The Little Panda's Room.
Two weeks have gone by since the last time I did the journal entry. I'm now thinking of making this my journal when I get back. The reason for why I didn't write for two weeks is because I didn't think they were really something to write about. I would like to mention that during that time period certain things did happen: I was most sure that Zeng was one of my characters come alive. Krystal was usually busy training Tigress to observe people. She would usually use Zeng as a practice dummy, to which Zeng protest, but we didn't really take notice of it. It would leave me time to train Po because he could get into trouble if I didn't watch him. He hated the fact I didn't trust him, but it didn't take long for him to be amazed at what new trick I learned. And I did learn some new powers of mine every day. I just learned how to transport to any place I wanted. I also learned how to make three long metal claws come from my hands. They don't hurt like Wolverine's because of the natural painkiller the Lion Warriors had. Because I could travel anywhere I wanted, I decided to go to Rome, Italy. It was there I figured out what time period I was in. The Chinese cannon, which was the first cannon invented and by Shen, was first used around 1200's. It would explain why Rome was in shambles, but I did learn something from the ruins. I got back and started to implement the things I learned. And it got all sorts of questions, but I worked in secret. When it was done, at the last day of the two weeks. I presented it to everyone.
"What is it," Was the first thing that Tigress asked.
"You remember that trip I took to Rome," I asked.
"You mean where you disappeared and left us only a note to give us a hint," Krystal muttered. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes. Well, while I was there, I relearned a simple thing that they have in my world but don't here." I opened the door and presented a toilet. They all looked at me weirdly.
"A toilet," Po asked. "Inside the barracks." I chose an empty room in the barracks to install an indoor toilet thanks to the indoor plumbing I got from the Roman ruins. I had known about plumbing for a while before I went to Rome. Some of my adult friends were plumbers and I would help them. As a result, I had an in-depth knowledge of toilets, but I went to Rome to try and get all the needed basics down.
"Isn't that a bad idea," Shifu criticized.
"This toilet, my friends, is an indoor toilet that flushes away the...um...excrement all away to a place underground for fertilizer," I explained.
"Oh. So how does it work," Krystal asked.
"Simple. When you're done with your business, you just push down that small lever and the toilet does the rest. Now I need a test rat."
"There are plenty down by Kin-gu," Monkey said. I smiled evilly.
"Not that kind of test rat. Monkey, my good man, you'll be my first test subject," I said as I pushed him inside before he could object. We all waited a while before we heard a flushing sound. I heard some splashing noise, meaning that Monkey was using the bowl of alcohol to wash his hands. Alcohol is good for cleaning germs. Monkey came out of the room with a surprised face.
"It really works," Monkey announced.
"You say that like it's not a usual occurrence," I said a little offended.
"Wow, amazing Lion," Viper said.
"Thanks, but there is one other thing I have to tell you about," I said as I directed them outside to the back. There they saw a big translucent tank right next to a pump. "This thing is what allows the toilet to 'reload' in a way. It has to be filled to the top in order for one day's use. So, this is another chore that I have to do. It's a very hard pump to pump."
"No need," Master Shifu said with a smirk. "Each of the Furious Five and Po will do it."
"Okay, but remember you have to come here early and do a lot of pumping. You're pulling water all the way from the bottom of the mountain, mind you," I explained. "Tigress, I'll let you try to pump it first." So she came up to the pump and soon found out it wasn't as simple as it looked. I had only pumped the water to half-point for the demonstration. Once she was done, about ten minutes later, the tank was only three-quarters full. I pumped the rest for her. "You see, it's a lot of work and a big responsibility."
"To take care of the toilet," Po laughed.
"Yes," I said to him, sternly.
So the arrangement of Po and the Furious Five doing the pumping was going well until it was Po's turn. It wasn't even midday before I heard Monkey telling me,
"There's no water in the toilet." So I looked at it. The toilet itself seemed fine. Then I looked at the tank. Empty. Now at the end of the day, the tank is usually half way full.
"Whose turn was it to pump the water," I asked. When Monkey told me it was Po, I sighed. Of course, it was the panda. Po was in bed so I decided to play a little joke on him as a punishment. I took a stick and whacked him over the head.
"Ow!" He exclaimed. I kept whacking him until he was out of bed. "Ouch! What was that for?" He grumbled.
