6. Aspersions

The award ceremony took place immediately afterwards on the arena square. But before the participants could receive their prizes and certificates, Po was first requisitioned by his father.

"Po! That was great!" he shouted, wrapping his wings around the fat panda belly.

The panda was a little embarrassed and gently he pushed his dad aside. "It's okay, dad. It was just a competition…"

"That was great, Dragon Warrior!" a loud voice congratulated him from the side suddenly. Po's eyes almost popped out of his head as he stared into the face of another familiar person. "King Wang? Are you here, too?"

"I couldn't miss my favorite warrior's first big fight," the Hun King said with a laugh and punched the panda in the side.

Po flushed a little with embarrassment. "Oh, that's very nice."

At that moment, Sheng saw his family, or at least most of the family, approaching.

His mother greeted him with her open wings. "Oh boy, I'm so glad nothing happened to you."

She hugged him warmly. The peacock was all the more relieved when he was replaced by his sister, who only gave him a brief hug. "At least you made it to the second round," she said with a smile.

Zedong came trotting close behind her, looking less enthusiastic. "Don't look so disappointed now," Xia said. "At least, he's now kung fu runner-up."

Zedong twisted his beak. "Still, I would have preferred if Sheng had won."

Sheng smiled and patted his head. "Maybe next time. Who knows, maybe you'll be a winner one day."

Zedong raised his beak. "I'll be better than you someday anyway."

He raised his wings to a combat position. Sheng laughed and made the same. "But then you still have to practice a lot." He looked around. "Where is father?"

"Dad ran away after your blunder," Zedong replied.

"Boy!" the old goat cried indignantly and took the boy aside. "What kind of expressions do you have today?"

But Sheng didn't let that bother him and leaned down to his little brother. "And where did he go?"

Zedong craned his neck and whispered something to his older brother. As soon as he was finished, Sheng wanted to go, but the old goat held him by the sleeve.

"Wait, you still have to go to the awards ceremony!" she said. "And better give him some more time," she told him. "He has to calm down first."

Sheng let a few hours pass before venturing into the area where Zedong saw his father go. It was the most remote part of the kung fu arena area. Between the many trees, there was always a stone statue that represented the winners of the kung fu competitions. The largest was a turtle, which represented the great Master Oogway, but Shen was not attracted to it. Instead, after some searching, Sheng found his father in front of the statue of the former master, Master Thundering Rhino. The white peacock knelt in front of it in a crouched position, his wings pressed firmly to the ground and his gaze lowered.

Reluctantly, Sheng stepped closer to him. He didn't know why his father had chosen this statue for his whereabouts, but at the moment something else was on his mind.

"Father," he began hesitantly, "the others are already celebrating. Don't you wanna come with me? After all, I'm now runner-up. That's really something."

Silence was all he got in response. Even the posture of the white peacock hadn't changed.

Sheng let out an insulted snort. "Don't you ever talk to me again now?"

Again, there was no reaction. Finally, Sheng turned away. "In case you should still think about it, we are in the headquarters of the arena area."

He had just taken a step when the white peacock raised his frustrated voice. "How do you dare talking about something like that after this defeat?"

Sheng looked at his father in amazement. "You are talking as if this were going around the world. It was just a competition."

"Just a competition?" Now, finally the white peacock got up and turned to his son with a dark look. "It was about family honor! And today, you disappointed them."

Sheng took a deep breath before responding. "Okay, I didn't win. But I enjoyed it."

Shen shook his head in disbelief. "So do you enjoy losing?"

Sheng narrowed his eyes. "I finished second. For someone who had never taken on professionals before, it was a masterpiece. Maybe you're just not used to losing, because you never want to lose."

Shen's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Then he just turned his back on his son.

"Father, I don't want to be disrespectful," Sheng tried to behave as best he could. "One big defeat was enough for you back then, but I also have to go through my own defeats and I have to accept them."

Shen let out a scornful snort. "Mmpf, what a mean set of thoughts."

"Father, it's not that I don't know how much a victory means to you," Sheng tried again. "But if I never go out, how am I supposed to test my limits? There is not just this competition. There are many others. I can still improve."

