Shoot The Messenger
One week has passed after the "Kung Fu Outlawed" was resolved. Leo and the rest of the Five surrounded Monkey in their respected stances. Monkey was armed with his bamboo staff.
"Monkey in the middle!" Monkey exclaims. He leaps high into the air.
Tigress jumps forward to attack, but Monkey lands on her head and hits her in the back before landing on the ground. Viper quickly wraps her body around the staff as Mantis kicks the staff in half. This allowed Crane to grab the broken staff and Tigress tackles Monkey down to the ground. Monkey started kicking her head with his feet while the feline was holding his wrists tightly.
"Crane, Mantis, feet!" Tigress ordered. Crane and Mantis grabs Monkey's feet. Monkey use tail to hit Tigress's head repeatedly. "Viper!" Viper wraps up Monkey's tail.
Leo saw Monkey was going to do a headbutt to stun Tigress. The second Monkey lifts his head, the human grabs Monkey and puts him in a strong hold with his right arm close to Monkey's neck as his left hand was on the hand.
"Now finish him, Po!" Tigress shouted. But there was no finishing attack from the Dragon Warrior. "P-Po?" The feline looks up and sees Po guiding a line of villagers in a single file.
"All right. Right this way, everyone. Good, good." Po said.
"Can you sign this to Yang, my bestest buddy ever?!" Chang asked with excitement.
"Heh. You got it." Po chuckled as he receives a scroll and a brush. "Never give up!"
"Po." Tigress said annoyed, trying to get his attention.
"Give me a few minutes! Just signing some autographs for my panda pals!" Po called as he continues to sign more autographs.
The rest of the Five released Monkey and stands up. Leo, however, did not release Monkey from his hold. He locks his hands together tightly to make sure Monkey doesn't break free or choke him. This is only training. Leo kept his eye on Monkey since Monkey is cleaver with pranks and sneak attacks.
"Alright, Leo." Monkey taps Leo's wrist. "You can let go of me now, Leo."
Leo nodded his head and let go of Monkey as the two stand up and watches Po continue signing autographs to his panda pals. As the rest of his friend's had their guards down, Monkey grabs one of the broken staff and hits Mantis, Crane, Tigress and Viper. He was going to hit Leo on the head with a short jump, but the human simply dodges the attack and snatches the staff out of Monkey's head and hit him on the head.
"Ah." Monkey moaned, rubbing his head. "Thanks, Po."
"You're welcome for whatever." Po said as he was distracted for signing another scroll. "Master Po says go, go, go! Heh heh. That's a good one, don't you-"
The Five frowns at him. Leo crossed his arms over his chest. He walks away from The Five and walks by an old goat he hadn't notice. The old goat was wearing a white robe and small glasses.
"My name is Kweng and-"
"I have something important to attend to right now. Talk to Tigress who can help." Leo said, ignoring the old goat as he leaves the courtyard.
Kweng followed his suggestion and walks up to Tigress. "My name is Kweng and-"
"Yeah. The master you're looking for is right over there signing autographs." Tigress said.
The old goat notices Po signing autographs. He pushes his way through a few fans to stand in front of the Dragon Warrior. This caught the attention of Po and a few fans. "This is for you." he shows the scroll to him.
"Interesting. But I have something for you. It's called a line." Po said to him. "If you want to be one of my panda pals, then you need to learn politeness and be at the end of the line."
Kwang looks at the fans and walks to the end of the line as Tigress rejoined the others.
Meanwhile, Leo was going through a scroll in the library. He finished reading the scroll and puts it back on the shelf. The young man was not surprise that the answer was not in that scroll. Leo places it back on the shelf and looks at the other shelves. There were many scrolls in the library.
"I should head back to the courtyard." Leo muttered. He left the library and heads back to the courtyard.
"Let's quit dilly-dallying so we can get back to training." Po said. He bumps into Tigress.
"Then might I suggest we do panda in the middle?" Leo suggested.
They got into their stances.
"Heh." Po chuckles nervously.
"Stop what you're doing." Shifu said, exiting the Training Hall.
His students stands up straight and looks at their master as he walks to them.
"What is it, Master Shifu?" Leo asks him.
"The two warlords, Chee-Gwan and Can-Shoo, declared war against one another's clans." Shifu answered.
