The FT Squad's Adventures in Kung Fu Panda 2 P8

The time of invasion was finally here.  A red torch lit and illuminated the unconscious Furious Five and FT Squad.  All of the warriors were chained and restrained.  The bright light from the torch awoke the group.  Tigress glared at Boss Wolf, who was holding the torch, and Shen and Roark, who were standing nearby, looking at the depressed warriors.  “Such sad, sad faces…but now is a time only for joy,” said Shen as he approached Tigress, “you are going to be part of something beautiful.”

Tigress snarled angrily at the peacock, who didn’t care.  “Once we reach the harbor…in front of all the world…you and your precious kung fu will die,” said Shen before turning to the squad, “your society will fall under my apprentice’s control…and all of China will know to bow before me.  SET SAIL!”

The Five, all chained together, were hoisted high above a ship.  As for the squad, they were hoisted onto the ship at ground level.  Roark looked upon the defeated warriors and said, “it’s show time.”

Shen’s massive army, full of soldiers and cannons, started sailing down the canal.  Their presence frightened several villagers who were nearby.  They saw the ships sailing towards the harbor and could see that they were starting an invasion of China.  Some children cowered to their parents in fear as the armada slowly approached the harbor.  On a ship twice as large as the others, Shen and Roark stood on the podium with the largest cannon, preparing for their triumph.   Further up the armada, the Five hung above the squad, silent and depressed that they lost Po and were about to get killed as well.  The squad was equally depressed and quiet.  “Honestly guys, I never thought I’d die like this,” said Mantis in his small cage, “I always thought I’d meet a nice girl and settle down, and she’d eat my head.  So sad.”

“We cannot give up hope,” said Monkey trying to keep the fighting spirit, “Po would want us to remain strong and hardcore.  Right…Tigress?”

But Tigress, overcome with grief over losing Po, didn’t speak.  “We almost had ‘em,” said Dennis, “we were so close to ending this.”

“But we screwed up,” said Donkey, “now I’ll never see Shrek or Fiona or any other friends again.”

“If we go down, we go down in the line of duty,” said Hathi, “we go down as a group, having fought to the bitter end.”

Up ahead, there was a bridge with citizens watching the armada sail.  They were intimidated by this huge army.  “Lord Shen, what about the bridge,” asked Boss Wolf.

“Nothing stands in my way,” said Shen.

A cannon was aimed towards the bridge.  “FIRE,” ordered Shen.

A wolf lit the fuse of the cannon and it fired a cannonball at the bridge, destroying it and sending the citizens fleeing for their lives in terror.  This act horrified the Five and squad.  “YOU COWARD,” yelled Tigress angrily.

But Shen didn’t pay attention to the angry feline.  “This guy’s nuts,” said Rex.

But as the group stared at this horrific event, Tigress looked up and saw something standing on a building in the distance.  It was a strangely familiar silhouette, a black and white one, standing tall on the building.  “Po,” asked Tigress.

It wasn’t an illusion, or a ghost.  It was Po, staring down at the armada with a hat on his head.  “Po,” the rest of the Five and squad asked, shocked to see Po alive.

The citizens of the city noticed Po on the building and came out of hiding.  Shen and Roark also saw the panda, astounded, but furious.  “How many times do I have to kill the same stinkin’ panda,” asked an angry Shen.

Po saw that the armada was enormous and a tough threat, but as he looked at the Five and squad, chained but looking at him with astonishment, his bravery in defending China returned.  “SHEN,” he shouted, “a panda stands between you and your…”

From Shen’s point of view, he couldn’t hear the panda.  “WHAT,” he asked.

“Prepare yourself for a hot…”

Shen still couldn’t hear the panda’s words.  Roark and Boss Wolf looked at each other, confused.  “STILL CAN’T HEAR YOU,” Roark shouted to Po.

“And now…FREE THE FIVE,” shouted Po as he whipped off his hat, “DISK OF DESTRUCTION!”

Eyes focused on one of the chains holding up the Five, Po flung his hat like a frisby.  It managed to fly a few feet ahead before bouncing off the rooftops and landing on the ground, apparently not doing as much damage as Po thought.  Everyone stared at Po, confused if this was supposed to be an attack or not.  “Oh,” said Po, feeling embarrassd.

