They say that some people are born blessed. That the stars are aligned in such a way that they will always be lucky on their lives. As long as they put in the effort themselves as well, of course.

Many say Po was like that. That he was one of those people who are born blessed. I mean, he was the Dragon Warrior, for crying out loud! But he did not count only on luck. He worked hard for his position, he struggled, and he went through all kinds of trials, and he managed to come out on top with a combination of luck, strength, audacity and cunning that many would not expect from someone who looked... well, like him.

Po proved many times that he was not only blessed, but also that he was deserving of such blessings.

But still, there were occasions in which Po himself was not sure how he was even alive.

Like now, as he finally managed to pull himself out of the river that was, quite conveniently, on the very bottom of the ravine he fell.

Po was so glad he splashed into the water of the river rather than "splatting" into the solid rocks that surrounded it. But still, the impact was quite hard, and it caused the panda to become quite winded and disoriented, what made it easy for him to be carried away by the strong currents of the river, being way more worried about keeping his head above the water than trying to reach the margins.

Po himself was not sure of how long he stayed at the mercy of those strong currents before he finally managed to pull himself to the margin. It felt like it had been hours for him, but he knew that it was probably a lot less than that.

One thing was for certain as Po pulled himself out of that river on his hands and knees, with his fur and clothes dripping wet and then laid on his back while drawing long breaths of air: he was far from the spot where he had initially fell.

What meant he was far away from Blade, who had just been caught by the wolves and taken prisoner while he fell.

He had to get back there!

He had to save Blade!

She would do the same for him.

...

Okay, maybe she kind of abandoned him on the beginning on their adventure... a few times. But then she always came back to save him when he was in trouble later, and that was enough for Po to want to go back and rescue her.

After all, they were no longer just two strangers who needed each other's help by the end of their time together. They were companions. They were friends.

In fact... by the end of their time together, they had been more than friends. Even if just for one day and night.

So, as soon as Po managed to recover his breath, he was soon getting to his feet and rushing to the sides of the gorge, and then he started climbing all the way up.

Only to be reminded he was not the best climber.

I mean, he even got winded with stairs, no way he could climb over a rocky wall so easily. Not with his natural panda weight.

He only ended up scrapping his hands and hitting his head on the ground as he fell after climbing just a few feet up.

"Ohhh, okay... look for another path." Po said, getting up and then running alongside the wall, looking for a spot that would allow him to go up. Once he was up there, he would be able to find a path back to Blade.

"How do I keep getting myself in these kinds of situations?" Po asked himself as he finally found what seemed to be a trail inside of the ravine, which was a steep, but not impossible, climb to the top, allowing him to eventually arrive on the very edge.

As he did, he was as winded as if he had just climbed the stairs all the way up. His panda asthma was showing, but Po was able to quickly take rein over it and recompose himself and looked around.

Only to realize that he had no idea of where he was.

Hey, the river made a lot of turns and twists! As Po experienced when he was being flung from side to side and colliding with rocks on it as he tried not to drown. Now Po was at an unknown distance from the place where he last saw Blade, and he was not even sure of which direction he should follow. Then, he looked to the side to see that he was on the side of a road, which traveled by the side of the gorge and went into the distance. Po then decided to follow the road, and he was on his way in a certain direction, when he came across a cart stopped in the middle of a road, one of the sides tilted as it was clearly broken.

"Man, what do I do now?" The goat said as he looked at his broken wheel. Just as he looked up, he saw a panda walking on a certain distance.

"Hey! Hello!"

Po saw the goat waving at him and then slowed down.

"Can you help me here, please?" The goat asked of the panda, to what Po said:

"Sorry, I have to keep going! My friend needs rescuing!"

"Please, I need to have it fixed!" The goat said, "I have to get those radishes to the next village before they go bad!"

"I need to find my friend!"

"This should not take long! If you don't help me then I'll have to be stuck here overnight and the radishes will start stinking and go to waste! Please, I have been stuck here for hours! I can't afford to lose this crop! Please!"

Now, one of Po's flaws, and he had quite a few of them, was that he could not turn his back on someone who truly needed his help. Of course, he could sometimes fail to access the amount of trouble a person could really be in and how much they actually needed his help, but once he knew someone truly needed his help, like this goat worried about losing a crop and maybe suffering financial problems and the loss of his livelihood because of it, Po knew he could not just turn his back on him.

Okay, just help him and then go your way. This will be quick. Just helping him with his broken wheel. No biggie at all.

Then, Po took a close look at the wheel.

Okay, maybe biggie.

"Dude, how did this happen?" Po said as he saw how the wheel had detached from the cart.

"I was moving fast when I hit a rock on the way. Didn't even saw it." The goat spoke, checking the wheel alongside the panda "Think you can fix it?"

"Don't know, I'm not a wheel fixer... but, I'll do my best."

And Po did. H did do his best in most of occasions when he truly had to. And he did his best to replace the wheel, jamming it back in place, but finding it hard to get it to stay in place. That was when he had an idea.

"Wait, hold on." Po said as he searched his shorts' pocket and then he pulled something: a small throwing knife. He put the wheel in place, and then placed the knife right on place before closing his fist and then slamming it with just the right strength to cause it to sink into the wood in a way that the wheel was now firmly attached to the base.

