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I don't own Kung Fu Panda. Oooooh but if I did.

KFP 4 Spoilers and mentions so... read at your own risk?

Po ate hurriedly as he usually did. The Furious Five laughed and chuckled alongside him while they questioned and probed their newest addition. Zhen gulped a bit, nervously shrinking her head as she tried her best to answer the questions. "You don't have to be nervous, Zhen," Po said, nudging her shoulder. "It's alright. Everything is in the past."

"Though if you do make the past present. There will be consequences," Tigress grunted.

"Yeah, yeah I got that much," Zhen shakily smiled. Just then, Shifu came in and sat down at the barracks kitchen table.

"Is everything alright, Master Shifu," Po asked. "You're quiet."

"I'm usually quiet."

"Yeah, but you look like... worried quiet."

Shifu sighed, "Though I am glad that you managed to defeat the Chameleon, I am worried a bit about your Kung Fu abilities to match other villains."

"Come on, Shifu. I'm the Dragon Warrior. Limitless power, remember? Besides, you taught me that a warrior never gives up."

Shifu smirked, "I never actually taught you that. You learned that by yourself and I proceeded to kick you down the 10000 steps." The others laughed while Po chuckled embarrassedly at the memory.

"Yeah, but besides that."

"In either case," Tigress spoke up, "Your Kung Fu does need a little refinement, Po. Someone like Zhen shouldn't have caught you off guard. No offense."

"None taken," Zhen smiled.

"Come on. It's not like she got away with anything," Po argued.

"Yeah but when the Urn of Whispering Warriors has been broken three times, it's time to think of training or early retirement," Crane mentioned. The others snickered though Po's deadpanned face only made them laugh harder.

"Yeah, but don't I already know Kung Fu?"

"You don't practice Kung Fu until you get it right, Po," Shifu said. "You practice until you can't get it wrong. And even then, there's still so much to learn. You still can't defeat Tigress in your spars."

"She keeps catching me off guard," Po argued, narrowing his eyes at the feline. "And that last spar where you used your tail isn't your usual fighting style."

The tiger smirked, "That's beside the point."

Po grumbled as he pouted and crossed his arms. The room went back to their laughing chatter until Zhen's eyes darted from Po to Master Shifu, quietly musing to herself. The red panda saw this. "Is something wrong, Zhen? You seem... concerned."

"I just... I need to get the basics around here. A lot of things don't add up."

"Like what?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Po is the Dragon Warrior, right?" Zhen asked.

Po rolled his eyes. "Yes, we've been over this. I am the Dragon Warrior."

"Okay, okay. Got that. Now, that Scroll with the dragon stuff on it was the thing that's supposed to show the Dragon Warrior how to be the Dragon Warrior. But it's blank and the big heart-warming message is to just be yourself."

"I wouldn't put it that... callously, but yes," Master Shifu muttered.

"Okay, now, Po said that the Dragon Warrior had to learn Kung Fu, inner peace, master chi, and now become the spiritual leader of the valley. AND be a diplomat for warring states and nations, host a masters' dinner, be a teacher, be the liaison between THE Emperor and the masters and the people, and take care of the Jade Palace."

"It's... a lot, but yeah," Po sighed.

Zhen stared at the red panda. "And... you told him he needed to do all of this stuff because he's Dragon Warrior, right?"

"Yes," Shifu said very slowly. "What are you implying?"

"I just have one question," Zhen paused, clasping her hands neatly together on the table. "How did you get all of the stuff Po has to do from a BLANK SCROLL!?"

The room fell silent.

Then Po and Tigress burst into laughter and then the others did the same. Shifu quickly darted his eyes left and right. "I... I don't understand what you-"

"The thing that is supposed to tell someone how to be the Dragon Warrior is blank. I understand every master is supposed to have inner peace and some elite masters should know chi, but where is all of this other stuff coming from, Master Shifu?" Zhen asked.

Po gripped his belly in merriment. "Oh! Oh, my sides!" the large panda exclaimed.

"Well... the Dragon Warrior should know how the Masters' Council works," Shifu pointed out.

"Yes, but it's a Blank Scroll," Zhen shot back.

"The Jade Palace is a center for knowledge and understanding. It has to be protected."

"It's a Blank Scroll."

"And Po should be familiar with diplomacy measures."

"It is a BLANK Scroll."

"And the... Masters' Moon festival dinner is... important!"

"It is a BLANK! SCROLL!"

The others continued to laugh while Shifu simmered quietly. His eyes shot to Po and Tigress on either side of him. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh! Ohhohoh I'm sorry," Po breathed, "I'm just... she finally said the thing that I've been wondering this whole time."