Shen and Roark stared at Po with annoyance.  “Ok…” said Shen, perplexed, “take aim.”

A cannon on one of the frontal ships adjusted towards Po’s direction.  The Five and squad looked in fear as the cannon prepared to shoot.  “Ready…” said Shen about to give the order to shoot.

But just as the cannon was about to shoot, Po quickly leaped off the room and began scaling his way down to the ground.  With Po moving in numerous directions, it was difficult for the wolves to get a clear shot.  They kept following Po around the buildings as he moved his way down them.  “Just get him,” said Shen who was getting impatient.

The cannons were still unable to get a good aim on Po.  They couldn’t keep up with the panda and his maneuvers.  Po finally reached the street and avoided the cannons once again.  He leaped onto one of the boats, in between two cannons.  Both cannons aimed towards the panda, but in seconds, Po rushed out of the way as one of the cannons’ fuse got lit.  The wolves’ bravery quickly turned to panic when they realized that they were aiming towards each other.  

“WAIT, NO, NO, NO, DON’T SHOOT!”

“DON’T SHOOT!  DON’T SHOOT!”

The wolf with the lit cannon quickly realized that he was aiming towards his comrades and frantically tried putting out the fuse.  Some of the wolves started panicking and fled the scene, hoping to avoid getting hurt from the cannon’s firepower.  Po dodged several wolves before looking at the Five, who smiled at Po dodging the cannons and coming back.  The squad was equally impressed by Po’s maneuvers.  “That’s the way to go,” cheered Yao.

“DON’T SHOOT,” ordered Boss Wolf, “CROSSFIRE!”

“ATTACK,” ordered Shen.

The wolves charged towards Po, and this time, they were joined by Roark.  Po quickly jumped onto a cannon, stopping anyone from attacking him with kicks and blocks.  He did a flip and landed on a wolf before grabbing another’s arm and taking his axe.  “CATCH OF FREEDOM,” he shouted as he tossed it towards the Five before getting swarmed by the wolves.

“MONKEY,” ordered Tigress.

Monkey grabbed the axe with his tail, cut the chains restraining the squad and freeing the team, before cutting the chains restraining him and the rest of the Five.  With that, the warriors rushed to Po’s side and flung the soldiers away from Po.  The team was assembled once again.  “Impressive Dragon Warrior,” said Tigress, ‘what’s your plan?”

“Step one: free the Five and squad,” said Po.

“What’s step two,” asked Kaytlin.

“Honestly, I never thought I’d get this far.”

“Po,” said Tigress.

“Uh, stop Shen before he gets to the harbor,” said Po.

“NOT SO FAST,” shouted Roark as he prepared to stop them, “you may have come back from the dead, but it’s not gonna work this…”

Roark was suddenly blasted by Kyle’s firebats charged at full power before he could finish his line.  Roark looked and saw Kyle standing above him, ready to fight.  “Let’s end this,” he said before attacking him.

Roark got to his feet and started engaging Kyle in battle.  “You guys stop Shen and quick,” said Kyle as he fought.

Roark breathed in and unleashed a blast of fire.  Kyle dodged this blast again, and Rudy blasted Roark’s mouth with his water cannon.  With Roark’s fire breath drenched and out of power, Kyle engaged in battle against him once again.  As for the others, they leaped towards the approaching wolves and began their attempt to stop the armada once and for all.  Working as a team, they fought with all their might, taking down every wolf coming at them.  As Po fought, he dodged a wolves’ weapons and grabbed the body.  He slammed him towards the ground, knocking him out before tossing him into the air.  “VIPER, PUPPET OF DEATH,” shouted Po.

Viper quickly coiled herself around the wolf before shouting, “TIGRESS!”

Landing on Tigress’ back, Viper manipulated the wolf’s body around, making him attack his fellow comrades, all while Tigress travelled down the line of ships.  As for the squad, they gave it their all to fight off their opponents.  The Wubbzy Gang, riding on each of the dinosaurs, directed their teammates against the attacking wolves.  Rex swiftly jumped his way around the armada, landing on some of the wolves, as he used his hands and tail to attack his opponents while Wubbzy directed him towards incoming enemies.  “They’re coming from behind,” said Wubbzy upon noticing some attempting to attack Rex from behind.

