There were times when people who knew Po, both enemies and allies, admirers and haters, wondered of the panda was somehow blessed since birth.
If the panda had the gods, perhaps even the Universe itself, watching over him and protecting him and making sure he would survive whatever dangers that came his way, because he had an important mission to fulfill, or simply because they thought that he was entertaining to live and continue with his tom-foolery.
It seemed to be the case sometimes, when Po managed to survive and be saved from situations that seemed utterly hopeless.
Like now.
Collin and the Falcon Twins both charged forward, while Veruca used her magic to attack them, causing nearby trees to bend and attack the group, prompting Collin to attack with his blades and the falcons to attack with their claws, all of them slicing through the branches as easily as hot knives would through butter.
Wandering Blade's sword also sliced easily through the bamboos trapping Po, as she swung it with practiced skill and precision, causing the bamboos to fall while their stalks had bee cut enough for Po to be able to lift himself from them.
"Blade!" Po said, looking at his old knight friend. "You are back! That's so cool! Is that a new sword?"
To that question, Blade simply said:
"Yes, it is. Look, I'm happy for seeing you too, but what about we kick the bad guys' butts first?"
"Oh, right!" Po said, before turning back to the battle.
The deer and two falcons were easily slicing through every root and branch that came their way, proving that they were too much of a challenge for Veruca when they could see them coming, unlike the other ones, who had been caught by surprise and didn't had enough time to react.
"Having trouble there?" Tong Fo asked to the weasel, who growled at him.
"Not for long..."
With those words, the weasel pointed her hand at trees once more, it was glowing even brighter, and soon so were the trees.
Their trunks rattled and shook, and then they started to twist, as if they were giants that were waking up and stretching their bodies.
Everyone looked in awe as the trees pulled their roots out of the ground, nearly as if they were people pulling their legs out of the mud, and then, planting them on the ground like feet, started to walk.
"What the-!?" Was all Mantis could say before being shook violently as the tree holding him and the others did the exact same, ripping its remaining roots from the ground and using them as tendril-like feet to crawl its way towards the ones that had not been captured yet.
"Oh, great..." Collin said as he, Falcon Twins, Blade and Po saw themselves surrounded by animated trees, some of them holding Po's friends.
"Okay, that's impressive." Tong Fo admitted. Meanwhile, Veruca made a gesture with the hand and, like puppets, the trees moved under her command, attacking the group.
Naturally, they didn't just stand still and allowed themselves to be attacked, as they all dove out of the way. The falcons took to the sky, flying out of the reach of the branches, while Po and the knights jumped back and managed to slide their way past the vines and branches until they arrived at the other end, only for more trees to surround them and attack, and this time they didn't made it very far before they were all tossed back by the whip attack of a root, causing them all to fly back and collide against the wall of a house, cracking it while losing their weapons in the process.
"No!" Ping and Li both yelled as they were being held by Temutai, who yelled:
"Yes!"
Po and the other two were getting up when more roots came and held them against the wall.
"Po!" Fan Tong cried out for he panda, as he and the other constellations were being held by the branches of that one tree and looking down at their master and the two people who saved him being pinned down by its' roots.
"Kill him!" Tong Fo said, "Kill the panda now! It's your chance!"
He was talking to Veruca, who then said:
"No! We need him alive!... But I am going to kill the other two."
She said the last part in a wicked way, as she made another gesture. In answer, the tree lifted more roots, and those stiffened their tips, causing them to become as rigid and sharp as spears, and they were aiming straight at both Collin and Luthera's hearts, as they pulled back and then lunged.
However, that was when, with two identical cries, two blurs passed like arrows, slicing through the roots and causing them to drop to the ground. They also did the same with the roots holding the other three.
"Ugh! I hate those birds!" Veruca said as she glared at the Falcon Twins, who had, once more, got on her way just as she was about to get the panda for herself and kill those who were siding with him.
"You guys need some help?" Falcon Sister asked.
"Well, we do!" Jing said, as Hundun still had a knee on her back and a poisoned blade to the back of her neck. "Help us!"
"Don't worry, guys! We are going to save you!" Po said, and he immediately had to dodge a root that tried to attack him, and that was immediately cut down by Blade, who just recovered her sword. "And try to save me as well!"
"Well, luckily, you are not alone!" Luthera said to Po, offering him and smile, and Po could only look back at her and nod.
She was right. He was not alone.
He had friends by his side.
He had a team.
And soon, in true Dragon Master fashion, Po was giving instructions to the team, as he and Luthera quickly came up with a plan.
"Blade, you and I will save the others from the branches! Falcon Twins, cover us!"
"Collin, Dumont will be focusing her attention on us! You go for her, but don't forget of her brother and new allies!"
With nods, the three others followed the instructions of the master and knight, and they were soon, once more, on the attack.
With the aerial coverage for the two of them, Luthera and Po quickly leaped into action, as they were now breaking or slicing through the branches, freeing Po's allies one by one. Each time a branch of root tried to lunge at them, a flying mass of feathers with claws came and sliced through the attacking offender, easily batting it away from the two warriors.