"There." Po said, "That should hold it long enough for you to get to a village and get a pro to fix it."

"Thank you!" The goat said, "Thank you so much, sir! If you allow me to say, this last thing you did was amazing! Like a true kung fu warrior!"

"Oh, thanks." Po said, "I am one, by the way. You probably heard about me, name's Po."

Hearing this the goat's eyes widened.

"Grandmaster Po!? The Dragon Master himself!?"

"Yup, that's me."

"I knew you were familiar!" The goat said, suddenly seeming excited. "You look just like the toys from the Happy Meals! My son had five of those before..." He hesitated, and Po knew what it was about.

"Before the Tianshang thing, no?"

The goat looked down.

"I... I made him throw the toys away. He didn't want though. Kept saying you were his hero, no matter how much my wife and I try to say to him... w-well, I mean... W-we really thought that..."

"It's okay." Po said to him, causing him to look at him as he smiled. "No biggie. It was a long time ago. It's all good."

The goat looked at him, and he nodded.

"If you say so... anyways, thank you for the help. Anything I can do for you?"

"Well, you could tell me where I am." Po said, "Kinda got lost after falling in a river. I gotta find my friend because she might have been kidnapped by crazy wolves."

"Well, you can jump on my wagon and I can wheel you to the nearby village." The goat said, "We can ask for information as soon as we get there."

"Oh, won't I bother you?"

"Why, of course not! It would be an honor for me to transport you in my cart! I was on my way to the Valley of Peace anyways, and I was already taking two people with me."

"You were?" Po asked in surprise, and he looked over the cart, and seeing that it only had radishes.

"Where are they?"

As if on cue:

"I'm back, Mr. Kang!"

The small voice made Po turn to look, and he saw a boy running back wearing a green shirt and beige shorts. He couldn't be older than five, and looked like a regular brown bear cub, but...

"Sorry for taking long! I was looking for a place to pee." The boy said as he arrived and stopped on his tracks as he saw Po.

The boy spent a few seconds looking at the panda. Po looked back at him, and he smiled as he said:

"Hi there."

To what the bear boy said:

"Hullo, Mister."

He then looked over.

"Oh, your wagon is not wonky anymore!"

"Yup, this good fella here fixed it." The goat said proudly as he slapped Po's arm. "Now we all can get to a nearby village and get ready to continue our way. Oh, and he will be going with us. This makes four of us, I assume."

"Yeah, four." Po said, and then he looked around, counting three people with himself.

"Uhhh, where's the fourth one?"

"In here!"

That second small voice made Po look back. It had come from the same place as the boy, but Po looked and he could see no one near him, nor behind.

That was when he noticed the boy's green shirt moving, as if there was something under it. And then, a small head popped from under the shirt by the side of the boy's own head, and it stretched to reveal to be connected to a long neck that, as Po realized, was a long boy with no limbs.

"Oh, hey there." Po said to the snake with light-brown coloration with reddish patterns on her scales. "Didn't saw you there. Why were you hiding?"

"I was not hiding." The snake said, "I was keeping warm. It is cold here."

"Oh, yeah, right." Po said, as he recognized that it had been getting colder lately. This promised to be a cold winter season, and many said it could start snowing any day now, and Po was aware of how snakes, like most reptiles, were not keen on cold.

"Elena does not like the cold. She enjoys wrapping around others to feel warm during winter." The cub said.

"Elena?" Po asked.

"That's my name." The adler snake said.

"And I am Alfie." The cub said, and Po stared at the two.

Their names. And the way they spoke...

"Wait, you two are from England, aren't you?" Po asked, and the two nodded.

"Yes, how do you know?"

"I have a friend who is from there!" Po said, "I am Po, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Paul." Alfie and Elena said as one.

"No, is Po." The panda said.

Then, they all decided it was time to get going, and so the panda boarded the cart with the two kids, Elena still wrapped around Alfie's body under his shirt, and the goat started wheeling they all away to the nearest village. He was, however, struggling significantly more now that he had to wheel the added weight of an adult panda. Meanwhile, Po talked to the two children as they made their way there.

"Yeah, my friend is from England too!" Po said to the cub sitting by his side. "She is a knight, actually."

"Really?" The cub said. "My mama is a knight too!"

"Really!?" Po said.

"Yes! I have a figurine of her! And of many other knights! I collect them!"

"That's so cool!" Po said. "Hey, maybe my friend and your mama are friends! I mean, they are both knights and all. But I don't think I heard Blade mentioning some other girl knight..."

"Blade?" Alfie was blinking as he looked at the panda.

"Yeah, it is how I call her. I mean, it's not her actual name. She has a name, but I find it hard to say it, so I just call her Blade." Po said, "Next time I talk to her, I will ask about your mother. Ask if she knows any girl knight with a son named Alfie..." Then, the panda realized something.

"Wait, Alfie is a short for Alfred, right? I my friend had a brother with that name!" Po said, and then the cub said:

"My mama too! She said she had a brother who she loved very much, and that she named me Alfie because that was his name!"