"To be honest, Master Shifu," Tigress coughed and laughed at the same time, "I've always been curious as to where these duties for the Dragon Warrior came from. Some of them seemed... excessive or contradictory."

The red panda sighed, rubbing his temple. "Alright, alright. Some of the duties aren't... really for the Dragon Warrior. A lot of them mimic Oogway's old responsibilities."

"So... you've been trying to replace Oogway with me?" Po asked.

"Not... intentionally. Oogway left a lot of things on the table when he left. And... especially with diplomatic and political tensions, more influence is needed."

"Why not just use the Furious Five?" Zhen asked.

"Which would you listen to? The Emperor or one of his officials?" Shifu explained. "It's the same concept. Even though the Furious Five have done many accomplishments, people don't see that, unfortunately," the red panda frowned, seeing the saddening faces of his students. "While others might not recognize your achievements, I do and I am very proud of each one of you."

"But... you've been giving me duties straight out of your head?" Po asked.

"No, no, some of them are required for every master. A master should know how to teach others. That's why I let you teach the Furious Five for... practice. I knew you wouldn't teach them anything new but they could help you give some feedback. But... the diplomacy things aren't... all necessary. And since you're... technically the future head of the Jade Palace, you're put in the position that Oogway was in."

"And if I... moved?"

"Then I would have to find another person to run the Jade Palace... other than Zhen. No offense."

"Some taken," Zhen muttered. "Which reminds me. Po, why didn't you pick one of the Furious Five to be Dragon Warrior?"

"Because they already told me no."

"What?"

Po chuckled a bit at the fox's reaction. "Yeah, the others have seen me do this thing for a while. I remember asking one time and all of them said-"

"No!" The Furious Five swiftly answered. Po sighed with a small frown of defeat. He felt a striped hand on his shoulder as Tigress passed by and collected his finished plate.

"So... yeah, it was already a no," Po said. "Besides, it worked in your favor."

"How's that?" Zhen asked.

"If the Furious Five were here when you and I fought Chameleon, there's no way they would've let me go with you. You already know what Shifu's opinion was like. Imagine five more versions of that."

"Hey! I take offense to that," Mantis shot up. "We're not mini-Shifus with no heart and soul." The room dropped quiet. The small bug fearfully turned his head towards the red panda. Shifu grumbled lowly as his ear twitched with contained rage. "Uhh no offense, Master Shifu."

"Hmm."

"But Po is right," Tigress said, "I don't believe that we would... allow such a bold-"

"Stupid," Crane, Mantis, and Monkey said.

"Move. But," Tigress continued, "We've learned that Po's choices, however bizarre, are for the best in unusual situations."

"Huh, I guess it was a good thing you guys were on those missions," Zhen mumbled. A soft blackened hand rubbed her upper back. She looked to Po who smiled widely. "By the way, how did those go? I really want to know about your mission, Master Tigress. I mean... chickens?"

The glare Tigress gave told the fox to cease her chuckling. "Eh, don't worry about Tigress," Monkey smirked. "She's like that with everyone at first."

"Not with you guys," Po said.

"She was... younger," Monkey replied. "Anyway, the missions were fine. I'll say this much, it was really weird to go on a solo mission. We're never apart from each other."

"And that's specifically why I had you go on solo missions," Shifu answered, "To strengthen a cart, each of its wheels must be reinforced. Each of your missions was specifically tailored to your abilities and training."

Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey all blinked at each other and then pointed to Tigress who stood by the sink. Her face held a loud question that didn't need to be voiced. The red panda was slow to answer as he visibly tried to find the words. Finally sighing, he said with a defeated voice. "The chickens would've made Monkey laugh non-stop, threatened to eat Mantis or hurt Viper and be jealous of Crane for being able to fly. I needed someone with a strong will to deal with the chickens."

"Ahhhh," The others said before bursting into laughter again. Zhen smiled and watched each of the warriors tell stories and jokes while they sat around the table. She touched her lips and felt a surprise. A smile. A genuine smile that wasn't practiced, scheming, or cocky. She looked to her master. The large panda's brimming lips held the same kind of smile as she did.

Her lips stretched into a wider grin. Maybe she was more like her master than she thought.

The end

A/n: So I want to talk about this fandom. And I know I'm going to get some eyerolls and comments. Kung Fu Panda 4 is admittedly a mixed bag. I've seen it and for some reason, I agree with everyone's opinions. It's mid, it's not as bad as you think, it's likable, it doesn't make any sense, I like the characters, I hate the treatment they gave the Furious Five (Though as I explain in this story, it does make sense why in line with having a character like Zhen along), etc. But here's the thing I noticed.

