5. Being There Is Everything
"Don't you think, we should have put him off until next year?" Master Croc asked with a concerned look at the final round.
"Are you kidding?" Master Ox crossed his arms. "I was just waiting for that."
Master Croc's gaze wandered to Master Shifu. But the little master did not want to interfere in this matter. They could only wait and see what would happen, which is why he stayed at the jury table as calmly as possible. In contrast to Po, who nervously paced up and down behind the walls. His friends watch him thoughtfully. At last, Mantis made up his mind to say something. "Do you want to walk around like that all the time now?"
Po stopped abruptly. "If it calms me down, then yes."
"There's no point in making yourself so crazy," Viper said.
"She's right," Monkey agreed, and that also met with approval from Crane. "Just go out there and take things as they come."
Po's gaze wandered to Tigress. The tigress crossed her arms and gave him a neutral look. "You can't do anything about it anyway, Po. You have to compete against him one way or the other."
The panda swallowed. "I'm not necessarily worried that I might lose to him," Po said in defense. "It's much more that…"
Viper looked horrified. "You're not considering letting him win deliberately, are you?"
The others stared at Po. The panda stood there looking like he was saying yes, but then he shook his head violently. "No, no, no, no… What gives you that idea? That would be… that would be…" But then he seemed to think again. "Or would it?"
Tigress pricked up her ears as the announcer announced the final battle. "Po, the time has come."
Po noticed how he got weak knees again. "Oh, okay, well then, I have to go out now, right?"
"Uh, yes," Viper confirmed and smiled at him. "You have to go out now."
"Okay." Slowly, Po took a few steps towards the arena, then he paused again and looked uncertainly at his friends. "And you are really sure that this is the final? I mean, isn't there an interim final, too? Or a pre-final? Ouch!"
Mantis had kicked the panda hard in the buttocks. Po stumbled forward and almost fell. Outside he was greeted by the loud calls of the audience. A little scared, Po ducked his head and he kneaded his fingers nervously. Then he marched with almost mechanical steps towards the battlefield that was already familiar to him. Sheng wasn't there yet, so Po had to go solo to the court. Once there, he looked around searching. Maybe Sheng had canceled? But Po couldn't imagine that he would do this to his father.
Po's gaze wandered to his teacher at the jury table, but Shifu didn't change a single expression. The panda took a deep breath and looked up at the stands. He almost winced when Shen's eyes met him, slamming at him like knives. Yin-Yu, on the other hand, had placed a wing on her daughter's wing and looked rather worried.
Po was about to run to the jury table and call off the whole thing when suddenly the shouts of the crowd got louder. Po's gaze wandered forward and Sheng really came up to him. The blue-green and white piebald peacock had folded his wings under his shirt and was walking across the square as gracefully as possible. A queasy feeling rose in Po when the peacock finally came to a standstill less than one meter in front of him. The panda had been looking forward to this debut, but now that he was facing Shen's son, the pleasant anticipation turned into deep concern. He might even have liked to have a little chat with him before they started, instead all the theories and questions were now going through his head. What if Shen had died then? Sheng's mother had only informed him of his real father's origins after his defeat in Gongmen City. Would Sheng have investigated and at some point, appeared before him as an avenger? Po shook her head inwardly. But Shen wasn't dead and Sheng only stood here to face him - under the eyes of his father.
Po looked at Sheng carefully. But there was also a hint of uncertainty on the peacock's face. Had he been brooding over their upcoming fight the whole time, too?
Finally, both turned to the three masters in silence. Master Ox gave a relaxed impression, Master Shifu sat in a tight posture and Master Croc nibbled down his fingernails.
Peacock and panda put their paws and wings together and bowed to the jury. Then they turned to each other and bowed again to each other. Then they lifted their hands.
"It's starts, it's starts!" Zedong exclaimed excitedly and jumped up and down his chair.
