"One bowl of Secret Ingredient Soup and a side of dumplings!"
"Mr. Ping, can I have a refill for my tea?"
"Refill, coming up!"
The goose maneuvered swiftly through the busy crowd of his open-aired shop, pouring tea from his pitcher for the pleading rabbit.
"Remember; each refill is an extra yuan."
"An extra yuan?" The rabbit exasperated, "A bit pricy for a cup of tea, don't you think, Mr. Ping?"
"Come on, man, just give him the extra yuan." A pig answered from another table. "You can't argue with someone with noodles for brains."
A crowd in the small corner of the shop erupted in chuckles at the comment, meanwhile Mr. Ping shrugged with his ever-so convincing smile. "It's quite true. Broth runs through my veins!"
The rabbit customer smiled back and playfully rolled his eyes before tossing him the golden coin. The goose clamped it in his beak to confirm it's authenticity before being interrupted with an exclaim.
"Xiao Lou! Oh, look at you, you stained your entire face!" A duck mother piped up as she quickly tried to wipe her chick's beak. Mr. Ping smoothly flew in to inspect the situation as he pulled out a handkerchief. "Now, Mrs. Hang, be easy on the boy. Every child should be allowed to make a mess once in a while," He smiled sweetly to the young duck and wiped his beak clean. The mute boy honked in happiness as the noodle chef looked on endearingly. Though a twinge of sadness did pull at his heart while he wiped the beak clean. "Or else they never learn how good it is to be clean... and there we are!" He pulled back. "Good as new!"
"Thank you, Mr. Ping." Mrs. Hang nodded in gratitude and pulled her son close to her to feed him once again. "You really do have a way with children. Do you have any of your own?"
The goose seemed to be taken aback by this question. "Uh- w-what? Me with children? O-oh no, I couldn't—I-I wouldn't—" Mr. Ping was once again interrupted, not by any sounds but with a sniff of his beak catching him off guard. He did a double take to his kitchen and quacked in shock. "Oh, goodness! My noodles!" He quickly dashed inside and took the enormous pot off the boiler.
He quickly set it down and taste-tested the food. "Hmm... thankfully not burned but definitely dried in texture. I can fix that!"
As if it were magic, he diced up some vegetables, dashed in some spices and stirred it all up with such grace and fluidity, it almost looked like he was serenading the noodles. He then gave it another taste test, hummed in delight and poured the soup into several different bowls. The bunnies, geese, ducks and pigs that have been watching him from the front desk clapped for him, all impressed with his skill.
"Geez, Mr. Ping, how do you manage to do all of this by yourself?" Another white rabbit commented whilst playing mahjong with a brown rabbit.
Mr. Ping briefly took off his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow before looking on proudly, "Well, it definitely isn't easy! But I'm Noodle Folk! It just comes naturally for me!"
"But don't you think you need more help around here? You're not getting any younger, y'know!" The brown rabbit smirked while the goose chef deadpanned at him.
"And it seems you're not getting any smarter, Pianzi. Xunsu already has three out of four sets of pong." Mr. Ping cheekily replied back, causing Pianzi to look down in disappointment while Xunsu sticks his chin up with pride.
Suddenly, a gong went off in the shop as the jade palace servants filed in to hang up a poster. Awe-struck, the customers circled around the poster, leaving Mr. Ping to roll his eyes in annoyance.
"What is it? I wanna see!"
"Quit shoving!"
"Whoa! Today!?"
"What's today? What's going on!?"
Murmers and chatters filled the area as the kids in the front squealed in excitement.
"MASTER OOGWAY IS CHOOSING THE DRAGON WARRIOR TODAY!"
The whole crowd cheered and rounded up their supplies and families, heading out in a haste. Xunsu packed up his mahjong and almost headed out with his bunny companion, before realising Mr. Ping still in his kitchen.
"Mr. Ping? Aren't you coming?"
