The Straw Hats watch the Kung Fu Panda Trilogy

by Inverted Descension

The Straw Hats need a break. Thankfully, they dock at Showreel Island, where they watch the story of how a noodle boy turned into the Dragon Warrior, found inner peace and became a Legend

7. KFP 2 Act Two: Birds of a Feather

The Straw Hats React to Kung Fu Panda 2

I do not own any of the properties discussed in this piece of non-profit fan-based material. Any trademarked materials are strictly the sole property of their respective owners. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this reaction.

Act 2: Birds of a Feather.

On the opposite side of the city, the sampan boat sailed gently through Gongmen harbour, before bumping to a stop underneath a stone bridge. Through the partially opaque mist, the Five darted up the structure, followed by Po, who clumsily attempted to clamber over the wall in order to join them. He found them crouched on a roof overlooking one of the main streets that inevitably would snake towards the city centre; it's sidewalks densely populated with all manner of food carts, fireworks shops and pagodas. If he weren't on a mission to ensure national security, then Po would've been in awe at the splendour the city provided, despite the looming omnipresence of the Palace Tower.

"Woah!" Luffy cheered in excitement, as drool began to cascade from his lips. "Look at all those food carts!"

"So scenic!" Nami added.

"Too bad it's under the control of a psychotic despot." Usopp said.

"Kinda like everywhere we go." Zoro noted.

"That must be Shen's palace." Tigress pointed at the structure. "On the other side of the city."

Po silently clapped his paws together, before jumping to his feet. "Alright! We'll march into the palace and proclaim: We are the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five, and we are here to bring you to justice!" He leapt off the roof…

"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" The cowardly trio hollered.

"What? It's better if they just get this over with, right?" Zoro responded.

"WE WEREN'T TALKING TO YOU! YOU DON'T GET AN OPINION!"

Before Mantis swiftly grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him back to the rooftop, pulling him out of sight.

"What are you doing?! This place is crawling with wolves!"

The Kung Fu Masters collectively peered over the edge, to the sight of dozens of patrolling wolf soldiers that dotted the streets.

"Hey, isn't that the guy that hammered you in the face?" Crane pointed out, gesturing to Boss who smacked a bewildered pig over the head as he passed.

"Geez, way to remind him." Law muttered.

Po took a second to remove his gaze from the shimmering sigil on his shoulder pad, before letting out a small growl. "I do not like that guy."

Tigress took a second to refocus the group. "We need to get to that tower without being spotted by those wolves."

Po smirked. "Got it… stealth mode." He slinked downwards before being joined by the other members of the team.

Nami looked towards her other rational cremates with apprehension and anxiety, knowing that this was usually code for: 'Lets make as much noise as humanly possible.'

The aforementioned cremates shot her an understanding look of sympathy.

…..

Unfortunately for Po, the logistics of being stealthy proved difficult when one weighed nearly 300 pounds, and the panda found himself attempting to sneak between two pillars, as he cringed seeing the Five dart across the rooftops with incredible speed and silence.

"Oh boy, here we go." Usopp cringed, before averting his eyes in anticipation for the cringeworthy attempt at stealth.

The Dragon Warrior then picked up a potted plant in the vain hopes of concealing his presence, something which caused a great deal of aggravation to the shop owner that it belonged to. Po then dropped the plant and began to slide on his back for a few meters before stopping at a noodle cart, with a fresh bowl sitting on the edge and a lone dangling noodle beckoning to him. He tried to reach it by sticking out his tongue to perhaps grab it.

"Is there such an expression as a 'panda in a China shop?" Brook inquired.

"Oh, that was actually a decent pun." Bepo noted.

"Wait… what?" The skeleton froze in his figurative tracks. "I wasn't even trying… wouldn't you prefer another from my repertoire?" He quietly pleaded.

"No thanks." The polar bear responded.

"Ugh! Your rebuttal would burn if I actually had skin. YOHOHOHO!"

"Hey! Get outta my way!" Po became suddenly aware of the presence of wolf guards out in the open and rolled inwards towards another stall. He began to tiptoe his way through the stalls until he hit his head on an unknown object and stumbled halfway through a produce cart, directly into the line of sight of one of the wolf guards.

The wolf stared at Po, causing him to realise that a set of kite strands and a couple of aptly placed watermelons had created the illusion that he was a heavyset woman. Latching onto this charade, he quickly grabbed a fan hanging from another stall and began wafting it in his face.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, hello, ho, ho, ho. I couldn't help but—"

THWACK!

As soon as the wolf crept in closer, the panda delivered a horrible headbutt, knocking him clean out, before quickly moving out of the stall. "Yeah, okay… where was I?"

"Yeah right!" Sanji huffed. "Who'd ever actually fall for something like that?"

The cook was swiftly met with a chorus of disapproving stares, the most intense, of course came from Zoro.

"Hey! Screw you all! Stop looking at me like I'm something you'd find under your shoe!" He then quickly changed his tone. "Except you, Nami and Robin, dears! You can gaze upon me disapprovingly all you like!"

"Ugh." A great deal of the audience members groaned in a unique mixture of annoyance and disgust.

On the rooftops, the Five had only now noticed Po's absence.

"Where's Po?" Tigress asked anxiously.

"How can we lose a guy that big?" Mantis was completely befuddled.

They scanned the street looking for any signs of the Dragon Warrior. A scream sounded, and they turned to see a dragon-themed parade costume with panda feet clumsily making it's way downtown, knocking over stalls and bumping into passerby's with reckless abandon.

"You… you can't be serious." Nami looked completely flabbergasted.

"Wow. This brother's as stealthy as a hurricane in a wind chime factory." Franky added.

"If this is 'Stealth Mode' then I don't even want to think about what going loud looks like." Smoker grunted.

Tigress smacked her paw to her face in embarrassment, whilst they others allowed their jaws to hang lose in gobsmacked confusion.

On the street, Po continued forwards towards the rough direction of where he remembered the Palace Tower to be, searching for his friends all the while.

"Guys? Guys?!"

"Hey Po!" Monkey said casually. Startled Po lashed out with a smack causing the simian to rub his cheek, as the rest of the Five joined underneath the costume.

"Pfft" Usopp took a moment to compose him after the unanticipated slap.

"Well, at least his reflexes are still sharp." Jimbei noted through a barely hidden giggle of his own.

"Sorry!"

"So that was stealth mode, huh?" Crane asked sardonically.

"Let's be honest, not one of my stronger modes."

"Wooow." Nami drawled.

"Never would have guessed." Zoro joined in.

"I thought it was pretty obvious." Luffy commented, earning a few groans from his lack of social understanding.

The grouped costumed continued down the street. Wherever they looked, they saw citizens being harassed and harangued by wolf soldiers. Through a hole in the costume, Viper noticed a rice vendor being accosted by a one of the soldiers. She pointed Po in the direction of the vendor.

"This rice is raw!" The soldier grabbed the sheep cook by the scruff of her wool and threw the bowl in his hand to the ground.

"But you stole all my metal pots for Lord Shen!" The sheep gasped.

"Either you cook my rice, or I cook you!"

"Oh, this guy is asking for it." Sanji started to growl, his intense love for cooking and protecting harmless ladies once again flaring up.

"No. He can't. If he wants to make an attempt on Shen then he needs to remain rational." Law affirmed, knowing in his heart of hearts that his advice would fall on deaf ears.

"Forget that!" Chopper yipped. "Kick his head in!"

"My apologies…"

Inside the costume, the Five started to get restless.

"Po! Do something!" Crane urged.

"How am I supposed to help her cook rice without getting caught?!" The panda shot back, before the telltale signs of a scheme crept across his face. "Wait. I have a better idea."

"No… you've focused on completely the wrong thing!" Usopp chastised, giving the screen a 'come on' gesture.

"Yeah, but how is he going to cook the rice without getting caught?" Luffy pondered, cupping his chin with his palm.

"SO HAVE YOU!" The sniper screamed in frustration.

The wolf soldier raised his fist in preparation to strike, just as Po used the tongue of the dragon costume to tap him on the soldier.

"Hey."

"Hey."

A second passed before the wolf finally registered who he had just seen.

"That was the better idea?!" Franky hollered in disbelief.

"And there goes the element of surprise." Law let his hands flop to his sides in frustration.

Before he could call for backup, Po threw a punch at him, before dragging him into the costume via it's mouth. A series of strikes sounded out from inside the costume, before the wolf was expelled out from the tail. A display that provoked a disgusted reaction from a small bunny watching. The costume then turned to the sheep.

"Ew." Chopper cringed.

"AAAHHH!" Luffy screamed in oblivious horror. "He ate him!"

"It is a costume!" Nami started to breathe heavily with barely restrained anger.

"We're here to liberate the city and bring Shen to justice!" Po whispered.

"You will need help." The sheep whispered back.

"Thank you, brave sheep, but its too dangerous. I can't let you…"

"Oh no, not me. It's not safe to speak here."

"Right." The costume looked from left to right… before scooping up the sheep into it's mouth. The same bunny from earlier screamed in horror, at what looked like a predator taking a bit of its next meal and ran off.

"The costume's mad spree of carnage cannot be stopped!" Chopper shrieked in unadulterated terror.

"Who knows who it's next victim will be?" Bepo shared in the fear.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Nami fumed.

"I'm sorry." The Mink responded quickly, as the doctor followed suit to prevent himself from unintentionally stoking his crewmate's anger any further.

"I'm talking about Masters Croc and Ox. They're in Gongmen Jail at Black Dragon Alley."

The faces of the Masters immediately illuminated with hope. Po most of all. "What?! They're still alive?! They must be in that jail gathering intelligence, hatching a plot to use their awesomeness to defeat the weapon! Okay! Let's go!" The costume gently set down the sheep. "Thanks, sheep."

As soon as the sheep was set down, Boss rushed down from an opposing alley. He spotted the costume, along with the unconscious body, and put two and two together.

"Hey, stop that costume!" Upon his command, legions of wolves immediately gave chase. The costume hopped over an apple cart, before twirling and smacking it into the oncoming soldiers with the end of its tail.

"Ha! Nice!" Zoro praised.

"There's absolutely nothing 'nice' about any of this!" Robin scolded. "Now their cover is blown."

"Not necessarily." Law rebutted. "Po may have had the right idea with that disguise. All they have to do now is escape."

"Ah yes." Usopp began. "Because we all know just how easy escape from legions of wolf mercenaries wearing a cumbersome parade uniform is."

"We do?" Luffy asked.

"Take that!" Viper exclaimed, before lifting the costume along with her team. Inside, the Five urged Po to move faster to dodge another battalion of wolves, resulting in them turning another street corner, unfortunately causing them to get surrounded once more. The costume dragged two more wolves inside and spat them out in an identical manner to the first one, unintentionally kicking Monkey out as well.

