Before Setting Sail
Return To The Valley
"How are you feeling today?" asked Peng.
"Still can't move," Po frowned.
"I hate to say this, Po," Peng told him. "But with your broken bones, you may have to wait a while before they get healed."
"How long did you say it would take again?" asked Po, hoping he'd get a different answer.
"It depends on the type of bones that get broken," Peng looked down. "But in your case, I'd say a few months."
"Oh great," Po frowned.
"Is there anything we could do?" asked Wandering Blade.
"In this case, just wait for Po to heal and hope Junjie never finds you guys here," Peng said realistically.
"Say Po, do you remember that time you fought against the Rock Demon of Mount Hua?" Mr. Ping suddenly remembered. "During that battle you got injured but remember how you got healed?"
Suddenly, Po's eyes widened in pleasant surprise as he remembered what happened on that previous adventure.
"I remember!" Po recalled. "You found the rare Shenzu Lotus on that mountain. After I narrowly stopped the Rock Demon, I got banged up real bad… but when you chopped the lotus up and fed it to me as soup, I got better the next morning!"
"And remember, I had a spare lotus left that I kept in the kitchen of the old noodle shop," Mr. Ping beamed.
"That's great, dad!" Po smiled. "We can go back and retrieve it! Say, where did you put it again?"
"Oh, I think it's in the box across from the pot," Ping noted.
"The Shenzu Lotus, huh?" Peng looked surprised. "I thought those were the stuff of legend, said to be able to heal any wounds or diseases."
"They're real," Po confirmed. "Back then, I might've been a goner if my dad hadn't cooked it for me."
Peng looked down thoughtfully.
"If what you say is true, we could try to retrieve this rare vegetable and use it to cure Po," Peng realized. "I'll close my school for the next few days just in case but I think it's time I made a journey back to the Valley of Peace."
"Want us to come with you?" asked Akna.
"Thanks but I think it's best we don't take a big crowd back to the Valley," Peng told her. "Besides, no offense but some of you do stick out since some of your species aren't native to China. If Junjie has troops scouring the Valley of Peace, you'll be caught instantly."
"Well, less work for me then," Rukhmini sat back in a rocking chair.
"This is a mission that requires stealth," Peng told them. "Klaus, I want you to come with me."
"Really?" asked Klaus. "Why me?"
"The good news is that there are weasels native to China so all that's needed is a change of clothes for you," Peng informed him. "Also, I'll need a lookout and backup if we get in a tight situation. Think you can help me?"
"Considering Po helped me, I'll gladly do the same for him," Klaus agreed.
"Thanks buddy," Po smiled at Klaus.
"Remind me what the lotus looked like again?" Peng asked Mr. Ping.
"Oh, it's a lotus with a brilliant blue hue," Mr. Ping responded. "It's real eye catching."
"That's all I needed," Peng nodded. "Klaus, come with me. Before we head out, we're going to get you a change of clothes."
oooo
"Are you sure you don't need assistance?" asked Luthera.
"Trust me, the smaller the numbers for this mission, the better," Peng confirmed.
Klaus meanwhile was decked out in a more traditional Chinese outfit while wearing a cone hat on his head.
"We'll be fine," Klaus told her. "Once we get what we need, we'll come back immediately."
"Lian, I'm counting on you to keep our school and our guests safe," Peng hugged his wife.
"Good luck Peng," Lian agreed.
"Alright, let's go," Peng motioned for Klaus.
oooo
"Wow, I didn't expect the Emperor to already have his troops here," Peng looked around Po's hometown.
All around the town were the Emperor's forces.
"Well, this isn't good," Klaus peeked out from under his cone hat.
In front of the parade of troops was Master Pai Mei and Temutai. Both villains were waiting in line as an elephant overseer for the town walked up to them.
"May I inquire as to why the Emperor decided to array all his forces here?" asked Constable Hu.
"There's been a regime change," Pai Mei told him behind his squadron of rhino soldiers. "And you can consider me Emperor Junjie's personal inspector."
"I see," Hu nodded nervously. "So, um, is there any particular reason you're here or is there anything you need?"
"We're here to find the Dragon Master," Pai Mei told him. "As of now, anyone harboring Po will face swift justice!"
