Hello, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope, you like this chapter.

I'm sorry for my still bad English. If you know a beta reader, who can correct my errors, let me know.

35. Dad!

Po looked around for help. But everyone else was involved in battles with the rest of the ninjas. He sighed. In this case, he had to stand in.

He frowned. "Alright! Now it's time for heroes!"

Po took a running start and rushed toward Ravan, who was standing close behind Dao. The panda got ready for a hard kick with his foot to slam the leader against the wall. But even as he jumped, something wrapped around him and the panda fell to the ground like a stone. "Hey, what the..." Surprised, Po sat up, but he could hardly move. Something had wrapped him. "Hey, that's unfair," he complained. "Not Master Octopus's lassos, which stick together like a bur and are so elastic that you can't get out." In vain, Po tried to break the ropes around his body. But despite everything that he was trapped in an antique, it had not lost its quality. Realizing that he really couldn't get out, Po called: "Hey, could someone help those two," and nodded at the two white peacocks that were slowly taking up their fighting positions.

"Out of the question," Master Ox said from somewhere. "I will never venture near one of the peacocks again. That's finally over now."

Po's mouth stayed open for a moment. "Okay, that's just a joke, right?"

But there was no reaction from his distant interlocutor, who was still fighting. Po struggled to his feet and hopped forward, but he wouldn't make it forward in time. And if anything, how was he going to help, tied up like he was?

Shen watched his brother Dao, and at the same time Ravan in the background, who was already rubbing his paws expectantly. Shen snorted. He would begrudge him a triumph. No matter how slim his chances of winning were. He had actually hoped to easily beat Dao, but to his chagrin, the situation had taken a pathetic turn. His gaze wandered briefly into the hall, but no one was free to confront Ravan at least. Not even the ne'er-do-well panda, who was trying to get along like in a bouncy sack. Shen rolled his eyes. Whenever you needed him...

Ravan called out a Japanese order and Dao responded. Quickly, Shen fended off the approaching katana. Their two mismatched swords clashed with an ominous clash of metal. Again, Ravan gave an order that ordered Dao to attack Shen with the katana from the right. Shen dodged. It was an advantage for him that he could understand Japanese words as well as his native Chinese, so he could react better in time.

This went on for quite a while. Shen guessed that Ravan was just testing his reaction speed. Also at the next instruction, when he heard the Japanese word "right", he swung to the side. But to his horror, Dao attacked him from the left instead of the right. Shen had not been prepared for this and cried out as the katana brushed against his wing. Automatically, Shen pressed his wing to the painful spot. His white feathers immediately turned red. He risked a quick look below his shoulder. His wing was still in one piece, but it hurt.

How could that be?

Shen's pained angry glare wandered to Ravan. "You said..."

Ravan grinned widely. "A little feint never hurts. When he hears this sentence, he always swings to the opposite side. And I have fooled you."

Shen's eyes blazed with anger. Damned! He could not blindly rely on his opponent's orders. Still, capitulation was out of the question for him. After making sure the bleeding wasn't bad, he continued to fight. But he quickly realized that this feint wasn't the only one. He couldn't be sure if he was reading Ravan's commands correctly. It was pure guesswork.

Eventually, Shen resorted to a workaround. He had to throw knives. He still had a few in his plumage. As soon as Dao finished his next sword attack, Shen fired the feather knives at Ravan. But Dao swiveled his katana and deflected the projectiles, which pierced the walls.

Meanwhile, Po tried to come forward. A few times he crawled forward like a caterpillar.

"Po?" Tigress exclaimed, puzzled. She hit her opponent hard, knocking him out for a moment, and turned to her friend.

Po lifted his head with a forced smile. At least the earlier injury hadn't hurt Tigress that much. "Oh hey! I'm fine. I just have to..."

Maybe Tigress would have offered to help him, but then two more ninjas jumped at her.

Sighing, Po dropped his ears. "My goodness, isn't there anyone left who could help?"

At that moment, he heard a groan. King Wang finally got up from his unconsciousness.

Po's face formed a relieved smile. "Wang? What luck! Could you...?"

Suddenly, one of the ninjas threw several battle shields through the air. One of them hit Wang on the head and the Hun king fell unconscious to the ground again.

