"A New Threat"
Tension was rising.
By and large, it had been a normal day at the Jade Palace - training was going as usual, Wang and his wolf friends (along with Shifu) discussed confidential information at great lengths in the guest room, and Po entertained everyone with his usual combination of great cooking and insightful humor.
It had all changed quickly.
Zeng - breath wheezing and chest heaving from fear - had run into the Dining Mess, telling everyone immediately of an "army" of green "monsters" who were attacking the Valley. With a stern scolding from Shifu, the bird started speaking logically: that some green-colored masters - apparently the infamous Master Badger Twins, among others - were wreaking havoc in the Valley.
And just like that - the Five, Po, and Alf were off.
No time had been wasted. Alf was particularly angry that the "monsters" had been spotted in the Xiangzhu sector of the Valley - this was the commercial hub: with the most buildings, the most citizens, and the most likely place where there was high activity. The fact that such a crowded, industrialized sector of the city was under attack wasn't too big of a concern for Alf - it was more the media coverage, the exposure that him being out would inevitably lead to, along with the usually incompetent rhino patrols.
The patrols were a mixed bag. As long as someone "trustworthy" from the Jade Palace would accompany Team Jade during a mission (usually this fell on Tigress, or sometimes Po) - the patrols would have no issue allowing the team to help out with whatever threat was sieging the Valley. If Alf was present however, there were far more questions - and this usually translated to lost time, and more dangerous moments for the citizens.
So it was imperative that Team Jade do this quickly.
Alf - along with the Furious Five and Po - ran across busy streets in the hot sunlight of noontime, as citizens hustled past them - clearly running away from something. They were even scared enough to the point where they weren't giving the usual "LOOK IT'S A SEEKER!" glances at Alf - instead opting for a quick dirty glance before running away. The Valley of Peace's new architectural style - with high-rise buildings and thick rooftops, and plentiful decorations with expansive streets - had made the chaos even more dangerous and hard to navigate.
Team Jade stopped at the center of Xiangzhu square - or the restaurant commercial circle. The tiny noodle shop of the late Mr. Ping had long since been demolished and replaced with a renovated, massive series of fancy restaurants complete with ornate Chinese decorations.
Alf took note of the details.
Two patrols of rhino warriors - one engaging the assuredly true "green" warriors in the center of the large space - while the others stood behind as backup. To Alf's surprise - the normally incompetent rhino patrol had managed to evacuate all of the citizens - leaving the usually busy city center empty, except for the combatants inside the commercial square.
Tigress approached the closest rhino warrior, who was watching the fighting with fear. "Guard! What do we have?"
The rhino seemed absolutely dazzled to see Tigress and the rest of the Furious Five - alongside a confident Po - stand behind him. The second squad of rhino backup guards seemed incredulous as well.
"Master Tigress! And the Furious Five! And the Dragon Warrior!" the young guard squeaked out. "Commander Jinping! It's an honor to finally - "
"Save the introductions kid," Po cut across. "We've gotta take down those green guys! Mind moving your crew outta the way?"
Crane, Mantis, Monkey, and Viper nodded gently at the clearly starstruck rhino guard - although unfortunately, his eyes fell on Alf sighing a bit further away.
"The Seeker…" the rhino guard spat, a bit annoyed. "... Master Tigress, is this fleshli - "
"Yes yes he's with us!" Tigress forced, tired of having to do this every single time Alf had accompanied them on a mission. "Give us the space to take down the threat - before your men get their asses kicked!"
At the center of the square, the ten or so green warriors effortlessly punched the rhino guards into the air - slamming them down with airborne kicks.
Commander Jinping seemed to understand how badly his squad needed Team Jade.
"Very well…" Jinping noted, waving away the crowd of rhino warriors. "Men! Retreat! Team Jade will handle this!"
The rhino guard forces gently began a backwards, defensive walk - although they still kept a protective circle to make sure the green masters couldn't stray too far from the commercial square.
Team Jade deployed immediately. The best strategy - as always - was division of labor.
Po and Alf engaged the green Master Badger Twins - while the rest of the Five engaged arduously with the eight remaining green monstrosities. Tigress as per usual was heading off three or four of them on her own - while the rest of the Five settled to fighting the strays.
