by Tracey West
“Watch out!” he yelled, and just in time. One of the jombies was about to deliver a crushing blow to Po’s head, and Po ducked it.
Then he got a gleam in his eye.
“Check out my Dumplings of Doom!” he cried, and Viper and Tigress appeared to help.
Po snatched some bowls, soared through the air, and smashed down on a table full of dumplings. As the dumplings shot into the air, Po caught them into the bowls and then poured them into his mouth.
Viper wrapped around Po’s belly, and Tigress yanked on Viper, sending the dumplings blasting out of Po’s mouth at rocket speed.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The dumplings knocked down the warriors each time they made contact.
Mantis, Crane, and Monkey showed up, and together with Po, the Furious Five pinned the jombies to the f loor.
“Gotcha!” Po said.
Suddenly, all of the jade creatures began to speak at once. Kai was speaking through them. He could speak through their mouths and see the battle through their eyes. And what he saw was that Po’s green chi glowed brighter and stronger than everyone else’s.
“I see you,” the jombies said in a spooky voice. “Your chi will soon be mine.”
“Is he talking to me?” Po asked.
“Which one?” asked Tigress. “They’re all talking.”
“Wow, you’re right,” said Po. “That’s so scary! We should try that too . . . maybe it’d be scary back at them.”
“Okay,” Mantis agreed. “But we gotta plan what we’re gonna say first or else it won’t be scary, it’ll just be stupid.”
“It’s not them talking, you idiots!” yelled the jombies. “It’s me talking through them. Kai!”
“Who?” asked Po and the Furious Five in unison.
Kai frowned. “Okay, okay, enough,” he said through the jombies.
Suddenly, the jombies vaporized into green streaks and f lew away, up and over the rooftops.
“Whoa! What just happened?” asked Monkey.
“Did you see that?” Po asked. “They just . . . the green smoke just poof . . . and they poof—Shifu, what was that?”
Master Shifu looked thoughtful. “Kai . . . Kai . . . Nope, never heard of him.”
CHAPTER 7
Oogway’s Tale
Everyone returned to the Jade Palace, including Mr. Ping and Li. They all gathered in the scroll room as Master Shifu searched the overf lowing shelves to find the scroll he was looking for.
“Kai . . . Kai . . . where is it?” Master Shifu muttered. “There’s so much wisdom in here, I can’t find anything!”
After a few more minutes he let out a triumphant cry.
“Yes!” He pulled a scroll off a high shelf and jumped down to join the others.
“Behold. All the answers will be found within,” he said solemnly.
He unrolled the scroll—and it was blank.
“What? Are you kidding me? Not again!” he fumed. Then he unraveled some more. “Wait, wait. Sorry. Oh, okay, here we go. It is written in Oogway’s hand.”
They all gathered around as Master Shifu read from the scroll.
Long ago, I had a brother in arms. I was an ambitious young warrior leading a great army. And fighting by my side was Kai, my closest friend.
One day we were ambushed. I was badly wounded. My friend carried me for days, looking for help, until we came upon a secret village, high in the mountains. An ancient place of healing.
A village of pandas.
Everyone gasped and looked at Po.
“Pandas?” Po said, looking down to the scroll, where there was a sketch of a group of pandas surrounding Oogway.
Master Shifu continued reading.
Yes! Pandas! The pandas used the power of chi to heal me. They taught me the power to give chi. But Kai wanted the power all to himself. He saw that what could be given could also be taken.
The scroll showed a terrifying image of Kai sucking chi from the one of the pandas.
I had to stop him. Our battle shook the earth. Until, finally, I banished Kai to the Spirit Realm.
Should he ever return to the mortal realm, he can only be stopped by a true Master of Chi.
Everyone stared at Master Shifu.
“Me? I can barely make a f lower bloom. I’d need at least thirty more years, and a cave!” Master Shifu protested.
Crane anxiously f lapped his wings. “Chi master. We need a chi master.”
“He will continue stealing the chi of masters until he has consumed it all,” Viper said.
“There is no choice. We fight,” Tigress said firmly.
