4. Go in and win!

Po was halfway happy about not having to stand at the edge of the field all the time, so that he had a few minutes to prepare for the fight. He went back to his friends and stood resolutely on his feet.

"Okay, do any of you already know who I have to compete against first?"

"Against a certain Bagula from South America," Viper explained to him.

"Wow, he has come a long way."

"I think, it took 10 times longer for him."

"How so?"

"Well, he's a…" Viper nodded towards the battlefield, where Po's opponent had already stood cross-legged.

Po's jaw dropped. "A sloth? Are you joking?"

"Don't underestimate him, Po," Monkey whispered to him. "Some also call him the 'Sleeping Lightning'."

"That's what it looks like."

At that moment, the announcer, a little monkey, stepped forward again and announced the first fight. "First round: the Dragon Warrior Po against Bagula from Brazil."

Po took a deep breath. "Phew, okay, wish me luck."

Bravely, he stepped forward into the open field. Once there, he turned to the masters and bowed. His gaze wandered to his first opponent, who was just putting his hands together and making a very, very slow bow.

Po frowned and just hoped they didn't want to fool him with some kind of laugh as a starting frequency. The panda stepped into the middle of the field. The sloth, however, needs a while before it stands in front of the panda. Po twisted his mouth. If this went on for the whole fight, he'd win the first round faster than he'd thought.

A rabbit, who was the referee, joined them. It raised its paws and both opponents took up positions. Po was ready immediately, but he had to wait almost half a minute until Bagula had finally taken up the fighting stance.

"That will be an easy fight," thought Po, a little disappointed.

"Should he compete against him?" Zedong asked and the corners of his beak sank down. "He could win at a canter."

He looked up at his father, but Shen had crossed his wings and was just looking down grimly.

"Maybe it's just a joke for the start," Fantao said while he ate from his noodle bowl.

Shen snorted. "Remember one thing, my boy. Kung fu masters never crack a joke."

"No jokes? Not even a little jest?"

Jian leaned forward curiously. "Does that mean they do never laugh?"

"Only if you fall on your beak," Shen growled quietly.

Fantao looked at him blankly. "Huh?"

"Eat your soup," his father hissed at him.

Po was sure that he could win the first round immediately, but his friends had their doubts.

"Why is he called the 'Sleeping Lightning'?" Mantis asked.

Viper leaned over to him. "They say he doesn't become active until ten o'clock."

"And what time is it now?"

Crane looked up at the sun. "Ten o'clock."

The rabbit gave the signal and the fight was opened. Immediately, Po attacked, but in such a way that he didn't hit too hard. His paws were aimed precisely at the sloth, but before he could touch it, the sloth avoided him and suddenly it stood behind the panda. Po looked around in amazement. His friends stood further away with their mouths open.

"How did he do that?" Mantis asked.

The sloth stood on its legs, but it didn't look like it had tried hard. Po launched another attack. But when he tried to kick at him, the sloth kicked Pos foot aside. Po lost his balance and spun around his own axis. He managed to brake just in time before he flew out of the battlefield.

"Wow, did you see that?" Zedong asked in surprise.

Fantao had almost choked on his soup. "Totes adorbs," he muttered.

Shen didn't listen to his children's comments. His eyes were only focused on the fight. Meanwhile, the panda had found the balance again and tried again to weaken his opponent with attacks, but Bagula always fended them off with one turn of the panda.

Shen's eyes narrowed. When he saw the panda fighting from afar, it reminded him of before. At that time, he had competed against him. How hard he had tried and he had to lose to a fat panda of all places. How would it have ended if he had defeated him?

"Shen?" the goat asked worriedly when she noticed his hateful look. "Would you like to go out briefly?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" the white peacock scolded. "And please let go of my robe!"

Actually, the goat just wanted to distract him, but the effect didn't last long.

Gradually, Po got all the shoving around and being spun around slowly becoming too much and now he went even more violently on the offensive. But the sloth seemed to be watching him in slow motion. Again and again, it redirected the attacks. Po got dizzy and began to stagger. The friends feared the worst. But when the panda was unable to attack for a moment, Bagula attacked him.

"Po! Be careful!" the five shouted in unison.

Po raised his arms and protected his upper body. Bagula's fist slipped on him and landed in his stomach. The sloth bounced off his body and rolled across the floor. When it finally came to a standstill, the friends held their breath. The dust cleared away. The crowd cheered. Bagula was outside of the ring. The sloth sat there completely confused at first, then it lay down tired.

The referee ran over to him, then he pointed to Po. The raging of the audience grew louder. The first round won the Dragon Warrior.

In surprise, Po rubbed his stomach. "And once again my belly saved me."

He smiled. Maybe it would be fun after all.

Zedong had jumped from his seat. "That was great, wasn't it, dad?"

But Shen just raised his beak rebelliously. "Mmpf, all just unnecessary stupid playthings."

A little further away, Mr. Ping stood there and had nibbled off the tips of his wings in excitement. When the fight ended in his son's favor, he jumped up cheering and shook Mr. Han by the collar. "I knew he was going to win! I knew it! I knew it!"

"Po, your first round was great!" Viper congratulated when Po went back to them.

