for him to infiltrate the camp." said Chomper.
"A name? And what kind of name did you choose?" asked Mushu getting up from the ground.
"We chose to call her, while she is a man, Ping." said Ruby.
"Ping, huh? Not bad. My best friend is named that." said Mushu.
"Good. I think we'd better go now. Are you ready, Mulan?" asked Littlefoot.
"I think so." began Mulan before letting out a sigh to get ready. "Okay, let's get this show on the road." said Mulan before she, the gang, Khan and cricket left, leaving Mushu, who was thinking about something, behind.
"Wait a minute. Ping did steal my girlfriend." said Mushu before realizing he was alone. "Hey, you, wait up. I'm supposed to be the one her ancestors sent to help her." said Mushu running to catch up with them.
At the entrance to the camp, Mulan and the gang peeked inside to see several men doing all sorts of things.
"Okay, this is it!" said Mushu coming out of the back of Mulan's clothes she was using as a hiding place. "Time to show them your man-walk."
"Do you know how men walk?" asked Chomper.
"I have dealt with them before and I know how they act. Trust me." said Mushu.
"I have a little trouble doing it." said Cera.
"Shoulders back, chest high, feet apart, head up, and strut!" said Mushu as Mulan followed his instructions before entering the camp. "Two three, break that bone, two, three, and work it!" said Mushu as Mulan walked through the camp with the stance the dragon told her with the gang behind her.
Needless to say, she was debating on what was drawing more attention, Mulan's gait or the gang.
"I think that's not how men walk. No, no, no." said Ducky quietly.
"You think?" asked Cera sarcastically.
"We're drawing a little attention, although I don't know if it's Mulan or us drawing attention." said Ruby.
"Relax. If Mushu was sent to help Mulan, it will be for a reason." said Littlefoot confidently to the dragon.
The group went deeper into the camp, where they could see one man picking his nose and another picking dirt off between his fingers with a chopstick.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Mushu.
"They're disgusting." said Mulan disgusted by the men's behavior.
Spike stuck out his tongue in disgust in response.
"No, they're men." said Mushu.
"Me too, but me never as filthy as human men." said Petrie.
"Yeah, we at least have some hygiene." said Chomper.
"Well, the thing is, you're gonna have to act just like them, so pay attention." said Mushu directing Mulan's gaze to the front.
"Look!" said a man opening his shirt to show a tattoo of a dragon covering his entire chest. "This tattoo will protect me from harm!" said the man with a smile, believing that what he said was true.
A short man with one eye closed glanced at the tattoo before sharing a knowing smile with a skinny man behind him who was also looking at the tattoo.
Shortly after, the short man punched the tattoo man's stomach, something that made the skinny man burst out laughing, even Cera chuckled a little.
"I hope you can get your money back!" the skinny man said as the short man kissed his fist.
"I don't think I can do this." said Mulan losing hope.
"I think you will." said Littlefoot trying to give his friend confidence.
"He's right. It's all attitude! Be tough, like this guy here!" said Mushu pointing at the short man who threw a spit on the ground.
"What are you looking at?" asked the short man.
"Punch him. It's how men say hello." said Mushu.
"Do they really?" asked Chomper.
Blindly heeding his advice, Mulan hit him in the back of the head, sending him crashing into the stomach of a fat, bald man.
"Oh, Yao! You've made a friend!" said the fat man lifting the short man by the armpits like a child.
"Well, it seems to be working." said Ruby.
"Good. Now slap him on the behind. They like that." said Mushu with confidence in his advice.
"That sounds really weird." said Petrie confused at the dragon's advice.
"Mulan, if I were you, I wouldn't do that." said Cera.
Unfortunately, Mulan ignored the threehorn and gave the short man a slap on the butt.
"Woo hoo." Yao expressed before grabbing Mulan by the collar of her shirt. "I'm gonna hit you so hard, it'll make your ancestors dizzy." said Yao very mad.
Luckily, the fat man grabbed him by the arms and lifted him up a little.
"Yao, relax and chant with me." said the fat man before he started rocking the short man, who was red in the face with anger, while singing a Chinese song.
To the group's surprise, it seemed to work, as even Yao began to sing a little as he was calming down.
"Feel better?" asked the fat man.
"Yeah." said Yao before the fat man let go.
"We better go before something bad happens." suggested Littlefoot.
"Ah, you ain't worth my time. Chicken boy." said Yao as Mulan and the others turned to leave.