Po's mouth remained open. Then he whimpered. "That just can't be true!"

Po's eyes wandered again. But a substitute was hopeless. On the contrary. It didn't even look good. With the many antique weapons of the old masters, the ninjas had hung Monkey on the wall, Viper had one knot in her throat and Sheng was trying to prevent the ninjas from ripping out all his feathers. He was already looking battered and a few of his long feathers were lying around on the floor. Only Master Ox, Master Croc and Shifu still got the upper hand, but didn't look like they would be able to win any time soon.

Po sighed heavily. These ninjas really had stamina. He had to admit that. Actually, he would have been happy about such a fight, but this was deadly serious.

Someone threw objects around again. This time it was long sword spears. Quickly, Po ducked.

"Hey, watch out! Somebody could get hurt with that…" The sentence stuck in Po's throat as he noticed out of the corner of his eye how Ravan caught one of the metal spears. The panther cut the wooden bracket and bent the metal with his powerful arms.

Po narrowed his eyes. What was this dark guy up to?

Then it dawned on him. Helplessly, he watched as Ravan shaped the metal like a boomerang and hurled it at Shen. The metal pulled Shen backwards by the neck with full force and fixed the peacock's back against the wall while the two metal ends bored into the stone wall.

Po's mouth dropped again that day. "Respect. Although…" He had used a trick like that on Shen once. Back then in the factory. However, this was not an invitation to talk. Po's eyes widened. "Hey, that's not fair." He hobbled forward with difficulty, but Dao had already placed himself in front of Shen, with his katana in front of his brother's neck.

Angrily, Shen grabbed the metal bow around his neck and tried to pull it out of the wall. To his horror, he had lost his lance sword during that weapon throw and it was now lying on the ground beside him. He struggled to reach for it, with trembling fingers feathers, but because his neck was fixed to the wall he couldn't reach it. Shen pressed the lips of his beak together, risking a brief strangulation, while forcing his wing closer to his sword with all his might. But then a bird's foot appeared that belonged to Dao. Dao grabbed the lance sword and pushed it away. The lance sword skidded away across the floor. Shen froze when Dao held the tip of his katana right in front of his face.

Raven laughed. "Well, you can't think of anything else now, can you?"

Shen tugged at the metal stuck firmly in the wall around his neck, but Ravan had driven the metal deep into the stone.

Ravan grinned. "Well, the little trip to China was really worth it. But now it will be my pleasure to leave one less troublemaker behind." He snapped his paw fingers. Shen froze again as Dao's katana touched his beak. He no longer felt the pain on his wing. Just like Dao, who didn't realize his brother's helpless situation. Although they were face to face, only one had a clear head, but that one was useless if he wasn't able to prevent a disaster. Still, Shen dared to lift his wing and wrap his bloodstained white finger feathers around Dao's katana.

"Dao. Listen to me." Shen, to his embarrassment, noticed that his voice was shaking, but this time his fear of a bad ending took hold of him completely. Dying was one thing, but not like that. Not by his own brother. And certainly not when his brother was in such a state. He didn't want to die like that. Shen shook the katana metal, but Dao showed no reaction. He just held the katana stubbornly and rigidly in front of his opponent. "Wake up!" Shen yelled at him. "That's not you!"

Ravan chuckled. "Talk as much as you want. He is totally devoted to me. Nothing will prevent him from carrying out my order." He tapped Dao on the head, to which Dao again showed no reaction. Ravan's paw wandered onto the katana, tapping his paw fingers over the metal blade as if on feet, up to Shen's face. Then Ravan pressed a claw under Shen's beak and lifted his head slightly. "Hm, if you wish, I can take your head to Japan. Then your brother can always remember you."

Shen drew in a sharp breath, shaking with anger. He kicked at him, but Ravan backed away and placed himself behind Dao again. "Fight back as much as you want. I like it when the opponent begs for the last time. I've had many killed, but your case is really special. You will die at the hands of your own brother. What irony."

Shen let out an evil growl. "You damn fool!" Again he tried to rip the metal from his neck while Ravan Dao ordered to kill his opponent by chopping off his head. Without batting an eyelid, Dao took a step back and swung the katana out. He remained in that position, just waiting for Ravan to give him the signal. And Ravan even seemed very happy to procrastinate. He watched with amusement as Shen desperately pressed against the wall and looked at his brother.

