It still amazed Po how quickly one could travel when they put their minds to it.

It took him and Tai Lung two days of travel to get from the Valley of Peace to the Wusuo Mountains. Now, they were on their way to the Qinghai Lake.

More precisely, they were on their way to the Mian Ying town, which was on the very edge of the lake. An entire settlement who survived purely thanks to the lake. Well, not from its water, of course, since it was not fit to be consumed due to being salty (Po still could not understand how, since it was so far from the ocean), they got their water from the rains of the region. However, they did make their living from the kelp that grew into the lake, for not only it was their main source of food but also something that they made money by gathering and selling to others as a gourmet ingredient, making it their main source of revenue.

And, according to what Po heard, they were absolutely delicious.

Which was one of the reasons why the panda had a spring on his step as he made his way in direction to the village, wanting nothing more than to get in there so he could try out one of those kelp-based dishes that his father told him so much about and that he said he used to love as a hatchling.

Maybe Po would get a few of their snacks and take them back home for his dads. His goose dad would certainly be happy for trying them out again, and his panda dad would certainly love to try them since he loved food as much as Po himself.

They had cleared most of the distance from the Wusuo Mountains to there in a day and a half. Even though Tai Lung was clearly hesitant to go there.

It is nearly as if he is afraid of being there... Po thought to himself as he looked at Tai Lung. It was so obvious that the snow leopard was not comfortable, even though he vehemently denied that there was anything wrong whenever Po asked if he was okay. Sometimes even snapping at the panda before falling back into silence as they continued their travel in direction to that village.

Then, on that night, when Po and Tai Lung stopped for dinner and rest, Po told him that they would be arriving there on the following day, and how excited he was to be there, the feline looked at him as if the panda had told him that they were walking to the most dangerous place in China, if not the world.

As they got ready to sleep, and Po wondered why the snow leopard was suddenly so afraid of a village near a lake, it suddenly hit him.

Wait... is he... afraid of water? I mean, I heard that felines disliked it, but I thought that was just a thing people said. I mean, Tigress never seemed to have a problem with water, but Crane said that tigers are kind of the exception...

On the following morning, they resumed their travel after a substantial breakfast (especially Po) and just after a few more hours they were arriving there.

"Wooooooooooah!" Po said as he looked at the scene before him. The Qinghai Lake was on the bottom of a basin, a great depression that was nearly like a ravine, or a giant natural bowl formed on the earth and where the water flowed down and accumulated at the bottom. In this case, we are talking about the water that came from the rains of the region and from over fifty rivers that ran nearby and whose part of their water leaked down the basin all the way to the lake that formed on the bottom of it.

And the lake was big!

I mean, it was the biggest lake of all of China, after all. So big and deep that people even called it the Northeastern Miniature Sea.

It certainly smelled like the sea as Po could catch a whiff of the smell of salt water that was on the lake. And it also had a richer, spicier smell, nearly as if it was... soup?

"Okay then." Po said, spinning the Staff of Wisdom on his hand and hitting the ground with it to make a dramatic point. "Let's go down there."

With this, he went down, and Tai Lung followed him. However, the feline was clearly reluctant, as he continued to follow the panda all the way down the basin, which was a kind of steep way down due to the bowl-like topography of the natural ground, what meant that Po was not much walking down as he was stumbling and rolling down like a panda. Soon, making it down to the edge of the lake, where laid a single village.

This village, a small town built alongside the edge of the lake, was built in a way to cling to the walls of the basin, all the way down to where the waterline was. It was quite a sight to see, as the city seemed to be almost diagonal, making it quite the different place to be. To Po, it was certainly quite the sight to see there when he went down there.

But, before there, he stopped to ask for information to the first person he med there, who turned out to be a water deer who looked a whole lot like Doe.

"Oh, my! The Dragon Warrior himself visiting our village! What an honor!" The cervine said as he looked at the panda. "My sons are both big fans of yours. Say, would you mind giving an autograph to..."

The tusked animal stopped dead on his tracks as soon as he laid eyes on Tai Lung, stopping pretty much like he would if hit by modern-day road lights. Tai Lung, still edgy, and noticing that the water deer was looking his way, decided to ask, sounding quite impatient:

"What!?"

To that, the deer only looked at him for a few more moments, before he rushed out of there running as fast as his hooved feet could carry him and screaming like made as he went down on the village, leaving the two to watch him go and stand in there, before trading a look.

"You are not much of a people person, are you?" Po asked to the snow leopard, who scoffed.

"Blame it on being remembered as a renegade kung fu master with a penchant for violence. No, shall we go?"

Tai Lung still seemed on a bad mood as they made their way into the village. Po, however, seemed a lot more in the mood to be marveled with this interesting concept of a diagonal city. By one hand, the city had a lot of stairs, and stairs, as Po well knew, were a panda's natural enemy, all because of their asthma. By another, however, the city itself was different from what Po knew, and it was just as beautiful as Po's goose dad always told him, being the kind of place where one could easily get lost if they didn't pay attention to where they were going.