There was a minute's silence before Shen made a sentence, and that sentence sounded extremely annoyed. "I never pressured you to be good at a martial art, and now you put yourself under pressure."

"What pressure?" his son asked in surprise. "I enjoy measuring my strength against others. How else should I know where I can still improve?"

Shen hugged himself and ducked his head, his shoulders tensing extremely. "As soon as you are not good enough, they will jettison you!"

Sheng rubbed his forehead, but he kept calm as much as possible. "Even if I don't become the master, they are still my friends."

Shen turned his head back to his son, looking at him with hatred. "They will despise you! Just like they did to me."

Sheng was almost startled at Shen's gruesome eyes, as if he was already mentally planning to torture everyone, which is why Sheng tried it with mild words. "Maybe it's because you never had friends. You should learn not to see the world so gloomy, there are also bright spots in life. You're not alone…"

"Don't give me that colorful-ideal-world!" the white peacock cut him off and turned harshly to him. "I've seen more than enough to understand that you can't trust anyone except yourself!"

Sheng narrowed his eyes. "And besides mother, right?"

The white peacock looked down. "She's smart enough to see this." His eyes drifted back to him. "And you should do the same."

Sheng's posture tightened. "So you're seriously asking me to give up kung fu completely, don't you?"

Shen was silent at first before answering otherwise. "That will save you from disappointment at least."

Sheng was getting angry. "You can stay in Yin Yan City for the rest of your life if you want," the younger peacock growled, "but I want to live my life and achieve something. In this way, I can also work on a reputation."

Shen let out a vicious hiss. "You don't seem to care what reputation I have to lose from you! You cannot build that up through defeats!"

Sheng drew in a sharp breath. "What good reputation do you have to lose? You didn't get a good one back then-"

The young peacock broke off abruptly. Shen lunged at him, but Sheng fought him off with his wings. Hard blows and kicks from each followed until their wings clashed and they came to a standstill in this position. Panting, father and son stared into each other's eyes. For a while each one pushed the other away, then their body tensions eased until they finally lowered their wings. They stood in silence for a while, then Sheng took a step backwards, not taking his eyes off his father.

"Be honest, father," he said seriously. "When was the last time you really felt joy in your life?"

When there was no answer, Sheng turned and walked away in frustration. Shen watched his son go for a while before he turned back to the statue of Master Thundering Rhino and stopped in that position. He was so absorbed in his resentment that he did not notice the white figure in the bushes that belonged to little Shenmi.

Angrily, Sheng swung open a side door to the large building for the kung fu fighters and immediately slammed it shut again with a loud bang. Then he leaned against it and stared bitterly at the floor. His father hadn't talked to him like this for a long time and it annoyed him immensely that he somehow never found the right words to finally find access to him. His soul was still so eaten away by his black past that it could no longer be mended for all the holes. No matter how long he had lived with his father, whom he had not known until he was 17, he could not remember the last time he had seen him really happy or cheerful. Even with the small children, he always looked reserved. His smile was seldom warm, rather tortured and cautious, as if he were harming his health with the joy of his heart.

Sheng raised his head when Po came towards him in the hallway. The panda had been a little worried and had left the party for a moment. He looked at the piebald peacock expectantly. "And? How did it go?"

Sheng looked somber at the panda. "Can't you guess it?"

In contrition, Po put his fingers together. "Well, maybe I could imagine a little. - But maybe he'll calm down again."

Sheng looked down. "That would take a miracle."

Sadly, Po looked at him sideways. "Is he really that disappointed?"

The peacock sighed and looked seriously at the panda. "How disappointed was he with you when he lost to you?"

Po winced at the thought of their final battle in Gongmen City. The defeat had given pain to Shen in a bad way and then the ensuing outburst of anger at the shipwreck…

"Oookaaay," Po said after a while of sobering thoughts. "I think, we'd need a very, very little miracle in that case." He put his thumb and forefinger together. "Maybe at least a very tiny one."

Sheng looked away from him and walked past him. But then he paused again. "Oh, by the way, thank you."

Po raised his eyebrows in surprise. "For what?"

"For fighting honestly and not deliberately letting me win."

Po's mouth stayed open for a moment before he shrugged. "No problem, buddy."

