"A Whole New Level"
It was mostly back to normal.
The return journey - as everyone had hoped - was mostly uneventful. Crossing the sea via large boat took around five consecutive days, and this was easily passed by the abundance of food storage that had been stocked on their ship. Mantis and Crane had entertained the entire group with funny stories, and legends which they couldn't quite confirm yet found prudent to share with the rest of the group. In truth, the sea part was easiest - it took three more days via land to finally reach the Wu Dan mountains, which were a sure fire sign that the Valley of Peace was coming near. While traveling by land, Viper did manage to get sick repeatedly - mostly just a passing cold or wheeze, but it began persisting for a while. None of this detracted from the group's progress however, as another day in the Wu Dan mountains was easily passed as they found themselves on the stony path leading directly into the Valley of Peace. Already, the news of their battles in Gongmen had spread - villagers and citizens prepared a huge, celebratory feast for the Five, Shifu, and Po (although Alf and Yu didn't complain at the exclusions) - which by itself lasted a few days. So, after a summative of perhaps two weeks of celebrating, feasting, and long nights spent "reminiscing" about "that crazy peacock dude" - events in the Jade Palace were mostly back to normal: everyone trained, Shifu ran his duties as Grandmaster, and the citizens of the Valley went on their merry ways: working, cleaning, cooking, and doing everything a city would.
One sole exception stuck out, staying awake in the Dragon Warrior's room until the passing hours of evening - Po having gratefully offered his room for occupancy for a few nights, since the former's usual room was absolutely horrid by comparison. The individual in question had chosen to do his furtive business right now, as moonlight waned down on the Jade Palace and shone in through the bamboo room.
Alf - leaning against a wall of Po's room with a scroll in his hand - read the message that the Palace courier, Zeng, had just delivered to him.
Hey kid,
Got your message. Helped me see a few things differently. I'm still gonna keep my Mongolian house an option - but - I'll consider coming to the Jade Palace. I don't know what the hell I'll do once I'm there, but it seems worth a try. If I do end up coming, I'll notify you a few weeks before I leave.
For a Seeker, you've got a hell of a way with words.
Your friend,
Zhong
P.S: Thanks for calling me your friend. That means a lot to me - really. Thank you.
Alf read over each word carefully, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. It was a bit less of an assured response than he was hoping for - but perhaps that was a good thing - after a long two weeks of absolute silence, Zhong had finally chosen to give a reply intermediate between a definite "yes" and a "maybe".
Alf hoped that he would get another letter soon.
"Hey dude, what's up?" came Po's voice, as the panda barged into his own room in mild surprise. "After training today, Monkey told me you wanted to talk to me."
Alf sighed, having finally caught Po off-guard since having come back to the Jade Palace. It had been two weeks, and yet the panda's emotional mood had not improved - he still sulked in training, was quiet during sparring, and even cooked with a lackluster enthusiasm that Alf found difficult to digest. Even more sadly, Po's room looked much less lively than usual - the action figures hadn't been dusted in days, the cot looked like it had seldom been jumped on, and tables of scrolls seemed actually - read.
Po reading scrolls?
Something had to be wrong.
"I'm your best friend, bro," Alf reminded, smiling at the panda in interest
"Yeah, I know man," Po replied, offering a weak smile of his own. "Whatcha tryna say?"
"I'm saying you share stuff with your best friends," Alf continued, hoping Po would catch on.
"I do."
Alf groaned, deciding to stuff Zhong's letter in his pocket now. "Dude - talk to me. What is it - is it Shen?"
Po feigned not being interested, or even worse - not understanding. "Wh - what? I don't unde - "
"Yes you do," Alf cut across, marching to the large panda to lightly punch him in the large belly. "Is it him? Is it what happened to the pandas?"
"Don't - " Po started dangerously, voice lowering into a growl.
" - is it about your parents?"
"ENOUGH!"
Alf became silent. Po's chest was breathing heavily, and his paws were clenched into tight fists. The Seeker stared straight back at the panda, undaunted.
"No," Alf forced. "You can tell Shifu enough. You can tell the Five enough. You can't tell me - enough."
The weight of these words seemed to hang on Po's head, which forced the panda to sigh and plop down on his cot.