"Really?! Man! Talk about coincidences! But Blade did tell me that Alfred is kind of a common name in England. Kind of like Lee is around here. So, maybe not that much of a coincidence? But still a coincidence, for sure." Po said, looking at the boy. "But you have only talked about your mother until now. What about your dad?"

"Oh, I don't know my papa." Alfie said casually. "Mama says he went away to his home while I was still on her tummy."

"Oh... right. Sorry about that." Po said, rubbing the back of his head. He quickly tried to diverge the conversation into another direction.

"So, you collect figurines? I do that too! Even though I collect figurines of kung fu masters..."

And soon, Po and Alfie were both chatting away about their respective collections, and of the deeds that each person who they had a figurine of had performed. Alfie was quite chatty for a five-years-old, but so was Po, and the two of them were only glad to talk between each other all the way of the travel until they arrived on the settlement, a place called Min Gao Town. A charming little place with small houses and inhabited mostly by pigs and sheep, with the occasional bunny here and there.

As soon as they arrived there, Po and Alfie made it off the cart, and the goat told them to wait a bit as he would both sell his radishes to the local restaurant and look for someone to fix his wheel properly.

This, of course, left the two of them to explore the village, with Elena peeking from under Alfie's shirt and looking around as well.

"China is a pretty place." The snake said, and the panda agreed.

"Yeah, I do like living here." Po said. "You guys gotta see the Valley of Peace. We have this big place in there called Jade Palace that is like a big temple filled with treasures of kung fu."

"Like the Buckingham Palace?" Alfie asked, and Po nodded, saying it was similar.

Po found it easy to bond with this kid named Alfie. I mean, he was good in bonding with most children, as long as they were not acting like little nasty brats. However, he found particularly easy to talk and bond with Alfie. Perhaps more than it was with most children.

And he was not even sure why.

As they were there, they passed by some kids playing a game with a ball.

"Are they playing football?" Alfie asked as he and Elena both watched and, as the ball was kicked hard and flew towards them, Elena intercepted it by hitting it with her head and sending it back to them, and the pig boy who received it on his own head said:

"Nice one! Hey, want to play with us?"

"Really?" Elena said, as if in disbelief. "But... I don't have feet."

"It's okay, you can just use your head!" The pig said. "Come on, play with us!"

"So, what are you two waiting for?" Po asked the two. "Come on, go play! I'll tell Kang to look for you two later. Go on!"

And the two went, with Elena sliding out of Alfie's shirt and slithering to the kids as Alfie ran by her side, and soon the two kids were joining the others in a game, while Po watched and smiled.

"Ahhh, kids." The Dragon Master said, before reminding himself he also had something important to do. So, he was soon going around and asking for information regarding knowing where he was. Once he knew that, would know in which direction he would have to go so he could save Blade from the wolves.

But… thinking again, Blade was way stronger than those guys. Especially considering that half of them had been blown up alongside the Solar Gauntlet.

Actually, the wolves are the ones who are probably going to need saving... anyways, I still got to find Blade.

Po was still asking some people. By then, the news that the Dragon Master was on the place soon spread and made that small town abuzz with the stories. And such stories soon reached the ear of a certain inhabitant. One that was quite different from the rest, despite having grown there his whole life, and who quickly made his way to the panda, who was busy talking with someone who finally gave him some very useful orientation.

"So, I just go that way? Thanks, that helped a lot!" Po said, bowing to the sheep before turning just as the person who came to his meeting approached.

"Po!" The pig said. "Po, you are here!"

Po blinked as that pig made his way to him, taking a good look at the porcine. He was bigger than the average pig, kind of like Bao (the pig, not the panda) and his brothers. However, unlike those three bullies, this panda was not the stereotypical muscle-head. He had strong arms, but he was more of a "muscle gut", as most people called when someone had muscles but also a belly, the kind of physique that even Po himself never truly had. Also, his face was way friendlier, as he not only was not as rugged, but also didn't had the frown of those bullies that were always trying to intimidate others. His eyes were much kinder to the panda as well.

"I can't believe you are here!" The pig said as he stood before Po with a pair of red pants and a blue jacket. "It's been so long! How have you been?"

"I... uhhhh." Po said, looking at this pig who suddenly came and started talking to him like an old friend. "I'm fine, I think. I mean, my village got attacked, I was nearly killed by a bunch of walking trees and then was tossed off a cliff earlier, but I'm fine. I guess... and so are you! I haven't seen you since... before. Since the... thing. Right?"

The pig blinked, looking at the panda.

"You don't remember me?" The pig asked, and the panda said:

"Why, of course I do! But... could you still give me a clue, just so I can be 100% sure?"

"Po, it's me!" The pig said, "Pong!"

Pong... Pong...

That was when Po remembered.

Pong!

The pig kid who arrived on the Palace one Day wearing a pair of shorts identical to Po's and who was all over him as much as Po was over practically every other kung fu master! That one who claimed to be his number 1 fan and who wanted to grow up to be just like him!

"Pong!" Po now fully recognized the pig. "It's you! Man, you have grown so much!" Po pulled the pig into a hug, and the pig, now a young adult, returned the panda's hug as he laughed.