"Pah! And watch a bunch of self-righteous kung fu masters fight for an over-expired destiny? I'll pass." He scoffed pompously.
The bunny arched his eyebrow curiously. "Don't you like Master Tigress?"
"And do you see her wandering around here and preparing for her title?"
Xunsu shrugged. "Maybe she is here and her presence will be a surprise!"
The noodle chef shook his head. "Not buying it. If she came back from where ever she is, the first place she would come to would be here! Regardless, I am much more interested in running my shop for customers who care more about the art of culinary."
Xunsu smiled in amusement at Mr. Ping's dramatic claim. "Suit yourself. We'll bring you back a souvenir!"
Mr. Ping through a dismissive quack and waved his wing away before going back to dicing up some vegetables. "'Bring back a souvenir', please. Like I would value anything from those mediocre, ludicrous artifacts. No one appreciates the culinary arts anymore! They would rather watch martial artists exploit their bodies and lives all for some fancy title.." He muttered under his breath.
"Knock, knock, birdie..."
The goose turned to the entrance thanks to the ominous voice and visibly lit up when he saw a group of primates at his entrance. He was so happy to find customers again, he didn't notice the evil smiles traced on the vervet-monkeys faces and the weapons that was held right behind them.
"Welcome to Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, boys! Where satisfaction and fulfillment is guaranteed! What can I interest you with?"
"Oh, well, we're looking for something light since we're not that hungry. So could you give us..." As if on cue, all the six primate brothers whipped out their weapons and held it against the poor bird's neck.
"Everything you have in your vaults."
Meanwhile, high in the mountains in the Jade Palace arena, all the servants set up all of the planned mechanics for the Furious Five to use to flaunt their skills. As the four remaining students warmed up just out of sight from the incoming crowd, The grand masters Shifu and Oogway travelled down the stairs that overlooked the arena.
"It is a historic day, isn't it, Master Oogway?" The red panda stated proudly.
"Yes..." The wise tortoise smiled. "And one I feared I would not live to see... are all of your students ready?"
"All are ready and accounted for." Shifu's grin dropped. "Well... almost all. Still no sight of Master Tigress. I worry she may not be qualified to even show up and—"
"Shifu."
The small master was broken away from his thoughts when Oogway's comforting claw laid on his shoulder. Shifu's ears dropped as he grumbled before taking a breath. "Apologies, Master. You know how I am when there are no guarantees."
Oogway simply hummed. "Well guarantee this, old friend." He bent down a little lower to Shifu's level and looked him sincerely in the eyes. "Whomever I choose, will not only bring peace to the Valley..." He pulled his claw away and pointed at his student. "But also, to you..."
As the reptilian master walked past Shifu, he conflictedly looked down at the ground to consider his mentor's mysterious message. Unfortunately, his thoughts were cut short when a pig servant came forward with a tiny gong to announce the event.
"LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!"
At long last, our ragtag duo containing Lotus and Master Tigress have finally made it to the edge of the valley, the panda panting as he bent on his knees. "Sheesh, that was a lot of walking..."
Through Lotus' wheezes and coughs, however, Tigress took in the deep breath of the familiar grounds and looked around at the silence. She nodded softly to herself. "Well... we're here."
"WE ARE!?" The ursine perked up and looked around, his energy somehow coming back to him as he raced and looked around the small town. "WO-HO-HOW! WHOA! SO MANY BUILDINGS! So little plants.. SO MUCH MORE COLOURS!" He planted his face into almost every display window and open entrance to truly take in the sights. Then he took a deep breath to invest in the smells.
"What is that heavenly smell?" He mumbled to himself, though Tigress soon came to realise something was wrong. It was so... quiet.
Too quiet.
"Where is everyone?"
The panda looked around. "Well... wasn't there that Dragon Warrior tournament today? Speaking of which, we should probably go to that, huh—"
"No," The feline shuck her head and started looking around more skeptically, "I mean, I can understand that, but something just seems... off. Almost... wrong."