"The Master Badger Twins!" Po screamed, utter fanboy forcing itself through as one of the badgers flipped the panda over his head. "With their crushing double gong techni - OOF!"
The other badger slammed into Po, making him nearly collide into Alf. The Seeker jumped above the panda, noting that even the Five - perhaps even Tigress - were having trouble fighting off the other green monsters: in fact, it almost seemed as if the green monsters were somehow replications of other famous masters: Thundering Rhino, Master Croc, as well as other famous kung fu masters (all of which were making Po fanboy insanely) seemed reincarnated in some strange, green mold.
Perhaps Zeng was right.
"Po!" Alf called out, surrounded by the Badger Twins. "Massive Belly Devastation!"
"YEAH!" the panda roared.
In a smooth motion, Po grabbed Alf's arms and tossed him into the air - quickly leaping to his height to allow the Seeker to spin Po around further - and Alf caught his arms and spun even faster. Like a whirlwind, they managed to gain an incredible fifty feet into the air - then Alf spun around with a final downwards kick, slamming Po down with enormous force.
CRUNCH.
It felt like an explosion. Po's belly had come plummeting down, directly on the Master Badger Twins - though to his great surprise, he only felt a bit of resistance as the masters were crushed under his belly - then a puff of green smoke, and Po's belly devastated the raw ground, letting loose a cloud of dust and smoke.
"What the - " Po let out, confused to see no one around.
Alf landed gently behind him. "Where'd they go?"
Po and Alf exchanged confused glances. The dust storm brought on by their technique had cleared - exposing the whooping and cheering rhino guard patrols on the perimeter of the commercial square. Alongside, the Furious Five were also alone and in another sector of the square - looking at each other in confusion.
"What the - where'd they all go?" Alf questioned, enormously confused. "Did - did they just disappear after we hit them?"
Po looked around, indeed finding no green monsters even remotely in sight.
"Son!"
Alf swiveled around, trying to pinpoint the source of the new voice. He already knew it couldn't be one of those green monsters - this one actually sounded alive.
He saw the point of the noise.
Alf shook.
He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't confused.
Alf stared at Po - as the panda looked at the source of the noise with even more confusion.
Perhaps even mild shock.
A large panda - perhaps larger than Po himself, and significantly older and gruffer - dusted a few particulates off himself. His clothing was nothing you could buy in the Valley - it seemed very much like a villager's robes, or farmer's.
The older panda spoke with a authoritative yet gentle tone.
"I'm Li Shan - Lotus' father."
The shock of seeing another panda was subverted for a moment - as Alf, the Five, and even Po proceeded to wonder who the hell Lotus was.
. . .
"Uh - can you erm - just say that again?" Shifu asked.
"I am Li Shan," the panda repeated, tired. "I'm Lotus' fath - "
"Yeah, we got that part," Monkey finished.
The staring contest had been going on for a few minutes without stop.
The journey back to the Palace had been by and large - uneventful. Although the new panda spouted off a variety of dialogue in the effort to engage everyone else - Team Jade, and most of all Po - had urged him to stay as quiet as possible, and not speak any further. The first quick lines of speech - which completely expressed utter shock at seeing Alf for the first time - was inevitable, but after Li had been allowed the customary "Oh my goodness that's a Seeker" time - Team Jade had pressed him to shut up. Perhaps it was the proximity to the green monster attack, or perhaps it was the need to camoflauge nearly anyone that looked like a panda because of how alarmist citizens in the Valley were now - but there was no use arguing.
An actual panda had come to the village.
With nothing green about him.
So Li Shan was brought to the Dining Mess of the Jade Palace - for lack of a better room - to be first sat down, and ferociously interrogated. The older panda had already complained that he hadn't had enough food on his "arduous journey" here - something Po could sympathize with - but it was still awkward enough to see two pandas in the same area that the food had been stowed away. For now, Shifu and some brave members of the Five asked Li some questions, which the panda had given the exact same answers too.
"I'm Lotus' father."
"Lotus is the Dragon Warrior?!"
"MY SON IS THE DRAGON WARRIOR!"
"Wait whaddya mean I can't eat anything yet?"
"Is that cute tiger girl your wife, Lotus?"