"Dude, how have you been?"

"Oh, just fine!" Pong said to him. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting you again! It's been so many years... what was that about being attacked by walking trees?"

"Oh, that's a long story, but I'll have to go now." Po said.

"What, now? But I wanted to use this chance to show you some moves!" Pong said.

"Sorry, but that will have to stay for another time. My friend and I were being attacked by wolves when I fell that ravine, and I need to be sure she is okay... and if she did not kill the wolves."

"Oh?" Pong looked at the panda. "Master Tigress?"

"Not really. Even though their personalities are a bit similar, if you stop to think about it... Look, I gotta go find her, so that will have to stay for another time."

"Wait!" Pong said as the panda started walking away. "I'll go with you. I can guide you where you need to go. I know this place like the back of my hoof. And, if we find some danger along the way, I can help you fight."

"Yeah, sorry, but it is too dangerous." Po said, "This is the kind of thing that requires professional kung fu skills and technique."

Just as Po said that, Pong smirked. Then, with a sudden porcine cry, the pig lifted his foot above his head an brought it down like a hammer on a nearby log, causing it to flip and spin in the air, and then, as it was still spinning, he made a quick dash forward and slammed his head on the log with a lifting movement, splitting the log, which was nearly as thick as Po's own arm, in half nearly cleanly.

"Like... that one..." Po said, amazement clear on his voice. "Wow... you have been practicing."

"You have no idea." Pong said, still smiling. "So, we're going or what?"

Po had no way of discussing it, and the two mammals left the village, with Pong on the lead as Po's guide while the panda followed his one-time apprentice down the road.

They were both unaware that someone was watching the depart, their head draped in cloth as they watched the two moving away from the village.

Oh, they are leaving... good. The figure thought. They won't be around to get in the way of my plan. I'll get the village first, and then I'll deal with those two. I have a score to settle with both of them, after all.

Please, let him be okay. Please, just let Po be okay, please...

That was all that was going through Blade's head as she continued to run alongside the ravine, following the line of the river down there in which she thought, she hoped, that Po had been able to land in safely and be carried by the flow of the water to a safe place.

She saw how deep the ravine was. So deep that she could hardly notice the river on the bottom of it at first. As soon as she saw it, she managed to figure out which direction it was going, and then he followed the river in direction to wherever it seemed that the water was flowing to. All the while keeping a close eye for anything black and white that could be Po.

That, of course, assuming he didn't drown...

No! Luthera immediately yelled to herself on her head. He did not drown! He is fine! Po is a good swimmer! He probably was just carried by the river and just got out somewhere else! He survived much, much worse things! He will be fine. He will be! He has to!

Blade continued to look, now moving faster as she ran by the side of the ravine as her eyes scanned down there.

I must find him, so I can tell him about Alfie!

She continued to look, but it was not easy, because in some places the edge of the ravine was hard to follow. Like places where it was too steep, or places where the trees and bamboos were packed so densely that approaching the edge was impossible, and Luthera had no choice but to look for a path through the forest so she could find the ravine again once she made it out.

However, she would not need to, because, as she was making her way towards the forest, two other people were making the opposite path on the other side.

"So, you are the defender of that small town!?" Po asked, "Man, that's awesome, Pong! I can totally see it, with the way you did that thing with the log! That was real kung fu talent!"

"Thanks." Pong said, puffing his chest as he heard his idol compliment him. "I learned a lot from the Kung Fu Club on the nearby city."

"Oh, yeah! One of those Peng opened with his girlfriend." Po said, "So, did you learn a lot from there?"

"Yeah, a lot of moves." Pong confirmed. "And I also learned how to fall with hurting as little as possible. I got my butt kicked so many times... but only on the begging. Once I got the hang of it, I became invincible!"

"Cool! We gotta spar some time! Show me all you learned from the club! I can even give you some pointers." Po said. "Man, bet you are really popular with your village."

"Oh, I sure am. Especially since that time I chased off some snakes who were terrorizing the travelers by claiming a piece of the road as their property and demanding tribute from anyone who wanted to pass. It was not easy, but I did win! After that, people were all over me. Especially the girls. Seriously, I got five marriage proposals after that..."

Suddenly, Pong trailed, looking at Po.

"Oh... s-sorry. I should not have said that."

"What?" Po asked, not understanding why Pong was suddenly acting as if he had somehow insulted Po.

"The marriage talk. I should not have mentioned it..." Pong said. "I mean, with that law the forbids you from getting married... I'm really sorry Po."

"Wait, the law that says I'll have to give up my Dragon Master title if I get married?" Po said, "That law got changed three years ago. You didn't hear?"

"Wait, it was?" Pong was surprised, and Po confirmed.

"Yeah, it was a decision that the new Emperor made a few months after taking over." The panda explained. "He looked over the law regarding kung fu right after taking because he was planning to implement the kung fu advisors, and he found this law that said I would have to give up my title if I ever got married. He thought it was unfair, when other masters didn't have to do the same thing. But, when he read it was to protect who I marry from becoming a target for criminals, then he changed it. Now the law says that, if I ever marry, then there will be an evaluation to decide if the person will be susceptible to being attacked, kidnapped or scammed and, if they decide that the person can handle themselves, then I will be allowed to remain my title."