"I see," Hu answered uncertainly. "However, Po isn't residing here anymore…"
"I will be the judge of that," Pai Mei told him.
"Search this town!" Temutai ordered.
At once, the rhinos spread out and began looking inside the shops and restaurants. Meanwhile, Peng and Klaus decided to hide behind a bush.
"That monkey's Pai Mei by the way," Klaus whispered to Peng.
"Wait, the Pai Mei?" Peng looked at Klaus as the two hid in the crowd. "The one who defeated an entire army belonging to a previous Emperor?"
"I'm afraid so," Klaus confirmed. "He's like a living Tianshang weapon. Trust me, I found out the hard way."
"This mission is going to be harder than I thought," Peng shook his head. "Pai Mei is an army-destroyer and his companion Temutai knows who I am."
"So what do we do?" asked Klaus. "We can't just come here and go back empty-handed."
"I agree, but we can't do much with all these troops swarming the valley," Peng told him. "We wait until nightfall and then we go retrieve the Shenzu Lotus from Ping's Noodle Shop."
Klaus perked up, realizing their mission might be successful after all.
"This mission requires a lot more stealth," Peng confirmed.
oooo
Later that night, there were fewer of Junjie's soldiers going around the town.
Looking up, Peng saw the Jade Palace and judging from the bright lights up there, he could only assume Pai Mei and his soldiers were using the place as room and board for the night, considering Shifu and the Furious Five were elsewhere.
"We're good to go," Peng told Klaus.
The two walked towards Ping's restaurant in the dead of night. Peng was the first to take a look around. So far, there were no rhino sentries inside at all.
"Looks like we're clear," Peng told him.
The two walked inside the now-closed restaurant and looked around.
"This looked like a nice restaurant once," Klaus remarked.
"This was Mr. Ping's pride and joy once," Peng agreed. "Say, just in case we're found out, can you fight?"
"Well, I'm not a kung fu fighter but I do have experience with daggers," the weasel confirmed. "Also, I recently discovered I have wind magic so there's that."
"Wind magic, huh?" Peng raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
Peng was the first to leap over the restaurant counter and soon, Klaus followed him.
"Everything here seems to be exactly where Mr. Ping said it was," Peng looked around.
Finally, Peng saw a box next to the pot.
"It's here!" Peng opened up the box and took out the blue lotus they were looking for.
"Great!" Klaus exclaimed.
Suddenly, something else caught his attention. It was a jade stick with a ying yang symbol at the top. The weasel, however, had no idea of its significance.
"Say, what's this?" Klaus peered at the jade weapon curiously.
"Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, I think this is the staff of Oogway," Peng noted. "Maybe we should take this with us as well. Call it a hunch but it might help us out."
Peng picked up the staff and took it with him along with the blue lotus.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Peng said to the weasel.
As weasel and snow leopard headed towards the exit, a small figure leaped over the roof and flipped down onto the ground before them. Before long, a large menacing figure stepped through the front entrance as well.
"Oh no," Peng realized.
"You thought you could get away?" asked Pai Mei. "You thought wrong!"
"How did you find us?" demanded Klaus.
"I recognized your weasel snout in the audience when I arrived," Pai Mei told them. "Naturally, it didn't take long before I deduced you wanted something from that panda's hometown noodle shop."
"I see you didn't bring your men," Peng noted.
"Actually, I wanted to bring them over but Pai Mei insisted on this," Temutai didn't look too happy.
"They will only slow me down," Pai Mei replied simply. "And since Shifu currently isn't in town, I sent all those rhinos to the Jade Palace to throw themselves a drunken party so I could have this mission to myself!"
"You seem to be forgetting I'm RIGHT HERE!" Temutai glared at him.
As Pai Mei got in a fighting stance, Peng readied himself.
"This isn't good," Peng told Klaus. "Pai Mei defeated an entire imperial army on his own. The only other person in China who ever did anything close to that level was my uncle when he escaped prison and defeated a thousand rhino soldiers."
"Any chance your uncle could show up and help us?" asked Klaus nervously.
"He's dead," Peng frowned.
"Oh…" Klaus felt a bit embarrassed. "Eh… sorry about that."
"Enough!" Pai Mei cried.
Pai Mei attacked first. Peng avoided his punches initially but the tamarin monkey wouldn't let up.