Woog charged into this group, with Walden on his back and used his horns to block the weapon attacks.  He swiftly stomped, causing a piece of wood to fly up.  Using his head, he slammed the wood towards some of the wolves attacking Dweeb.  With Widget on his back, he delivered multi punches and kicks with his hands and feet using his speed.  Dweeb flung his tail upward and slammed into one group of wolves charging towards him.  He then flung them away as Elsa flew around the armada with Daizy on her back.  With Daizy holding on tight, Elsa flew around the armada, barrel rolling and somersaulting her way around the wolves.  She attacked them with her beak and feet as the fight raged on.  She flew past a group of wolves attacking Hathi and Donkey, who were holding their own against the soldiers very well.  As Hathi concentrated on his side of a boat, Donkey concentrated on covering Hathi from behind.  “It’s like the Ant Island battle all over again,” said Donkey.

“Except we’re taking on a bigger challenge with more soldiers,” replied Hathi as they fought.

The Chinese trio used their swords and martial arts to fight their way through the wolves.  Chien Po struck down parts of the boat they were on and swung them towards his opponents.  As this happened, Ling and Yao fought side by side.  Ling used his speed to attack first, disoriented some of the wolves, leaving their vulnerable for Yao to finish them off.  Yao swiftly grabbed one of the wolf’s arms and kicked him in the chest and taking his weapon.  He threw it towards the ground of another group of soldiers, intimidating them and leaving them to get attacked by the trio as well.  A group of wolves advanced towards Po from behind, but as it seemed they were going to attack, something appeared from behind them and took them all out.  Po turned and to his amazement, it was Master Ox, no longer hiding in the jail and finally joining the fight for freedom.  “MASTER OX,” exclaimed Po.

Suddenly, Master Croc leaped out of the water and kicked two wolves unconscious.  “CHUM,” he shouted.

“AND CROC,” exclaimed Po, amazed to see him too.

“Vengeance is served,” said Croc.

“But why did you…”

“Your friend there is very persuasive,” said Ox as he directed Po towards the front of the armada.

Here, Po could see something taking out every wolf in his path.  It got closer and closer to the warriors before leaping into the air, flinging a few wolves into the air as well, and landing on his staff.  Po became even more overjoyed upon seeing this warrior.  It was Master Shifu.  “MASTER SHIFU,” exclaimed Po as the other warriors noticed his arrival.

With little effort, Shifu swung himself around Po and the Five, taking out all the wolves that were advancing towards them.  “QUICKLY, USE THEIR BOATS TO BLOCK THE WAY,” ordered Shifu.

The warriors looked ahead and saw that the armada was getting closer to the harbor.  Seeing that they needed to stop it, they rushed to the harbor.  Tigress swiftly kicked a cannon over and sent it flipping the boat stern upwards.  This stopped it from going any further.  Using his tail, Rex slammed a boat towards the water allowing Woog to charge in and shove the damaged boat towards the harbor, stopping more boats from leaving the canal.  “That outta stop them,” said Walden.

Kyle and Roark were still locked in one-on-one combat.  Kyle swiftly dodged Roark’s swinging wing blades before landing a kick on his face.  But Roark quickly flew up and flung one of his blades into the boat that Kyle was standing on.  Kyle did a backflip and opened fire on the stork.  Roark blocked the lasers with his free blade before throwing several of his smaller feather blades towards the otter.  Suddenly, Shifu appeared and blocked every last one of the attacks.  He then swiftly charged towards the stork and flung his staff, hitting him in the face and swinging him off the boat and onto the dock.  “Boy am I glad to see you Master,” said Kyle.

“Happy to help,” replied Shifu, “now hurry.  We must help in stopping the armada.”

