And the Secret is...
Another horn sounded and Emperor Fu walked out of the sea of soldiers with his son and two gorillas. Po glanced at Yanshi and Shang, who wink and pressed their fingers to their lips. Yueding stood anxiously darting his eyes between his father and Po.
Emperor Fu wore his haughty grin. "It seems that all your efforts to stop me were in vain. Now, if you would be so kind as to hand Platon over to me, I might be willing to consider not pressing you for treason."
Po glanced at Lion who grimaced and sighed.
"Let him go."
"What?"
"Just trust me, Sho. For their sake," Lion said. Sho sighed. He understood. His and Lion's fates were sealed, but the Furious Five, Shifu, and Po were still the protectors of China. The bear pulled the needle out of Platon's back. The lion stood back up, flexing his fists, and trudged over to the Emperor, grimly limping.
"See, was that so har-"
"What do you want with Jai-Yin mountain?" Lion barked.
The deer frowned. "You mean it's not obvious? You Jai-Yin sit on the most valuable thing known to animal-kind. Power. Boatloads of power. And yet you don't use it." Fu turned to the panda, walking a bit closer. "I have to say, you truly are a warrior unlike the world has ever seen. I would never think that someone could defeat Platon. And yet here you are. If you stand down-"
"No," Po interrupted firmly. The deer glowered at his interruption and walked back to his defenses. "You don't know the first thing about strength."
"Who needs a lesson on strength when you have power at your fingertips? I came to Jai-Yin mountain in search of one thing. Power. And the Jai-Yin sat on it without even knowing it. Do you know what is the source of their power?"
"Uh... what is this guy talking about?" Sho asked. Lion shrugged.
"We saw it in your studies," Tigress growled.
"Ah, so you know," The Emperor walked closer to Po; he was just a few feet away. "Then you'll be happy to know that thanks to Platon, I have it on me."
He pulled out a glimmering green gem and held it up in the light. An emerald! Po prepared himself. The deer clenched the gem in his fist and rammed his fist into Po's gut.
Nothing happened.
"Huh?"
"What's the meaning of this?" Fu yelped out.
"Is this like a delayed thing or..." Po muttered confused.
"Could someone explain to us what's going on?" Lion said.
"This!" Fu shouted. "This is supposed to be the Emerald of Jai-Yin, their founder. My notes say that it's the very source of this inferior clan's strength. We found it in the tunnels inside of this mountain as the ancient text says. So why isn't it working?!"
"Maybe hold it up to the light or maybe you need to spin it around-" Po's advice was interrupted by sniggering. Sho held his lips tightly together, straining.
"Sho. Don't laugh," Lion hiccuped.
"Why?"
"Because if you laugh I'm gonna laugHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"BWAAHAHAHAHAH!" The wolf and bear laughed hard and loud, gripping their bellies. Lion's giggling almost sounded like a high-pitched hyena while Sho's laughter shook the ground.
"OHOhoh oohhh oooh no," Lion's giggling dropped and his eyes popped open. "Sho, Tigress, Po, protect the Emperor."
"Why?" The panda heard growling growing louder and louder.
"Because Platon's gonna lose it!"
Platon's eyes raged into Emperor Fu's scrawny head, holding his fingers out like he could grab the deer's head and rip it off of his spine.
"RAAAAHHH!" The lion jumped at the emperor. Sho rammed his hammer across Platon's face, making the lion tumble into the gravel, but that didn't stop him. Platon's amber eyes burned hard onto the Emperor and he ran on all fours towards him.
"Stop him!" shouted one of the guards.
"Stay back! He'll mop the floors with you guys," Lion shouted back. Tigress and Po jumped onto Platon, pinning him to the ground. The lion still growled and knocked the two off, picking up the very gravel and chucking it at the deer in hopes to knock him out. Lion pulled the deer out of the way, and the rock struck several other guards down, thankfully not killing them.
"RAAAAAAOOOORR!"