After they figured out how to orientate themselves, however, they were soon walking across the village, trying to get some information that could help them. However, getting information proved to be hard, as everyone who looked at the snow leopard immediately got defensive. They screamed, they ran, they ducked under the nearest thing for cover, they slammed the doors or windows on their faces and refused to open no matter how much Po knocked, thinks like that.

"I'm used to it." Tai Lung said to the panda.

"Really?"

"I have been growing used to it ever since I was twelve." The snow leopard had a deadpan face as he said that. "Consequence of being a big and strong carnivore that makes small and frail creatures like pigs and bunnies uncomfortable only by being there."

Po looked at the snow leopard as he spoke that. He reminded himself of Tigress who, at a young age in an orphanage, was feared by the villagers due to being different from the other children who were up for adoption in there.

"Maybe if you tried putting up a friendly smile..." Po tried, but he was interrupted by his own growling stomach.

"Man, I'm hungry..."

"When are you not?" Tai Lung seemed quite annoyed at the panda. Po, however, did not let it hurt him. He instead decided that, since it was near lunch time, they should look for some place to eat and fill their stomachs before continuing with their travel. The snow leopard already learned not to discuss with the panda at this point, and just go along with him and not make this travel any more annoying than it already was.

Luckily, the panda had brought money with him in the case of an eventual situation like that. So, they could very well go into the first restaurant they found so they could order some food.

And the whole place became vacant of people as soon as they made their way inside. It seems that Tai Lung's fame was big enough that people wanted to avoid him at all costs as soon as they caught sight of him.

The leopard stood by the side of the panda as they both looked into the restaurant which, around fifteen seconds ago, was filled with people, and now had only the staff in there, most of which were bundled on a corner looking with fear at the leopard standing by the side of the panda with the staff.

"Uhhhh, table for two?"

The staff continued to look at the two of them. Then, one of them, a female pig, came forward, and she informed them that they would see a table for the two right then and there.

"And you, stop making a fool out of yourselves!" The sow was now speaking to the rest of the staff. "I do not want something like what happened with that bunch of crocodiles who came by last week! All of you, get to work! I am tired of telling you that a client is a client!"

Soon, the panda and leopard were both sitting in a table by the window, which was cleaned of the half-eaten food that was in there so they could have their orders brought to them.

Po wished he had brought more money, so he could order for more things of the menu. However, he could only order so much, and everything seemed so good! And most of it was kelp-based.

"Man, this is so delicious!" Po said as he stuffed his mouth with the kelp and rice steamy buns and the kelp-wrapped fried tofu cubes. Meanwhile, Tai Lung was having just a bowl of rice with mushrooms.

"You sure you don't want any of mine?" Po was offering one of his kelp-based dishes to the snow leopard. "They are deli-kelpious!"

The snow leopard looked at the panda with a deadpan stare.

"Okay, that stank, but those definitely do not! Come, just give them a try!"

"I'm fine." Tai Lung was still eating his own food, and the panda continued to insist.

"I'm not eating something that grows inside of the water!" Tai Lung finally snapped at the panda. "Fishes relieve themselves in the water!"

"Wow, you really hate water, don't you?" Po asked, to what the feline said under his breath:

"You have no idea."

He sounded bitter as he said that, and Po could not help but look at him with a raised eyebrow, what Tai Lung noticed.

"I just don't feel like eating water grass, is all." The feline looked at the panda as he spoke that. "I prefer my food with more substance."

"Then you should definitely try the xian-hu kelp." Said the sow as she came back to the two with cups of tea.

"It grows in this very same lake, and it is unique to this region." She said, as she placed the cups on the table, with Po thanking her for it. "The water that comes to the bottom of this depression from the rain and rivers takes a lot of the minerals of the soil on its way down. That is why the Qinghai Lake is salty despite having no direct connection with the ocean. Not only that, but the many minerals of the soil also give the water special qualities, causing the kelps that grow on the lake to have a unique flavor and texture, as well as making them extremely nutritious and very filling. You cannot find kelp like the xian-hu in any other region across all of China."

"I believe it." Po said, popping another one of the kelpie treats on his mouth and making delighted sounds as he chewed, much for the snow leopard's annoyance. "Man, those are as good as my dad told me! Can I order some of them to go?"

"Of course." The sow smiled to the panda. "We still have some of the kelp to make a few more. You are in luck."

"How do you even get those?" Tai Lung asked, out of curiosity, to the sow who didn't showed any visible fear of him. "Do you fish them out of the water? Or do you have the fishes pick them for you? You know, after peeing in the water around them?"

"We have divers who go into the water to get the kelps for us." The sow seemed unaffected by the snow leopard's sarcasm and hostility. "The otters do an excellent job going down deep in the lake to get some of the best kelps for both the restaurants and the markets. As well as to have it shipped to other villages of the province."