"Master!" Nu Hai said as Po came and started working on freeing them. He had to struggle a bit, once it was hard to break the thing with his bare hands, but that was when Nu Hai told Po:
"Po, reach for the dagger on my back pocket!"
Po reached there.
"Woah! I said my pocket!"
"Oh, sorry!" Po said, and soon he had managed to get the dagger out of Nu Hai's pocket, pulling it out of the decorated covering and then swinging it hard enough to slice through the wood, freeing his students each with four or five blows, causing them to drop to the ground one by one.
Meanwhile, Luthera, with Falcon Brother covering her from the attacks of the branches, and she jumped in between the roots that were holding Tigress and Viper.
"Are you two alright?" She asked, to what Tigress asked:
"Who are you?"
She was hostile as she asked that question, to what Luthera shot back:
"The one who is saving you!" She said, and she started slicing through the roots, freeing both the tiger and the snake rather quickly, just like Po freed his two panda students as well as Crane and Monkey, with the avian quickly jumping in the air and joining Falcon Twins.
While Luthera and Po were saving the others and fighting the trees, Collin did as Luthera told him and he started to go after Veruca, both his swords drawn. Klaus immediately stepped on his sister's defense, as he started attacking the deer, who fought back at him.
Veruca would have joined her brother in dealing with the deer, but she was focused in controlling the trees and trying to attack Po and his allies, what was not easy with so many of them and with them being so nimble on their feet, what was surprising, considering how corpulent the pandas were.
"Tong Fo! A little help here!" Kalus called out, and soon, the loris pulled more poisoned blades, and he started attacking the deer as well, but Klaus was too much of a trained and experienced knight to be easily overwhelmed by two criminals, no matter how skilled they both were.
"Hundun!" Tong Fo cried out as he realized that he and Klaus were both way over their heads. The rhino, being called, quickly put himself to help. He could not let go of Mantis otherwise the bug would attack him, so he instead let go of the poisoned blade he was holding so he could replace his firing horn with the fire gems in place, not realizing that losing his advantage over Jing was as big of a mistake.
As soon as the blade was no longer pointed at her neck, Jing used this change to strike, as she bent her body in a way one would not expect from someone who was not as slim as Tigress, she wrapped her legs around Hundun's arm and, with a massive movement, she threw the rhino back when he was hallway through changing his horn.
"Nice one, big girl!" Mantis said as he helped Jing to her feet.
"Thanks, little guy." Jing said back with a smirk.
As this happened, Junjie was looking at the development from where he was standing. Under him, Shifu was struggling, before he managed to flip himself, resulting in him now being face-to-face with Junjie. Soon, Shifu was able to push him back with three quick and well-placed nerve strikes to Junjie's chest, forcing him to stumble back as he held his chest in pain, allowing the small master to tumble back with a summersault that allowed him to catch his staff once more, spinning it as he got ready for battle.
"Hey!" Temutai said, "This is not fair! We were winning!"
"Now you are losing!" Ping groaned as he squirmed, causing something to drop form his sleeve. It was a small blade, which he then caught between his flappy feet, and then managed to jam on the underside of Temutai's arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Graaaaaahhh!" He said as Ping and Li both dropped to the ground. Temutai was looking at the small blade stuck into his arm, before yelling even louder, and then turning to the two.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Temutai was saying, but he stopped as soon as he saw Ping. As he saw the look on his eyes.
At the cold look of hatred and animosity, which he was pretty sure he never saw on that bird's eyes before. It was enough to throw him off balance for the briefest of seconds, which was long enough for:
"Let go of my brother, you brute!" Nu Hai said as she lunged at the big water buffalo and, with three well-place punches and a spinning kick right to the chin, caused Temutai to stumble back and land flat on his back, freeing her brother, who she quickly helped to her feet.
And Collin had finally managed to overwhelm both Tong Fo and Klaus, and she pushed them both back with a swing of his swords, causing them to crash into Veruca, causing her to lose her focus and her control over the trees, which immediately sank their roots back into the ground and reverted into regular trees. What was welcome for Po and his friends.
"Dammit!" Veruca said as she pushed Klaus and the loris off her, and she looked around, seeing how overclasses they were in this situation.
At that moment, she decided that it was time to bail while they still could.
With that in mind, Veruca reached out inside of her clothes and pulled something that, much like the bamboo stalks, she had reserved for an eventuality: three white pine cones.
"Take that!" She said as she threw the pines on the air, and immediately used her magic, causing the pines to glow green as they were int eh air above everyone.
"Look out!" Blade said, quickly jumping at Po to push him out of the way, just as the pines, much like grenades, exploded in the air, shooting seeds at high speed towards the ground like shrapnel, causing everyone to jump for cover.
After this, and after come confusion, everyone was recovering and getting back on their feet after throwing themselves to the ground to avoid the seed shrapnel.
