Chapter 15: Real Training
The morning sun rose early the next day at the Valley of Peace, the Jade Palace seeming unusually quiet as the morning gong sounded down below.
Shifu stood at the edge of the cliff as he watched the sun rise, the petals on the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom had stopped falling since Oogway's passing.
Just then, his ears flickered as he faintly heard the sounds of yelling and punching coming from the distance.
Going to the Training Hall, Shifu opened the doors and was quite surprised to see the turtles using the equipment.
Leonardo balanced himself on the edge of the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, deflecting arrows coming from all around with his twin katanas as the tortoise shell rocked around.
Raphael hopped around on the spinning serpent logs as he dodged the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion with total concentration.
Donatello blocked a strike from one of the wooden dummies as he swiftly made his way through the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors.
Michelangelo dodged and weaved his way around the spurting fires on the Fiery Field of Death, cheering and whooping the whole way.
Shifu watched in rather pleasant surprise. Though he had been very begrudging to admit it before, these turtles were truly experienced beyond their years, the grace of their movements almost seeming uncanny.
"Aw, yeah!" Mikey cheered once they all reached the end of the training course. "We did it again, dudes! Give me some love!"
Raph and Donnie shared a high-three with their youngest brother while Leo shook his head with a fond smile.
"You know, I think we're in need of a little break." Donnie spoke up, sounding rather winded. "We've been training non-stop for days now."
"What, you being too smart to fight again, Dork-atello?" Raph teased, earning a growl from the smart turtle.
"Oh, snap!" Mikey laughed with a snap of his fingers.
"Alright, we'll take a little break." Leo resigned. "But after that, we're going back to training. We need to be at the top of our game if we're gonna take down Tai Lung."
They were about to walk out when they finally saw Shifu still standing at the doorway.
"Oh! Master Shifu!" Leo exclaimed as he and his brothers quickly bowed. "Uh, h-how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough, Leonardo." Shifu replied, not sounding angry or irritated in the slightest, something that surprised the turtles. He then paused for a moment. "How long have you been training here?"
"... a couple hours." Donnie hesitantly answered.
"And why is that?"
Raph shifted slightly where he stood, feeling a little uncomfortable, something that was not normal for him. "We just figured we should be practicing since you-know-who's on his way."
Shifu stared at the four of them for a moment before he held up his hand. "Say no more."
The Turtles were pretty taken aback by this.
Shifu looked up at them with a slight smile, much to their surprise. "I see you indeed wish to learn kung fu."
Mikey played with the wrappings on his wrists. "I mean, we're already kick-butt ninjas who've had lots of ninjutsu training…" His face then brightened. "But it'd be pretty awesome to learn kung fu too, right guys?"
Donnie placed a hand on his chin as he thought about it. "Well, logically, this could benefit us greatly since we would have two fighting styles we could go with and probably learn some new moves that would help us in combat." He then grinned his signature gap-toothed grin. "I'm in!"
"I was all for it as soon as I heard 'learning new moves', I was all for it!" Raph grinned eagerly.
Shifu nodded before looking up at Leo with an expectant look on his face.
Leo placed his fist in his palm and bowed. "It would be an honor to learn under your tutelage, Master." He said as Raph, Donnie, and Mikey also bowed as well.
Again, Shifu nodded, a slight smile still on his face before he asked, "And where is the panda?"
Donnie shrugged. "Haven't seen him since last night."
Then, as if on cue, the five of them heard the sounds of yelling coming from not too far away. Coming from the bunkhouse, in fact.
"Come." Shifu told them before heading towards the bunkhouse, to which the turtles hesitantly followed.
Entering the bunkhouse, the turtles and Shifu quickly realized the yelling was coming from the kitchen.
Upon entering, they were all surprised to find the kitchen a complete mess as the doors had been busted down while Po went around the room yelling as he mimicked kung fu movements before punching his fist right through a cabinet.
He pulled his fist out from the cabinet with a piece of food in it before stuffing it in his mouth. He stopped mid-munch, however, when he saw Shifu, Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey standing there at the doorway watching him with surprised looks.
"What?" Po asked irritably with his mouth full. "I eat when I'm upset, okay?"
Shifu suddenly had a strange glimmer in his eye as an idea came to his head. "Oh, no need to explain. I just thought you might be Monkey. He hides his almond cookies on the top shelf." He then gestured for Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey to follow him.
Once they had exited into the hallway, Po looked up to the top shelf grinning excitedly.
