Back at the noodle shop, Po was serving bowls of noodles to the customers at their tables. However, he struggled to squeeze through the small gaps. He accidentally knocked into a table.
"Excuse me." Po said. "Pardon me. Sorry."
"Hey, watch it Po!" A pig complained.
"Sorry." Po apologized before he tried to suck in his gut. "Suck it up!"
However, his belly got stuck between two tables, and in his attempt to lift himself free, Po accidentally stuck his tail puff into a rabbit family's soup bowl, that made the rabbit children cry.
"Oops, sorry!" Po apologized as he turned to the family. "A thousand pardons..."
Suddenly, a gong sound was heard. Po turned and saw a group of palace staff sticking a poster on the wall of the restaurant.
"What?!" Po gasped before he ran over to the poster, which featured the Furious Five, and read the writing before he got very excited.
"Master Oogway's choosing the Dragon Warrior. Today!" Po cheered before he set the bowls on a table and turned to the customers. "Everyone! Everyone! Get to the Jade Palace! One of the Five is gonna get the Dragon Scroll!"
Po began ushering out the customers. Mr. Ping looked up from the counter.
"We've waited 1,000 years for this!" Po said to a rabbit, who was trying to finish eating. "Just take the bowl!" He went over to a rabbit counting money. "This is the greatest day
in kung fu history! Don't worry about it, just go!"
Po was about to follow the customers outside the restaurant until his dad called for him.
"Po! Where are you going?" Mr Ping asked.
Po struggled to hide his dismay as he turned back to his father.
"To the...Jade Palace..." Po replied as he inched slightly out of the door.
"But you're forgetting your noodle cart!" Mr. Ping said as he rolled a heavy looking noodle cart to Po. "The whole valley will be there,
and you'll sell noodles to all of them!"
"Selling noodles?" Po repeated, that made Mr. Ping nod. "But, Dad, I was kinda thinking, maybe I..."
"Yeah?" Mr. Ping asked.
"I was kinda thinking maybe I..." Po continued.
"Uh-huh?" Mr. Ping smiled.
"...could also sell the bean buns." Po lied. "They're-...They're about to go bad."
"That's my boy!" Mr. Ping smiled before he went back in his shop. "I told you that dream was a sign!"
"Yeah." Po chuckled as he looked at the cart in disappointment. "Glad I had it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Jade Palace Arena, Vee watched as the palace staff members preparing for the tournament while children played and the villagers streamed into the arena.
Meanwhile at the bottom of thousands of stone stairs that lead directly to the Jade Palace, Po was staring open-mouthed at the daunting task ahead of him. He closed his mouth with a gulp and began to ascend the stairs, though is severely hindered by the noodle cart. Villagers moved past him as he slowly made progress. Some time later, Po was still ascending the stairs as he dragged his cart behind him in exhaustion. He stopped for a breather and flopped onto his back.
"I'm...almost there...huh?" Po breathed out before he sat up and saw to his despair that he had only made it up seven steps. "No! Oh, noooo!"
Two pig villagers, the Shaw brothers, passed by and meet Po on the stairs.
"Sorry, Po." One Shaw brother said.
"We'll bring you back a souvenir." The other Shaw brother added.
They continued up the stairs. Po stared after them and then made a decision.
"No. I'll bring me back a souvenir." Po muttered before he casted away his apron and noodle hat, and made his way up to the palace, leaving the noodle cart behind.
YOU ARE READING
The Panda and the Turtle (Book 1)
Fanfiction(No K-5 included) Venus De Milo, a 17 year old mutant turtle, lived in the Jade Palace for a year since the mysterious portal took her in the unknown dimension where she befriended Masters Oogway, Shifu, and the Furious Five. Po might just be the la...