"Alf - " Po started, taking another deep breath. " - I - I don't wanna talk about it."
Alf smiled at him, standing closer to the panda. "Then let me say something."
"What?" Po asked.
"Maybe it's knowing Shen killed your parents," Alf bluntly mentioned, waving down a wordless complaint from Po. "Maybe it's not knowing how it all went down. Maybe it's - maybe it's not knowing what happened to the pandas. But you know what?"
Po almost seemed tired. "What?"
"Whatever it is, whenever you're ready to talk," Alf tried. "I'll be there."
Po had a slight chuckle to himself, confused at Alf's pause. "Just that? No more trying to convince me? No giant lectures about opening up, talking about it…"
"I can make a few educated guesses," Alf mentioned, patting Po on the shoulder. "You feel lost. Feel empty. Feel like you - you didn't get the resolution you thought you would. Feels like you didn't get enough answers."
And Po slowly started loosening. "I barely knew the pandas. Hell I - I barely even knew my dad and mom, well aside from - "
Alf noticed the tears gently well in the large panda's eyes. "You thinking of Mr. Ping?"
"Visited his grave a few days ago," Po let out, grinning a bit after. "Heh - right when you were stuffing your face with the food we stole from the feast."
Alf burst out into heavy chortling. "Dude - remember - hehe - I can't eat in public! Not without getting stoned to death anyway…"
"Yeah well… I've just been lost, like you said I suppose," Po regarded, sighing again. "I dunno man - just feels like this might've all been for nothing."
Alf shook his head, strapping his hand onto Po's shoulder. "You helped save Gongmen City. You helped bring a dangerous warlord down."
"All without inner peace," Po mockingly introduced, mimicking Shifu's mystical sensibilities.
"You'll get it after a while," Alf assuaged, smiling. "Trust me."
"Wait a second," Po started, suddenly growing irritated. "Did you just trick me into opening up to you?"
Alf cackled with laughter, moving away from Po to bask in the moonlight shining through the bamboo walls. "Sorry about that buddy."
Po giggled. "Sneaky little shit…"
"Anyway, the whole parents and pandas thing is only part of the problem," Alf recognized, moving back to the panda's side. "You wanna talk to me about Tigress?"
Po stood up suddenly, pacing around the large room. "What about her?"
"Don't play dumb," Alf quickly corrected. "You two have been acting awkward as hell since - well, since for a while."
Po seemed to try to prevent himself from speaking any more. He ran his paws through the fur at the top of his head, blinking and trying to assuage himself of something. Alf walked around the panda, trying to get a guess into his emotional disposition. Po notably, seemed even more stressed than before.
"I told her I loved her."
The words made Alf drop down to his knees, staring at Po with amazed curiosity. "And?"
"And nothing," Po finished, frustrated. "She just - kept - ergh."
"She what, man?"
"She didn't even answer me!"
Alf chuckled. "Well - communication has never been her strong point…"
"You think this is funny?" Po uttered, anger flashing back onto his chubby features.
Alf shook his head. "I'm just shocked that you're letting something like this stop you."
"I'm not letting anything stop," Po retaliated, again more angry. "I'm just hurt that - "
"Dude!" Alf cried out, failing to understand Po's source of anger. "She didn't say no!"
"Who cares!?" Po fired back. "She didn't - "
"PO!" Alf interrupted, jumping up and down in excitement. "SHE. DIDN'T. SAY. NO!"
The panda was getting really frustrated now, walking around like a mad warrior just freshly released out of prison.
"Alf, you sound freaking - "
"Po!" the Seeker interrupted, grasping the panda's paws. "Master Tigress. Literally the most hardcore kung fu master in the world, who once punched Monkey just because he asked her if she was sick - when you asked her if she loved you…"
"She didn't say anything," Po slowly replied, beginning to understand what Alf was saying. "Well - I mean she was probably surprised that someone like me would dare to - "
"Po," Alf interrupted. "Don't give up."
"Alf I'm not even sure she loves me bac - "
"Po," Alf interrupted yet again. "Don't. Give. Up."
