Disclaimer: The intellectual property rights to the Penguins of Madagascar and the Kung Fu Panda movies belong to Dreamworks Animation.
Author's Note: Greetings, readers! I've returned to you with a short single chapter crossover. This one's a weird idea I had recently when I was watching some scenes from "Kung Fu Panda 2", and I saw a comment saying that the soothsayer's prophecy could very well have been about a penguin. And I liked that idea so much that I wished to see it fulfilled. Following a couple of writing sessions, and voila! Anyways, please enjoy!
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China now rested in his fingertips. With the might of his revolutionary weapon, Shen would take everything he'd been denied. Even when the soothsayer prophesied his downfall at the hands of a warrior of black and white, Shen had no problem preventing that little augury from being fulfilled. At last, none were left to get in his way. The Furious Five were beaten. The mightiest members of the Master's Council sat listless in a prison cell. And above all, the old goat's "warrior" was nowhere to be found.
Everything had gone to plan. Now all that remained was to reach out and take his rightful throne.
A crimson light blared upon the beleaguered Tigress. Renowned for the ferocity of her claws and sharp fangs, she now found herself locked in a cocoon of iron chains. Alongside her were her comrades. Monkey. Mantis. Viper. And Crane.
Five of the strongest, most famed warriors in all of China could only watch Shen's nefarious scheme. Such a joyous occasion for the peacock in question, that he couldn't help himself from partaking in a bit of gloating. After all, why not? He was the winner, therefore he deserved to revel in the glory.
Prodding his wolf lieutenant forth, the blazing torch burned brighter as he held it closer to Tigress. Shen chuckled.
"Such sad, sad faces." He jeered, craning his eyes over her twisted scowl. "But now is a time only for joy. You are going to be part of something beau~utiful."
Tigress growled defiantly. But Shen had nothing to fear. Those chains were designed precisely to prevent the warriors from using their monumental strength. No matter how hard they tried, they would be locked in those metal restraints for the rest of their lives. Luckily for them, however...
They wouldn't need to wait long.
"Once we reach the harbor... In front of all the world, you and your precious kung fu will die."
Concern flew over their foreheads as the Five wondered what would become of them. Shen relished their misery, sneering snidely at their anguish.
"Heheh... And China will know to bow before me." Yes... Tonight, the entire country would learn of the power he wielded. His deceased parents would wallow in their graves, regretting the day they'd denied him his birthright.
"Set sail!" Waving his wing, Shen commanded his mighty fleet forward.
As the armada moved along the river, the torches shone their intimidating light through the windows of Gongmen City's innocent households, bathing them in a scarlet glow. The city's inhabitants cried out in fear and trepidation at the miraculous arrival of Shen's army.
People sprinted to hide in the darkest corners of their homes, trying their hardest to escape the diabolical gaze of Shen's cannons. Each of Shen's ships being equipped with one of his all powerful weapons, none were willing to stand in his way.
Especially not now, when the Furious Five themselves were being hung from the main mast like a post-battle trophy. Broken and defeated, there was nothing the fearsome warriors could do but wallow in despair.
"Honestly, guys? I never thought I'd die like this. I always thought I'd meet a nice girl and settle down... and then she'd eat my head. So sad." Mantis grimaced, having already given up. The tiny, metal cage that entrapped him was indestructible for one of his size.
At this point, the Furious Five were demoralized beyond repair. There just didn't seem to be any way out. No weaknesses to exploit. No opportunities to pounce on. Shen had accounted for all of their strengths and made sure they could employ none of them. It was both impressive and heartbreaking, knowing that genius could have gone down a better path were things different.
Instead, they'd come face to face with perhaps the most brilliant mind in all of China, and found themselves incapable of overcoming him.
"We cannot give up hope. Po would want us to remain strong. Hardcore. Right?" Peeking around for support, Monkey was stunned but unsurprised to find none. His comrades looked away from him in shame, unable or unwilling to answer.
"Tigress?" Monkey asked, but not even her belligerence could prevent her from understanding the inevitable.
As his fleet sailed further down the river, a line of onlookers wailed as they realized that the bridge they were standing on was in the way of Shen's armada.
"Lord Shen, what about the bridge?" Boss Wolf asked.
''Nothing stands in my way. FIRE!" With not even the slightest hint of hesitation, Shen ordered his cannons to destroy the measly overpass.
As the cannons lined up and aimed at the wooden bridge, the citizens standing atop realized the danger and quickly ran away. Not all of them ended up making it, unfortunately...