"Easy Platon! Easy!" Lion pushed hard against Platon's bandaged chest while Po held him in a full nelson. Sho and Tigress held each of his arms back. Shifu held the disarrayed Emperor to his feet while Platon snarled at him. "Easy Platon!" Lion shouted again, still laughing.
"I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL HIM! I BETRAYED MY CLAN FOR NOTHING!? I'LL KILL HIM!"
"Not today you won't!" Sho laughed, pulling harder at his arm.
"I... I don't understand," Yueding said. He finally noticed, over Platon's growls and roars, that Yanshi was laughing too. "I thought the Emerald of Jai-Yin was the source of their power."
"OF COURSE NOT!" Platon snapped his face to the young prince. "The Emerald of Jai-Yin is a training toy used for young fighters! It's a rite of passage! It was in the tunnels because the tunnels are an obstacle course! It's a stupid GRAB THE FLAG TRINKET! We only told the kids that it was the source of our strength to motivate them!"
"Hahahahah! I remember my time when I went," Sho laughed, "Li said she'd knock me over if I didn't get it in time. Haha!"
"Get off of me!" Platon roared, effectively knocking all of them off. "This emerald isn't the source of anyone's strengths! When this fool told me that he was only interested in the mountain, I thought it was for our treasures or relics! Not some inane gem based on... on... Where in Youdu did you even get the idea that thing had ANY power whatsoever!?"
"We... we found this scroll in his office," Tigress said, holding up the scroll. Platon's eyes grew wide and narrowed back on the deer. Lion, Sho, Po, and Tigress had to hold him back again. "The scroll's not true?"
"Of course not!" Platon shouted. "That's part of an instruction paper we give to the children before they go inside the obstacle course! I should know because I WROTE IT!"
"Wh... how can this be?" Emperor Fu demanded, only to squirm back when Platon roared.
"Did it not occur to you that the Jai-Yin didn't get WEAKER when they left the mountain?! That their strength stayed the same or even grew! I'M PART OF THE JAI-YIN, YOU IDIOT! You didn't think for a moment to ask yourself why my strength didn't falter!"
"Then," Po strained as he held the lion back. "Where do Jai-Yin get their strength from?"
"THEIR MUSCLES, WHERE ELSE!"
"HAHAHAA calm down, Platon. Calm down. I'm sure the prince doesn't want his father dead for this."
"We'll find out," Platon growled, and then glared at Lion. "Why are you laughing at this?!"
"Because... The so-called 'false prophecy' is fulfilled," the wolf smiled. He walked around the small clearing before the soldiers, masters, and emperor. "Think about it. Because of this man's actions and fears, and his delusion of taking the easy way to strength, he made us the strongest people in China. Because of him, the Emperor, who was worried about this small clan of average warriors, he managed to make us greater and more powerful than any warrior in the world," Lion chuckled. "Look at us now: King of Bandits. King of Demons. Master of Strength. And the Councilman of the Chinese Empire. Well, former Councilman after that display. Rather than make us his ally, this fool decided to make us his enemy, making us stronger than ever before. He made us the fearsome legendary warriors that we are today. We are known by many names across the world, but we are still linked by our former glory." Lion looked at Po and smiled. "And our continuing glory."
"But... how? I mean, where did you guys get so strong then?" Po asked.
Lion shrugged, "Sho had to fight a lot of mountain bandits and stuff. Tigress had her training in the mountain. I specifically trained under Li. But as a whole, I think it has something to do with training at high altitudes. I've noticed that it gives people a little more strength and energy when they're fighting in the lowlands. But we were always strong as a clan because we were always fighting bandits down here."
Emperor Fu snatched his arm away from Shifu and stood straight up, shuffling his extravagant clothes. "I still have my army. Soldiers!" The whole army stood at attention, but Sho's laughter ripped through the air.
"Oh sure, of course! Why don't you all take a risk against the strongest bandit, the King of Demons, Master Tigress, The Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five, and a pissed-off lion ready to murder anyone in his sight." Sho pointed to the snarling and growling lion, glaring at the army.
The whole army dropped their weapons and stood back.