For a few seconds, Shifu and the turtles waited in the hallway as the sounds of pots and pans clattering came from the kitchen.
Shifu then ushered for the four turtles to follow him back into the kitchen, where to their surprise, they found Po perched up atop the high shelves as he was stuffing almond cookies into his mouth, his legs spread apart in a perfect split.
Shifu's disbelief at the scene turned into a wide smile as Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all continued to gawk at the panda doing a move that had taken them years to master.
Po immediately stopped eating once he noticed them. "Don't tell Monkey." He pleaded.
"Look at you…" Shifu exclaimed, sounding awe-struck.
"Yeah, I know, I disgust you." Po sighed as he resumed eating.
"No! I mean, how did you get up there?" Shifu asked.
"I don't know. I guess I-I don't know. I was just getting a cookie…" Po stuttered with a shrug before eating another cookie.
"Dude, you're like, ten feet off the ground." Raph said, impressed.
"Yes, and doing a perfect split." Shifu added.
Po shrugged it off bashfully. "No, this… this is just an…" His eyes slowly widened as he felt his feet begin to slip, "... accident." His feet finally slipped as he fell to the ground with a loud crash, the turtles wincing as he let a startled yelp of pain.
The cookie Po had been holding rolled right over to Shifu.
"There are no accidents." Shifu said calmly as he picked up the cookie. "Come with me."
Leo, Po, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all glanced at each other before shrugging together simultaneously.
A few minutes later, Po and the turtles found themselves climbing up into the Wudang Mountains while carrying heavy backpacks as Shifu led the way.
"I know you're trying to be all mystical and kung fu-ey, but where are we going?" Mikey panted as he, his brothers, and Po were feeling pretty worn out.
Shifu didn't answer, instead continuing to walk up higher and higher into the mountains.
Raph sighed irritably. "Great, another one of those mysterious walks." He grumbled, getting an elbow from Donnie.
Staggering up to the top of the mountains the group panted heavily while Shifu sat in a meditative position in front of a small misty lake.
Leo, Raph, and Donnie set their backpacks down as they panted tiredly while hunching over and leaning on their knee pads.
Po and Mikey straight up collapsed next to the lake in a very dramatic fashion.
"You… dragged us… all the way out here… for a bath?!" Po panted, using the water to wash his armpits.
Mikey grinned. "Yes! Aw, nice! I love water!" He then scooped up as much water as he could in his hands and eagerly drank it down.
Shifu didn't even open his eyes as he spoke. "Panda, Michelangelo, we do not wash our pits in the Pool of Sacred Tears, nor do we drink from it."
Mikey and Po immediately stopped while Leo, Donnie, and Raph looked up in surprise.
"The Pool of…" Po asked in shocking realization.
"Sacred Tears?" Donnie questioned sounding a little off put by the name.
"Master, where exactly have you brought us?" Leo asked curiously.
"This is where Oogway unraveled the mysteries of harmony and focus." Shifu replied in a somewhat solemn tone. "This is the birthplace… of kung fu."
Po, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all collectively gasped as the sun emerged from behind the clouds, clearing away the mist surrounding the lake with the lake itself being in the shape of a large yin-yang symbol.
It was almost like they were in the lap of the gods.
Shifu then stood from his meditative position and leapt to a high rock, the sunlight giving him an almost divine like aura.
"Do you want to learn kung fu?" He asked sincerely.
"Yeah…" Po said, awestruck.
"Yes." Leo agreed.
"Absolutely." Donnie added.
"Obviously." Raph stated.
"Totally…" Mikey whispered in awe.
"Then I am… your… master!" Shifu replied.
Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey bowed, kneeling respectfully on one knee while their fists were placed into their palms.
"Okay!" Po exclaimed happily, tears of joy welling up in his eyes.
"Don't cry." Shifu warned him.
"Okay…" Po sniffed quietly.
Once they had accepted Shifu as their new master, Leo, Po, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie were led down into a large field away from the Jade Palace.
"When the five of you focus on kung fu… when you concentrate… the four of you need more work, and panda… you stink." Shifu said honestly.
Po's face fell while Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie's expressions turned deadpanned.
"But perhaps that is my fault." Shifu admitted. "I cannot train you all the way I have trained the Five." He then smiled a little. "For Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, we will work on your training. As for you, panda, I now see that the only way to get to you… is with this." He then pulled out a bowl of dumplings from behind his back.
"Oh great, 'cause I'm hungry!" Po said, already reaching out for it.