"Are you okay?" Blade asked of Po was she was on top of him, using her arms to support herself after covering Po and looking down at him.
"I guess so... are you okay?"
To that, Blade smiled.
"I'm great, Po." She said to him as she looked warmly at him. "Good to see you again."
Po smiled back at her.
"Ditto."
The use of that one word, which Po learned from his visit to Blade's homeland five years ago, made the bear smile a bit wider at the panda as they continued to look at each other with warmness on their eyes.
And, just a few feet away, Tigress, who was still on the ground, looked at them with a frown as she saw the way they were looking at each other.
"Are you okay?" Nu Hai's question snapped Tigress back to reality as she saw the female panda offering her a hand, which she took and was soon getting on her feet like the others, and then rushing at Po to get him on his feet as well.
"What about the bad guys?" Po asked once he was standing once more. It was Shifu who answered:
"They escaped."
Yes, for the whole point of that little pine cone grenade stunt was not to kill anyone, but to create the chaos the bad guys could use to make a run for it, and they did keep running until they were out of the village and kept running still. Even as they passed by a group composed of a gazelle, a pig and two mountain goats, all of them finely dressed, who all looked at them with surprise as the criminals all continued to run.
"Dammit!" Tong Fo yelled in frustration. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" He was kicking a nearby broken wheel of an old chariot wagon in frustration, looking like he was trying to demolish it for good.
"Oh yeah, go ahead and destroy it, it will certainly help with our situation." Junjie said as he stood there near the others, who were still recovering from the mad dash they did to escape.
"Shut up!" Tong Fo snapped, pulling as blade and pointing it at the fox. "Just shut the hell up, Junjie! Before I slice your tongue out of your mouth!"
To that, the fox looked back at him coldly.
"Why don't you try, you big-eyed ruffian?" Junjie growled to him. "See how far you can make against someone who actually knows how to fight."
For a long moment, the two small animals glared at each other, looking like they were waiting for the other to do the first move so they could counter it.
"Man, you two old men are making quite a scene!" Veruca said, causing the attention to shift to her. "As much as I'd enjoy seeing you two beating each other into oblivion, I think it would be better if you two save it for the next time we face Po."
"We wouldn't need a next time if you had just let me kill him when I had the chance!" Tong Fo said, "Just one slice of my poison-coated blade and he would be a goner in seconds!"
"Yeah, not happening." Veruca said. "We need that panda alive for our plans to work."
"Wait what plans?" Temutai asked, to that Veruca said:
"That concerns only my brother and I. All you have to do is follow our instructions and get his friends out of the way so we can get to him."
"Oh, shut up, you stupid weasel!" Tong Fo said, walking to her with his blade, only for Klaus to walk on his way, pointing his sword at the loris.
"Try doing anything to my sister and you will no longer have hands." Klaus growled at him. "Or a head."
This seemed to be enough to make Tong Fo stop, but not enough to placate his anger.
"Screw both of you!" Tong Fo yelled at them. "I knew siding with you was a bad idea!" He turned to the others. "Let's go back to working on our own! This time I will get to the panda and I will slice his fat neck!"
At the moment, Veruca lifted her hand, causing it to glow green.
Immediately, the grass under Tong Fo was affected, glowing green and growing at a blinding speed while wrapping themselves around the loris arms, legs and torso, and pulling down.
Tong Fo struggled, but he could not fight the magic-enhanced grass, which brought him to his knees.
"You will do as we tell you to." Veruca said, and then she caused more blades of grass to shoot up, wrap themselves around Tong Fo's head and force him to look Veruca straight in the eyes. "And you are not killing the panda until we say you can. Is that clear?"
There was no way Tong Fo could say no to that. Not when he was in such a position and with Veruca looking at him like that. Once she knew she made her point across, she turned around, leaving the loris to fight his way out of the grass on his own.
Veruca crossed eyes with her brother, and the two siblings nodded to each other. A conspiratorial nod, that was shared by two people who knew what was going on while everyone else was clueless, and who were intending to take full advantage of it.
They would be getting what was theirs.
It would not be denied to them again.
"So, how long before we can use our chi again, Master Shifu?" Bao asked as Shifu finished examining him, the other three of the Constellations standing nearby.
"Yeah, I want to know when I will be at full power again!" Jing said, sounding as impatient as usual. To that, Shifu could only say:
"That depends. The Hu Zan Chi Destabilizer's effects vary from one person to the other, but the usual is for it to last between three days and three weeks."
"Seriously!?" Jing said, "It can take that long for us to have our chi powers back!? Ugh, that sucks!"
"Oh course, like I said, that can vary from one person to the other." Shifu added. "This is just an estimate. Your chi could take a shorter time to return to normal. Just as it could take longer."
Jing let out a loud groan as she heard that, slapping both her hands over her face. She could not bear the idea of being without her chi for longer than three weeks! It was her gig! It was part of her very identity as a master! She was a Constellation, for crying out loud!
