Chapter 5: Parting Gift
"Thank you, thank you for coming to Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu!" Mr. Ping said to a customer leaving the restaurant where business had been booming ever since the defeat of Tai Lung.
"More lemon sauce? If you need something just ask! Thank you!" Mr. Ping served another customer.
Several children even ran by in the restaurant courtyard with wooden action figures of not just Po, but also of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo.
"Feet of Fury!" The child with the Po action figure shouted.
"Booyakasha!" Another child cheered, holding a Michelangelo action figure.
"The Dragon Warrior's mop!" A small bunny exclaimed excitedly as she moved to touch it. "He mopped these very floors!"
"Ah! Ah! Ah! No touching!" Mr. Ping quickly halted her. "You'll get the mop dirty!"
"You know, he once waited me!" A pig customer spoke to another customer.
"Awesome!" His friend replied.
"Yeah, I have the stain to prove it!" The pig customer replied before turning to Mr. Ping. "Hey, where is the Dragon Warrior?"
"Oh, he doesn't work here anymore." Mr. Ping explained with a wave of his wing. "He is busy out there, protecting the valley."
Just then, one of the customers gasped. "The Dragon Warrior!"
Mr. Ping turned to see his panda son standing at the gateway to the restaurant, with all of the customers bowing respectfully to him.
"Po!" The elderly goose exclaimed, running up and hugging his large son. "You should've told me you were coming! I would have saved you some stinky tofu!"
"Hi, Dad!" Po lightly hugged him. "Hey, listen, can I talk to you? In private?"
"Of course, son." Mr. Ping told him before turning to all of the customers. "In honor of my son, free tofu dessert for everybody…"
The customers all cheered loudly.
"... with purchase." Mr. Ping finished.
The customers all collectively groaned.
"Oh, it's good to see you, Po! Have you lost weight?" Mr. Ping said, guiding Po into the kitchen away from the customers. "I could almost put my wings around you."
"Ahh, well, maybe a little." Po replied, shifting awkwardly where he stood.
"Oh, poor you, you must feel weak! Let me get you some soup." The elderly goose then walked over to the counter and began chopping up some vegetables.
"Oh, that's okay, Dad." Po said in a rather uncharacteristically despondent voice. "I'm… not hungry."
That caught Mr. Ping completely by surprise as he almost stopped chopping. The idea that his son couldn't be hungry was almost unfathomable. "Not hungry, Po, are you alright?" He asked in concern.
"Yeah, yeah, no, I'm fine. It's just…" Po explained. "Earlier today, I was fighting these bandits…"
"Uh huh…" Mr. Ping said, only half-listening as he continued chopping.
"Nothing too dangerous, they were just…" Po trailed off, finding it hard to explain what had happened.
"Yeah." replied Mr. Ping.
Po bit his lip. "Then the strangest thing happened. I had this crazy vision. I think I saw my mom… and me… as a baby…"
Mr. Ping slowly stopped chopping as he took in what Po had just said. "Wa, wa, wow… a baby?"
"Uh, Dad, how do I say this?" Po said, glancing over at a picture of his younger self and his Dad. "Where did I come from?"
Eyes widening a fraction, Mr. Ping turned to Po with a sad smile. "Well, you see, son, uhhh… baby geese come from a little egg." He then pointed his feather at the panda. "Now don't ask me where the egg comes from!" He added quickly.
Po pinched the bridge between his nose. "Dad, that's not what I meant." He groaned.
Mr. Ping sighed. "I know it's not. I think it's time I told you something I should've told you a long time ago."
"Okay…" Po said nervously.
"You might have been kind of a… a…" Mr. Ping sounded a little strangled, as if what he was saying was incompatible with his vocal chords, "... adopted."
Po's eyes widened slightly. "I knew it!" He exclaimed.
Mr. Ping was surprised. "You knew? Oh, who told you?"
"No one, I mean, c'mon Dad!" Po said, pointing out that it was pretty obvious.
"But if you knew, why didn't you ever say anything?" Mr. Ping questioned.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Po shot back incredulously. "How did I get here, Dad? Where did I come from?"
Mr. Ping was silent for a moment before he hopped down from the kitchen bench and reached under it. "Actually… you came from this."
What the elderly goose pulled out from under the bench was a large wooden radish basket.
"It was just another day at the restaurant, time to make the noodles…" Mr. Ping said fondly, his mind going back to an earlier time in his life…
Years ago, a younger Mr. Ping stepped out through the back door to his restaurant and into the back alley, ready to collect his regular shipment of vegetables when he saw the radish box rattling like a demon possessed.
