What to Do Next


"Well... that was anti-climatic," Mantis muttered.

"Where do you think he went?" Viper asked.

"To talk to his real boss," Po sighed, crashing down onto the floor of broken stone and fractured wood.

"Now that Sho knows where Wolf is..." Tigress trailed off. She crossed her arms and thought. She couldn't really figure out what Sho would gain from finding Wolf. She hypothesized that maybe to alert the Emperor's army to arrest him, but from what Po told her, even the Emperor's motives couldn't be trusted.

But what did that have to do with Sho? Was he working for the Emperor? No. He wouldn't have disrupted Wolf's transfer to Chor-Gom Prison. Then what? Tigress glanced at Po. "Po, you said he's going to his real boss. What did you mean by that?"

Po glanced up at her and sighed, "I'll tell you later. Right now, I think we need to get this place cleaned up."

"Wolfie!" Shouted the small bunny girl. Little Haizi latched onto the wolf's leg. "I knew you were real!"

"UhhhHRm?" The wolf uttered his confusion and looked at the others for help. Po smiled.

"I think she likes you. Go on, play with her." Wolf instinctively looked at Tigress, who nodded with a smile. While the silent wolf went with the child, Po groaned out his frustration. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll think of something, Po," Shifu said. "In the meantime, I think we all need to train much harder. Po was right to push himself for future threats. I just didn't think it would come so soon." The others agreed. Po's eyes spread out as a small smile stretched across his lips. For a moment, he forgot about the whole world crashing in on him and the threat of some stronger unknown villain coming back with Sho. He just smiled as Crane, Viper, Mantis and Shifu headed up the Jade Palace steps.

"Why are you smiling?" Tigress asked.

"Oh! Uh... Well, honestly, it's kinda cool being Shifu's star pupil... for once."

Tigress smirked, "Don't get to attached to it, or it might make you stir crazy."

"Is that coming from experience?" Monkey chuckled. The striped cat glowered at her simian partner. "Easy, easy, I was just kidding."

"I don't think she's laughing, buddy," Po grimaced.

Monkey rolled his eyes. "Everyone's a critic." They walked up and talked about their next move. A little while afterward, Crane was in the sickbay, getting his torso wrapped with bandages.

"There. Try not to get slapped with a hammer next time," Mantis ordered.

"I'll try," Crane muttered. He walked out of sickbay and turned the corner, stopping in his tracks. "Viper?" Crane closed the door to the sickbay behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I want to thank you for saving me from Sho."

"Hehe, I didn't really do much." The bird nervously scratched the back of his head. "Besides, I only scratched his chest."

"With your wings. Your feathers to be exact." Viper's tail slithered around Crane's outstretched wing. The feathers still had a murky brown color from the blood. "Thank you."

"Of course, that's what teammates do," Crane smiled, pulling his wing back. He turned to walk away.

"Yes, but... teammates," Viper said. "don't fight for each other like that." The bird stopped. He didn't turn around for a while. Just the strange creaking floorboards upset the silence. Viper's heart struck against her ribcage as she gulped, slithering closer to Crane's side. "I... I heard what Sho said to you... when you attacked. Is it... Is it true?"

"Uuuhhh what?" Crane stammered.

"That you... like me?"

"Ummmm Of of of course!" Crane stuttered, facing the snake. "I mean we're friends after all. Hehe. Why wouldn't I uh... like you."

"Crane. That's not what I meant. Do you like me? More than a friend?" Viper asked. Her bluish-green eyes locked on his, and they weren't moving until he answered the question. Crane's head spun for an exit strategy. His throat tightened like a villain's grip. His heart thumped louder and louder in his head while his knees clacked together. They really weren't. No one could tell what was happening in the bird's head other than his nervous darting eyes.

"Yes," Crane finally sighed. "I... I do. I have for a while. I know it's silly and you don't like me like this, but I-"

"I like you, too."

"Wha... what?" Crane's head stopped. Actually, he thought his heart stopped. Everything in his body quieted just to hear what she said. Viper gulped and said again.

"I... I like you, too."

"You... you do?" Viper nodded with a bashful smile. A long corny grin stretched across the avian fighter's face. "O... Ok."

"Just okay?" Viper smirked with a raised eyebrow.

"No no, I mean uhh... what I meant to say was that. I could... um... sorry, crazy talking... hehe," Crane spluttered. Viper shook her head and slithered up around the bird's neck, pecking him on the cheek.

"You're so cute when you're nervous."

"Hehe, th-thanks," Crane felt his cheeks burn. "So... what does this mean?"

"We're dating."

"I... I mean with Shifu. You know how he is. And after fighting Sho... what happens if..." Crane's worried face disappeared when Viper kissed him again.

"We'll enjoy the time we have together."

"I... I think I like that idea," Crane grinned. Viper smiled back.

Meanwhile, Monkey, Tigress, and Po walked through the palace courtyard towards the Hall of Heroes. The three were still thinking of ways to deal with the looming threat. "What the heck are we going to do?"

"Everything will be fine, Po," Tigress said.

"Yeah? Then why do I feel like I had a bowl of bad dumpling soup?"

"You probably did," Monkey sniggered. The panda rolled his eyes as he paced about the hall. Monkey sat on the floor leaning on one of the jade pillars as his tiger comrade leaned on it, standing. "Why are you so worried? We'll get through this. We always have."

"Yeah, but I could rely on my Kung fu, or inner peace, or WHATEVER to get through it."

"Really?" Monkey said, raising an eyebrow, "Cause it seems like you play by ear most of the time."