You look on YouTube, critics and reviewers are going in on the movie. I don't want Kung Fu Panda to get the same treatment Pixar's Elemental did. I love Elemental's story and the characters are purely genuine and relatable. But because of management, Disney's corporate reach, and reviewers talking about it being a flop, a lot of people didn't like the movie.

At first.

Over time, people saw it for themselves and even reviewers had to take their words back. And that's the thing. Judge for yourself. Yes, Hollywood seems to have lost its ability to tell a story simply because we have more businessmen in charge of creative Storytelling rather than creative storytellers in charge of a business.

Lots of fans like or dislike Kung Fu Panda 4 for different reasons. But we should look at the bigger picture here: NEW MATERIALLLLLLL! XD. But seriously, we can get upset and bicker all we want. But I don't want this to stop us from creating. You think you can write it better? Do it. I feel like now more than ever there are fewer creators out there and more repeaters. Remember, everyone doing and saying the same thing isn't what makes us good writers. There is no one secret ingredient to all of this writing. It's just you. All of you.

Now my movie comments: SPOILERS I GUESS

I am debating whether or not to make a 'Fixed it' for Kung Fu Panda 4, but I am glad that Zhen was introduced. Her character does fit, though I think she suffers from the Rey issue: It's not the character that doesn't make sense, it's the people and story around her that don't make sense. I wouldn't say she's a Mary Sue, though. She is likable and does struggle a bit. It's the bare minimum but it's enough for me. I'm more inclined to question why Po is following Shifu at this point. Po is supposed to be the spiritual leader of the valley. But like Po said, "I don't know what that means." And it really does feel like by the third movie, Shifu is just trying to make Po another Oogway. And isn't Shifu supposed to be retired? I feel like the fifth movie should be Po starting to question what HE should do regardless of what Master Shifu tells him. HE should take things slow because it really does feel like Shifu is rushing him. Also, though I love that Zhen's an orphan, WHAT THE HECK! Like are there NO Parents in China at all? The orphan list is: Zhen, Po, Tigress, Tai Lung, and if we count legends of awesomeness, Shifu and Monkey (It's kind of alluded to that Monkey's mother was an only parent, but I don't know). And, does it bother anyone else that it feels like the Valley of Peace village has gotten much smaller over time? And, no one knows Po in Juniper City? Really? Is that like a call back from Kung Fu Panda 3? It was funny then but it got old quick. The biggest thing, the movie just felt... rushed. Like it feels like movies now don't allow for many slow moments or the tone just feels offputting. Or they put scenes that don't make sense for filler. For example, I love the two, but why are Mr. Ping and Li-Shan here? Do we really need ALL the scenes explaining how they got there? The conversations they have make sense, but it just felt... weird. I LOVE how Tai Lung gave Po enough respect to recognize that he wouldn't willingly give the staff up. He wasn't as mean to Po as he could've been and that's good. He was just... honest about Po's failure, and I like that. Blunt but not overly brutal. AND ANOTHER THING? Why does Oogway's staff have that much power? I thought the power came from Po. Like I said, it's a mess, but there are enough pieces from the wreckage to make more stories and THAT's why we're here! :D

Also, for the month of April 2024, I will be posting stories more frequently. I wanted to ask if, for the 'short attention span generation' (whatever that stereotype means), if I should write longer chapters with more info and detail or keep things the way I do it. I tend to underwrite and I just wanted to check in with you.

As for the writing frequency, I've taken a challenge to myself to write and edit as much in the previous month to see if it is really hard to write a full story in a given time frame. Typically, and this is actually surprising, it takes 12 weeks for movie writers. Which for me if I focus, is too much time. But I decided to write and edit through the whole of the previous month. Now, to be honest, this was the 'serious' writing period. A lot of these stories were in the makes long before (I think one of them took some months), but I pushed myself to make some crunch time to see how I would perform. I tried my best not to burn myself out or put too much pressure on myself as you've probably seen in my Oneshot stories. So... for the next few days, I will be posting the results of that crunch time. One story and one (Still in the works) episodic story, kind of like Adventures of Chaos.

Wow, this is the longest A/N I've ever written. Also, to answer the question why I tend not to do these is because I was always taught that that was a bad thing to do. If your story is good, people will comment on it without the author's note. For me, I thought the author's note would distract people from the story. Apparently not now.