Mantis just bowed his head. "Well, if only semi-elegant."

The panda waved it off. "Oh, luckily he caught me in the wrong place."

Exhausted, he sat down on a bench while Monkey handed him a bottle of water. The panda accepted it gratefully.

"But don't get frisky now," Tigress warned him seriously. "The other opponents will not be so easy to beat."

Crane frowned. "That didn't look easy at the beginning either."

"Hey, Sheng's next!" Viper exclaimed excitedly.

Po jumped up. "Oh, I have to see that!"

The piebald peacock had meanwhile gone into the ring with his opponent. The monkey read the note aloud. "The next ones are Sheng from China against Yamato from Japan."

Po looked at the big Asian black bear in awe. "Wow, he found a strong opponent."

The panda frowned. Perhaps he had misjudged Master Ox and the ox wanted Sheng to lose in the first round.

"And I was hoping my distant relative would become my first opponent."

"Maybe that will come soon," Viper said. "Everyone who loses in the first round still has the opportunity to win in the second round."

Xia craned her neck. It was quite unusual for her to see her big brother standing in the arena. Yin-Yu was a little concerned that he might get injured, even though she knew that her husband had trained well with him. Since Shen started taking his medication regularly, he was back to the fighting skills he had been before.

Zedong stood on his chair and called out loud to his brother: "Give him hell!"

"Zedong, please, not so loud," the old goat warned and asked him to sit down again. Her gaze shifted back to Shen. But he didn't seem particularly concerned. The goat swallowed hard and wondered how long this seemingly peaceful atmosphere would last.

At that moment, the referee gave the signal and the fight between peacock and bear began. The Asian black bear immediately hit the peacock. But Sheng dodged the attacks skillfully and even defended them skillfully. His movements were smooth and quick, yet it looked like Yamato was gaining the upper hand.

Mantis vibrated with his antennas. "Well, if you ask me, it won't be so bad if he doesn't make the first round."

At that moment, a murmur went through the crowd. The friends looked ahead. Yamato was on the floor and couldn't get up.

Immediately, the referee rushed to the defeated Japanese, then he pointed to Sheng. The fight was over.

The mouths of the six friends remained open. They hadn't seen a fight end that quickly.

Po only knew one answer to this. "Wow, he trained really well."

The blue-green-white peacock was just leaving the square. The panda could take it to congratulate him. "Hey, great moves!" he called to him and raised his thumb. In response, Sheng bowed respectfully and he even smiled.

"Sheng won! Sheng won!" Zedong exclaimed enthusiastically. "That was so cool!"

Xia had no way of holding the excited boy because she had to calm her mother in the wings.

The other children were also enthusiastic. Even Shenmi jumped down from her chair and tugged excitedly at her father's robe. "Papa, did you see that?!"

But Shen didn't respond. He had noticed the cheerful gesture between his son and this panda and his eyes narrowed in contempt.

The fighting went smoothly. At least for Po. Even against a participant from Africa, a nimble lion, he had an easy game. But Sheng did not do badly either. Much to the relief of his mother, who audibly breathed a sigh of relief every time he left the ring unscathed.

"Po!" Viper called during a short pause. "You're lucky. Yamato made it to the half-round. That means that you can compete against him."

"Really?" Inwardly, Po jumped in the air. "Panda strong! I have to go there immediately!"

Po couldn't wait to return to the ring, where the black bear was waiting for him.

"Hi, buddy," Po greeted. "What's up?"

The big black bear grumbled something, but it sounded more like a bad-tempered growl. He stood in front of the panda with his arms crossed and didn't seem to be in the mood for small talk.

Po shrugged. "Not very talkative, huh? But okay, we could have a chat later, now first the pleasure before business,... no, that was first the business and then the chatting... Or was it the other way around?"

The rabbit next to them clapped his paws and gestured to bow before they took their positions. Po rocked excitedly back and forth on his toes. He couldn't wait to get started.

Monkey covered his eyes. "I can't bear to look."

The monkey winced when the rabbit called out to begin. Cries of battle, blows and kicks followed. Monkey ducked his head when the crowd gave a short scream.

"Did it get him badly?" Monkey asked anxiously.

"Open your eyes," Viper said.

Reluctantly, the monkey put his hands down. His mouth stayed open. The black bear was lying on the ground and Po stood beside it cheering. The crowd jubilated, too.

In a good mood, Po went over to his friends again, who looked at him in astonishment.

"How did you do it so quickly?" Monkey asked, completely confused.

Po smiled sheepishly. "Well, I copied a few etiquettes from Sheng. Didn't you notice that there is one area where Yamato is particularly vulnerable? Sheng has a lot to offer."

Monkey scratched his head. "So if you have now won this round, then you are now in the final."

"Really?" Po looked around in surprise. "Are we through that fast? How sad. Oh well. Anyway, that was great! We should do something like that every week."

"Just don't let Shifu hear that," Viper warned with a smile. "He would tell you: You should gather your strength and not just spend it on competitions."

Po laughed and drank from his water bottle. At that moment, Mantis jumped up and had a quick look at the list. "Po, your opponent for the finals is certain!"

Po put the bottle aside and pressed her paws together. "Alright! Who is it?"

"Sheng."