The other squad founders were assisting in using the boats to block the pathway to the harbor.  Using Monkey as a boost for jumping into the air, Dennis lashed out his tongue, grabbing a wolf’s weapon and swinging it towards a group of wolves.  This allowed Kimmy and Mantis to slam a boat towards the harbor.  The pileup of boats was getting bigger and bigger.  As for Cassidy, she used her rope to lasso one of the masts and pull it towards her, causing it to start tipping over.  Behind her, Viper coiled herself around a mast and stuck her tail out for Cassidy to grab onto.  Behind them, Po also grabbed two ropes attached to two boats in between him.  With them leaning towards each other, Po called out for Crane.  “CRANE!”

Crane swiftly flew above the boats and shouted out, “WINGS OF JUSTICE,” before sending a powerful gust of wind towards the boat sails with his wings, “KA-KA!”

Po laughed in excitement as his boats were propelled forward.  The boat crashed into the pileup, causing it to cover up the harbor gate completely.  Shen looked stunned as he watched his pathway to China get blocked.  “WHAT?!”

Several wolves started climbing up the pile of boats.  As they did, all of the warriors leaped off the top with an explosion of light and sparks behind them.  Po looked around him and saw his fellow warriors, all ready to end this battle once and for all.  “I LOVE YOU GUYS,” shouted Po.

Together, they landed on the boats again and started advancing towards Shen’s boat.  Giving it their all, they took down every soldier coming their way.  By now, Roark got back on the boats and tried stopping them, but Kyle, now with assistance from the other warriors, engaged against him once again.  Now outnumbered, the fight turned against Roark’s favor.  He tried swinging his wing blades around, but was blocked by Kyle’s firebats.  Rudy jumped into the air and slammed his tail into Roark’s face, disorienting him for a short time.  Roark unleashed his fire breath again, but everyone dodged.  Kaytlin threw her frisby and struck Roark’s face.  With him temporarily blinded, Kimmy charged in and rammed him into a mast.  But Roark angrily got up and advanced towards them again.  But this time, he was stopped by Po and the Five.  Mantis rapidly kicked one of Roark’s blades, shattering it into tiny pieces, before allowing Viper and Cassidy to wrap around Roark’s neck with their tail and rope respectively.  “LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER,” said Cassidy to Viper.

Viper smiled at her before working with her to send Roark spinning out of control.  He was sent spinning towards Ox, who used his strong horns to send Roark flying upwards.  At the right moment, Croc, using Hathi as a boost, jumped up and slammed him down towards the boat.  With that, Kyle charged his two firebats and blasted the stork away.  Roark was now down and out of the fight.  With him out, the warriors turned back to Shen’s ship.  Shen was shocked that his army was losing the fight.  “WHY AREN’T WE FIRING,” he demanded.

“They’re taking out our gutters sir,” said Boss Wolf, “they’re getting close.”

Shen looked at Po, who had his eyes locked on the peacock, ready to face him.  Infuriated for the last time, Shen yelled, “FIRE!  FIRE AT THEM!”

“But sir, we’ll kill our own,” said Boss Wolf, concerned for his fellow wolves.

“I SAID, FIRE AT THEM!  FIRE,” Shen yelled angrily, having lost his patience.

By now, the warriors were getting much closer.  Boss Wolf, seeing that they were destined to lose, but seeing that a blast from the cannon can kill members of his pack, turned to Shen and, with no hesitation, tossed the torch away, finally seeing the monster that Shen was.  “No.”

Furious at being disobeyed, Shen struck Boss Wolf down with one of his blades.  As he fell out of sight, Shen landed on the cannon and directed it towards the warriors.  By now, they were a few feet away and were about to fight off Shen when they suddenly saw the cannon about to be lit.  Not wasting another second, Shen lit the fuse.  But before it could fire on Po, Tigress swiftly shoved Po out of the way.  “PO,” she cried.

The blast erupted with a loud bang.  It sent all of the warriors flying backwards, towards the harbor.  This blast also destroyed the entire pileup of ships that were blocking the harbor.  A massive amount of debris was sent flying towards the wide river ahead.  Po landed on a piece of wood, exhausted from the blast.  Po looked up and saw Shen’s armada reaching the harbor and about to begin their invasion.  They lined up in front of the harbor as Po looked around him.  The carnage left by the powerful blast was immense.  Several pieces of the boats were floating.  But what made Po look in horror was the sight of his fellow warriors, badly injured and exhausted.  He saw Shifu floating on a crate near the ships, looking in defeat.  Po also saw the squad scattered around the harbor, everyone injured to continue the fight.  But the one person whom Po was most concerned about was Tigress.  He saw her lying motionless on a piece of driftwood nearby.  Po swam towards her and gently took her limp paw.  “Tigress.”