"What?!" Tigress gasps.
"Is that so surprising?" Po asked.
"Po, this is serious." Leo turns to look at him.
"It is." Shifu replied, walking up to his students. "There is a draft of a peace treaty that has been dispatched to me via messenger from the Kung Fu Express."
"Messenger? As in a humble messenger?" Po widen his eyes in shock.
"That is correct, most likely a goat. I am to take look at the peace treaty and make any changes that I deem necessary. If there is one wrong word in that treaty, it'll spark a conflict that plunges all of China into a thousand years of war."
Leo folded his arms in silence.
"Master Shifu, just out of curiosity, is "Always Keep Fighting, Never Surrender" wrong words?" Po asked nervously.
"Yes it is, Po." Shifu answered. "Those are the wrongest words imaginable."
"Then it's a good thing no one used them." Po smiles nervously.
"Now, continue your training. And keep an eye out for that messenger." Shifu said to them before walking away.
Po took a few steps forward thinking of what he should do. He bumps into Tigress and notices Leo and the Furious Five got into their stances.
"Now, shall we begin?" Leo asked.
"Heh." Po chuckles nervously. "I just remember there's something important I have to take care of. Bye!"
Leo stands up and watches Po leaving the courtyard with Tigress going after him. "I'll see you later." Leo said to Viper before leaving the courtyard. He made it down to the valley. Some of the citizens said hi to Leo while others were talking about the war between the two clans.
This reminded him about The Great War. There were many lives lost. As Leo walking through the village, he saw Chen and Yang running up to him. "Chen? Yang? What is it?"
"Po, Tigress and Lam found Mr. Impatient and going to get the scroll." Yang answered.
"A scroll? What kind of scroll?"
"A peace treaty scroll."
"What?!" Leo gasps, realizing what the two kids meant. "When did it came?"
The two children explains to him what happened. Leo shook his head in annoyance. "I can't believe he wrote that down. Where are they right now?"
"Up there in the blimp." Chen pointed above the sky. "They're on their way to the Kung Fu Express."
Leo looks up and notices the blimp in the sky. It was already leaving the valley. He slaps his forehead thinking "Son of a bitch!" Leo began to chase after the blimp, leaving the two kids in the village. The young man kept running through the bamboo forest, keeping an eye on the blimp.
He made several turns while the blimp was going left and right. Leo couldn't hear what was going on but he saw that the blimp was flying in a straight line. He took short breaths for several seconds. Leo has been running for nearly forty-five minutes. The young man saw Po crash into one of the propellers as the panda hangs on to a scroll.
"Shit!" Leo cursed. He resumes running after the blimp. When Leo looks up, he saw Po hanging onto a rope with Tigress and Lam hanging onto Tigress's tail. "How the hell did that little get up there?" He watches Po and the other two get back inside the blimp. But he notices the blimp was beginning to descend rapidly after it loses the propeller. Leo stops and watches the blimp crashed into a small temple.
Leo picks up the pace much more quickly. He made it to the base of the mountain and ran on the stairs all the way to the top. "I made... it..." Leo panted, wiping his forehead. He walks over to the ruined blimp. "Po? Tigress? Sir?" There was no one on the blimp. "They're not in the blimp. Hm?" Leo turns around and hops onto a boulder. He looks across the field down below and saw Scarlet smirking with arms crossed. "What's he doing here?" Leo wondered. He was about to leave and shook his head. "I'll find out later. What's that?"
The young man can hear chanting coming from the hole. He walks silently near the hole and looks down in time to hear a gong ring. Several goats leaps at Po and Tigress. One of the goats puts a chain lock on Po and Tigress. Leo dives into the hole and landed safely onto the top floor. He looks over the railing and notices Lam waking up.
She was several floors beneath him. The goats were distracted, giving Leo to move silently. He made it to the third floor and saw Lam hiding behind a column. "Lam." Leo called softly.
Lam turns her head to the left and gasps in delight. She runs up him. "What are yo-" Lam asked, but Leo place a finger on her lips.
"Be careful." Leo spoke softly. "We don't want to get caught."
Lam nodded her head and Leo moves his finger away. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly.
