A/N: I noticed a trend here. I notice that my view count increases every:

1. Thursday (Oddly, not Friday)

2. Saturday (Well yeah)

Oddly, when I upload a chapter on Sunday, the view count does not increase significantly.

My view count also slightly increases when my fic is beside a more popular fic like example Memoirs of a Master. Just a tip for you all for those who want to get their view count up.

On another note, I bought a Palit GeForce 9600GT 1 GB memory with ddr3. It's a dual port GPU so that means it's twice as tall. I'm celebrating this wonderful graphics card. The best part yet, I bought two 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 memory. I'm going to put the memory later but when I do, I hope playing World in Conflict will be so fast on Very High settings on 1024 x 768 resolution (I don't need a very high resolution). Sorry guys, I just can't help but enjoy this wonderful day. And for this reason alone, I decided to give this chapter early. Enjoy…

[α]

The Left Hand Now Knows What the Right Hand is Doing

…And if that was not a surprise, he was wearing yet again the same hat as crane and viper.

"Is this a new fashion trend?" The red panda asked.

"I thought it looked good on Viper." The monkey smiled. "So I thought of trying it as well."

"I gotta admit Monkey, it does looks good on you." The giant panda complimented.

"I don't know. It looks better on Crane. No offense Monkey, but I just can't imagine you with that hat." The tiger said.

The monkey maintained the smile and just stared at her.

The red panda then approached his students. As he approached the crane and the viper, he noticed some minor bruises on their bodies.

"Crane, Viper, what happened to you?"

They looked at each other before looking at the red panda… with their widest smile. "Do you wanna know?" The viper asked.

"Nevermind."

The crane suddenly got excited. "Oh please, we want to tell."

"No, Crane… I get the idea. Now, let's head to the kitchen shall we."

They all left with the mantis as the last man behind. As he was about to leave the quarters, he heard an object, probably a marble, rolling away and coming from his room. It left the room and he picked it up. It was a tiny pellet and he thought about the dream he had just this night.

"It can't be… could it?"

They were now on the kitchen. Breakfast was now really odd… or strange… or bizarre or whatever. The three masters were oddly staring at the front with a smile on their faces.

"Order up." The giant panda said when he handed the bowls of delicious noodles to each person. He then passed to the mantis.

"I made this one especially for you." The giant panda said handing a bowl that was apparently covered.

"Uhhh… thanks, but I'm not hungry."

Aside from the monkey, the crane and the viper, they all looked at the mantis. Poppin had been looking at him all this time.

"Well this is interesting." The tiger commented. "I never imagined that you could actually resist a bowl of uh… what do you call it… oh yeah, a bowl of delicious noodles."

"Knock it off, Tigress." The giant panda then faced the mantis. "Mantis, trust me you're gonna love this one." He then faced the red panda. "Master Shifu, I'll be gone for the day for some groceries, but I've got some food ready so that you can heat it up."

"Take care." The red panda replied and the giant panda took off.

"I don't know, maybe Shifu is right." The mantis said. "I'm just having too much noodles in my head."

"I can hardly imagine." Poppin said smiling.

"Yeah, whatever."

Poppin then stood up maintaining his smile. "Master Shifu, I would like to thank you for your hospitality. I would like to announce that I would be on my way to proceed to the next town tomorrow. I hope to be able to come back here to your lovely little village."

"You know we'll always stay the same." The red panda said.

He giggled. "We'll see."

The mantis was relieved that he was about to leave tomorrow. He only had to wait for one of day of complete weirdness before things got back to normal. Though, something in his gut did not feel right. If Poppin left, what would happen to crane or the viper or the monkey. He would have to deal with that later. Pretty much, the red panda would think of something. Right now, he felt a little bit at ease and decided to go for the giant panda's surprise dish. He then got the bowl that the giant panda had given to him. Oddly, when he opened it, he was surprised to see not noodles but a fortune cookie. He looked at the others who seem to be minding their own business.