There was something about the last few words that started something in Po. The panda, until now quite closed off and guarded about his judgements over Tigress' own emotional agenda - now seemed more open, more understanding of the Seekers' words. It was helped of course by Alf's relentless grin in Po's face - almost as if hearing Po's story had filled him with hope, a fleeting chance that Po could achieve something.
"Tigress is - " Alf started. " - a work in progress, to say the least. But personally - I think even if there's a chance - you should go for it. Patience."
"Patience," Po repeated.
"Yep," Alf assured. "Patience. Don't give up on her - and don't give up on your stuff, either."
And Po now understood what it meant perfectly.
Only Alf could put it in words like that.
"You've got a hell of a way with words man," Po noted, smiling genuinely for the first time in weeks.
"So I've been told," Alf remarked, thinking back to Zhong's letter.
"Dragon Warrior - ah, and the Seeker. Perfect."
Alf and Po swiveled their heads. Shifu was standing at the entrance to Po's room.
Accompanied by Tigress.
And just like that the tension was back.
"Master Shifu!" Po let out, bowing stupidly. "Uh - if it's about the dumplings disappearing from the food tray, I swear I only did it because I was - "
"No this is not about that," Shifu quickly cut across. "But thank you for affirming my suspicions."
Po frowned in shame.
"I have something to privately discuss with Tigress and the Seeker," Shifu muttered quietly. "Leave, at once."
This seemed highly confusing to both Alf and Po. The panda of course didn't object, promptly walking forward to - in the most awkwardest of senses - edge past Tigress, avoiding her eye line. Alf did note however that he began a slightly nervous chuckle at her - and…
… she smiled back. That was enough for Po, who easily left his room after that.
Alf grinned. He was sure it would take time, and Tigress (and perhaps Po as well) needed to mature - but - there was hope.
For both of them.
For each other.
And much more.
Alf took a brief moment to fantasize.
"Seeker."
Until the voice snapped him back to reality.
Alf watched Master Shifu walk into Po's room, as Tigress carefully followed him inside. Although Alf wasn't quite sure about what happened between back at Gongmen - perhaps when he was captured - but Tigress' body language had changed significantly around Shifu. It had become much more stern and serious, with a few touches of affordability when Po or Alf were around - but these glimpses into her less serious side were proximity-based, chiefly based on how close Shifu was.
Alf chose not to dwell on it too much.
"Hey Tigress," Alf casually remarked. "What'd Shifu drag you in here for? Gonna lecture you about how ineffectively you did in sparring today, against me?"
It was a gentle joke, and to Alf's relief - Tigress reacted predictably.
"If you consider making a girl like yourself cry and beg for mercy as ineffective…" Tigress started, with a tiny smirk. "Then yes. But - no, I don't know why I'm here either…"
She turned to Shifu, serious face resurfacing.
"As I'm sure you both know," Shifu started. "Mistakes were made by members of this Palace - mistakes that allowed China to know that we are harboring a Seeker."
Shifu flashed a hard glance at Tigress, who instinctively reached for her cheek. This also puzzled Alf.
"While we cannot fix the past," Shifu continued. "We must acknowledge reality."
"What reality?" Alf questioned.
"The Grandmasters' Council is placing you under criminal trial," Shifu uttered nonchalantly. "Indefinitely."
"I'm going to jail?" Alf spat, feeling an odd sense of resurgent rage recur. "Right after I save Gongmen from that freakin - "
"Trial means trial," Shifu interrupted, calming Alf down. "It simply means - your movements, your level of affiliation with the Palace, methods of controlling you…"
Alf intuitively thought of the collar placed firmly around his neck.
"... everything is going to be under a much more scrutinizing lens now," Shifu finished. "Now, luckily no one outside this Palace knows about the Revolver - but I daresay you're going to find yourself under much more surveillance than you're used to."
"From?" Alf queried.
"From everyone," Shifu illustrated. "Guards. Citizens. Visiting Masters. Everyone in China - maybe even beyond - know that there's a Seeker who lives among us. You most certainly are going to experience - discrimination, and unfair prejudice."
"As if I didn't have enough of that…" Alf mocked sarcastically.
"Regardless, be careful," Shifu reiterated. "But that's only partially the reason why I called you two in here."
"What's the other reason?" Tigress broke in, folding her arms back. "Master?"