They nodded to each other, then Sheng went on his way again while Po watched him go.

"Nice guy," he said after a minute of silence and his gaze wandered to the door that led outside. Maybe he should put in a good word for him with Shen after all.

Shenmi was still crouching in the bush, hoping her father would run after Sheng. But the girl waited in vain. Shen stood there motionless and gave the impression that he wanted to stand as decoration in the landscape for the rest of his life. While the peacock girl was pondering feverishly whether to hug her father, she heard him mumble something.

"Even after your death you have to humiliate me," she heard him curse softly. Shen looked up at the statue of Master Thundering Rhino. "It gave me such satisfaction to see you die, but even now you want to plunge me into the depths with your kung fu. And for that you have to take my son? It's really not enough for you that you had humiliated me in front of my father!"

At that moment, Shenmi jerked her head up when she heard a crack in the underbrush. Shen had heard the sound too and raised his peacock crest. Was he expecting his son to come back?

Shenmi tried to locate the source of the crackling footsteps and saw a large shadow between the trees. Just as Shenmi was about to get up and approach the shadow, as she suspected her brother, the figure suddenly started to move. Shenmi realized too late that it wasn't Sheng and the scream got stuck in her throat as the big shadow pounced on Shen. Shen responded immediately, fending off the great shadow. The great Asian black bear Yamato landed on the ground with a loud rumble. But before the white peacock could ask the reason for this rowdy intrusion, the bear straightened up with a loud roar and attacked Shen again. Shen fended him off with punches and kicks, which only halfway stopped the kung fu fighter.

Shenmi, terrified, quickly ran away. She really wanted to bring help. Meanwhile, Shen had put his feather knives out. But the great black bear raced towards him like a steamroller and hurled the peacock at the nearest stone statue. For a moment, the white peacock was stunned. He hadn't fought such a tough fight in a long time. But before he could counterattack, the bear was suddenly hit from the side and he passed out on the ground.

The peacock raised his head in surprise. His face darkened suddenly when the panda appeared behind the fallen kung fu fighter.

With an effort, Shen rose and smoothed his disheveled feathers. "I would have been able to deal with that on my own!"

Po curled his lips. "Yes of course. Was clearly visible."

Shen turned to him harshly. "I'm not as easy to defeat as my son!"

"Ah yes, that's exactly why I came and wanted to talk about it."

"There's nothing left to talk about!" Shen snapped at him, tearing his robe around.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Po warned with a raised paw. "Now take a deep breath and come down again…"

"Leave me alone!" Shen yelled at him. "Go back to where you came from with your pack and leave me alone!"

The white peacock suddenly gasped and leaned his upper body with his wings on the statue of Master Thundering Rhino. Po raised his eyebrows when he noticed Shen digging his finger feathers into the stone.

For a while the panda didn't know what to say and tapped his fingers together. Then his gaze wandered back to the opponent lying on the ground and wondered why the Japanese had freaked out.

At the headquarters, Sheng had gone back to the party hall. His mother lifted her head when she saw him come in and immediately, she noticed that her older son did not look happy.

The room was a large hall, where not only the participants, but also their families and friends were allowed in. Everyone at the tables had their own group. The five, the masters, Shen's family and also Soothsayer and King Wang occupied part of the room to themselves, with Mr. Ping who was distributing the remaining noodles here and there.

Jian noticed his mother's worried expression and looked up at her uncertainly. "Mom, is Sheng not allowed to go home now?"

Yin-Yu looked at him in amazement. "But boy, what gives you that idea? Of course, he can go home with us again. At the moment, your father is just something…" She looked for the right expression, but the old goat came to her aid.

"Don't worry, my boy," she said, rubbing the boy's back. "Your father is angry with someone sometimes. That can happen anytime…"

"Mom! Mom!" In the next moment, little Shenmi came running in and threw herself against her mother. "A big bear is attacking papa!"

Yin-Yu didn't understand anything at first. "You mean Po?"

"Po?" The five friends looked up in surprise.

But Shenmi shook her head violently. "No, a big bear, he wants to kill him!"

