"Old News, Current News, and New News"


"FLIP - NOW!"

"YES MASTER!"

"MONKEY - DOUBLE BARREL ROLL!"

"YES MASTER!"

"PO - STOP LOUNGING BY THE WOODEN WARRIORS!"

"Oops - um - YES MASTER!"

Po left the stack of Wooden Warriors, jumping between the various spinning arms with effortless precision. It utterly baffled Po how easy this was for him now - for so long, he had thought his size had been a disadvantage.

Yet now, diving beneath the rapidly spinning spikes - just casually watching the wooden extensions fly above his head, Po realized that his size only provided him with a set of circumstances - circumstances to adapt to, flex his position into, and overall work new situations with.

None of it was a disadvantage.

Mid-flip, Po took a look at the rest of the Five working out alongside him in the Training Hall - Tigress was smashing through wood and rotating spikes, while Monkey and Crane had perfected their new "Shining Blur, Hidden Bird" technique on the rings suspended from the ceiling. Viper was as usual, enjoying dancing with the pillars of flames off to Po's right - contorting her body in perfect symmetry as she managed to elude every single burst of fire.

"Students!" Shifu rang out, standing at the entrance to the Training Hall. "Enough! Follow me outside."

The movement stopped instantly. Po took his time to smash a few more Wooden Warriors, leaping into the air and across the Training Hall.

"SHAKABOOEY!"

Po landed on his feet, annoyed that the Five had already beaten him to the entrance. Shifu smiled as the Dragon Warrior pushed himself to the front of the group - yet the Five stood back and chuckled.

Even after all the missions they had gone through together, Po was very much still a fanboy.

"What is up?" Po let out with a groan. "Master Shifu?"

Shifu raised an eyebrow. "Have you worked on your inner peace technique, Po?"

"He's working on shoving pieces into his inners," Mantis interrupted. "If that counts."

A murmur of giggles from the Five. Po groaned, bowing respectfully to Shifu.

"I - well - sort of - " Po started. "Well - yanno - kinda?"

"That's a no, then," Shifu agreed, smiling. "Never mind. Follow me."

Shifu began his stroll down the steps leading to the Palace Courtyard, as the Five and Po followed him.

Practicing kung fu at noontime had its benefits - outdoor exercises were surprisingly much easier for everyone, considering that the strong sunlight bathed everyone's fur and allowed all of their practiced movements to come like butter. Outdoor movements also meant practicing on hard, stony rock flooring instead of the misshapen wooden platforms in the Training Hall - which, despite being effective - sometimes acted as a nuisance and as a barrier to mastering some more precise techniques. There was also the added benefit of occasionally cooling breezes that would wash over the Jade Palace - calming everyone down and preparing their muscles for maximum exertion.

"Finished yet, Seeker?" Shifu asked, eyeing the boy casually dressed in blue and green garments - as he painted a large red circle around the entire length of the Courtyard.

"Not yet," Alf replied smoothly, watching the Five and Po stand next to Shifu and wait for him to finish painting. "Should be soon though…"

Po frowned. Although by and large - Alf had successfully mixed well with the group, had helped on numerous missions (his help perhaps being understated), and even managed to stay well out of the citizens' eyesight…

...the collar was still there. A bit tinted, metallic and black, and firmly enclosed around Alf's neck.

Po sighed. Although he didn't like it, the collar was still being used to shock Alf quite frequently - Shifu had been able to find at least a few reasons each week to "punish" Alf via electrocution. Sometimes it was a missed step during his execution of a kick, sometimes it was when he realized Alf didn't clean the Palace properly, and some other times the reasoning bordered on vindictive.

Alf - perhaps out of necessity or acceptance of his situation - had gotten used to it. It wasn't as if he could backtalk Shifu, and there's no way he could report any injuries sustained via Shifu's shocking to any authorities.

More importantly, Shifu itself was another reason why Po felt cautious about Alf's status at the Palace - unlike himself and the Five - Shifu refused to call Alf anything other than "Seeker" or occasionally "boy".

That itself spoke to how tense their relationship was these days.

"Done, Master Shifu," Alf noted, adding the last touch of finishing red paint onto the circle.

The Five and Po approached the center of the circle, already following Shifu's stride there. Alf met them all in-between, folding his arms back in the most respectful posture possible.