"From this day on, I shall no longer train the Seeker," Shifu declared with a distanced finality.
This relieved Alf more than ever, glad to put some more emotional distance between him and Shifu. "Sounds great! Now, can I get back to - "
"You will." Shifu ordered.
But just then, Alf realized who Shifu was referring to.
Tigress.
"Me?" she asked out loud, genuine surprise coming through. "Master - what do you mean?"
"Over the past few years it has been increasingly obvious that you, Seeker - might one day need more - specialized training," Shifu observed. "Crane told me about your skills with the map, with constructing the Revolver - and perhaps even I knew, back when you engaged with my so - I mean, Tai Lung."
A note of pain in Shifu's voice - but Alf was so shocked at the recent statement that he didn't really care.
"Wait, is this all because you're trying to reduce any of the Palace's legal ties with me?" Alf questioned, standing up to walk closer to Shifu. "If so, I can just - "
"That is a nice added benefit," Shifu reasoned, stroking his chin. "But the fact remains that everything about you: your sparring skills, your intelligence, your strategies when engaging an enemy - you need training from someone more on your level."
"Master, respectfully," Tigress interrupted, failing to keep her outrage from flooding through as he whiskers flared. "The Seeker is skilled, yes - but I'd argue that he's still inexperienced compared to the rest of the Five…"
"He's mastered techniques and strategies in two years that some of the Five still haven't," Shifu noted. "Whether that's due to his heritage, or because of the effort he's put in - is irrelevant. The point remains: he needs training from someone better."
"Better how?" Alf questioned, feeling lost again. "You're the Grandmaster of the Jade freakin' Palace!"
The last few words made Shifu cringe in amusement. "It won't be long until sparring with the rest of the Five, the Dragon Warrior, or even me will prove useless to you, Seeker… we simply won't challenge you enough."
Shifu paused to let the weight of his words sit in, then continued. "So - to make sure your skill still grow - I need to pair you with someone much, much stronger and more experienced than you are - at least for now."
Tigress' face changed imperceptibly at the compliment, while Alf still kept a watchful eye on Shifu.
"You can both spar very hard with each other," Shifu observed. "You both can plan tactics for future missions together. You have much to learn from her Seeker - and you, have much to teach."
Shifu again stared expectantly at Tigress.
"Master, respectfully I disagree," Tigress forced out. "I - I do not feel qualified to teach the - "
"I don't care about your wish," Shifu fiercely proclaimed. "From now on - it's about what I wish. Or don't you remember?"
Tigress again reached instinctively for her cheek, which was mildly concerning to Alf. What was even more concerning was Shifu's posture - straight, leaning forward, almost as if he was about to attack her.
"Of course Master," Tigress admitted in defeat, bowing her head. "My apologies. I will train the Seeker."
"Good, now both of you get some rest - Tigress, I expect you to awaken at the crack of dawn tomorrow, as per usual to train, Seeker - " Shifu addressed, turning to see Alf clearly. " - I expect you to do what she says, whenever she says - from now on."
Alf nodded sadly. Shifu turned to bow briefly, as he walked out of Po's room promptly thereafter.
The most awkward of silences followed. Alf merely continued to give Tigress a half ironic smile, while she merely stared at him with a detached coldness - there was amusement underneath there, but it seemed cruel and twisting, as if she was devising new, evil ways to "train" Alf - like sparring with her for fifteen rounds, or fighting her handicapped, or some confusing combination where she could just beat the absolute hell out of him.
"So… this is awkward huh?" Alf broke in, trying desperately trying to displace the tension. "Ol' Shifu just drops me off on your lap and bolts - "
"Five hundred push-ups, now," Tigress demanded, smiling harshly.
"What?" Alf groaned. "Wait, now?"
Tigress let her slightly taller frame budge closer, staring down at him. "Yes, now."
Alf gulped, wondering whether Tigress was already enjoying her newfound position or simply taking out the anger of being forced into it.
"Of course, we could just skip that and you could spar with me tomorrow morning," Tigress offered with a smirk.
She was definitely enjoying it.
Alf sighed, but then realized exactly what he had been planning to do before getting distracted by Zhong's letter, Po, Shifu, and everything else.