Tigress looked at Po in defeat.  The two gazed at each other, before Tigress lowered her head, exhausted.  Po turned and saw Shen’s ship in the middle of the fleet.  Angered at what Shen had done to Tigress and the others, Po gently shoved Tigress away before swimming off towards the center of the harbor.  Tigress extended her paw towards Po, but couldn’t reach him.  Po reached an upturned boat and faced the entire fleet.  Shen laughed as he watched the panda rise to his feet, thinking he was accepting defeat.  But Po didn’t back off.  He stood his ground before closing his eyes.  “As you wish,” said Shen, ready to claim victory, “let’s finish this.”

A cannon was adjusted, aiming towards Po.  Shifu, Tigress and Kyle looked at Po with sorrowful looks, unable to help him with whatever he was going to do.  But Po, with his eyes still closed, started making tai chi movements with his feet and arms.  Shifu noticed that Po was performing the same movements he was doing at the Dragon Grotto.  Po stopped in position, as if he was going to catch a water drop and waited for the cannon to fire.  “Fire,” ordered Shen, ready to kill.

One of the cannons fired.  But Po remained calm and closed his eyes again.  “Inner peace,” he said in his mind.

In his mind, he imagined the cannonball as a raindrop.  The cannonball approached the panda, but just as it was about to hit him, Po suddenly reached out and caught the cannonball and redirected it away from him.  This caught everyone off guard.  The warriors stared at Po with astounded expressions.  Tigress, now being assisted by Kyle, lifted her head higher as she gazed upon Po’s accomplishment.  Po grinned at the armada before seeing his hand on fire.  He started panicking, waving his arm around in an attempt to put it out, before putting his hand into his mouth.  As for Shen, while he was shocked, he regained his determination, thinking that this wasn’t a good enough shot.  “Again,” he ordered.

Another cannonball was fired at Po.  But Po took his hand out of his mouth and grabbed the cannonball like before.  This time, he fumbled and juggled it, tossing it above his head by accident.  Fortunately, it landed near the ships.  The wolves became terrified, seeing that their weaponry wasn’t working against Po.  “YEAH,” shouted Po in triumph.  

Another cannonball was launched, but missed.  “KILL HIM,” shouted Shen, growing more irritated, “SOMEBODY KILL HIM!”

The cannons kept firing at Po.  Po redirected one of them towards the fleet before dodging two more.  Another cannon was shot, but Po caught it and spun around before tossing it away.  Each cannonball shot at Po was simply caught and redirected elsewhere.  The villagers watched as Po singlehandedly protected himself against the cannons.  Po tossed another cannonball towards the fleet, and this time, it scored a hit on one of the boats.  With that, the wolves started fleeing and the villagers started cheering.  “WHAT,” asked Shen as he watched his army get destroyed, one boat at a time, “NO!”

Tigress and Kyle were amazed by Po’s moves.  Shen glared angrily at Po, who gave Shen a look, as if he was going to say “you’re next.”

“KEEP FIRING,” ordered Shen angrily, “KEEP FIRING!”

The main cannon shot a cannonball and it flew towards Po.  At the right moment, Po extended his arms and caught the cannonball.  This was a strong one, and it pushed Po back a little.  Standing strong and holding his ground, Po held onto the cannonball before spinning in the air.  The forces at work here caused some water to spiral around the panda.  Po landed back on the boat as he continued spinning in a circle.  As he did, he morphed into the Yin Yang symbol.  Shen looked upon this with shock.  This was exactly like the Soothsayer’s vision.  This truly was the ‘warrior of black and white’ destined to defeat him.  Po reverted back to normal and he spun around a few more times, until finally…

“Skadoosh!”

Po launched the cannonball right back at Shen’s own ship.  Shen braced for impact and the cannonball hit dead on, destroying it and the cannon, along with the rest of the ships.  