"I should be asking you that." Leo spoke. "Now Lam, we a need distraction to set Po and Tigress free." They both heard a sound coming from below and notices Po and Tigress in a paw stand, fighting off the goats. "Okay, that works. But we need a key to unlock that chain." He saw a goat with a clipboard and a brush as both warriors broke free from the goats. Leo hops over the ledge and lands on the goat, knocking him out. The young man grabs the brush and rushes over to them.
"Leo!" Tigress gasps.
Leo begins to pick the lock. The goat from earlier wakes and grabs a crossbow.
"Hurry, Leo!" Po shouted.
The chain unlocks and Leo deflected the arrow with the chain. The arrow bounces off the column. It knocks the scroll out of Kweng's hoof and fell to the trio. Tigress rushes to her boyfriend and jumps towards him. Leo cups his hands together and gave Tigress a boost to jump much higher in the air. She kicks off a column and another, just in time to grab the scroll and fell.
The goat from earlier woke up and fired the arrow to knock out the scroll from the feline's paw. Leo saw the scroll landing in the hooves of another goat from the rail. Tigress landed on a cart and Po was sent flying in the air and grabs the railing. He quickly jumps to a column and saw the same goat preparing to fire another arrow at Tigress.
"Watch out!" Lam shouted.
"Oh no you don't!" Leo yelled, letting go of the column and did a straight down elbow strike to the goat's head.
The goat fired the arrow before losing conscious. Tigress jumps above the arrow and the arrow bounces off two columns and hits the Dragon Warrior in his ass just as he grabs the scroll. He grabs the goat and both of them fell. Leo and Tigress watch Po and the goat fight in midair for the scroll. Po lands on a shelf with legs apart, causing the shelf to fall onto another shelf until all the shelves fell down like dominoes.
"Shit!" Leo cursed.
After sliding down the shelf, Po walks up them as he was massaging his tenders. The scroll landed next to them until it covered with a bunch of other scrolls that was knocked over.
"This is going to take a while." Po said, looking at the scrolls.
"No shit." Leo said. "We need to find the scroll that has a red line."
The three of began searching through the scrolls.
"Have you checked this one?"
"This is not it."
"Not over here."
Kweng lands on the floor. "No unauthorized handling!" he shouted. "Stop them!"
Several goats landed and attacked them. Leo steps to the side, avoiding a dash attack from a goat and pushes him into a column. He watches the goats picking the scrolls up. They don't have the scroll they're looking for.
"I got it, I got it!" a goat said, waving the scroll. The goat began to run from the trio.
Leo quickly tackles the goat to the ground and picks up the scroll. But another goat kicks him in the back and landed in the goat's hooves. Po uses his belly to attack the goat forward, forcing the goat to let go of the scroll. and landed back in Po's paws.
But another goat dives from the side and got the scroll from Po. The goat dodges Tigress's kick as she kicks Po in the jaw by mistake and handed it over to Kweng before leaving. All four of them stares at one another.
"Who are you people?" Leo asked.
"I am Master Kweng." Kweng introduced himself.
"We want the scroll, Kweng. Delivering that scroll will start a war and we won't let you take it back until we make the changes in that scroll you're holding." Leo said.
"That is not my concern." Kweng said. "I will still deliver this message as the founder of the Kung Fu Express."
"Founder of the Kung Fu Express?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"That is right. The building we're all standing in is the Kung Fu Express Headquarters." Kweng explains.
Leo took a closer look and notices a few scrolls were open. There was a couple important documents and he saw another cart full of scrolls on the far side of the room. "You got to be fucking kidding me." Leo said. "And I bet that those goats are messengers."
"Right again."
"There's no way in hell you're delivering that scroll." Leo said seriously. He shifts into his tiger stance.
Po and Kweng stares at each other while growling at one another.
Leo lets out a loud fierce growl to end their little "growling contest" and quickly lunges at the goat. Kwang easily dodge the lunge by jumping over him. Po and Tigress both try to hit the old goats and were using two long scrolls to capture him. But the old goat duck and evaded the scrolls.
"I'm most impressed by your skills." Kweng said. "You're welcome to join my team with four weeks of vacation."
"No way." Leo said as Po and Tigress caught the old goat. "It's over. We're not letting you to deliver the scroll that will start a war between the two clans."
"You misunderstand." Kweng looks at him. "Chee-Gwan and Can-Shoo are both coming here with their clans to pick up the scroll right now."