The Master rolled to the feet of an antelope sweeping the streets, who stared at him in prolonged confusion. Monkey giggled sheepishly, before rushing back underneath the costume.

"That was awkward." Franky noted.

"Yeah, not the best look for him." Brook agreed. "However, maybe I'm not the best to ask about 'looks' since I don't have eyes."

The costume continued to make it's way through the labyrinthine streets of the city, consuming and expelling wolves as it continued forwards. Before long however, it was corned in a dead end, help at dozens of sword points with it's back to the wall.

"Now!" As soon as Boss gave the command, a plethora of swords impaled the costume. "Gotcha!"

Boss yanked away the cloth of the costume, revealing… a stack of cabbage crates.

"Whoa! Ninja misdirection!" Chopper's eyes glowed with enthusiasm.

"Okay, but seriously; how do you move six animals away from that many guards without anyone noticing?" Sanji asked. "Especially when one is a six foot-plus panda?"

"Didn't you hear Chopper, Sanji?" Luffy answered. "They used ninja magic!"

"But they aren't even ninja!" The cook responded in frustration.

"What?! Spread out, search everywhere!"

"What about over there?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Is there part of everywhere?"

"Uh… I guess?"

"Then search there!"

"Wow, what a slave driver." Usopp noticed.

"He's the Boss for a reason." Smoker noted.

"What? You mean that he's a chore to be around, and he sucks the joy out of everything?" Law asked. "In that case, I couldn't agree more."

As the impromptu search was being conducted, several nearby barrels gently manoeuvred around a corner unnoticed. The largest fell on it's side, causing the smallest to stop and roll it away safely down the dark alley.

"Oh, the barrel!" Luffy dropped his fist on his open palm. "Ah, good times." He mused before continuing to feast on his veritable horde of snacks, leaving the rest of the audience perplexed at the enigmatic statement.

…..

A few minutes later the barrel rolled to a stop and Tigress popped off the top lid, allowing Po to regain his bearings.

"They must be close. I can feel a Kung Fu chill riding up my spine."

Viper slithered out of the back of the barrel. "Sorry Po, it's just me."

"Ho-How could you not notice that?!" Usopp asked frantically, allowing a phantom chill to ride up his spine.

"She was really riding up close there." Robin concurred. "If she were an assassin, he diminutive frame would be ideal for silent, decisive strikes whilst remaining completely hidden."

"Why is that the first thing your mind always jumps to?" The poor sniper exclaimed with a yelp.

Tigress dusted off her knees and looked upwards to notice a sign hanging from the side of the alleyway.

"Look! Gongmen Jail!" The Master noted, peering around the corner to notice a duo of guards standing in front of the entrance. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the smallest barrel, and rolled it towards their feet, wherein they inspected it curiously.

"Aw, it's cute!" One of them cooed.

Faster than either of them could blink, the barrel instantly broke apart, revealing Mantis' tiny, infuriated face.

"CUTE?!" he roared, swinging them around senseless, before knocking them into a wall and hiding their limb bodies within barrels of their own.

The majority of the audience stared in veritable shock at the insect's sudden display of power.

"Such strength, from such a small frame!" Jimbei exclaimed.

"Well, you know what they say about big things in small packages." Sanji chimed in.

"Ah, you mean the exact opposite of you?" Zoro noted with a smirk.

"Shut up! You speak when spoken to!" The cook fumed. "And even then, you shut up!"

With the inner guards gone, the six Masters burst into the prison and handily dispatched all the guards: Po finishing off the final one with a casual backhand.

"Yes! Didn't even need to look!" Luffy performed a miniature fist bump.

"He's so weird and obnoxious." Chopper giggled. "I love him!"

"Nice work, Po." Tigress congratulated, before going off to search. Monkey perched on top of prison's railings, entire complex constructed like a giant panopticon, before tapping Po on the shoulder.

"At the first sign of trouble, I'll give you the signal: Ka-Kaw! Kee-Kee!"

"You mean like Crane does?" Po asked, before heading off to follow Tigress.

"Yeah."

"Excuse me, when have I ever made that noise?" Crane asked, partially offended.

"Whadda mean?" Luffy tilted in head in confusion. "Isn't that the noise all chickens make?"

"Pfft" Zoro had to stop himself from upchucking a portion of his sake, upon hearing the breadth of his captain's misunderstanding.

"His name is Crane… and you thought that he was… a chicken?!" to say Nami was flabbergasted would be an understatement.

"Honestly I should've expected something like this from our captain." Brook sighed.

"I know, right?" Franky agreed.

Po and Tigress began to scour through the cells individually. Minutes passed with no luck, and both began to fear for the worst. Just as they were about to give up, the panda finally noticed a back cell with two shapes huddled towards the dark corners, immediately elevating his mood.

"The ferocious Master Croc! And Master Storming… Ox!" Po felt as if he were about to faint from happiness. "I can't believe we're rescuing actual legends of Kung Fu. We're gonna free you from these bonds of injustice, no problem!" He began to pull at the bars of the cell and look around him, frantically. "Gotta be a key around here… no, they wouldn't leave a key around here…

"Hi-yah!" Tigress threw a kick at the cage door that broke it clean off its hinges. Po was stunned for a second, before shrugging it off.

"Oh great, you found it!" Po ran back into the centre of the panopticon, jumping around and exclaiming all the while.

"… B-But… that's not a…" Chopper began, before being swiftly hushed.

"It's best not to mention it." Zoro noted. "It's not like it'll do anything at this point."

"Alright, let's go! We're coming for you, Shen! Woo-hooo! Whahahohohoooo… oh?" The panda turned on his heel to notice that neither of the Grand Masters had moved.

"Guys, are we going, or not? Do you wanna meet us there later? I mean you want to take back your city right?

"Yeah, I though these two would be pretty gung-ho about taking down Shen considering he killed their close friend and Master." Usopp frowned at the Masters lack of rapidity or enthusiasm.

"Of course we do." Ox replied as he and Croc picked up the door. "But if we stand up to Shen, he will turn it on the city." The two then forced the door back into the frame with a heavy clang.

Po was stunned. "Listen to yourself! You're protecting Gongmen City by not protecting Gongmen City? If we fight together…" He walked up to cage in attempt to force it open, before being shoved by harshly by Ox's push on the frame.

"Then the weapon would kill everyone!"

"The attitude of a defeatist cry-baby!" Smoker growled. "Your job is to ensure that the people won't be harmed by maniacs like that damn peacock!"

"Right!" Luffy nodded with a fierce determination. "You can't just decide when and if you're gonna do what you set out to do when you chose this job. It's not a problem that going to go away, so deal with it."

"Wow… that was remarkably succinct." Brook commented. "I wasn't aware he had it in him.

"Oh, would it? Then we'll use…" Ox attempted to silence the panda with a swing of the door, only for Po to dodge and sideline himself into the cell with them, performing an overexaggerated pantomime of sneaking. "… A sneak attack! We'll get inside, and then…"

"You will be stopped…" Croc grabbed Po and forced him back outside the cell. Ox then cut the central bar with a chop, and forced the two halves into the door frame, fixing it to the wall. "… by the unstoppable weapon."

"I suppose talking things out is off the table?" Sanji questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing's unstoppable except for me when I'm stopping you from telling me something's unstoppable!"

"Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer." The cook groaned to himself. Meanwhile, Luffy had an almost stark contrast in opinion to his crewmate.

"Woah! That was a pretty good line! I gotta remember that one for myself." The rubber noy grinned with glee.

"Yeah, but you won't." Zoro said, barely paying half-attention. "I doubt you're even paying attention to me right now."

"Huh? You say something, Zoro?" The oblivious captain inquired.

"Nah." The swordsman grinned, before taking a swig of his freshly unbottled sake.

Po leaped at the top of the gate, causing it to swing horizontally on it's axis. Though it was blocked by Ox's horns, it was exactly what the panda was hoping for, swinging underneath it and flipping the Grand Master outside of the cell with a full rotation of the door.

"What even in the…" Franky squinted at the absurdity of the display, the panda's quick thinking and surprising agility catching him off guard.

"An excellent use of the environment." Jimbei appraised. "And remarkably quick thinking too."

"I suppose that is one way to describe it." Robin conceded.

"Ha!" Po yelled in victory, as Ox snorted, before flipping himself back in the cell. This, however, had the unfortunate disadvantage of sweeping Croc outside, leaving him to deal with Tigress' stern glare. He tapped on the cell doors in anxiety.

Inside the cell, Po and Ox squared each other up.

"Master Ox. I'm not letting you stay inside this cell!"

"I'd like to see you get me out!" Ox yanked on Croc's tail, simultaneously dragging him back inside, whilst causing Po to get scooped by the door and thrown outside.

"This is like something from those old comic strips you'd read in the paper." Law muttered.

"Let me know the next time one of the characters in those comics uses a door and his belly as primary weapons." Nami responded.

"Can do." Bepo whispered, in a state of partial ecstasy from his reverence at the events unfolding before him.

Po was sent flying into Tigress upside down, who cooly flipped him the right way up and turned him to face the cell. Po pointed to her with a blank expression.

"You guys see that? It's called being awesome. Come on! What happened to being heroes?" Po immediately leaped back into the cell, a scuffle forming between Croc, Ox and himself.

"That is accurate." Usopp acquiesced, having to hold himself back from going slack-jawed at Tigress' display of skill.

"I know right?!" Sanji yelled, awestruck in his own way, hearts forming in his eyes once more.

"Is he always like this?" Smoker grunted, earning bereaved sigh of affirmation from his crewmates, as well as Law.

"The only hero in this town is a dead one!" The reptilian Master shot back, knocking the three of them into the revolving door, causing a horrific spin to occur. When it stopped, Po once again found himself on the opposite side of the door from the two Grand Masters.

"Like I said!" Ox fixed the door back into place. "You are not getting us out of this cell!"

Before long though, both Croc and he turned to notice that they had been throw outside the cell, leaving an awkward silence. The door completely disintegrated, worn from the abuse.

"Are you sure about that?" Robin cooed devilishly, reflecting her namesake.

"Fare thee well iron door. You didn't deserve your fate." Franky took a moment to commemorate the integrity of the cell door, that had withstood all the painful rigors of combat until its final moments.

"Yes! Haha, woohoo! Alright, let's go!" Po cheered. However, his celebration did not last long when Ox and Croc simply moved into the opposite cell, closing the door behind them.

"I get the top bunk." Croc said.

"It is time to surrender, panda… Kung Fu is dead." Ox spoke solemnly.

The words shook Po to his core; the Five were equally stunned.

"I thought real warriors never quit?" Luffy growled, incensed that someone once so previously honoured could simply skirt their responsibilities with seemingly no shame.

"Let it go man." Zoro huffed. "It's clear their minds are made up. No point in rationalising with quitters."