"Oh, that's nice." Pong said. "And... by 'handling themselves', they mean..."

"That I'll be able to keep my title if my future wife can kick butt as much as me. She doesn't even need to be an official king fu master. She just needs to be strong enough to chase off any bandit that tries coming after her."

"So, you basically can marry a girl who knows how to fight." Pong said, "I guess that works for you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does." Po said, a smile forming on his lips as he remembered Tigress. "It certainly does..."

Pong looked at the face Po was making, and he immediately knew that the panda had someone special in mind. He was about to ask a question regarding it, not stopping to think if it could be too intrusive, when he and Po both heard a voice:

"Po!"

They both looked forward in time to see a female bear in armor running to the two of them.

"Blade!" Po said, running on her encounter.

"Po!"

"Blade! You are okay!"

And they met.

Blade threw her arms around Po, crashing on him as he momentarily lost his balance and had to change his footing so he and the bear would not both end up going to the ground. The result was him spinning around while Luthera had him in the grip of a bearhug as she was very happy for seeing him again.

"I was so worried with you!" Luthera said as she hugged his neck. "I could not see you after I saw you falling on that ravine!"

"And I was worried with you when I saw you being dragged away by the Lin Kuei."

"Those wolves? Are you kidding? I got rid of them in ten minutes. The ones of them who were left ran with their tails between their legs. I would have chased after, but I needed to be sure you were okay."

"Well, I sure am." Po said, "I guess the immortals really are looking after me, after all. Not only I landed on a river and managed to be carried all the way until I finally climbed out, but I also managed to find a goat who agreed to give me a ride to the nearest village along with two English children, and then I found my old student on the village-"

"Wait, hold on." Luthera said, suddenly breaking the hug and looking at the panda. "What was that you said? Two English children?"

"Oh, yeah. A bear and a snake, both five or so." Po said to her. "I didn't saw any adults with them other than Kang, but they didn't seem lost. Oh, and the boy, Alfie, said that his mother is a knight, like you! Say do you know her?"

Blade's eyes widened. Suddenly, she seemed to be very alarmed.

"Know his mother!?" She said to the panda. "Po, I am his mother!"

It was Po's turn to have wide eyes.

"Wait, what!? Blade, you... you have a son!?"

Ignoring him, Blade then asked:

"I can't believe he is here! I left him back home and told Maria to keep a close eye on him! Where is he!? And did you say that he had a snake with him!? Po!"

The panda, shaking his head as he recovered from the shock of finding out Blade was a mother, then said:

"Y-yeah. This brown snake called Elena who kept hiding inside his shirt because she said it was cold."

"Elena is here too!?"

"Is she you daughter too?"

"No, but I know her fathers!" Blade said, "I can't believe Alfie brought her with him! Christian already gave me a hard time on that time Alfie brought her with him to the forest! What is he going to say if he hears this time he made her come with him to another country!? I need to have a word with him!" She then turned her attention back at Po. "Where are they now?"

"I... Uhhhh... Left them in the village?"

The next thing that came from Blade's mouth echoed all over the forest:

"WHAT!? You left them behind!? Alone!?"

"No! I left them with Kang! I left them playing with some other kids and told Kang to call on them when he was done fixing his cart so they could continue traveling, then came with Pong to look for you!"

Po pointed at the pig, and Luthera then turned to look at him as if she had just realized he even existed only now.

"Hi." Pong said meekly as he waved his hand in a bashful way.

Po did say that this friend of his' was like Tigress. She certainly could be as intimidating as her...

Then, as if she suddenly decided he was not all that worthy of her attention, she turned her gaze back on Po, now it was as urgent as her voice.

"Po, listen to me!" She said, grabbing him by the shoulders, her fingers squeezing so hard it was nearly painful. "You need to tell me where this village is! You need to tell me where our boy is!"

That was one of the few occasions in which a woman other than Tigress managed to genuinely scare Po. Was that the "maternal fury" people talk about so much?

"T-that way..." Po whimpered as he shrunk as Blade squeezed his shoulders. "They are probably still there. We can catch them before they continue travel if we go now."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" She said, letting go of Po's shoulders and then grabbing his hand. "Let's go now, before something happens to them!"

And soon, she was dragging Po back the way he and Pong came. With the pig quickly following the two as they came.

"Blade, calm down!" Po said, "They were playing with the other kids last time I saw them! They were not in trouble at all!"

"Something could still happen!" Blade said, "No offense, but all I saw until now makes me think China is not exactly a safe place!"

"Well, excuse me, but neither England seems to be, with the stories you told me about bandit guilds and witches!" Po said back at her as she continued to drag him along.

"Guys! Guys!" Pong said, "Wait for me, don't go so fast!"

"I have to! I need to see if my boy is okay!"

"He is, I promise you!" Pong said, "My town is a safe place! Nothing bad happens there! We hardly even have neighbors fighting around the time of Winter Festival! They are safe in there! No need to worry."

Just look at all of them.

Acting as if they were safe. Thinking they have nothing to worry about.

