Kung Fu Panda 4: Conquest

The Assassination

Long ago, in ancient China, Emperor Zhao ruled. He was a wise and young leopard who inherited the throne from his ancestors.
Zhao was an emperor like no other, instead of this old, boring, sitting and lazing on the throne like other rulers, he had a special place in his heart for the inhabitants that lived in the town below. He wanted to improve everything for them. Therefore, he had a special powder made that explodes when ignited, which was named gunpowder. This gunpowder could be used to break up mountains, which could expand villages around all of China, and it could also mine ore. It was a real game-changer for the people of China.

Zhao lived in a mighty castle above a town called Nam Binh. One day when he was going down and had a little chat with the residents, as he used to do when he was bored, he met a young and beautiful leopard girl named Wixu whom he never had met before, it was love at first sight. After a while of dating, they finally became a couple. And even further, Zhao took the step to deepen the relationship.
They were going to get married. And just when they thought they couldn't get any happier, they had a baby. The little leopard cub was named Huang.
Huang would be the next man in charge. He would continue his father's legacy with gunpowder experiments, and improve upon it, he would succeed in making China better in many ways. But so they believed.

One day the city was attacked, and Zhao and Wixu set out to try and protect Nam Binh. Huang was forced to remain at home in the castle for his own safety. But he didn't want to stay. He wanted to go out and fight for his city and his people. So Huang broke orders and set out for Nam Binh to protect both the people and his own parents. But when he finally reached the city, he was met with a horrible sight. The attackers are gone, but Wixu was sitting on the ground holding Zhao. Blood is pouring from him, knives are all around them. Wixu tried everything to stop the bleeding, but unfortunately she couldn't. Huang walked up to them and sat next to Zhao.
Wixu looked at Huang a little angrily for disobeying orders, but at the same time, there he is right now, and they are losing someone very close to the both of them.

Huang heard Zhao trying to speak.
"I love you"
"b-, be.. kind"...
Then it was quiet.
Zhao is gone.

Huang shouted. He became so desperate that he didn't even know what to do. He was blinded by incredible anger, but also by grief. It lit up a new flame within Huang. He wanted revenge. But how would he do it..? He couldn't just sit and let it happen.

Huang tore himself away from Zhao's dead body and ran after the bandits.
"I'll be home soon, mom." Huang said before running off.
"Huang, no!" She shouted, too late, though.
After he got out of the gates of Nam Binh he finally caught sight of them, they are trying to climb a mountain further away, probably to get away so quickly as possible, but also to lie low along the roads to the Imperial City.

Huang growled and started running. He made it with difficulty and loss to the mountain, which the bandits seem to have difficulty climbing.
His claws were drawn out, and Huang began to climb the mountain at high speed, thanks to his climbing experience.
Unfortunately, all the bandits had already climbed the mountain, except for one. He had real trouble climbing, apparently.
"Look down!" Huang shouted. Huang knew that he would panic if he saw how far down it was, but also that someone down there was coming after him.
The bandit looked down in fear.
"Oh my, did I scare the pitiful, I mean tough, little bandit?" Huang asked with sarcasm.
Huang noticed how the bandit quickly tried to get up but unfortunately for him - he touched a loose stone which caused him to fall.
Huang grabbed the mountain and gathered strength. He jumped out with a volte, and lashed out with a violent kick at the fallen bandit, which got him to fall even faster.

The bandit landed with a big thud, leaving dust and gravel all around.
Down, Huang landed with his flexible paws and strangled the bandit's neck, loosely, of course.
"You. Now you give me my information." Huang said.
The bandit tried to break free from Huang's violent and hard grip, but failed.
"NOW!" Huang shouted, threatening with his other paw, full of sharp claws.
"W-w-what w- do you w- want to know.?.?" Asked the bandit nervously.
"Who do you work for?" Huang asked.
"Oh, uhh, yeah..."
Huang sighed and once again threatened with his sharp claws.
"K- Ka- Kang Ye.."

"Kang Ye... I know him."

"Now, the second question. Were you the one who killed my father...?"
"N-no s- sir." replied the anxious bandit.
"Was it Kang?" Huang asked.
The bandit nodded quickly.
"Huh".
Huang released the bandit.
The bandit started running.
But unexpectedly for the bandit, Huang turned back and hit him with a hard slap, causing him to fall and stones to start falling down the mountain.
Huang quickly ran from the scene on all fours, and all the stones buried the poor little bandit.

Huang was finally back at Nam Binh.
Everyone looked at him with fear, because they had seen what he had done just a few hundred meters away.
"What?"
Huang continued walking through the city, at every corner there was an individual looking at him.
"What do you want?!" Huang shouted.
Nobody answered.
Finally he came to Wixu, who was completely surprised at what he had done to a small, pitiful bandit who probably only works to get money, to support himself and his family.
Wixu cleared his throat.
"Huang, you come with me."

Wixu dragged Huang up to the castle, where she confronted him.
"Why, Huang? Why?" Wixu asked.
"Because he worked for a mean maniac! You think I'm going to let them run free?!"
Wixu sighed and took a few steps away from him, looking at the throne.
"Do you think your father would have wanted you to kill someone?" She asked.
"If it meant scaring-"
"NEVER EVER has a resident of Nam Binh killed anyone, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE THE FIRST?!" Wixu yelled back.
Huang was horrified, his own mother had never yelled at him like this. His heart pounded harder, he didn't know what to do.

"Now my question is, answer honestly. Then, right after you, k- killed him, what did you feel..?" She asked. And turned back to Huang with tearful eyes.
Huang did not expect such a question, that question was difficult. What would he answer?
"I, wasn't feeling so well, then...?" He replied.
"Nonsense!"
"Then WHAT did you feel?!" She replied in a raised voice.
Huang's body gave way. He couldn't handle the pressure any more, he broke down in tears.
"I, I thought, about, that. He g- got what he deserved!" He screamed. He expected Wixu to give up and go comfort him, like a true mother figure, but that wasn't what he got, to say the least.

"Out."
"But mom-"
"NOW" She screamed.
"Your role as next emperor you can completely forget. So, what are you doing here, then? Get out. I say"
Huang stopped snivelling. His tears were stopped. He wanted to remain emotionless. He walked towards the large gate, opened it, and looked back at Wixu.
"I'll be back, and it won't be the old Huang you've come to know." Huang said in a cold tone, and closed the gate with a bang.

Just then there was a rumble in the air, it flashed. Thunder had swept over Nam Binh.

Down the steps to the village Huang walked, in all the rain. Totally emotionless, but still so broken on the inside.

Author's Note: 

Wow, I am beyond stunned with my own creation, I've never thought I could write like this! 

And also, the images you can see in this chapter are completely made by DALL-E, these images can give you rough examples of how it looks like in the story. Later on I might include images from the movies. :) 

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Kung Fu Panda 4: Conquest! Hope to see you soon!