"Y-you… w-woo… Kung Fu is… dea-aah… fine!" The panda proclaimed, the very words from his mouth feeling like poison. "You stay in your prison of fear, with bars made of hopelessness… and all you get are three square meals a day of… shame!" He marched off in a huff.

"…With despair for dessert." Croc finished.

"We'll take on Shen and prove to all those still hungry for justice… and honour… that Kung Fu still lives!" The panda triumphantly raised his paw into the air.

"Heck yeah!" Chopper cheered, hopping into the air with a heartwarming spring in his step.

"Alright!" Luffy joined in, a sense of elation and inspiration briefly surging through his being.

"Yeah!..." A random boar prisoner lazily yelled, completely ruining the moment.

Ox's glance widened before turning downwards. Before anyone could continue the discussion any further, however, without warning, Boss, flanked by two guards, burst through the doors of the prison, drool-filled snarls across their faces.

"Monkey!" Po let his arms flop down to his sides in exasperation.

"Come on, man!" Franky groaned. "You literally had the one job!"

"There was only one entrance!" Law was equally flabbergasted. "How could they have gotten past you?!"

The simian peered over rail, before cupping his hands over his mouth. "Ka-caw…"

The Dragon warrior turned to Boss with an outstretched finger. "You! You're mine!"

Boss only chuckled. "I'll tell you what's gonna be yours: My fist in your plush cuddly, super-soft face." His rant, however, was cut short when Monkey and Crane immediately dispatched his guards. "Uh-Oh."

"Again with these mixed messages!" Sanji scrunched his face in confusion.

"I know right? Do you want to fight him or hug him? Make up your mind!" Zoro questioned.

"Are they talking about the film or… something else?" Chopper leaned inwards towards Usopp's ear.

"At this rate? Who knows?"

He darted out of the door.

"Get him!" Po yelled before charging after him, the Five following swiftly behind them.

…..

Outside the jail, Boss panted as he looked for possible escape routes. He noticed an antelope counting change from a recent tour on his rickshaw cart. Boss immediately pounced in top of the cart, frightening the driver.

"Get me outta here!" he snarled.

"And now hostages? Just when I thought this little sleazeball couldn't get any scummier." Smoker growled, his cigars beginning to rapidly dwindle in size.

"Given his employer, I'm not really all that surprised." Robin quietly muttered with a subtle vitriol.

"Yes sir!" the driver squeaked, before grabbing the handles of the cart and zipping off down the main road, with the Five now in hot pursuit. Po followed right behind them, before stopping upon the realisation that there was no way he could move that fast without assistance. Then he saw the spare rickshaw cart and seconds later he was blazing down the road in hot pursuit, pushing the wheels forwards like an oversized wheelchair.

"Go, Po, go!" Monkey cheered, as the panda soared past him.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy chuckled at the panda's unorthodox method of faster travel.

Meanwhile, Usopp's reaction was far less… composed. "Ah! What's he doing?! He's going to crash horribly or run someone over!"

"And they call me the morbid one." Robin afforded herself a slight giggle at her crewmate's expense.

"Come on, Po!" Chopper and Bepo hollered in unison. "Kick his scraggly behind!"

"Lose him!" Boss howled.

"Yes sir!" The antelope replied, taking him sharply down another alleyway. Due to the speed of the approach, Po ended up overshooting.

"Viper!" He yelled.

"Hang on!" The snake wrapped her coils around a pole, whilst Po gripped her tail. The momentum from his speed swinging him around into alley, before he whipped off in hot pursuit.

"Yeah! That's right! You aren't getting away that easily!" Usopp cheered, alongside a subtle pump of his fist.

"You all seriously need to calm down." Law muttered mirthlessly, slowly moving his index fingers directly into his open ears, clogging them from witnessing the inevitable slew of enthusiastic cheers.

"Come on, man!" Franky nudged the former Warlord gently from his seat behind him. "Enjoy it! There's nothing like good old high-speed chase to get the blood pumping and put some hair on your chest.!"

"What? I can't hear you?"

Before long, the alley eventually opened up into a marketplace, bursting with civilians. Wicked strategies began to formulate in Boss' mind, as he grabbed the driver of the rickshaw by the scruff of his neck and threw him directly into Po's path, the panda barely having enough time to narrowly swerve around the civilian, by sliding of a wall before continuing onwards.

"Very uncool!" The panda yelped.

Boss growled. "Try this!" He swerved into the crowd and knocked over several baskets into Po's path, along with the many civilians who fell along with their merchandise.

"And it just keeps getting worse!" If Brook had eyes to widen, they would be the size of saucer plates by now.

"This wolf is really starting to get on my last nerve." Zoro growled in agreement.

"GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!" Before Po could collide with the mountain of obstacles, the Five darted in front of his path, artfully removing each and every object out of the way. Now though, Po was without backup now they had fallen behind.

The chase had taken them out of the marketplace and down another small downhill street. The slope, combined with Po's weight meant he was enclosing on the other rickshaw fast.

"How about something smaller?" Boss sang, holding up a small pram filled to the brim with… bunnies?!

"OH, COME ON!" Sanji gestured angrily at the screen in disbelief.

"He's putting children at risk… HE MUST BE PUNISHED BY EVERY DEGREE OF THE LAW!" Nami's previously cool façade evaporated instantly upon seeing the mistreatment of the near infant bunnies. Whilst this action would normally be enough to stir even the most hardened of individuals on the sea, for the cat-burglar it struck a particular cord.

"Oh… Nami is so gorgeous when she's angry." The cook swooned.

"Stop talking!" The orange-haired navigator shrieked at Sanji, who simply swooned even harder in response.

"No, no!" The panda yelled, as the toddlers were thrown into his face, giggling all the while. The sudden visual impairment caused Po to swerve of the path, directly into some scaffolding gradually leading upwards to a set of rooftops. "Cute bunnies, off the face!"

The Dragon Warrior finally managed to pry the adorable monstrosities away from his face enough to see that they were swiftly about to run out of scaffolding. Panicking, he slammed his foot onto the left wheel, making it spin onto the rooftop directly adjacent to it.

"Oh, thank God!" Usopp finally allowed himself to exhale.

"Indeed. These close calls are getting far too close." Jimbei agreed in silence.

"Fire!" One of the bunnies cried out joyously. Po looked down to see that his foot had indeed been set alight due to the friction. Down below, the Five continued to search frantically for their elusive prey.

"We lost them!" Tigress said.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Po screamed from the rooftop, causing Tigress to look up in disbelief. Rocketing faster than he could control, the panda shot off the roof of the building, the bunnies screaming in amazed joy as they did. Angling himself carefully, the panda angled the rickshaw to rest its wheels on two lantern ropes stretching between the buildings. Then, using the handle of the cart, swung himself in a downward arc to catch the bunnies, before swinging back up the perch on top vertically and safely depositing the small rabbits safely in the cart seat, much to their thrill.

"Woah! Has this guy been taking some yoga classes or what?" Franky asked rhetorically.

"I think he's just pretending that they're all dumplings or something." Sanji said.

"At this point sentences like that don't even disturb me anymore." Usopp sighed, burying his palm into his eyes.

Po's fear flared up again, seeing the ropes were taking them to crash into the side of the opposite building. "Crane! Catch" Po swung himself around the cart's length again, using the buildup of momentum to kick its underbelly, shooting the bunnies into the air.

Thankfully, Crane managed to intercept them at the apex of their flight, using his hat as an improvised net. Unfortunately, this did nothing to slow Po's descent, as he crashed into the side of the building, completely shattering his cart and throwing him back to street level. Left balancing on nothing but a wheel on stick, Po finally managed to get Boss back in his sights but was left awkwardly attempting to push himself forward with his free foot, allowing the wolf to laugh and swiftly continue his retreat.

"Guys, guys, guys! Give me a shove!"

"You're not even riding a cart anymore. I'm not sure what kind of 'shove' is going to help at this point." Smoker grumbled.

"No. Just wait. I wanna see what happens." Luffy smirked, before taking another mouthful of snacks. "I bet it's gonna be so stupid."

Mantis and Tigress continued onwards in a full sprint towards Po. "Mantis, now!" The Master ordered, before the insect grabbed her by the hand and flung her forward at ludicrous speed. Tigress shot forth like a firework, before delivering a double palm strike to Po's backside that rocketed him forward, leaving a trails of flames in his wake.

"Well, you were right about the 'stupid' thing." Nami blurted out in surprise.

"What're you talking about? That was so cool!" The captain exclaimed.

"That has to be, at least, well over 88 miles an hour!" Brook exclaimed.

"Why that specific amount?" Chopper titled his head.

"No particular reason."

"Then why bring it up?!" The doctor seethed,

Boss barely had time to turn around and scream, before the blur of black and white crashed into him. Both Po and he began to trade blows on top of the still moving cart, equally trading blows as they tore down the street.

"Is that the best you've got?" The wolf taunted. "'Cause it feels like I'm fighting a big ol' fluffy cloud!"

"I honestly can't say anything else." Zoro shook his head in confusion.

"Agreed." Sanji huffed.

"Well, this cloud's about to bring the thunder!" Po pushed Boss upward with the tip of his foot, causing the wolf to hit the back of his head on the multitude of signs that passed them by.

"Okay, this is all a bit ridiculous, but that was actually a great line." Usopp admitted.

"I agree. I'm gonna steal it." Nami grinned, knowing that with her 'skillset', the opportunity would arise sooner rather than later.

"Ugh, you hack." Usopp playfully stuck his tongue out at her, a gesture which she returned in kind.

Boss then retaliated in kind by grabbing Po's legs and leaning backwards, causing him to suffer the same fate, only now it was directly in the face. The wolf laughed as Po let loose a pained chorus of 'ow' and 'argh' in response.

"Come on! Are you seriously going to let him do you like that?" Bepo questioned. "Give him the old 'one-two.'" The bear made a series punching gestured.

"'One-two' what?" Law asked. "You're not making any sense, Bepo."

"I'm not? Sorry, captain." The navigator hung his head in unsure shame.

"THERE'S NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!" The captain of the Heart Pirates exclaimed.

"Why… are… there… so… many… signs?" He asked in a partial daze. He quickly snapped out of it, as a large gate sign approached, forcing him to duck and break free from Boss' grip. The cart burst through the gate and began to bounce down the stairs. The rocking motion gave Po a terribly cheeky idea, as he stuck out his fist, causing Boss' face to bounce into it with each step they descended, eliciting yet another pained chorus of 'ow' and 'argh'.

"Wahahaha!" Jimbei clutched his stomach, before quickly composing himself. "I mean very creative strategy you've implemented there."

The cart reached the bottom of the stairs, before flying forward and shooting up another ramp that sent both Po and Boss into the air. Out of comic horror, they clutched onto on another as they started to soar. When gravity began to take hold, Po pushed him away, before locking Boss' arm behind his back, forcing him beneath him.