Lotus shrugged. "Maybe it's just your trust issues?"
As Tigress slumped her shoulders and gave her companion a look of annoyance, they both heard a screaming quack coming from the distance.
"HELP! I'M BEING ROBBED AND HELD HOSTAGE—MMMF!" It was Mr. Ping, who at first peaked his head out of his shop to call out to a seemingly empty void before being muffled by rope and pulled inside by mysterious hands.
"MR. PING!" That was all the tiger master needed to see and hear before she dashed towards the shop.
Meanwhile, Lotus held back for a second, flabbergasted. He quickly shook his head out of it and ran after his mentor. "Okay, maybe it was your wickedly accurate intuition!"
They ran inside the restaurant and growled at the sight of the poor goose being held hostage in rope by the same ape bandits they encountered last time. The tallest vervet, sure to be the leader, turned towards them with a smug look. "Well look at what we have here. The monster freak and her little sidekick coming back for another round."
Tigress pulled herself into her fighting stance. "I suggest you shouldn't be so cocky."
"Yeah!" Her panda partner piped. "Remember that we sent you running in a matter of seconds last time. Now let that poor old duck go!"
"HMM!?" Mr. Ping shouted through the fabric muffling him, offended by the 'old' comment.
"Oh we're aware of what happened last time... which is why we brought in some... hehe," The tiny, psychotic vervet giggled. "Reinforcements. OH SMALL BEANS~!"
"Small Beans?" Lotus repeated, confusingly glancing at Tigress. Then they head a large stomp and both froze. They both bravely and slowly turned as the heavy stomps grew louder... and closer.
Once they turned their heads to see who was behind them, they were greeted with an abnormally giant gorilla, with a scar cutting through one of his eyes, and bands with spikes on his four wrists, belt, even his neck.
Lotus gulped and whispered to his feline teacher. "Why is it always the horrifically huge guys that are named the most harmless things? It's very misleading!"
"Clearly their mothers had higher hopes for them..." Tigress muttered back. "Go after the smaller ones."
"What!? Tigress—"
"The bandits are going to try and distract us with their largest weapon while they make their escape, don't let them. Focus on freeing Mr. Ping and then holding the rest of them up, they're officially a threat."
Slowly, the ursine nodded, turning towards the pathetic vervets as they smugly chuckled. He cracked his knuckles and glared. "So, about that score you still wanted to settle?"
And with a fast blur, everyone broke out to fight. Tigress tried her best to deflect the large gorilla as he attempted to smash her to the ground, while Lotus got the more easier route of knocking out the smaller primates, sending them flying and knocking them out against the counter of the shop. Mr. Ping looked at the scene in horror, mostly worried about his utensils possibly being destroyed, before he was snatched up by the tallest vervet of the gang. The monkey tried to sneak past the panda by climbing up the grey walls, before feeling that same panda grab the end of his tail. He yelped and looked down in fear.
"Oh no you don't!" And with that, Lotus whipped the monkey around and threw him to join his battered brothers, before catching the bird in his big arms. He carried the goose chef into the kitchen and behind the counter, kneeling down and stripping Mr. Ping of the bondage keeping him hostage. "Are you alright, sir?"
Mr. Ping gave the panda a long look. He was in awe of the bear's protection over him but he also felt... something off about him. Not off in the sense of wrong, but definitely a weird... familiar feeling. Finally, the goose slowly nodded in reply of Lotus' query.
"Good, is there rope I can use to make sure these bandits don't escape?"
"U-uh—yes! In the cellar down there!" He pointed to one of the back doors that led to the cellar of his restaurant. Lotus nodded. "Thank you, sir. Now, I need you to sneak past Tigress and that scary gorilla guy and get help for us! Do you think you can do that?"
"Absolutely!" The noodle chef stated more confidently, and flew out of the shop to head up the mountain while the panda ran into the cellar to get the rope.