Peng launched a kick to Pai Mei's head but Pai Mei caught his kick with one hand and flung Peng into a wall.
"Agh!" Peng cried.
As the young snow leopard got up, Pai Mei balanced himself on his tail in a taunting manner. As Peng attacked again, Pai Mei flipped over him and kicked Peng in the back, knocking him to the floor.
"Take that!" Klaus blasted a gust of wind at Pai Mei.
Pai Mei skillfully dodged the wind attack and came in, driving his elbow into the stomach of Klaus, knocking him back into one of the tables. As Peng got up again, Pai Mei struck him multiple times in the face and chest, knocking him back into the wall with a kick.
As Klaus got up, he saw Pai Mei coming at him with both palms glowing and realized what a dire situation he was in. Klaus quickly rolled out of the way as Pai Mei destroyed the ground he was formerly standing on. The weasel drew back and unleashed wind blast after wind blast, avoiding the fatal touches.
"Your counters are very interesting," Pai Mei said in almost a casual tone as he forced the frantic Klaus to dodge his blows powered by the Five Fingered Blast Punch.
Klaus landed on one of the tables but Pai Mai instead launched a variation of his usual chi attack, planting his hand onto the ground and sending a direct stream of energy via Five Fingered Blast Punch towards the table, powering it up.
"What?!" Klaus cried, not realizing Pai Mei could pull off ranged attacks.
Klaus leaped off the table but not in time. The explosion rocked him, sending him crashing against the wall, leaving an imprint.
Temutai went over and grabbed Klaus, lifting him up.
"Now, let us return him to Junjie and find the location of the others!" Temutai declared.
From the side, Peng leaped in and kicked Temutai in the face, knocking him back and forcing him to drop Klaus, whom Peng caught.
"You again!" Temutai cried.
Quickly, Peng leaped into action, hitting Temutai with multiple powerful blows, knocking him to the floor. However, Pai Mei came in, striking Peng and knocking him into Klaus.
"I imagine you two are here to find a cure for Po after his grievous injuries at the hands of Kim the Invincible?" asked Pai Mei. "A cure perhaps in the form of the… Shenzu Lotus?"
At once, Pai Mei revealed he had already swiped the flower from Peng during their fight.
"No!" Peng cried.
"I already found out about it during my daytime search of this Valley," Pai Mei told them. "I then deduced that Po's allies would be coming for a rare lotus such as this. It's too bad, really."
Pai Mei ignited the lotus with the Five Fingered Blast Punch.
"Stop!" Peng shouted.
Both Peng and Klaus charged him but Pai Mei threw the ignited flower into the kitchen and then knocked both combatants back with a slap of his tail. Then the lotus exploded inside, igniting the whole kitchen and setting Ping's Noodle Shop on fire.
"How could you?!" Peng roared.
At once, Pai Mei revealed a couple of pebbles in his hand. He ignited one pebble and flicked it at Peng's feet, knocking the snow leopard back with an explosion.
"Peng!" Klaus cried.
Pai Mei ignited another pebble and flicked it at Klaus who knocked away the explosive pebble with a wind barrier but accidentally knocked it back into the restaurant, destroying another portion of it.
"No!" Klaus realized what he had done.
Quickly, Pai Mei kicked Klaus, knocking him on his back. To his side, Klaus suddenly noticed the staff of Oogway to his right.
"A valiant effort, boy," Pai Mei complimented. "But sadly, the two of us are playing on different levels! I play on a higher plane like a hawk in the sky while you are on a lower plane like an earthworm!"
Suddenly, Klaus felt a certain calling from Oogway's jade staff. He didn't even know what it was but it almost seemed like the jade staff was beckoning him.
"Time to end this," Pai Mei powered up his palms.
Immediately, Klaus grabbed Oogway's staff as a huge surge of chi power overtook his body.
"What?!" Pai Mei was taken aback.
Klaus swung the staff, unleashing a much more powerful burst of wind that struck Pai Mei, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a local temple's bell tower.
"Klaus?" Peng got up.
Finally, the glow seemed to settle down as even Klaus looked around, wondering what he had just done.
"I… I have no idea what I just did," Klaus shook his head.
"Well, we can figure it out later," Peng told him. "Come on. Let's get out of here for now."