"Chicken boy!? Say that to my face, you limp noodle!" said Mushu offended by the short man's comment.
Mentally, Mulan and the gang slapped their faces at the dragon's big mouth.
Before Mulan could apologize, Yao grabbed her by the collar of her shirt to pull her to him. He was about to punch her when she ducked in time, causing Yao to end up punching the skinny man, who was behind Mulan, to such an extent that he broke some of his teeth.
"Oh, sorry Ling." said Yao apologetically with a nervous smile to the skinny man who fainted.
Yao noticed Mulan trying to escape on all fours, so he grabbed her leg to stop her, but Ling kicked him in the butt, sending him crashing into the fat man, knocking them both down.
Mulan had to duck to dodge Ling who had lunged towards the two, starting a fight, something Mulan and the gang took advantage of to escape.
"You're dead!" said Ling as he fought with Yao over the fat man.
"Geez, human men are barbarians. Yep, yep, yep." said Ducky.
"I don't know about you. In my opinion, they're fighting like a couple of mad sharpteeth." said Chomper.
"I agree with him." said Ruby.
"And all because our lizard friend didn't know how to keep his mouth shut." said Cera.
"I'm a dragon, not a lizard!" said Mushu very offended.
As Mulan and the others were looking for a place to escape, Ling noticed them.
"Hey! There he goes!" said Ling pointing at it as the others also looked at it.
"Uh, oh. Catch us." said Petrie.
"Which way can we go?" asked Mulan not knowing where to run off to while Littlefoot looked around until he found a solution.
"This way." said Littlefoot leading them inside a store.
The three men followed them inside the store and out the other side, only the three men came out and shortly after they left, Mulan and the gang peeked out from inside the store with a smile seeing that they had thrown them off.
Suddenly, Yao saw that they were getting dangerously close to a queue to order food and quickly stopped, Ling stopped inches away from him, arching up in the process. Unfortunately, the fat man couldn't stop in time and his belly ended up crashing into them, causing the queue to fall like dominoes until it reached the end where a cook was pouring rice into a cauldron that ended up falling over as well, spilling all the contents.
Mulan and the gang couldn't help but feel horror, not only because all the men were looking at them with dead stares, but because they partly felt that they themselves were the ones who made things worse.
"Hey, guys." said Mulan as she and the others were backing away as the men came dangerously close to them.
Meanwhile, Chi-Fu entered the main tent, where the general was sitting in front of a map with figures on it while on the other side was a young man.
"The Huns have struck here, here, and here. I will take the main troops up to the Tung Chow Pass" said the general as he moved the figure depicting them to the aforementioned area. "And stop Shan Yu before he destroys this village." said the general explaining a plan of attack to the young man.
"Excellent strategy, sir! I do love surprises, but what are you going to do about Xianniang and her evil powers?" asked Chi-Fu mentioning the Hun ally.
"According to reports, she doesn't usually take part in attacks, so once we finish off the Huns, we'll concentrate our forces on taking down that witch." said the general before focusing on the young man in front of him. "You will stay and train the new recruits. When Chi-Fu believes you're ready, you will join us… Captain." said the general handing a sword to the young man, much to his surprise.
"Captain?" asked the young man in surprise at that.
"Oh! This is an enormous responsibility, General! Perhaps a soldier with more experience?" said Chi-Fu questioning the general's decision.
"Number one in his class, extensive knowledge of training techniques… an impressive military lineage… I believe Li Shang will do an excellent job." said the general with confidence in the young man.
"Oh I will! I won't let you down! This is… I mean…" began Shang excitedly before clearing his throat to regain his composure, remembering the situation he was in. "Yes sir." said Shang bowing in thanks.
"Very good, then. We'll toast China's victory at the Imperial City." said the general heading for the exit. "I'll expect a full report in three weeks." said the general to the emperor's advisor before leaving the tent.
"And believe me, I won't leave anything out." said Chi-Fu to Shang before also leaving the tent.
Shang was about to leave when he stood contemplating the sword he was given and thinking about the title bestowed upon him.
"Captain Li Shang." began Shang before tying the strap of his sword on his belt. "Leader of China's finest troops. No, the greatest troops of all time." said Shang with a confident smile before leaving the tent.
Unfortunately, that smile was wiped away when, as he left the tent, he saw all the men fighting each other.
A beaten man approached him, the general and the emperor's advisor and gave them a military salute before passing out.
"Most impressive." said Chi-Fu sarcastically.
The general stepped over the fallen man without stepping on him and got on his horse.