Once again, Shen tried to pull away, then he gave up and tried somehow to make living eye contact with Dao, but his brother's eyes stayed blank. At first, Shen's eyelids began to tremble, then tears welled up in his eyes. "Don't do that."

Ravan chuckled. "My goodness, how cute. Take that like a man."

Shen felt his legs go weak. He usually took everything cold. Just like when the cannon fell on him. But here he broke down internally. Dao would never want to cut off his own brother's head. Shen's wings spasmed around the metal around his neck. And then only one thing crossed his mind.

Mother! Father! Help us!

Po, who was still a few meters from the scenario, hopped forward as fast as he could. But then a ninja kicked him in the back and he fell on his face. "No! Can nobody do anything?!"

Xiang struggles to climb the last step of the long staircase. His good leg hurt from climbing all the stairs. When he and the two peahens noticed the commotion in the Jade Palace, Xiang groaned wistfully as they also had to climb another, albeit shorter, flight of stairs. After that was finally done soon, Xiang couldn't resist making a remark to Liu.

"On our next holiday, I'll decide where we go," he gasped. But then he stopped when they heard screams from the hall.

Yin-Yu stopped. "That doesn't sound good at all."

Xiang picked up his crutch and hobbled ahead of them. Liu and Yin-Yu followed him. But as soon as they stood in the hall entrance, something whizzed through the air towards them. Yin-Yu reacted the quickest. With a kick, she deflected the battle shield. She lowered her wings in relief. "The training with my husband was worth it."

Her gaze wandered ahead and she caught her breath. "Good gracious!"

Dao held his katana overhead and threatened to cut off Shen's head. Shen lifted his blood-smeared wings and pleaded with him, "Don't do that, Dao!"

But Dao didn't respond to Shen's calls.

Now Xiang also looked forward in horror. Shenmi wasn't exaggerating. Dao appeared like an empty, moving body shell. He didn't seem to know what he was doing at all. Xiang looked away for a moment. While he still harbored a deep grudge against Shen, if Dao killed Shen now, Dao would blame himself for the rest of his life. A shock went through Xiang. Was there even a risk that Dao would kill himself because of it?

Xiang didn't think twice. He threw himself forward and slid sideways across the slippery floor.

"What are you doing there?" he heard Liu calling behind him.

Yin-Yu was also frozen at first and watched as Xiang slid through the whole hall, despite his lame leg. Past Wang, who was still on the ground, past the fighting kung fu masters and past the tied up panda.

Po looked up in surprise as he saw Xiang dashed along. "Hey, where are you from?"

But Xiang didn't even listen to him. His gaze was only on Dao, who was about to bring his katana down on Shen's neck. While sliding, Xiang threw his crutch forward, hitting Dao's wing. Dao continued to hold the katana, but the blow made him unresponsive for a few seconds.

Only Ravan let out an angry curse. "How dare you!"

Finally, Xiang had reached the end of the hall. With a squeaking sound, he came to a halt, right between Shen and Dao.

Shen's eyes widened as he saw his stepbrother stand up. But Xiang only facing Dao, while he had turned his back on Shen.

"What are you doing here?"

But Xiang ignored Shen's indignation and closely watched Dao, who had recovered from the crutch hit.

Ravan let out an angry snort. "Alright, kill them both!"

Immediately, Xiang raised his wings. "No, you don't want to do that," he said firmly to Dao, fanning his peacock's fan. "You don't want that. You just don't know."

Ravan clenched his fist. "That's enough now! Knock them both down! Immediately!"

But Dao was frozen, set eyes on Xiang only.

Xiang, on the other hand, continued to struggle to keep on one leg. It was difficult for him to balance without his crutch, but he held his ground.

Please make it work, he begged inwardly.

He looked at Dao. "Dao," he said in a calm, firm voice. "Wake up." Xiang paused. Dao stood in front of him, eyes wide, as if a ghost were standing in front of him.

Xiang continued to maintain eye contact. Then he stopped and narrowed his eyes. Dao's beak moved. Dao said one sentence. Over and over again. Very quiet. But each time a little bit louder.

"Mom is dead," Dao whispered absently.