As the light and smoke from the blast faded, Shen coughed and started getting up.  Here, he could see the wreckage of his armada, completely destroyed.  He could also see his cannon above him, tilted slightly and held up by ropes.  Shen was in complete disbelief of what happened to everything he worked on to achieve China conquest.  “H…How did you,” he panted as he noticed Po on the ship a few feet away, “how did you do that?”

Po shrugged before replying, “you know, you just gotta keep your elbows up and keep the shoulders loose…”

“Not that,” replied Shen, “how did you find peace?  I took away your parents, everything…I…I scarred you for life.”

“See, that’s the thing Shen,” said Po, “scars heal.”

“No, they don’t…wounds heal.”

“Oh yeah,” said Po, “what do scars do?  They fade, I guess…”

“I don’t care what scars do.”

“You should Shen.  You gotta let go of that stuff from the past ‘cause it just doesn’t matter,” said Po, “the only thing that matters is what you choose to be now.”

Shen’s eyes widened as he listened to the panda’s wise words.  “You’re right…then…I choose THIS,” he suddenly yelled angrily as he unleashed some of his blades.

The angry peacock lunged at Po.  Po barely managed to dodge Shen’s attack.  Shen rapidly swung his weapons at the panda, hoping to strike him, but kept missing.  Po was now on the defensive side as he dodged every one of Shen’s attacks.  Shen swiftly turned around and managed to slice some fur off Po’s face, but this didn’t hurt the panda that much.  Shen threw his blades towards Po, but these were blocked when Po used a piece of wood to block them.  Shen angrily charged towards the panda and grabbed his sword before continuing his violent rage.  Shen leaped and brought his weapon down, but Po dodged it again.  Shen violently swung his weapon around multiple times, trying to kill the panda, but kept missing.  But as this fight raged, some of the ropes holding up the destroyed cannon got cut by Shen’s sharp sword.  But Shen, in his angry attempts to kill Po, didn’t notice.  Shen swung his sword around again, but missed Po again, and it cut another rope.  Po rolled out of the way and saw Shen’s cannon tipping down on them.  Shen turned and also saw the cannon coming down, but instead of fleeing, he stood his ground and closed his eyes.  His creation crashed down on him as Po fled the area.  The ship exploded, taking the cannon and Shen with it as Po was sent flying into the water.  Po’s friends looked in shock at what had happened as the citizens watched nervously.

Finally, Po resurfaced a distance from the destroyed ship, having survived.  The citizens cheered for their hero as Po latched onto a piece of wood.  He looked at the ship and the city before seeing a nearby dock.  Here, he saw Tigress leaning down and extending her arm out for him.  Po took Tigress’ arm and was helped onto the dock.  “That…was pretty hardcore,” she said.

Po smiled at Tigress, before swiftly hugging her.  This shocked everyone nearby.  Crane’s jaw dropped as he and the others watched.  Po, seeing that he was being watched, quickly let go of Tigress, before getting swarmed by his friends, who were happy to see him back.  “PO, YOU DID IT,” cheered Dennis.

“WELL DONE BIG GUY,” added Yao.

“Don’t ever do that again please,” said Crane.

Shifu approached his student, very proud of him.  “It seems that you have found inner peace…at such a young age,” said Shifu who was proud, though surprised.

“Well I had a pretty good teacher,” said Po who took Shifu and pulled him in for a hug.

But Shifu quickly disappeared and reappeared on a pole nearby.  He looked at Po with a smile, and vice versa.  As this happy moment went on, someone appeared from under the water, charred and exhausted.  It was Roark.  He struggled to get onto the dock and he saw what had happened to Shen.  “No…no,” he muttered, having realized that his boss was dead.  

He angrily turned to the warriors and muttered, “this…isn’t over.”

But he was shoved to the ground by Hathi’s foot.  “I’m afraid your chance for revenge is never coming to pass this time Roark,” he said.

Roark glared at the squad before passing out, defeated.  “OHO YEAH!  We’re the best,” cheered Donkey.

“China is safe once again,” said Rex.

“Yes, yes, yes,” said Walden, “we’ve succeeded.”

“Kyle, we did it,” said Cassidy as she happily stood alongside Viper.