Po looked at the scroll, at the drawing of pandas huddled around Oogway, as the Five continued to talk.
Li looked from Po to Master Shifu, to the Furious Five—their faces frowning as they struggled to come up with a plan. Then Li stepped forward. “I can teach you, son,” he said.
Po looked up at his father. “You can do this?”
“Of course,” Li replied. “I’m a panda.”
“That must be why the universe sent you here!” Po guessed. “Okay, so what do I have to do?”
“You have to come home with me,” said Li.
Po’s eyes widened. “To the secret village?”
“You must rediscover what it is to be a panda,” Li explained. “You have to learn how to live like a panda. Sleep like a panda. Eat like a panda. Those hundred-and-three dumplings? I was just warming up.”
Po nodded. “I’ve always felt like I wasn’t eating up to my full potential.”
Mr. Ping ran up to Li. “You can’t take Po away from me! No, no, I want a second opinion. Shifu, open another scroll or something.”
“I think he should go,” Master Shifu said.
“Fine!” Mr. Ping snapped. “A third opinion! Monkey? Tigress?”
Po interrupted him. “Dad, you heard what Shifu said Oogway said: This guy can only be stopped by a Master of Chi. And I can only master chi by knowing who I really am. Well, I’m a panda.”
Mr. Ping frowned. He couldn’t argue with that. Po was a panda, and he deserved to be with other pandas, even if it broke Mr. Ping’s own noodle-loving heart.
“I’ll pack you a lunch for the road,” he said.
Li and Po set out for the village at sunrise the next morning. The Furious Five and Master Shifu stood at the top of the Jade Palace steps and watched them go.
“Do you really think Po can master chi in time?” Viper asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Master Shifu responded. “It matters only what the universe thinks.”
“So that’s a no?” Mantis piped up.
Crane looked worried. “Master, what are we going to do?”
“You are going to find out where Kai is,” Master Shifu replied. “Follow the trail of those jade creatures. But do not engage, for with every foe he faces, Kai becomes stronger.”
“Why me? Is it because I asked?” Crane wondered.
“No,” said Master Shifu. “It is because you can f ly. Go!”
Crane gulped and put on his f lat straw hat. Mantis jumped on the brim.
“Should’ve kept your beak shut,” he told his friend.
“And take Mantis,” Master Shifu added.
“What?” Mantis complained. “Oh man. Is it because I—”
“Yes,” said Master Shifu.
So with Mantis perched on his hat, Crane f lew off to find Kai . . . and certain danger.
CHAPTER 8
Journey to the Secret Panda Village
It was a long way to the Panda Village. Po and Li left the Valley of Peace far behind and walked until they reached a range of snowy mountains. Then they began to climb higher and higher.
Grrooooowl! Po’s stomach rumbled from hunger.
“Lunch break?” asked Li.
“You don’t need to ask me twice,” Po said. He set down his travel sack.
“Ow!” came a voice from within.
Po’s eyes narrowed. “Dad?”
“Yes?” Li replied, but P
o wasn’t talking to Li.
Po stared at the sack. “Dad?” he repeated, louder this time, as he opened the sack, revealing Mr. Ping inside.
“Yes?” Mr. Ping answered meekly.
He popped his head out.
“What are you doing?” Po asked.
“What am I doing? Getting a backache!” Mr. Ping complained. “Did you have to step on every rock?”
“No, I mean why are you here?” Po pressed him.
“What was I supposed to do?” Mr. Ping asked. “What if the pandas don’t have food you like? You’re never going to be able to save the world on an empty stomach. I consider my presence mission critical.”
“Well, you know we can’t share the location of the village with others!” Li reminded him.
“You think I can’t keep a secret?” Mr. Ping shot back. “I raised Po for twenty years before I finally told him he was adopted.”
“Seriously?” Li asked.
Po shrugged sheepishly.
Li gave in. “Okay. I guess it would be cruel to make you f ly back.”
Po stared at Mr. Ping. “You can f ly? How come you never taught me?!”