Shen paused. He had heard this sentence, too, but was unable to say anything to it.

Xiang, who was also a bit surprised by this reaction, widened his eyes. Was his suspicion confirmed? Who was Dao seeing in his trance state?

Ravan was getting impatient. "What are you waiting for?! Cut off their heads!"

Xiang eyed Dao warily. While the white young peacock still clutched the katana, he was somehow unable to carry out his master's command. Then… then tears welled up in Dao's eyes.

"Dad..." Dao mumbled. "Mom is dead."

He lowered the katana. He didn't recognize Xiang, but he saw a blue peacock rising in front of him and thought he heard a familiar voice.

"It was an accident," his father's voice echoed in his head.

Dao backed away slightly. "Mom is dead. She died because of me."

Xiang inclined his head. Then he took a deep breath. "It was not your fault."

Tears ran down Dao's cheeks. Suddenly, he saw his father again standing in front of his mother's deathbed.

...

Quickly, Lord Liang stepped in front of his five-year-old son to block his view of the sheet-covered bed.

"Mom is dead," Dao breathed in a choked voice.

The lord looked down. "She fell asleep."

...

Dao looked down. "Forgive me. It was all my fault."

Xiang internally pulled himself together and stretched out his wing to Dao. Dao flinched badly when he felt Xiang's wings on his shoulder.

...

Gently, Lord Liang placed a wing on Dao's shoulders. Dao backed away. "Mom died because of me."

"That is not true! It had been an accident."

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. "It was my fault! I chased her away! I killed her!" Dao ran out of the room crying.

Dismayed, Lord Liang ran after him. "DAO!"

…

Dao was shaking. He could still hear his father calling, "Dao! Come back to me!"

Dao burst into tears. "Dad." His shoulders trembled. He stood there with his head bowed and tears dripped onto the floor.

Ravan, on the other hand, was seething with anger. "What's the matter with you, you good-for-nothing?! Are you hard of hearing?! Kill them!"

Dao's whole body started shaking. Although he heard the words of his instructor, his subconscious was screaming at him not to do anything of the sort. His "father" stood in front of him. He would never want to harm him. Never!

Suddenly, he turned away, but Xiang held his shoulders tightly. "Dao, stay here."

Dao tried to pull away, but Xiang wouldn't let him. "Stop it, it's over." He managed to turn Dao over so he could look him straight in the face. Dao's eyes were still wet with tears. And he was still crying. Xiang couldn't help stroking his face, making Dao gasp and cry. Finally, Dao fell forward and grabbed onto Xiang. Xiang caught him immediately.

"Dad, I want to go home," Dao wailed. "I want to go home."

Xiang tightened his hug around him. "I know." He rubbed his back soothingly.

Shen, still clinging to the wall, looked at the two speechlessly. He didn't know whether to be angry or relieved. How come Dao responded to Xiang but not to him - his own brother?

Ravan, on the other hand, stood there like a drowned rat. He couldn't explain it all. The drug had been perfect, why didn't it work anymore?

Then he furrowed his eyebrows resolutely. "Alright. Then I have to do it myself."

He grabbed the short green sword and charged at the two peacocks with it. Xiang reacted quickly. He pushed Dao away. But Dao only saw someone rushing towards his "father". Automatically, he threw himself forward again and stood in front of Xiang.

Unable to dodge, Ravan stabbed. But even before the sword pierced the young white peacock, Xiang reacted with lightning speed and lashed out at Ravan. Although the green sword missed its intended target, it still hit Dao.

A peacock's cry rent the air.

Shen cried out in horror as he saw Dao fall to the ground.

The screams made all the fighters stop. Yin-Yu and Liu, who were still standing at the entrance to the hall, stared ahead in shock.

Xiang, still standing on one leg, stared down in shock. But the shock quickly turned to anger. Ravan, who was still completely stunned, saw only stars in the next moment when Xiang gave him a hard blow. The panther tumbled sideways and lay motionless on the ground. Then Xiang bent over Dao, who was holding his blood-red stomach. The sword hadn't pierced him. It had been more a glancing blow, but heavily. Blood rushed through Xiang's temples. His head was completely blank. Automatically, he grabbed Dao's wing and thought, he could feel his heartbeat, or was it just his own racing hearth which he felt pounding through his body?

