Hello, before I start the new chapter, I would like to add a few lines in advance, because now a new year came and everyone had looked back at the last year. For all those who have been waiting so patiently for a new chapter, I would like to formally apologize, as the upload unfortunately didn't go as planned. All in all, the last year had been a stupid year from an organizational point of view. Just the fact that my computer had to break down of all things was annoying. In addition, there were health problems and a project for a publishing company, which took up a total of 50 percent of my free time. Had nothing of the sort come up, I would have finished this fanfic story in August, but now it has unexpectedly and unintentionally gone beyond the year, for which I feel very sorry. :-( Added to this was the criticism from others (about the writing project), so that I was actually planning to stop writing completely.

In summary, I can't look back on a good year because I couldn't even keep my own appointments because something had to come up all the time. While I'm not expecting a miracle in the new year, I'm still hoping to get the uploading going a little faster. I hope the long waiting times didn't annoy you, but unfortunately, as I said, everything turned out differently.

I still hope for a good start into the new year! Have a good reading time.

34. Attack of the Ninjas

Xiang and Shenmi didn't know how long they sat together. Eventually, Xiang broke away from her and wiped his tear-stained face. Shenmi inclined her head sympathetically when she saw his wet shirt, too. But her own had also gotten some of her tears. She rummaged in her shirt and pulled out two handkerchiefs. One of them, she held out to Xiang. Xiang only saw it out of the corner of his eye. Only after a moment's hesitation, he reached for it without looking at her. He hesitated before blowing his nose. Shenmi considerately turned her back on him and also sniffled in her handkerchief.

After their nasal passages were free again, neither of them spoke a word at first. They just sat there and said nothing. Until Shenmi made up her mind to move her beak.

"Xiang?"

"Hm?" The blue peacock's eyes wandered in her direction. "May I call you uncle now, or shouldn't I?"

For a moment, Xiang's face turned dead serious, which made Shenmi a little scared again. But then he lifted the corners of his beak very slightly and stretched out his wing towards her. First, Shenmi ducked her head a bit. She jumped slightly when he gently stroked her forehead.

"As long as nobody's around," Xiang muttered to himself. Then he pulled his wing away from her again and stared into space. "If anyone else wants to be there."

Shenmi looked at him sadly. "But we're all here for you. And Liu, too."

Xiang avoided her gaze. "I don't think so. I never yelled at her that loud yesterday."

"But you still like her, don't you?"

Xiang said nothing.

After what felt like long stretched seconds, Shenmi took a deep breath. "Nanny once told me that it's never too late for anything, as long as you apologize sincerely."

Xiang was silent again.

Shenmi took a step towards him. "Liu might even need you. Your baby was almost killed by the ninjas."

Xiang jerked his head up. "What are you talking about?"

"There were these black ninjas. They almost dropped your baby. Xia caught it. Now they have taken Dao away. Maybe they'll turn him into a zombie again. They're up to the palace. Papa went there, too. Along with my older brother. Po and the other warriors went with him."

Xiang looked at her dumbfounded, which unsettled Shenmi again. Was that too much information after such a low phase?

At first, Xiang was unable to say a word, then he finally slowly moved his beak lips. "T-tell me slowly what happened."

Shenmi tried to report everything that happened in as much detail as possible.

After she finished, Xiang was silent again, albeit this time with a stunned expression on his face, as if he was struggling to sort his thoughts.

Finally, he leaned his wing against the wall and heaved himself up.

Shenmi backed away. "What will you do next?"

But instead of answering this question, Xiang just gave her a neutral look. "Do me a favor and get my cane." 'Cane' sounded better to him than 'crutch', but he hoped he didn't have to explain to the girl, his half-niece, what he meant and that she didn't ask more questions.

"I'll get to you." Shenmi immediately rushed up the stairs. Xiang looked after her thoughtfully.

Did she really have something from him?

"Don't you want to make a plan first?" Sheng asked cautiously.