"Yeah, I did notice a lot of otters going around the village." Po said, remembering the small guys in shorts that he saw going back and forth, or better saying up and down, into the village. Before they, like everyone else, ran on the other way screaming when they saw Tai Lung. "So, they basically do the whole job?"

"Well, not only them." The sow said, "Most of the kelp harvesters are otters, of course, but they are not the only ones. Some others dive to get the kelp. Like my husband..."

She looked down as she said that, and Po, being who he was, could not help but ask her what the problem was.

"My husband went collect kelps a while ago." She said, "He was going in the middle of the lake because he wanted to get some of the best for the upcoming celebration we would be making. Said he would be back by sundown but... he didn't come back. I... I have not heard in a long time. He never went this long without any news. I am worried that something may have happened."

She then looked at the panda.

"Dragon Warrior... I know that you are probably in here on a mission, but... if it is not asking too much, could you please try and find out if my husband is okay? Please, I am so worried with him!"

Po looked at her as she made that request. Tai Lung, on his end, already knew where this was going, and he knew the panda's answer before he spoke:

"I'll find your husband, ma'am." Po said to the sow. "Do not worry, I will make sure he comes back safe and sound."

"Po!" Tai Lung said to the panda, pulling him closer and saying to him in a low voice:

"We cannot waste time!"

"Helping people is not wasting time!"

"We have a mission! We cannot get distracted by helping some sod who got lost while diving for kelp and is now probably sleeping on the bottom of the lake!"

"You don't know that!"

"We are running on a schedule! We are literally on a race!"

"We have time to help! Come on, she is worried with her husband!"

"Every hour we lose with those smaller problems is a whole hour Jiao Din gets ahead of us! At this rate we will not be able to get him before he reaches the spring and we will both be meeting Oogway on the Spirit Realm and explaining to him how we allowed that blasted lizard to take over the Tien Spring because you decided to waste our precious time looking for some lost swine!"

They were talking in a low voice. However, the fact that the swine in question was so close to them made it that she could hear everything they were whispering.

"Wait, lizard?" She looked at the two. "You are talking about that Komodo dragon who came here a couple days ago asking about a symbol? The one who was carrying a peacock with him?"

"Yeah, that very same!" Po was suddenly anxious as he looked at the sow. "You saw where he went?"

"No, but I heard that he was asking around for a certain information, before getting a boat and roaming into the lake."

"He... he roamed into..." Tai Lung seemed suddenly nervous at the prospect of the person they were chasing after having gone into the lake.

"Right. Speaking of which..." Po said, picking a napkin from the table and using the soot of the tip of a burning incense on the table to draw a symbol on it. "What can you tell us about this symbol here?"

She looked at the symbol that the panda had drawn on the napkin. Po was not the best at drawing, but he was decent enough that he managed to create a loyal reproduction of the symbol they saw on the cave. She then recognized it.

"Yes, I know it!" She said to them, "This symbol is on the side of a rocky island that is on the very center of the lake."

"O-on..." Tai lung's face was slowly draining of color. "On the... on the center of..."

"Great!" Po said, apparently unaware of what was happening to the snow leopard right by his side. "Now we know where to go!"

Tai Lung looked at the panda, and he seemed to be about to say something to him, when suddenly:

"AHHHHHH!"

The scream from the outside made the two of them jolt and look at the window in time to see a lot of people running past it in panic, followed by the shadow of something big that passed, quite literally, flying right in front of the restaurant.

Something that carried the smell of the salt water of the lake.

"What was that!?" Po was baffled. Tai Lung, however, was suddenly in control again.

"Problem." Tai Lung was up, and he was rushing out of the restaurant. Po was going right behind him, after paying the food and apologizing, as well as saying that he would come back for those kelp dumplings to go. He then rushed out with the staff on his hand, already channeling his chi through it to change it into a spear, just in case.

Meanwhile the sow looked at them go through the window, and she managed to catch a glimpse of the thing that was flying by the edge and scaring everyone, and her eyes widened.

"What the-"


"-jumping dumplings!" Po let out as he saw that thing. That made the snow leopard stop and look at him with a "say what now?" expression, completely forgetting about the thing that was currently terrorizing the shore of the lake. And that was no little thing, considering it was...

"Is that a flying manta ray!?" Po pointed at it with the Spear of Wisdom, and Tai Lung felt like saying something sarcastic, was not for the giant, flying manta with a purple body and eyes red as blood screeching loudly, before opening his mouth and spewing a great amount of a purple liquid into the shore.

Anything and everything that was touched by this purple goop instantaneously started to fizzle and bubble, and to melt away into nothingness. It didn't matter if it was metal, stone or wood, it all melted away the same. So, it was safe to say that any flesh and bone would suffer the exact same fate.

"Eeewwww." Po said, "What did that guy ate!?"

"I don't know..." Tai Lung said, just s the creature turned to look at the two of them. "But I have the impression that we are both on the menu now."

And Tai Lung was not wrong. The creature looked at the two of them, seeing their auras. Their chi. The energy that he was told to look for by the one who changed him into what he was now. As soon as he saw it, he knew exactly what he had to do:

Destroy at all costs.