*KRAKOOM*
Shredded to pieces by the cannon fire, chunks of wood splintered and shot into the sky as a flurry of red sparks flew alongside them. In a show as gorgeous as it was gruesome, the bridge was transformed into a cacophony of flames and fireworks. The same fireworks that'd once brought the city such joy now heralded only death and suffering.
"You coward!" But Tigress's protests fell on deaf ears.
With the path cleared, Shen's fleet sailed onward. Over the smoldering remains of his final connection with the worthless legacy his parents left, and on into the dawn of a new age. He would take China, and with it the happiness that'd been stolen from him.
But then...
A hush descended upon the torrent of Shen's wolf army as everyone, even Shen himself, took note of a mysterious shadow looming on the horizon. As they drew closer to the final line of buildings decorating the harbor's entrance, the tallest tower among them stood along his path. Standing atop that tower now was an ominous silhouette. Rather... Four ominous silhouettes...
"Uh... who's that?"
Were those... penguins?!
"Um... I don't think this is antarctica, Skipper." Sidling next to his commander, Private giggled nervously at the approaching wave of threatening wolf soldiers.
Undaunted by the overwhelming number of bloodthirsty wolf soldiers, Skipper addressed the tallest penguin of their squad.
"Kowalski! Analysis." He barked.
Swiftly pulling a clipboard and calculator from seemingly nowhere, Kowalski proceeded to expertly observe and examine the enemy logistics. With that task quickly complete, the keen penguin tucked away his tools and met his commander's demands.
"Wolf army that's out for blood. Our blood, most likely. 100 to 1 odds. Enemy is armed and ready. We have no traps, escape routes, or even the tiniest idea of where the heck we are."
Down on the deck of his flagship, Shen looked utterly incredulous at the appearance of these little miscreants. No matter who they were, there was no way they could stop him, so there really wasn't anything to worry about. From the looks of things though, they were still going to try.
"Okay..." He sighed awkwardly, pointing his wing at them and ordering his men to eliminate this "threat".
"Take aim!" Shen yelled, raising his voice enough for everyone to hear but taking care not to strain it. There was no point, since there really wasn't that big of a problem.
Gazing upon the wall of cannons currently being lined up on their position, it looked like the penguins had already given up. And yet despite that, Kowalski flashed a confident smile.
"Permission to engage, sir?"
"Permission granted." Smirking, Skipper swung his flipper to the penguin on his right. "RICO!"
Being a bit on the pudgier side, Rico, as he was called, didn't look to be much. However, as his throat began convulsing, onlookers could only tremble in disgusting curiosity as they wondered what devilry Rico was about to pull off.
"HUUACK!"
Miraculously, Rico vomited up a penguin-sized bazooka!
*CHKCHK*
This technology was wholly unfamiliar to the denizens of Gongmen. Shen's corruption of their fireworks was one thing, but this tubular monstrosity was completely alien to them. However, the device's shape drew an immediate reaction from Shen's army, as did the thunderous clap of its detonation.
*KAAAAPOWWWWW*
The frontmost member of Shen's fleet erupted in a massive explosion of red and orange, the power of Rico's missile having ignited the barrels of gunpowder stashed in the ship's cargo hold. Immediately blown to smithereens, the wreckage provided the penguins with suitable aerial coverage.
"WHAT?!" Shen screeched in terror and fright, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
In the ensuing chaos, the conqueror of Gongmen city acted instinctively, ordering his men to fire at will. There was no debating that these penguins were trouble, and that they had to be snuffed out right this instant.
*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*
A wall of flaming arrows was let loose upon the penguins, Shen's archers firing nonstop by his own command. And yet even still, the penguins did not falter.
"On me, boys. We're going in hot!"
Sliding on their bellies, the squad of penguins skated down the rooftops before launching themselves upwards. Sailing through the air, the penguins skillfully dipped, ducked and dodged the hail of arrows while veering along Gongmen's rooftops. Weaving past a flurry of searing arrows and scalding throwing knives, they made swift progress towards the imprisoned Five.
Despite not knowing them, it didn't take much for the penguins to figure out who the good guys were.
Once more launching themselves into the air with perfect synchronicity, the squad of penguins landed gracefully on the deck of the central ship. Fearsome wolf soldiers fell upon them in a fury, their deadly fangs shining and sharp weapons gleaming. Like a gaping maw, Shen's army appeared to have swallowed the boat in a black abyss of fur and armor.
