The Truth


"Home," Po panted. The stairs weren't a big issue to him, but they still left him a little winded. "Man, I can't wait to get some of Monkey's almond cookies. I'm starving! Maybe I should have eaten at dad's place." Shrugging, the panda waltzed into the courtyard, finding it empty. Really empty. The racks held the training gear, the walls were free of any damage, and even the dust on the floor looked combed in an even groove like someone swept the dust into their large Zen garden. "Ooookay? I'm gone for three days and Zeng goes all out on the cleaning. Nice Yin Yan symbol." Po carefully walked past the courtyard and up to the Hall of Heroes. It was quiet. Very quiet. As he got to the doors of the palace, his nerves began to get the best of him. "Please tell me I'm not about to open up and see a band of bandits or some monsters," Po mumbled.

Thankfully, the panda opened the doors and saw his friends standing in a row, gazing right at him. "Ohh thank the universe, I thought you guys were... wait, what's wrong?" Shifu, Tigress, Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey all glared at him with either their arms crossed or their eyes narrowed. "Uhhh what did I do? Wait! I was gone! I didn't do anything! Why are you guys upset with me!?"

"Take a wild guess," Tigress said.

"You know I'm bad at this game," Po replied. The tiger held her peace. Po looked around the immaculate room for clues. He heard the ruffling of feathers, but that was just Zeng, so he didn't bother back down from his thoughtful stare of the ceiling.

"Good, now you stay here and I'll get the messanger mail," Zeng said to...

Who would Zeng be speaking to? Who would be helping Zeng?

"Wait, what?" Po looked past the line of glaring warriors and saw a wolf.

A black wolf.

A familiar black wolf.

A liberated familiar black wolf.

"WHAT THE! What is Wolfie doing out of his cell?!" Po exclaimed.

"He broke out," Monkey said.

"And you guys didn't put him back in because...?"

"Because the chains and shackles weren't holding him at all!" Mantis exclaimed. "Do you know how bent the bars were when we checked!" Po tilted his head and looked at his master for answers. The red panda sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Po, we know that that cage we put the pri- the wolf in wasn't stopping him at all. And we know you knew that he could've broken out a long time ago."

"I... I..." Po sighed. "Okay, yeah I knew he could get out of there. But I promise that I wasn't trying to put you guys in danger or-"

"But you knew it was highly unlikely," Tigress sternly said.

"Why are you guys asking me this NOW? What happened?" Po finally asked. The others looked at each other for a moment and told him what happened with the Fang-An bandits. Hearing his name, Wolf stopped dusting the Sword of Heroes and walked over to the masters. As they told the story, however, Po's eyes grew wider and wider, and his legs started to shake.

"We don't know why or how all of this is possible," Tigress began to finish, "But the fact that the wolf could've broken out anyway AND harm all of us but didn't... We realize... I realize that we should have trusted you from the beginning." She looked at his face. Horror gripped his jaw and made his teeth chatter loudly. "Po?"

"You... you... you... you... you... you-"

"Po, what's wrong?" Shifu asked. Suddenly, Po fell at Wolf's feet, shocking Wolf.

"Please don't kill us! We didn't mean to hurt you!" The Masters looked at Wolf and the wolf simply shrugged, looking as lost as they were.

"Po, could you please explain why you're freaking out?" Crane asked.

"This guy!" Po shot up like a gun. "This guy is... I thought he was a myth, but... what you guys just said... I'm soo sooo sorry for-"

"PO! What is wrong?" Shifu shouted. "Who is he?"

"He's the Demon King!"

Everyone gasped and looked at the wolf. Though shocked, Wolf simply sighed and nodded his head. "You're the one who commands all the demons known to animalkind? The fabled master of the dark arts with strength beyond comprehension?" Shifu questioned.

"Hehehe," The wolf made a cheesy grin, pulling his shoulders up. No one said a word. While Wolf helped the shivering panda off the ground, he heard footsteps coming towards him. He didn't expect Tigress to be attached to them. He looked at her; she was taller than him by a couple of inches. Her amber eyes stared into his bright red ones which darted around the room. What would she do? She was the most against him being out of his cage, and now that they knew about his identity, they might put him back in.

But Tigress sighed, "It doesn't matter."

"Tigress?" Viper said incredulously. Even Po and Shifu dropped their jaws.

"Putting him back isn't plausible, he seems most content with just cleaning, and so far he's given us no reason that he'll try to escape or harm us. There's no reason to keep a tight leash on him, especially if he's staying up here." Wolf nodded along with her statements. Tigress motioned with her head to Wolf to go back to work, which the wolf quickly did.

"Demons, that would explain why I was hearing voices," Shifu said, rubbing his ears.

"We're focusing on the wrong thing here," Tigress announced. "There's one other thing, Po. Wei, the leader of the Fang-An, escaped from the prison."

"How did he escape?"

"There... wasn't enough room," Tigress mumbled. Po narrowed his eyes. "There were a thousand of them, Po."

