The Panda and the Turtle (Book 2)

Chapter 13: Inner Peace

"As you wish..." Shen muttered, before he turned to his soldiers. "Let's finish this."

Vee, Tigress, and Shifu looked on sorrowfully as every single cannon was aimed at Po. Meanwhile, with his eyes still shut, Po began to make tai chi movements... Vee and Shifu noticed... The wolves held their torches above the fuses, ready to fire... Po stopped in the position made just before the catching of the water drop, opened his eyes, and waited...

"Fire!" Shen commanded.

One of the cannons was fired. Po closed his eyes as the cannonball rapidly approached. In his mind, the cannonball briefly took the image of a rain drop. The words 'inner peace' echoed in his mind as Po closed his eyes again... the cannonball was seconds from hitting the panda when he suddenly reached out and caught the cannonball... and redirected it away from him. Shen, Vee, and Shifu stared in pure astonishment as their eyes tracked the cannonball's flight into the water that surrounded Po. An astounded Tigress lifted her head higher. Po grinned and lifted his paw... and realized that it was on fire.

"Wah! Waaaaaaah!" Po yelped.

Po danced on the spot, as he waved his paw in a vain attempt to put out the fire. He stopped, and stuffed it in his mouth. Meanwhile, Shen recovered from his shock, and became determined.

"Again!" Shen ordered.

Another cannon was fired. Po took his paw out his mouth and readied himself. He grabbed the cannonball just like before, fumbled and juggled it, and accidentally tossed it high above his head. It landed in the water near the ships. The wolves were terrified. Po yelled in triumph, then quickly sidestepped to the right, another cannonball barely missed him.

"Kill him!" Shen demanded. "Somebody kill him!"

They kept firing. Po redirected another cannonball and dodged two more. The cannons continued to fire, but Po was now redirecting every single one. At the edge of the city, the citizens looked on in awe. Shen looked on in horror as Po began to redirect the cannonballs toward his own fleet. Ships were destroyed on both sides of him.

"What?!" Shen questioned. "No!"

Tigress watched as Po redirected another cannonball before he gave Shen a 'you're next!' look. Shen's eyes narrowed and Po readied himself.

"Keep firing!" Shen yelled. "KEEP FIRING!"

A gorilla lit the fuse on Shen's own cannon. A large cannonball exploded out the mouth and soared directly toward Po. Po grabbed this ball... and yelled as the momentum pushed him and the upturned boat backward several feet. The ball spun in his paws and Po spun into the air, as he took a spiral of water up with him. He landed back on the boat, and began to spin round and round in a full circle... briefly morphing into a fiery Yin Yang symbol almost exactly like Soothsayer's vision. Shen was stunned at the sight. Po reverted to normal, swung his arm forward...

"Skadoosh!" Po said.

... and launched the cannonball straight at Shen's own ship. Shen braced himself as the cannonball hit, that obscured the screen in fire and smoke.

When the smoke cleared, early morning had arrived. On the deck of his destroyed ship, a disheveled Shen coughed as he regained consciousness. He looked up at his destroyed cannon, tilted high in the air, held up by several ropes. He turned his head to see his ruined fleet on both sides of the ship. Shen was in disbelief.

"H-how did you..." Shen asked, as he turned his head slightly- Po and Vee stood a couple of feet behind him. "How did you do it?"

"You know, you just gotta keep your elbows up and keep the shoulders loose..." Po replied with a shrug as Vee shook her head in embarrassment.

"Not that!" Shen said. "How did you find peace? I took away your parents! Everything! I-- I scarred you for life."

"See, that's the thing, Shen, scars heal." Po stated.

"No, they don't... wounds heal." Shen recalled.

"Oh, yeah. What do scars do?" Po asked. "They fade I guess."

"Buddy." Vee said, deadpanned.

"I don't care what scars do." Shen replied.

"You should, Shen." Po said.

"What he means is that scars do hurt, but you can't let them stay onto you forever." Vee explained. "It took me a long time to let go of my scars and find out who I'm supposed to be here. And that's here in this dimension with the best panda a girl could have as a best friend."

Po smiled at Vee for her statement and turned to Shen.

"She's right." Po agreed. "You gotta let go of that stuff from the past cause it just doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now."

Shen's eyes widened.

"You're right." Shen replied. "Then I choose... THIS!"

He pulled out some blades and lunged furiously at Po and Vee. The panda and turtle barely managed to dodge and was soon on the defensive as the three of them fought once more. Shen swung furiously, that caught Po's face and sliced off some facial fur. Vee used her magic and created a teal psychic energy shield to deflect against the knives. The peacock flung the last of his knives, which were caught in the piece of driftwood Po managed to shield himself with. Shen grabbed his lance and continued his assault. Po, Vee, and Shen continued to fight, Po and Vee evaded Shen's attacks which unknown to them had cut through the ropes that held up the ruined cannon. The cannon eventually began to topple. Po saw the coming danger, grabbed Vee over his back, and ran for the ship's bow. Shen looked up, saw the cannon... and closed his eyes as his creation crashed down on himself and the ship and exploded, that sent a screaming Po and Vee to fly into the water.

As they held onto some driftwood, their friends looked on in shock, while the citizens watched nervously. A moment passed... then Po and Vee surfaced some distance from the destroyed ship, as they latched on to a piece of wood. The crowd cheered. Po and Vee glanced at the ship.

"Whew..." Po sighed.

They looked up at the dock they surfaced next to... and saw a smiling Tigress, who silently offering her paw. Po looked at her for a moment before he took it, that allowed her to pull him up on the dock. Po and Tigress then pulled Vee up to the dock and she smiled at Tigress.

"You're okay!" Vee smiled.

"That... was pretty hardcore." Tigress admitted.

Po smiled at Tigress... and then both he and Vee shocked her with a hug. The other masters stared in astonishment... Crane dropped his beak... Po and Vee noticed them staring and released their friend.

"Right." Vee muttered. "Not a hugger."

Tigress was still frozen in shock as the other members of the Five leapt on Po and Vee to embrace them.

"Don't ever do that again, please!" Crane said.

Shifu stepped forward, with a grin.

"It seems that you have found inner peace..." Shifu stated, before he frowned. "And at such a young age."

"Well, I had a pretty good teacher." Po said.

He grabs Shifu and pulled him into the group hug... and was surprised when his master disappeared from his arms. He looked back and saw Shifu, who stood on a pole that poked out of the water.

"He's good." Vee admitted.

At that moment, a shower of sparks erupted from the remains of Shen's ship. Fireworks were shot into the sky, that briefly made a shape of a peacock's head as they exploded. A smiling Tigress put her paw on Po's shoulder as the masters watched the show. Amongst the cheering citizens, the Soothsayer smiled happily as she watched the fireworks. A yin yang symbol flashed amongst the display.