KUNG FU PANDA 2 (ACT II)
"Hard Knocks"
When he arrived, everyone stopped breathing for a second.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
Clack.
Metal against stone. Sharp, scratching noises as silver scraped against rock.
The Master's Council - currently restricted to just three individuals: Master Thundering Rhino, Master Ox, and Master Croc - gazed forward with unquestionable tenacity.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
Clack.
The figure approaching them was not alone. Draped in a ceremonial white dress, the figure was well-flanked by a large battalion of armored wolves. They seemed to be tugging at a massive, blanketed structure surrounded by a moving box - a ridiculously attention-grabbing spectacle, considering how big the Courtyard was.
Master Rhino grimaced, holding his huge stone hammer more tightly. Gongmen City was a ridiculously selective city - selective enough where the people like the individual in front of him - simply could not get in. Thick, high walls and a plethora of masters defending the massive, sprawling metropolis of buildings, shops, high towers, and restaurants. All was protected.
Yet he got in.
Click. Clack.
Even the Palace Courtyard should have prevented entry. There had to have been at least fifteen archers, twenty full-time guards, and an assortment of traps, devices, and discouraging weapon racks that could have lead any sane person to look at the heavily fortified building and think - this was not worth doing.
Yet he had.
Click. Clack
Master Rhino suppressed a gasp. He watched the figure unveil his head, completely the center of the attention in the bright noon sun, with such a massive yet open Courtyard space - stretching hundreds of feet in each direction.
The peacock.
Only he would come for the Palace - the magnificent skyrise tower that stood proudly behind Master Rhino, jettisons of red decorations and poles jutting out from each floor. Rhino took another look at the Palace, stretching well into the sky so some cloud cover partially touched the tips of the top floor - then looked back at the peacock, queasy feeling emerging.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," the peacock noted, smiling as his feathers were still underneath the robes. "Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way - please leave my house."
"Your house, Shen?" Master Ox sounded off, courage pushing him forward as he stood in front of Master Rhino, pant legs dragging on the ground.
"Peacock on front door?" Shen responded, voice smooth and relaxed. "Peacock artwork? Peacock drawings? You must be a slow one…"
Master Rhino tried to keep his cool, watching the Soothsayer - an old goat standing well away from him - approach the peacock with concern.
"Ah… " Shen let out, voice breathy and arrogant. "Looks like you were wrong, Soothsayer."
The old goat glared coldly back. "We shall see, Shen."
"No, you shall see, old goat," Shen replied savagely. "Now - do I have to do this the hard way?"
"What do you want, Shen?" Master Croc stepped up, moving to join the rest of the Council.
"Gongmen City," Shen denoted simply.
"That won't happen," Master Rhino spat.
A silence.
The peacock stared at his feathers, beginning to make a movement with them. The three Masters were anticipating this. They caught just a glimpse of silver blades being unsheathed.
Yet the peacock did nothing.
"On second thought, why don't we just skip the part where I fight, you all fight, then Horn Head there breaks my knives?" Shen asked, grin spreading. "I don't want to end up like the snow leopard, after all… I'm a bird of action."
Master Rhino narrowed his eyes. Shen leaped behind him, flipping several times to land on the edge of the massive box. He signaled his wolf army to let go of the holdings, proceeding to kick off the crate and spread the box open. Massive slabs of wood fell to the ground.
Shen now stood atop a long, metallic black cylinder.
"What - what is that?" Master Rhino let out, spinning his trusty stone hammer in his hands to shield the other two masters.
"A parting gift, from the Seekers," Shen answered, metallic feet dancing around a small rope hanging off the top of the cylinder, which gave Master Rhino concern. "It will part you. Part of you here, part of you there…"
"You insolent fool!" Master Ox roared, trying to push past Master Rhino's stone hammer - but was thrusted back.
"The Seekers are dead," Master Rhino stated firmly. "Gone. There are no more of their kind, for hundreds of years."
"I agree," Shen noted. "But their weapons live on. Their technology."
Master Rhino gasped in shock. "How - how did you find that?"
"If you think this is grand - you should see my other ones," Shen boasted proudly, finally scratching the rope to start a spark, which began eating the rope and spreading into the cylinder. "Too bad none of you will live long enough to find out."
Master Rhino prepared himself, extending his stone hammer in front of him. Masters Ox and Croc got into their defensive positions.
A pause.
Then an explosion. Fire.
BOOM.
. . .
Two years had passed since Tai Lung was defeated in the Valley of Peace.