He was with his father in front of the entrance gate of the kung fu residence. The gates were open a crack, but Sheng had advised Shen not to rush in immediately for fear of being ambushed.

Shen twisted his spear sword in his wings, face grim, his finger feather tips trembling slightly. Then he grasped the sword hilt and squeezed it hard. "If I find one of my brother's feathers on the ground, whoever is responsible for it will lose his head."

Sheng narrowed his eyes. His father was charged with anger again, raising his concern that he might act rashly.

Sheng was about to open his beak again when his intended sentence was thwarted by another familiar gasping voice.

"Hey, wait for... backup."

In the next moment, a paw appeared over the top step of the long staircase and Po heaved himself up. His friends, the Furious Five, appeared next to him and pulled their big friend up the last step.

"Oh dear," Po gasped. "I won't get used to these stairs in a million years." He dropped on the floor and looked around in amazement. "Oh, are we upstairs? Yeah!"

Shen snorted at the sight of the panda. "Panda, that's my business. I won't allow you to interfere."

Po stood up and took a deep breath. "Oookay, it's our business very well," pointing to his five friends. "After all, this is our house. Well, or at least our workplace. Either one, but definitely ours."

"He's not entirely wrong," Sheng said, hoping his father wouldn't label him a traitor.

"We will also be very quiet and unobtrusive," Po assured. "You want to go to your brother and we want the ninjas out. So we have the same goal after all. After all, they are all in there."

Shen narrowed his eyes.

"Father, I'll make sure he just minds his own business," Sheng assured. "We shouldn't dwell on unnecessary discussions." He looked intently at his father. "Think of Dao."

Shen avoided his gaze and jerked his robe around. "Just don't get in my way."

With that, Shen turned away. They cautiously peered through the gate.

Po got an idea. "Mantis, check the situation."

The mantis jumped over the wall into the yard. Mantis didn't take long. In no time, he was back at the gate. "There doesn't seem to be anyone there."

"And the masters?"

"No sign of them."

"Then they can just be in the palace... Hey!"

Shen had slipped through the gate and bounded across the yard, eyes alert and crouching.

Tigress waved the others over. "It's best if we sneak in."

Po excitedly tiptoed. "Wow, I love sneaking up."

They followed Shen, who shortly afterward carefully fled into the shadows of the wall.

"Do you think Dao is okay?" Viper whispered.

Po shrugged. "I hope so."

At that moment, everyone heard a loud bang from the Jade Palace.

"Oh dear. Sounds like something broke…" Po trailed off when, without warning, he saw Shen scurrying up the steps to the palace. Everyone quickly follows him. Shortly before the big gate, the white ruler and the rest of the troop came to a standstill. They peered cautiously into the hall, the doors of which were wide open.

"It's too heavy," someone was complaining.

Po covered his mouth with his paw when he saw one of the black panthers trying to carry several valuables from the Hall of Heroes.

Ravan shrugged. "Then we'll steal the chariot in the corner" and pointed to a noble war chariot descended from a kung fu hero of an eagle.

Further back, three figures were hanging from the ceiling on ropes.

They recognized the three masters, who did nothing to stop the looting of the Hall of Heroes. In addition, they were guarded by Dao, who stood stiffly and impassively in front of them and kept a watchful eye on them.

They withdrew. "Oh no," Po murmured in horror. "They snatched all the showpieces from kung fu culture. This is a kung fu style disaster. These are irreplaceable…"

"Panda, I don't give a damn about your greasy junk!" Shen snapped at him.

Po bit back a scathing remark. "Okay, but what should we do now? We need a plan."

"I make my own plans," Shen remarked dryly.

Po contracted his eyebrows. "Okay, but we also want to get involved. Besides, how do you know if you can take on Dao?"

Shen hissed at him. "Are you saying I'm inferior to him?! I have more fighting experience than he does!"

