In the words of a certain crazy shaman, "It is time!" Let us begin Kung Fu Academia off right!


Valley of Peace, USA, a city on the west coast said to be the first city founded by Chinese immigrants. The city was a mix of a sprawling metropolitan area and a traditional China town. (For reference, think of it like San Fransokyo in Big Hero Six but with Chinese influence instead of Japanese) Here in the Valley of Peace was the prestigious Jade Palace Academy, the premier school for practitioners of Kung Fu or any close quarters combat. Of course, you needed to actually display some form of skill to get into the academy, which was something Po Ping could only dream of.

"I'll be right back, Dad!" Po called to his father as he walked out the door. "I'm just going to go grab those eggs you needed for your noodles!"

Po was a panda in his senior year of high school, and he was a massive Kung Fu fanboy. He had movies, posters, action figures, just about everything you could think of involving Kung Fu he had. But as much as he adored Kung Fu, Po couldn't actually practice it, be it because of his overprotective father or his physique.

As he made his way down the street to the marketplace, the panda was stopped by a commotion nearby. Po dropped everything he was doing and ran over to it, pulling out his phone as he went. You see, while he couldn't do Kung Fu himself, Po took every moment he could to film the battles that would take place across the city and post them to his blog.

"Who's fighting?" he asked one of the members of the gathering crowd.

"It's the leader of the Furious Five, Tigress," the person said. "Along with- "

He was interrupted by a flash of light, and from it came a figure dressed in blue with a long, flowing scarf, their face obscured by a ninja mask, and holding a large sword with green markings on the blade.

"No way…" Po said in amazement. "The Dragon Warrior!"

Over in the fight, the Dragon Warrior effortlessly blocked each of Tigress' attacks with their sword, making a fool out of the leader of the Furious Five.

"Stop moving so I can hit you!" she shouted, only to barely dodge a swing from her opponent's sword.

"Hmph, fine then," the Dragon Warrior said.

Taking a stance, the figure threw down his sword, plunging the blade into the ground. As it did so, a spiral pattern appeared on the ground, coming to form a Chinese Dragon on the sidewalk.

"Listen here!" The Dragon Warrior said. "I have grown tired of all of these fights with the Furious Five. I want to help this city as much as you. We should be on the same side."

"This city needs heroes, not vigilantes," Tigress stated, folding her arms.

"I think 'Hero' is a subjective term," the warrior said. "Anyone that can help others should do what they can, regardless of who they are." They then glared at her from behind their mask. "You think you're so great just because you go to the Jade Palace Academy, but training to be the best and actually being the best are two very different things."

The warrior then jumped onto the sword's hilt, balancing with one foot. "But if you want me gone, then fine. I leave this, the Sword of Heroes, to be picked up by whomever is worthy to hold the title of Dragon Warrior. Let only that person have the power to wield the blade to its fullest potential."

"That is not a title to be given by you, thief," Tigress said. "Only Grandmaster Oogway can."

The warrior smiled underneath their mask. "Well then, we'll just have to see who lifts this sword then, won't we?" They turned and faced the crowd, looking directly at Po's camera. "I hereby give up my claim to the Dragon Warrior title, and hope that whomever wields the Sword of Heroes next is an even better Dragon Warrior." They then took a thoughtful pose. "I think I shall take… Denko as my new title. Very fitting, isn't it?"

The newly named Denko then did a few motions, and in a flash of lightning vanished, leaving only the sword in the ground.

[***]

"That arrogant little THIEF!" Tigress shouted, pounding her fist into the wall.

"Calm down, sis," Tai Lung said, leaning against the doorway of her room. "He did as you asked and gave up the title." He then though about it. "Although that sword is still stuck in the middle of the town square. I wonder if I could lift it."

"We can talk about this in the morning," Shifu said, interrupting the two. "Tomorrow is when all of the new students arrive, so as the top students of our grades we must be ready for them."

Tigress huffed, walking to close her door. "If I find this 'Denko' and who they really are, I will make sure they are brought to justice."