"Mm, I could eat too." Mikey grinned hungrily, licking his lips.
Shifu chuckled before tucking the bowl away. "Good. When you have all been trained, you may eat." He then took a dumpling from the bowl and tossed it into his mouth as he jumped down from the rock. "Let us begin."
"There's something else to this, isn't there, Master?" Leo spoke up, feeling there was something the red panda was failing to mention.
"Yes." Shifu confirmed. "While I will be training all of you, the four of you will also help me train the panda."
To say the turtle brothers were surprised was an understatement.
"Wait… you want us to help you… train him?" Donnie questioned. "Why?"
"Yeah, last time we tried to train him… it didn't go so well." Raph added.
"As his guardians, you are bound to him in more ways than one." Shifu explained. "In order for you to be able to be his guardians you must learn from each other, only together will you succeed."
Blinking in surprise, Leo, Donnie, Raph, Mikey, and Po all glanced at each other in a bit of wonder. Was it really an accident that they had been brought together…
… or was it destiny?
Po, Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie performed various sit-ups while dangling on a tree branch by their legs, a long drop below them. The turtles, of course, were doing fine while Po was having a bit of a harder time.
Thankfully, Shifu stood on the branch they were on, holding a new bowl of dumplings above the panda bear to keep him motivated, and it was working.
However, under the straining weight of four mutant turtles and a big fat panda bear, the branch eventually snapped partially under their combined weight of them all.
The turtles all yelped as they were about to fall, with Raph grabbing onto the branch to keep them from plummeting to their likely deaths while the others held onto him, forming a bit of an awkward chain with Po at the very bottom as Shifu jumped from the branch and down onto a rock ledge.
Po, however, wasn't really worried about that as he quickly caught the bowl of dumplings before it fell out of his reach.
But additional weight would prove to be a big mistake as the branch snapped off completely.
Once they had recovered from their fall, Shifu handed Po a bowl of fresh noodles which the panda eagerly accepted.
As soon as he took the bowl however, Po was immediately swatted in the arm by a wooden staff, sending a stinging pain through his flabby arm.
Po yelped as he saw Donnie retreat into the bamboo before he was suddenly kicked in the back of the head by Leo.
Before he could even react, he was smacked on the other arm by Raph, who quickly retreated out of sight.
Finally, he was smacked across the face by one of Mikey's nunchucks before Shifu used his flute to shatter the bowl in Po's hands.
Later that same day, Po attempted to snatch a dumpling that Shifu held out in front of him, only for the red panda to move out of the way and toss the dumpling to Leo who then tossed it to Donnie who then tossed it to Raph.
This went on for quite a while with Po trying desperately to get the dumpling.
That evening, Po and the Turtles were forced to do a series of push-ups all throughout the night over beds of hot coal.
Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were pretty much doing it easily, however, Po needed some extra motivation with a bowl of soup in front of him (which he could only lick when he lowered himself).
In the morning, Shifu had Po, Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph balance themselves on several rocks while balancing bowls of soup on their arms and one leg while balancing on the other leg.
And as each day passed, Po seemed to start getting the hang of it as he wasn't slipping up or getting off balance as often.
In the afternoon, Po snuck up towards a seemingly unguarded pot of steamed soup. Quietly, he rolled over to the pot, his eyes shifting all around him to see if he could spot anyone.
Little did he know that a certain small someone was already right behind him.
As soon as Po made a break for the pot, he was suddenly wacked in the behind by Shifu with his staff.
Yelping, Po quickly blocked the next strike with his foot before deflecting the one after that with his paw.
He then attempted to kick Shifu and while he was distracted, get some soup into his bowl, but the red panda dodged it and jabbed his staff into Po's large stomach.
While the panda recoiled and held his stomach, Shifu snatched the bowl from Po's hands while balancing on his staff.
Smirking a little, Shifu began to drink the soup while Po could only watch in a sour manner.
Frustrated and a little bitter, Po attempted to kick Shifu's staff out from under him only for him to jump up as his staff hit the panda in the head.
Shifu played his flute as he sat in a meditative position in the bamboo forests.
As he played, four shadows moved unseen through the bamboo swiftly and silently.
The four shadows then lunged at the red panda who quickly opened his eyes and stopped playing his flute.
Quickly, he dodged a swing from Leo's katanas, the blades just grazing his goatee, before turning to block Donnie's staff with his own.
Once the purple clad turtle broke away, Shifu's was forced to deflect a thrust from Raph's sais while dodging various swings from Mikey.