Po raised his hands reassuringly. "Okay, ok, ok. Then you are superior to him. But if we do, then we have to weigh up exactly who should put whom through the wringer first. No matter how we do it, the ninjas and Dao will take notice of us at the same time. Then we have to make sure that everyone chooses the right one." He touched his little bald head. "And make sure your brother doesn't seriously hurt anyone else."

Shen narrowed her eyes. "Just don't get in my way. Dao is all mine."

Po swallowed. "And you're absolutely one-hundred percent absolutely sure? Just remember how he attacked us on the Japanese holiday island."

Shen stroked his spear sword. "Only if he responds to orders. I also challenged him when he was sober. He's not nearly as good as me."

Po rubbed his chin. "Alright. Then we mainly have to make sure that Ravan doesn't get to give him orders. That's the only way we might have a chance."

Shen's features darkened. "Not just 'might have', I have it."

Po looked at Shen quizzically. He dared to doubt whether he was really, really convinced of his superiority, but it was better not to say so now. But he felt the queasy feeling in his stomach all the more.

If this turns out well, he thought.

Ān-Mā looked up at the mountain with a worried look. At the very top, she could see the Jade Palace. "Oh, Shen," she murmured dejectedly, also worrying about Dao. How should this end? Inwardly, she begged that it would not end in tragedy. She stood on the street next to Mr. Ping's restaurant and could not find any rest.

"Anything new?" asked Yin-Yu, who had appeared next to her.

The old goat shook her head. "Don't you want to go inside?"

"As long as he's up there, I'm not going anywhere."

Liu was leaning against the wall not far from them, her thoughts only on her daughter. The three boys had retired on a stone bench and are waiting for the others to return.

"Anyone hungry?" Mr. Ping asked, coming near with a tray of spring rolls.

Yin-Yu shook her head apologetically. "Don't be mad at us, but we can't get anything down right now."

"I thought so." Disappointed, Mr. Ping lowered the tray and turned around.

"Then it would be a shame to let it go to waste," Pong said and fished out two small spring rolls and stuck them in his beak.

Zedong, prone on a bench, shook his head in disapproval. "How can you think about food at a moment like this? I would much rather be involved up there than sit here useless."

"But dad said, it's too dangerous," Jian objected.

Fantao, who was painting something on the wall to banish his nervousness, agreed with a silent nod.

"I'm not afraid of them," Zedong claimed. He straightened up. "If I were taller," he stretched long enough, "then I would teach them a lesson."

Fantao shook his head at his brother's high spirits and quietly went back to painting. Zedong snorted. He was bored. Even Liana wasn't there. Everyone was either fighting or just sitting around worried, which in turn raised Zedong's anger.

"Great aunt!"

Ān-Mā turned around in surprise when this familiar voice called over to her. "Ling?" The old goat gaped as her grandnephew ran towards her. "Ling! I almost forgot you. Where… where are you from?"

Panting, the little billy goat came to a halt in front of her. "These crooks just hung me in a tree outside the village and left me there. Didn't you miss me?"

"Honestly... honestly, I haven't even thought about you anymore..."

Ling's brow furrowed in insult. "Nice. I'm so insignificant that I have become invisible."

"Oh, Ling." The goat bowed her head in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. But you don't even know what's going on here."

Ling crossed his arms. "Honestly, nothing surprises me anymore. Just as this." Ling pointed down the street.

Everyone looked up in surprise. Even Liu raised her head.

Not only Shenmi but also Xiang walked down the street. The white peacock girl dragged the blue peacock by the wing. Xiang had a little trouble keeping up with his crutch. It was like they were in a hurry.

As soon as they reached the group, Shenmi let go Xiang and ran to her mother.

"Mom, is papa back?" she asked.

Yin-Yu was still a bit taken aback by the appearance of them, but she stroked Shenmi's head in distress. "No, unfortunately he's not back yet."

Immediately, Shenmi broke away from her mother and ran back to Xiang.

"Papa isn't back yet. Then you have to do something."