"Well... yeah-"

"Po," Tigress interrupted. "We'll get through this. I'm sure of it." She rested her hand on his shoulder. "You were right to train, but you should have told us."

"Oh sure, like you guys listen to me," Po rebutted. Tigress frowned. "I'm sorry, Tigress, but... you gotta admit that... you guys don't really hear me out."

"Let's get down to the real issue," Monkey said, hopping up to his feet. "Sho. You said his boss was Platon?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that we know, and I'd like to keep it like that."

Monkey crossed his arms. "And when were you planning to tell us that?"

"Huh?"

"I'm just saying, you seem to know a lot more than you're telling us. Is there anything else you're not telling us?"

Po narrowed his eyes. "I didn't ask to get thrown into this whole mess, Monkey."

"And yet you seem to be at the center of it," Monkey argued back.

"Yeah! Against my will!"

"Monkey, Po! Stop fighting!" Tigress shouted. The two warriors huffed. "No one is at fault here. These are extreme circumstances that require us to be transparent but also trusting." She locked eyes with Po and nodded with him. "Po found out about this not long ago, Monkey, and he told me and Shifu."

"I told Shifu?" Tigress flashed a glare. In other words, he was going to tell Shifu. "Right! Right! I did. Hehe."

"The point is that we can use this to our advantage. But..." Tigress trailed off, crossing her arms and staring at the ground. "The fact that Sho knows we're harboring the wolf will mean that Platon will know eventually. We'll leave the guards to intercept the best they can."

"The guards? Whoa, whoa, whoa! How much are you guys keeping from me?" Monkey asked.

"Now you know how I feel," Po chuckled.

No one laughed. Po looked at the tiger and simian's frowns. They looked away from the panda, sadly glancing at anything other than him. "What's wrong, guys?"

"Nothing it's just... Po, we're really sorry about keeping you in the dark about the wolf and-"

"Guys, I'm over it," The panda chuckled. "You had your secrets and I had mine... for once. It's okay."

"Still," Tigress said. "We never fully apologized for our actions."

Po smiled widely, "It's okay."

"Wow!" Monkey exclaimed in a half chuckle. "We keep getting sidetracked. Remember, Sho."

"Right, right," Po agreed, "What do we know?"

"He's working for Platon," Tigress listed, "He's trying to get Wolf in jail for reasons we don't know." She looked at Po who shrugged and shook his head. "Right," She sighed, "So we really don't know. He's stronger than us except Wolf. That's all we know." She stood silent for a moment, shutting her eyes. Po and Monkey waited quietly for her. "I think we need to focus on getting stronger as of right now. Crane seems to have gotten stronger."

"And you looked like you could actually keep up with Sho," Po said.

"That's only you two," Monkey interjected. "Po's been training and Tigress is... Tigress. But how is Crane suddenly stronger?"

"He made a major cut into Sho's chest," Tigress said, remembering Monkey was knocked out for part of the fight. Monkey's eyes grew wide.

"Why?! How?!"

"Viper got hurt," Po said in a deadpan voice.

"Oh, that makes sense."

Tigress looked at the two smirking warriors. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"Come on, Tigress. You should know by now," Po chuckled. The tiger only blinked. Po rolled his eyes. "Crane likes Viper."

"And Viper likes Crane." Monkey added.

"Really?!" Po exclaimed. The simian winked. "Awesome! They'd make such a cute couple and..." Suddenly the panda facepalmed himself. "Sho! Sho! We're talking about SHO! We'll worry about secrets, love, and regrets later."

"Thank you," Tigress sighed. "IS there anything else?"

"I... think I saw some kind of tattoo or birthmark on his back when Po saved that family from getting hurt."

"You mean when I gave him a wedgie?" Po smirked. The monkey laughed while Tigress simply rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I remember." He hadn't told them about the secret tattoo linking the Jai-Yin together. There were just too many questions to keep up with AND remember to give them the whole rundown.

"Hmmm," Po mumbled to himself. For a moment, he thought about Wolf. He didn't remember ever seeing a tattoo there but concluded that if the tattoos were black, then it wouldn't have popped up on Wolf's black fur. It was probably on his skin. The panda shrugged. "Anyway, I've seen his tattoo before. It's probably a tattoo he's had since birth."

"Really?" Tigress asked. Po looked at her. Her eyes had more intrigue than normal. "That's... interesting."

"What's wrong?" Monkey asked.

"Nothing it's just... are you sure that it was on the lower back?" Po nodded. "It's just... I have a mysterious birth tattoo on my lower back as well and-"

"WHAT!" Po shouted. "Let me see!"

"NO!" Tigress shouted, slapping Po's hands away. "Po! What do you think you're doing! Po?" Po's mouth dropped as his eyes went round. All the color in his cheeks drained out and his face looked whiter than white. He froze, not registering what was being said until Tigress shook his shoulder. "Po! What's wrong?"

"Tha... that tat... that tattoo... is... does it say... Strong?"

Tigress's eyes widened. "How did you know?" Po's hands clapped over his mouth as he stumbled backward. "Po?"

"Buddy, are you okay?"

"No... no," Po repeated over and over until he ran out of the Hall of Heroes. "No... No!"

"PO!" Tigress called, but Monkey stopped her.

"Give him some space. I think he needs some time to himself."

"What did I say?"

"I don't know," Monkey said. He looked at the sinking sunlight as clouds started moving in from the west. "But I have a bad feeling about..." He couldn't name or finish his statement, but somehow Tigress knew exactly what he meant.

Continued...