"What?!" Leo gasps. He watches Kweng jumps and spins in the air, forcing Po and Tigress to let go and slam into the columns before Kweng escapes through the hole above them. Leo notices Lam falls over the railing from the hit the column received. His fiery wings spread from his back and he flew up and caught her. The young man flew through the hole and sets her down. He walks out of the temple and sees two big gorillas standing very close to each other. One of them was carrying an axe and the other was carrying a stone hammer.
"I received a note that our package is here." Cheen-Gwan said.
"I saw it first!" Can-Shoo argued.
"Well I touched it first!"
Kweng lifts the scroll. "A message sent, must be delivered." Kweng said, handing over the scroll to Chee-Gwan.
Po and Tigress joined them.
"We... we failed." Tigress said when she saw the scroll.
Leo folded his arms.
Chee-Gwan read the scroll and gasps. "Check it out. It's an autograph from the Dragon Warrior! I totally love that guy." he said showing the scroll to Can-Shoo.
"Oh my gosh! Me too. He's like awesome."
Po, Tigress and Lam was confused at this. Leo faced palm, realizing that these two warlords are fans of the Dragon Warrior.
"I guess we do have something in common after all." Cheen-Gwan said.
"Yeah. I don't remember what we were feuding about." Can-Shoo said.
Leo looks up to see both leaders drop their weapons and hugs each other.
"My brothers!" Po exclaims, walking past Leo. "I'm so glad this worked out."
"Oh my gosh, it's the Dragon Warrior!" Cheen-Gwan gasps. Both leaders bowed to him. "We thank you, O Dragon Warrior, for bringing peace to our kingdoms."
"Your autograph will be displayed in a place of honor at my palace from this day forward." Can-Shoo said.
"That's fine, but at my palace." Cheen-Gwan looks at him.
"Nuh huh!" Can-Shoo argued.
"I declare war!" Cheen-Gwan lifts his weapon.
"No, I declare war first!" Can-Shoo argues at his brother.
Leo ran by Po and caught both weapons before they collide with one another. "There will be no need for war, you two. I'm sure we can work things out peacefully." he said.
"And I think I know how." Po said.
Half an hour later, the Dragon Warrior was finished signing a second autograph while Leo was finishing up two peace treaties. Both leaders signed the treaties and leaves happy with both autographs and treaties.
"That... was historical!" Lam explains.
"So how did you not notice that you were signing a peace treaty, Po?" Leo asked Po.
"I thought Kweng was just another fan." Po answered.
"Next time, read the scroll before you sign it." Leo said. "I'm glad that those two warlords are happy with what we gave them."
"And next time you should look before heading off." Kweng said, walking up to them.
"What are you talking about?" Po turns to the old goat.
"He was the one who told me to speak to Tigress." Kweng pointed a hoof at Leo. "Then Tigress said that the master was signing autographs."
Po and Lam were shocked to hear that.
"We should... get back to the Valley Of Peace." Leo said, turning his head away from them. "The others might be wondering where we are right now."
They arrived back at the Valley Of Peace. Lam rejoins her two friends as Leo, Tigress and Po heads back to the Jade Palace. Viper asked him where did he, Po and Tigress go, but he didn't answer her. Leo was meditating in silent at the Peach Tree. He stands up and turns around to see Tigress.
"We need to talk about how you almost fucking created a war." Tigress said sternly.
"Tigress, how the hell should I know that a peace treaty was coming here?" Leo asked her. "I thought Kweng was just another one of Po's fans."
"That's what I thought too. You could've stopped and asked that humble messenger what was the scroll for!" she snaps at him.
"You sent him over to Po for an autograph!"
"Because of you, Leo! That's your fault!" Tigress sternly snaps at him. "If you didn't went to the library today, then Shifu would've made changes on that peace treaty!"
"Tch!" Leo sneers at her.
"Leo, what's important in that library?"
Leo swallowed hard. He couldn't explain his reason now. The young man turns his back on her.
"Tch." Tigress shakes her head and left.
Leo looks over his shoulder and watches her leave the hill. "I hope one day you'll understand." Leo whispered. He sits down with his legs crossed. Leo knew things were about to get tough for him to keep these secrets from them.
Not bad for chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review!