In stark contrast to its name, the Valley had experienced a soulful incline in the number of rampant crimes committed every day - which could have been attributed to faulty rhino guard corruption, or perhaps plain poverty - seizing individuals to perform acts of violence and robbery, just to gain some coin. The Valley itself had experienced a grand restructuring - after the effects of Tai Lung's attacks, more of China took interest in the Valley of Peace, which had its own positive and negative consequences. The greatest advantage, perhaps - was that news now reached the Valley much faster, with a constant stream of avian messengers now connecting the Valley to the outside world - or at least beyond the Wu Dan mountains. The negatives however, seemed to center around the features of the Jade Palace staffing, its residents, and the questionable tenacity of its senior master.
None of this detracted however, from the Valley's deep and even somewhat overzealous love for the Jade Palace. The Dragon Warrior - Po - had become something of a legend in the Valley, with an immaculate collection of merchandising in the form of action figures, shirts, vests, food, and even autographed memorabilia. His status as a flabby, overbearing, loud, and constantly enthusiastic panda made him charismatic and likable - spreading his tales and stories like wildfire. China knew Po very intimately, and the latter had made no effort to stop people from spreading stories about his "greatness".
The rest of the Jade Palace were no laughing matter as well. As soon as the public had moved on from Po, they adored the Furious Five - and Master Shifu. Chiefly, most of the adoration seemed to fall on Master Tigress. She was - without question - the strongest member of the Jade Palace, surpassing even the Dragon Warrior and Shifu. Many true fans of the Palace, those with genuine, in-depth knowledge of its inner machinations - acknowledged her practical leadership status in all field expenditures. While Shifu lead in the Training Hall, Tigress would lead on missions. They were both amply supported by the rest of the Furious Five - Master Crane, Master Monkey, Master Mantis, and Master Viper - all of whom were masters of the highest order. Shifu and his "Furious Five" were well-renowned throughout China even before Po had defeated Tai Lung - but with the panda helming the team as the Dragon Warrior, the entire Jade Palace was propelled to mythical levels, the stories of their exploits providing writers and established fortune-tellers tales of history, myth, victory, and heroism.
Everyone remembered the time when Po and the Five took on the mountain gorillas of Feng Shuan, or successfully destroyed the mighty Ke-Pa dragon demon. Everyone remembered when Po stood alone against the Thousand Bandits of Wing Xeng, eating a bowl of dumplings while gloriously smashing them all with his iron-fisted paws.
But most of all, everyone in the Valley of Peace firmly remembered the day - because they had celebrated it so often - that Po and the Five single-handedly defeated the greatest kung fu master who ever lived. Tai Lung's defeat was the hallmark of the Palace's accomplishments, an inspiring tale often repeated to the young children of the Valley as a story of great persistence and courage winning out over experience and power.
And since then - all the members of the Jade Palace had grown much stronger. On a technical level, and by Shifu's own admittance - Tigress had surpassed Tai Lung, Po could easily spar with the rest of the Five, and any single member of the Palace (provided with enough support) could have easily taken down the snow leopard - if he was somehow reanimated back to life. This was - for all intents and purposes - the strongest version of the Jade Palace that the Valley had ever seen. This was a team which the late Master Oogway himself - long thought to be the greatest grandmaster who ever lived - would be proud of.
Then there was the Seeker.
No one spoke about him. No one told stories about him. Many questioned his very existence. Some villagers - under the dusky recesses of their homes, laying awake at night to read stories to rambunctious children - would sometimes recount a time when a creature - one without fur or claws, just raw skin - would roam the streets. Since Tai Lung's defeat, the Seeker had all but vanished from the public eye. The villagers could clearly remember a time before Tai Lung - that they remembered seeing a young boy running around with a collar around his neck. But since the snow leopard had been buried, the boy almost evaporated into nonexistence.
A fitting end, considering that it was public belief - substantiated by everyone in the Jade Palace, the survivors of Chorh-Gom, and pretty much everyone to have ever known the name Tai Lung - that the Seeker had aided the escape of evil snow leopard.
The boy had worked with him - had actively lead a hand in the Valley's destruction. This was the most repulsive act a citizen of the Valley of Peace could do.
So no one was unhappy over the Seeker's disappearance. Many rejoiced it. More celebrated it every time Tai Lung's name would come up. But most of the time, the topic had just been reduced to urban myths and half-baked stories. Some elders would recount instances in recent months where they saw a creature that matched the description of the boy, but these were largely dismissed as anecdotal and non-reproducible.
Most people then, had settled to simply not caring what had happened to the Seeker. All that mattered was that him and Tai Lung were hopefully rotting in the ground together.