As they continued this sparring session, Shifu noticed the subtle differences in each of their fighting styles; Leo being focused with his swings and kicks, Donnie being calculated with his strikes and swipes, Raph striking as hard and fast as he could, and Mikey pretty much acting wildly unpredictable with his nunchucks.
Shifu folded his flute behind his back as the fighting ceased briefly while the turtles surrounded him, standing ready to attack again.
Well, this was certainly going to be interesting, he thought as the turtles lunged towards him again.
The group then stood together on their own individual ledges out in the sunset, Po, Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph following Shifu's movements as he taught them the proper movements of kung fu.
Po seemed to be taking everything he had learned to heart and was proving to be an impressively fast learner as he was able to be in perfect sync with the red panda and the four ninja turtles.
Once again, the group was doing push-ups, this time without coal underneath them and this time switching hands each time they pushed up.
Again, Po was able to do it with minimal effort as he was easily keeping up with the others, showing his increasing strength.
Finally, Po stood in the center of a circle as Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey circled him with their weapons out.
Donnie was the first to advance as he swung his staff at the panda, who quickly dodged the oak stick before avoiding a jab from Leo's sword.
Batting the blade away with his paw, he quickly dodged a punch from Raph before deflecting one of Mikey's nunchucks with the back of his paw.
Putting their weapons away, the turtles lunged at the panda with several relentless punches and kicks, which Po either blocked or deflected.
As they sparred, each of the turtles couldn't help each smiling proudly a little at how much their friend was improving in his skills.
A few days later, Shifu had led Po into a large open field as he led him to a small rock with a bowl of dumplings, chopsticks, and two other empty bowls.
The turtles, however, were nowhere in sight.
Sitting down on one end of the make-shift table, Shifu picked up his chopsticks. "After you, panda." He said.
Po seemed genuinely surprised. "That's it?" He asked, sounding a little suspicious. "No sit-ups? N-no… no ten mile hike?"
Shifu held back a chuckle. "I vowed to train you and you have been trained. You are free to eat." He humbly stated.
Still suspicious of his master, Po sat down as he slowly picked up the chopsticks. "And, uh… where are the guys?"
"They've been sent back to the Jade Palace." Shifu said a little too casually. "In the meantime, you are free to eat."
Still eyeing the red panda suspiciously, Po hesitantly picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks.
"Enjoy." Shifu said, smiling a little too innocently.
Po smiled back, letting his guard down as he raised the dumpling to his mouth… when he instantly felt a sudden force swipe it from his grasp. "Hey!" He exclaimed, looking to see Shifu still sitting in his spot, strangely looking like he was chewing on something.
"I said you are free to eat." Shifu stated, still carrying that smug grin the Po would very much like to wipe off his face. "Have a dumpling."
Po went to grab another, but this time wasn't even able to raise it to his mouth as Shifu instantly kicked it up and grabbed it before eating it himself.
Po scowled as Shifu sat back down, the two glaring at each other in a stand-off.
"You are free… to eat." Shifu repeated slowly.
"AM I?!" Po questioned.
"ARE YOU?!"
Shifu twirled his chopsticks in his fingers while Po clipped his own chopsticks together in an attempt to look intimidating (instead he looked rather ridiculous, but hey, he was trying).
Po then slammed his fist onto the table, throwing the dumplings in the air. But Shifu was faster as he quickly leapt up and feasted on every single one of them.
Seeing one dumpling left, Po immediately jumped up as well with his mouth open wide… only for Shifu to swipe it away again as the panda landed flat on his face.
Pulling his face out of the ground, Po looked up to see Shifu holding the dumpling in his chopsticks, looking quite victorious, until the panda got up and flicked it out his grasp and into the bowl again.
Still competing for the dumpling, Po and Shifu fought chopstick to chopstick as they both attempted to dig the treat out for themselves.
Flipping over the three bowls onto the table, Shifu grinned almost evilly while Po glanced up at him, already dreading what he was about to do.
Grinning, Shifu shuffled the three bowls around the table so fast that they were a blur, trying and succeeding to distract the panda whilst he was trying his best to follow the bowl with dumpling in it.
Going with his gut, Po immediately selected the bowl closest to him and flipped it over.
"WHOO!" Po cheered as he found the dumpling in the bowl on his first try, and the battle of the chopsticks resumed.
As they dueled with their sticks, Shifu decided it was time to fight dirty as he used his small but surprisingly strong fingers to smack Po's hand.