"Zedong, boy, please," the old goat admonished, struggling to calm the boy, although she would like to calm Shen if he would let her. The white peacock was standing already through all the fights instead of sitting down. But she hadn't missed the fact that Shen's finger feathers were literally digging into the railing. In contrast to Yin-Yu. Somehow, she was scared. She didn't like the way the two faced each other. Po and Sheng gave a rather insecure impression, as if they were worried that one of them would attack with cannons rather than punches and kicks. Finally, the referee stepped up beside them. He clapped his paws and the fight was opened. The Furious Five stood as close as possible to the action and watched intently. But then…
Instead of the panda and peacock jumping at each other, as expected, they just walked in circles with their arms and wings raised. Somehow, neither of them seemed to really dare to attack. Each of them also looked tense. Po literally fought against himself.
"Come on, you can do it, you can do it," he kept telling himself. "Just hit him. Then he will react…"
But then he remembered Shen was watching him. What if he even jumped into the arena and attacked him? The thought seemed ridiculous to Po, but what if Shen went mad again? Images from the past came back to his mind. The destructive frenzy, this hatred, this ruthlessness…
"Hey!" Sheng shouted and struck. Obviously, the piebald peacock had finally made it through to be the first. But maybe just so as not to make his father look ridiculous. Po skillfully fended off his wingbeats with his paws and even dared to push forward. But Sheng swung over the panda and landed behind him. Suddenly, it was like a flash of light through Po's head. He knew these moves from the past. Shen must have practiced these moves with his son. Po could foresee what Sheng would do next to counter him. The attacks were agile and fast, but not as powerful without weapons. The panda endured Sheng's attacks for a while. Then he aimed for the next move with all the force his paws and Sheng was pushed backwards with full force. The crowd jumped from their seats. If he fell out of the ring, he would be disqualified. But the peacock held up and was able to slow his fall just in time.
Tension was building in the stands. Shenmi was so excited that she had to fold something out of her table napkin. Jian kept tugging on his instrument and was always interrupted by Xia. Zedong, on the other hand, kept shouting to his brother. And Yin-Yu was more concerned about Shen than about her older son at that moment. But Shen remained standing like a statue. Nobody could tell what was going on inside him.
By now, Sheng had moved back to the center of the ring. Po looked at him worried. Was he mad at him now? To his relief, the peacock resumed his fighting stance, and he even smiled. "Come on," the peacock said. "Let's have fun."
At first, Po was irritated. But then he laughed. "Alright!"
Again, both took up fighting stance. Then Po attacked the peacock with blows and kicks. Then Sheng. Then Po back again. Then Sheng again, so that one kept pushing the other forward and backwards, which looked like a back and forth.
Master Ox and Master Croc exchanged irritated looks.
"What the hell are they doing there?" Master Ox asked indignantly.
Mantis shook his head. "I don't want to interfere, but it looks like they're playing kung fu ping-pong like first-graders."
Tigress covered her face with her paw. A kung fu fight at a championship competition couldn't look more embarrassing. In addition, the two of them laughed again and again when one of them pushed the other too hard.
The peacock children Zedong and Fantao couldn't understand this strange kung fu game either. Zedong looked questioningly at the old goat. "Do kung fu fighters always do that in a final?"
The goat forced a smile. "There's always a first time, boy," she said, stroking his head, although it wasn't easy for her to keep calm. If the children noticed that, what would…
"Stop this!" Shen yelled.
The goat couldn't believe what she was seeing. Shen had jumped up and was now standing on the parapet. The people in the stadium were loud, but Po and Sheng could clearly hear Shen's roaring. Both of them froze in their movements for a moment and looked up at Shen.
"Po!" Shifu called now, too. The little master had jumped up from his seat and was standing on the table. "Think of the honor of our village!"
The competitors looked at each other. They had to realize that they couldn't play back and forth forever. For better or for worse, they had to give all their strength to the fight.
Po was torn this way and that. If he won, he feared he would humiliate Shen. But if he lost on purpose, he would disappoint his friends and his master, and maybe Sheng, too.