Dao lay on his side staring. His open eyes looked like dead, but he was still breathing. Though unable to think for himself, he seemed to sense Xiang's closeness. Very lightly, he squeezed the finger feathers around Xiang's wing as if the reaction was coming from very far inside Dao. A light in his paralyzed brain that he couldn't bring out. But then his eyes moved very slightly in Xiang's direction. Xiang leaned forward further and could only hear a murmured, smacked word from Dao: "Dad."

Shen pulled at the metal around his neck and yelled, "Get me out of here! Untie me!"

At first, none of the bystanders dared to move. Even Po lay stunned, slightly bent over on the floor and staring ahead. Not even the other ninjas moved, not knowing how to act without their leader's direction. Only Yin-Yu, Liu and Viper rushed forward. Life finally came back to Shifu, too. But before he also ran forward, he quickly severed the ropes around the poor Po.

Po sat up relieved. "Oh thank you. It was about time."

Shifu no longer paid attention to his best student and rushed to Shen. With an energetic swipe of his hand, he broke the metal around Shen's neck.

As soon as Shen was free, he lunged forward, grabbed Xiang by the collar and yanked him to his feet.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU DAMN RAT!"

Xiang pushed Shen away and looked at him angry and offended. "He only wanted to protect me!"

Shen's eyes welled up in anger. Yin-Yu and Liu looked worried at them. They jumped when Shen lunged at Xiang again.

Yin-Yu bravely intervened. "No, stop that!" She had trouble tearing Shen away from Xiang. It wasn't until she caught his eye contact that she looked at him intently. "Please, think of Dao." Her gaze wandered to Dao, who was still panting on the floor. Liu had bent over him with Viper and was looking at the wound with concern. The inner abdominal cavity may not have been badly damaged. At least Liu couldn't see any abdominal innards, but it was bleeding profusely. She hastily took off her shirt and pressed it onto the young peacock's stomach.

"He needs a doctor urgently! Can someone get one?"

At least that sentence made Shen turn to his brother. He bent over him and grabbed his wing. "Dao, can you hear me? Talk to me!"

But Dao just lay there, still staring blankly. Although he occasionally cramped and was in pain, he was still woozy from the drug.

Now the others were getting closer, too. Only the ninjas remained in the hall. Po and the others looked concerned. Only Master Ox crossed his arms and murmured "I couldn't have expected anything else" to himself.

"Is there anything I can do?" Po asked. Because he couldn't see any blood, he feared he might keel over.

"YOU SHOULD GET A DOCTOR!" Shen yelled at him.

"Oh, yes, of course, I'll be right away..." But when Po turned around, he froze again.

Ravan had left the scene of the accident unnoticed and gathered in the hall with his ninja followers. He stared ahead angrily.

"All the work was for naught," Ravan snarled, eyeing Dao in disdain.

Po just disgusted that callousness. "Oh, are you satisfied now?"

Ravan waved him off indifferently. "We'll find a replacement. At least, we're off with the expensive junk now."

Po narrowed his eyes. But then he craned his head in surprise. "Uh, getting out might be difficult for you guys."

Raven laughed. "Oh really? How come?"

"I think, the guests have arrived."

Po pointed to the hall entrance, where several shadows had appeared. All participants of the kung fu competition had arrived. Behind them also appeared Ān-Mā, Ling, Xia, the kids and even Ping and Pong.

Ān-Mā looked shaken when she saw Dao lying on the ground. "Oh no."

Unprepared for so much company, Ravan and the ninjas stood in the hall like pillars of salt.

"Do you wanna have a real fight?" Po growled, raising his fists. "But a fairer one this time."

Ravan hissed viciously, but then he quickly waved a retreat. Not even he wanted to fight against a whole horde of martial arts professionals. As fast as they could, they headed out through the nearest open window.

"Go after it!" Master Ox ordered.

The kung fu fighters reacted immediately and rushed after the gang of robbers.

Po pressed his paws together. "Hopefully they'll beat the living daylights out of them."

"Don't you want to go with them?" Monkey asked puzzled.

Po shook his head. "I'd rather be here." His gaze wandered back to the bloody scenario.

At that moment, Po heard little feet on the ground and Shenmi came running towards them. "Uncle Xiang! Papa! What about uncle Dao?"