"Is there any way to make our chi go back to normal faster?" Nu Hai asked.
"There is." Shifu said, and then quickly added:
"But they are not simple to perform and doing almost any of them would put you all in risk. It is dangerous to try and force someone's chi to restart after being destabilized."
"Well, we could try anyways, no?" Jing asked. "I want my chi back!"
Shifu was about to say something, when Po stepped forward.
"You guys should listen to Shifu." He said to them, causing them all to look back at him. "He knows what he is talking about. Or at least he did most of the times in all the years I've known him."
Shifu looked at the Dragon Master with a raised eyebrow.
"I know I would have gotten in a lot less messes if I had just heard him from the start. So, I suggest you kids to not make the same mistake I did one too many times and listen to the guy who knows best, okay? If he says it is too dangerous, is because it probably is. I'd hate to see anything bad happening to you."
This seemed to make the Constellations consider, and even Jing stood down a little after that. She still looked bummed, as she had her arms crossed while looking down and pouting. Shifu, on his end, could only look with raised eyebrows at the panda, who then looked back at him, and gave a smile and shrug.
"There is a way to speed up the return of your chi. One that is safe." Shifu said, causing the four younger pandas to look at him. "You can help your chi stabilize faster through focus and meditation. It will not solve the problem immediately, but it will reduce the time your chi will take to go back to normal. However, it will require true focus and commitment. Think you are up to it, Constellations?"
The four of them shared looks, and they all agreed.
"Just tell us how to do it and we will do our best, Master Shifu." Nu Hai said, and Shifu agreed to, but later, because now they had something more urgent to focus on.
"That was a very wise advice you gave to your students, Dragon Master." Shifu said to Po as they walked back to the others. "Very mature and level-headed. Well done."
Po smiled back at his master, giving a simple nod, and this was enough for Shifu to know how much Po had matured.
And then, he was all over the visiting masters as soon as they were gathered.
"I can't believe you guys are here!" Po said to the four of them, who were in there with the others as they arrived on the Jade Palace after a meeting with everyone on the center of the village, asking what why Temutai and Tong Fo ran past them as they made their way into the village, and they were quickly put in pair of everything as they arrived.
And now, they all had a panda who was all over them like a fanboy.
"The great Master Slamming Goat!" Po said, "The one who knocked down the gates of the Bao Hung Fortress with his powerful Goat Slam technique! And his son, Zing, who defeated the terrible One-Eyed Rhino Warlord with his signature technique, the Zing Zen Headbutt Jump! Oh, you guys are so legendary!"
"Oh. Uhhh, thanks." Said the younger of the two people who Po was talking with now. Zing was a lot like his father, with the same white fur and red eyes, and the same curved horns on his head, as one would expect from a mountain goat. However, he was less muscular than his father, and a bit shorter. Also, he lacked the goatee his father had, and he was wearing simple, but fancy, blue and golden robes, while his father wore a fancy red and golden armor as he stood with his arms crossed as he looked at the panda.
"And the great Master Gazelle!" Po passed to the gazelle, shorter than both goats and wearing yellow robes, with many jade rings on his horns and holding a spear with a green blade. "With the same Jade-Bladed Spear he used to defeat the terrible Demon of Fire of the Gun Lao Volcano! It is true that since it was bathed on the demon's blood it can become as hot as lava if it is under the midday sun?" Po asked anxiously, but before Master Gazelle could answer, Po passed to the next one on the line, who was the shortest of them all.
"And the famous master Pig of the Four Rings!" Po said to the small pig who was about as tall as Shifu, wearing pink and silvery robes and with a fancy head decoration and a belt around his waist, with four chakrams in it. "With his four collapsible chakram: Earth Heart, Glowing Sun, Singing Moon and Iron Circle, which you used to defeat the Four Great Bandits of the Sun Huo province! Ohhh, you are such a legend! All of you are!"
Po was still giddy for meeting all of them, like he had always been upon meeting anyone who he considered impressive. That was just Po being Po, and everyone who knew him enough was used to it. Many even smiled at the panda, as they were all familiar with his antics, while the visitors who were meeting him now were a tad bit awkward.
"Well, it is an honor to meet you as well, Dragon Master." Said Master Gazelle, bowing his head at the panda, and so did the other four... or three of them. Slamming Goat only scoffed while looking away, and this granted him a glare from Shifu. Po, however, didn't seemed to notice, and he was still giddy for all the masters coming to the Palace.
"That reminds me when we first met Po." Falcon Brother said to his sister, and she could only nod. Both twins remembered well of their first meeting with Po, and how much he was all over them and saying how awesome they were, even after they captured him and were taking him back to China as a prisoner while being very cold, even cruel, to him.
They both came to regret how they treated him very much, like pretty much everyone else in China.
Or most everyone.
"Okay, I think that's enough fanboying for a day." Luthera said, stepping up as she placed a hand on Po's shoulder. "We still need to focus on the Dumont and their associates."