"AND THAT WAS MASTER VIPER FACING OFF THE ELEMENTAL ADVERSARIES OF DESTRUCTION!" Master Shifu announced to the cheering crowd. Viper bows humbly to the audience and joins the rest of her team.
"AND FINALLY... MASTER TIGRESS!" The crowd slowly started to die down their excitement, with no sign of the tiger master. They all murmur to one another as the rest of the Furious Five look amongst each nervously.
Shifu darts his eyes around in worry as well, before clearing his throat. "O-ONE MOMENT PLEASE AS WE TRY AND RETRIEVE WORD OF MASTER TIGRESS" He turns towards the collected tortoise desperately. "Master Oogway, what do we do!? Master Tigress is still not here!"
"At ease, Shifu," Oogway replies with his usual smile, "The Dragon Warrior is among us. I can sense it."
"But Master—"
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!"
The audience gasps and turns to the crimson doors as Mr. Ping flew over it to the centre of the tournament square. "MY RESTAURANT! MY RESTAURANT'S BEING ROBBED! MASTER TIGRESS IS IN DANGER!"
"Danger!?" The four remaining warriors and their master all asked in panic.
"Agh!" The tiger master grunted in pain as she got up from the cabbage vendor she was thrown into, wiping the blood off her lip and grabbing her shoulder. Small Beans chuckles maliciously.
"Aww, did I play too rough with the little kitten?"
Tigress' eyes turned to slits as she ran up to him, kicked off his stomach to knock him off balance, high-kicked him right in the face before using her good arm to slash across his cheek, giving him another scar. She plops back to the ground and growls. "Don't. Call. Me. Kitten."
The gorilla gripped his bloody cheek and roared in anger at the feline. He attempted to throw his wrist down on her and squish her to the ground. But just before he was able to do that, Tigress and Small Beans were both in shock when they caught a glimpse of a third party joining their fight.
Lotus groans as he struggles to hold the gorilla's fist over his head before slipping beneath his arm and kicking him right in the pelvis.
Tigress cringed a bit as Small Beans' eyes bulged out and he gripped his groin in pain, crumbling to the feet of the smug panda.
Lotus let go of the gorilla's hand and smirked, "HA, looks like I hit your small beans!" He cockily laughed before getting swiped with the gorilla's hand to the side, his back clashing against one of the stone walls.
"LOTUS!" Tigress called out in worry, with the gorilla slowly getting up walking over to the fallen panda. Thinking fast, the tiger warrior took a rock from the ground and threw it to the back of Small Beans' head, greatly agitating him. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She shouted, before suddenly getting slammed to the ground and getting choked out by the bandit.
The panda shook his head and gazed in horror at the scene. He felt a bit of Deja Vu when remembering the story Tigress told and darted his head around to think of a quick plan. Then he turned to his left.
A booth of fireworks.
He took one of the thin ones in his hand, shaking as he did. But not from pain.
Lotus knew that one firework wouldn't be enough, he would have to light almost the entire thing just to knock the gorilla away.
But there was one problem with that. A lot of things made him anxious, loud noises included, but if there was one thing he was deathly afraid of...
And that was fireworks.
He took quick breaths, mentally weighing his options, constantly turning from the fireworks to the battling animals.
He almost decided to go for another option, until he suddenly heard the big ape's laugh. And then he saw Tigress' kicks and wrangling start to become weaker.
He was killing her.
Suddenly all fears Lotus had didn't seem to matter. There was no time for another option. Thinking fast, he chucks the firework in the carriage and pulls a rock up to his dull nails, scraping it against him until it causes a spark that ignites a lot of the fireworks on the carriage. He holds the bars and aims the cart towards the gorilla, making sure that it's directed at him.
"HAHA! I COULD KILL YOU NOW AND MOVE ON TO YOUR LITTLE FRIEND, KITTEN!"
"WANNA BET ON THAT, SMALL BEANS!?"