Xia couldn't believe what she was hearing and exchanged a confused look with her brother Sheng. But he could only shrug his shoulders helplessly. As much as he was mad at his father, he would never want to thread something like that.

"That's ridiculous," her mother said finally, to calm the excited girl. But Shenmi wouldn't let her continue and dragged her mother by the dress behind her. The five and the masters, who had also become aware of Shenmi's fear, quickly rose from their seats and followed her outside.

The panda leaned over the knocked out beaten black bear. "Wow, my kung fu heel was right." His questioning gaze wandered to Shen. "What did he want from you?"

He was literally startled at Shen's dark look. "Did I say something wrong?"

The panda took two steps back as Shen's wings clenched into fists. "You kung fu fanatics are all fools! You always have to put down everyone who stands in your way!"

Po scratched his head helplessly. "Could you perhaps explain it so that I can understand it, too?"

At that moment, a small blue-green-and-white figure jumped out of the thicket. "Where is the enemy?!" Zedong shouted and looked around searchingly on all sides.

"PAPA! PAPA! PAPA!" Immediately, Shenmi ran up to Shen. "Did he hurt you? Did he hurt you?!"

"No, no. Don't worry, don't worry. I'm fine. Everything is fine." The white peacock took Shenmi comfortably in his wings.

Now he saw not only his family and Soothsayer, but also the Masters, the Five and even King Wang running towards him along with an excited Mr. Ping. Sheng and Shen's eyes met only briefly and immediately they avoided each other again. For one thing, Sheng was glad that nothing happened to his father, but neither of them had forgotten the argument from earlier.

"What monkey business have you been getting to?!" Master Ox rumbled immediately and his gaze fell on the Japanese lying on the ground. "Have you taken out your frustration on someone again?!"

The white peacock rose indignantly. "What's the point of your allegations? He attacked me."

Master Ox's gaze fell on Po. "Is that true?"

Po moved her lips hesitantly. "Uh… yes, yes! It wasn't his fault this time. He started it. I just can approve that…"

"Panda!" Shen interrupted him loudly. "Stop talking! You weren't here until later. Do not defend me in matters that you are not able to make a statement about!"

Po put on an offended expression. "Sorry, I just wanted to help you…"

"Po!" Mr. Ping cried. "What was going on?"

Also his friends wanted to know the reason for the whole commotion. But all the panda could give was a shrug. "I don't know. I really don't know."

For Master Ox, however, the case seemed perfectly clear. "Are you going to give everyone a kick out of your son just to make you feel better?"

"Do you want to assume me…?!"

"Oohohoo, no fight!" Quickly, the panda squeezed himself between the ox and the peacock and raised his paws. "And besides, if it were only about the competition," he pointed to the beaten opponent, "then he would have to be mad at me, too. After all, he failed in the half-round because of me."

At that moment, Xia joined the conversation. "Maybe we should ask the "victim" first when it wakes up."

"That's a good idea," Po agreed.

Suddenly, as if on cue, everyone heard a groan. The black bear came to again. Po thought it best to be the first to start a conversation from relative-to-relative and waved over his face. "Hey, buddy. I'm sorry that I had to give you a whipping, but could you tell us why you had such a riot here?"

The bear straightened up. When he saw the white peacock, he jumped to his feet again with a tremendous leap. Everyone shrank back in shock. Shen raised his wings too, just in case he was attacked again. Instead, the bear started to roar.

"You cursed creature!" he fulminated. "You will not escape your punishment now!"

Shen still looked at the bear, angry but also uncomprehending. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act so blameless!" Yamato growled on. "In Japan you could hide, but not here anymore!"

That made the peacock even more perplexed. Finally, he folded his wings together and took a dignified demeanor. In the presence of so many people, he would hardly attack him again like a madman. "Would you please explain your uncontrolled denunciation?" he asked with a peeved undertone.

"You were there when the village Kimura in Japan was destroyed a few days ago!"

After this statement, it became quiet in the clearing. All eyes wandered to Shen, who didn't know what to say. He even seemed downright confused for a moment, until his features suddenly harden again. "What should I have done?!"

"What do I have to hear?!" This time it was Master Ox, who also denounced this accusation and stared at the white peacock with an angry snort. "I knew all along that he was up to something again!"