"ENOUGH!" Po let out, the constant stream of questions and answers finally seeming to overindulge him. "Just - everyone stop - talking…"
The Five were present, surrounding Li. Shifu stopped asking questions, as Po began sighing heavily - shaking a bit. Alf leaned back against the back wall of the Dining Mess - not exactly sure of what Po was going through. He got an answer fairly quick however, as the panda disappeared from the entrance and carelessly knocked loose several foodstuffs from open cupboards.
Alf had heard a few crying noises before the panda had gone.
Li sat on one of the chairs in the Mess, putting his paws on the table in a mock-confused manner. "Well - that wasn't how I was expecting to be received by my son…"
"Try being in his shoes Mr. Shan," Tigress emphasized, leaning a forearm against a chair close to the dining table. "Imagine losing your adoptive father to some psychopathic snow leopard - then thinking your real father was killed by Shen and his wolf army so many years ago."
"He's felt the pain of losing two fathers," Alf noted, sighing while making a mental note to talk to Po as soon as possible. "He'll - he'll take time to adjust to all this."
Li Shan merely stared in awe at Alf, again the annoying feelings that everyone in the Valley often had when staring at him.
"I still can't believe," the large panda noted, grinning. "I'm actually talking to an actual Seeker! I mean I'd heard about the stories but never in person…"
"Yes yes moving past that," Shifu insisted, focusing on Li again. "Zeng has confirmed to me that you - Mr. Shan - are indeed Po's - ergh, I mean, Lotus' father."
"He can call himself whatever he wants!" Li let out heartily. "I mean - Lotus isn't what the people know him as - the people know him as PO! The Dragon Warrior of Legend!"
Li did a few elaborate kicking moves suddenly, which carelessly smashed into a few cupboards behind him. The Five groaned while Shifu face-palmed - Alf chuckled however, seeing where Po had gotten his incessant fanboy enthusiasm from.
"Sorry about that…" Li noted, grimacing at the holes in the wooden cupboards. "I can pay for - "
"Never mind that, Mr. Shan," Shifu emphasized. "I uh - well, you'll have to forgive my manners… we've had a number of unusual visitors to the Palace in the past couple of days…"
Shifu paused, sighing. "... but the fact remains - you are the Dragon Warrior's father, and our honored guest… please, stay in Po's room as long as you like…"
"I rate the accommodations here as exceptional."
Everyone turned to see the new voice.
Although the Five, Shifu, and Alf were only moderately surprised - it was Li who showed the best reaction, jaw literally dropping to the table he was resting on.
Wang had appeared. He was followed by Yu and Zhong.
The enormous lion - who towered over even Li - walked closer to the table where everyone was around - extending his huge paw near the panda with a smile. Yu had found her way to Alf's side, leaning her head against his shoulder as she purred slightly - she was likely quite tired from something. Notably, everyone kept a fierce, harsh stare at Zhong, as the wolf shly stood at the entrance - unsure of whether to fully walk in.
"Wang," the lion introduced, as Li shook his paw in amazement. "Fellow intruder and unwanted guest at the Palace."
Li laughed heartily as Wang smiled back. "You - you're huge, dude!"
"So I'm told," Li emphasized, turning his attention to Shifu. "Now - if I may have the room - I have something important to discuss with all of you."
"We just found out this individual is the Dragon Warrior's father," Shifu noted, pointing at Li who beamed with enthusiasm. "Can't it wait?"
Wang shook his head sadly. "I am afraid not - this is me finally coming clean to all of you about the threat…"
Shifu instantly understood what that meant - gulping audibly. He straightened himself, pointing at the Five, Alf and Yu as they collectively sat down on chairs near the table.
"Perhaps it's best if you leave, and rest up," Shifu addressed at Li, who groaned. "We can discuss this - another time."
The older panda, although disheartened, gleefully nodded and got up - taking a final moment to smile broadly at everyone before proceeding out of the Dining Mess, brushing past the defensive Zhong - who visibly hid his face from the panda. Alf hoped for that at least some time - he would avoid talking to Po.
"Perhaps it's best if you leave as well, wolf," Shifu growled, watching Zhong sigh in the corner.
"Yeah, go chase your tail or something," Mantis spat. "Or wait - why don'tcha go kill Li too? Just like ya did the rest of the pandas!"
"Yeah go do that!" Monkey sneered, clearly angry.
