Chapter 14: Talk between Fathers
Po grunted as he punched, kicked, and dodged the Kai dummy while Mr. Ping watched from a distance.
As he watched, Mr. Ping couldn't help but feel a mixture of pride and worry for his panda son.
He had come so far from simply serving noodles at the table, now training to face perhaps the greatest threat that China had ever seen.
He had gone through so much, from being separated from his own kind for so many years, to becoming the Dragon Warrior and facing down the likes of Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and the Kraang.
But while it was easy to feel worry for Po over this, Mr. Ping also couldn't overlook the benefits that came with it.
He had a son who was kind, brave, and loyal. Po now had lots of friends after becoming the Dragon Warrior. He knew kung fu for crying out loud! And even after finding out about his past, he still accepted Mr. Ping as his father despite being adopted.
And as a sweet bonus, his restaurant was never more popular.
And his life had never been sweeter.
Drawing his eyes away from Po, Mr. Ping looked up towards Li Shan's hut, just managing to spot the elderly panda solemnly trudge into his hut.
Picking up a bowl of dumplings sitting on the table nearby, Mr. Ping quietly waddled across the bridge up towards Li Shan's hut.
The hut was huge compared to him with the door open, letting him walk right in, the inside being lit up by candles.
As he walked in, Mr. Ping spotted Li Shan sitting by the shrine dedicated to his wife.
"Hungry?" Mr. Ping asked, getting the elderly panda's attention.
Li Shan turned to him, regarding him rather nonchalantly. "No, I… not really." He sighed before looking at the enticing bowl of dumplings again. "... Well, maybe just one." He admitted.
Mr. Ping handed him the bowl as they sat side by side while Li Shan ate the dumplings.
The two sat there in silence before Mr. Ping spoke. "You know, you weren't the only one who was lying." The elderly goose said.
"Huh?" Li Shan asked with a dumpling in his mouth.
"I–I didn't really come along because I was worried Po would go hungry." Mr. Ping sheepishly admitted. "I was worried about you."
"Worried I would go hungry?" Li Shan asked, oblivious.
"No. I was worried you'd steal Po from me." Mr. Ping replied with a guilty look.
"I'd what?" Li Shan said, shocked at that revelation.
"I know, that was crazy." Mr. Ping chuckled in an embarrassed way. "But I realized having you in Po's life doesn't mean less for me, it means more for Po."
Li Shan took all of that in as he looked down at his lap. "Well… I'm not in his life. Not anymore." He said sadly.
"Your son got mad at you, welcome to parenthood." Mr. Ping said in understanding. "I'm sure Master Shifu could tell you the same thing, given that he raised Tigress."
"Y-you don't understand." Li Shan said guiltily. "I lied to him. I was selfish. He'll never forgive me. And his friends hate my guts anyway."
Mr. Ping smiled. "I lied to him for twenty years and even after learning the truth, he still sometimes thinks he came from an egg." He said as he looked at the picture of the baby Po and his mother. "Look, he's hurt, he's confused, and he still has to save the world, he and his friends all do." He then took out the painting of himself, Po, and Li Shan and placed it next to the picture of Po and his mother. "He needs both his dads."
Li Shan stared at the two pictures for a good long moment before he smiled, turning to Mr. Ping.
"You're right." He said. "He needs both of us." He then raised his paw out towards the elderly goose. "Friends?"
Mr. Ping chuckled as he reached out with his wing and grasped Li Shan's paw.
"Friends."
Po continued to wale on the training dummy, punching and kicking it wildly while dodging and blocking its spinning strikes as the sun began to rise in the dawn sky.
He then broke off to catch his breath, Po leaned on his knees. He was exhausted, but he didn't care as he pushed himself to stand up and throw another punch…
… only for his punch to be caught by Tigress.
"This isn't going to work." She said sternly as she pushed his fist back.
"It has to." Po said firmly.
"You're not thinking straight." Tigress said.
"I am!" Po snapped as he walked forward.
"You're not." Tigress stated as she lightly kicked him back.
"Yes, I am!" Po retorted as he threw a punch that was blocked.
"No." Tigress backflipped over a kick from Po.
"Yes!" Po blocked a punch from Tigress as the two exchanged blows.
"I've seen Kai!" Tigress told him as they locked arms. "I've seen what he can do!"
"But he hasn't seen what I can do!" Po said stubbornly.
Tigress then grabbed Po's arm and flipped him over her head, but Po managed to redirect himself mid-air and land on his feet, grasping her hand as he held his pinky up.
Tigress deadpanned at him. "The Wuxi Finger Hold?" She asked, unamused.
Po's determined smile quickly turned to a surprised frown. "What?" He asked. "It's my best move. I just have to get to Kai, grab his finger, and then skadoosh! Back to the Spirit Realm!"