With a screech, the creature lunged at them, flapping his wing-like membranes that normally served for swimming, and getting ready to strike at the two.

"Dodge!"

Tai Lung's cry came on the right moment, for it allowed the two of them to jump out of the way just as the manta started spewing his purple acid on the two, creating a stream of melted material as he continued to fly past the two of them, and the two masters did not wasted time into going into the offensive.

Tai Lung screamed as he jumped like only a skilled kung fu master could, making it into the roofs of the houses, and started to jump into them and from them to those of the houses on the upper layers of the diagonal city, while Po remained where he was, spinning the spear and causing it to ignite into golden flames with his chi.

With swings of his spear, Po released balls of incandescent golden chi into the manta, who dodged each flying ball that came its way while continuing to fly in direction to the panda, coming closer and closer as he was getting ready for yet another attack.

However, as the flying water creature flew in direction to the panda, he completely forgot about the snow leopard, who then used this chance to jump on him and land right on his back, sinking his claws into his back, what drew a pained screech from the monster.

The creature, however, continued to fly in direction to Po, who was looking at it as it came closer to him.

It is coming... Po thought as he saw it coming. I... I gotta attack... Po was thinking his hand gripping the handle of the Spear of Wisdom harder. I... I gotta do it... I... I gotta do what I must!

Po looked at the manta, that was coming closer and closer to him, with Tai Lung still digging his claws on his back.

Po held the spear on an attacking position with a single hand, as the creature was approaching him. He was about to strike as the creature was approaching fast when.

"No!" Said someone, as something grabbed the spear from behind, causing Po to look back, and he was surprised for seeing a small otter holding the end opposite to the spear's blade.

"Don't do this!" The little otter pleaded, looking at the panda, who looked at him with surprise.

"Wha...?" Po said, looking at the otter in confusion, before his attention was called back to the monster by his screech. Po looked at him, and he saw that the creature had an open mouth filled with sharp teeth and that it was coming for him.

Panicking, Po reacted by pure instinct, as he jumped and, with a upper-cut kick, he jammed his foot right into the chin (wait, do manta rays have chins?) of the attacker while making a backflip, causing the creature to resume flying, this time nearly stumbling as her tried to keep himself up, with Tai Lung having to struggle to hold on to his back.

But he was Tai Lung. No way he would just be shaken off that easily. He held on, and he started climbing closer to the manta's head. He lifted his hand and he was ready to bring down on the enemy's eyes when he noticed the thing he was riding had adopted a descending fly angle.

Tai Lung realized, with horror, that the creature was diving straight onto the water.

He only had time to let go and hurriedly jump off the creature's back just as it dove straight into the water.

Tai Lung stumbled and skidded across the ground of the village's harbor, managing to stop himself by sinking his claws into the wooden platform of the harbor before he fell over and into the water.

His legs were desperately kicking, his feet coming just inches away from the water as he held onto the best he could to the pier. When his tail accidently touched the water, he let out what was nearly a yowl as he propelled himself into the harbor, panting as he looked back at the edge of the pier, and at the water of the lake where he nearly fell.

He could hardly see the other side with how big and vast the lake was.

So much water...

"Tai Lung!" Po called him as the panda came rushing to meet him. "You okay, pal?"

Before Tai Lung could answer to that, the manta emerged from the water once more, and immediately started spewing a torrent of the purple bile into the snow leopard's direction, and Tai Lung needed to quickly jump sideways to avoid it, and Po's feet skidded to a stop as he immediately bent his back as much as he could to avoid being hit. The acid caused some damage on the constructions directly behind him, causing the villagers to run scared while screaming.

The manta remained hoovering above the water, gliding above it like a vulture over a dead body, before turning around and once more going into the attack. This time, however, the manta used his stinger. It glowed, and then fired a lighting so focused and intense that, had Tai Lung and Po been born centuries in the future, they would call it a laser.

Tai Lung jumped out of the way as the purple laser-like lightning hit the place where he'd just been standing. The explosion could be compared to a generous amount of black powder, and it left a charred black hole on the pier.

Tai Lung looked at it, before looking back at the manta and growling, just as the creature started firing again.

Tai Lung dodged and jumped out of the way as each beam from his attacker's tail came a bit too close for comfort, and he was moving away from the pier and into the city. What meant that the beams were starting to come close to hitting the villagers.

"No!" Po said, as he jumped just as one of the beams aimed at Tai Lung came close to hitting a pair of otters, which the panda scooped into his arm and out of harm's way as he stumbled into action, before placing them both safely of the ground.

"Tai Lung! Go back to the pier!"

"What?" The snow leopard looked at the panda.

"The attacks are coming to close to the villagers! Go to the pier!"

"No way!"

"Look, I don't care if you are afraid of water! This is putting the villagers in danger!"

"I'm not afraid of the water!"

"Uh, yes you are!"

"I fear nothing!"