"Com'ere! ALAKASQUSAH-O!"

BOOM! The impact of the wolf being crushed between the hard ground and Po's considerable girth left a spider web of cracks behind. The panda stumbled to his feet in a daze, adrenaline still coursing through his body. The Five finally came rushing onto the scene, as Tigress caught Po's stumbling frame.

The vast majority of the audience winced in quite sympathy for Boss. Despite his proclivities for violence against the innocent, being crushed underneath the iron gut of the Dragon Warrior was a fate they wouldn't condone many to.

"Yes!" The panda spoke with a slight slur in his speech. "Taste the defeat! Let me tell you something. Next time you mess with a panda, you better bring a whole… lotta…"

Po trailed off his bravado upon seeing where they had landed: The Royal Palace gates. Now, scores of wolves began to emerge from along the walls of the palace. Some rushed into the courtyard, armed with all manner of weapons, whilst the archers prepared to fire from their vantage point along the wall. Within seconds the warriors of the Valley of Peace were completely outnumbered and utterly surrounded.

"Well… they had a really good run, but I guess they're all gonna die." Usopp whimpered at the screen.

"No kidding." Chopper gulped. "I'd take a miracle to get them out of this one."

"Guess nobody told you…" Boss groaned as he forced himself to his feet. "… You mess with the wolf; you get the fangs!"

He struck Po in the gut, causing him to double over, winded.

"Now I've hit ya twice! What are you going to do?"

Po aimed a razor sharp glare at the wolf in front of him. He stood up straight, before…

"WE SURRENDER!" Throwing his arms in the air in defeat, the Five felt their jaws nearly hit the ground in shock.

The audience fell flat and silent.

"Yeah. A miracle, or a really stupid idea." Nami rolled her eyes and facepalmed.

Within minutes, the gorilla guards had slapped all manner of cuffs and restraining devices on Monkey, Viper and Tigress, before eventually moving into Crane.

"You can chain my body, but you will never chain my…" The guards quickly fastened a cuff around Crane's neck, muffling his voice. "… Warrior's spirit."

Po quickly grabbed Mantis and held him out for the guards to notice. "Hey, don't forget the little guy!"

"Did you just call me…" Before the insect could finish, Po, with a whip of his hand, tossed the Kung Fu Master into a small cage and locked it, before holding it in both hands.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Luffy demanded, fervour flashing across his face. "They had them on the ropes!"

"No. They really didn't man." Sanji corrected.

"I'm sure he has a plan… even if it does seem like a barebones one at that." Brook commented, not missing an opportunity to insert yet another pun.

"Po, what are you doing?" Tigress inquired, slightly incensed at the indignity of being captured.

"Don't worry, I've got th…" He cried out in pain as a unique pair of cuffs, featuring extending needles protruding from the sides, were slapped over his wrists. As soon as he registered them, however, his pain was immediately replaced with awe. "No way… Eight-Point Acupuncture cuffs Just like the ones they used on Tail Lung, the more you move the tighter they get – ArGH!" Po yelled out once more as another guard clipped a pole onto the front of his new cuffs and yanked him of his feet. "These are the best cuffs.

"This is a not a good time to geek out about jailing paraphernalia!" Franky hissed.

"Hmm. Acupuncture cuffs." Smoker mused. "If a target can't move, then the chances of them using certain Devil Fruit powers reduces significantly. Might be an idea to forward a concept to command." He considered with a sadistic smirk.

"Great. The film's giving psycho Marines new ideas." Usopp gulped in fear.

The six warriors were lead through the courtyard, never loosing sight of the dozens of weapons that were trained upon them.

…..

Meanwhile, inside of the palace atrium, Shen began to spin his lance around with the finesse of a warrior who had been training his whole life. He pointed it at an imaginary panda his mind had conjured.

"Greetings, panda! At last, we meet." A sinister grin crossed his beak, before he faltered. "Nonononono." He flipped acrobatically across the atrium, before spinning his blade once more and pointing it in another direction. "We meet at last! Yes! That's it! Greetings panda, we meet at la -" Mid-spin, Shen found himself coming face to face with the Soothsayer, taking him off guard.

"So, he's not just a pompous jerk. He's also a huge nerd." Zoro noted with a slight smirk.

"More like the most psychotic theatre performer I've ever seen." Sanji countered.

"It's always gotta be an argument with you doesn't it?" The swordsman hissed angrily, before literally butting heads with the blonde-haired young man.

"Not always. Sometimes I'll make it a fight instead." Sanji growled back in turn. What would've been yet another ill-timed sparring session was quickly routed as Nami turned to face them, with a look on her face that could stop even the largest Sea King dead in its tracks. They both stopped immediately.

"You are afraid for a reason." The old ram said simply.

Shen scoffed. "I'm not afraid. He's coming to me in chains. If anyone should be afraid it's…"

"You." She cut him off once again.

"Fantastic." Robin simply said, a warm chuckle slowly flying out of her mouth.

"I love this old goat." Chopper chuckled.

Shen stared at her in confusion… before swiftly pulling his robe away from her.

"Don't even think about it."

"No. Do. Munch on that robe like there's no tomorrow. Leave a SUPER big hole in it." Franky jeered from the sidelines.

…..

Back outside, the captured warriors were being escorted across the courtyard at blade point. Tigress approached Po front the side and began to whisper at a register only he could hear.

"I hope this turns out better than your plan to cook rice in your stomach by eating it raw and then drinking boiling water…"

"I-I-I can't… just – what?" Nami looked confused and disturbed in equal measure.

"This is the guy we want making the plans?" Law shuddered at the thought of the unimaginable pain of drinking scalding water.

"This plan is nothing like that plan…" he responded.

"How?"

"'Cause this one's gonna work."

"Doubtful." Nearly the entire audience unanimously shared their collective lack of faith in the panda's abilities. Except for Luffy. He was pondering something else.

"Wait. Have I been doing it wrong the whole time?" The rubber boy's slower mind had been stuck on the 'method' of faster boiling and consumption. He stared at his hands, contemplating the possibilities he had been missing out on.

"No! You've been doing it right the whole time!" Sanji quietly screamed. "No need to experiment at all!"

Po then stumbled forward after losing his footing. He looked upwards to see why, and immediately wished that he hadn't. Both the Five and he stood in the centre of carved out piece of earth, almost as if a massive knife had been dragged across the courtyard. At the end of the groove stood Master Flying Rhino's Warhammer, forced into the earth through the butt of it's hilt. It was cracked and a blood-red piece of fabric wrapped around the handle flapped gently in the wind. It was a macabre memorial, clearly designed to strike fear into all those who dared oppose Shen. It was working.

Boss chuckled grimly, giving the hammer a disrespectful pat with his paw. "Keep moving."

"That's… messed up." Zoro noted.

"Indeed. Using what once gave hope to instead inspire despair. It's an awful thing." Brook commented solemnly.

"It's a common fearmongering tactic." Smoker noted. "No one's going to rebel when the local symbol of strength's just been toppled."

Po and the Five narrowed their eyes as they were lead inside the palace tower. The inside of the tower was somehow just as astonishing as the outside. Gold was engraved into the red wood and lanterns dangled from the high ceiling in sequence. However, that was far from the only impressive feature of the building.

"Ah, my old enemy…" The panda said, before looking upwards in awe at the enormous, elaborate staircase that lead all the way to the top floor. "… Stairs."

Nami facepalmed again, before wincing. "Ow! I think its starting to bruise." He rubbed her forehead gently in exasperation.

…

Later in the throne room, Shen, the Soothsayer and a gorilla guard stood solid, frozen in the throes of anxiety. Through the opening of the stairs, they saw a hulking shadow moving up the stairs… grunting ferociously with each thunderous step. The Soothsayer looked on expectantly, whilst Shen reached into his sleeve and readied a feather blade. The shadow neared the apex of the stairs, before Po revealed himself… being carried over the shoulder of a gorilla guard like a sack of potatoes. The exhausted guard dropped him with a relived sigh, as Po's belly flubbed from the sudden action; Boss and the Five coming swiftly up on the rear.

"Thanks for… carrying me those last few flights…" The panda panted.

"I swear, its like he's physiologically incapable of taking things seriously." Law shook his head, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sounds like someone else we know." Jimbei stated, before gesturing his eyes towards his captain, who was currently lodged in the throes of laughter.

Tigress helped him to his feet, before kicked away a spear that Boss was prodding her with, embedding it in an adjacent pillar. Both Shen and the Soothsayer were taken aback by the sudden subversion of their expectations.

"I threw up a little on the third floor, someone might want to clean that up. Is there some sort of evil janitor or somethin'?" He continued on ranting in an exhausted daze.

"Ha! Of course, the lovely Master Tigress would never allow herself to be strung along by some mangy mutt." Sanji swooned at the Kung Fu expert's no-nonsense prowess.

"Ignoring that, you may want to get yourself checked out if you vomit after climbing three sets of stairs. That's not normal." Chopper noted with a slightly perturbed edge in his voice.

Nevertheless, Shen straightened himself and proceeded. "Greetings panda, we meet at- "

"Hey, how you doin'?" Po responded half-heartedly.

Shen recoiled in mild embarrassment. "H-hey..."

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed at the misfortune of the peacock.

"All the effort rendered moot. A little apropos, wouldn't you agree?" She questioned Jimbei.

"With the path he's on? Most definitely."

The Soothsayer, meanwhile, approached Po and gently poked him in the belly with her cane. "You've grown bigger than I thought." She peered inside the panda's ear and mouth. "Strong. Healthy." She seemed pleasantly surprised.

Po gently removed himself from her grasp. "Look, I don't know who you are, but please step aside, sir."

"That's a lady." Viper whispered.

"Wait! Really?" Luffy almost did a spit take.

"Yes! You dunderhead!" Nami resisted the urge to give herself another dope slap and instead redirected it towards her captain.

Po did a double take. "Oh, sorry! The beard threw me… it's kind of misleading… false advertising." Whilst Po stumbled over his words, the Soothsayer stroked the aforementioned beard in amusement.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Shen shrieked. "Bring the prisoners to me."

Sorry ma'am." Po remained blissfully unaware. "Get ready guys. Keep you eyes peeled for the… weapon!" The panda spotted his target… a small model of the weapon resting on table on the far side of the room. Quick as lightning, he ran towards it, kicked it once into the air and then destroyed it with a swift roundhouse.

"Sparrow Kick! Hi-yah!" The Five looked absolutely mortified, with Crane even pulling down his hat to cover his eyes. Shen and the Soothsayer again looked confused beyond all belief.

"How?! You can't be this dumb!" Law proclaimed, trying to internally grasp onto the tenuous remains of his sanity and patience.

"Ha! Weapon destroyed!" Luffy cheered, thrusting his arms over his head in exuberance.