Tigress rolled her eyes as she twisted his paw, making him lose his hold, nearly breaking his paw and making Po wince in pain. "He has an army of jade warriors. Everything they see, he sees. So there's no sneaking up on him." She said firmly before she then spun him around and pinned him down on his belly. "You will never get close enough."
Po frowned stubbornly. "It's gonna work." He then flipped himself back onto his feet and attempted to fight back, only for Tigress to flip him onto his back, still grasping his hand as she pinned him to the ground with her foot.
"He can only be stopped by a master of chi!" Tigress stated firmly.
That was it for Po as Tigress let him stand up. "Oh, you sound just like Shifu with the chi, chi, chi! Chi this! Chi that! Chi, chi, chi, chi, chi!" He said furiously. "I'm not a master of chi, okay?!" Po snapped. "I don't know if I'm the Dragon Warrior! I don't even know if I'm a panda! I don't know who I am!"
Po then sighed exasperatedly, dragging his paws down his face as he looked down at the ground in defeat. "You're right." He sighed. "There's no way I can stop him and his army."
Tigress' expression softened as she gazed at Po sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, Tigress." Po said sadly. "I'm sorry I'm such a failure."
Tigress gently placed her paw on Po's shoulder. "You're not a failure, Po. You're one of the best and most capable warriors I know." She said softly. "I'm just worried about you. I don't want what happened at Gongmen City to happen again." Her amber eyes looked misty as she placed her paw on Po's cheek, gently caressing it. "I don't want to lose you again… I can't."
Po looked at the feline, surprised, before he smiled as he placed his paw on hers. "You won't, Tigress." He whispered reassuringly. "I'll make sure of that."
"We'll make sure of that too."
Po and Tigress looked to the side to see Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo approaching them.
"As long as we have anything to say about it, and with all of us together, we're gonna stop Kai." Leo stated.
"That's right. You're not alone in this, remember?" Donnie added.
"And don't you go doing that whole identity-crisis-thing on us again, okay?" Raph said.
"Yeah! We got your back, Po!" Mikey said, throwing his arm around Po's shoulders. "All of us."
Po smiled gratefully. "Thanks, guys." He said before he frowned. "But… even with all six of us, we're still outnumbered by Kai and his army."
"Not unless you have an army of your own."
Po, Leo, Tigress, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey turned to see Li Shan standing behind them calmly.
"You?" Po asked in surprise.
"Not just me." Li Shan said as Mr. Ping appeared from behind the giant panda.
"Us." Mr Ping said with a smile.
"All of us." Li Shan added as he and Mr. Ping gestured behind them.
The fog behind them cleared, revealing every single panda in the village, young, old, big, small, men, and women standing there. The sheer amount of them was like that of a small army.
"I finally found my son after all these years, it's gonna take a lot more than the end of the world to keep us apart." Li Shan said determinedly.
Po, the Turtles, and Tigress stared at the pandas in surprise.
"You don't even know kung fu." Po frowned.
"Then you all can teach us." Li Shan said.
"What?!" Po exclaimed.
"Uh… we're not teachers." Leo said hesitantly, to which Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Tigress all nodded in agreement.
"I can't teach kung fu!" Po exclaimed. "I couldn't even teach Tigress, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey kung fu! And they already know kung fu!"
"Po, I–I know I'm the last guy you and your friends wanna trust right now, but you gotta believe me." Li Shan insisted. "We can do this. We can learn kung fu. We can be just like you."
Po's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "What did you say?" He asked.
"We can do this?" Li Shan asked in confusion.
"No."
"We can learn kung fu?" Li Shan asked, still confused.
"After that."
"Uhh, we can be like you?" Li Shan asked, puzzled.
"Yes!"
"We can?"
"No! You can't!" Po exclaimed, bouncing on his feet like a happy child as a new epiphany came to him.
Everyone else was completely confused as they all stared at him oddly.
"Huh?" Mikey said, tilting his head in confusion.
"Uh, hate burst your bubble, Po, but… where exactly are you going with this?" Donnie asked.
Po threw back his head and laughed happily in realization. "But you don't have to be!" He said to Li Shan and the other pandas. "That's what Shifu meant! I don't have to turn you into me, I have to turn you into you!"
Everyone traded confused glances.
"We're still not following you." Leo said.
"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense." Mr. Ping added.
"I know!" Po said happily as he hugged both Li Shan and Mr. Ping tightly. "Thanks, dads!"
"You're… welcome?" Both Li Shan and Mr. Ping said in confusion.
"Did you get any of that?" Raph questioned, turning to his brothers and Tigress, to which they all shook their heads. "Thought so."
Po ran up to his friends, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Guys, I'm gonna do something I never thought I'd be able to do. I'm gonna teach kung fu!" He exclaimed. "And you guys are gonna help me!"
Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Tigress all traded surprised glances at that little declaration.