"Excuse me for a moment." The mantis stood up and left the kitchen. He did not know that Poppin was watching him while he was leaving.

He was just outside the kitchen. He then broke the cookie and got the small strip of paper inside it. There was a message inside it. He read it swiftly and when he was done reading, he left the Jade Palace and headed straight for the Sacred Peach tree. He looked around as he walked there. Though he was sure no one was following, he needed to be sure. When he did reach the tree, he was surprised to see the giant panda. The panda could hear him approach and he looked around.

"I got your message. I thought you went to the village for some groceries." The mantis said.

"Not yet. I need to tell you something."

"Well… what is it?"

"Not here. It isn't safe. Come with me to the village will ya'."

They headed toward the Palace entrance and toward the thousand steps. When they reached the lower end of the stairs, the giant panda was panting.

"I dream that someday, someone will invent a flight of stairs that moves upward or downward on a slope and may it be called the escalator."

"Or you can just exercise and lose weight."

They continued until they reached the village.

"So where exactly are we going?" The mantis asked.

"Where else… at my place."

"Oh okay."

It was almost mid-day at the Jade Palace. The rest of the furious five were training at the great training hall. They had wondered where the mantis had gone but they just shrugged it off. The red panda was watching as well as Poppin. The red panda had noticed that except for the tiger, the others were a little sluggish at their training. A bit slow… a bit less… a bit too… happy. But he thought that the tiger always outperformed the rest so his eyes must be playing with him. Poppin stood there smiling. He had been watching the tiger perform. She was so beautiful… so perfect and… so strong.

"Excellent work Tigress. And as for the rest of you, you need to work more on your strengths." The red panda said.

Poppin then could not resist but ask a question.

"I was wondering…" Poppin asked.

"What is it?" The red panda asked.

"… I… I was thinking that I am going to leave tomorrow and I couldn't help but ask to hear you play the bamboo flute one last time."

The red panda thought that it was a great idea to end Mr. Bury's stay at the Valley of Peace. "Yes, of course."

Poppin's eyes bulged with his smile extended. "That would be swell."

The red panda was disturbed by the sudden growth of his eyes, but he would do it anyway as a kind gesture. "I will go get it." He then left.

His attention was now focused on the tiger. The crane, viper and monkey saw this and suddenly sprung out of their courses. They now headed straight for the tiger. She noticed this and wondered why they were all ganging up on him.

"What's the idea?" The tiger asked.

The three looked at Poppin to which his smile grew further. With that, the three's smile grew to awkward levels as well. The tiger felt uneasy and took a step backward. Out of nowhere, they all tackled the tiger. Though, the tiger was strong, it was still three against one.

"Let me go! Master Shifu!" The tiger yelled.

"Your master can't hear you now my lady."

She looked to see Poppin standing behind the three. "Poppin, what is the meaning of this?"

"I… want to show you something."

He smiled and for some strange reason, the three felt something of an urge. They removed their hats and the tiger looked in horror.

"Ahhh…!"

"Two bowls of secret ingredient noodles please." The giant panda asked with a wink in his eye. They were in his dad's noodle house.

"Sure. Anything for my boy." The goose said.

The mantis and the panda sat in the same table. He could not wait but ask why the panda wanted them to come here.

"So, you were saying?" The mantis started.

"I thought about what you said to me about three days ago about Poppin crying to my delicious noodles soup. I… wanted to know if that was true, so I went to the kitchen just last midnight."

This got the mantis' attention. "And…"

"I didn't… see anyone. The kitchen was clear."

The mantis was disappointed. He thought the panda had seen and he would have someone to talk to. "I don't know, it's been very weird lately since he's been here. Lately, I feel unsafe towards him, then crane, then viper. I feel monkey too…"

"I'm not done yet." The panda said.

"Here you go. Two orders of secret ingredient noodle soup." The goose said.

"Wow, that was quick." The mantis complimented.

"Well, we are noodle folk you know." The goose just added.

"Thanks dad." The panda said.

The goose then left to attend to the other customers.