"Then you will have no problem going to the pier!"

Tai Lung was about to say something back, when another beam came dangerously close to him, exploding some pieces of the rocky ground between him and the panda and causing him to stand back.

"Go!" Po said to him. "I will help the villagers and I will join you as fast as I can!"

Tai Lung looked at the panda, and he wanted to say something to him.

"Unless you are scared!" The panda said to the snow leopard with a smug look, and Tai Lung right now wanted to charge at the panda and claw that smile off his muzzle. However, he instead decided to focus his attention at the manta, who was still trying to attack him.

With a feral growl, Tai Lung charged forward on all fours, before jumping amazingly high with his fists lifted and, just as the manta was opening his mouth, he slammed both of his closed fists into the manta's head so hard he was sent crashing down the pier.

Meanwhile, Po was walking around, helping the villagers who had been caught on the cross-fire of their battle. He was helping those who had gotten stuck under some debris and helping someone who hurt their leg when she fell by carrying her on his shoulder and taking them to a safe place.

Tai Lung and the manta wrestled while this. The manta took it to flying, only for Tai Lung, jumping on the houses near the lake and on the ships on the pier, caught up with the manta, grabbing on his wing and using it as a leverage to deliver three kicks to the creature's stomach, chest and mouth. This caused the purple creature to scream in pain, and immediately dive right into the water, causing Tai Lung to, once more, jump off him before he was able to drag him to the water with him.

Tai Lung looked at the area where the manta had emerged for a few seconds, when only his stinger tail emerged from the water, aimed right at the snow leopard.

Once more, Tai Lung stepped out of the way and the beam of lightning went right past him, causing his fur to stand due to the static that was dangerously close to his body. The beam continued and, only by a miracle, it failed to hit some villagers who Po was helping, causing the panda to stumble back and look at the source of the attack.

Just as he did, the stinger fired yet another beam, which Tai Lung dodged, and this one also continued in direction to the villagers.

Po immediately jumped into action, channeling his chi into the Spear of Wisdom and then swinging the blade forward.

His golden chi parred the purple attack, causing sparks of both colors to fly anywhere. Po had to firm himself on the ground to keep himself from being blown back, but he managed to firm his feet hard enough for him to stand his ground, and it allowed him to block the attack completely and saving the villagers.

However, the manta continued to fire the beams.

"Everyone, get behind me!" Po didn't need to say twice, and the villagers got behind him, as the panda powered the spear with his chi, creating an aura of golden light around it and he then used it to block the beams. With each swing and spin, the panda parred the lines of lightning as if he was blocking blows from a weapon, and he did so without missing even one, making sure that no harm would come to the innocent denizens who were taking shelter behind him.

All the while, Tai Lung continued to avoid the beams, dodging each one of them as the manta continued trying to attack him. At some point, Tai Lung has had enough, and he decided that it was time to fight back.

So, by focusing his chi, the snow leopard once more created an ignition on his paws, and shot them forward, aiming at the water.

The blue flames hit the water just as the stinger sank back into safety. However, "safety" was quite relative here, since the flames were so intense that they were causing the water to boil.

I'm gonna cook this frigging fish! Tai Lung thought as he continued to fire his flaming chi into the water, causing it to heat up and start boiling quickly. The snow leopard even spread out his flames when he noticed the shadow of the manta on the water trying to move away. He would make sure that this fish had no escape.

By the time he was done, practically all the water near the pier was boiling and letting out steam. A strong scent like that of soup coming from that salty lake water.

Tai Lung panted as he looked at this, and he thought that he had gotten the manta.

That was when the fish erupted from the water, steam coming out of his body as he screeched, before letting out another torrent of purple bile in direction to the snow leopard. Tai Lung once more jumped out of the way and the stream continued, coming in direction to Po and the villagers.

The panda acted by pure instinct. He swung the Spear of Wisdom, letting his chi flow from it into the air in front of him, gathering and forming a screen. It was like building a wall with sand in order to stop the tide of the river. It was not ideal, but it was the best Po could do in the spring of a moment.

And it worked.

The purple bile collided with the golden energy, causing it to be blocked, with the substance spraying everywhere while Po had to pour his chi forward in order to keep the golden wall he erected from washing away with the purple tide.

Seeing this, Tai Lung knew that he had to do something, so he looked around and he saw a smaller boat that he could use. With an axe kick, the snow leopard caused the vessel to flip into the air and, with a jump and a powerful spinning kick, the sent the boat in direction to the manta.

The fish only barely managed to avoid the boat, which hit his side and caused him to tumble down into the pier, stunned.

"I got you now!" Tai Lung growled, lifting his paw, causing it to ignite with his blue chi as he got ready to tear that fish to shreds.

"No!" Someone grabbed the snow leopard's leg, causing him to look down and see three bunny children holding his leg.

"Don't do this!"

"Don't hurt him!"

"Please, don't hurt the leader!"

"What the!?" Tai Lung said, "Get off me!"