They ate a quick meal and then continued through the mountains. The snow was waist-deep, but Po and Li plodded through it. Mr. Ping’s webbed feet allowed him to walk lightly across the surface.
“We’re here,” Li announced suddenly.
They had come to a stop in front of a towering wall of ice, its top lost in the snow swirling high overhead.
“Sure looks like a long way up there,” Mr. Ping said. “And my son hates stairs. So let’s go home.”
“We’re pandas,” Li said simply. He pulled a hidden rope and a wicker basket appeared in the snow below them.
Li grinned. “We don’t do stairs.”
Po’s face lit up with joy. “I’ve waited my whole life to hear those words!”
“Rats!” said Mr. Ping.
They all climbed into the basket and Li tugged on the ropes. They were pulled up the side of the ice wall, higher and higher.
They rose above the clouds, and the basket stopped moving. As the mist around them parted, Po could see . . . more mist.
“Huh?” Po wondered.
“This is the secret Panda Village?” Mr. Ping asked. “No wonder you keep it a secret. If I lived here, I wouldn’t tell anyone either.”
They climbed out of the basket. Boards creaked under Po’s foot as he stepped out. Were they on some kind of bridge?
Li, Po, and Mr. Ping walked forward, passing underneath an arch.
“Now you can ‘whoa’,” he said.
The fog cleared, and Po’s eyes widened as he tried to take in the sight before him. The village was nestled among towering snowy mountains, but the village itself was lush and green. A bubbling stream ran through a bamboo forest, and crystal blue water cascaded down a waterfall.
But what stunned Po the most were the pandas. There were so many of them! Adorable panda kids ran through the village, laughing and f lying kites. Other pandas snoozed peacefully in hammocks, or played mah-jongg in the shade, or relaxed in steaming thermal pools.
One by one, the pandas noticed Li, Po, and Mr. Ping.
“Li’s back!” a panda shouted.
“He’s found his son!” another added.
The pandas let out a cheer and began to run across the green fields toward Po and Li. Then they all stopped to catch their breath. In a minute they were running toward him again.
“Why are we running?” asked a slightly confused, bigger panda.
Soon Po was surrounded by dozens of pandas. Cute baby pandas stared at him shyly from the safety of their parents’ legs. Po smiled and gave them a friendly wave.
“Everyone! Gather around! This is my son!” Li called out proudly.
The pandas swarmed Po, hugging him and shaking his hand.
“Easy, easy!” Li laughed.
A panda with graying fur stepped forward.
“This is Grandma Panda, our village elder,” Li said.
Grandma Panda looked Po up and down. “Hmm, he’s so handsome,” she said. “Just like his father.”
“Thank you!” Mr. Ping said proudly.
Li turned to two massive pandas standing next to him, both wearing eager expressions.
“Son, these are your cousins, Dim and Sum.”
“I have cousins!” Po said excitedly.
Dim hung a lei made of dumplings around Po’s neck.
“Welcome!” he said.
Po looked at the dumpling lei admiringly. “Whoa, buns on a string.”
“We call it a snacklace,” said Sum.
But just as Po was about to take a bite, a bunch of pandas swarmed him. At first Po thought they were coming in for a group hug, until he heard munching noises. When they backed away, the snacklace was just a string.
Sum shrugged. “We’ll make you another one.”
The slightly confused panda, whom Po learned was named Big Fun, was now teary-eyed. “It’s you!” he cried, squeezing Po in a tight panda bear hug.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Po managed to squeak out. “Hi.”
“I don’t know who you are,” Big Fun said warmly.
A baby panda named Lei Lei reached into Po’s pocket and pulled out a Tigress action figure.
“Oooh, Stripy Baby! So beautiful!” she said, clapping her hands.
“Okay, careful with that,” Po said, reaching out to grab it back.
Lei Lei looked at Po with her wide baby eyes. “Can I keep her?” she asked, hugging the Tigress action figure close.
Po couldn’t refuse. “No . . . problem,” he said. “Of course. That’s why I brought her. Take good care of her?”
“Yay! Stripy Baby!” she cried happily.