"I went out the back, where my vegetables had just been delivered. There were cabbages, turnips, and radishes. Only, there were no radishes."
The radish crate then toppled over, spilling over several half-eaten radishes and an infant panda covered in dirt.
"Just a very hungry baby panda."
Mr. Ping stared down at the baby panda in surprise as the baby panda burped before rolling over onto his back, cooing adorably.
"There was no note. Of course, you could've eaten it."
Hesitantly, Mr. Ping peered around the alley, only to find no-one around.
"I waited for someone to come look for you… but no one did."
Mr. Ping then picked up a crate full of cabbages and moved to carry it inside. The baby panda whimpered as he carried the food away before straight out bawling, causing Mr. Ping to stop.
The infant panda continued to cry as it lay on the ground before a small radish was gently rolled over to him. The baby's face immediately brightened as he grabbed the radish and took a large bite of it while Mr. Ping smiled at the infant fondly.
"I brought you inside…"
Mr. Ping then left a small trail of dumplings which the baby panda eagerly followed, leading him inside the kitchen where the elderly goose tossed the last dumpling into a large pot.
"Fed you…"
The panda baby climbed into the pot and cooed up at Mr. Ping as it nibbled the dumpling.
"Gave you a bath…"
Minutes later, Mr. Ping filled the pot with water as he scrubbed the dirt out of the panda's fur, the baby's face just peeking out of a mountain of bubbles.
"And fed you again…"
After the bath, the panda sat on the floor as Mr. Ping fed him a spoonful of his noodle soup. The baby panda eagerly consumed the noodles, including the entre spoon, which Mr. Ping quickly noticed as he pulled the spoon out of the panda's mouth, dismayed to find it covered in saliva.
"And again…"
Mr. Ping chopped up the vegetables rapidly, tossing each bit into the awaiting baby panda's mouth.
"I tried to put some pants on you…"
But before Mr. Ping could slip the cloth on, the panda began crawling around and giggling like this was some sort of game, bumping into a table and knocking over several bowls before ducking under a shelf.
The panda then tried to crawl out from under the shelf, but ended up bumping his head as he came out, a wok pan falling on his head.
Concerned, Mr. Ping approached the panda cub as the child began to cry. He then lightly grabbed the wok which was sitting on the child's head like a hat, gently turning the panda towards him.
The baby panda immediately stopped crying and started giggling up at the elderly goose who smiled lovingly down at the cub.
"And then I made a decision that would change my life forever…"
Later that same evening, Mr. Ping cooked a large pot of noodle soup before spooning out enough to fill a small bowl.
He then leapt down from the kitchen bench and brought the bowl over to the baby panda, who was sitting in the radish crate which had been reconfigured into a makeshift crib.
"To make my soup without radishes and to raise you as my own son. Xiao Po… my little panda. And from that moment on, both my soup and my life have been that much sweeter."
Snapping back to the present, Mr. Ping teared up as he tenderly stroked the edge of the basket.
"And, little Po, that's the end of the story." Mr. Ping said, his voice thick with emotion before he let out a watery laugh. "Look at me! No, don't look at me."
"That's it?" Po asked in mild disbelief. "That can't be it! There's gotta be more, Dad!"
"Well, there's that time you ate all my bamboo furniture. It was imported too." Mr. Ping said, handing a rabbit customer a Dragon Warrior size dumpling after being paid.
He then noticed Po's numb and unsatisfied look and he sighed. "Oh, Po. Your story may not have had such a happy beginning. But look how it turned out! You got me, you got kung fu, you got your friends, and you got noodles!"
"I know." Po replied despondently, holding the radish basket in his paws. "I just have so many questions like, how did I ever fit into this tiny basket? Why didn't I like pants?"
Po then gazed down at the basket, his eyes filled with uncertainty. "And… who am I?"
Mr. Ping couldn't offer any more words as he didn't have any more answers to give. All he could do was what he was best at; making noodles.
And unbeknownst to the two of them, four certain mutant terrapins gazed in through the window to the kitchen as they stood on top of the walls to the courtyard, having heard the whole thing.
Many miles away, through sandy deserts and over high mountains at the edge of the sea was the beautiful Gongmen City.
The city was teeming with life as people walked through the many streets, ships sailed out in the waters near the harbors.
But what stood out the most in this wondrous city was the Tower of the Sacred Flame, the former palace of the peacock royal family.
It was a tower taller than any building in the city, even the ones that sat in the hills, with several floors and a massive courtyard.
And in that courtyard were three individuals, two of which clashed their weapons together in a fierce sparring match.
Master Croc rolled across the ground before coming to his feet, holding his club sword in a defensive position as before charging at Master Storming Ox again, swiping his tail mace at him.