He was about to shake his leg to get the bunnies off, when the manta suddenly recovered and then attacked.

A beam from the stinger caused the ground to explode, causing the snow leopard to be flung backwards. The three bunnies went into the air and, as the manta sprung into the air, the three bunnies were right into his mouth, which closed around them.

This, obviously, horrified everyone who saw it, including Po.

The manta dove back into the water. Tai Lung was getting up, while Po rushed forward in direction to the water, the Spear of Wisdom in hand, and he jumped right into it without thinking twice.

As he jumped into the water, while ignoring the cuddle sting on his eyes from opening them on this water, Po quickly saw himself having to stop to orientate himself as he caught sight of the manta coming on his direction, his mouth open and ready to chomp at the panda.

Po answered by swinging the spear and hitting the manta into the face with the flat part of it, causing the fish to swim back. However, he was soon coming back for the panda, who then saw himself charging his spear once more with his chi.

Just as Po tried to thrust the spear, he caught himself traveling forward at a high speed, moving right past the manta, who dodged out of the way, while the panda stopped into the water and looked in surprise at the spear, taking a moment to understand what just happened.

As he did, Po suddenly saw himself with a new way of fighting the manta.

Just as the manta tried to lunge at him to bite him again, the panda once more thrust the chi-charged spear, this time to the side and, just as he expected, the panda was propelled like a missile across the water.

From there, the two of them proceeded to fight each other inside of the other by dashing across the salty liquid like a pair of missiles. Dancing around each other, charging at each other while dodging the other's charge. The manta would try to sting Po with his stinger, which glowed purple as he tried to attack the panda, only for Po to use the chi power of his spear to move out of the way and then try to attack the manta back. When the spear and stinger collided, they released a wave of purple and golden that was visible from the surface, where Tai Lung was standing, looking down at the water and trying to see what was happening down there.

Meanwhile, Po could feel his lungs tightening as he had spent too long under the water, and he then decided that it was better to try and get this over with as quickly as possible. So, charging his chi, he thrust in the spear, propelling both it and him straight at the manta.

The fish opened his mouth and spewed a cloud of purple into the panda. His golden charge was like a protective shell around him, causing to him cut through the purple bile like an arrow piercing through smoke, and going straight to the manta.

From the surface, there was a huge flash of golden, which caused Tai Lung to shield his eyes as he gave a step back. Then, as the glow subsided, the snow leopard continued to look down on the water. One second. Two. Five. Ten.

By the fifteen seconds mark, the surface of the water suddenly erupted. The manta screeched loudly as he made it out of the water and into the harbor.

With Po ridding on his back.

The manta let out a gargled sound as he landed on the pier with the panda on top of him. This caused a bunny to come out of his mouth flying and land on the ground. His mother quickly came for him, calling his name.

"That's one!" Po said, and then he slammed both his heels into the sides of the manta, causing him to belch out another bunny, which the mother also caught.

"Two!" Po said, and then, getting prepared, he propelled himself nearly three feet into the air above the manta, before falling back into him and eliciting another gargle out of him as the final bunny came out and was received by the mother.

"Three!"

Po had a smile on his face, as the mother hugged all three bunnies. He failed to notice that, behind him, the stinger was lifting, and it was glowing purple as it pointed straight behind the panda's head.

Tai Lung, however, noticed.

He grasped that tail with both his hands and pulled hard, causing Po to fall flat on his chest as the manta was puled from under him. The stinger fired a beam of purple, which damaged the harbor as Tai Lung swung him around, before tossing him up. Then, with a swing of his foot, the leopard caused another damaged boat, this one slightly bigger than the one he used a few minutes ago, to go high into the air, right above the manta.

With an impressive jump, Tai Lung was right above said boat, and he then said it straight down with a downwards kick.

The boat crashed on top of the manta, causing him to screech as he was nearly crushed by the weight of the water vessel landing on him. And, on top of it all, he was also trapped under the debris of the broken boat, unable to free himself, as he squirmed and screeched.

Po had already gotten up, and he was looking at the manta as Tai Lung landed behind him.

"Now, panda!" The snow leopard's voice came, causing Po to look at him. "Before he frees himself! Finish him off!"

Po looked at the snow leopard, and then he looked back at the manta, who was screeching and squirming. It did look like he was trying to free himself. If he did, he would start attacking them again, and maybe put the villagers in danger.

Po took the spear on both hands, and he started walking to the manta, a fierce expression on his face as he got ready to attack.

Then, the manta let out a different sound. A loud, pitiful wail that was nearly like a cry of pain.

That sound, coupled with the expression of pain as the manta looked at him, made Po stop on his tracks.

He just continued to look at the manta, who wailed again.

He sounded to be in pain. Had... had he broke something from Tai Lung's last attack?

"What are you waiting for!?" Tai Lung demanded. "Finish him!"

Po looked at the snow leopard behind himself, and then back at the manta, right on time to see the fish give him one of the most pitiful looks Po ever saw on someone else's face.