And that was enough reassurance for the Valley of Peace.
And despite the Valley's relative stability - the aforementioned petty crimes still happened, however. One such crime - as it was occurring right now - didn't feel so petty.
The Musician's Village was under assault.
. . .
Inside the Dragon Grotto - perhaps the most peaceful part of the Jade Palace, as it was just a simple cave - two figures stood in the gentle morning sunshine. The Grotto itself had stalactites hanging from the dark rock ceiling, with a large body of reflective water covering the center - eerily reminiscent to the Pool of Sacred Tears. The morning sunlight washed over the grand space, illuminating a red panda draped in a green vest, oscillating perfectly on Master Oogway's staff.
The other figure was Po.
"Inner peace - inner peace - " Po let out, trying to mimic Shifu's perfect motions on the staff. "Uh - I'm not really getting this inner peace thing, am I?"
Shifu, pleasant smile stretched across his face, having dealt with Po's antics for two years - nodded his head. "No - you are not. But you may - in the future. Keep at it, Po."
The panda snorted, jiggling his large but admittedly trimmed belly, atop his - now trademarked - burlap pants. "Psshh, I know I'll get it. I mean - I will, right?"
Shifu flashed another smile back.
"PO!"
The foreign voice was demanding and loud, but not harsh.
Although at one time, it used to be.
Master Tigress appeared out of the corner of the cliffside Grotto, sprinting to Po's side on all fours. Her red vest and features signaled action and immediate desire for Po to join in on something, but it didn't signal the same annoyance that they once would have.
"Bandits," Tigress stated urgently. "Wolves - at the Musician's Village."
Po turned to Shifu, bowing gently. "Sorry Master, but duty calls."
Shifu smiled back warmly. "Go - kick butt."
Even after two years, Po had never gotten used to the level of relaxation Master Shifu had been in.
Po ran to the edge of the cliffside, feeling the full strength of sunlight bask his white and black fur. He narrowed his green eyes, seeing the edge of a small village just at the edge of the misty fog permeating the entire Valley of Peace.
Activity. Motion. Wolf landings. Ropes.
Something was definitely happening.
Po grinned, seeing the rest of the Five appear by his side. Crane came in with Mantis on his back, while Monkey carried Viper on his shoulder. They looked down at the small village with Po, flexing their bodies and loosening their joints.
"No snack stops this time," Tigress stated firmly, leaping off the edge of the cliffside and into misty white fog.
"Wh - I don't even - " Po tried to deny, as the rest of the Five smiled at him and followed Tigress' jump. " - wait, you're serious?"
Po jumped into the fog.
He had done this so many times over the past few years that it had become all instinctual. Within a few seconds, his feet found solid ground on Crane's back, movements perfectly synced as he extended his fist forward in a mock-controlling manner.
"Ergh - I'm not a rickshaw, Po," Crane struggled, diving through the air while trying to balance the panda on his back.
After Po and the Five dove for a few more seconds, the misty white fog departed and morning sunlight illuminated the Musician's Village - still a good distance away, separated by several small, rocky cliffs.
There were an incredible amount of wolves. From what Po could pick up, the wolves had standard bamboo armor and a variety of arrow weapons - a recent trend he had seen in the last couple of months. The pattern was always similar: a gang of wolves would approach a village, steal as much metal as they could find, then promptly flee the scene as Po and the Five arrived.
Po was unsure whether to call them truly bandits.
"WOOOOO HOO!" the panda let out, diving off Crane's back and in the direction of the village.
Although they were imperceptibly off in the distance, the wolves' heads turned on the foggy grassland at the source of the scream. Po could make out the finer details more clearly now - careening downwards with high velocity.
Many rabbit villagers were tied up. A few were running across the dense grassland - some of them were chased by armored wolves. The buildings of the Musician's Village seemed ransacked and broken, doors kicked in and metal stolen. All the metal was compounded into heavy balls bound by thick ropes, sunlight glistening off the reflective surface.
Cold air rushed past Po as he dived, the Five diving close to him.
"Woah - yeehaw!" Po screamed, turning to see the Five dive with him in a surreal moment. "WOAH AHHHHHHH!"
Po flipped, feet finding solid grass.
"Wah hah!" Po let out, confused to see no villagers or wolves. He realized his mistake quickly, turning around. "Oh - haha!"
Now the image was clear for the panda. A large, one-eyed wolf - red, distinctive tattoo on his arm - lead the pack of wolves, who stopped to look at the Five and Po already in battle stances. The villagers cheered, rabbits jumping up and down in joy.