Kyle smiled at Cassidy before turning to his friends.  “We all did,” he said.

The Five and squad looked at each other with pride.  As they did, a shower of sparks erupted from the remains of the destroyed ship.  The fireworks shot into the sky as everyone watched.  Tigress put her paw over Po’s shoulder, proud of him as they watched together.  Amongst the cheering villagers was the Soothsayer.  She was happy with the warrior’s victory and proud of Po for fulfilling his destiny.  The Yin Yang symbol flashed among the display as everyone watched with happiness.  The battle for China was over.

Back at the Valley of Peace, at the noodle shop, Mr. Ping was faced with a mother and her disappointed son.  “What do you mean he’s not here,” said the mother, “it’s my son’s birthday.  All he wanted was to meet the Dragon Warrior.”

Mr. Ping, completely unsure and nervous, said, “how about some tofu birthday cake instead.”

“You know what, we’ll try again some other time,” said the disappointed mother, “when do you think he’ll be back?”

These words hit Mr. Ping hard, causing to fear that Po may never come back.  “I DON’T KNOW, OK!  I DON’T KNOW,” exclaimed Mr. Ping, overcome with frustration and sadness, “maybe never!  I mean, I worry, ok?  But that’s my job, I’m his Dad.  I’m his…well I was his Dad.  Why did he have to go save China?  I know why…but why?  My little panda.”

Suddenly the pig child started laughing upon seeing something behind Mr. Ping.  The distressed goose got up and saw what the kid was looking at.  It was Po, standing at the restaurant entrance with some radish baskets.  The sight of his son got Mr. Ping excited.  He rushed to his son and gave him a huge hug.  After an embrace, he slid down and looked up at his son.  “So how did it go,” he asked, “did you save China?”

“Yep.”

“I knew you would.  That’s why I had these new posters made,” said Mr. Ping as he showed Po one of his new posters, “‘My son saved China.  You too can save, buy one dumpling get one free.’”

“Hey, that’s a pretty good deal,” said Po as he set down the baskets, “but first…there’s something I should tell you.”

Mr. Ping gulped nervously.  “While I was gone…I found the village where I was born…I found out how I ended up in that radish basket,” said Po.

“You did,” asked Mr. Ping.

“I know who I am,” replied Po.

“You do,” said Mr. Ping, getting more worried.

After a moment of silence, Po finally said, “I’m your son.”

Mr. Ping’s worries faded away as emotional happiness grew inside him.  Seeing Po accept him as his father, Mr. Ping embraced with his son.  “I love you Dad,” said Po, who was getting emotional too.

“I love you too son,” said Mr. Ping.

The two hugged together, happy to be back together again.  Mr. Ping noticed Po’s baskets and rushed to them.  “Ah, delicious fat radishes,” he said as he picked one up, “you’re probably hungry.  Let me make you something to eat.”

“What are you talking about?  I’ll cook,” said Po as he picked up the other basket and passed the pig child before patting him on the head.

“No, no,  I’ll cook,” replied Mr. Ping.

“Dad…”

“It’s the least I can do.  You saved China.”

“It’s the least I can do,” said Po, as he put his childhood toy on to the top of his radish basket, “you raised me.”

“Po…”

“Dad…”

“Po…”

“Ok, let’s both cook…together,” suggested Po.

“Together…no I’ll cook,” said Mr. Ping humorously.

The two laughed as they headed into the kitchen, happy to be together again.   It was imminent that another beautiful day would await the Valley of Peace.  Po saved China once again and he finally knew his origins and where he came from.  He was also happy to accept Mr. Ping as his father.  It was a happy time once again.

But far away from the Valley of Peace, past the snowy mountains and in a green forest, a round figure felt something that made him filled with hope.  He rose to his feet and stepped into the light.  It was a male giant panda and he came to realize something from his discovery.  “My son is alive.”

He walked towards a cliff and overlooked a small area, where several other pandas, likely survivors from the massacre were quietly living their lives in a secret hideout.  They looked at the wise panda and they could tell that he sensed something marvelous.  There was likely hope for this small population of pandas, hope that could help them return to their glory days of living in China in peace and harmony.  Only time will tell.