Now Zedong raised his head in surprise. "Huh? He? How come? He can't even stand up straight."

Yin-Yu gave Zedong a warning look. But Zedong didn't care. He was angry. And the fact that a partially paralyzed man was allowed to do something about the whole tumult and not he, made the little peacock boy really angry.

Ān-Mā meanwhile took a few steps towards Xiang and looked at him questioningly. "How did you imagine that? Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

Xiang nodded. "The little girl already told me. If Dao really isn't thinking straight, maybe there's something that could stop his blind frenzy, I think."

Ān-Mā looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure? Remember, if you plan to do something that is risky, Shen will never forgive you if something goes wrong."

Xiang narrowed his eyes. "I'm fully aware of that."

His eyes fell on Liu. She pressed against Yin-Yu. Apparently, she feared another rebuke.

Xiang sighed softly. "First I have to do something." He said it barely audibly. Only Shenmi and Ān-Mā, who were standing right next to him, heard it. But neither of them asked him. They guessed what he meant.

Xiang adjusted his crutch and took a few steps towards Yin-Yu and Liu.

Liu fled behind Yin-Yu's back, causing Xiang to stop. Then he looked down for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Liu," he began hesitantly, "I didn't mean it like that before." He seemed to find it difficult to say something like that. He lifted his head and looked at Liu with a serious but depressed expression. Liu ducked her head in fear while Xiang limped another step toward her. Yin-Yu stayed alert, but she didn't get the impression that Xiang wanted to attack her. Meanwhile, Xiang tried to make eye contact with Liu and bowed his head, but Liu kept avoiding him.

Xiang let out an embarrassed clearing of his throat. "I… I was just getting a little loud. It... just happened... I would have..." He pressed his beak lips together and glanced at Shenmi. She gave him an encouraging nod, which prompted Xiang to continue talking at least. Albeit quite forced and restrained. "I… I just couldn't bear the thought that you would prefer Shen… than me." He rubbed his neck again. He seemed embarrassed somehow, but felt compelled to say it. "I… I just didn't want to admit it. But that just shows me…" He sighed heavily. "...that you mean a lot to me."

Now Liu lifted her head and looked at him in surprise.

Xiang's face was still serious, but she thought she saw a very slight raising of the corners of his beak. And maybe a little reconciliation, too.

Finally, Xiang slightly lifted his free wing and gently he beckoned her over.

"Could you forgive me?"

A jolt went through Liu. They looked at each other in silence for several seconds, which unsettled Xiang a bit. He backed away when Liu suddenly ran towards him. He held his breath. But Liu just threw herself at him, hugged him, and clawed at him as if she was afraid he might disintegrate at any moment.

"And how I want it," she breathed and pressed herself against him.

Xiang was a bit taken aback by her reaction. But probably also because this was the first time that he had ever spoken to her in this way. He automatically wanted to hug her too, but remembered his lame leg again, but a second too late. He lost the crutch and threatened to tip over. But in the next moment, the old goat supported him from behind while Shenmi caught the crutch. Relieved of this backup, Xiang was able to return Liu's hug.

Yin-Yu looked at the picture with a certain emotion and wonder. She no longer recognized Xiang. But then her gaze wandered to the entrance of the restaurant, where Xia had appeared. Obviously, she was also surprised what was happening on the street. However, Xia didn't look happy about it.

After what felt like seconds, Liu and Xiang parted ways.

Meanwhile, Zedong was getting bored with the strange behavior of the adults. He got up and approached Xiang. "How did you actually mean that you want to do something?" he wanted to know.

Xiang looked a little perplexed. "I… I'm not quite sure. But maybe I can help." His gaze wandered up to the mountain. "I have to go up there. But I can't do this alone. Someone has to support me."

At that moment, Xia spoke up. "How dare you just say you can do something?"

Xiang gave a little jump and looked at his ex-daughter a bit startled. But then his gaze darkened. Xia also developed animosity towards him, and tension seemed to develop between them.