"I-I..." Po said, looking at him, before taking a step back and lowering the spear. "I... can't..."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Tai Lung sounded pretty much done. He walked forward.

"Give me that!" He snatched the spear from the panda's hands. "I'll do it myself!"

"What? No! Tai Lung, wait!" Po was trying to stop him. The leopard only stopped to look back at him.

"You are too soft, panda!" He roared, causing Po to step back. "From my past experiences with you, I assumed that you at least had what it took to get the job done! But it seems I was wrong! You can't even finish off someone who was literally trying to kill you!"

"No wonder Oogway sent me here! At this rate, you will not be able to put an end to that lizard!" The snow leopard said. Then, his voice lowered as he glared at the panda.

"Honestly... how could Oogway think you were more fit to be a Dragon Warrior than me?" the leopard continued to look at the panda. "What he was thinking by making someone so spineless, so weak, the Dragon Warrior?"

Po flinched as he was said those words, and Tai Lung didn't even give him any attention. He turned his attention entirely at the manta, who was still wailing pitifully.

Unlike Po, however, the leopard was not moved at all. He gripped harder at the handle of the spear, and he approached the immobilized monster, lifting the spear and getting ready to put an end to him.

Then, something came out of nowhere and hit him on the side of the face.

It was a bundle of those kelps.

"What the!?" Tai Lung said, looking over in time for another one of those bundles to hit him right on the face, sticking to it and forcing the leopard to have to pull it out.

"What's the big idea!?" The snow leopard demanded, looking at who was tossing those at him. It were the bunnies Po rescued from the manta.

"Stay away from the leader!" One of the bunnies said, as he and his brothers prepared more balls made of those kelps into balls.

"What?" Tai Lung asked, looking at them.

"You cannot hurt the village's leader!" Another bunny said.

"Leave him alone!" The third one said, as he threw another one of those balls into the snow leopard. The boy certainly had a strong arm, as Tai Lung had to be quick to dodge the ball of kelp that was thrown at him. He even growled at the boy, but he was unimpressed.

"Leader?" Po said to himself, taking in what the bunnies said. As his mind processed it, he could only look at the manta in surprise.

"That... that is the village's leader?"

"Get away from him!" The bunny said, as they continued to throw balls of kelp on the leopard. Tai Lung was starting to get fed up with it.

He had half a mind to go in there and give those kids a lesson. However, he instead focused his attention on the manta, and he was going to take it all out on him.

However, the rest of the village was soon joining the kids.

"Don't do this!"

"He is our leader!"

"You can't!"

"Don't you dare harm him!"

"Are you all serious!?" Tai Lung said, looking at all of them. "He was trying to destroy your village, dammit!"

"Duan!" Said a familiar voice to both Tai Lung and Po, and they saw the sow from the restaurant coming in there, running and looking frantic.

"Stop! That's my husband!"

"Say wha-?" Po said, as he looked as the sow rushed to the manta's side, and started to talk to the manta, who apparently was the husband who she told the two was worried about, and whose name was Duan.

"Duan! Duan, honey! What happened to you! Duan! It's me, Xu Ya!"

The manta screeched then, starling her and causing her to give a step back. The transmuted manta continued to trash, now seeming more frantic, as if he could not wait to get from under those debris and resume on whatever he was doing.

"Duan..." She said, looking at him and feeling her heart breaking for seeing him like this.

Po looked at this, and he knew that he had to do something.

"Gimme." Po said as he walked forward, snatching the spear from Tai Lung's hands and walking to the sow and the manta.

"No!" Xu Ya said as she noticed the panda saying, standing between him and the manta, nearly as if to protect him. Po took a moment to understand, but then he realized it was because he had the spear on his hand.

"No! No, that's not it!" Po said, and then he focused his chi on the spear, causing the tip to change back into the top of the staff. "Please, I am not going to hurt him! I want to help! Please... just let me help."

The sow looked at the panda and, seeing the sincerity on his eyes, she slowly moved out of the way, allowing Po to face the manta directly, and the purple animal was nearly freeing himself from the debris by now.

The Dragon Warrior had to act quickly.

So, taking the staff with both his hands, Po activated his chi, causing the tip of the staff to emit golden light.

At first, it was flaming. However, as Po started swinging the staff in circular motions, the flames became more like a soft plume. A mist of golden light that the panda swirled around in spirals and rings. They were beautiful, and that much even Tai Lung could see.

Then, with a soft, fluid motion, Po sent those spiraling rings into the manta.

The creature screeched as the mist-like swirling chi hit him. However, only on the beginning, as he soon was relaxing as the golden light hit and washed over him like water. Water that carried away everything that clinging to him, taking away the dirt and leaving him clean and fresh.

The purple washed away from his body, vanished into the air like smoke. His purple body returned to its usual color of blue with green and yellow streaks. His body became smaller as the rest of the debris fell off him. His fangs became less sharp, and his stinger no longer looked like a murder weapon, instead looking like the stinger of a manta is normally supposed to look.