Meanwhile, in an apartment in the city…

"I can't believe you did that!" Hikari shouted as she yelled at her son.

"Mom, you said to wanted me to get rid of the sword, so I did," Denko, whom had taken off his uniform, said.

"Karasu, you know I meant to give it back to Oogway," Hikari sighed. "Now the real Dragon Warrior will have to pull it out. How did it come to this?"

"Hey, he's your son, of course he would invoke some magic words on the sword," said Ryuu, Karasu's father.

"He's your son as well," Hikari said, meeting her pink eyes to her husband's blue.

"Hey, I just teach him the way of the sword, you teach him magic," Ryuu said defensively.

"Mom, Dad," Karasu said, breaking up their argument. "Tomorrow is when I go to Jade Palace Academy, remember?"

"Oh, yes!" Hikari said, clapping her wings together. "All of your stuff is packed, so you should be ready to go."


Meanwhile, back at the town square…

As everyone moved away from where the fight was being held, Po walked up to the Sword of Heroes. He couldn't explain why, but he felt drawn to it. The panda reached down, ready to grab the blade-

"Po!" shouted a voice, causing the boy to turn around quickly. Coming up to him was another panda, this one much older than Po himself. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, hey Dad," Po said. "There was this fight and then this sword and- "

"Son, Ping has been worried about you," Li Shan said. "You know how he gets when he's worried."

Po sighed. "Sorry about that."

Li grabbed his son, pulling him into a side hug. "Come on, we can get those eggs and get you to bed. We have a big day tomorrow!"

"Oh, right!" Po exclaimed. "We get to go to the Jade Palace Academy for that catering thing, right?"

"You got it!" Li Shan said. "And to help out, I invited one of your friends from school to help out."

Po stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait. Which friend did you invite?"

[***]

The Jade Palace Academy opened its doors early the next morning, letting the students set up their dorms before the day truly started. Karasu got to his room bright and early, finding his roommate already there. The roommate was a fox with bright red fur and a skittish appearance.

"Hello," Karasu greeted, causing the fox to jump.

"H-h-hello," the fox stuttered. "So, y-you're my room-m-mate?"

"Yep! I'm Karasu," the raven greeted.

"Saras," the fox said.

As those two got to know each other, another pair of roommates were meeting for the first time. A black panther wearing a red hoodie and shorts entered her room, meeting a crocodile wearing a brown vest and red shorts. That's not what surprised her, however.

"What the heck?" Alena said. "I thought the dorms were separated by gender."

Turning to face the voice, Fung rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, it turns out that there was an uneven number of boys and girls, and with all of the rooms being filled, well…"

"Ugh, whatever," Alena growled. "Just keep to yourself, okay?"

"Hey, I have no objections to that," Fung said, holding his hands up.

Over with another group, a beetle-of-unusual-size and a maned wolf were meeting in their room.

"Hey, I'm Koji," the beetle greeted, holding out a fist.

"Hyung," the wolf greeted after some time, though he didn't respond to the fist bump.

Koji's smile fell a bit, but he put it back on quickly. "Not a big talker. That's okay! I have this friend, Alena, and she doesn't talk much either." He jumped onto his bed, which he had replaced with a hammock. "I'm sure we'll come to know each other just fine."

"Whatever you say," Hyung said. He turned and looked at his shadow, which seemed to gain eyes and flash at him. 'I have to not get close to him,' the maned wolf thought. 'If I do, he'll just get hurt like everyone else.'

Down the hall, towards the end closest to the main hallway, a jackal was meditating on her bed, not aware of her roommate entering. She was a snowy owl wearing a black tank top and shorts, and she was staring curiously at her roommate.

"Hey! Are you here?" Suya asked.

The jackal gasped, breaking her meditation and turning around. "LookawayI'mnotdressed!" she said quickly, covering her bare chest and legs.

Suya blushed, turning around as to not stare at her naked roommate. "I'm so, so sorry! I didn't realize that you were naked!"

The jackal grabbed her jacket and threw it on, taking up a pair of shorts and putting them on as well. "It's fine. I just meditate better when I'm not… wearing anything."