Oh, they were about to have a surprise. One that they will never forget for as long as they lived.

"Just wait, you bunch of two-leggers..." The person with a head draped in cloths said as he looked at all of them. From the smith nearby slamming a hammer in heated iron, to the kids nearby playing a ball game with their legs, as if they were purposefully showing off with them.

"You will all see how your precious limbs don't keep you safe..."

He was so busy looking at them that he nearly failed to notice the three figures approaching him from behind. At least until one of them came too close and then he instinctively shot his tail on him and started squeezing his wrist.

"Ahhh! Ahh! Uncle! Uncle!" The pig said, as the snake glared at him while baring his fangs, before letting go and allowing him to stumble back and land flat on his butt near his brothers.

"You are late." The snake said as the cloths around his head fell back. He shivered as he was exposed to the cold winter air, but he held it back.

"We had some problems on the way." Tsao said as Bao helped Lao get to his feet. "The guy we were buying the Muan Gang sap started demanding more money than we agree and we had to shake him down to reduce the price, and then we got lost trying to find this village..."

"Whatever." Fu Xi cut them off. "You have it?"

"Right here." Bao said as he pulled the vial from his clothes. Fu Xi took it from him with his tail and uncorked it, looking inside as he flicked his forked tongue to taste the smell and confirm it was, indeed, sap of the Muan Gang Vines. Exactly what he needed.

"And you have our payment, right?"

The snake looked at the pig.

"Oh, I certainly have." He said, "This way."

The pigs followed the snake into a n alley between two buildings. Surprisingly, no one noticed three burly pigs following a snake. That is, almost no one, as one of the children playing the ball game turned to look at that direction in time to see the four figures walking into the dark alley and, in her curiosity, started slithering in their direction.

As they arrived on the alley, Fu Xi placed the vial with the sap by the side, and then he shoved his tail into a hole to pull out another vial, thus one filled to the brim with greenish liquid.

"Is... is that?" Tsao started asking, and Fu Xi cut him:

"My venom, yes."

And he didn't even look back at the three as he opened the vial with his venom and spilled all of it into a bowl. The liquid fumed and bubbled, and the cobra looked at it, thinking on how, in a few moments, it would be bubbling a lot more.

"How long took you to make all that venom?" Lao asked curiously. Fu Xi's answer came in an irritated tone:

"Too long. But it was worthy. This is enough venom to affect everyone in this village. At least that's what I hope."

"Yeah, right." Bao came closer, as he and his brothers got positioned around the snake in a circle. "I have been meaning to ask, why are you targeting this village, specifically? I mean, there are others around."

"Because this village is the home of a two-legger who, one year ago, humiliated me!" The snake snapped back. "Now I am getting my revenge on him by targeting his home and everyone he knows and loves!"

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." The pig said, and then Fu Xi turned his attention back to the bowl.

"And now, with a combination of my venom and the sap of the Muan Gang Vines, I will achieve my revenge on that stupid pig..." The snake hissed, and he started turning the vial with the sap, preparing to dump it into the bowl, when a voice came from behind.

"Misters, what are you doing?"

The young voice from behind made them all tense. The pigs all turned around, looking at the newcomer in surprise.

Fu Xi turned around too. He flared his hood and bared his fangs as he turned, ready to bite on whoever it was to prevent them from running off and warning the rest of the village of his plan.

However, as he froze as he saw what kind of creature it was. His eyes were wide as he stared at the young brown snake who looked at him with her own wide eyes.

However, none of the snakes' eyes were wide with fear. Elena's eyes were wide with a childish form of curiosity, as she tilted her head to the older snake with a flared hood. Meanwhile, Fu Xi's eyes were wide for a different reason, as he stared at the little snake girl as if he was seeing a ghost.

"L-L..." He stammered, looking at her. "Lu Li?"

Elena blinked, looking at the adult who continued to stare at her as if he could not believe his own eyes.

Then, someone else came.

"Elena?" Alfie came, "What are you doing there?" He arrived and saw his friend being stared at by another snake and three big pigs.

"Hey, little guy!" Said a goat, coming right behind Alfie. "You should not get away from the other kids without telling anyone. Your parents will probably be worried if they look up and don't see-"

His words trailed on his throat as he saw the scene before him, and he quickly recognized the bigger snake.

"F-Fu Xi... Fu Xi! Is Fu Xi!"

By the time he started screaming, the cobra finally recovered, and then he lunged forward.

"Ms. Blade, you are worrying for nothing." Pong said as they were approaching the town. "This place is one-hundred percent safe, I assure you of that."

That was when they heard the screams. People running in panic, all of them screaming about "bandits" and "deadly snake".

"One-hundred percent safe, huh?" Blade said to the pig, before immediately pulling the Dragon's Fang from its scabbard and wielding it as she rushed forward, her mind focused solely on finding her boy and making sure he was okay.

And Alfie was mostly okay, save for the fact he was squirming while Bao held him up in the air by his shirt.

"Unhand me, you brute!" Alfie said, kicking and punching around as he tried to squirm away from Bao's grasp, but the pig was firmly holding the back of his shirt as he squirmed.