Knowing he probably couldn't keep this up forever, Po swiped the bowl off the table and kicked it away, leaving only the dumpling.
As Po punted the dumpling up towards his mouth, Shifu threw one of his chopsticks like a spear, impaling the dumpling and pinning it to the highest branch of the tree behind them.
Shifu then hopped off the panda's back as he reached out for it, only for Po to use his chopsticks to grab him by the tail and pull him to the ground.
They both looked up to see the dumpling slowly slipping off, the treat sinking lower and lower down the chopsticks.
Using this distraction to his advantage, Shifu knocked Po arm away before grabbing the panda's fingers in an attempt to flip him over.
But Po quickly landed on his feet, twisting himself over while using his momentum to flip Shifu over him.
However, Shifu quickly landed on his feet before going between the panda's legs and sweeping them from out under him.
Po landed roughly on his back as the dumpling finally slipped off the chopstick.
Flipping to his feet, Po quickly knocked Shifu away and opened his mouth wide open, ready for that sweet goodness to finally land in his mouth…
… only for Shifu to use his chopstick to clamp his muzzle shut, with the dumpling bouncing off of Po's nose and rolling down the red panda's arm.
Po quickly used his paw to punt the dumpling into the air before attempting to sweep Shifu off of his feet, with the red panda just barely jumping over Po's leg before kicking it away.
In a panic, Po dashed down the hill after the dumpling and was about to reach it when he was suddenly whacked in the back of the head by something wooden.
Rubbing the back of his sore head, he looked up to see Donnie grabbing the dumpling out of the air before landing softly on his feet with that signature gap-toothed grin of his.
Donnie tossed the dumpling up into the air, about to eat it when suddenly it was snatched from him in mid-air by Mikey who did a graceful flip before landing.
Licking his lips, Mikey opened his maw to eat the treat as well when he was tackled to the ground by none other than Raph, the red clad turtle getting his youngest brother in a headlock.
As the dumpling fell, Raph reached out with his free hand to grab it while the other kept Mikey in the headlock…
… only for the dumpling to land lightly on Leo's katana blade.
The blue clad turtle smirked as he lightly balanced the dumpling on his blade. He remembered Shifu had woken him and his brothers up early that morning way before Po, telling them about this final test. Shifu had stated that this was pretty much a free-for-all, meaning they would not just have to compete against Shifu himself and the panda, but also each other as well.
With a flick of his wrist, Leo used the blade of his sword to toss the dumpling towards his mouth, only for Po to suddenly rush in and kick it away.
The dumpling still sailing through the air, the five figures all made a mad dash down the hill, Po doing everything in his power to get the dumpling while Shifu, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were doing everything in their power to try and stop him.
Po blocked and dodged every strike they threw at him before pinning down Shifu's flute and leaping up into the air, flipping over them all and bumping it against his belly.
From there, everything seemed to be in slow motion as Shifu, Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph watched the panda in a fit of awe as Po landed upright and grasped the dumpling between his chopsticks.
For a moment, Po looked like he was going to straight up eat the dumpling, but then he paused as he realized what had just happened. He had just beaten not only all four of his ninja turtle friends, but even Master Shifu himself.
He turned to his friends and teacher and was surprised to see them standing up straight, the turtles putting away their weapons as Shifu gestured to the dumpling, genuinely encouraging the panda to devour it as he desired.
However, all of them were surprised when Po tossed the dumpling into Shifu's hand.
"I'm not hungry." Po said proudly. He then placed his fist into his palm and bowed. "Master."
Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey walked over to the panda before bowing as well.
Tossing the dumpling over his shoulder, Shifu bowed back, a proud smile coming onto his lips.
"Well done… my students." Shifu congratulated them.
Standing up straight, the five boys let out loud cheers as they whooped and pumped their fists like a bunch of children.
"Congrats, Po!" Mikey cheered, throwing an arm around the panda's shoulders. "You're a kick-butt kung fu master now, bro!"
Po chuckled. "It's thanks to you guys that I am."
"You really stepped up big time!" Raph complimented, giving Po a friendly punch to the arm. "I'm proud of ya, big guy!"
"But, we couldn't have done all of this without Master Shifu." Donnie reminded them as they turned their attention back to the red panda.
"It was an honor to be your students, Master." Leo stated, speaking for all of them as they bowed once again.
Shifu nodded. "And it was an honor to teach you, Leonardo." He then hopped off the small rock he was standing on and began to walk away.
"Come, let us go home."