By the end of it, he gasped as he opened his eyes. They were to back to their normal honey coloration, and he looked around frantically, as if he had woken up from a dream, and had no idea of where he was.

"Duan!" Xu Ya said, coming forward. "Duan! My love! Are you okay?"

The manta looked at her.

"X-Xu Ya..." He said, his voice was sweet and gentle. "I-I... I was... I was in the lake... I was looking for kelp when... t-there was this cloud under the water and... and I saw purple..."

"A-and there was this... this lizard..." He said, looking as if he was trying to recall the details of a dream he had.

No. Not a dream.

It had been a nightmare.

"H-he told me to come back and... and wait, and I..." He looked up at her. "I-I could not stop. I could only do what he told me. I-I could not stop myself from doing those things! I didn't want to but I... I couldn't think! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, honey." She said, hugging him around the neck. "It is all okay. You are fine now."

For a long moment, they just remained like this, with the two hugging the manta while he rested his head against hers'. Then, he opened his eyes, to see the panda.

"You..." He said, looking at the panda, and Po suddenly saw himself being the center of the attention once more.

"You protected the people of my village from me." The manta spoke to him. "And you saved me as well... thank you."

With this, the manta bowed his head to the panda. The sow mimicked this movement. And rest of the villagers followed suit, bowing their heads to the panda.

Po, on his end, could think of nothing more than to return the gesture, putting his hands together and bowing his head to them as well.

All the while Tai Lung stood behind him, seeing as the panda received all this respect from the people of the village that they both just saved...

They all failed to notice the figure that was flapping his wings above them, before turning around and dashing forward in flying.

He flew for a few hours, leaving behind the village and the lake, and eventually reaching for the one person who he was told to report to.

Jiao Din, once more, noticed the bird coming from a distance away, as he already memorized what his chi signature was like.

He already knew what it was about before he even opened his beak.

"Those two are certainly more annoying than I initially thought." The Komodo said, as the barbet hoovered around his head as he continued to walk with Peacock on his grip without slowing down his step.

"And the panda purified the manta with his chi?"

"Yes, sir!" The barbet confirmed. "He swung that jade-colored staff of his and he used this golden magic that was a lot like yours, except that it undid what you did! It was so cool..."

"The Staff of Wisdom." Jiao Din said, "I heard about it. A trinket the panda brought back from the Spirit Realm. Sounds like something interesting to own. I don't need it, of course, I have a much better control of my chi than that idiot, but it would certainly make for a nice trophy."

"So, what will you do now, sir?" Peng Mao asked, to what, much to his surprise, the Komodo said:

"Nothing... I already did something."

He had a smirk on his muzzle as he said those words.


A while ago...

Jiao Din just arrived on the other side of the lake. The boat that guided him there was on the other end, and the Komodo calmly stepped out of it.

He already knew the clue, and he knew where to go for next.

He grasped Peng Mao and gave him instructions to go back to the Main Ying village and stay there until Tai Lung and the Dragon Warrior arrived. He was told very explicitly to not come back to him until the two have arrived on the village, and that he should come to inform him if they had either managed to defeat the manta he left to deal with them or if the manta killed them, before tossing him into the air and letting him fly back.

Jiao Din was confident that the manta would deal with those two. His chi changed him a lot, mostly because of the manta's own inner darkness. He would certainly deal with those two.

But, just in case those two, by some miracle, managed to pass by him...

The Komodo turned around, dropping Peacock while his hands shot forward to grab the tortoise and the chicken. They had roamed the boat that guided him to the rocky island on the center of the lake, and then to the other side. Now, they would serve for a different purpose.

Peacock remained on the ground as the flashes of purple happened. He didn't used this chance to try and escape. He still didn't have the heart to do so.

Eventually, Jiao Din let go of the two, giving them both instructions to wait for the panda and snow leopard near the island. He then grabbed Peacock again and started carrying him away while the two animals who he just infected with his chi changed, their groans and caws turning into growling and screeching.

Then, the newly mutated creatures were ready to make their way back to the island, where they would wait for the two.

However, this time they did not went into the boat.

Instead, one of them jumped into the water and started swimming fast, while the other one took it to the air with flaps of wings...


So, that is it. This completes chapter ten of this story. Not gonna lie, it feels like I achieved something with this many chapters.

Now, for some obligatory disclaims:

Firstly, I'd like to clarify that, when it comes to the Qinghai Lake (and I just realized that I have been spelling it wrong since the previous chapter ##), that lake doesn't really have any villages by its edge, and it is not a source of consumable kelp snacks. The lake is not only salty, but it also has a very elevated PH, what makes it virtually inhabitable to most life forms. I took some creative licenses when adding it to the story.

Second, as per the scene of the combat with the manta, I took inspiration directly from the manta battle that we see in the actual KFP4 movie. I don't know, it just seemed to be worth recycling it, since Po was going into a village by the edge of a lake, and the manta of the real movie seemed cool.

So, guess that is it. Hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and I see you guys next time.