"As a reward for saving the Musician's Village," Shifu started. "I'd like to do a fun activity to finish off today's training - Elimination Rounds."

Almost everyone in the group - standing around Shifu - collectively groaned.

The sole exception was Tigress, who flashed a wide grin and began loosening up her neck. Alf sighed, having hoped that the red circle he had been painting was a new Courtyard design feature, rather than for this idiotic game.

Elimination Rounds were by far, the strongest evidence of Shifu's favoritism for his adoptive daughter. The game itself was practically simple - in any given area, two sparring partners would pair off and try to win "points" by making contact with the other's body through kicks, punches, shoves, or any kind of physical touching motion. Movement outside the circle would lead to a disqualification, and blocking was not allowed. So after receiving five points, the partner who reached there first would stay in the circle. The loser would exit, while another fighter took his or her place.

It was an idiotic game, because out of all the eight times that Shifu had thrusted this game upon everyone - Tigress had won, handily. And despite the fact that just touching was enough to earn a point, she had always chosen to make full contact with fully-powered punches and kicks, making everyone sore until next morning.

"Enjoy the game." Shifu noted, walking away from the Palace Courtyard and towards the elevated stony path behind the Training Hall - which lead back to the Dragon Grotto.

"Who's first?" Tigress remarked, grinning as she readied herself into a prolonged battle stance - both paws out.

"Do we really have to do this?" Crane interrupted, shaking his beak in annoyance. "Can't we just say that you'll win and just call it a day?"

"Thank you for volunteering first, Master Crane," Tigress replied forcefully, bowing.

Alf made his way over to the side, leaning against the back wall of the Palace Courtyard - not interested in seeing what was going to happen. He sat down, looking at his fingers in boredom.

Yet he heard it.

Within seconds, Crane was on the floor clutching at his feathered chest - wheezing.

"One," Tigress proudly declared, paw extended.

"Z - Zero," Crane squeakily let out.

That was another thing that seemed - to Alf at least - to be unintentionally embarrassing. After each point, both partners needed to state how much points they had.

Which made the next few seconds particularly cringe-worthy.

THUMP.

"Two."

"Zero."

WHAM!

"Three."

"Zero."

WUMP!

"Four."

"Ze - Zero - take it easy Tig - AUGH!"

"Five."

Alf shook his head, watching Po drag Crane's tired body gently out of the red circle and near the boy. Both the Seeker and the bird sat next to each other, watching Viper take center stage as Mantis, Monkey, and Po resumed standing in line with weary expressions.

"What's even the point of this?" Crane managed, wincing at his sore talons. "Shifu's trying to make Tigress learn how to count to five?"

"Maybe she hasn't gotten it yet," Alf cackled, watching Tigress throw Viper down to the hard flooring effortlessly. "Maybe that's the reason why this keeps happening…"

THRASH!

"Two."

"Zero."

"She does know that you don't have to hit as hard as you can, right?" Crane asked, genuinely confused. "Is that not clear to her?"

WHUMP. THUNK. CRASH!

"Three. Four. Five."

"Zero - erm - zero - uh… zero…"

Alf and Crane laughed, Viper's politeness and adherence to rules actually compelling her to repeat the same number three times.

The snake slithered over, resting her head on Alf's lap as the Seeker watched Monkey shaking before stepping into the red circle.

"Wait - before we do this Tigress," Monkey tried. "Can I just - OOF!"

"One."

Alf grinned, watching Tigress throw Monkey to the ground in the same manner she had done with Viper.

"Alf," Viper questioned, sore head just dangling off Alf's knees. "Did anything seem - off - about Po yesterday? At the Musician's Village?"

"Not more than usual," Alf replied with a wink, stroking Viper's tired head to relax more on his lap.

"Three."

"Z - Z - Zer - "

Thump!

"Four."

"He actually froze," Crane intervened, flexing his wings to relieve tension. "Like - Po saw something that made him just stop - almost like he remembered something."

"Really?" Alf wondered out-loud. "I dunno - doesn't sound like him."

"Exactly the point," Viper emphasized.

Monkey came crawling over to Alf, Crane, and Viper - collapsing onto the ground in a heat of exhaustion.

"I - I hate this stupid game," Monkey breathed out.

"You're sure he wasn't just tired or something?" Alf questioned. "Po tends to get tired - especially considering he didn't get the snack stop."