"Indeed." Slamming Goat said, "Good to see that at least one bear present in this room knows how to take things seriously. Guess this means she is the less likely to screw things up epically."
This caused Po to flinch, mostly because the goat was looking straight at him as he said those words.
However, the attention was cut off by a staff's bottom being slammed into the ground.
"Master Goat, I will have to remind you to refrain from making those kinds of commentaries while on the Jade Palace." Shifu said in a stern voice. "You were already warned. Show proper respect for my students."
Goat looked at the smaller fellow kung fu master, and then around seeing that many of the other people on the room, from Shifu's other students to the Four Constellations, were giving him glares. One of the pandas, a female who he knew from tales to be the Heir of the White Tiger, passed a finger over her neck while giving him a death glare. By her side, Master Tigress was just as hostile, although she didn't make any obvious non-verbal threat.
This was enough to make Goat stand down, bowing his head and apologizing for the disrespectful commentary. Po quickly accepted.
"We know how important this matter is, Shifu, and we'd all like to help." Master Gazelle said, "But, if you don't mind, we would like to take some time to refresh first. It has been a long travel, after all, and we'd like a few minutes to get ourselves settle on the Palace before we discuss the mission."
Shifu looked at Gazelle, and then at the others. He then nodded, saying that they could take a couple minutes to get themselves settled and refresh as they wanted. He then summoned some of the servants to show them their quarters, and Po wished them all a happy stay as they made their way to the guest rooms.
With that, Po decided to take this chance to introduce the two newcomers to everyone.
"Guys, I'd like you all to meet the knights." Po said, "This one is Collin." Po gestured to the stag, who made a respectful gestured by making a reverence with a closed fist to his chest. "And this one is Luthera, the Wandering Blade. Blade, those are the Furious Five and my students the Four Constellations. I told you about them, remember? It's been a while, though."
Blade nodded, and she showed she remembered what Po told her about them.
"So that is the famous Wandering Blade, no?" Monkey said, shaking her hand. "Po told us all about you. He loves telling stories of how you two saved the world together. Ain't that right, Tigress?"
The female tiger then, by looking at the female brown bear with hard, cold eyes, said:
"Yes, he does indeed."
This cold hostility caught Blade off guard. However, not one to get intimidated easily, the bear instead glared back at Tigress with equal hostility, to what Po quickly got on the way.
"Don't mind her! Seriously, Tigress is like that with everyone." Po quickly said to Blade. "But it is so awesome to have you back! I mean, not the best conditions, considering you are here because the weasels escaped and all that, but so awesome! Man, we have so much to tach up! So much happened since we last saw each other! But you start! Tell me how it has been to be a knight! Is it cool? Is it awesome? Did you catch a lot of bad guys? Do they sing songs about your brave deeds and make little action figures of you? Do you give a lot of autographs daily? Did your hand get stronger from writing so many autographs? Mine did, that's why my Four-Fingered Immobilizing Squeeze is so good!"
Blade could only look at Po, and at how much he was rambling. He was so much like how she remembered him. That sweet innocence that she regretted so much having taken advantage of by lying to him from the start.
He was just the same, but it was like Po himself said, a lot had happened since they last saw each other, and Luthera wanted to talk to him about all of them.
And now was as good a time as any other.
"Can we take a walk together?" She asked Po. "Since you live here, I bet you can show me the best sights around here. We can use this chance to talk about how our lives have been.
Po was a bit surprised by this request, but he agreed all the same.
"But let's not go too far, okay? We gotta be back soon. Right?" Po asked that last part to Shifu, who nodded. So, with the master's permission, Po and Blade were walking away, with the panda happily chatting to her as they went their way while the others watched.
"Yup, they definitely had a fling." Jing said matter-of-factly. "Or at least hooked up."
"Jing!" Nu Hai said, looking at the other female panda.
"What? Have seen the two? You saw how kind Po was to her, right?"
"He is kind to everyone!" Nu Hai said, annoyed and exasperated. "He is Po!"
"Yeah, but he was kind to her in a special way. Like you are not just to anyone. He looked at her as if she was someone who he had missed with all of his heart."
"She became friends with him back when they saved the world together." Fan Tong said. "And he had not saw her in five years. Maybe he just missed an old friend, that's all." Jing scoffed at that.
"You guys are way too innocent." She said to the others. "I'm telling you guys, the way he looked at her was like someone who missed a person they really are into. And, like you just said, they saved the world together. This kind of thing makes two people become close. And you guys remember how, back on the restaurant, Po told us that in one occasion him and Blade-girl bathed together under a waterfall after getting caked in mud. Sure, they were around ten feet from each other all the time, but they still saw each other naked. ~"
"Goodness gracious." Shifu said at the way that the female panda said that as she flexed her eyebrows on the most suggestive way. And he was not the only one being rendered uncomfortable by this, as the other Five were a bit embarrassed by Jing's implications. And Tigress...