Finally, Xiang raised his beak. "I don't think your father can stop him."

Xia folded her wings. "How can you say that? You don't know him at all."

Xiang let out a snort. "Maybe even better than him." He avoided her gaze. "At least I hope so. It might be pointless, but I can't tell until I've tried."

"Why you?"

Xiang's wings spasmed. He certainly didn't do that for Shen, but at least for Dao. He gave Xia a hateful look. "Because I might be the last hope in this case, dammit!"

This silenced Xia for the time being, but her disapproving expression remained. But Xiang didn't want to waste any more time and turned back to the others.

"Liu, do you think you can help me up there? That's a long distance. We cannot allow ourselves a long break there."

Liu nodded. "I can try it."

"Shall I help you?" Yin-Yu offered, to everyone's surprise.

Xia looked at her in bewilderment. "Mum, how can you say that?"

Yin-Yu looked at Xia calmly. "It's for the family." Her eyes wandered to Xiang. He caught her eyes. "And we're a family. Aren't we?"

Xia said nothing, but still seemed bitter.

Shenmi, still holding Xiang's crutch, tapped Xiang with it. "Here, you will definitely need it."

Xiang grabbed it and gave her a grateful nod.

"Can I come with you?" Shenmi asked hopefully.

Zedong immediately leapt forward. "Oh yeah! Me too!"

Xiang looked at them wide-eyed, but then he shook his head. "I don't think your mother would allow that."

Before the two siblings could say anything, Yin-Yu stopped them. "No, he's right," she said firmly. "It's too dangerous for you. You stay here until then."

Shenmi looked up at Xiang desperately. "But if something happens to you."

"Listen," Xiang began and stroked her head, "I'll be back. That's promised. But until then, do me a favor and stay in the background."

He smiled at her. Sadly, Shenmi gave in.

Yin-Yu could see from her daughter Xia's eyes that she didn't want to go with them. "Xia, please take care of your siblings."

"In that case I will also stay here," Ān-Mā said.

Yin Yu agreed. "Alright. Then we go."

Xiang nodded. And without saying a big goodbye, he limped away with Liu supporting him. Yin-Yu followed them.

Ān-Mā looked after them with concern.

"What do you think of that, great aunt?" Ling asked.

The old goat tapped the ground with her walking stick. "If I knew, but it's for the best to just hope for the best. That's all we can do."

"Okay," Po summarized again, "you take care of your brother and we take care of the masters and ninjas. You can get Dao's attention, and we'll free the masters. But who distracts the ninjas? When they see me, they immediately become suspicious. We need a better diversionary tactic."

"I could do that," suddenly another voice spoke up behind them.

Everyone turned around in surprise. Po's jaw dropped. "King Wang? What are you doing here?"

"I just thought, I might be able to give you some support," the Hun King said.

Po shrugged. "And how do you want to do that?"

"I could go up to them and engage them in conversation."

"And if they realize you're one of us?"

"You'll only need a few seconds, won't you? But they probably won't recognize me with that." Wang took out his coat, which he had already worn in the kung fu arena.

Tigress thought about it. "A few seconds are better than nothing."

Po rubbed his chin, then he thumbed up. "Alright. And we, we go through the back door." He turned to Shen. "And? What do you say?"

Shen just turned his back on him with a snort. "Just don't get in my way."

Po raised his eyebrows in annoyance. "I thought, we resolved that already."

"Xiang," Liu began cautiously, "are you sure you want to do it?" She stood with Xiang and Yin-Yu at the foot of the long stairway that led up the high mountain. "You're not fit to fight."

Xiang was silent for a moment, then he raised his head resolutely. "I don't have to fight for it. At least, I hope so. But if I don't go up there, I'm sure I'll regret it even more. Now help me up."