He raised his hooves and wanted to grab the white peacock, but the bird quickly moved away from him and hissed angrily at the black bear. "What do you allow yourself to say such a thing?! That is a slanderous allegation!"

"You were clearly seen there!" Yamato defended his assertion. "Together with this nefarious ninja gang!"

"Ninjas?" Fantao and Zedong exchanged glances. "Cool!"

"White means "cool" here?!" the Japanese complained loudly. "He looted all the valuables and destroyed several houses!"

Everyone stared at the black bear, speechless. Finally, Po spoke up. "Uh, I think, you're confusing something, buddy. He attacked my village… but that was a long time ago."

The black bear put his paws on his hips. "Are you saying that I'm lying?!"

"Uh, no, no, no…" Po fended off. "Of course not… I mean, it could all be a misunderstanding."

"Well, I believe what he's saying!" Master Ox shouted over the place and wanted to pounce on Shen again. "For this you will come to the supreme court!"

"Please, please stop it!" Yin-Yu interfered now and stood protectively next to Shen. "He wasn't in Japan! I can testify to that!"

She looked around pleadingly and her gaze stayed on Shifu, who himself didn't know what to think of this whole situation.

Mantis, however, inclined his head when he looked into the perplexed faces of his friends. "Well, I only understand: peacock there, village gone."

The ox grabbed the peacock by the collar. "So?! Is there anything we should know?! Give me an answer!"

"Take your dirty hooves off me!" Shen yelled at him, threatening with his feather knives.

Po caught Yin-Yu's desperate look and now he felt it was his duty to take a stand. He reared up courageously. "If he says he hasn't been to Japan, then I believe him! I would stake my kung fu paws on it. Maybe my feet, too."

Jian looked puzzled at Po's feet and twisted his beak in disgust.

"Panda, I don't need your surety!" Shen dismissed the panda's efforts and, after taking a few breaths, he put on a serene expression, giving Yamato a snooty look. "Tz, that's completely ridiculous. I had never been to Japan before. Why should I be interested in such a country? I'm only interested in China." He immediately aroused Master Ox's suspicion, why Shen immediately corrected his statement. "That was a purely factual reason."

A renewed anger built up in Yamato, which threatened to discharge again. "When I say it: it was a white peacock! Do you want to let a criminal get away like this?!"

Master Ox let out a loud, menacing snort. "I can arrest him immediately!"

"Wow, wow, wow, give yourself a break, buddy," Po warned him and leaned over to Shen in a whisper. "Are you sure you didn't sleepwalk?"

Shen twisted his beak, insulted, but the panda was not deterred. "It could be possible," the Dragon Warrior muttered sheepishly. "I once sleepwalked, there I…"

"Shut up, panda!" Angrily, Shen pushed the panda aside. "I don't know what's going on here!" he shouted and looked full of contempt at the Japanese black bear. "But I can tell you one thing, you deserve to be massacred alive for your lies now!"

"But it was a white peacock!" the bear insisted on his statement.

"Maybe you mistook him for a white crane," Po tried to explain the situation.

"Impossible! He looked exactly like him!" Yamato protested. "White feathers, red black spots, and long tail feathers. And screams like a peacock. That couldn't have been a mistake."

At that moment, the old goat collapsed. Yin-Yu noticed it first. "What's wrong with you?!" She hurried to her quickly.

The others looked at the goat, startled. "What happened to her?"

Immediately, Soothsayer was surrounded by everyone present. The old goat looked extremely weak. Yin-Yu had to help her sit up straight at least.

"Great!" the white peacock scolded the ox. "You can do it and give older women a heart attack!"

"Shen? Shen?" the old goat called in a weak voice.

Immediately, the peacock hurried to her. To his surprise, the goat immediately grabbed his wing and held it tight. Fearing the worst, Shen leaned forward in concern.

"Shen, Shen," the old goat continued to mutter.

"I'm here. What is it?"

"Oh, Shen, it… it… it could be possible that you… that you…" The old goat was afraid to finish the sentence, but somehow, she managed to do it. She looked at the white peacock with a look of dismay. "It could be possible that you… that you… that you have a… brother."