"I'm telling you, Jing, this is just your pervy delusions." Nu Hai said.
"You wanna bet?" Jing said back. "Fifty yuan how they had something. At least before Po came back. I mean, the guy had just almost died! If he did not saw this as an encouragement to enjoy life, then I'll be very disappointed at him! I can bet that he would want to seize the moment. Show that foreign bear how pandas do it. Show her some of that traditional pan-pan love? I know I would, either was a man or a woman. ~"
"Jing..." Nu Hai was really exasperated at this point. And Tigress, suddenly said:
"I'm going for a walk."
The way she spoke was so blunt that it made everyone stare at her as she walked away with firm steps.
On the same direction Po and Blade went.
"... I was in luck I had a blade hidden in my boot. I managed to cut my ropes and free Collin. From there, it was easy. Especially after I got the Dragon's Fang back."
Blade said that proudly as she showed the sword she was referring to. The one she got after Luthera's Shield, her brother's sword and re-forged Wind Wheel, was destroyed because it was used to destroy the rest of the Tianshang Weapons. This one looked as beautiful as the previous one, and it had a more decorated pommel, with a black and white yin-yang symbol in it.
"Awesome!" Po said to her. "Both the story and your new sword! So cool!"
Luthera smiled. She realized how much she missed talking to Po.
Just talking to him. The panda was genuine. More than most people she ever met other than Collin. She always liked this about him, once she stopped being so antagonizing with him for not being as serious as her.
"And you showed those bad guys that it is a sword worthy of the knight Wandering Blade! Good job, pal."
Luthera nodded.
"And those with them... they were all your old enemies?"
"Oh, yeah. All of them. Temutai, Tong Fo, Hundun and Junjie. They are a nasty bunch. Honestly, though I didn't have to worry about them anymore. They were already a problem back on the day..."
"Yes, the Falcon Twins told me the stories on the way here." Luthera said, remembering how the two birs told her about the past enemies that Po faced before the Dumonds, to tranquilize her as she was too worried about what the weasels could do to him.
And one of those stories stuck with her.
"And, Junjie, the fox..." Blade said, "Did he really tried to get you framed for a crime?"
"Oh, that he did." Po said, "It was right after I came back from England."
And Po gave her a more in-depth version of the abridged story the Falcon Twins told her. About how, right after he returned and was received as a hero by everyone, with a lot of people offering him gifts, was to be added, he was invited to stay for a few nights on the Emperor's palace.
"While I waited for them to prepare the chariot that would take me back to the Valley of Peace. It was part of the Emperor's apology to me, apparently, even though I don't know why he didn't just have the chariot prepared while I was on my way... Oh, and Shifu was there too! He came to welcome me! The others couldn't because they were all on mission guarding the Valley, but they all send their regards and told me they looked forward to having me back. Man, it felt so good to see a familiar face once I was back home. I was so glad Shifu was there... Not so much for Junjie being there as well."
Yes, for Junjie was on the same city where Po was being received and where the Emperor's Palace was.
He was in there because he was after something. He was after the Emperor's Forbidden Treasury, a special fortified room on the palace where all manners of objects were kept, all under the title of "treasures of the imperial seal". Those included not only objects of priceless historic and monetary value, but also magical objects of immense power (even though none of them came close to the power the Tianshang Weapons once had).
"He wanted those treasures so he could regain his place as an undisputed master, and take over the Jade Palace, like he wanted for years. And he also was not happy at me getting my Dragon Master title back because he never liked me. So, I guess with me coming back, he decided to kill two birds with one stone."
"He... impersonated you to steal the treasures?" Blade said, repassing what she was told. "But... how? I mean, he is barely one fourth of your size. Plus, he is a fox."
"Remember the things I told you about advanced kung fu techniques? How some of them even seem like magic? Especially those involving the use of chi?" Po told to the knight. "Well, Junjie knows this technique that allows him to imitate how other people look. It doesn't matter if they are bigger than him or a different species, with this technique Junjie can disguise himself to look and sound like almost anyone. He used it once to pretend to be the deceased Master Oogway."
"And, on that time, he used it to pretend to be you." Blade concluded, and Po nodded.
"He made himself look like me and broke into the treasury to steal some of the treasures there. He picked quite the few things and, on his way out, he made sure to let the guards see him before making his escape." Po said, "He wanted me to take the blame for stealing those priceless things, so I would pay the price for it."
"He wanted to have you disgraced and arrested." Blade concluded. However, Po then said:
"Actually, disgraced and executed. The sentence for stealing from the Forbidden Treasury's treasures is death."
Po still remembered that time. He remembered how he had a tub filled with hot water on his private quarters and he had just taken off his clothes so he could bathe, when all of a sudden twenty rhinos form the imperial army barged into his room, pointing their spears at the panda and telling him that he was under arrest for stealing the Emperor's priceless treasures.
Po was so effing confused at that very moment.
And, as they looked at the panda with only a towel wrapped around his waist, so were the guards.