Without a word, Liu took Xiang's right wing and Yin-Yu Xiang's left wing over their shoulders. It was unusual for Yin-Yu to be so close to her ex-husband again. A similar thought crossed Xiang's mind, but now wasn't the time. He just wanted to get up the stairs as quickly as possible. He didn't know if he was right with his guess, but at the moment there was probably no other option than just trying.

"We could also take that with us," one of the ninjas suggested and held out a huge green sword to Ravan.

Ravan took it from his paws and examined it closely. "It is sure worth a lot." He paused when he saw a shadow appear in the palace gate. "Who's there?!"

The shadowy figure stopped. "I come from afar," she announced, bowing. "I have come all this way to speak to the wise masters of kung fu." The cloaked Hun King walked towards the leader.

Ravan met him with a disdainful look. "There's nothing to see here. The shop is closed for today."

"Oh, so maybe I can come back tomorrow?" Wang asked in a mock surprised voice, while keeping his gaze on the hall's background. In a hidden corner, he had noticed a movement.

Po and the others had meanwhile managed to sneak into the furthest corner on the other side of the Hall of Heroes. They cautiously peered around the corner. The ninjas were initially distracted. Now they had to use every second. The three masters, Master Shifu, Master Storming Ox and Master Croc, were hanging from the ceiling by their feet and hadn't noticed them yet.

Po waved to the others. "Let's go."

Dao, still watching the masters hanging from the ceiling, caught movement out of the corner of his eye. But without guidance, he didn't respond well enough. He was able to deflect Shen's spear sword attack just in time. But this distraction was enough for Po and his friends to carry out their rescue operation. With well-aimed blows, they severed the ropes that held the masters to the ceiling. A little surprised, with the exception of Master Shifu, they all fell to the ground.

"Po," said the little master, relieved. "I knew you would come."

Po pulled a face. "Now don't say you doubted for a second that I would let someone pillage the Hall of Heroes."

Meanwhile, Shen pushed his brother aside in the battle, giving Po and the others free space.

It all happened within a few seconds, but the ninjas reacted immediately and turned around.

Po watched as Shen tried to knock Dao's katana out of his wings with his lance sword, but Dao knew how to defend himself skillfully. Po contracted his eyebrows. No matter what happened, they couldn't give Ravan the chance to give orders to Dao, so he immediately launched his declaration of war.

"Hey, I draw your attention to the fact that what you are doing here is trespassing and theft."

Ravan and his entourage looked at him silently at first. Then Ravan burst out laughing and pointed to his head. "Is that one of the kung fu accidents, or aren't you, black and white rice ball, feeling a little cold there?"

Po knew immediately what he meant and groped for his bald head that Shen had given him earlier. He smiled mischievously. "Uh... yes... uh, just a minute, please."

Tigress put a paw on her face, while Po hastily jumped to the side and dug something out of a corner. He quickly returned, this time with a helmet on his head.

"So, where did we stop?" the Dragon Warrior continued in a soothing voice.

Ravan snorted. "It was a mistake to sneak you guys in here. Because anyone who stands in our way will not see the next day..."

"Blah, blah, blah," Po interrupted him boredly, also trying to distract Ravan from Shen, who was still fighting fiercely with Dao in the background. "I advise you to leave as soon as possible and never come back. Then we can all go home with peace of mind. You don't stand a chance against all of us anyway."

Ravan grinned. "You may be right. But can you lousy bunch fight against these?" He held up the big green kung fu sword, at the same time the other panthers brought out their achievements, all weapons of the former kung fu warriors. One of them even wore the armor of Master Flying Rhino.

Po's eyes widened at first. Then he twisted his face into an offended pout. "Okaaaaaay, now that's unfair. I actually wanted to wear the armor."

Ravan stopped arguing and called for the attack. "Let them have it!" But before he pounced on one of the warriors, he gave Wang, who was still standing behind them, a hard blow, so that the Hun king was knocked out and fell to the ground.

Po and the others also started moving and fended off the first attackers, but they had to be extremely careful not to be injured by one of the sharp weapons and were more defensive than attacking.