Nearby, his brothers were using this chance to try and pillage what they could from the nearby houses and stands, taking both food and anything that looked like they could sell for some money, since they were at it.

And nearby came the cobra, with both the vial of sap and the bowl of venom on his coils, and he was getting ready to use them.

It would have been better if he had been able to do so while catching everyone on surprise, but doing it now would work just as well...

"Will you stop squirming, you brat?" Bao demanded, and Alfie's answer to that was squirm harder and, purposefully or not, this caused his foot to collide right with the pig's porcine nose.

"Why you-!" The big pig said, lifting his hand and balling it into a fist while glaring daggers at the boy. However, before he could hit him, a furious voice called out.

"Get our filthy hands off my boy!"

This caused Bao and the others, Fu Xi included, to stop and all look to the one who screamed those words, who was a brown bear wearing a combat armor and holding a sword in striking position.

"Mama!" Alfie said happily as he saw her.

"Alfie, darling!" She said, "You are in trouble!"

And then the other ones arrived.

"Dragon Master?" Bao asked, and Po, of course, recognized them.

"You!?" Po said, sounding surprised as much as annoyed.

"Friends of yours?" Blade asked, and Po said:

"That pig is named Bao. The other ones are his brothers." The panda gestured at the pigs, before gesturing at the snake. "And that one is Fu Xi. He used to be a noble kung fu warrior many decades ago but now he is just a crazy snake who hates anyone with limbs. Say, what is it with all the guys I beat up long ago coming back all of a sudden!? This should be a calm Winter Holyday!"

"Oh, it won't be calm once I mix this sap with my venom!" Fu Xi said, "Not for you, at least!"

"Is that the thing that makes your venom's effect permanent?" Po asked.

"No, that was Mutoon Root." Fu Xi said, "This is Muan Gang Vine. Once I mix it with my venom, not only it will increase the power of my venom by twenty times, but it will also make it turn into a mist that will spread all over a two-mile radius."

"Oh no..." Po said, "Fu Xi's venom causes anyone affected by it to have nightmare-like hallucinations!"

"And once I combine it with the vine, the resulting mist will cause any non-snake who breathes it to be trapped into a nightmare so terrible they will literally die of fright!" Fu Xi said, and this caused Bao to pause.

"Wait, what?"

"And you are going to use it on my town!?" Pong demanded as he stepped forward.

"Yes, I am, two-legger!" Fu Xi spat back. "Consider this a payback for tricking me into biting my own tail eighteen months ago!"

"Wow, did you really do that?" Po asked Pong, who proudly said that he had the idea of the story of how Po made Tai Lung bite his own tail during their legendary fight. Po, of course, said he was honored with it, as well as proud of Pong for growing so skilled.

"Ugh! You two are just as annoying as the other!" Fu Xi hissed. "Which is why, once I'm done testing this combination on this town, I'll be using it on the Valley of Peace next!"

However, before Fu Xi could mix the substances, Bao said:

"Woah, woah! Hold on! Backpedal a bit! You said that thing will kill anyone who's not a snake!? My brothers and I are not snakes! You were going to poison us as well!?"

"Well, duh!" Fu Xi said, "What, did you actually thought I would be giving you and your brothers anything? You are just a bunch of two-leggers I used to get what I needed, and now that I did, I no longer have any use for all of you."

"Why you backstabbing sonova-" Bao tried to say but, before he could, Alfie managed to escape from his grasp by sliding off his own shirt, which the pig was still holding, and kick Bao's ankle, causing him to squeal and jump in one foot while holding the injured one. And this was when Blade stroke forward, yelling at her son to run.

And that, oh, that was when all hell broke loose.

The following battle was quite something. It was fast, as most battles usually went. However, it was also awesome.

Po charged forward, kicking the vial with vine juice off Fu Xi's coil, and this caused the snake to start fighting by attempting to bite him and slap him with his tail, all the while keeping the bowl of venom safe on his coils and not allowing for a single drop to spill out.

Meanwhile, Blade fought Bao with her sword, which countered the blows of the two axes the pig had on his hands and swung at the bear with wild abandon, trying to hit her with his blades while the young Alfie stayed by the corner of the battle, watching and cheering for his mother to beat up the nasty pig.

And, of course, Pong was also doing his part, as he fought Lao and Tsao with his bare hands, kicking them on the chests and stomachs with sudden moves, and then he would circle around them before slamming them with the weight of his body to send them to the ground and then, right after, he would ram his head into them and lift it to toss them high in the air.

"Woaaaaah! What a cool move, Pong!" Po said as he made a double high-five to the pig, who returned the gesture, before the two were reminded they were still in the middle of an active fight. All the while, the villagers of the small town continued to watch, and many of them joined Alfie in cheering for the heroes who were protecting their village from the evil-doers.

And they eventually managed, with how Blade quickly swung her sword and sliced the heads of Bao's axes clean off, before holding the tip of the blade to his neck. Meanwhile, Pong managed to jump over both Lao and Tsao, slamming his feet between their shoulders and sending them both into the ground while standing on top of them.

The villages all cheered and applauded, especially little Alfie.