"Well, I guess some can be that dumb." Saji mused.

"Yes! We did it!" Po screamed in undeserved triumph. "Did you guys see that? Wahooo…" He turned… to find himself standing in front of the weapon sitting in the centre of the atrium, stopping him dead in his tracks. The Five were pushed down behind him, all in front of Shen, who laughed mockingly.

"You really think this is the warrior destined to defeat me?" He asked the Soothsayer, incredulously.

"I do not." She responded. "I know he is."

"I'll admit he's kinda eccentric… but when the chips are down, he's SUPER reliable." Franky spoke up.

"Sometimes." Robin added quickly.

"Sometimes." Nami agreed.

Shen only continued to laugh. "Look at him. A lifetime to plan his revenge and he comes to me on his knees!"

Po was taken aback by the seemingly unrelated statement. "Hey, wait, I did not have a lifetime… we only heard about Master Thundering Rhino a few days ago, and we came to avenge him!"

The Soothsayer stared at the panda. "You come to avenge nothing else?"

"Yeah, all those pots and pans you stole – we're going to want those back."

"Nothing else?" The elderly goat continued to press.

"You probably did some other evil stuff on the way, I don't know, what else did he do?" The Dragon Warrior was now becoming increasingly confused.

The screening area turned cold with tension.

"It's about what he did to them, right? The pandas?" Usopp asked quietly.

"Indeed, there is a reason there aren't any others besides Po." Robin noted solemnly. "And he's the reason why."

The Soothsayer simply looked onward in what seemed to be silent pity. Unbeknownst to any of the peacock's forces, viper had managed to manoeuvre herself into a position where she could stick her tail into Tigress' cuffs, allowing her to pick the lock.

"You don't know…" The goat almost whispered.

"Know what?" Po's line of questioning was interrupted by Shen's renewed burst of laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Precisely the thing… that you do not know." Shen managed to say between fits of laughter.

"Ugh! Make sense already! I know you did bad stuff, so let it slip already." Luffy burst outwards in a fit of exasperation.

"I don't even want to think about what he's done." Law said quietly, as he clenched his knuckles so hard they turned white.

Po finally let his growing frustrations show and burst out. "Okay, enough with the riddles! Would you guys just spill the beans?! First the weapon was tiny – hey surprise, it's big! And then the lady over there – I think it's a guy 'cause she's got a…"

Faster than the eye could perceive, Shen whipped out a feather blade, pointing it at the space between the panda's eyes. He stopped talking immediately.

"Geez!" Chopper yelled in sudden shock.

"Where is he even keeping all these blades?" Brook commented, dabbing his mysteriously sweaty fore-skull with one of his handkerchiefs.

"The only reason you're still alive is that I find your stupidity… mildly amusing." Any sense of the peacock's previous gaiety had now been replaced by a mask of cold fury.

"Well thank you, but I find your evilness extremely annoying." Any attempts to intimidate the panda were clearly falling on deaf ears.

"Who do you think you are, panda?"

"Who do you think I am, peacock?"

"Oh no. He's getting caught in the moment again." Jimbei groaned, noting the panda's propensity for distraction.

"He does have a habit of getting too off track." Zoro agreed.

"Pot, Kettle much, Mosshead?" Sanji quipped.

Shen slowly began to chuckle… as did Po. Within a few seconds the two of them were laughing their proverbial heads off, much to the confusion of all onlookers.

"Why are we laughing?" The panda finally asked.

"Again, they are putting the safety of a nation in this guy's hands?" Smoker questioned, a little confused.

Shen immediately went cold again. "Take aim." Upon his commands Boss lumbered over the cannon before adjusting it to hit the warriors head on. Behind them, a duo of gorilla guards opened a set a shutters built into the wall. An optimistic individual would have surmised that this was done to appreciate the beautiful night sky, however, all the realists in the room knew it was done to lessen the cleanup later. The Masters braced themselves, as Boss raised a lighter to the fuse, short enough that the cannon would fire after a single second.

"Fire!" Shen ordered and Boss lit the fuse. A second passed, and Shen's laughter slowly tapered out. "Well? Light the… thing!"

"I did!" The wolf protested, lighting the fuse once more. Before the cannon could fire, a green blur flashed by and dowsed the flame not even a second later. Boss tried again… and again… and again, yet still, the cannon would not light.

"Wait? What's happening?" Usopp asked.

"Hmm. It would appear that Shen may have been a little too overeager and may have forgotten to notice the little things." Robin smirked.

Zoro leaned over to Sanji. "She's talking about you, Swirls." A second later, another fight broke out.

Boss peered towards the fuse to see what the potential issue could be and was rewarded for his efforts by a sharp kick to the face by Mantis, who caught the lighter in his forelegs and raised it triumphantly about his head like a trophy.

"FEAR THE BUG!" He hollered with reckless abandon.

"That isn't the line, but I'll allow it." Brook noted.

"Stop trying to make it a thing. It never will be!" Chopper seethed back.

"Pish-posh." The skeleton responded.

Shen's mind reeled with confusion, thinking that the insect should have been secured in the cage. He looked closely… to see that inside the cage was nothing but an action figure. He had been tricked! Po laughed with a wink of his eye and the click of his tongue, satisfied that he had finally managed to outwit the pompous autocrat that stood before him.

At that precise moment, Viper's efforts proved to be fruitful as she finally managed to pick the lock to Tigress' cuffs, allowing her to leap free. Within quick succession, she broke the cuffs off her teammates, whilst Crane jumped into the air and used his wings to create a huge gust that knocked all the guards in the room off their feet.

"So, you mean to say that the whole time. Surrendering and leading both his friends and him into the heart of enemy territory… was all planned?" Law was taken aback by the panda's surprising amount of forethought.

"Alright, I'll admit it. That was a pretty good plan." Nami relinquished, holding her hands in the air in mock surrender.

"Get the weapon!" Po yelled, crouching to allow Tigress to us his back as a springboard. The Master then pirouetted in the air and brought her heel down onto the mouth of the cannon, flipping it into the air. Shen staggered in fear at the strength of the blow, as Po sprang into the air, intending to squash him flat with his meteoric stomach.

Quicker than the eye could perceive, Mantis jumped to meet the cannon at the apex of its upwards spin and administered a heavy kick that send it downwards through the marble and wood, leaving a gaping hole in the centre of the room.

The Five hurried over in time to notice the cannon tumbling ever downwards through the interior of the building, before crashing to the ground into splinters of metal. They cheered for a second, knowing that one of their primary objectives was complete.

"Objective complete. Very clean and efficient." Smoker praised.

"No. If there's one thing I've learned from the whole 'free a nation' gig, it's that it's never that easy." Zoro grunted.

Meanwhile, Po struggled with Shen, pinning him to the floor. In an act of desperation, the peacock fanned out his tail feathers in a defence display.

That was when Po saw it. The hideous eye wreathed in flame. The same insignia that the wolves used. Po relinquished his hold, before falling back, as sequences of images filled his mind. It as the same fire as before, paired with the pained screams of an infant child. Only this time they wee overlaid with the visage of a snow-white peacock; lance in feather and his eyes glowing a horrific red that paired with hideous fire that surrounded him.

Po was speechless for a long second, barely registering that Shen has stumbled to his hind legs. He stared at the panda in mild apprehension. Tigress, meanwhile, gasped upon seeing Po laid on the ground, not making any effort to defend himself.

"You…" The panda breathed shakily. "… You were there!"

"He… knows." Robin breathed.

"Yeah…" Law noted solemnly.

"But he still can't remember…" Luffy said, a neutral expression pasted across his face.

Shen smiled in awful satisfaction. "Yes… yes, I was." Before Po could react the peacock rushed to the balcony and jumped off into the night sky, using his tail feathers to glide away. Po ran to the edge just in time to barely see the white shape land at what appeared to be a factory near one of the city docks.

Tigress snapped Po out of his shellshock by harshly grabbing him by the shoulder. "You just let Shen get away!" She seethed.

"And he has the know how to make more of those cannons." Franky gulped.

"Told you. Things are never that simple." Zoro huffed.

"Well, at least we destroyed the weapon!" Mantis attempted to reason.

Unfortunately, by whatever powers there were, it seemed that the insect had just jinxed the team of Masters, as multiple panels in the side of the factory's outer wall peeled back, revealing at least a half dozen of Shen's firework cannons, each with a more intimidating design than the last. The peacock raise his wing, before yelling "Fire!" at the top of his lungs.

A barrage of sparkling cannon balls then pierced the dark night sky, barrelling straight towards the palace tower. The Masters could only look in in profound shock.

"Aw no, he's got way more." Mantis corrected his previous observation, just as the flaming projectiles struck the top of tower, sending them all flying back.

"Wow. I think saying this went from 'bad to worse' might be an understatement." Bepo calmly noted. Meanwhile certain members of the audience were frothing at the mouth in fear.

"You mean to tell me all this time he had enough cannons for a fleet?!" Usopp screamed.

"Then all this was for nothing!" Chopper continued.

"And now they're trapped in the tower with no way out!" Nami finished, rivers of fearful tears cascading down her face, as well as her comrades.

Po struggled to get himself to his feet, noticing that he was a hairs breadth away from falling into the freshly created hole in the tower floor. Unfortunately, others were not so lucky.

"My wing!" Crane yelled in pain, holding up his now burnt and limp appendage. Tigress picked herself up and immediately rushed to his side.

"Po, help!" She cried out in desperation.

"I'm coming!" The panda acknowledged. He was soon stopped in his tracks as another sparkling cannonball struck the tower, blowing apart metal and wood. Po stumbled, the sparks flaring up the images burned into his mind once more. The floor beneath him then gave way, nearly sending him spiralling downwards.

"What are you doing?! Get it together, they need you!" Luffy commanded fiercely. There were times to goof around, and this was certainly not one of them.

"Agreed. Get in gear or your friends won't make it." Smoker affirmed.

"Po!" Viper yelled, before snaking her coils around his body and chomping on a piece of wood for leverage, leaving the panda to dangle precariously, a massive drop now below him. Mantis rushed to the snake's aid, tugging at her coils.

"Help me pull him up!" Viper strained.

"No!" Tigress sharply commanded, noticing the lantern ropes dangling from the ceiling and stretching all the way down to the ground floor. "Get him down! Use the ropes!"

"Interesting, however, evacuating a crumbling building by putting yourself in its path is horribly ill-advised." Jimbei said.

"Have you met these guys, Jimbei? 'Ill advised' is their day-to-day." Sanji remarked.

Viper understood at once, gradually swinging the panda towards one of the lantern ropes, before letting go. Po grabbed the lantern cord and used to rapidly rappel himself towards the ground, the Five following swiftly behind him, whereas Tigress hopped downwards from floor to floor carrying the injured Crane.