The rest of the Five flashed Zhong just as harsh of a stare, as Shifu refused to intervene. Only Alf and Yu watched the wolf in sadness as he sighed in defeat, turning to leave the Dining Mess.
"Actually I invited him to this," Wang emphasized. "I found that his backstory was - riveting."
Although the Five and Shifu clearly wanted to challenge this very badly - particularly Shifu, who had a red vein throbbing through his forehead at Wang's statement - they were obviously all too afraid of Wang's imposing stature and voice that they merely grumbled.
"Fine, come here then wolf," Shifu uttered, again trying to inject as much hatred into his tone as possible.
"Try not to kill any babies on the way here," Crane muttered under his breath.
"Or slaughter any civilians," Monkey forced.
Alf was preoccupied with a different issue - just why in the hell was Li not recognizing Zhong's face?
Wasn't that perhaps - the only face Li should have remembered?
The one face which had managed to kill his wife and nearly kill Po so many years ago?
Zhong clearly remembered, hence the shyness in showing his face to Li.
Why didn't the panda recognize him?
Zhong dragged his feet close to the table, keeping his head low and sad as the others glared at him.
"I called you all here to let you know that my organization, the Yongshi…" Wang began, as Tigress audibly groaned at the name. "... has been tracking the existence of an enormously powerful bull - an old friend of Oogway - known as Kai."
Tigress found this bit of news confusing, seeing as she had heard it before from Wang. However, she was unsure why he was leaving out the Seeker army bit - that had been the first thing Wang had told her back at the Training Hall!
The rest of the Five, Alf, Yu, and Zhong reacted predictably - with confused expressions. Only Shifu managed to shake his head knowingly, having clearly discussed this in his secretive conversations with Wang.
"Don't be surprised if none of you have ever heard of him," Shifu emphasized. "I did not as well the first time Wang told me."
"You said he's a friend of Oogway, right?" Crane interrupted, shaking his beak in disbelief. "That means he's one of the good guys, right?"
"Far from it," Wang noted with a frown. "Although he was once Oogway's brother in arms - it appears that he took a dark turn - forcing Oogway and the pandas to banish him to the Spirit Realm."
"Wait, what?!" Viper let out, a string of coincidences just hitting her like lighting as the rest of the Five looked on. "Pandas? When did the pandas come into the picture?"
"They are masters of chi," Shifu noted, deep in thought. "It is a little-known historical fact, but one that remains a fact…"
"Let's not overstep the obvious," Tigress butted in, clearly being needlessly aggressive against Wang's assumptions. "You say that some bull named Kai - who barely shows up in historical scrolls - was defeated by Oogway and the pandas. And now - we have Po's panda father just magically show up."
"It is a big coincidence," Yu agreed with, shaking her head.
"Yeah and look at the timing," Alf insisted, pursing his lips. "Like literally the day we figure out Po's dad isn't dead - you come in and say the big threat was defeated by the pandas."
Zhong quietly nodded his head, although another glare from Shifu shut him down.
"I understand this all may be confusing," Wang agreed, shaking his head. "But the Yongshi have been doing extensive research on this ancient threat - I assure you that it is all quite real."
"What kind of evidence?" Tigress butted in aggressively, flicking her whiskers in annoyance.
"Eyewitness accounts," Wang opened firmly, silencing Tigress' dissent. "Ancient scrolls. Signed instructions and words from Oogway - from the Yongshi - and much, much history."
Shifu gulped, watching as the Five and Zhong stared uneasily at each other. Although all of them knew to a degree that there surely was some reason why Wang had made the trip here from Scrolls-know-where - it had never dawned on them that the threat that the lion was referencing was some superpowered, chi-mastered, creature who seemed to be even friends with Oogway himself. Tai Lung was a warrior, Shen was a mastermind - yet no one in the Jade Palace had come close to fighting something this - out of this world.
Literally a spirit warrior.
"He's come back from the Spirit Realm," Wang noted. "We need to unite - and start acting in defense of his eventual arrival."
The lion watched the Seeker and the fox stare at the Five and Shifu - all of them exchanging nervous glances. Tigress alone stared hard back at Wang - perhaps confused why the lion had omitted mentioning the bull's connection to the Seekers - but Wang knew that kind of discussion needed to be broached piecewise, as soon as the immediate threats were taken care of.