"Actually eh - I've got a date tonight," Alf noted. "I - I just wanted to meet with Po before I left for - "
"Fine, sparring with me tomorrow morning it is," Tigress finished for him, grinning. "I was hoping you'd choose that."
Alf groaned. "Five minute rounds."
"Ten," Tigress countered.
"Ergh - seven," Alf haggled some more.
"Twenty."
"What the - " Alf started, confused. "You're supposed to negotiate downward - "
"Thirty."
Alf kept silent, frowning as Tigress gleefully kept the smirk up at him.
"Fine - thirty," Alf agreed, practically feeling preemptive soreness kick in from the thorough beating he would be sure to receive tomorrow. "I'm gonna go to my date now."
Alf began his march out the door, but was stopped by Tigress' deft paw catching the back of his vest.
"Anabelle, a little advice?" Tigress started. "Try not to freeze up. Guys hate it when girls just freeze up…"
"Okay goodbye," Alf cut across, angry but somewhat happy that Tigress' cheerful demeanor was coming back - even if it was only in private. "Master."
Tigress growled at him. "Sixty minute rounds."
Alf smiled, walking out of Po's room. "Worth it."
. . .
In a land much farther from the Jade Palace, much farther than China - on frozen wastelands that seemed to never end, there was a large settlement that stacked wooden logs atop one another as far as the eye could see. In sharp contrast to the smooth green curvature of Chinese flora, the flora and fauna of this land were wild and cold - with bitter snow almost reminiscent of Mongolia (yet far from it) that beat down on unweary traveler. The settlement itself was particularly impressive - with gigantic wooden logs encircling a huge space that stuck out against thick snow piles and snow fall. Inside the settlement, there was the movement of at least five hundred armored warriors - dressed in thick black, spiky armor which dug into the ground with every step and cut through the air with every lunge. On the very outskirts of the heavily fortified camp, complete with tents, food, warriors, and a solid perimeter - a lone wolf trounced forward along a snowy path, arriving at the gate of the massive settlement.
A male lion - almost two heads taller than the wolf and several times bigger - met the straggler at the twin gates, the only entrances inside the settlement.
"Wang, I've confirmed it," the wolf spoke.
The massive lion looked neutral for a second. "Confirmed? Confirmed what, Hafthor?"
The male lion's voice was deep - powerfully deep.
"The Seeker. He's real. The boy is still young. He doesn't know what awaits him."
Wang stroked his enormous mane, looking forward at the cold tundra in front of him.
"Then we must move quickly."
"Right now?" Hafthor questioned.
"Not right now," Wang clarified. "But soon. In time. We must."
. . .
"You're kidding me! A criminal trial?!"
"Yeah, no joke."
"What the hell…."
In perhaps suiting fashion, Yu had decided that the location of their first official "date" had to be by a place situated away from everyone else - after all, someone like Alf would never be able to sit down and eat at a restaurant, at least peacefully. Therefore, she had chosen "the Rock" - as it was now affectionately dubbed - the large boulder sitting in a grassfield well away from the Valley, and even the Jade Palace. Before all the events of Gongmen, it had been their favorite hangout spot - Alf even remembering the first night they spent on top of the rock, eating food together, while other memories recalled him trying to break his collar off by wedging the tip of the boulder into his neck. That had been nearly two years ago - and both the fox and the Seeker an abundance of good memories spent laughing, enjoying each other's company, and overall relaxing together on top of a rock in the middle of nowhere. No one would bother them, come looking for them, or otherwise harm them - it felt very private, but also intimate as the grassfield lightly swayed under cool night breezes. The Wu Dan mountains acted as a natural backdrop, sitting right behind them.
"Seems like every time we've been meeting each other recently," Yu noted. "We always have some crazy shit to tell."
"Eh, mine wasn't that crazy…" Alf noted, satisfied to see Yu having packed some dumplings for the night beside her.
"You're under trial," Yu forced, guffawing. "Tigress is your master now? Po said he - he told Tigress he loves her? Well actually the last bit isn't that surprising…"
Alf snickered, carefully hiding the correspondence with Zhong - he would deal with that later.
"Not as crazy as learning about some worldwide cult tryna find me," Alf observed. "I still think it's all bullshit - think we should have stuck to just finding answers, our way."