"Or you just like showing off to me," said a voice in her head.

The jackal blushed furiously. "S-shut up Anubis!" she shouted at the voice.

"I didn't say anything," the owl said. "And my name's Suya, not Anubis."

"No, Anubis is this… voice in my head," the jackal explained. "It's complicated, but basically I act as his tie to the mortal world and help to bring lost souls to the Underworld."

"Woah, that's crazy," Suya stated.

"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Aurora," the jackal greeted.

The two girls shook hands and got all set up, the awkwardness starting to settle down.

[***]

Once everyone was settled in, all of the students arrived in the courtyard, where all of the teachers stood on stage and the catering was off to the side.

"Greetings, new students," Grandmaster Oogway said. "Welcome to Jade Palace Academy. I am pleased to see all of your faces, both new and old."

"Now then, just because you go in doesn't mean you'll be able to stay," Grandmaster Kai said. "If you don't measure up, you can kiss your butt goodbye from this academy. We already had one student drop out, and we're currently looking for a replacement student to fill the spot."

'That must have been why my roommate never showed up,' a snow leopard, Toka, thought to himself.

Oogway tapped Kai on the arm. "I believe that I know who will fill that spot."

"Wait, seriously?" Kai asked. He then rubbed the bridge of his snout. "This is that 'universe talking to you' thing, isn't it?"

As the students started to mingle, Po watched as the students went about their activities, wishing he could join them. He was also trying to avoid Mei Mei, the "friend" his father had invited to help out. It's not that Po didn't like her, it's just that she could be very, very clingy to him. As he was lost in a daydream, Oogway and Kai walked up to the table, not that the panda noticed.

"Hello, young panda," Oogway said, snapping Po out of it.

"Oh my gosh, it's Grandmaster Oogway. It's such an honor to meet you sir," Po said with belated breath.

"Just Oogway is fine," the tortoise said. "Now then, why aren't you out with the rest of the students."

"Oh, I'm not a student. I'm just here with my dads for catering," Po said.

"Dads? As in plural?" Kai asked. "Huh, you don't see that every day."

"Oh no, you misunderstand," Po said quickly. "You see, one is my real dad and the other is my adopted dad- wait, both are my real dad, but one is- "

"I get it," Kai said firmly.

As the two conversed, Oogway was talking with Mr. Ping and Li Shan. The tortoise then came over to Kai and Po with both of the panda's parents in tow. "Young panda, how would you like to join our academy as a student?"

"Wait, are you for real?" Po asked, a smile slowly growing on his face. "Dad, are you okay with this?"

"As long as you stay safe, I'm fine with it," Mr. Ping said. "Besides, we worked out a deal so that I will be coming on the school staff for the cafeteria."

"But who will take care of the restaurant?" Po asked.

"Don't worry, your old man can take care of the place while you two are out," Li Shan said.

"AWESOME!" Po shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I'll go get my stuff! This is gonna be sweet!"

As he ran off back to his house, he tripped on the way down and fell the very, very long way down the steps back to the city.

"I get the feeling this year will be a special one," Oogway said.

"In more ways than one," Kai muttered.


Author's Note

The first story chapter is here, and we have a lot to uncover.

First, the setting. This story is set in the modern day, so expect to see things like cars and phones when we're in the city.

Now then, some character differences I want to get out now:

First, Po has both of his dads here, but we'll get into how that's possible later on in the story.

Second, The Furious Five have what is known as a "Hero License" which allows them to legally use their Kung Fu to help people in need. If you've seen One Punch Man or My Hero Academia, it's similar in concept to the rules in those universes.

Third, Karasu, as you can see, is very different in this version. He's been playing vigilante in the Valley of Peace and going by the title of Dragon Warrior. His new title, Denko, is a reference to my buddy The Grey Coincidence's story "The Heist," which has a version of Karasu that goes by that name.

Fourth, we get to meet Karasu's dad here! I'm not saying we'll be meeting him in my other story, but…

Fifth, we'll get to meet everyone else in the next chapter when class in official in session!