Before the primate could even fully turn his head, his vision was blurred by a million sparks as his gigantic body was blown away by the fireworks. the cart pushed him up to the sky as his screams left their mark on the air before being silenced by the fireworks' explosions.
Tigress, weakly getting up from the crater that formed around her, looked up at the strange sight in shock before slowly turning her head to where her panda was. He sat there, eyes wide as he feverishly rubbed his ears. "M-man, that was louder than I expected..."
"Lotus!" She called out to the bear, and like a spell, he subconsciously started running towards her. "Tigress!"
He suddenly pulled the feline in, holding her tight in a relieving hug. "Oh Gods! I was so scared!"
"It's okay, Lotus..." She used her more stable arm to hold the panda back, "You did great... you saved me."
To their surprise, a bunch of cheers and applause erupted from the audience ahead of them that the two didn't know they had. Confused, Lotus slowly assisted his tiger master up and kept holding her while they glanced amongst the crowd. The Furious Five and Master Shifu went ahead to the front of the crowd, with Viper happily slithering forward to her sister and wrapping up around her. "TIGRESS! You're okay! Oh, I missed you!"
"I... missed you too."
"Tigress, good. You're finally here." The red panda butted in, not caring much for the feline's injuries. "We must bring you up to the Jade Palace so that we can conclude the Dragon Warrior tournament—"
"Seriously?" Lotus piped up. "Tigress just came back, was almost strangled to death and has a broken arm, and you want to throw her in the ring immediately?"
Tigress held her breath, feeling a twinge of genuine fear she hasn't felt in a long time. She gave the panda a small glare that he didn't care to notice. Viper slid down and away from the tiger to exchange glances between the three boys of the team. Mantis was about to faint on Monkey's shoulder, Crane's beak slacked to the ground all while Monkey lightly nudged the avian. The five notorious warriors were basically having a silent conversation as their master stared hard at the ursine with fury.
"And who are you supposed to be? Some commoner? With just the look of you I can already tell that you know nothing of kung fu or Master Tigress' limits."
"Well, looks can be deceiving." Lotus bit back as everyone died down and shared awkward glances with each other. Just then, the literal symbol of peace broke through the crowd and joined with the Jade Palace masters, his finger ominously pointing at them.
"The panda is right... Tigress is injured and needs to rest."
"B-but Master Oogway! The Dragon Warrior—"
"The Dragon Warrior is amongst us at this very moment, dear friend." Oogway interrupted the small master's worry rant. He walks past Viper, Crane, Mantis and Monkey, leaving him pointing in the general direction of Tigress. Everyone was anticipating the tortoise's final say.
Lotus, of course, was absolutely ecstatic. "O-OH MAN! IT'S REALLY MASTER OOGWAY! UH—hi! I-I'm Lotus, Tigress' student, heh! Y-you asked me to come with her to meet you? OH GOSH IT'S AN HONOUR, SIR!" He tried to bow in respect but timidly backed down when Tigress, still being held in his grasp, nudged him at the hip.
Oogway smiled curiously at the panda, tilting his old head at him. "And it's an honour to see a panda again, after all these years... those eyes... are you the son of Li and Lily Shan?"
Stunned, the panda straightened his back, his smile dropping. "I... yes, I am. My name is Lotus."
"How interesting..." The wise master smiled in fascination. Tigress respectfully budded in when she noticed Oogway's unwavering pointed finger.
"Master, are you pointing at... me?" She asked, slightly hopeful.
"You." The crowd breaks out in murmur once they realised who Oogway was truly pointing to. Once the five warriors and Shifu noticed as well, needless to say, they were stunned.
He was pointing at the panda.
"Who?" Lotus inquired, dodging a bit left and right to see if Oogway would move his point away from the bear... he didn't. He persisted.
"You!" He smiled sincerely, before taking his staff to raise up Lotus' free paw.
Me?" Taken aback, Lotus turned to his tiger partner for an explanation, yet she was just as lost.