At the factory, Shen continued to watch the tower crumble with sadistic glee. "Run, run. little panda!" His taunts operating in lockstep with the continual fire from the cannons at his side.

As the projectiles continued to litter the tower, more red hot sparks flew throughout the tower, conjuring even more of the images in Po's mind. As he raised his paws to cover his eyes, he realised too late that he had let go of the ropes and was now in freefall.

"Oh no." Law noticed. "He's flashing back in the middle of all this?"

"This is terrible. He's not going to be able to get them out of there." Chopper mewled in fear.

He screamed, and so did Monkey as he ended up acting as an unwilling fall breaker when they reached the end of the ropes' length. Po flopped downward onto the ground, partially winded, as Tigress laid Crane down to go and help him.

"Po! Come on!" She urged, grabbing his arm and helping him to his feet. "We need you to focus!"

"I got it. I got it!" The panda reiterated as he forced himself to run towards the exit with the others.

At the factory, Shen's frustrations continued to grow as he issued out orders. "Bring it down!" In response, the cannon's aim lower slightly to focus upon the tower's foundations, fresh fireworks now peppering the lower levels. In the courtyard, the wolf soldier legions laughed as the entrance to the tower collapsed, leaving a heap of debris in the way of the warriors before they could leave.

Po ground to a halt, narrowly avoiding getting crushed. "We're trapped!" He yelled in surprise.

"Well, where do they go now?" Bepo asked in panic.

"There's really nowhere else to go. Even if they got outside they have dozens of archers waiting for them." Robin stated, coolly.

"Then, they're done for?" Usopp shrieked.

Tigress, whipped around to face the opposite side of the tower. "This way!" She hurried them, now aware that the tower was dangerously swaying upon its foundations.

In the factory, Shen cackled madly, before mimicking a falling motion with his wing. "Goooodbyeeeee!"

"What a piece of filth." Smoker growled.

Tigress bolted up a flight of stairs, before she smashed a hole in the interior wall, giving her a clear view of the dozens of archers still stationed along the gate wall, who let loose their flaming arrows on the fresh set of targets.

"Get back!" She yelled at the others, who moved back inside whilst she worked to deflect and avoid the arrows approaching her, dodging and weaving until the archers had expended all their ammunition. She registered the perimeter of archers along the courtyard wall, before realising that, beyond them, they would be home free. If they could just use the collapsing tower then…

Tigress caught a stray arrow inches before it could pierce her head, before running back to the hole in the wall.

"No one person should ever be this cool." Chopper cried tears of happiness.

"Except she can and is!" Sanji cheered. He too was crying, although for completely different reasons.

"The only way out is up!" She stated before grabbing Po by the wrists and pulling him outside.

"What?!" The remaining members of the Five yelled in unison.

The tower finally began to topple, whilst Po and Tigress utilised each other's weight to swing each other upwards a floor at a time, the other Masters in hot pursuit. As the tower began to collapse, the angle finally allowed them to half-run, half-climb ever upwards.

"Ah! Use the toppling tower as bridge!" Jimbei realized. "ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS?!"

"Knowing who trained them? Absolutely." Brook confirmed/

"Come on! Follow me!" Po screamed in encouragement.

"Where are they going?" Back at the factory, Shen watched in confusion.

"To the top!" Tigress yelled.

"Come on! Don't stop!" Viper whipped her coils in an attempt to move even faster.

"Yeah! Keep going! To the top!" Luffy cheered.

"They're almost out of roof! They've got nowhere to go!" Nami shrieked, in stark contrast to her friend.

All six Masters continued their sprint as the tower now went into freefall, finally let lose of its foundations. Another cannonball whizzed past Monkey's head, singing the feather of Crane's hat, which he used to shield himself. Finally, they reached the top of the tower…

"Here we go!" Po half-cheered and half-screamed.

… Before leaping off into the air. The few remaining archers on the tower, who were either particularly brave or foolhardy, fired more arrows at their targets, missing the fast moving Masters entirely. Gravity took effect, causing them to fall back down to Earth beyond the boundary of the courtyard wall. They then slid down one of the lengths of the pagoda roofs to slow their fall, before they all darted off, vanishing into the city night.

"That was… AWESOME!" Luffy could barely contain his enthusiasm as the heroes finally managed to escape a hopeless situation.

Everyone else, on the other hand, needed a few seconds in order compose themselves, as they panted heavily, adrenaline now coursing through their veins.

…

"You idiot!" Shen shrieked, before clobbering one of the gorilla guards right in the nose with one of his closed talons

"Ow, my nose!" The guard quietly screamed, before he watched Shen leap down a set of stairs leading to the map room. Boss, who had managed to escape the tower's collapse long before everyone else, followed behind swiftly after.

"He hits his employees as well? Is there no low this guy won't stoop to?" Smoker questioned.

"I think you're setting your sights a little too low there, friend." Usopp commented dryly.

Shen turned to him, barely restrained fury filling his eyes. "Call in the wolves. All of them!" He then turned to the map and observed the placement of cities upon it with horrid wonder. "I want them ready to move! The Year of the Peacock begins now!"

"Right now?" Boss questioned thoughtlessly. "Because it's the middle of the year." The wolf was so entrenched in this line of though that he barely noticed Shen turning slowly to look at him, wearing an expression the could melt ice. "So, you'd only get, like, half of the Year of the Peacock…"

Shen drew out one of his feather blades, his expression unerring.

"Fun little tip friends, when your boss is a blade swinging maniac, do not interrupt him." Sanji said.

"Speaking from experience?" Bepo asked.

"Actually, yeah. Zeff got really intense on 'All You Can Eat Thursdays.'"

"And this year is, of course, the Year of the Peacock. Happy New Year sir!" He whispered shakily, realising that he had overstepped his bounds.

Shen lowered the blade, yet the force of his gaze caused Boss to look downwards out of pure intimidation.

"Get the wolves ready… we're loading the ships now." Shen whispered, before his anger flared up once more. "NOW! Now, now, now, now!"

Boss ran in fright at the volume of his superior's command. He quickly entered the foundry area. "Move! Move! Move!" he ordered the wolves stationed on metalwork, finishing the final touches on the cannons that were to be shipped out, whilst a small detachment group exited the building and produced deep, resonant howls.

Across the city, dark shapes began to move over the streets and rooftops, blanketing the entire lower districts of the city with shroud of dark fur and armour, caused by dozens of sprinting wolves slowly approaching the factory.

"Aw man." Chopper pouted. "This just gets worse and worse."

"The walls are closing around them. If they want to make a move, it has to be now." Law affirmed.

…

"This way." Tigress peered around the familiar corner on Black Dragon Alley that led to Gongmen Jail. From her cover she noticed that two guards were still standing semi-vigilantly at the gates. Her exhausted mind wracked itself to formulate a plan, before the winds of fate howled in her favour, as the howl from the factory finally reached the jail. Upon hearing it, the two guards leaped above onto the rooftops to follow their order, allowing the Masters unimpeded access to the jail.

"I understand that Shen wanted all available hands for the shipment, but leaving his main prison complex completely undefended was a terrible move." Robin noted with distain.

"Asking a psychopathic dictator to see reason is like asking a fish to climb a tree." Zoro responded. "A complete waste of time."

Po rushed down the stairs in a partial haze, almost not noticing his loss of footing as he was sent tumbling down a flight of stairs straight into the centre of the panopticon. The jail was completely barren, save for Croc and Ox, who hadn't seemed to move since their last visit.

"You! What did you do?" Ox asked. He sounded completely incensed. "It's chaos out there! What happened to stopping Shen?"

"They hit a bit of a snag." Brook calmly stated.

"A snag?!" Nami seethed. "They failed to capture Shen, ended up getting kidnapped and, oh yeah, they have an entire fleet's worth of those cannons. What kind of a snag is that?"

"A bit of a." Brook repeated whilst taking a sip of his tea. His comment earned him throbbing bruise, despite his lack of blood or skin.

The Five gathered in the panopticon, before levelling judgmental glares towards Po.

"Yeah." Monkey said, seemingly in agreement with Ox.

Po started to wilt before dusting himself off and climbing to his feet. "Hey guys, come on. I meant for him to get away!" He lied through his teeth. "Because, uh… it was a trick, a plot… and I thought I might… figured out the plot… more…" He finished awkwardly.

"Huh! Po must be smart if he planned all that out." Luffy said, blissfully unaware yet again.

"No, rubber-brain! He's making excuses again!" Usopp admonished.

The Five were, understandably, bamboozled by the explanation.

"That makes no sense." Mantis voiced everyone's thoughts.

"What do you mean… sure it does!" The panda defended himself.

Tigress, however, was losing her patience and stepped forward, making Po fall backwards onto his rear. "Po, the truth. You had Shen. What happened?"

The Dragon Warrior clambered for a sufficient excuse. "What are you talking about, I don't know what you're talking about. Alright, okay, fine! He caught me off guard."

Tigress took a knee and stared for a long second into Po's eyes. "The truth."

The accompanying silence was deafening. Po opened his mouth… before closing it firmly.

"Ooo. That may have been a mistake." Jimbei inhaled through his teeth.

"No way they're going to let him come now. Not when he's such a liability to the mission." Sanji agreed.

"Fine." The Master stood up again, before gesturing to Croc and Ox. "They will keep you far from danger."

"Real far." The reptile chuckled mirthlessly.

Po glanced between them and Tigress. "What?"

"You're staying here." She turned and walked away.

"Come on, big guy. It's for the best." Franky said morosely.

"Or just tell them. I'm sure they'll understand." Usopp reasoned, hastily.

Po quickly jumped to his feet and chased after her. "W-w-wait! I have to go bac-"

Tigress whipped around the face the panda, the mere force of her turn seemingly displacing the air around them, replacing it with an unnatural silence. The Five looked over the display with passive terror. Po visibly gulped.

"You're staying here." Tigress spoke quietly, yet also with the fury of a barely contained beast.

"Conqueror's Haki?!" Zoro questioned.

"I guess so. He's gonna need to fight real hard if he wants to get out of here." Luffy chimed in, speaking from experience.

However, Po hardened his gaze in an attempt to match. "I'm going… and you can't stop me." He walked to move past Tigress, yet the Master grabbed his arm and twisted him around 180 degrees, his back now facing her. He turned back to face her, clearly caught off guard. "Okay… I wasn't ready that time."

"I can feel this hurting already." Chopper said, clenching his teeth.

"Here we go…" Law repositioned his hat.

"Guys don't" Viper pleaded, yet her words fell on deaf ears.

Tigress assumed a combat stance, glaring fiercely at her new opponent. "Ready."

Po danced on the balls of his heels, before pointing at the ceiling. "Look!" He shouted, before moving in.

Tigress didn't fall for the obvious distraction, grabbing Po as he tried to sneak past her and tossing him high into the air in a singular, fluid motion. The panda crashed onto the opposite side of the room, before spinning on his head and flipping to his feet… still facing the wrong way.