But just as quickly as they'd surrounded the penguins, the wolves formation was decimated and their members blown away. With lightning reflexes, each penguin had found their role to fulfill. Rico puked up a shinai and had started fighting back against the horde, sliding under their legs and knocking them over before beating them senseless. And when his shinai wasn't enough, he hopped over their shoulders and flung them right into each other.
Private and Kowalski worked in tandem, employing a unique strategy that involved the small but adorable Private standing in the middle of the crowd and playing up the cute factor. Perking up his eyebrows and giving the wolves a big smile, all those who looked at him found themselves incapable of doing anything else. Entranced by the cute and cuddly little penguin, they were fodder for Kowalski who would fly into the fray and knock them unconscious.
Behind it all, Skipper fought his way up to the Five, smacking their guards down into the freezing river while deflecting incoming arrows with his flippers. Taking a paper clip from the same invisible space Kowalski's calculator came from, Skipper bent it and began picking the lock.
"You mind filling us in on the situation, sweet cheeks?" He asked Tigress, maintaining his laidback attitude throughout.
"Shen aims to conquer all of China!" Crane frantically replied.
"If we don't stop him now, who knows what he'll do!" Shaking the loosened chains off her body, Tigress flexed her sore muscles by punching the mast, causing the massive sail to fall onto the boat in front of them.
"Well, we can't let that happen now, can we boys?" Looking back at his teammates, Skipper smirked gleefully.
Rico, Kowalski and Private all nodded affirmatively. As the rest of the Five joined in and aided the penguins fending off Shen's wolves, Tigress tried elaborating on her statement. But Skipper declined to listen, having already heard enough.
"Alright boys, we got our objective!" Grinning, Skipper pointed a flipper at the capital ship. Proudly proclaiming to the world, "Time to defeather the peacock!"
Prioritizing defeating Shen over figuring out where these four penguins had come from, the Furious Five began effortlessly cutting through the throngs of enemies barreling at them. Meanwhile, the penguins dove into the river below, gliding along at a brisk pace and selectively targeting ship crews before silencing their cannons. Even as hordes of wolves tried to stop them, they were nothing before the combined might of the Furious Five and the new arrivals.
But the journey to Shen's flagship wasn't easy. He still had squadrons of archers at his disposal, which he put to good use, peppering them with flaming hot arrows and slowing their progress. The wolves began gathering all around them, swarming the Furious Five in a tornado of blades. But then, a massive black ox came thundering through the crowd. Ramming straight into them and wreaking havoc in their ranks. Not far behind, a crocodile came flying out of the water, kicking two wolves in the face before landing on the deck.
"Vengeance is served." Rising onto his feet, the crocodile flung another hard punch into an attacker's gut.
Stunned, Tigress could hardly believe her eyes.
"Master Ox? Master Croc? What're you-"
"Your friend there is very persuasive." The ox answered brusquely.
Once more, another newcomer made their way onto the scene with fierce fervor. A red panda leapt and bounded across the skulls of his enemies, flinging them into the air and kicking them in their exposed throats. Tossing his staff like a javelin at the wooden ship deck, the red panda landed on the staff's head gracefully.
"Shifu!" The Five cried out.
With a spring in his step uncharacteristic for one his age, the red panda took down their surrounding opponents in expert fashion before joining the group.
"Quickly! Use their boats to block the way!" Gesturing at the entrance to the harbor, Shifu took a sideways glance at the penguins.
While still complete strangers, all parties could tell friend from foe. A tinge of disappointment and sadness ebbed in the red panda's eyelids, but then he steeled his resolve as the Five followed his commands with vigor. Jumping onto the ships closer to the entrance, the Five began annihilating the wolves stationed there. punting their cannons onto the fronts of their boats, causing them to capsize, and gradually constructing an impenetrable wall of wreckages.
"Not bad." Skipper commented.
But there was no time to dawdle, as the penguins slid ever closer to the glamorous ship situated near the end of the fleet. The ship where one angry peacock was glaring madly at them.
How had this happened? Only a few moments ago, he'd been triumphantly sailing past the lowly inhabitants of Gongmen. On his way to announce gloriously to the world that he, Shen, had returned. And that he would take what was rightfully his. But now, with the appearance of these mysterious penguins, all of his plans had gone up in smoke. As the penguins continued easing past all of his seasoned wolf soldiers, Shen knew that if he didn't act now, it wouldn't be long before they reached him.