"Now where was I? Oh, yes…

I waited for about an hour but nothing happened. So, I came back to our rooms. But before I did, I noticed Poppin's room was open. I then thought of checking it out."

"So you came to his room?" The mantis asked.

"Of course I did, you are never going to believe what I saw."

"Try me."

"I opened the door but no one was there. I came inside and I saw them."

"What?"

"Noodles. It was full of noodles but I saw the ones you were talking about. There were three of them. One was already starting to smell. I assume that was the first one I had given to him. The other had smaller odor and the other was all mushed up and if you ask me, it smelled like Crane's feet. Imagine that." The giant panda laughed a bit. It was a tense laugh.

The mantis was surprised with a horrifying look on his face. The panda thought that this may not be funny at all.

"Was it something I said?" The giant panda asked.

"I saw him!" The mantis raised his voice.

"Saw what?"

"Crane, he was marching on the noodles two days ago. That's what he was doing."

"Oh dear, then that was Crane's feet. Ewww..."

"So what happened afterwards?"

"Oh right…

I heard a sound. Someone was coming back at the quarters. I tried as fast as I can to head back to the room. When I did, I swore, I saw Poppin, Crane and Viper. They were all dragging something as they headed to your room. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep and then what happened next was one of the loudest things I've ever heard. I didn't see what happened though but I was just wondering if you've heard seeming that it came from your room after all."

"I… don't recall."

"I noticed Mantis. I noticed that they don't seem to be enjoying my cooking. First, I thought it was me, but then, Viper followed and just this morning Monkey. Seeing that you noticed the weirdness first, I thought it was a good idea to drag you here to tell you about it. I can't help but feel that ever since Poppin came, it's like they've been acting strange."

"Me too. I know Poppin has something to do with this."

"Did you tell Shifu?"

"I did, but he shrugged it off, saying I needed proof that he's the cause of the others change in attitude."

"I can help you. We can go back to his room and show it to him. After that, things will work from there on. Master Shifu would know what to do, don't you think?"

The mantis finished his secret ingredient noodle soup. "Yeah, but I think we need to hurry before Poppin catches on Shifu and Tigress."

"I'm pretty sure Shifu and Tigress are capable of handling the three."

"I guess you're right, but I'm not taking any chances. We need to go back immediately."

The panda then gulped his noodles. "I'm done."

"Good. Now let's go."

After the red panda played his bamboo flute, he came back to the great training hall but he was surprised to see no one there. He thought it was strange. He then remembered it was lunch time and he had to heat up the food Po had left. He went to the kitchen and heated the food. He waited but to his surprise, no one was there. It was strange and so, he ate his share of the food and decided to meditate for the time being. He had been in the Hall of Warriors for about an hour when he heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" He looked back but saw that the main door to the Hall of Warriors was still closed.

It was strange but he shrugged it off. "Must've been the wind."

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, he felt someone behind him. He looked back to see it was the tiger.

"Tigress, what are you doing here?"

He suddenly noticed her head was covered on the same hat as the other three. This was certainly strange for him.

The tiger looked at him straight in the eye. The red panda for the first time did not feel awkward or disturbed but very uneasy. The tiger's eyes were wide and her mouth formed a smile that gave the chills from his spine. "It's lovely day to go outside Master." Her smile growing ever wider.

"Will you please remove that hat? I've already seen enough of it from Crane, Viper and Monkey."

She then did what he was told. The master red panda saw this and was surprised if not shocked. Her head was filled with noodles.

"What happened to you?" He said as he was moving backward slowly.

As if he already knew, the other three were already right behind him. They removed their hats. He looked at them and his horror grew further. He suddenly tripped and tried to crawl backwards. "Master Shifu, we want to show you something." They all said simultaneously.

"My students, who did this to you?" He suddenly stopped. He felt something at his back as he crawled backwards. He then looked up and saw it was Poppin.

Poppin held with him a small knife and some noodles. He smiled. "These noodles are for everyone you know."