All of them forgot about Fu Xi, who was the biggest threat between them all. Especially when he slithered forward at blinding speed and coiled himself around Alfie.

"Nobody moves!" He declared. "Or I'll bite him!"

This, of course, caused all of them top freeze on their tracks. Especially Blade.

"I'll have your head for this, snake!" The bear said. Fu Xi didn't even dignify to answer to that. He simply slammed his tail on the nearby pole, causing the vial with the vine elixir to drop from it right on the waiting tail.

"Now..." Fu Xi spoke, a wicked smiled on his lips. "Hope you are already for the final nightmare, followed by the eternal sleep!"

And everyone watched in terror as Fu Xi approached the vial from the bowl, ready to combine the two vile fluids and cover Pong's entire town in nightmare mist.

However, he was stopped by a ball, the same one Alfie and the kids had been playing, which was flung hard on his face, causing him to drop the vial and spill it.

"Hey!" Fu Xi turned to see that who threw that at him was... the same young snake from before.

"Let go of my friend!" Elena said to him. Fu Xi blinked, looking at her.

Elena then grabbed a rock with her tail and flung it at Fu Xi like she flung the ball, causing the older snake to instinctively duck out of the way.

"I said let him go!" Elena said, "Get away from him now, you monster!"

Fu Xi froze.

He froze upon being called a monster by another snake.

And one who looked like...

Seeing an opportunity there, Po took it. He rushed forward and, with a push of his legs, he jumped over Alfie and the snake coiling around him. As he was in the air, he grabbed Fu Xi by his neck, causing his cheeks to puff out as he was pulled out, uncoiling from around Alfie without hurting him and causing the bowl of venom to fall into the ground, causing the plants to whiter.

Po whipped Fu Xi was he landed from that mortal flip. He then dropped him into the air, and then delivered three precise, very fast blows with his index and middle fingers on Fu Xi's body, causing the snake to gasp as his entire long body went stiff on the very same position he was into.

As this happened, Bao used Blade's distraction to grab her wrist and pin her down, and Po, of course, saw it happened and put himself into action.

The panda grabbed Fu Xi and bent him on the shape of a wheel, closing his mouth around his tail and tail spinning him and then tossed him into Bao, hitting him square on the stomach and hurling him back, causing him to collide with a bunch of barrels and slump over.

And, as he did, Fu Xi, still paralyzed as a wheel, started rolling away downhill, unable to stop himself as he was trapped on that position Po put him into.

"That was so cool!" Alfie said to the panda, turning to look at him. "What was that you did to the snake, Mr. Po? Was that... magic?"

"Oh, that?" Po asked, "No, not magic. It was just the Three-Blow Stiffening Strike. Hit anyone with it and they won't be able to move for two whole hours. My friends Mantis taught me."

Po was very proud of himself as he said that to the boy, and then:

"Alfie!" Blade came rushing just as the boy turned to her.

"Mama!" He said as his mother kneeled and pulled him into a tight hug, which she held for five seconds, before breaking it and then admonishing her son.

"Alfie, what are you doing here!? I can't believe you follow me! And that you brought Elena with you!"

"Sorry, Mama." Alfie said, "I was sad when you said you'd be away during Christmas, and I wanted to spend it with you. Elena helped me sneak out of the house and into the ship!"

"Oh, Alfie..." Blade said as she shook her head. Meanwhile, Po could only look.

He was still processing the fact that Blade, the woman who he was once in love and once had a somewhat-relationship with, now had a... wait.

"I had so much fun following you, Mama!" Alfie said, "China is so beautiful! And I met Mr. Kang, and Mr. Po too!"

Wait.

"And Mr. Po has a knight friend too! And his knight friend had a brother named Alfie, like you, Mama!"

Wait, wait, wait, wait just a minute!

"But he cannot say her name right." Alfie said, as he continued to look at his mother. "So, he calls her-"

"Blade?"

Hearing this, the two bears looked at the panda, who was staring at the two of them, and so everyone else was staring at the panda, who had wide eyes as he looked at the two.

Seeing that look on Po's face, Blade knew he was almost figuring it, if he had not already.

She looked at him, before turning to her son.

"Alfie, darling?" She said gently, making her son look at her. "Do you remember when Mama told you that your Papa did not live in England with us because he had to go to China and protect it like Mama does to our own country?"

Everyone around stared, many of them grasping what was going on.

"And how, one day, if I ever took you to China, I would surely have you meet him?"

Blade was still smiling as she looked at her son.

"Well..." She said, and then she gestured to Po, and Alfie turned to look at him. And Po too looked at that brown bear boy.

A brown bear who, now that he was without his shirt, he could see that had a complete black and white panda pattern to his fur, as well as green eyes.

That he had Po's fur and eyes.

Po gasped.

Then Pong, who had been watching while standing on Lao and Tsao's shoulders, gasped.

Then Po gasped.

Then the villagers all gasped.

Then Po gasped.

Then Alfie, with a big smile forming on his face and a glint of pure wonderment on his eyes, gasped.

Then Po gasped. A long, drawn-out gasp, that lasted for solid ten seconds, before the Dragon Master's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he dropped to the ground flat on his back.