"THE UNIVERSE HAS BROUGHT US... THE DRAGON WARRIOR!"
Lotus stared at the ground. "What?"
Tigress murmured in reply. "What?"
The four other warriors were next to express their shock. "What!?"
Shifu was completely at a loss. "WHAT!?"
GONG
The red panda noticed the lonesome pig from the palace, banging his tiny portable gong, and glared daggers into the poor pig's soul, making him cower. That was unfortunately brought onto blind sight as the whole valley once again celebrated and cheered for their new, supposed 'Dragon Warrior'. Were they a tad confused about a panda they have never seen before being their new hero? Yes, but the panda did save Master Tigress and they knew to put their ultimate trust on the superior Master Oogway.
Tigress slowly peeled herself away from Lotus, able to stand on her own now as she clutched her weak arm. Lotus kept glancing back at her for help, to which she shrugged in reply, still completely confused.
Music unleashed in the air as the crowd split for six goose people carrying a mini carriage to go through. They stood and awaited for Lotus to take his place on the cushioned throne, which made him gulp in intimidation. "W-wait a minute, guys—this has to be a mistake! I-I just got here—WHOA!" Interrupted by basically getting shoved in there by a goose, with a bit of struggle, they managed to take the panda away. He kept looking back at Tigress, who jogged after the carriage.
"T-Tigress, I'm so sorry! I genuinely don't know what's going on, I-I think I messed everything up—"
"It's okay, Lotus," The feline comforted. "We'll... we'll figure it out... I'll meet you at the Jade Palace as soon as I can, alright?"
Nodding meekly, the panda was taken away by the carriage as the crowd finally dispersed into their everyday activities, as if nothing happened, leaving her alone with the... divided Jade Palace masters.
"Master Oogway, wait a minute! That flabby panda can't possibly be the answer to our..." He darted his eyes around and muttered through his teeth, "... Problem. GAH! You were supposed to point at Tigress and that... thing, got in the way! It was an accident!"
"There are no accidents." Oogway stated calmly before walking off, leaving Shifu fuming.
Tigress shut her eyes and mentally braced herself. She knew her master will end up taking this frustration out on her during training, or worse... on Lotus. She slowly turned back around at her team and teacher as the old tortoise walked past her. "How is your arm, my dear Master Tigress?"
"Fine, thank you, Master Oogway." She stated curtly and coldly.
Just then, when things couldn't get even more awkward, Mr. Ping quietly walked towards the infuriated red panda, tapping his shoulder. "Um... there are still knocked out bandits in my shop?"
Shifu took a deep breath and addressed the bird. "Right, of course, Mr. Ping. Masters Viper and Monkey, take the bandits to prison. Master Crane, I want you to fly Master Tigress up to the Jade Palace so she can be treated for her wound immediately. Take Master Mantis with you so he can perform acupuncture on her, to ensure she recovers quickly and gets straight to training. By the way she's gained weight and have been slinging around pandas, she has obviously been slacking off."
Tigress growled under her breath. She's used to Shifu's constant criticism but that had to be a new low.
"I will... ugh... address our new 'Dragon Warrior'. But mark my words, students; if I don't make that panda quit by morning, I will have failed you as a master."
"What? Shifu, please, I know this situation's sudden, but Lotus is harmless, I promise—"
"He's a nuisance is what he is!" Shifu whipped his head towards the suddenly outspoken tiger. "I hope that spending time with his lazy kind hasn't also made you slack in obeying orders!
Master Tigress drew in a deep breath. "Of course not... Master Shifu."
Huffing through his nose, the small master walks past the feline as she is taken on the back of Crane. "Welcome back, Tigress." Crane smiled weakly, but Tigress couldn't bring herself to say anything back.
She felt herself completely shut down, an empty feeling inside that she was way too familiar with.
With a craving of a certain panda's touch, a feeling that she wasn't familiar with.