"WE'RE SAVED!"
"THE DRAGON WARRIOR!"
"A panda?" the boss wolf noted. "That's impossible!"
Po shook his head at the ludicrousness of this statement. "My fist hungers for justice…"
Grumble.
Rumble.
The Five exchanged glances at Po's belly, which sagged and moaned in agony.
"... that was my um - fist." Po attempted.
Tigress groaned.
"Come on!" Po called out, although the Five had already started the fight.
Po sprinted forward, intercepting a wolf as he swung a curved blade multiple times toward the panda.
He grinned. He had practiced it a million times before - the Training Hall being many times more lethal than this tiny sword.
Po leaned to the left.
Swish.
He leaned to the right.
Swish. The blade no contact.
"Hi - " Po started his cry, grabbing the wolf's paw and pulling it over to his backside, shoving him away. " - Heyah!"
The wolf flew into the nearest bell, clanging into it with a perfectly melodious sound. The rabbits cheered.
Po turned to his left, grinning as Monkey jumped into the air and launched a wolf bandit into the sky with a kick. To his right, Mantis subtly dodged multiple blade swipes from three bandits - jumping in between the blades of a doubly-armed wolf with dizzying accuracy, culminating the movement with a perfect kick to the head. Behind Po, Viper and Crane worked in unison to strike several wolves into the air, as Crane stripped them of their armor mid-air - leading to the wolves crashing down onto Viper's tail strike.
But Po's vision was most captivated at the front. Tigress - surrounded by three wolf bandits yet completely unaided - punched one fifty feet away, elbowed one straight into the ground, while using the momentum from the elbow to spin kick the final bandit straight into the sky.
Po's eyes - trained sharp enough to detect even the slightest disturbance in the air - detected a long spear sent Tigress' way.
Yet he need not have worried. Tigress effortlessly jumped into the air, catching it between her legs to spin it back to her right - causing the arrow to collide into a group of wolves holding rabbits hostage.
Po smiled. Even after two years of training, he had never quite understood how to get anywhere close to Tigress' level.
"PO! INCOMING!"
The panda felt startled, seeing three wooden plates fly into view as they deflected arrows away from Po.
"THANKS MANTIS!" Po called out, reaching down to the ground to pick up a small guitar.
He sprinted over to the middle of a group of wolves surrounding a small, old rabbit - stopping a blade swipe with the guitar.
To Po's great annoyance, the old rabbit began playing a tune.
"Ugh - is - that - " Po breathed out, every word coming after deflecting another blade strike from the various wolves lunging at the rabbit. " - really - necessary - right - now?"
Po efficiently spun around, knocking the wolves down. He jumped into the air, soaring downward with his belly to squash the remainder of wolves.
Whizz.
Po turned his gaze upward. At least ten wolves had jumped into the air, well away from the rest of the Five's combat positions - trying to converge on a few rabbits running away from the Village.
"TIGRESS!" Po called out. "DOUBLE DEATH STRIKE!"
Within moments, she appeared next to Po. He jumped into the air, reaching for outstretched paws as she swung him around with incredible velocity - then let go.
Po soared upwards, making his way to the wolves - still in mid-air.
"FEET OF FURY!"
Po kicked out with efficient precision, instantly disabling the remainder of the mid-air wolves. He landed down to the ground slightly off-balance, earning him a smirk from Tigress.
A wolf howled in the distance.
Instantly, motion came. The large bags of metal, wrapped up in careful ropes and thick layering - began to be pulled away by wolves standing on the surrounding cliffside. Po knew they were retreating - which meant that he and the Five needed to intercept the stolen goods now, or risk losing them as protocol dictated attending to the villagers first - retreating enemies second.
"CRANE! GO!" Po yelled.
"ON IT!"
The bird flew straight towards a large bag of metal gently pulled off the edge of the Musician's Village cliffside, anchored to a thick rope held by a wolf standing on another mountain region.
Crane tugged at the metal, calling out to the rest of the Five.
Mantis and Monkey made another connection, attaching themselves to Crane while reaching free appendages toward the cliffside.
But the chain wasn't long enough. Viper dove to catch Mantis, Monkey, Crane - and the large bag of metal.
She cried out for help too - metal bag being pulled away too fast. Po ran, jumping over the edge of the cliff to latch onto Viper and the rest of the group.
Tigress ended the animal "rope", standing at the edge of the cliff while tugging at Po's feet. With her strength - it was enough to keep the entire line stable, despite being well off the edge of the cliff, and being tugged away by the wolves.