"Nice recovery!" Usopp complimented.

"It's not going to matter. She's been at this for far longer than he has." Robin rationalised.

Po groaned in frustration as he charged Tigress again, before she sent him skidding back towards Croc and Ox's cell with a gelatinous boing. The Dragon Warrior was undeterred, punching the ground, before getting ready to rise again.

"Stay down." Viper implored.

"I can't! I have to get to him!" He responded; desperation evident in his tone.

"Then tell me why!" Tigress voiced firmly.

Po growled… before giving in.

"He was there… okay?! The peacock was there the last time I saw my parents! He knows what happened… where I came from… who I am…" Po felt a well starting to form in his throat, before slowly swallowing it.

"Who cares about any of the stuff? You've got a good thing going on here. Why chase something that doesn't mean anything?" Luffy questioned.

"Just because you don't care doesn't mean that he shouldn't." Brook stated firmly. "The past can be difficult and fraught with heartache, but it is a necessary part of anyone's life. To be deprived of your life, in anyway, is an incomparable hell."

The rest of the audience remained silent, swimming in the words that echoed across the screening room.

Tigress continued to stare, her anger evaporating and slowly turning into sympathy.

Po clambered to his feet. "Look, I'm going… I have to know… the hardcore can't understand."

He walked towards the exit. Tigress scowled at the remark and lunged towards him…

"Tigress, NO!" Viper cried.

… Before enveloping the panda in a warm hug. Po's eyes widened. The Five stared in amazement. Crane's beak dropped.

"Wait – huh?" Chopper's jaw dropped alongside the characters. The rest of the audience stared, wide-eyed at the, seemingly, out of character action for the Tiger Master.

"I guess being strong doesn't mean being invulnerable." Law mused.

"The hardcore do understand..." She said softly, releasing herself from the hug, but still keeping her paw on his shoulder. "… But I can't watch my friend be killed. We're going."

She walked towards the exit, moving past the Five.

"But… he told them the truth!" Nami noted in frustration.

"He'd still impede the mission. He needs to stay behind." Smoker stated simply.

"It's not always about the mission! It's about doing what's right!" She argued.

"And what would be right in this situation would be to leave him behind." Jimbei reasoned. "He'd simply get himself hurt."

"Hey, uh… maybe you can't watch me be killed?" Crane attempted to reason.

"Stop being a wimp." She said dismissively.

"And… she's back." Monkey whispered.

"That didn't last long." Zoro mused.

"I didn't want it to! I like Master Tigress just the way she is!" Sanji swooned, eliciting another round of disgusted expressions.

Po stood in defeated silence as he watched the Five, his idols and teammates, leave him behind.

Ox sighed. "Don't worry kid… you're better off here."

Despite the reassuring words, Po felt a new fire begin to ignite inside him. With nary a word, he moved to leave.

"Oh, I don't like where this is going." Franky sighed into his open palm.

…..

Meanwhile, at the Fireworks Factory, Shen seemed to be in good spirits, despite his soldier's failure to kill his hated enemy and the other nuisances, performing a few skilful twirls of his glaive, before he began to gloat at the unfortunate target of his ridicule: The Soothsayer. "You were wrong Soothsayer!... we sail to victory tonight! Your magic panda is clearly a fool!

The goat, meanwhile, had no time for the Lord's arrogant grandstanding. "Are you certain it is the panda who is the fool?" She spat. "You just destroyed your ancestral home, Shen!"

"A trivial sacrifice…" The peacock dipped his glaive into one of the nearby smelting pots. As soon as it started to glow with heat, he stabbed it into the shipment map of China hanging from the wall, sending the entire sheet up into flames. "… When all of China is my reward."

"How dare you?" Robin hissed with cold fury. "Now future generations are will never be able to understand the legacy your parents left behind!"

"There's no point to this at all. It's just destruction for destruction's sake." Sanji added, a look of disgust plastered across his face.

As the Lord basked in heat of the dying embers, the Soothsayer's anger only continued to flare up. "Then will you be satisfied? Hm? Will the subjugation of the whole world finally make you feel better?

"Hmm it's a start." Shen merely shrugged the verbal barb off. "I might also convert the basement into a dungeon." He walked past her with a snide smile. All her anger spent; she tried a different approach.

"The cup you choose to fill has no bottom. It is time to stop this madness." She implored him.

"Listen to the incredibly weird, wise goat lady. All of this ain't gonna make you feel anything." Luffy seethed.

"And why on earth would I do that?"

"So your parents can finally rest in peace."

Upon hearing this, Shen's harsh expression weakened.

"My parents… hated me. Do you understand? They wronged me, and I… will make it right."

"What a crock!" Law growled. "You killed innocent people. You deserved way worse than what you got!"

"Didn't think you cared, Trafalgar." Smoker huffed, taking a deep inhale of his two cigars.

"Of course I do. I'm a doctor."

"They loved you! They loved you so much, that having to send you away killed them."

Shen remained silent for a lingering moment, before finally speaking. "The dead exist in the past… and I must attend to the future."

The Soothsayer sighed and looked towards the ground, deeply saddened.

"Set the Soothsayer free." Shen turned away to oversee production. "She's of no use to me."

"Goodbye Shen, I wish you happiness." The goat lamentably turned away to walk out.

"Happiness must be taken… and I will take mine." The peacock seethed. There was no way he was turning away from the path he himself had carved. Not when it was so close to bearing fruit.

"He's hit the point of no return." Bepo commented.

"Hate to break it to you buddy, but I think he hit that point a long time ago." Usopp countered.

"I'm sorry." The mink responded, not wanting to cause trouble.

"Why?! You didn't do anything wrong!"

A gorilla guard placed a hand on the Soothsayer's shoulder to escort her out, before she swiftly clipped it with her cane. Shen did not watch her leave.

…..

Outside the factory, The Five began their approach, stealthily using any piece of cover they could find to avoid the watchful eyes of the guards. Sensing an opportunity during the shift between guard patrols. They collectively leaped over the outer wall, past a half-dozen sentries and crouched behind barrels filled to the brim with gunpowder ready to be shipped off.

Tigress peaked over the top of the barrel to survey the main factory door, and her eyes widened in horror upon seeing several already finished canons before wolf slid the door closed.

"If those weapons leave the building, China will fall." She noted grimly.

"Then we bring down the building!" Viper smirked evilly.

"Yeah, because that worked out so well the last time." Zoro rolled his eye.

"They'll probably be far more careful about it this time." Usopp reasoned.

"Hey guys!" Everyone turned to Mantis, who began to rub his fore pincers over a tiny pile of gunpowder, which promptly burned up in his face, turning it black with soot and singing his antennae. "This'll work." He croaked.

"They want to blow up a building?!" Nami's eyes widened in shock.

"Never mind. Insane and reckless it is." Usopp relented, throwing his hands in the air.

"Alright, let's go." Tigress agreed on the plan, before moving the gather some kegs.

"I can't feel my face." Mantis moaned as he moved to follow the others.

"You should probably get that checked out then." Chopper reasoned.

"No. you should definitely get that checked out." Law urged.

Whilst the Five put their plan into motion, they didn't notice that Po had secretly followed them, and was currently attempting to pole-vault onto one of the other walkways. Mid-vault, his momentum was suddenly arrested, causing him lean further to side to hopefully continue his arc… which unfortunately brought his crashing into two patrolling wolf guards.

"No! What is he doing?!" Nami shrieked, grabbing her orange locks and threatening to tear them clean from her head in frustration.

"He's gonna ruin everything!" Sanji continued; a similar look of shock stabled on his face.

Silently panicking, Po swiftly knocked them out, before grabbing them by the scruff of their necks and proceeding to move across the walkways using their limp bodies as cover. Along the way he passed a disgruntled Boss, who began to sourly mutter to himself.

"Did you hear him call it the year of the 'peacock'… Peh."

Po grabbed one of the arms and forced it to wave. "Hey."

"Hey." Boss replied without even turning.

"Good to see that Shen got his money's worth in terms of security." Smoker chortled.

"I'd almost feel sorry for him if he weren't a complete psycho." Bepo agreed.

The panda continued onwards, before eventually coming to a stop near one of the outer walls of the factory, all line of crates along the wall illuminated by the light coming from an open window that sat a few feet upwards.

"Hey!" A gorilla guard shouted in Po's direction, causing him to panic and drop them against the crates. "On your feet! And wipe those stupid grins off your faces!" He hoisted the unconscious guard of the floor, thankfully not noticing Po, who had crawled through the open window.

"This… seems to be going too well." Robin mused.

"Most likely. Shen probably dropped that little bombshell on top of the tower to make sure that he'd come running back for answers." Smoker grunted hoarsely, letting trails of smoke slip from his mouth.

"Then this could be a trap?" Brook asked.

"Most likely."

Po took in his surroundings, finding himself on a makeshift walkway, high above a series of interconnecting metal smelting vats being steadily fed a diet of metal, courtesy of some conveyor belts.

The Dragon Warrior proceeded to sneak across the walkway, throwing in some combat rolls to keep him low to the floor. It was then he spotted a Peacock shaped silhouette moving through some smoke clouding the upper levels.

"Move, you dogs! Faster! Faster! Load them all." It was unmistakably Shen.

"Yeah! Teach that bird a thing or two!" Luffy cheered.

"No! Get out of there! The whole place is gonna go up in flames!" Franky mimed a shooing motion.

Po climbed up an adjacent ladder and rolled across the walkway. He was a footstep away from reaching the other end, when…

"Greetings, panda!" Shen's voice reverberated across the factory. He flicked his tail feather outwards dispersing the smoke and revealing their sigil to the panda.

"Not this again!" Chopper complained.

"He's got homefield advantage, with an entire army at his beck and call. This can't possibly end well." Jimbei noted, giving his beard a short stroke.

Po shielded his eyes, barely holding back another flashback. "Tell me what happened that night!" He demanded.

"What night?" Shen asked playfully.

"That night."

"Ahh… that night." The peacock continued mockingly.

"Yes!" Po snarled, before faltering. "We're talking about the same night, right?"

"Dude! This is not the time for these bizarre lapses of judgement. Minimum distance for a firework is 25 metres, and you're standing on top of an entire building's worth!" Franky was starting to sweat profusely, very aware of the time limit instigated by the Five's plan.

Shen rolled his eyes, before walking slowly along the walkway, forcing Po to track his movement. "Yes, I was there, I watched as your parents abandoned you, it's a terrible thing. I believe it went something like this!"

The peacock slashed a suspended chain with his talon, causing a hanging bucket to swing into Po. He was sent dangling over the floor far below.

"Don't let him get in your head!" Luffy remarked. "You're way stronger than he is!"

"That's not gonna mean anything when he's neck deep in molten slag." Law countered.