As Po looked at Lei Lei, something struck him.
“You’re just like me, but a baby!” he said.
He looked at Grandma Panda.
“You’re like me, but old!” he cried.
Grandma Panda grinned.
He turned to Dim and Sum. “You’re like me . . . but fatter!”
Dim and Sum high-fived him.
Po gazed out at all the pandas, at all the furry faces and big bellies and tiny ears and black noses.
“You all look like me,” he said softly.
A strange feeling welled up inside Po, one he had never felt before. All his life he had been surrounded by pigs and bunnies and geese. He’d battled alongside a tiger, a monkey, a praying mantis, a crane, and a snake. He’d battled rhinos, gorillas, a leopard, and even a peacock. And always, wherever he went, he had been the only big-bellied, furry, black-and-white guy in sight.
For the first time in his life, he fit in.
“Let’s feast in my son’s honor,” Li said, motioning downhill. The pandas began f lopping to the ground and rolling.
Po was confused. “What the—?”
Dim and Sum plopped down on the ground. They rolled down the hill like furry balls.
“Pandas don’t walk, we roll!” Li explained, waving to Po.
Soon every panda in the village was rolling down the hill, expertly dodging logs and rocks on the way down. They all ended up in one big, furry heap at the bottom of the hill.
Mr. Ping shook his head. “Have you ever seen anyone look so ridiculous?” he scoffed.
Beside him, Po plopped onto the grass.
“Po, what are you doing? Po!” Mr. Ping yelled.
Po paused. As the Dragon Warrior, he had jumped, leaped, bounded, raced, zoomed, and f lipped—but rolling was a new thing.
Then he launched himself down the hill, rolling after his new panda family.
CHAPTER 9
Panda Party!
Po wobbled a little bit as he rolled, he hit every obstacle in his path, and he crashed into the banquet table instead of the furry panda pile—but he did it!
Po stood up. “You’re right, that is better than walking.”
The pandas cheered. As they headed to the banquet, a litt
le boy named Bao walked up to Po.
“What kind of panda doesn’t know how to roll?” he asked suspiciously.
“Well, I’m kinda new at this whole being-a-panda thing,” Po replied.
The kid turned to Mr. Ping. “And what kind of panda are you?”
“I’m not a panda at all.”
“What’s that?” Bao asked, gesturing to Mr. Ping’s head.
Mr. Ping shrugged. “My hat.”
Bao gestured to his face. “What’s that?”
“My beak,” Mr. Ping replied. Bao was just starting another question when Mr. Ping shouted, “No more questions!”
All the pandas dug into the food piled high on the table, grabbing it with their hands.
“Here, son, I packed your chopsticks!” Mr. Ping said, shoving the tools into Po’s hand.
“Thanks, Dad!” Po said.
The other pandas stopped eating and looked at him quizzically.
“What?” Po asked.
“What are those for?” asked Bao.
“These? These are chopsticks,” Po replied. “They’re for picking up dumplings.”
To demonstrate, Po picked up a dumpling between the two sticks.
Bao looked surprised. “You mean, you only eat one at a time?”
He picked up a mound of dumplings with his hands and shoved them into his mouth, all at once! As Po looked around the table, he realized that all the pandas were eating that way.
He looked down at his hands. One held the chopsticks and a single dumpling, and the other was empty. He gasped.
“I knew I wasn’t eating up to my potential!”
Po grabbed the dumpling out of his chopsticks, tossed them aside, and grabbed a second dumpling with his other hand. Then he shoved them both into his mouth at the same time!
Now it was Mr. Ping’s turn to gasp. He was horrified! But everyone else cheered.
Suddenly a gong sounded through the village. Everyone stopped eating and turned toward an empty stage just beyond the banquet table.
On the stage, four umbrellas were twirling in unison. A beautiful panda walked through them, her face covered by a fan. Po dropped his dumpling.
“I am Mei Mei,” said the panda, locking eyes with Po from behind her fan.
“Wow! She’s amazing! She’s so beautiful!” Mei Mei said, faking Po’s voice from behind her fan.