Sadly, he looked at the piebald peacock. "I'm sorry."
Now Po performed his punches stronger. Sheng reacted faster and avoided him. For a short time, he used his peacock's fan as a protective shield, but this time, Po didn't let that irritate him as he did with Shen. He broke through the long tail feathers and hit Sheng with maximum force in the chest, almost knocking the peacock down if he hadn't been so well balanced.
"Oops." Remorseful, Po bit his lower lip. He hadn't meant to strike that hard.
"Po!" Shifu yelled at him. "Now please pull yourself together!"
"Give him hell!" Master Ox yelled, much to Master Croc's astonishment, because the jury was actually not allowed to take sides. At least, the roar was almost drowned out by the cheering of the crowd. Even Shen's curses almost faded, but Sheng being a peacock, had an excellent hearing, he could, albeit unfortunately, understand every single word which his father was yelling at him.
"Po, you are the Dragon Warrior!" Shifu tried the more diplomatic way.
Po raised his eyebrows. "Oh yes, right, I'm the Dragon Warrior. I almost forgot again."
Po jumped forward and tried to kick Sheng out of the ring, but Sheng dodged again, jumped behind the panda and hit him in the back.
"Ouch!" Po rubbed his back. "Fine. Then now on everything! Dragon power!"
Po jumped up and tried to attack Sheng from above. Sheng also jumped up, spurred on. In the air, their feet hit each other. Then they fell down again and both of them rolled briefly over the floor, but immediately they jumped up again. Then they attacked each other again with kicks, punches and retreats. Po was more the one who hit hard, and Sheng being more the supple evasive.
Master Ox became more and more angry, so that Master Croc's words could not appease him. Shen also kept shouting to his son not to embarrassed him.
After all, the panda and the fighting peacock had enough from being yelled at. With a loud outcry, they ran at each other. As soon as they met, the dust flew and enveloped them in a cloud of dust.
For a brief moment, there was silence. None of the audience could see anything. Finally, the dust cleared. The hard clash between the two fighters had almost knocked Sheng to the edge of the ring. But he was still standing, albeit in a slightly hunched position. The mouths of the five friends dropped. It was impossible. After such a blow from Po, no opponent had stood upright until now. With panting, the peacock stood on shaky legs. You could also see that Po was out of breath, but he was still much more stable than the peacock.
The Furious Five craned their necks. Would Sheng keep fighting?
Sheng rose. Po narrowed his eyes and was ready for another attack. But then, Sheng pressed his wings together and bowed his head. The crowd let out a loud murmur. Sheng gave up voluntarily. The fight was over. The referee pointed to Po. The audience burst into loud cheers.
"This is my son!" Mr. Ping shouted enthusiastically.
"Dragon Warrior! Dragon Warrior! Dragon Warriors!" everyone shouted.
Po looked around in confusion. "Does that mean I won?"
"You did it, Po!" Monkey shouted and shortly afterwards, Po saw himself surrounded by his friends.
"You are the kung fu champion!" Viper congratulated him.
"Me, a champion?" At first, Po stood there completely indifferent. Then it finally got through to him. "Yeah! I'm the champion! I'm the champion!"
He punched his arms in the air and hopped up and down, cheering. But in the next moment, he was grabbed by Master Ox and was almost lifted.
"That was a top performance, Dragon Warrior!" the ox praised him exaggeratedly. "Because you taught him a lesson!"
"Taught? Oh." Sobered, Po dropped his arms and his eyes searched for his former opponent.
"Hey, it had been a good fight," he heard Sheng say. Immediately, Po turned to the peacock, who was still a little exhausted and reached out his wing. Reluctantly, Po took the wing in his paw.
"But I'll be better next time," Sheng said, smiling weakly. "Maybe I'll even win."
Po raised the corners of his mouth and shook the wing. "I'm looking forward to it."
The panda couldn't help, but he gave Sheng a big panda hug, which Sheng endured with only half enthusiasm. His gaze wandered up to the stands, but his father had left the stands.