"I - I told Tigress that was a bad idea…" Monkey recalled.

"Monkey - you don't even know what we're talking about," Viper responded with a chuckle.

Po had finally made his way to the front of the line - or rather, he was the only person still left. He stood in the middle of the red circle, squaring off with Tigress with the usual enthusiasm that made perhaps - her blows more bearable.

"IT IS ON!" Po squealed, excitement flooding him.

Tigress smiled. "Bring it on - Dragon Warrior."

Alf narrowed his eyes. Where had Mantis gone?

"Hey guys."

That answered that question.

Mantis popped up behind Alf, leaping onto the Seeker's shoulder. "Don't tell her, please."

"Mantis you did this last time!" Crane whined, shaking his head. "You can't just hide until she forgets about you!"

"Crane, Viper, Monkey, Alf - " Mantis began, voice threatening. "- if any of you out me, I swear by the Scrolls that I'll - "

"Should I talk to him about it?" Alf asked the group.

"About his thing with Tigress?" Monkey interrupted, clearly half-dazed.

"Wait - what?" Viper interrupted, forgetting about the original conversation and moving her head off Alf's lap. "Thing for Tigress? Po has a thing for Tigress?"

"Guys, we were talking about Po's freezing thing, not this stuff…" Crane attempted.

"Is this really news?" Alf questioned, also choosing to roll with the new topic. "Guys - he's had like a thing for her since he like - first heard of her."

"Yeah but it's like - Po," Mantis noted, as the group nodded their heads. "And Tigress is well - Tigress."

"Opposites attract…" Monkey spoke carefully.

"Wait, they're attracted to each other?" Alf broke in. "What?"

"What? No!" Monkey responded quickly. "Po is! I mean - none of them are! I mean - I'm gonna shut up now…"

"Yes," Crane and Viper muttered in unison. "Please. Before you get yourself killed."

"Or better yet, we'll all talk to Po about it," Monkey noted.

"Monkey - you still don't know what we were talking about," Crane stated. "But - that is a good idea."

"Oh boy, an intervention!" Mantis squealed. "Wait - what are we talking about?"

"I was thinking about talking to Po about his freezing incident," Alf noted. "But then Monkey sidetracked us with his freaking spicy gossip…"

Po came crashing forward, sliding directly closer to Alf's feet. He was out of the red circle now.

"That - was - awesome! Oww!" Po yelled, clutching at his belly - two tiger paws imprinted in red bruises. "Did - did anyone get a single point?"

Mantis stared at the sky, trying not to bring attention to himself. Crane and Viper shook their heads sadly. Monkey's head was revolving around and around, possibly confused from the blows.

"Cool," Po let out, wheezing but still happy. "Guess we're all in the same boat…"

Alf sighed, beginning to move Viper off his lap, and encouraging Mantis to leap down - knowing what had to happen now.

He just had to get it over with. He had made tremendous strides in physicality, athleticism, and mastery of kung fu techniques in the two years he had been at the Jade Palace - but nothing could prepare him for this.

"Anngeellllinnnaaa - " Tigress sarcastically harmonized. "Come out and plaaaaayy…"

Alf groaned, forcing his feet to carry him to the center of the red circle. He wondered which version of Tigress he preferred - the one that hated his guts, back when Po and him had just been introduced to the Jade Palace - or the current version, which made fun of him (admittedly lightheartedly) at every possible opportunity.

But she had somewhat mellowed - even if in a sarcastic, standoffish, and still blunt but charismatic way. And that was good for everyone.

Alf took his place at the center of the red circle, watching Tigress get into her classic ready stance - paws forward, feet back, and shoulders cocked.

It felt different to be in this position. Alf glanced at the rest of the Five and Po - sitting down near the back wall of the Courtyard with exhausted expressions.

Alf noted how no one talked to Po yet. Perhaps there was a need to talk to him about what happened at the Musician's Village.

"Ready, Annabelle?" Tigress asked.

Alf nodded, always confused at how many girl names Tigress would have to know so that she could quickly regurgitate them like this. He wondered how many girls Tigress even knew.

Alf wondered how many people Tigress even knew.

THUMP.

"AUGH!"

Alf flew back, having his chest make solid contact with Tigress' paw.