Po realized that Ravan wanted to swoop over them with a daring leap, intended only to get through to Dao, but the panda wouldn't let that happen. He grabbed Ravan's tail and yanked him back down in mid-air.

Angrily, Ravan attacked Po with the big sword, but then Sheng was there in the next moment and threw the ninja leader aside.

"Nice swing," Po said appreciatively when Ravan was momentarily sidelined.

Sheng shrugged. "We're champions, aren't we?"

Po grinned. "Yeah, now we're going to show them what kung fu really is."

In the meantime, Shen had troubles to tame Dao. Although his brother couldn't make his own decisions because of the drug, the younger white peacock saw Shen only as his opponent, whom he had to fight by any means necessary, just as his instructor had drummed into him. Shen suspected that he could not count on Dao's consideration, but tried not to act too aggressively against him.

At that moment, one of the ninjas threw a shield at Viper. But the snake deftly deflected it, causing the shield to deflect and instead slam into Dao's wing with full force. For a second or two, Dao was distracted. Shen found a loophole, a way to hurt Dao to the point where he wouldn't be able to fight. But in that millisecond, when Shen was about to strike, he hesitated. Again he saw a little white peacock boy running away from him. Dao shamelessly exploited this terrible flashback and the associated hesitation. Immediately, Dao continued his attacks. Shen was just able to protect himself with his spear sword. Dao didn't seem to mind the injury, Shen suspected a dislocation. He didn't even seem to feel any pain. Dao was cold as a machine.

Cursing himself, Shen pushed forward and pushed Dao back a little. He couldn't let his emotions rule him any longer. Either he harmed Dao or it was the end for himself.

The hall was utter chaos. Master Ox and Master Croco had trouble controlling the panther with the rhino armor. Sheng did his best and even took on two ninjas, and Po's heart bled every time if one of the ninjas kept throwing his kung fu heroes' trophies at him. Now one of the panthers had clawed the throwing stars and was throwing them around indiscriminately.

Po whirled around when he heard Tigress scream.

"Tigress!"

Tigress held her arm. Apparently, a throwing star had his her arm. But when Po was with her and pushed her to the side of the hall, she pushed him away. "Go on!" she snapped at him.

At first, Po hesitated, but then he nodded and leaned Tigress against the wall. "Don't run away, I'll just quickly throw the bugs out of the clean hall."

"Hey, you big cotton sack," Ravan's voice suddenly called over to him.

Po turned to see Ravan holding up the vase of his favorite warrior army. Po's eyes widened. "No!"

Ravan dropped it. Quickly, Po slid across the floor and caught the vase. "Yeah!"

But in the next moment, something, probably an ax, whizzed through the air and smashed the vase in Po's paws. "Oh no!" Dejected, Po pressed his forehead to the floor. "The warrior army will never rest."

But then he realized that he let Ravan go.

Quickly, he looked to the other end of the hall and just saw Ravan land behind Dao with a giant leap.

Po's eyes widened in shock.

Xiang hated stairs. Ever since he could no longer use his right leg, climbing the stairs was pure torture for him. And those long stairs were sheer horror, although Liu and Yin-Yu supported him as much as possible in climbing the stairs. But maybe the only reason he found it all so agonizing was because he wanted to be up there as soon as possible. If his leg was like the other, he'd be up in a few minutes.

"Shall we stop for a moment?" Liu asked worriedly when she noticed Xiang start to gasp slightly.

But he shook his head. "No, no break. Continue."

Po looked ahead in horror. Now Shen not only faced his drugged brother, but Ravan as well. And the panda suspected that this was not good. The ninja leader was now free to make his devastating move on Shen.

Shen had noticed that too, and now seemed a bit unsure. Ravan just grinned and snapped his fingers. "Then let's see how well you can really fight."

Dao raised his katana. Shen his spear sword. Their metallic tips touched. Shen felt Dao's pressure on his weapon. Now it would be decided for whom it should be the end - for him or for his brother.