The small white wolf ran up the steps to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. He had truly disastrous news.
"Master, master, I have, uh, it, it's very bad news," Master Shifu for the first time in a long time stammered.
"Ah, Shifu, there is just news. There is no good or bad," Master Oogway chuckled.
"Master, your vision. Your vision was right. Tai Lung has broken out of prison. He's on his way," Master Shifu whimpered. He couldn't stand seeing his son again. And yet, he wanted to very much.
"That is bad news," Master Oogway affirmed, "if you do not believe that the Dragon Warrior can stop him."
"Tha-that thing? That wolf is not the Dragon Warrior. He wasn't even meant to be here. It was an accident," Master Shifu protested.
"There are no accidents," the wise silver wolf replied.
"Yes, I know. You've said that already-twice," the small white wolf sighed.
"Well, that was no accident either," Master Oogway laughed.
"Thrice," Master Shifu frowned.
"My friend, that wolf will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control," Master Oogway advised him.
"Illusion?" he asked.
"Yes, look at this tree Shifu. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, nor make it bear fruit before its time," the old wolf said.
"But there are things we can control," Master Shifu growled, punching the tree, "I can control when the fruit will fall." He growled again as a peach landed on his head. Oogway laughed. "And I can control where to plant the seed," he said, leaping up and chopping the peach and half, landing, and punching a hole in the ground, dropping the seed in. "That is no illusion Master!" he exclaimed angrily.
"Ah, yes. But no matter, what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach," Master Oogway said.
"But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung," Master Shifu protested.
"Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it," the silver wolf murmured.
"But how? How? I need your help Master," Master Shifu urged.
"No, you just need to believe. Promise me Shifu. Promise me you will believe," Master Oogway replied.
"I-I will try," he answered.
"Good. My time has come. You must continue your journey without me," Master Oogway handed the small wolf his staff.
"What-what-what are you, wait. Master, you can't leave me," Master Shifu whimpered as the wise old wolf headed for the edge of the cliff. He ran a little ways after.
"You must believe," he replied.
"Master," Master Shifu protested, but it was too late. The silver wolf disappeared into the sky amongst the peach petals, and the white wolf was left staring into the night.
Unaware, Po was cooking for the Furious Five. "Scared? So I was like, you may be a wolf. You may be the scariest bandit in Hua Xin Province, but you're a lousy tipper," he said.
"Really? So how'd you get out of there live?" Crane asked.
"I mean, I didn't actually say that. But I thought it in my mind. If he could read my mind, he would've been like what? Order up. Hope you like it," Po served them.
"This is really good!" Mantis exclaimed.
"No, you should try my dad's Secret Ingredient Soup. He actually knows the secret ingredient," Po returned.
"What are you talking about? This is amazing," Viper commented.
"Wow, you're a really good cook," Crane praised his soup.
"I wish my mouth was bigger," Mantis said.
"Tigress, you've got to try this," Monkey told her.
"It is said that the Dragon Warrior can survive for months at a time on nothing but the dew of a single ginko leaf and the energy of the universe," Tigress accused, eating from her own plate and touching none of Po's soup.
"I guess my body doesn't know it's the Dragon Warrior yet. I'm going to need a lot more than dew and, uh, universe juice," Po sighed, drinking his soup, much to the amusement of the Furious Five. "What?" Po asked, not realizing he had a noodle over his lip.
"Oh, nothing, Master Shifu," Mantis teased.
"You'll never be the Dragon Warrior unless you lose 500 pounds and brush your teeth," Po imitated him, "What is that noise you're making? Laughter? I never heard of it. Work hard, wolf, and maybe someday you will have ears like mine." Picking up two bowls, he used them as ears. The whole routine had the five except Tigress bursting into hysterics.
"That's good," Crane said, but they all stopped laughing when they saw the small white wolf right behind Po.
"Ears. It's not working for you? I thought they were pretty good," Po muttered.
"It's Shifu," Monkey told him.
"Of course it's Shifu. What did you think I was doing?" Po laughed before finally understanding, "Ooh, Master Shifu!" He stuck the bowls to his fur and slurped up the noodle.
"You think this is funny? Tai Lung has escaped from prison and you're acting like children!" Master Shifu accused.
"What?" Po yelped.
"He is coming for the Dragon Scroll and you are the only one who can stop him," Master Shifu glared at Po, who's bowls fell off.
"And here I am saying you've got no sense of humor. I'm gonna…stop Tai Lung," he laughed, then sobered, "What, you're serious? And I have to-uh-no-Master Oogway'll stop him. He did it before. He'll do it again."
"Oogway cannot! Not anymore," Master Shifu sighed and the Furious Five gasped. "Our only hope is the Dragon Warrior," he admitted.
"That wolf?" Tigress growled.
"Yes, that wolf," Master Shifu snarled.
"Master, let us top Tai Lung. This is what you've trained us for!" Tigress snarled, standing. She couldn't let this happen.
"No, it is not your destiny to defeat Tai Lung! It is his!" Master Shifu pointed, but Po wasn't there. "Where'd he go?" he asked, looking around in confusion.
Po was running, screaming down the hill, when Master Shifu landed with a boom in front of him.
"You cannot leave. A real warrior never quits," Master Shifu snarled.
"Watch me!" Po yelled, faking different ways, but the white wolf swung him back in front. "Come on. How'm I supposed to beat Tai Lung? I can't even beat you to the stairs," he wailed.
"You will beat him because you are the Dragon Warrior," Master Shifu jabbed him with the staff.
"Ow. You don't believe that. You never believed that. From the first moment I got here, you've been trying to get rid of me," he tried to leave again, but the other wolf tripped him.
"Yes, I was, but now I ask you trust in your master as I have come to trust in mine," Master Shifu growled.
"You're not my master and I'm not the Dragon Warrior," Po replied.
"Then why didn't you quit? You knew I was trying to get rid of you, yet you stayed," Master Shifu accused. This wolf was beginning to annoy him beyond belief.
"Yeah, I stayed," he got up, "I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled, it hurt. But it could never hurt more than every day of my life just being me. I stayed because I thought if anyone could change me, could make me not me, it was you, the greatest kung fu teacher in all of China.
"But I can change you. I can turn you into the Dragon Warrior and I will," he insisted.
"Come on. Tai Lung is on his way here right now and even if it takes him a hundred years to get here, how are you going to change this into the Dragon Warrior? Huh? How? How? How?" Po snapped.
"I don't know," Master Shifu barked, and then murmured, "I don't know." He had given up for once. How?
"That's what I thought," Po muttered. Defeated, Master Shifu limped away.
Tigress was on the roof, watching it all. Po had hurt her father for the last time. She would stop Tai Lung. Leaping backwards off the roof, she soared down to the village. Flipping, sliding down a roof and off, backflipping, and landing, she breathed hard with exhileration.
"This is what you trained me for," she said. Racing along the buildings, she flipped and darted this way and that as she realized she had pursuers.
"Tigress," Viper called.
"Don't try and stop me," she snarled at the rest of the five.
"We're not trying to stop you," she protested.
"What?" Tigress gasped.
"We're coming with you," Viper elaborated.
Looking at her friends, Tigress smiled, and they leapt into the night.