Xiang looked at her in shock. Then he threw himself forward and caught the white peacock girl. "No, don't look at it." He grabbed her and covered her eyes. She shouldn't see it.

Now Wang woke up again. Groaning, he rubbed his head. "What was going on? Has the sky crashed down?"

"Finally get a doctor!" Liu called out.

Ān-Mā lunged forward. "What on earth happened?"

As soon as she was in the aisle, the others followed her.

Mr. Ping immediately ran to Po. "Po, what happened?"

But Po just walked past Mr. Ping. "An accident. Dad! Don't let the kids come there."

Pong and Xia, who were still a little behind, reacted immediately and stopped Zedong, Fantao and Jian halfway.

"Why shouldn't we see it?" Zedong complained.

"Because he said so," his big sister Xia rebuked him. Xia's gaze wandered briefly to Xiang. Although he caught her glance, he avoided it and pressed Shenmi closer to himself. At least Shenmi didn't raise a protest and lingered silently in his wings.

Meanwhile, the old goat had reached Shen with Dao and, dismayed, she knelt down beside them.

The first thing she noticed was Shen's scared look.

"Tell me, how bad is it?" Shen asked.

Ān-Mā noticed Shen was trembling. He was completely nervous. His fear for his brother did not go unnoticed. She tried to concentrate and stroked Dao's face. He barely reacted, but the old goat guessed it was just the drug. Liu continued to keep his stomach covered with the shirt before Ān-Mā gently pushed it aside. "Let me see."

Meanwhile, Sheng had gone to his mother and laid his wings on her shoulders to comfort her. "Mother."

"Sheng." Relieved that he was okay at least, Yin-Yu hugged him. A frightening silence fell in the hall, as if Ān-Mā's words were the difference between life and death.

At that moment, Fantao and Jian cried out. Everyone raised their heads in shock. Po's jaw dropped for the umpteenth time. Ravan had appeared out of nowhere again. Apparently, he had been lurking nearby the whole time while his followers lured their pursuers farther and farther away from the Jade Palace. In his paws, he held the two peacocks Fantao and Jian. "No one moves!" Ravan growled, holding in a warning way the two boys in front of him.

Yin Yu jumped up. "Let go of my children immediately!"

Shen didn't know what else to be shocked about. About his badly injured brother or that Ravan threatened his sons. Ān-Mā even thought, that he was whiter around his beak than before.

Ravan, on the other hand, could only shake his head mockingly at Yin-Yu's words. "For what reason? These brats make a good replacement for my tori."

Po clenched his fists. "You won't dare." He leapt forward, but Ravan admonished him. "Now, now, now" and held up the two boys again, who didn't move because of their shock. "Don't come any closer or I'll break one of them his necks. One chick will be enough for me, too."

"Po," Tigress admonished, holding the angry panda back by the shoulder.

Xiang felt Shenmi tremble slightly in his wings and unconsciously, he stroked her back. He didn't know why he was doing this, but somehow he didn't want her to be scared.

Ravan grinned widely at all the helpless looks and backed away. "Just stand there while I take the guys on a little exchange trip to Japan. I make them fighting machines. Then I'll come back and clean up here a lot. Did you…?"

Suddenly, something jumped against the side of his head. The force threw Ravan sideways. In the process, he lost Fantao and Jian. The two peachicks tumbled to the ground as Ravan slammed into the nearest pillar and collapsed unconscious.

Everyone's mouths remained open. Ravan lay knocked out on the ground. Little Zedong approached next to him. After making sure the ninja leader was incapacitated, Zedong looked around loftily, wings akimbo. "Like I said, I'm the champion."

Po finally managed to shut his mouth again. "You did it!" Po ran towards him and picked him up. From above, Zedong caught a glimpse of his father, who seemed to be smiling at him somehow. However, to Zedong's disappointment, that expression disappeared as soon as Shen leaned toward Dao again. Po also stopped cheering immediately when his gaze fell on Dao again.

Ān-Mā immediately attempted to continue her investigation of Dao.

Xiang, still sitting with Shenmi in his wings, perked up when he heard Dao mumble something.

"I'm home again, dad."

A slight smile swept over Xiang's beak. "I guess, we all are."