The royal deer spluttered, "Traitors! I'll have you butchered for this-"
"That's enough!" Shouted a young voice. Yueding walked straight up to his father and glared into his eyes. "This has gone on far enough, father. Because of your actions... I think the throne needs a new emperor. One that isn't constantly seeking to expand his own power."
"Son, what are you-"
"You lost your ability to call me your son a long time ago," Yueding harshly gritted. Shifu and Monkey took a hold of Emperor Fu. The young deer spoke to the army. "My father isn't a good emperor. He thought of no one but himself and because of it, an entire clan of people is scattered around China. That could've been any of you. The Jai-Yin may have lived upon this mountain in isolation, but they were still Chinese, they were still our brothers. And one man's quest for power has broken apart families, created bandits, and we're all haunted by his demons," Yueding paused. "But the Jai-Yin are still here. Some of them are still among us. But I think it's time we finally stop this pursuit for power, power we already have because we are China. It's time we bury this and move on."
Yanshi walked up to Yueding's side and took the royal crown and necklace off of Fu, placing it onto Yueding. "All hail Emperor Yueding!"
"All hail, the Emperor!" Shouted the soldiers as they knelt to their knees. The deer smiled and turned back to his father's shocked and speechless face.
"Take him away," Yueding ordered. Two guards took the older deer, kicking and screaming, away in their hold. Yueding approached Platon who was now standing free from their hold. "Councilman Platon, you've been a part of this operation from the very beginning, and are just as guilty in your involvement as my father. But, your intentions were skewed and taken advantaged off. In either case, I do not believe I'm able to pass judgment on you."
"Your highness?" Platon asked. Yueding looked to the black wolf standing next to him.
"I believe your own clan members should decide," Yueding replied. Lion looked at Sho. The brown bear sat onto the ground, resting his hammer next to him, and leaned his head on his fist.
"I think you should do it, Lion," The bear said. "You've fought for a good cause from the very beginning. You're the most innocent in this whole mess." Lion nodded and sighed. Po rested his hand on his shoulder.
"Lion, he is still your teacher AND he's family. He didn't know anything about this. He messed up. Probably bigger than anything I could've done, but still. If you were in his shoes, what would you want?"
Lion took a long look at Platon. The lion's face slowly rose from its gaze on the ground. The corners of his lips gently lifted, but his shoulders sagged. Lion sweetly smiled as well as he said in a loving voice, "Exile."
"What?! Oh, come on!"
"What did you think I was gonna say? Let him go?" Lion argued.
"Well... no, but come on, isn't that too harsh?" Po asked.
"Actually, it's probably the most merciful thing he could do," Sho sighed. "Killing him for something he didn't know AND for something he honestly did believe was the right thing would be too harsh and unjust since what he did saved a lot of bloodshed. But if we let him stay and act as if nothing happened, our people aren't gonna welcome him back with open arms." Sho paused for a moment to think it over. "Strike that, Li WILL kill us for just bringing him back and THEN kill him. Either we kill him officially, or the Jai-Yin will try to kill him, both of which aren't just or fair for this."
"And that's why I say exile," Lion finished.
Platon slightly chuckled, "I never thought I'd see the day that you'd use your father's wisdom, Sho."
"It's rare."
"But I agree," Platon sighed. "It's probably best." With that, the Royal army of Chinese broke down camp to leave, never to return to Jai-Yin Mountain again.
As Yueding said his final goodbyes, Po frowned and hung his head. Tigress laid a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Po?"
"I just... it just feels like a family is breaking apart. I know it's stupid, but... I just wanted things to go back to the way they were."
"Things can never go back to the way they were," Sho sighed, lifting himself back up to his feet. "And this family changed a long time ago." Platon hung his head. Lion placed his hand on the former councilman's arm, smiling quietly. The lion gently smiled back and lifted his shoulders up, feeling a little lighter. Sho looked up to the mountain's cloudy peak and swung his hammer onto his shoulder. "Come on, I think we should see our old land before going back to our new one."
Continued...