"Junjie made a good job impersonating me. He even talked like me when leaving. But he made a mistake." Po said to the Blade, and he pointed at his chest. At the misshapen star of a burn mark "You see, he didn't know I came back from my adventure with a scar on my chest. I had been wearing a shirt since I arrived. When he impersonated me, he did it as he remembered me from last time we saw: no shirt and no scar. So, when the guards who saw 'me' stealing the treasures looked at my chest and saw a scar they were sure was not there when they saw 'me' escaping, they realized something was off."
With that one crucial detail, the imperial guard took Po to the Emperor to discuss the matter instead of straight to the dungeons to lock him up while they prepared his immediate execution. And Shifu, of course, was there as well. In their meeting, they clarified everything, and they concluded someone tried to frame Po, and it didn't take long for them to figure out who was behind this.
That was when they knew that they had to catch Junjie and retrieve the treasures he stole, once they were not only precious, but also too powerful to be left on the grasp of someone like the fox. However, if they started chasing after him, he would inevitably catch up and run away with the treasures, and they would be unlikely to catch him before he managed to do some serious damage. They needed to be smart with it.
That was when Po came up with a plan that Shifu himself agreed was very clever: to make Junjie think his plot had worked.
"The idea was to make it seem that he really managed to frame me for what he did and get me sentenced to death." Po explained, telling Blade how they spun the story that the panda had been swiftly sentenced due to the guards having saw him clearly. They also spun that, in order to avoid public outcry, they would be doing the execution in secret within the palace's walled courtyard. They prepared the whole shebang, with an execution stand, the Emperor and Shifu both sitting on their chairs to witness the deed and, of course, a double to pose as Po.
"I had the idea from the plan we used to fool Drake so he would enter into London unseen. Remember? When we picked that scarecrow and put an armor that looked just like yours in it so Drake and the other knights would think you were trying to barge in through the main road?" Po told to his old friend, reminiscing a memorable part of their old adventure. "We just needed to get an old dummy from the archery training range, stuff it with extra filling to make it panda-sized, paint it black and white, put one of my extra shorts in it, and boom! Fake Po!"
It had been an improvised job, of course, and who was close enough could tell it was a dummy. However, like the Fake Blade back on the day, Fake Po looked pretty much like the original from a distance. Especially as it had its hands chained behind its back and a cloth sack over its head as the guards dragged it to the execution stand by the arms.
They even put on a bit of a show by moving in a way that made it seem like Fake Po was struggling as it was taken to the stand, where the imperial executioner waited with a recently-sharpened axe.
The whole point of the charade was to make it a convincing show for whoever was watching the thing from hiding, as they suspected Junjie was doing.
And they were right.
Junjie was watching the entire thing while hiding from the ceiling, and it was convincing enough. As soon as the executioner's axe swung down and Fake Po's severed head landed on the basket in front of the execution block, Junjie made his presence known, laughing like a madman as he boasted of how his plan was a success and how, with Po gone for good, no one could ever stop him.
And that was when the real Po made his presence known, as he had been hiding inside a big vase all the time and then jumped (stumbled would be the better word) out of the vase and was right on fighting pose.
"Man, the look on Junjie's face as he saw me coming out of the vase right after he saw 'me' being beheaded... I swear he wouldn't look more shocked if the sun fell out of the sky." Po spoke to Blade. "From there, it was all about fighting him in an awesome battle that ended with us claiming back the treasures he stole and having him surrounded by the imperial guard. But... he still managed to escape in the end, and he also hid some of the treasures and they have not yet been found. But the Emperor did send out announcements about how Junjie's status as a master was permanently revoked and that he was now a wanted criminal sentenced to death for what he did, so Shifu said that he got what he deserved in the end. He also said that he was glad that this time the Emperor removed the title and made a criminal of someone who actually deserved it."
Po said that with a lot of naturality. Blade, despite nodding in agreement, could not help but think of what Po seemed to be ignoring.
That the only reason why Junjie's plan failed was because he didn't know about Po's scar. About this one change to Po's appearance that, when saw by the same people who saw the imposter, would quickly recognize and find it suspicious enough to ask questions and eventually find out the truth.
If Junjie had known beforehand about the scar and added it to his impersonation of Po, or even just impersonated Po while wearing a shirt that would leave the scar out of sight, then it could have been the real Po's head falling into a basket instead of a fake's.
The mere thought alone was enough to make Luthera's heart clench, and to make the bear even happier that she was able to see Po again. For being able to tell him of all the great changes that happened on her life since their last meeting.
Including...
"Po..." She said, looking the panda in the eyes. "So much has happened in the last five years. Meeting you... meeting you has changed my life so much... It changed so much for me." She then surprised Po by reaching out for his hands and holding them. The panda was surprised, both by the action and by how hard Blade was squeezing them.
So hard it was hurting a little bit.
"I really cannot imagine my life if I have never met you, Po." Blade said to him. "Because, if I never had met you, then I would never-"
"Oh, hey there, you two!"