But he wouldn't let that happen. He'd lost so much, and taken even more so... He would not let it all be for nothing!
"WHY AREN'T WE FIRING?!" Shen bellowed at Boss Wolf.
"They've taken out our gunners, sir! They're getting close!"
Observing the battlefield, Shen found his subordinates words painfully truthful. Nearly all of his cannons had been either knocked over or had their crews beaten down. There was no one left to fire them. Save one...
"FIRE! F-FIRE AT THEM!" Squawking like a madman, Shen wailed at Boss Wolf to light the great cannon that'd been placed atop his capital ship.
The cannon was so large that its cast alone cost a fortune to make, and firing this ultimate weapon required such a vast quantity of gunpowder that it'd become more for show than anything else. But now, with no options left to him, Shen urged Boss Wolf to light the fuse.
"But sir, we'll kill our own!" The wolf flinched, hesitant to fire on his own.
They were, after all, floating right behind the rest of their fleet. Lighting the cannon from this position would eradicate every boat in their way, and result in the deaths of hundreds of their own men. But that was a price Shen had paid once, and was more than willing to do again.
"I SAID FIRE AT THEM! FIIAAAAHHHH!"
Turning around slowly, Boss Wolf gazed despondently at his superior, perhaps finally realizing what kind of person Shen really was, before throwing his torch into the water.
"... No."
*Fwit*Fwit*Fwit*
Shen made him pay dearly for his disobedience by impaling him with his feathered knives. Leaping onto the cannon, he bitterly kicked the dying Boss Wolf off.
Opposite to Shen, the penguins were drawing closer. By now, the Furious Five and the Masters had completely walled off the entrance to the harbor and were hurrying to regroup with them. The distance between Shen and his ultimate downfall grew smaller and smaller as more and more of his soldiers were felled. Soon enough, no one was left to stand in their way. The combined strength of the Furious Five, the three masters, and of course the penguins had defeated his entire army. As they landed on the final boat leading up to Shen's capital ship, the group seemed poised for victory.
"This madness ends now." Skipper remarked.
However, that was when he spotted Shen. Their target was no longer sitting idly by, waiting for their arrival. Having forcefully taken his lieutenant's post on his greatest weapon, the peacock grinned mercilessly as he lit the fuse.
"ABANDON SHIP!" Skipper shouted, his penguins immediately diving into the river to avoid the blast.
Their newfound companions, shocked after hearing the smug penguin sound so frightened, responded by following in their footsteps. Shifu and the Five jumped onto the rooftops while Master Ox and Master Croc leapt out of the river harbor and into the city.
In the end, only one shadow remained on the ship deck. Rico's. Despite his commander's orders, Rico didn't falter. Maybe it was just insane bravado finally taking its toll, or maybe it was experience informing his every move. Regardless, Rico opted to stand his ground. Opening his mouth as wide as he could, onlookers gasped in horror at the sight of this lone penguin attempting to outdo Shen's deadliest weapon.
*POOOMMMFF*
The cannon fired. A brilliant vortex of neon red and yellow streaked towards the opposing penguin. Spectators from both sides stopped and watched as the unstoppable projectile collided with the nascent bird, unleashing a terrible stream of flame and shrapnel that tore the ship to pieces. Erupting in a frenzy of violent, bright colors and consuming the entire line of vision.
Or at least, that's what they all expected to see.
*GULP*
Taking the cannonball down his gullet, Rico's belly briefly glowed. The penguin's face twisted in pain as he was pushed back by the sheer force behind the object he'd just swallowed. But then, just as quickly as it'd entered his stomach, it came roaring right back out.
"HUUACK!"
Shen's eyes grew in disbelief, as did everybody else's. That tiny black and white bird, half the size of his wolf warriors and about the same as one of his own cannonballs, had pulled off the impossible.
He'd swallowed... the cannonball... that was as big as he was... and somehow, through whatever magic was contained in that gut of his... had redirected the projectile while it was still inside of him... puking it out, and firing it back at Shen... without it losing any momentum...
It was almost cartoonish in its absurdity. Those thoughts occupied him more than his oncoming destruction, but reality was far more painful than anything he could imagine.
*KAFWOOOOSH*
From the river emerged a blaring din, such a harsh screech that those close by had their eardrums frayed. As though thousands were simultaneously grinding nails against a chalkboard. The ball of light that sprang out of the carnage was so blinding that even the martial artists, trained under the harshest conditions, could not bear to look. Gradually though, the thunderous bellows and overpowering beams died down.