Master Storming Ox dodged the tail lash before swinging his double-bladed axe, the two blocking and parrying each other's blows while Master Thundering Rhino oversaw their training.
Off to the side was an old small goat, the same Soothsayer whom the royal family had consulted with when their son turned against them.
However, just outside the gates to the courtyard was a certain peacock strolling down the street towards the gates, his metal talons clicking on the cobblestone road.
The antelope guards assigned to guarding the palace immediately recognized the banished lord and brandished their spears.
But with one sweep of his wing, the guards tossed to the ground, injured or worse.
Swiftly slicing through the bar holding the gates shut, the doors to the courtyard were thrown wide open as the masters ceased their sparring and shifted their attention to the approaching figure.
A white peacock dressed in a snow white robe held together with a black belt, his long tail feathers trailing behind him as his metal talons clinked with each step he took.
"Shen?" Masters Rhino, Ox, and Croc all questioned in surprise at the sudden presence of the young lord.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen." Shen greeted them with a sly smirk. "Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, please leave my house."
"Your house?" Ox asked indignantly.
"Yes, did you not see the peacock on the front door?" Shen said sarcastically before spotting the old soothsayer. "Ah, there you are, Soothsayer. It seems that your fortune-telling skills were not as good as you thought."
The Soothsayer glared up at him. "We shall see, Shen." She said coldly.
"No, you shall see, old goat." Shen muttered bitterly under his breath. "Uh, where were we?" He asked, turning to the masters, his bright facade coming on again.
"What do you want, Shen?" Rhino demanded firmly.
"What is rightfully mine; Gongmen City!" Shen answered with finality.
"Gongmen is under the stewardship of the Masters Council, and we will protect it. Even from you." Rhino told him, firmly tapping the end of his hammer on the ground.
Shen simply chuckled. "I am so glad you feel that way. Otherwise, I'd have dragged that here for nothing."
At that moment, several wolves dragged a large and heavy-looking wooden crate into the courtyard.
"What's in the box, Shen?" Ox questioned.
"You want to see?" Shen asked innocently. "It's a gift. It's your parting gift. In that, it will part you. Part of you here, part of you there, and part of you way over there staining the wall!" He finished with a mad glint in his eyes.
"You insolent fool!" Ox snarled before leaping at Shen, only for the peacock to throw out a rope dagger that wrapped around one of Ox's horns.
In one swift movement, Ox was yanked to the ground by Shen as Croc went on the attack next.
Croc lunged at Shen, the peacock grabbing him mid-air before throwing him to the ground. The peacock then leapt into the air, throwing several knives which the crocodile quickly deflected with his club sword.
Landing, Shen blocked and deflected every attack Ox and Croc threw at him, their movements being that of a blur as Shen used his tail feathers to blind them before kicking Croc away and shoving Ox to the ground, subduing them.
Turning his attention to Master Rhino, Shen threw several sharp knives from his feathers his way, with Rhino blocking each knife with a twirl of his hammer, even deflecting one with his horn he thrusted his hammer forward, hitting Shen in the chest.
The thrust hit Shen hard as he was sent skidding back, digging his talons into the ground to stabilize himself while his many knives lay shattered on the ground.
"Showoff." He huffed.
"That was a warning." Rhino stated firmly. "You are no match for our kung fu."
"I agree…" Shen muttered before he smirked sinisterly. "... but this is."
In a split-second, he leapt backwards onto the wooden box as it fell apart, revealing a large tube carved into the shape of a dragon.
Shen perched on top of it while Rhino took a stance, feeling confident he could take whatever it was Shen had stored away.
The peacock smirked as he used his talons to light a spark on the fuse.
There was a brief hissing sound before the tube spit out a sparkling round metal ball that seemed to move at the speed of light.
Master Rhino didn't even have time to react as the ball hit him and the perimeter around him exploded in a cloud of red smoke.
And as the cloud cleared, Rhino was nowhere to be found, his hammer that lay on the scorched ground being all that remained of him.
Shen leapt off his new weapon as a giant cloaked figure approached him from behind.
"You know what to do, General Ch'rell." Shen said.
The figure nodded before heading over to the unconscious Ox and Croc. "Take them away!" He ordered, his voice sounding through robotic sounding speakers.
And into the courtyard stepped several metallic men, all of them with a brain-like creature plugged into their chests.
The Kraang.
Done. In the words of Doctor Strange, "Things just got outta hand."
Also, quick aside, I'm gonna have to break a few hearts here; it is not Utrom Shredder. I know his name is General Ch'rell, but it is not the same one from the 2003 series. All will be explained later in the story.