"Okay, okay," Po sighed. "This isn't good. Wei saw Wolf. He'll tell the other bandits. And it's only a ninja star throw away from word getting to Sho."

"So what?" Mantis said, "We have you AND Wolf here. It's not like we'd lose."

"Uhhhhhh... yeah... soo funny story," Po cheesed, "I... might have... lied about beating Sho. It was Wolf who saved me."

"Po."

"Wolf made me not tell you guys, okay?" Po exclaimed. Tigress looked at the canine who humbly nodded. She stood in a crossroads like she usually did when she had to trust Po. Tigress took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, now that we know, we can start training. And this time," She said, looking straight at Po. "No more secrets." The panda noded.

"Our top priority is to ensure the wolf's safety, at least until Platon's reinforcements come. They should have been here by now," Shifu murmured.

"Let's focus on getting Wei before he can get to Sho, okay?" Po proposed. Everyone agreed and dispersed, leaving Tigress, Po, and a sweeping wolf in the Hall of Heroes. Po crossed his arms and smirked at the wolf. "You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

The wolf rose his eyebrow and smirked back. "You're one to talk," Tigress voiced out Wolf's thoughts.

"I know."

"So how did the Emperor's son's escort go?"

Po huffed, "Awesome and horrible at the same time."

"He was attacked?"

"No... I'll tell you later, but he gave me this as a sign that he'll put China first." When the glint of the shiny red case was pulled out, Po blinked and the dagger was gone from his hand. "HEY!" The two warriors saw the wolf looking at the dagger he took with widened eyes. Tigress moved to get it, but Po stopped her. Wolf crashed to his knees, grazing his fingers over the beasts craved into the case. Its shine briefly blinded him. He clutched it close to his chest, hugging it like a stuffed teddy bear he had lost for twenty years. He rocked back and forth while the tears trickled down his face. Po quietly sat at the wolf's side. "It's yours, isn't it?" Wolf looked up, both shocked and pained. "The prince said it was from Jai-Yin mountain."

"The place where the gang of bandits was conquered?" Tigress asked.

"Heheh, uh... there's a lot I need to tell you, right?" He looked right at Wolf. The dog stared at him and sighed. "She's gonna know eventually... and I really really really want to tell her. PLEEEEEASSE!"

Wolf chuckled a little, sniffling up his tears, and nodded. "WHOO! Thanks."

"Good," Tigress smiled crossly. "Because both of you were going to be scrubbing the entire Jade Palace steps if you didn't tell me."

"HEhehehhe," Both the wolf and panda nervously chuckled.

Later on, as the sun grew tired of its work to light up the world, Po ate a large batch of food in the kitchen. He scooped up every morsel of noodles, smacking his lips from the savory taste. "Mmm, ooh, that's good."

"Dragon Warrior! Dragon Warrior!" Zeng shouted, rushing in. "I have news from Emperor Fu, himself." He gave the scroll to Po.

To the Dragon Warrior,

Greetings and gratitude for your services. Word has come to me about your success in protecting my son on his way home and for escorting the prisoner that was in your custody to Chor-Gom Prison. The guards have told me of your heroic bravery in defending this prisoner from his companion, the supposed King of Bandits, Sho. I thank you for your skills and ability from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

The Grand Emperor of the Chinese Empire, the kingdom of Qing.

"Ooohh kay," Po muttered. "Uh... thanks Zeng. I'll keep it." The duck bowed and ran off. Po sat in quiet shock. "Okay, something's not right. Everyone knows that we didn't get Wolfie to Chor-Gom, but the Emperor's thanking me for something I didn't do." Po rubbed his hurting head. "Ugh, this doesn't make sense. Mr. Three and Mr. Four said that they would-" He stopped short. "Wait a minute, if Mr. Three and Mr. Four were going to send a message to the Emperor and they died, someone should've told the Emperor about Wolf staying here. What is going on?" Po scratched his head. "And why would the emperor think we delivered Wolf? Without Mr. Three and Mr. Four, he wouldn't know. Hmmm ughh! This doesn't make sense! I wish there was something I could... wait, maybe I could figure out something from Mr. Three and Fours' house! But I'm gonna need some help to find what I need... whatever that is." Po grimaced. "Tigress isn't gonna like this, but... I'll tell her later."

Under the cover of night, two figures left the sacred grounds of the Jade Palace. One much larger than the other. They traveled past thick forests until the ground descended into a small village south of the Valley of Peace. Po removed his hood and looked at the village with his canine partner. The village dipped into a small shallow basin with hills slowly rising all around it. "Do you know where their house would've been?" Wolf shook his head underneath his cloak. Only his snout was visible. "Zeng said that their house was burned down. Maybe there's a house on the edge here." Wolf looked around, scanning the village's quiet circular placement. At the western edge was a blackened patch of earth. "Come on, let's go," Po whispered.