Returning to the scene, the Furious Five and the other masters surveyed the destruction.
Shen's fleet was no more, either emptied by them and the penguins or wiped out by Shen's hubris. Portions of his ships now floated silently along the river strait, with the vast quantity having sunk to the bottom. His army of elite wolf soldiers had disintegrated in the chaos. With the loss of their leader by Shen's own hands, those left conscious had run away or been captured.
And there, sitting on the monument of his defeat, was the peacock who'd started it all.
Staring vacantly at the ruined scraps of his ultimate weapon. Its mighty barrel split like a wilting flower after Rico sent its own projectile back down its gullet. His ambition of ruling over China was gone. Drowned in the river meant to carry him to it.
*PLOOSH*
"Fish and Chips, man!" Skipper yelled exasperatedly as he, Private and Kowalski leapt out of the harbor.
They'd swam around the water's edges for the previous minute, taking out the few wolves who ended up immersed in the river. The blast hadn't affected them one bit, fortunately. And now, as they observed the handiwork of their teammate, the penguins reacted joyously.
"Crikey!"
"Flibity-Jibbit, man! I'm as juxtaposed as the next hamburger!" Analyzing the wreckage, Kowalski nodded proudly.
"Good work, soldier!" Skipper gave Rico a well-deserved pat on the back. "Now then, it's time to end this peacock, boys!"
Together, the squad of penguins hopped onto Shen's ship where they finally came face-to-face with their target. Shen, now without any means of fulfilling his ambitions, could only stare in disbelief at these four diminutive creatures who'd caused all this. And to think that only a few minutes ago, he'd been on the verge of conquering all of China. And yet to have it all dashed aside by the sudden arrival of these mysterious penguins was absolutely humiliating.
It was unimaginable that such an insignificant quantity had appeared out of nowhere and devastated his invincible army. Where had they come from? Why had he not heard of them before?
"A fitting end, if I do say so myself." Glaring back at Shen, Skipper giggled at his opponent's anguish.
"What?"
"Taken down by your own guns."
Tigress had filled him in on the details already. Even though he'd only listened to the start and a little bit of the end, he easily caught her drift. This "Shen" guy had been abandoned by his parents after overreacting to a soothsayer's predictions. Pretty stupid, if you asked him. Nothing worthwhile ever came out of fortune tellers, so Shen massacring an entire village of panda's was absolutely pointless. It was fitting, then, that he'd been defeated by the very same weapons he had forged.
"That weapon was to herald my retribution!" Shen hissed.
"Just cuz you got cockblocked by your own family doesn't mean you gotta take it out on everyone else, amigo."
The four penguins had all concluded that all of this madness, all of Shen's antics and proclaimed intentions of conquering China, could be summed up as the petty whining of a petulant child. Flung into the real world prematurely, he'd been forced to adapt to a situation that was far beyond his emotional capabilities. Those "wise" parents of his everyone praised made a huge mistake, and exiling him had only exacerbated the problem.
"And what would you know?" Shen retorted, leering at them distastefully.
Skipper scoffed.
"Kowalski."
Upon his commander's orders, Kowalski once again reached into that unknowable, omnipotent pouch and grabbed his tools. Scribbling on his clipboard for a bit, he nodded affirmatively.
"A country is a lot bigger than two people." Seemingly satisfied, Kowalski tucked the clipboard away.
As if that weren't obvious, Skipper shook his head in sad disappointment. Almost mocking Shen for his hubris and complete lack of common sense.
"You've gotta learn to count your blessings, kid." Skipper advised him. The penguins all knew how this was going to end, yet Shen still showed signs of resisting. "You'll have plenty of time to do that where you're headed..."
"Yes..." Shen whispered in a hushed tone. "Maybe..."
Nonchalantly approaching their vanquished opponent, the penguins gestured for their martial artist allies to join them in taking the peacock into custody. But they were hesitant, since even now they knew Shen was still capable of inflicting harm. He was far too clever for his own good, in that regard.
"So what'll it be, then? We doing this the easy way or the hard way?" Bending his flippers as though he were cracking knuckles, Skipper peered at Rico, who quickly puked up a pair of handcuffs.
Eyeing up those restraints, Shen found his resolve.
"You're giving me a choice?" He laughed. "Then, I choose... this!"
*Fwit*Fwit*Fwit*
"Evasive maneuvers!"