"One," Tigress proudly stated, getting back into her ready stance. "Be careful - I don't want you chipping a nail or anything."

That classic smirk was back on her face, but Alf ignored it, getting back into his own ready stance. It was much different from everyone else's, perhaps a natural consequence of being a Seeker - which consisted of arms locked, legs backward, and shoulders cocked.

WHISH.

A swift punch to his left. Alf avoided it, sideswiping underneath her legs.

Which ended up being a horrible mistake. Tigress hopped over, bringing another paw crashing down on the back of Alf's head - shoving him to the ground.

"Two," Tigress continued.

Alf growled. He stood back up, immediately launching into an uppercut which Tigress cleanly dodged - but he had expected that. Her knee came searing, straight for his ribcage, but Alf pirouetted in mid-air to launch another kick aimed at Tigress' head.

But she wasn't there anymore.

Tigress was behind Alf in mid-air, grabbing him by the shoulders and hips to bodyslam him to the ground.

"AUGH!"

"Three."

Alf tried to calm himself down. He stood up again, analyzing Tigress' stance once more. Paws ready. Shoulders cocked. Eyes narrowed and focused.

He tried a different approach.

Alf ran shoulder first in front of him. As expected, Tigress laughed this off and jumped gently in mid-air again - but that was exactly what Alf hoped she would do. Before she could complete the jump, Alf thrust forward his right fist, speed startling her.

Yet she managed to just miss the punch, dodging it by a fraction of a second before countering with her downwards spin kick. Alf slid to his right, going for another leg sweep before Tigress flipped again with another sidekick - which dug into Alf's face.

WHUMP.

"Four."

Alf gritted his teeth.

He elected to go simple. Alf launched a right hook at Tigress' face - she casually rotated past it and countered with a sweeping leg kick. Alf jumped into the air, launching forward in a mid-air straight punch. Tigress gently swiveled away, bringing her knee upwards in the hope of reaching Alf's chin.

Yet the boy rolled away, bringing his fist backward.

And it made contact.

WHUMP.

Alf and Tigress both landed on their feet. The Seeker turned to look at the Five and Po - most of whom were so busy talking with each other that they had missed this amazing moment. Only Po's mouth was agape, staring at both Alf and Tigress in raw inspiration.

"Did - " Tigress started, narrowing her eyes with genuine surprise. " - Did you just backhand me?"

Alf knew there was no good way out of this, and so resigned himself to at least go out in style. "Uh - hehe - one? OOF!"

"Five."

. . .

...

He opened his eyes.

The sky was blanketed in a sea of red. Flaming rocks fell from the sky, crashing onto the ground and devastating all life in its path. Buildings were fractured and strewn in pieces - villagers were slaughtered and bleeding from every corner of his vision. The sky was enveloped in thick, putrid black smoke.

The boy shook the images out of his head.

An immense, booming noise.

Louder than anything he had ever heard.

Stronger than anything he had ever experienced.

The boy shuddered.

Darkness.

The boy couldn't see anything.

A black figure warped in front of him.

It grasped the boy by the throat.

"Colonization Complete."

The boy melted, blood particles spattering on the grassland.

...

"ALF!"

"NO!"

Alf shot up, sweat trickling down his brow. He opened his eyes, focusing more clearly on a silver fox standing over him, paws on his shoulders.

"Nightmare?" Yu queried, gentle green eyes trying to calm Alf down.

"Yeah…" Alf let out, getting into a sitting position as his cot squeaked in pain.

"Same one?"

Alf groaned, rubbing at his eyes. "Yeah…"

Yu shook her head, staring at the dusty ground of his room. "It's happening more often now, right?"

Alf stood up, shaking off that feeling. "Forget it Yu - maybe I'm just tired."

Yu sighed, deciding to avoid the topic.

Alf snorted, taking pride at looking at his room. There was still the dirty, muddy flooring and moss-stained rock walls - but Alf had managed to patch up any holes in the bamboo piping above. This benefited both the Valley and himself - as any leaks would consistently transfer a solid can of sewage directly into the space. This, combined with a dirt floor, made for an extravagantly repulsive problem. Alf had neglected to take care of the ceiling for the first few months he had slept in his room (finally pilfering an extra cot from Po), culminating in the sewage spills. And after cleaning up such an ordeal, the ceiling never again fell out of order. Bright wiring wrapped around all of the potentially fragile parts of the bamboo piping - a layer that Alf replaced almost every week from scrap he could find around the Palace. The smell was impossible to remove however, but after two years of living there - Alf had grown accustomed to it.