"Good luck, Captain!" said the general before pulling the horse's reins and riding away from the camp along with his troops.
"Good luck… Father." said Shang revealing who the general was to him.
Now that the general and his troops were gone, Shang had to take care of the current problem.
"Day one." said Chi-Fu with a smile and the brush ready to take aim.
Shang advanced with great seriousness until he was in front of the men who were sticking together.
"Soldiers!" called Shang, managing to get them to stop fighting, though Yao took one last swing at a man he had a hold of.
In the next instant, they all turned away to aim at the person causing it.
"He started it!" shouted all the men pointing to Mulan who was huddled on the ground next to the gang hoping to get off some beating.
Shang approached the group as Mushu hid from him. Mulan and the gang looked up to see the captain staring at them and quickly stood up.
"I don't need anyone causing trouble in my camp." said Shang bringing his face close to Mulan's who was nervous about the situation she was in.
"Sorry…" said Mulan in a normal tone of voice before she began her performance. "I mean, sorry you had to say that. But you know what it is when you get those manly urges… just gotta kill something. Fix things… a cook outdoors…" said Mulan with a serious tone trying to look like a man in front of everyone.
"I think you should stop." whispered Chomper, managing to shush the young disguised woman..
"What's your name?" asked Shang bringing his face closer once more.
"My name? Uh… Well…" began Mulan before glancing at Littlefoot who winked at her. "Ah, yes. My name is Ping, sir." said Mulan introducing herself with her fake name.
"Let me see your conscription notice." said Shang before Mulan handed him the scroll she took from her father and he read it for confirmation. "Fa Zu? THE Fa Zu?" asked Shang in surprise, as he seemed to know of Mulan's father.
"I didn't know Fa Zu had a son." said Chi-Fu, as he met Mulan's father in person.
"Er, he… doesn't talk about me much." said Mulan before making a spit take, but the spit hung out of her mouth.
"I can see why. The boy's an absolute lunatic!" whispered Chi-Fu to the captain.
"What about them?" asked Shang pointing to the gang.
"Uh... Same here. What about them?" asked Mulan.
"Pets aren't allowed in the camp." said Shang.
"Excuse me, who told you we're his pets?" asked Cera offended by what the captain said.
There was a small collective gasp among everyone present, even among the captain and the imperial counselor, as they would never expect those strange creatures to be able to talk.
"Who the one not keeping her mouth shut now?" asked Petrie looking at her friend.
Shang gave the young disguised woman a withering look demanding an answer.
"Hehehe. Well you see, sir… During one of my travels, I came across these amazing creatures in a deadly situation. I saved them and they've been following me everywhere ever since. Right, kids?" asked Mulan with a nervous smile, hoping they would play along.
Fortunately, they came to understand.
"Oh, yep, yep, yep. We were in danger when Mu-Ping saved our lives and since we had nowhere to go, we decided to go with him anywhere." said Ducky.
Spike nodded in confirmation.
"And when he told us he was going to join the army, we went with him to join the army too." said Ruby.
"I hope that won't be a problem." said Littlefoot hoping that the captain would accept them into the army so they could be with their friend.
Shang folded his arms as he pondered what to do about the gang. They didn't seem to be mean or even savage. He could tell they were obedient, but he wasn't entirely sure.
"Wait a minute, Captain." said Chi-Fu covering one side of his mouth with the back of his hand to whisper something to the captain. "Maybe it's a good idea for them to stay. I've heard stories of foreign armies using animals during battle and considering what they talk about, they might be of a lot of use."
That was enough to convince the captain to make a decision.
"Alright, they can stay." said Shang causing them to let out a sigh of relief. "But they will be your responsibility. Any trouble they cause, will officially be yours, understood?" asked Shang.
"Y-Yes, sir." said Mulan.
"We won't let you down, Captain." said Littlefoot happy that everything was taken care of.
Well, not everything.
"Okay, gentlemen, thanks to your new friend Ping and his… companions, you'll spend tonight picking up every single grain of rice." said Shang to everyone's annoyance. "Tomorrow, the real work begins." said Shang before leaving.
As soon as he left, Ling and Yao gave Mulan and the gang a death glare.
"Hey… I guess we didn't get off on the right foot." said Chomper.
"Same here." said Mulan.
"Well, at least we're all together. That's what matters." said Littlefoot looking on the bright side of the situation.
"You know, we have to work on your people skills." said Mushu to Mulan who was nervous about how things had started at camp.