Realizing they had lost the key ingredient to possibly curing Po, Klaus knew there was no other option. However, the jade staff he held in his hand was something they couldn't just leave aside for the villains.
Both weasel and snow leopard quickly fled the scene as Temutai got up, shaking his head.
oooo
"They're back," Rukhmini pointed out as Peng and Klaus entered through the front gate.
"So how'd it go?" asked Colin.
"Our mission… failed," Peng admitted.
"Wait, what?" asked Mr. Ping.
"They set a trap for us," Peng responded. "The lotus we were supposed to retrieve got destroyed… Pai Mei destroyed it along with the Noodle Shop. I'm sorry."
"Wait, my noodle—" Ping's mouth opened up in shock.
The stress was too overwhelming for him as Mr. Ping fell back. Fortunately for him, Forouzan was able to catch him.
"We'll work through this, dear," Forouzan told him.
Meanwhile, an injured Po in the sling looked like he'd lost all hope.
"None of this sounds good," Akna confessed.
"Not quite," Peng told them. "But there is something you need to know, Po. During the battle, something happened with Klaus."
Po tilted his head to see Klaus with Oogway's staff.
"Oh man, that's Oogway's staff!" Po exclaimed. "How could I have been such a dunce to leave it back in the old noodle shop?!"
"Klaus was able to activate it and use it to buy us time to escape," Peng told Po.
"Wait, he did what?" Po looked shocked.
oooo
"He's got to be here somewhere," Temutai and his rhino soldier searched through the rubble.
"I say, what's the meaning of all this?" asked Constable Hu as the elephant arrived on the scene.
"Those fugitives escaped us and it is all that stupid monkey's fault!" Temutai raged. "If he had taken troops like I'd recommended, we would have those two for questioning by now!"
Suddenly, something within the temple rubble began to stir. At once, a powerful streak of energy ran through the temple rubble before igniting and exploding to reveal Pai Mei with damaged clothes.
"Say that again, Temutai," Pai Mei warned.
The tamarin monkey was both injured and enraged, but still alive and able to go.
"Oh, you're still alive?" Temutai glared at him. "Very well, if it weren't for you and your big ego, we would've captured those fugitives by now, you bearded imbecile!"
"Is that so?" Pai Mei's eyes gleamed dangerously. "As I recall, you weren't much help yourself when I was doing all the heavy lifting."
"I've had just about enough of your disrespect!" Temutai glared at him.
"Uh, gentlemen?" Constable Hu looked at the two nervously as the rhino soldiers whispered amongst themselves.
"Oh really?" Pai Mei beckoned. "Then do something about it, you oversized lummox!"
"That's it!" Temutai screamed.
The water buffalo punched at Pai Mei with all his might.
However, even in his wounded state, Pai Mei caught the punch, holding it in place despite his small size and Temutai's massive frame.
"Challenging me head on will be your first and last mistake," Pai Mei promised.
Instantly, the energy from Pai Mei's Five Fingered Blast Punch surged into Temutai's fist… and then into his arm… and soon, the rest of his body.
"What… what are you doing to me?!" Temutai cried as he felt chi surging through his entire body.
"I haven't done this to a living target in years," Pai Mei said with glee. "Feels good!"
"Aaaaahhhh!" Temutai screamed.
Pai Mei finally let go as Temutai took one step back and exploded in a furious eruption of energy.
"Oh my!" Constable Hu fell down to the floor in fear. "What in Heaven's name was that?!"
"You need worry not," Pai Mei told the elephant. "Don't anger me and you won't suffer what Temutai suffered."
The tamarin looked at the rhino troops who looked terrified of him.
"Anyways, what was the name of that leopard boy who was with the weasel?" asked Pai Mei, looking at his troops. "Once I find out, we can go search for him and his location."
"Uh," one rhino soldier stepped forth. "Temutai actually knew his name but, um, you kind of exploded him."
"Oh," Pai Mei looked at the tiny fragments of Temutai still on the floor. "Well then, I suppose we have more work cut out for us, don't we?"
The Emperor tamarin dusted himself off before taking command once more.
"There is nothing more to be gained from searching this Valley," Pai Mei told his troops. "We leave at once, men!"
The rhinos fell in line, not daring to question him.
As the troops marched off, Constable Hu finally let out a sigh of relief.
To be continued.