"Let's go," Yu called, already at the foot of the steps leading out of the basement room. "Dinner time."

"You didn't have to come all the way down," Alf noted, body still sore from Tigress' thrashing.

"Actually, I didn't come here for that," Yu emphasized, stopping at the foot of the stairs. "I think I may have found a lead."

This made Alf run to Yu immediately.

"How?" Alf let out, startled. "It's been months since we got any contact from him."

"Well, he responded," Yu noted. "Gave us this message."

Yu extended a small slip of paper, watching Alf read the lettering with interest.

By China's end,

And by China's beginning.

By your start,

And your finish.

Six is there,

But five should be beware.

If it's answers to your past that you seek,

Then seek - Seeker - or be weak.

"Asshole," Alf grumbled, crumpling up the paper to throw into the ground behind him. "It's worthless."

"It's a riddle!" Yu declared, annoyed at his response.

"I know it's a riddle," Alf replied with disgust. "Would it kill our anonymous friend to just give us some real info?!"

"He doesn't reply back that often," Yu attempted. "It took us this long to get a response from him."

Alf huffed. It had been incredibly difficult to locate any credible sources of information on the Seekers since Tai Lung's demise - now that Alf had a public warrant put out to kill him on sight, and considering Shifu was strictly against what he and Yu were doing now - they had been relegated to search for answers under blankets, at night, and at times they thought no one was looking. Much of it had been wasted information - hundreds upon hundreds of "sources" who had lead Alf and Yu to dead ends, conned them out of some coin, or simply acted as moles for the Rhino Patrol. If it was possible, even less information had been given on Alf's "birth" - most sources gave no information, and a smaller plurality were completely silent when pressed.

Yet this anonymous source had been different. Months prior, Alf had received a letter from an unnamed source - thankfully Zeng hadn't opened the scroll, nor knew the details of the bird that carried it before him - which gave him a secretive brown book.

The book had lines and lines, pages upon pages - detailing the entire history of the Seekers - tales that almost always contradicted each other.

Incredible myths. That the Seekers never existed. That the Seekers had all killed themselves because of greed. That the Seekers had been extinguished by a natural disaster. That the Seekers were twenty feet tall, had fangs and horns, and spoke with rumbling voices. That the Seekers were mouse-like creatures, small, weak, and pathetic. The book itself made no judgement calls, nor clarified with details were true and which weren't.

But the source had. It had let Alf and Yu know that whatever the history was - someone, or possibly some people - were working hard to conceal the truth.

So in comparison to the book, this riddle seemed underwhelming.

"He gave us that book," Yu remembered, eyeing a spot of the cot that stuck out ever so slightly - where Alf had sewn it into the fibers to keep it away from prying eyes. "This must mean something."

"I've went over that damn book a thousand times," Alf recalled with frustration. "It didn't tell us something new. Just myths and fables - bullshit, basically."

"It let us know someone's behind the bullshit," Yu fired back, picking up the discarded piece of paper. "At least promise to think on the riddle, okay?"

Alf groaned, wincing as he moved his body up the steps. "Yeah yeah - let's just eat dinner first."

Yu followed Alf up the steps.

. . .

"So I tell the guy - " Po started, shoving two bean buns into his mouth. " - I don't care if you know Flying Falcon style! You haven't seen Bodacious Panda style!"

"Both are not real styles," Crane responded.

Mild giggles from the Five, and reluctantly - from Alf. Po had actually repeated this story just earlier after training, but he had apparently forgotten about that moment.

"Good thing we see Bodacious Panda everyday…" Mantis sarcastically quipped, as the Five laughed more easily now.

"Mantis, we're lucky if we see you at all."

Po's joke was met with critical acclaim, as the Five laughed uproariously.

Alf smiled. Meals like this were his favorite part of the day - usually after a hard day of training. It was the soreness in everyone's bodies combined with Po's nourishing food, or the gentle sway of fur and cabinets as an open window allowed cool breezes to flow inward. Or perhaps it was the overall activity around the table - Po usually telling a series of jokes, engaging with the Five, and Yu occasionally stopping by for a bite or two. In stark contrast to Alf, she preferred to keep her distance from the rest of the group.

