Insecurities

The Truth is...

The clash of the swords struck between the two. Po ducked a swing from Zheng-Hau's blade as he blocked the next swing. "Good! Keep your arms out!" Zheng-Hau smirked, clashing their swords together. Po smirked too as he pushed the jackrabbit back and threw his katana at him. Zheng-Hau deflected it effortlessly. "No, you never throw your swords. It's WHOA!" Zheng-Hau yelped, dodging Po's other katana as he picked up the one he threw and fought Zheng-Hau with two swords. Zheng-Hau jumped back far enough for him to have some breathe room. "Okay, never mind," Zheng-Hau muttered.

"Hmm," Po smirked, sheathing one of his swords and holding his other one in a ready stance. Po and Zheng-Hau battled again, clashing swords. Zheng-Hau jumped back, throwing shurikens at the panda. Po skillfully deflected each one before jumping back and letting one of the shurikens explode. The panda threw his kunai at the jackrabbit. Zheng-Hau deflected it, but then heard a sickening Shing!

"Oh no," Zheng muttered as he saw the thin thread pass over his line of sight. It was one of the rocket kunais. The cord went behind his head and as Zheng landed on the ground, Po yanked the cord, pulling Zheng-Hau towards him and struck him on the head with an open palm hand. Zheng-Hau laid flat on his back. Po drew his sword out and aimed it at Zheng-Hau's neck. "You *pant* you've definitely gotten better, Po. I'd even say you're better than me. Although, I think we should use a Kusari for that attack you used on me."

"What's that?" Po asked, sheathing his sword and helping the jackrabbit up.

"It's a long chain that's used in Japan. You couple it to your hands and use it kind of like a pulling or strangling weapon."

"Ah, nice to uh... know," Po said. "Maybe I won't use that." Tai and Tigress looked at their training from afar.

"He's mastered weaponry, and it's near the time for us to 'decide' what to say to Zheng-Hau. Well, this is good for us," Tai-Lung said, stretching his back again in their spot. Tigress rolled her eyes.

"You know, I would think that the infamous Tai-Lung would learn to be more alert towards an enemy," She chided. Tai-Lung growled in a low tone.

"And I would think that a friend of Po would learn to be careful about how she labels people she doesn't know," He replied. He wasn't talking about himself. Before Tigress could answer, Lin rushed into Zheng-Hau and Po's training ground.

"Lin, what's wrong?" Zheng-Hau asked.

"Bandits," Lin panted, "Some of the bandits are attacking the citizens."

"What about the army you have?" Po asked. Lin finished catching her breath as she looked down, almost ashamed. "Lin, what's wrong?"

"Some of the bandits look like they're a part of the citizen army we have," Lin sighed. Zheng-Hau stood wide-eyed and gaping mouth, but Po quickly assessed the situation.

"We have to stop them!"

"How?" Lin halted him, "It's going to be impossible to tell who's on our side and who isn't."

"Every bandit group has a leader you can punch," Po replied.

"How would you know that?" Zheng-Hau asked, raising his eyebrow and crossing his arms. Po was about to answer, but Tigress and Tai-Lung jumped out of their hiding place. "You were spying on us?"

"Do you want to argue or do you want to protect the people you said you would protect?" Tai-Lung growled out. Po received Zheng's suspicious glare before following the masters.

Monkey and Viper struck an ox bandit down while Crane attacked the other. "Hey, I'm on your side!" Shouted the ox.

"Oh, sorry," Crane apologized, helping the bandit up. The village was in chaos. Thousands of tough soldier-looking bandits raided several houses in the village, but the Furious Five couldn't tell who was who. Only the people in Zheng-Hau's army seemed to know, but that was because the army knew each other in this particular village. Some of the bandits were obvious to find, but the others were nubilous.

"How do we find out which one is which?" Mantis shouted as Zheng-Hau, Po, and the others arrived.

"Zheng, how do you figure out who's on your side," Po asked his teacher.

"I... I don't know," Zheng-Hau panicked, "Just form a line and take care of the ones that are obvious."

"We can't just let the bandits start stealing," Po replied in haste. Just then, a row of large gorilla bandits charged towards them. As they were about to fight them, Yun jumped over Zheng-Hau, Po, and the others' heads and knocked the gorillas back with her staff. She twirled the staff in her hand before striking the other two gorillas down. Yun quickly spotted a goat running out of a house and tackled him to the ground, putting the goat in a chokehold with her staff. "Whoa," Po marveled.

"Do not mess with the fox," Tai-Lung muttered to Zheng-Hau.

"All the people loyal to us have a mark of a bunny on their left shoulder!" She shouted to the others, "Take care of the others! GO!" With that info, the team raced to round up all of the bandits. A large boar watched the whole thing unfold with rage on a rooftop. His teeth gritted as he clenched his fist and debated in his mind whether to call off the attack. He was a long-time opponent of Po, leading raids and heists around all of China.

"Curse that panda!" Ru blurted out.

"Weren't expecting me to be here, Ru?" said a voice behind him. The boar chortled with spittle splattering out his largemouth.

"Ah, Po. It's been a long time," The boar leader smirked as he turned around. "You've gotten a new look." He remarked, noticing the red cloak.

"What are you doing here, Ru," Po demanded.

"Well, normally, I would just say to steal, but I've been given orders to give the bunny a bad name," Ru replied.

"Zheng-Hau?" Po guessed. Ru smirked as he took out his heavy hammer. "Who sent you?" Po fixed his eyes with his furrowed brow.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Dragon Warrior," Ru growled, grunting as he swung the huge hammer around. Po dodged out of the way, letting the hammer smash to the roof underneath them. Po kept dodging the boar's swings for a while before flipping over the boar's head and kicking him back. With the hammer away from him, Po fought him head-on, deflecting and blocking Ru's punches. Ru kicked up the dirt underneath his feet, spraying it into Po's eyes. Ru bodyslammed Po back as he picked up his hammer and was about to smash Po's head in. "Well, it looks like you're out of tricks, panda."

"No, I'm just waiting for my friend," Po smirked as Zheng-Hau jumped up to the roof and kicked the boar back. Ru stumbled back, dropping the hammer to his side and Zheng-Hau threw an explosive kunai that blew Ru off the roof and into a crate of fruit, immobilizing him. Zheng and Po jumped down and faced him while the chaos surrounding them went on. "Thanks, Zheng-Hau."

"Don't mention it," Zheng-Hau smiled.

"Hehe, I should have known that the Dragon Warrior would stick his nose into this," Ru muttered.

"What was that?" Zheng-Hau demanded from the boar. Po's body suddenly heated up as his eyes darted back and forth.

"Oh, you didn't tell him, chubby? You're friend there is the legendary Dragon Warrior," Ru smirked. Zheng-Hau looked at Po as he asked Ru.

"What about the snow leopard?"

"Tai-Lung? That traitor is the infamous Tai-Lung that wrecked the Valley of Peace village and the panda's first villain," Ru grunted, about to get out of the mess when Zheng-Hau simply threw a small dart at his exposed chest, instantly making him fall asleep.

"Is this true, Po?" Zheng-Hau asked, his face glaring at the panda for an answer. Po's heart pounded against his ribcage as he slowly spoke the truth.

continued...

I would like to apologize to my friends and readers. I was worried that my style of writing was mediocre because of the low reviews. Then I realize it was my own fault because I wasn't truly giving you my best. I laugh at this story now because I realize that I was trying to give you a lecture rather than a story. Because of this, I will try and change the pace and focus of this story to help you better understand what I'm going for.