"Don't get angry at me. The stick hit you. I'm not responsible for it," I smirked.
"But you used the stick so you hit me with the stick. So you're responsible," He replied, angrily.
"Oh!" I said with a pretended voice. "So tell me why that, even though you use the toilet, you weren't responsible for refilling the tank?" Po instantly tried to blame someone else, but I stopped him. "Doesn't matter 'whose' turn it was. If you see a need, you fulfill that need." I got that from a little robot friend. "And the Jade Palace needs you to make sure that the tank is full! Now get!" I shouted whacking him with the stick again.
"OWW! Okay, okay," he groaned as he hopped out of bed to avoid another whacking. I smiled evilly to myself. I was having too much fun with this. So then I made my mistake. I assumed that Po had filled the tank all the way, and it would have gone unnoticed if Crane didn't have the runs from Po's undercooked meal. It resulted in Po cleaning the gross excrements down the drain. The day after it was Po's turn, I sat him down the next morning.
"Listen, I don't like having to get up early in the morning to work some heavy pump just to make a toilet work. But Po, if you can't handle the little things that life gives you, how can you possibly handle the problems of monumental proportions? In other words, he who is faithful in little things is faithful in big things." I thought that would help him, but it turned out the next time it was his turn, a week after his last one, he forgot again and we had another situation with the toilet though a little...different.
"Why did you try to stuff your old skin down the toilet," Krystal asked as I tried to water bend the dried toilet down.
"Well, it worked last time, but the toilet had water," Viper replied. I shook my head. This can't keep happening, I thought to myself. Then I came up with a plan to teach Po responsibility and avoid future situations. After about three days I present everyone with six small other rooms with toilets. I also showed them the much bigger tank out back, which had two pumps this time.
"Why did it take you so long to build the other one," Tigress asked.
"You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a toilet cast. Anyways, these toilets will be for the Furious Five, me, Krystal, and Shifu," I said.
"What about me," Po asked.
"You will have that other toilet to yourself. Think of it as the Dragon Warrior's Special Latrine," I said dramatically. I could see that he was excited. "But you'll have to be completely responsible for pumping the tank. The Furious Five are no longer responsible for that toilet. They and I will be using these toilets. You can't use them."
"Why," Po said a little offended.
"Because you can't FIT in them," I said plainly. Po looked at the rooms again. The entryways for them were very small. The entryway would be touching your shoulders if you leaned a hint to one side.
"So I have my own restroom? Cool," He said. I rubbed my hands together evilly.
"Yes, cool. For now. MWHAHAHAHA!" I laughed menacingly.
"Why are you laughing like that," Krystal asked.
"Oh," I composed myself, "Nothing." So it was working well and I noticed that Po pumped the tank only one time. Since he was the only one to pump the tank, I didn't make a big issue. It wasn't until I saw that the tank was completely empty that I put my plan into effect. I met Krystal while I went to the kitchen. Of course, she asked me what I was doing with a knife and a flat metal plate with holes. I just smiled at her. "You'll see."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Krystal sighed as she went with me. I took several fruits and vegetables, cut them into pieces, and mashed them into a delicious juice. "You're making juice."
"For Po," I said with an evil smile. Just then, the person of interest walked into the door. "Here, Po, you look thirsty."
"Am I ever," He said taking a gulp of the juice I made him. "Ahh! That was good. Do you have any water?" I gave him an entire jug of water and he drank it all. Then he left. Krystal looked at me suspiciously. I rolled my eyes.
"If you know that I'm doing something wrong, stop me," I said.
"That's the thing. I don't know what you're doing," She replied. About five minutes later, Krystal, the Furious Five, and I were in the kitchen when Po rushed by.
"Po," Tigress called, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just have to go the little panda's room," He replied. I smirked.
"It starts," I said darkly. Then I heard Po cry out as he ran again past the kitchen. "Po, what happened to your toilet," I asked.
"Nevermind that, I need to go someplace else."
"This I have to see," I said rushing after him. I saw him trying to fit through one of the entryways of the other six restrooms. "I don't think you'll be able to fit, Po," I smirked. He popped out of the entryway, dancing in place.
"What about the outhouse we had?"