The house was burned but not completely destroyed. Walls and rooms could still be made out. While charred earth sat underneath the pile, some parts of the house were completely untouched. The wolf immediately went to digging, sniffing, and searching for anything. "Wolfie, I... I don't think." The wolf snapped back at him, growling a bit. Po sighed, "Look, I'm not trying to be the bad guy, but I don't think you're gonna find anything that... They're gone, Wolfie. Nothing's gonna change that." The wolf's glare never changed as he went back to digging. "This doesn't make any sense. Hmmm. That's weird."

"Hm?" The wolf muttered.

"No, it's... look here," Po said. The wolf stepped over to the edge of the house. "Doesn't it look like the fire came from the inside?"

"Hmmmm."

"Maybe... maybe it-"

CRASH! CLASH! BOOM!

"What the heck is that?!" Po exclaimed. The two instinctively followed the noise back to the small nestled village. Through dark alleys and tight corners, the two squeezed themselves into the center of the village, where a tavern stood on the other side of a wide street. "Oh," Po said disappointed, "It's just a club fight. Come on, let's get going." But Wolf sniffed the air and gurgled a low growl. "What's wrong?"

"I told you I didn't do AHHHHH!"

Crashing through the tavern's wooden doors was a huge bear carrying an all too familiar longhammer. He flew out and crashed right into a cart next to the alley Po and Wolf stood.

"Crud! It's Sho!" Po hissed. His hand clasped Wolf's growling muzzle and shoved him deeper into the alley's darkness.

"Gah! I already told you! I didn't do it, old man!" The bear struggled up to his feet, nursing the scrapes along his back. Then, Po spotted a small blackened tattoo on the lower end of Sho's back.

"Strong," Po whispered, still holding Wolf's growling muzzle. "Would you stop growling? He's going to spot us."

But the wolf didn't stop growling until someone else came out of the tavern. Po spun his head around. A man in a rusty red cloak calmly walked out of the broken doors. His hands had black gloves, but the most frightening thing was his vivid red demon mask with four protruding teeth stuck out from its sharp mouth. Wild red eyes stared back at the bear with golden bushy eyebrows forever furrowed in a scowl, and fur lined the edges of the mask. Po's hand clamped the dog's muzzle shut out of pure fear. The cloaked man walked towards Sho and picked him up with one hand on his neck.

"I told you," Sho rasped, "I didn't do it! I was... nowhere... near the place... when it happened!"

"Why should I believe you?" Said the cloaked man. His voice was a deep smooth tone, like the low hums the Jade Palace bell would make.

"I didn't have anything to do with it! I... swear!" Sho choked, latching his hands to the cloaked man's death grip. "I didn't... know that... those were royal guards! No one goes to that house!"

"Then how did THESE soldiers die?" The cloaked man grunted.

A defiant grin struggled to get to Sho's face. "A little late to... care about your people, don't you think?"

"GGRRRRRRAAAHHH!" The man tossed Sho to the other side of the street, smashing another cart full of melons. Sho coughed and leaned on his hammer. "You're going to tell me everything you know."

"Whoa, this is getting intense," Po whispered. The two failed to notice two pairs of arms slowly sprout from the darkness behind them. They snatched Wolf straight from Po's grip. "Wolfie, what are Hmm! HMMM!" A big hand clasped over Po's mouth and dragged him into the darkness of the alley.

Sho slowly stumbled to his feet. "Ugh, you're not much of a fair player, teach."

"Sho, I will kill you just like you killed those guards if you don't tell me what happened to them."

"I told you! I didn't do anything! Why would I lie about this?" That seemed to stop the cloaked man. "Even if I did do it, you know I would've owned up to it." The man's mask looked hard at the bear. The sound of a sigh dripped down his mask.

"Unfortunately, you're right."

"I think," Sho weakly smirked, "You already know who did this, but you're not strong enough to face your boss."

"Are you, King of the Bandits?" The masked man stared at the messy bear and shook his head. He turned away and started walking. "I'll never understand why you defected."

"You did it first," Sho grunted. The man stopped for a moment and turned his head back, sighing as he walked away.

Meanwhile, Po and Wolf were carried away down the night-covered alleys to who knows where. Their mouths were tightly clamped as they were finally taken to the outskirts of the village. The kidnappers released their mouths. "MAh! I promise I didn't do anything! Who are you? What are you what are you-" Po stopped short. Two large dismal armored animals stood before them with long spears in their hands. Their armor was completely black with a large demon masked helmet covering their faces. Po gulped, but he stood while Wolf glared at his opponents, growling loudly.

But then, one of the kidnappers, the one of the right, laughed.

"Calm down, Blackie."

At the sound of his nickname, all of Wolf's aggression disappeared. Po looked at the canine and the kidnappers.

"Uh... is something going on?"

"I would think," Said the kidnapper on the left, "that you could recognize our voices." They took off their masks, and Po gasped.

"Mr. Three! Mr. Four!"

Continued...