He eyed the Seeker, who stared sternly at the ground as the fox on his shoulder yawned. Wang wondered if he could get a chance to speak with Alf alone - taking care of Kai was enough for the rest of the Jade Palace to handle, but dealing with the Seeker army was something only Alf could be privy to - at least immediately.
"Perhaps we should discuss more of this in your room, Wang," Shifu noted. "Show my students the things you've shown me."
Wang nodded, agreeing completely as the Five proceeded to talk furiously amongst themselves. "Indeed - but for a moment, could I borrow your Seeker, please?"
Shifu returned a brief nod.
Alf seemed surprised to be singled out. Yu abruptly moved her head off him, smiling sarcastically at him before walking over to the rest of the Five and Shifu, already lost in deep conversation at Wang's new information. Zhong inched a bit closer to Alf, perhaps feeling embarrassed to be standing for so long.
Wang walked closer to Alf, disappointed to see Tigress fiercely walk closer - almost protectively - towards Alf.
"Alf, is it?" Wang asked kindly, peering down at the much smaller Seeker. "I would love to talk with you for some - "
"Actually he needs to go train right now," Tigress forced, pinching Alf by the scapula harshly.
"Ow ow ow ow!" Alf let out, squealing. "Tigress stop pinching so hard!"
"Let's go train," Tigress forced, dragging Alf away as he apologetically looked at the bemused Wang.
"I am so sorry sir," Alf let out frustrated, eager to talk with Wang as well, then flashed a hateful glance at Tigress. "But I guess I'm going to go train now…"
Wang huffed, yet completely expected this from Tigress. "Perhaps another ti - "
"Master Shifu!"
Everyone stared at the newcomer. Shifu watched in irritation as the anxious and alert Zeng fluttered into the Dining Mess, stopping near Shifu with a wheeze.
"Alf's been called to trial again," Zeng let out.
Collective groans from nearly everyone. Although this sort of thing happened often enough where it wasn't completely unexpected - it was the forcible requirement of all of them appearing as witnesses which really irritated everyone.
Shifu however, had other ideas. "Such horrible timing… very well. Seeker, go attend your trial - if they ask for witnesses like they usually do, inform them we are all on extremely important Jade Palace duty."
The Five laughed and cheered. Anything beat testifying in Alf's stupid, never-ending trials - even if it meant researching a dangerous spirit warrior bull who might destroy all of China.
"Take your warriors and inform them everything I have told you about Kai," Wang notified. "I will accompany the Seeker to his trial."
"He doesn't need anyone to go with him," Tigress spat, again protectively locking Alf closer. "She's a big girl."
Alf groaned, confused where all this seemingly random hatred from Tigress towards Wang was coming from. Ordinarily he wouldn't care - but for some reason, she was taking it out on me - almost as if he was some proxy for some issue they had between themselves.
Alf didn't care either way.
"Tigress, it's better that you stay behind and listen to all the evidence the Yongshi has been gathering," Shifu ordered. "Wang - feel free to accompany our Seeker to his trial - although I fear you might find it quite boring."
"I'll survive," Wang noted happily, then turned to Alf - already sighing. "You think your master will be alright with that, Alf?"
Alf flashed a quiet glance at Tigress, who kept her paw gripped on Alf's back - but she eventually relented, sighing before joining Shifu and the rest of the Five as they started walking out of the Dining Mess.
"Don't make small talk with him, Allison," Tigress addressed to Alf. "He tends to overshare things."
Alf had no idea what this meant. "Um - okay…"
Wang watched Tigress reluctantly follow the Five and Shifu out of the Dining Mess - assured that they would all be walking to the guest room where Wang had stockpiled most of his evidence on Kai. He hoped desperately that they would absorb the information quickly - time was short.
Zhong kept his head low, waiting for the Five and Shifu to leave before sadly following behind.
Wang watched him go in confusion. "So - what's the wolf's story?"
Alf and Yu merely exchanged sighs.
A/N
I'm back! It's been 2ish weeks? :() Not that much but still! Expect weekly updates!
But other than that, not much to say. The story continues.
Also a bit too lazy to write more notes.
Lol.
Support is literally amazing.
~TW
