The Lion and the Peacock

The End of Tyranny

Shen was alive. He wasn't killed in the factory explosion. He walked with a limp, but the army of wolves barked, growled, and snapped. Alpha, whom Leo had also thought had died, stood next to the peacock. He had a war hammer in one hand and a sword in the other.

Lord Shen stared at the gathered villagers, who were crying and staring at him in absolute fear. Some of them screamed. Shen saw the Jade Palace Masters who stood defensively in front of the civilians. He sneered at Tigress, glared at Po and looked like he was ready to kill Leo Lung.

"Boo." Shen grabbed his lance and unfurled his tail feathers in a scary display of red, black and white.

The villagers shrieked and began to panic- running off into the mountains, into the river, and into each other.

Milu, without needing to be told, began trying to calm everyone down. He tried to herd everyone back into a group, and, sensing the forthcoming battle, he led them off into the safety of the mountains. The villagers, trusting the newcomer, followed him and cast scared glances at Shen. The Jade Palace Masters simply stood their ground at the end of the bridge.

The two armies faced off against one another. Before any of the Kung Fu Masters could attack, Shen waved one of his hands. A loud scraping sound rang out louder than the roaring fire across the river.

A huge thing appeared out of the smoke. It was being hauled by at least twenty wolves, and it was placed on the opposite side of the river, facing the retreating villagers.

With a shock of realization Leo realized it was a weapon! But this one was huge. It was bigger than any other weapon that Shen had made.

"Well, well, well," Shen said with a crazed giggle, "it seems my plans are working out after all."

Shifu stepped forward, his ears pinned back in anger, "You may have destroyed the-"

"Oh no, I'm not worried about you, little panda." Shen said, with an offhanded glance to Shifu, "I'm talking to Leo Lung." The peacock began to stalk forward, towards the end of the bridge, "My reign is just beginning." Shen laughed breathily.

With that, the fuse on the Peace Destroyer was lit by one of the wolves. It was facing the villagers and Milu, who had taken refuge higher up on the mountain.

"No!" Leo roared. But before he could stop it, the weapon ignited with a fiery blast. The cannonball hurtled towards the villagers: Po's father, Milu, innocent women and children, all in the crosshairs. Leo shut his eyes and waited for the pang of the explosion and death.

However, he heard none of that. He looked up and saw that Po had dived in front of the cannon and- instead of being instantly obliterated on the spot- he was holding the cannonball back!

Leo watched in amazement as Po threw the cannonball back into the river, where it began to steam and sink harmlessly to the bottom.

Shen, Shifu, and all of the Master's eyes widened, as did Po's. Just a second ago, he was standing right next to Leo and Shifu, but now he stood, feet planted, in front of the Peace Destroyer.

Po smirked triumphantly and opened his arms as invitation, only to see both of his arms were on fire. The panda screamed and ran around hopelessly while Shen watched in sadistic gratification.

Po thrust both of his arms into the river water, sighing in relief when the fire was put out. Shen, who was stunned silent for a moment, turned and looked back at his wolves, "Fire again!"

The wolves lit the fuse, and the weapon exploded another ball out. Po was pushed back by the force of the fireball, but then he dug his feet in. Po grabbed the cannonball and spun it around his body, then hurling it into the river. The villagers, watching from the mountain, cheered as the Dragon Warrior defied the odds to save them.