"PULL IT UP, PO!" Tigress roared.
Po casually began pulling with both arms, feeling the weight slowly jilt upwards. Again - after so many times practicing for this kind of scenario - nothing felt off. He was going to do it.
The boss wolf appeared from the corner of his vision, red tattoo sticking out to Po.
The panda saw it. Flashes of images ran through his head.
Crying.
Babies.
Sound of metal.
Something like fire.
A peacock.
Po froze, feeling the weight slip from his fingers.
"PO!" Tigress emphasized again. "WE NEED YOU TO PULL - NOW!"
Yet Po couldn't. The images kept running through his head.
Fire.
Burning.
Death.
The peacock.
A whizz of blackness. Po looked to his right.
A completely obscured figure - covered in black garments that shielded the figure's entire body, face, eyes, and hands from the exterior - dove downwards, cutting through air with manic precision. To anyone else, the figure looked like nothing but a moving black mass, completely undetectable and unrecognizable. Even the Five were momentarily shocked, taking several seconds to understand and associate the diving black figure to memory.
Yet Po knew who it was instantly, sighing. "I told him that suit looked tacky. But does he listen to me ever? No…"
The figure wrapped an arm around Viper's tail, urging her to release the chain. She did so without hesitation.
With the figure's other arm, it grasped onto Monkey's arm - still connected to Crane and Mantis, who clung to the large bag of metal.
With a single, swishing effort - using just one of its arms - the figure launched the entire remainder of the chain: metal ball, Mantis, and Crane into the air.
Tigress swung Po's feet to the side, tilting the Po-Viper chain upwards as Viper flicked the entire mass powerfully behind her, as Po belly-bumped it behind him, as Tigress casually grasped the massive structure to gently place it down behind her - on firm, completely stable grassland.
Po pulled himself to his feet, watching the Five reassemble behind him. Ensuing cheers came from the villagers immediately.
"THE DRAGON WARRIOR SAVED US!"
"PRAISE THE FURIOUS FIVE!"
"LONG LIVE THE JADE PALACE!"
Po smiled, urging the villagers away as they were escorted by a freshly-arriving bird - Zeng - who began directing them down a rock path leading away from the area, most likely to the nearest Valley healers.
Within a minute, the Musician's Village was empty once more. Po grumbled, watching the shadows of a few wolves just begin to disappear from his sight - traversing well into the misty fog of mountains surrounding them, managing to haul a few bags of metal out regardless.
"We'll catch 'em next time," the panda let out, frustrated. "Yet another supercool end to a supercool day."
Mantis and Crane grinned at him, punching him on the shoulder. Monkey leaped into the air, stretching his back muscles. Viper merely stared back at the panda, nodding her head in acknowledgement of his compliment.
Only Tigress approached Po, discontent on her face. "What happened back there?"
Po raised his eyebrows, trying to lie his way out of the situation. "What? Like my form wasn't good with the spinkick or - "
"You froze," Tigress cut through, meeting Po's gaze in an uncomfortably piercing way. "What happened?"
Po tried to find excuses to stall for time, not wanting to display how embarrassing the images were.
And what would he even tell?
He had seen a peacock? He had seen fire? He had felt something that he hadn't felt for nearly his entire life?
What had he even felt when he had seen the tattoo?
Luckily, Po's distraction came quickly. The black figure, still perfectly obscured by its dark garments, clambered up the cliffside now. It walked gently towards the Five and Po, swinging its shoulders with a carefree nonchalance.
"Amber," Tigress noted with great annoyance. "Where were you when we just arrived at the village?"
"Didn't want to taint your guys' good image," the figure responded simply, pulling off its mask, knowing no one except the Five and Po were present.
The face that appeared was young, approximately sixteen years old. He had no fur, claws, or fangs - and his eyes and full-lipped mouth were well-spaced and proportionate. Hazel eyes were paired with black, wavy hair that ran down the back of his head.
"After all, what would the Valley think if they saw you guys hanging around with me?" Alf asked.
Po grinned.
A/N
Woo hoo! KFP 2! Finally! (A nice, meaty chapter too...)
I tried to start with something that was very distinctive and a chapter where I could get a lot of the exposition out of the way - but still make it feel like a good amount of time had passed since the events of KFP 1. I also wanted a good action scene to show how much everyone had progressed, and KFP 2 naturally had that already!
Other than that, obviously I'm just starting off the next arc.
Boy do I love slow builds…
Yeah yeah support is incredible I'm humbled and amazed… :D
~TW