Diving away, the penguins managed to dodge Shen's knives by a hairsbreadth. Grabbing his spear's hilt, he broke it free from where it'd been lodged into the ship deck, twirling it around his body with practiced ease. Its razor sharp tip brought so achingly close to those meddlesome penguins, Shen spun in the air and glided like a stunning hawk with his glaive managing to scratch his foes.
Flipping around, overhead, and underneath Shen, the penguins began peppering him with their own attacks while cautiously evading him. Despite flinging his knives at them with endless killing intent, Shen was overburdened. He flared his tail feathers to add an element of unpredictability to his swings, but there would always be a penguin on the opposite side telling his comrades exactly where his blade was headed.
And all along, he continued being bombarded by their simple, light punches. These miniscule penguins were so diminutive that it was a wonder how they'd managed to take down his wolf army. But it was through this fight that Shen came to realize the truth. They did not use strength, but speed and precision.
How were their hits so precise? Each and every one of their flippers was always aimed at a pressure point, slowly weakening him and removing his agency. Whenever he focused on one of them, there would be another penguin behind him. If he didn't do something soon, he would lose control of his body.
And so, refusing to surrender, Shen began thrashing his spear around like a mace. Madly, his spearhead whirled through the air like a demented swan. As his four foes retreated, Shen unwittingly began slicing through the tenuous ropes on his ship.
Ropes which were supporting the tattered remains of his ultimate weapon. But by the time he realized, it was already too late.
"WE'RE LEAVING, BOYS!" Skipper cried out, ordering his men to jettison themselves from the boat.
As his opponents abandoned ship, Shen noticed the growing shadow overhead. Peering above him, he saw the coming steel barrel. For a moment, he considered running. However, he understood that there was simply no time. So, acknowledging the inevitable, Shen accepted his end.
Closing his eyelids, he let himself feel at peace for one final, glorious instant.
*KABOOOOMMM*
An inferno gobbled up the shattered corpse of Shen's fleet, quickly consuming the riverbank in a blanket of smoke. Onlookers were stunned as they beheld the destruction that'd been wrought in their once peaceful city.
And then-
*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*PEW*
Fireworks. A brilliant stream of pink, red, azure, yellow, green, blue, and more poured out of the wreckage. As if the world itself were celebrating Shen's defeat. Still recovering from the shock and horror, the citizens of Gongmen steadily discovered themselves and realized the enormity of what'd just taken place. Shen, that malevolent warlord, had seen his reign quickly overthrown. Now was a time to cheer, not tears.
And so, the people of Gongmen city began to cheer aloud. Clapping their hands, whistling, hugging, some had even begun cooking hearty feasts to feed the gathering swarm. Yes, with such fervor in their hearts, the city would become what'd it once been, given time.
And from the other end, four beaks broke free of the water's surface.
"Nicely done, boys!" Skipper announced.
Swimming back to shore, the penguins gathered around for a celebration of their own.
*SMACK*SMACK*SMACK*SMACK*SMACK*SMACK*
Smacking their flippers together, every member participated in delivering these resounding slaps to commemorate the success of another mission. But soon, they realized that they were not alone.
*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*
In their delight, they'd ignored the growing number of people crowding around them. A crowd that knew who it was to thank for the downfall of that heartless dictator. The Furious Five and the other master martial artists joined in as well, wanting to show these mysterious penguins just how much they appreciated their heroism. An ally from afar, perhaps a team of saviors sent down by the heavens, or whatever they were...
They'd contributed heavily to that day's victory. That was all that mattered.
Standing dumbfounded by the throngs of animals assembling in their vicinity, looking at them reverently and showering them with praise, Skipper and his boys nervously raised their flippers.
"What now, Skipper?" Wondered Private, his voice wobbly under the pressure of so many people.
"Heh. Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave..." Skipper chuckled.
And so the battle ended. And Gongmen city toasted its liberation with fireworks, food, and drink aplenty.
On the outskirts of the city, a lone panda approached. A look of stony determination on his face and a sedge hat on his head. But, seeing the city in such a joyous uproar, he nearly choked on his own saliva. Catching his breath, the big-boned panda coughed in confusion.
"The heck happened?" Po wondered.
0.0
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed that one-shot. While I didn't take this as seriously as "A Demon Among Heroes", I hope you'll do your utmost to deconstruct and critique every aspect of this story, since I have high hopes for my next project and want to be as prepared as I can be. See you in the next!