"We weren't getting anywhere," Yu affixed. "We were just losing coin and chasing myths… our anonymous friend gave us the book, then apparently he sent some messenger to talk to me…"
Alf snorted. "I still think it's mostly bullshit."
Yu giggled, lightly punching him on the back. "Think what you want. What about those visions you had? Back at the cave?"
Alf had went over these thoughts a hundred times over - and his response had not changed since then.
"Like I said - it was probably just Shen torturing the hell outta me," Alf concluded.
"Probably?"
"Yeah probably - I mean who cares?" Alf interrupted. "He's gone."
Yu smiled. "Yeah he is…"
Alf looked at the fox look down at her feet, dangling off the edge of the rock. He knew he had a rare opportunity now - and the position they were, the isolated place, and considering how much their relationship now meant to both of them…
… he had to ask.
"Yu, you've gotta open up to me sometime."
The fox flashed him a toothy grin. "About what?"
"You know." Alf merely responded.
The breeze strengthened. It flipped back, and away from Alf as it elegantly ran through the fox's fur, chilling her on the outside. She turned her vision idly to the Wu Dan mountains, taking a deep sigh.
"If anyone deserves to know," Alf interrupted. "It's me. Especially now. After all we've been through."
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Yu seemed to loosen a bit.
"My - my parents were soldiers under Shen," Yu began, carefully aligning her words.
Alf felt taken aback. "What?"
"Yeah," Yu noted. "They - they were good, I guess… because Shen would often come over to our old home… meeting me…"
"Wait wait," Alf quickly cut across. "You - you knew Shen? Why didn't you say anything?"
Yu groaned, pawing at her face. "Would you admit to knowing a warlord since birth?"
"Yeah but - "
"But nothing, Alf," Yu forced. "It was - a horrible time in my life. I was too young back then, but - I knew mom and dad weren't doing your usual jobs…"
Alf frowned, placing a hand on the fox's shoulder. "And?"
"And one day they got hurt," Yu recalled, furrowing her brow. "Hurt bad. They - they were bedridden for months."
"How did they get hurt?" Alf questioned.
Yu seemed to tense up audibly. She looked at Alf, expecting another bout of sympathy - but the Seeker himself wasn't sure whether to give it because of how awkward she was acting.
"In a raid," Yu noted, looking up with tears in her eyes. "On a panda village."
Alf gasped, moving automatically backward as Yu sobbed, falling straight into his chest. He held her there for a while, allowing her to cry for a bit as the tears drenched his fresh vest. Alf didn't dare think of questioning her more after - it seemed that many of the answers had already been given.
"You found it too awkward to say," Alf whispered, massaging the fox's head. "That your parents were connected to Po's - well, his entire race - being gone."
Yu removed her head, nodding slowly. Alf brushed a few tears past her face.
"But that's not who you are Yu…"
"No - I am," the fox grimaced. "See - I couldn't bear to see my parents like that and - I guess they didn't want to live like that so, so…"
Yu looked at Alf again, tears forming repeatedly in her eyes.
"So you killed them," Alf finished, pursing his lips gently at her.
"They asked me to Alf I swear I didn't - ugh," Yu let out, staring a fresh sob as she wept into the Seeker's shoulder again.
To her great surprise, Alf didn't resist at all. Although the Seeker now understood where his vision had been coming from - so perhaps there was some degree of truth to what the voice, or figure in or outside of his head had been saying - Alf didn't care about that now. A small part of him had always thought of Yu as having some sort of dark backstory that she didn't feel like sharing - but hearing the details of it made him cringe a bit… even if he could have met his theoretical parents, he couldn't have imagined killing them at such a young age.
"Yu, you're not a bad person," Alf smoothly assured. "Trust me."
"My - my parents helped kill the pandas," Yu recalled mid-cry. "I - I - their own daughter helped kill them. And I've - I've - I've been running from that beginning ever since…"
Alf squeezed her head more tightly against him for a moment, but then gently beckoned her forward.
"I love you," Alf offered kindly. "You know that, right?"
Yu grinned, still brushing off a few tears. Although Alf felt like he had much more to talk about, much more of Yu's past to explore - what was key now was making her feel okay, making her feel wanted - after all, she was the only person in the world (asides from Po, perhaps) - who truly understood him.