"Oh, that? I had to use it for parts to build the toilets. Why don't you use the outhouse down the mountain?" Po quickly brushed past me and started down the mountain, but he accidentally slipped and bounced all the way down the mountain. I went back the kitchen and waited for Po to come back up. The Furious Five and Krystal were wondering what the whole ruckus was about and they kept asking me though I didn't say anything. It wasn't until Po came back that I spoke. "Oh, Po! Did you get to the restroom in time," I asked smugly. He just glared at me. Crane looked at his pants.
"Are those new pants," Crane asked. The pants Po had on were still stitched together, but they were a new pair.
"Yes, they are," Po growled.
"You sound upset, Po," I said, pretending to be innocent. "What's wrong?" Po still glared at me.
"You wanna know what happened when I finally bounced down the stairs? I suddenly realized that I didn't need to use the restroom anymore. Then I heard a little bunny girl say, 'Look mama! The panda wetted himself.' I was laughed at all the whole way to my dad's shop before I could take a bath and get a clean pair of clothes." The others were silent for a moment then laughed. "That's not funny!"
"I'm sorry Po, but that is kind of funny," Shifu said, with a smile. Po just pout.
"You set me up," He accused me.
"Me? How? All I did was give you some water and juice to quench your thirst," I replied, calmly.
"You knew that I wouldn't pump the tank and you waited until I had to go potty to make a clown out of myself."
"My dear friend, you don't need me to make a clown out of you. I honestly did believe that you would take care of yourself and your situations. It was you that did the deed," I smiled. Po just grumbled as he sat down at the table and held his head in his hand. "Po what are you upset for?" I asked this seriously.
"Because you humiliated me trying to teach me a lesson," He exclaimed. I was still calm as I said to him,
"Why are you complaining? I gave that personal toilet to you. That tank that holds water for the six toilets is twice the size as the one you have. It takes two of the Furious Five 45 minutes to pump the thing completely to the top. But they do it every other day. I have to do it alone the other days. I could control the water to fill the take, or I could pull water out of the air. But I choose to do it this way so I can understand the hardship the others go through. It takes me an hour and a half to fill that tank, which means I have to wake up earlier than the rest of you to fill it and that's from empty to full. But yours is much smaller plus you're the only one using it. You could have just pumped the water half way and not have to worry about it for a while, but you chose to let the responsibility go unattended. Plus when you did it, you did it half way. Now you say I did this to teach you a lesson, but you make it sound as a punishment. Irresponsibility has its own punishment. Think about it. The tank would have eventually emptied, you would have needed to go to the bathroom anyway, and you would still end up being humiliated. It was a simple thing for you to do! You had ONE job! It was a little thing but because you didn't do it, that little thing became a major issue. That's usually how you get in trouble isn't it? You forget to do seemingly little things and they blow up in your face. And the thing is it keeps happening over and over and you still fail to learn. Trouble doesn't find you, you just don't know how to avoid it. I could have told you more about irresponsibility, but you would have never listened. This was the only way to make sure you understood because you like doing things the hard way. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to bed." With that, I left the kitchen and went to my room to record what had happened. I was laughing all the way to the very end of the entry. Then Krystal came in with a sympathetic look.
"Don't you think that was a little cruel," Krystal argued.
"You know what I said was right," I replied. "The thing would have happened anyways. If he had filled the tank, none of this would have happened. He just had to pump enough water into the tank to flush it away. You can't think while you have a full bladder."
"Still."
"Irresponsibility has its own consequences," I repeated.
The next morning I awoke early as usual. It was my turn to pump the water in the tank. I decided to go to Po's toilet first. I tapped the tank and heard it was full. I smiled to myself. Po took responsibility. Then I went over to the other toilets' tank. I tapped the tank. It was full too. I distinctly remembering seeing the tank empty yesterday night. Now it was all the way full. I climbed up to the top. It was full to the brim. Who could have done this? I thought about it for a while. Then I went to Po's room and saw him sprawled over the bed. He was sweaty and looked like he had been working all night. I smiled. I put a blanket over him and put up a sign making sure no one bothered him. Then I went to the kitchen to eat. Slowly, the others trickled in. "What was the sign for?" Tigress asked.
"Po pumped the tank last night," I replied.
"Okay, so he gets a rest because he actually did it," Monkey said.
"Not just that. He also pumped the tank for the other toilets," I explained. I could see the shock and surprise in their faces. "I was surprised too. Po did it all by himself. He learned his lesson. Now let's eat."
to be continued.