Said a voice that caused the two of them to stop and look at who it was coming towards them, with a big smile on her face and her hands behind her back.
"T-Tigress!" Po said, looking at the feline in surprise, before looking at Blade, and then at his own hands, which the female bear was holding, before pulling them out of her grasp.
"W-we weren't doing anything!"
Blade blinked, looking at the panda in surprise as he acted as a cub who was just caught stealing biscuits from the pantry. Tigress, however, didn't seemed mad, as Po seemed to think she would be, for some reason.
"Po, are you nervous?" Tigress asked, her voice sweet. So sweet a lot of people would find it out of character for her. "Did I interrupt you in the middle of something, darling?"
Darling?
Po and Blade both blinked, as they looked at her in surprise, before sharing a look.
"Y-yes... No! I mean... I was just talking to Blade. You know, catching up? Like we said we would be doing? You know, a lot has happened in the last five years, and we wanted to share it all with each other, and... and stuff..."
"Oh, I see." Tigress said, approaching Po. "Because you're a loyal friend who is always happy for seeing an old friend, and you are always eager to let them know how things are and to know if they are doing okay. Because you are a sweet and kind little furry dumpling, aren't you?"
Tigress came really close to Po.
"And that is one of the reasons why I love you so much." Tigress said, before leaning forward and kissing Po on the lips, much to his shock, as well as Blade.
As Tigress broke the kiss, she then leaned on Po while looking at Blade, and the bear could not help but look at her, as her brain made the connection.
"Y-you..." She said, "You two... y-you two are..."
Po, who was also looking at her, and feeling like he wanted to vanish out of there just because of how awkward this whole situation was, then said:
"Well, yes. But not as in... I mean... yes, we are."
"For a few years now." Tigress said, "Can you believe it? We have known each other for almost fifteen years, and we only started to really become close after he came back from being away for months to train the Constellations and then leaving the country to save the world from a pair of crazy weasels. Honestly, I kind of feel like an idiot for taking so long to realize what a great catch his panda is. ~"
Tigress said it in a loving way as she played with Po's fur with her finger. Po could only look at her in surprise, as this was something that she rarely ever did. Even when they were all alone.
"Oh, by the way, I'd appreciate if you could not tell anyone about this, it is kind of our little secret." Tigress said to Blade. "I mean, you will keep me and my boyfriend's secret since you are such a good friend of his', won't you?"
Blade looked at the feline. She was so surprised by what she just found out that she didn't even became properly angry at what Tigress was doing in such an obvious manner that even Po, who had always been a bit slow with things, caught up.
"I-I... I'll not tell anyone." Blade finally said. "Your secret is safe with me, don't worry."
"We appreciate it. Don't we, Po?" Tigress asked the panda, still smiling. Po looked at Tigress for a moment, and then looked back at Luthera.
"Blade..."
"I think I should go back. I have to talk to Collin about something." The knight said, looking down. She did look up to talk to the panda:
"I'm glad you found love, Po. I'm happy for you."
She sounded strange as she said that, and she was still looking down as she walked away, leaving the panda and tiger to look at her as she departed.
Once she was gone, Po was glaring at Tigress.
"What?"
"Don't." Po said to her. "Just don't."
And Tigress didn't. She cut the pretense.
"I saw the way she was looking at you, Po." Tigress said, "Others looked at you the same way before, and one of them nearly married you. I was not about to just sit back and let someone come and take my man right in front of me."
"Yeah, but you didn't need to mark your territory so hard!" Po said back to her. "Seriously, Tigress, you don't need to act like the jealous girlfriend anytime a girl comes close to me!"
"Not anytime a girl comes close to you!" Tigress shot back. "Only when they are clearly trying to take you for themselves." She said it so firmly that Po had nothing back to her. However, Tigress seemed to realize she was out of line, because she apologized to the panda.
"Yeah, I guess you already had this whole jealousy thing going on even before we started dating..." Po said, "It might be one of your few flaws..."
"And you are still working on helping me through it." Tigress said to him with a smile. "Maybe you need to try harder."
"Yeah, maybe I do, even so you won't yell that we are dating on the face of the next woman who shows any interest in me. Seriously, it will be hard to keep it a secret if you keep doing that."
"Hey, we have managed to keep everyone else in the dark for years!" Tigress said to him, putting an arm around the panda's shoulder and pulling him closer. "We are good at it. Don't worry, no one will know until we decide to tell them. Now, what about we talk about our next secret date on the waning moon?"
With that, Tigress and Po walked away, with the tiger speaking to the panda who this time she'd prefer to go to a place that had a bit further away from the village, so they could "have more privacy without having to sneak around so much". They, much like Blade, failed to notice the figure hiding behind a big rock.
A figure that had followed Tigress, who had been following the two. A figure who had watched the exchange and was as shocked as Blade was after witnessing the kiss, and even for hearing Tigress talk.
Shifu took several minutes to wrap his brain around what he just found out...