Alf saw the fox disappear just behind the Dining Mess entrance - exchanging glances as she left with a bowl of noodles.

After all this time - she had still been remarkably closed off to Alf when it came to her personal matters. Alf didn't even know where she lived - and he could only think of the rock outside the Valley.

"So… how much longer is that gonna go on?" Crane noted, looking at Alf.

The Seeker turned in his seat, putting his dumpling down as he eyed the rest of the Five and Po staring at him. "What?"

"Augh," Viper vocalized in annoyance. "The little looks. The flirting. The I wish she'd stay a little longer eyes…"

Po cackled wildly, slapping Crane and Mantis roughly as they scowled at the panda. Viper and Monkey laughed together.

"That's just how friends communicate with each other!" Alf defended, redness flushing his cheeks.

"No, friends talk with each other," Monkey emphasized. "Couples communicate."

The redness in Alf's cheeks grew.

"Personally, I've never seen two girls falling in love," Tigress broke in, using chopsticks to put a piece of tofu into her mouth. "But who am I to judge? Love is love…"

"We're not trying to get together," Alf firmly stated, turning his head down. "End of story."

"Dude, it's been like a running gag for the last two years," Po described, shoving a handful of noodles into his mouth. "You wanna know how many times we've seen you both - give each other the look?"

"Like when?!" Alf exclaimed, shaking his head wildly. He regretted asking that however, as the Five gave back quick examples.

"How about right now?" Crane called in.

"Or when we were fighting the Xi Sheng mountain trolls?"

"Or when you got hurt in training and she splinted your shoulder?"

"Or every time you guys eat together?"

"Or when we tricked Po into thinking he was kicked out of the Palace?"

"That wasn't funny you guys…"

"Okay I get it!" Alf raised his voice, silencing the Five and Po. "I guess I can't just chill with one of my friends like I usually do, anymore…"

The Five and Po groaned.

"We're just saying to make it official," Viper noted. "So the Palace can be spared from all that cheesy acting that you guys keep putting on."

"Maybe like - ask her out on a date?" Po suggested.

Alf face-palmed, actually just trying to hide his cheeks from view. He cursed his lack of fur - the one invention that could have helped immeasurably right now.

He also frowned at Po. It would have taken Alf a second to reveal the panda's feelings for Master Tigress, which would suddenly put things into a very awkward situation. But unlike Po, Alf didn't fight dirty - and he certainly couldn't imagine what Po would say if Alf revealed the large panda's true thoughts.

Tigress, I'm so -

WHAM!, Alf thought, smiling.

"Just know that if you crazy kids want some children," Tigress interrupted again. "You'll probably have to adopt. You know, because - "

"Yeah I get it, I'm a girl," Alf finished for her.

Tigress looked highly offended. "No! Because you're a Seeker, and she's a fox."

Alf groaned.

"But also because you're a girl."

The Five burst into laughter again. Po slapped Alf on the back, proceeding to get up from the table and start collecting everyone's empty plates.

"Students."

A pause. Everyone knew that voice.

Anyone could tell that it was Master Shifu standing at the entrance of the Dining Hall, staff in hand. But only the members of the Jade Palace could tell that tone of voice in Shifu's voice - the tone that only came once every few years.

The last time was when Tai Lung had died.

"The Masters' Council is dead," Shifu stated. "Gongmen City is under foreign control."

The Five, Po and Alf took a moment to process this.

"By who?" Viper asked.

"A peacock," Shifu answered. "He calls himself - Lord Shen."

A flurry of noises. The Five began discussing rapidly with each other, as Shifu tried to get in the center and calm them down.

But there was only one sound Alf was focused on - Po.

The panda was hyperventilating, clutching his chest and beginning to break out in a cold sweat. It almost looked as if he was seeing things - things that no one else could see.

Alf now knew what Viper was talking about. He had to talk to Po.


A/N

Long chapter again, I don't know why but KFP 2 feels easy to develop writing-wise - and obviously, I have to keep track of multiple storylines to make sure the slow build really works…

I love writing character interactions now, considering how everyone can sort of call each other "friends" which makes for far more interesting dialogue.

But that's all I've got for today, folks.

See ya later! Support is … (insert adjective)

~TW