So he was obligated to understand back.
"We have a lifetime to talk about it," Alf interrupted, suddenly fed up of prying into her painful experiences. "For now - let's just eat these dumplings and enjoy our first date."
Yu cackled, crying and laughing at the same time. "Y - Yeah…"
Alf smiled, wrapping his arm around her.
"Alf?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you too."
"I know."
. . .
In a land much farther from China, much farther than the snowy wastelands, much farther from the planet - in fact, so far away that it was nearly impossible to see it without accessing some kind of new "dimension" - there were two individuals.
The two individuals stood alone in thick darkness, illuminated only by two vain bursting streams of light that illustrated both their presences.
The first of them was an enormous bull, carrying two green blades tucked into his waistband.
"Thank you for freeing me from the Spirit Realm," the bull noted. "But - who are you? Where am I?"
"You are in quantum tunneling physical permanence - or an intermediary state between the spirit realm of your world and its materialistic one," the other figure spoke, a massive black, cloaked figure. "Thanks to the efforts of the Seeker on your world - all the key dimensional portals have been unlocked."
"Seeker?" the bull asked. "There's a Seeker on my world? What the - are you joking?"
"I am not," the cloaked figure said. "Now pay attention. This is the purpose for which I am reanimating you…"
The mysterious black figure waved a vague extension of what looked like an arm - opening a large tear into the darkness below him. The bull stared through the hole, visualizing a large, chubby, old panda apparently sitting on some grassy hilltop.
"My son - is alive!" the panda exclaimed.
The black figure sealed up the tear, breaking the bull's vision.
"What the - " the bull asked. "That's who I'm fighting? Some old panda?"
"I believe on your planet - " the mysterious black figure noted. " - he would be - the Dragon Warrior's father."
"Hah!" the bull denounced with arrogance, still floating in the darkness along with the black figure. "I can easily crush a panda…"
"Then go do it…"
"Wait wait - but what's in it for you?" the bull questioned, looking at the voice. "You some being in the Spirit Realm? Some weird old master I've never heard about?"
"I assure you, you have never heard about me." the figure smoothly returned.
"Well, let's start with introductions then," the bull proclaimed. "I'm Kai."
"I already knew that."
"Then why don'tcha just tell me what your name is?!"
A long pause. Kai grasped his green blades in infuriated slices - grateful to be alive again, but again suspicious of what he presumed to be another spirit in the Spirit Realm.
The figure moved closer to the massive bull.
"They call me - Omega."
"Omega huh?" Kai quickly reclaimed. "So - what's in it for you? Whaddya get in exchange for bringing me back to the Mortal Realm?"
"I have things planned," Omega simply responded. "Things planned that the life forms of your planet could not dream of stopping."
Kai tried to ask more questions, but was stopped as Omega merely opened another tear in the black void - shoving the bull through it.
"It'll take some time for you to reach the Spirit Realm again," Omega noted. "I advise you to work quickly and escape it - then reach the Mortal Realm."
Kai merely screamed, falling into an infinite abyss of darkness.
End of Kung Fu Panda 2 (Act II)
A/N
KFP 2 IS OVER! WOOOOO HOOOOO!
In celebration, I'm going to wait about two weeks and recover for a bit - before releasing the next chapter or the beginning of KFP 3. I know I've been annoying you guys with constant, nagging updates! XDXD. Besides, it'll be a nice break for me and allow me to review some more of your guys' stuff!
So see ya in two weeks!
I tried to end it differently compared to KFP 1 - which had more of a neat, closed off ending. KFP 2 still has the ultimate bad guy (Shen) defeated - but obviously there's so much more going on that it's really just sort of a giant cliffhanger. We have so many plotlines that I'm excited to develop further in KFP 3 - several new (probably predictable) cast additions, and obviously more and more teases into Alf's history and his connection with - DRUMROLL….
Omega.
Hehe.
Finally, his name was revealed.
And the Yongshi, of course.
But seriously, KFP 2 was awesome - I loved every bit of writing it. Seriously. Now onto KFP 3!
Your support means the world. Thanks again for all the love. :D
~TW