"There's no need to be so vividly dark!" Usopp complained.

Outside, the Five had finally put their plan into motion, pushing a large cart filled with gunpowder kegs towards the factory. Dangling from a lamppost, Viper grabbed a lit lantern hanging from the elevated pole and tossed it to Monkey, who threw it downwards, igniting the pile.

With a mighty shove, Tigress pushed the now flaming cart into the open factory dock, causing a number of wolf guards to step back in shock.

"Here's your New Year's gift!" Monkey whooped.

"Hope you like it, 'cause you can't return it!" Mantis joined in.

"I'd much prefer it if you did!" Nami moaned meekly, knowing their celebration was ultimately in vain.

The Five turned to leave… before registering an all too familiar yell of panic. Tigress rushed back in a panic, spotting the Po dangling from the bucket.

"Po?! What's he doing here?" She questioned in a mixture of fear and aggravation.

The Five slowly looked from Po to the burning kegs of gunpowder.

"Return it! Return it!" Monkey shrieked in shock.

"They reacted better than I thought they would, at least." Brook commented.

"How did you think they'd react?" Chopper asked.

"I thought they'd lose their minds! YOHOHOHO!" The skeleton chuckled, eliciting the usual round of groans.

The Five leaped towards the kegs to hurry and douse them, before being immediately set upon by legion after legion of wolves. Tigress growled, and readied herself for combat, felling the carnivores as if they were made of paper.

"Ah! Only Master Tigress could salvage an unwinnable situation like this with such grace!" Sanji, unfortunately, took this as an opportunity to go completely gaga over the resident Master again, causing many of his fellow audience members to quickly calculate the fastest route to the nearest exit to spare themselves from his cringeworthy attempts at romantic soliloquy.

Up above, Po used his weight to slowly swing himself back to one of the wooden walkways, slowly but surely getting to his feet.

"Are you willing to die to find the truth?" Shen giggled.

"You bet I am… though I'd prefer not to." Po answered, before jumping at Shen and aiming a flying kick at his head. The peacock countered by grabbing his foot with his talon and sweeping the Dragon Warrior off his feet sending him hurtling downwards onto a lower conveyor belt, moving rapidly towards a vat of molten metal.

"Oh, this getting worse and worse." Usopp moaned in anxiety, his fingernails now chewed to stumps.

"Shen is really working him over." Luffy noted, remembering his confrontation with Bellamy back in Dressrosa, and how stunted he had become from the fight.

As Po began to struggle to his feet, Shen leapt down to a lower platform, intently watching his prey. On the lower levels, the warriors of the Jade Palace had finally found purchase in their battle and had begun to gradually rise up the wooden scaffolds to get to their friend. Tigress bolted up the platforms, before being accosted by a charging pack of wolves.

"We got them! Go!" Mantis yelled at her, before she hopscotched across the multitude of canine soldiers in her way, springboarding herself further up the levels. Two more stood in her way, before she finished them off with an expertly timed split-kick. Before the Master could progress any further, an imposing gorilla guard dropped in from above and let out a deep roar. Tigress snarled back, and was immediately on the offensive, staggering her foe with a combo of heavy blows.

"We had one job. Destroy the factory. How did this get so out of hand?" Zoro mused.

"You're kinda sounding like Nami now, Zoro." Luffy noticed.

"Oh please no." The swordsman breathed in whilst pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hey!" The navigator yelled.

Meanwhile, Po was in trouble. The conveyor belt was moving faster than he could run, and he was getting dangerously close to the precipice, the heat of the vat causing his fur to stand on end.

Shen continued to watch the display with rapt attention, as the panda eventually tripped on some of the metal objects splayed along the conveyor. Just before he was sent hurtling over the end, screaming all the while, Po managed to grab a tuning fork and jam it into the bottom of the belt. Now dangling precariously from the bottom, Po grabbed a falling wok, before using it to shield his backside from the searing heat of the molten metal before being taken under the belt.

Shen smiled in relief, seeing no sign of his hated foe.

"Looking for me?" Shen whipped his head around to the source of the voice… and was surprised to find no one. He sat there for a few seconds, waiting, before Po eventually rose alongside the belt on the opposite end, riding the large gear that turned the apparatus.

"Why man?" Franky complained. "You just ruined your SUPER surprise entry with that poor timing."

"Maybe he should focus more on taking down the dictatorial madman, instead of trying to look cool." Nami reasoned, rhetorically.

"Um… I said that too soon, didn't I?" He asked sheepishly, before leaping at the peacock once more. Shen took advantage of his opponents airborne state, flinging dozens of feather blades towards the panda, who reacted by lifting the gong upwards like a shield. The blades panged ineffectively against the hard metal of the cooking apparatus, before Po brought it down hard in an attempt to strike the peacock.

The Dragon Warrior alternated between using the wok and tuning fork to strike his target, growing frustrated that the lithe Lord was able to continuously dodge around his blows.

Shen eventually broke the stalemate by springboarding off Po's head to jump to one of the higher levels, leaving the panda to literally dogpiled by a gang of wolves from behind.

"Po!" Tigress yelled out, before dodging another strike from one of her assailants. She kicked an attacking wolf at the panda, breaking the dogpile and allowing the Dragon Warrior to desperately scramble up and adjacent piece of scaffolding to chase Shen.

"No! Go back and regroup with your team!" The audience was shocked to see that Luffy was starting to hand out some sound strategic advice.

"Exactly. If you're alone with him, you're giving him exactly what he wants." Jimbei concluded.

"Po! Get away from him!" Tigress continued to shout before she was grabbed from behind by the gorilla guard, who put her in a sleeper hold.

Po finally clambered up the walkway, wherein he was greeted by the sight of Shen continuing his getaway. Acting fast he threw the tuning fork into the air, before slamming it with the flat end of the wok, sending it flying into Shen and pinning his neck against a large wooden box.

"No more running, Shen!" The panda growled.

"Woah." Chopper's eyes widened at the sudden shift in Po's demeanour.

"Finally. The scrawny little chicken's got nowhere to run." Zoro grinned, a hint of sadistic glee threatening to burst from behind the smile.

"So it seems." The peacock grunted, pulling the fork free from the wood and rubbing his neck.

"Now… answers." Po seethed, flipping the wok behind his back.

"Oh, you want to know so badly?" Shen goaded, a sinister smile creeping along his beak. "You think knowing will heal you? Fill some… crater in your soul? Well, here's your answer… your parents didn't love you."

Po was speechless. Just like that, in a singular moment, all of his worst suspicions has been confirmed. A heavy weight began to tug on his heart.

The audience sat there, equally stunned. Many had complex relationships with parental figures to say the least, but to be told, definitively, the horrendous details of your origin, would've been soul crushing.

"He's gotta be lying." Usopp, ironically, was the first to doubt.

"But what if it isn't?" Sanji rebutted, as the most used to familial troubles, he was slightly inclined to believe the peacock.

"But here… let me… heal you."

Shen leaped on top of th large wooden box and cut a rope holding it in place, revealing a cannon that exceeded its predecessor in scale at least three times over. Po, in his haste to learn the truth, had walked headfirst into a trap. The peacock grinned in sadistic glee as he struck the fuse with his talons, setting it alight. Po searched frantically for an exit, only to realise that he had inadvertently cornered himself, the cannon seeming to growl with steam.

Then it fired.

Po barely had the time the shield himself with the wok, as he was shot off his feet, the force of the blast knocking all consciousness out of him.

"NO!" Tigress cried, temporarily ripping herself from the guards grasp, before being knocked off her feet at the force of the blast. A couple of levels lower, the Five looked onwards in horror to see Po being completely blasted out of the factory. Still in throes of the blast, he flew past the city, before crashing into a river far in the distance…

The entirety of the screening area fell into silence as the thunder onscreen reverberated across the hall.

"No…" Luffy seemed confused. As if the notion that Po could lose was completely alien to him.

"He's okay, right?" Chopper asked.

"I don't see how anyone could have survived that." Smoker noted solemnly. Silence once again fell. There were no more words left to be said.

…

In Dragon Grotto, Shifu was shaken out of his meditation. Not by the rapturous clap of thunder, for he had trained rigorously to prevent such distractions from overtaking his mind. No, this was something far worse. He fell from his perch on his staff, completely stricken, knowing only that the worst had come to pass.

"Oh Shifu…" Jimbei began. "What can even be done now?"

It was a question no one could even begin to answer.

…

Act Two complete. Holy hell, this was tough, but very rewarding. Some of my favourite scenes captured in their entirety. I'm glad I managed to get this one out quicker than the last few. I said I was committed to finishing this, and I won't stop until I do. Some of you are asking if I intend to continue these SH Reactions with other series like POTC, and the answer to that is a resounding….

No, at least not directly after, and even then not after a long while.

As fun as these are to write, they take a lot out of me, and they just seem to keep piling up after a while. I also seem to be in a mini pissing contest with KiddoistheBest. Every time I upload, so does he and it's starting to take the wind out of my sails. Seriously, the man suffers a complete loss of data, and, by some miraculous force of fate, the upload happens not even a day after I do a double feature. This does not mean I have a grudge or anything against him. Far from it in fact, he was one of my primary inspirations for starting this; but I'm going up against a titan in the field of reaction fanfics and that kind of whittles away at the self-confidence after a while.

But enough of that. I've got this to finish. And once I do I've got other, non-reaction based stories I want to get off my chest. One featuring an incredibly iconic gaming duo and the other, focusing on everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood.

Now, onto the reviews:

Heroflow1000: Tut Tut. So impatient.

BrianShooter672: 1. Thanks for understanding. 2. If I add anymore characters to this reaction, I may lose what little sanity I have left.

Tacktician: Dammit, I didn't pick up on that.

Musizlover2008: Indeed

Gamelover41592: Thanks.

Heart of Shepherd: Hope you've enjoyed this. Thanks for understanding.

Joanne Frances Tiano Cajiling: Couldn't agree more.

Victorsda: Gracias por tus amables palabras. Disfrutar.

LucasVAMP: Thanks so much, I try to think about how they would interpret certain situations. Also completely agree with that ranking.

Devonfazbear: Then do it! I couldn't even imagine I'd be doing this a few months ago. Sometimes you need to take the plunge and not worry about what others may think of your efforts.

Ghost Stretch 04:eso es lo que quería.

Carre: Thanks.

Dani1361: Always happy to help. I love seeing these bozos chill out with each other.

REDREY: I ain't doing any more of these for a while after I'm done with the trilogy. If you'd like to do it, then go ahead.

Guest: No, no, no, no, no, no and no.

Suliganagongorova: Many thanks!

SapphireKiddTaeyeon: I figured people would appreciate it. Thanks for the feedback.

Kamen Rider Sentry: Nope.

Spider-Man 2, here we go baby! Hope everything goes alright! Until next time.

Ciao.