Chapter 5: The Hall of Heroes

Po led his father to the Jade Palace. They slowly climbed the countless steps going up the mountain.

"Couple . . . more . . . steps," Po said, panting.

"Give . . . me . . . a minute," Li panted along with him.

"Feeling the burn," Po admitted. "Do you have panda asthma too? Does that run in the family? Dad, you're going to love this. It's like the coolest thing ever."

When they finally reached the top of the mountain, Po swung open the massive doors of the Jade Palace.

The only light in the room came from an altar lit with candles. They illuminated a smooth, jade floor. Tall jade columns carved with dragons lined both sides of the hall. And between the columns were wood pillars topped with beautiful, mysterious objects.

"This is the Hall of Heroes," he explained. "Home of the most priceless kung fu artifacts in all of China."

"Whoa!" Li exclaimed. "This place is—"

"Awesome? You were going to say 'awesome,' right? Because it totally is!" Po said.

"Totally!" Li agreed.

"But be super careful," Po warned. "Everything is very fragile here."

Po pointed to a beautiful urn with handles shaped like dragons. "Like the Urn of Whispering Warriors. Um, someone broke that once."

"Who?" asked Li.

Po looked up at the ceiling. "Some idiot."

He rushed to a suit of rhino armor.

Li was impressed. "Wow!"

"This is Master Flying Rhino's battle armor," Po explained.

"I wonder if I could fit in that," said Li.

"Get out of my head, Dad! I've wondered the same thing!"

"If I could fit in it?" Li asked.

"If you could? No. If I could fit," Po replied.

"Oh," said Li.

Po grabbed him by the hand again and dragged him from one treasure to another. He stopped in front of a row of tiny helmets.

"Dad, look at this! The battle helmets of Master Rat's army!" Po said.

Then he ran to dolphin-shaped armor mounted on the wall.

"This is my favorite. Master Dolphin's waterproof armor."

Po ran to a beautifully carved two-wheeled wagon with handles. "Check it out.

It's the legendary battle rickshaw of Emperor Hawk!"

Li appeared behind Po, wearing Master Flying Rhino's armor.

"Sweet ride," he remarked. Po saw him and jumped back.

"Dad! What are you doing? We're not supposed to touch anything!" Po reminded him.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry," Li said. "Should I put it back?"

"Yeah, you probably should," Po said, but still, he couldn't help geeking out.

"You look so cool, though! How does it feel? Do the hinges hinge? Does it smell like rhino? Does it feel like you can take on a thousand warriors and emerge unscathed?"

Li nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty cool." He noticed a pull string on the armor. "Ooh, I wonder what this does. I should pull it."

He pulled the string, and the armor started to expand. Wings, shields, and weapons popped out from every inch of the metal suit. In the end, a battle flag sprouted from the top of the helmet.

Po gasped. "I think I just peed a little."

Li smiled at his son. The two of them turned and looked at the items in the hall like kids in a candy store.

"Anything else we should try in here, son? Hmm?" Li asked.

Po grinned at him, and the two started playing with everything in sight. They put rat helmets on their fingers and had a thumb war. They jumped on shields belly-first and slid across the smooth floor like they were snow sledding.

Po put on the dolphin armor and he and his dad had a mock battle.

Po was having such a good time that he barely noticed when Master Shifu and the Furious Five walked in. But as soon as he did, he froze, mortified.

"I'm going to get you! I'm going to get you!" Li was teasing, playfully headbutting Po with his armored rhino horn.

"Shh, stop!" Po whispered.

"Why? What's wrong?" Li asked.

Po bounded toward his friends, grinning sheepishly. "Guys! Guys! You're never going to guess who just showed up! Not in a million years!"

Li lifted up the front of his helmet, revealing his panda face.

"Your father!" cried Master Shifu and the Furious Five.

"Whoa, how'd you guess that?" Po asked. "Oh, wait a second. Yeah, of course. We look exactly the same. Dad, say hi to my friends, Mantis, Tigress, Monkey, Crane, and Viper. They're kind of my best friends."

Then he pointed to Master Shifu. "And this . . . this is Master Shifu. Legend."

"It is an honor to meet you, Master Panda," Master Shifu said. He looked at Po.

"Perhaps your father would care to join us in the Training Hall?" He turned back to Li. "Your son will be teaching the class."

Each member of the Furious Five winced at the thought of Po teaching again.

"Ho-ho!" cried Li, obviously impressed.

Po thought quickly. The last thing he wanted was for his dad to see what a terrible teacher he was.

"I'm sure he's tired," Po said. "I'm going to show him to the Chrysanthemum Suite."

Po grabbed his dad by the arm and dragged him away.

"What? Tired? No, I'm fine," Li protested. "I would love to watch you teach."

"Trust me," Po said. "It'd be much more fun to watch me—"

Suddenly a warning gong sounded, echoing through the hall.

"—Fight!" Po finished.

"The valley's under attack!" Tigress cried.

She raced off, followed by the rest of the Five and Master Shifu. Po moved to go with them, but Li held him back.

"Son? Under attack?" he asked worriedly.

"This is perfect!" said Po. "Now you can see what being the Dragon Warrior is all about. Follow me!"