The Last Victory

4. The Lost Helmet

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE!"
Stunned, Po stared at the small platform.
Empty! The pedestal was empty!
But the helmet had been there a short time ago.
The panda looked around in panic on all sides. Shifu would have thrown a tantrum if he sees that the helmet, that had arrived here at the Jade Palace in the Hall of Warriors last week...
The panda spun around. Something had fallen to the floor. He looked in the direction of an overturned metal armor. And the people who had brought down this armor out of understanding stood there like wax figures.
For several seconds everyone was frozen until the panda finally got it.
"Fung!"
The crocodile leader hastily hid the helmet behind his back. "And goodbye!"
With that, he and his gang members quickly disappeared through the half-open door.
The panda immediately dived afterwards. "Hey! Give the helmet back!"
"Sorry, I needed a new helmet," Fung shouted backwards during the race. "My old one is broken."
"This is General Sàshuǎng's helmet!" Po cat-called at them.
The crocodile laughed. "General Sàshuǎng is dead! It won't hardly bother him if someone else takes care of it."
They were hardly out of the gate when the crocodile stumbled against another crocodile and the helmet flew in a high arc forward, down the mountain over the steps.
Fung watched in shock. "My hat!"
"General Sàshuǎng's hat!" Po corrected as he ran past.
But the crocodile leader did not want to have his new helmet taken away so easily and they both rushed forward. Po just touched the helmet with his fingertip, but was knocked to the ground by crocodile Fung. The hat bounced off the hand and made another arc, where it sailed merrily down the mountain.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a black bird fluttered with difficulty halfway up the mountain.
"I'm not used to such stretches anymore," he gasped.
Suddenly, something came racing towards him at breakneck speed and pulled itself over him. The crow croaked loudly as the helmet dragged him down. Po and Fung were still in their helmet-hunting fever and hadn't noticed the trapped crow in the helmet, so that Po gave the helmet and the crow a huge kick when it almost hit the steps.
"It's mine!" Fung shouted.
"No!" Po corrected him decidedly. "It belongs in the Hall of Warriors...!"
"But not for much longer!" Fung kicked the helmet next and so it flew all the way down the stairs until they finally reached the village.
During the next scuffle, the helmet was again thrown high into the air. With open paws, Po ran back and forth and tried to catch the helmet, but was pushed aside by two crocodiles at the next moment. The helmet landed in Fung's claws, while the crow, also falling from the sky, landed in the mouth of his buddy, who had opened his jaw out of sheer amazement.
"Oops, I think something fell between my teeth."
Po ran forward and kicked him in the stomach. The crocodile's mouth opened and Po reached in and pulled the crow out.
"Excuse me, buddy." Gently, he set the dazed black bird down on a stone. "Well, and now to..."
But the sentence got stuck in his throat. The place was empty. And the crocodile gang gone.
"Hey!"
Immediately, Po took up the chase as the crocodile gang ran through the streets in triumph.
"Mine!" Fung exclaimed enthusiastically, holding up the helmet. "Mine, mine, mi..."
"Not a bit of it."
The crocodile gang froze when the Furious Five appeared in their way.
Fung was the first one, who found the language again. "Uh, we thought you were..."
"Great, guys!" Po called out of breath. "That was great timing. Well, come across with the helmet!" Po took another fighting stance. "Or do you want to mess with us?"
Fung didn't feel like doing that today and angrily threw the helmet to the ground. "Damn it!"
"Doesn't matter", the crocodile Gahri reassured him. "Then we'll look for a new hat somewhere else."
Fung had calmed down suddenly. "Yes, maybe even a nicer one than this one."
With that, the crocodile gang left them discussing.
With relief, Po picked up Sàshuǎng's helmet. "Thanks, guys. That was pretty close. But why are you back from the meeting with Shifu so early?"
Tigress shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Maybe because he suspected you might need some help."
Po twisted his mouth. "It wonders me that I was not allowed to be there. What was this meeting about?"
"Just a few little things," Monkey replied quickly. "Nothing special. After all, it was a good thing that you were careful in the Jade Palace. Otherwise, the helmet would have been gone."
"Oh yes, the helmet."
With pride, Po held the helmet over his head. But shortly after his friends looked at him with shock.
"Po, the helmet looks a bit," Monkey answered hesitantly. "How should I say? Something used."
"What do you mean?" Quickly, Po held the helmet in front of his eyes and examined it closely. Indeed, one of the prongs on the side of the helmet opening had a distinct crack.
"Oh, maybe that can be repaired," stuttered Po. "That's just a small flaw." At that moment, the prong broke off. "A very, very small visible flaw."
Quickly, Po picked up the part again, fiddled around in a corner of a house and patched the prong back on with a kind of dough.
"Do you see! As good as new! Nobody will notice that."
"What shouldn't you notice?"
Po almost let fall the helmet when, out of nowhere, Shifu appeared next to him.
"Oh, Master Shifu! Oh, I mean ... nothing should be noticed... it was all just a ..."
At that moment, someone cleared his throat. All eyes turned to the crow.
"Who is that?" Mantis asked.
"Oh, that... uh... that is..." But this time Po had to pass. "Dunno."
The crow seemed to have recovered well from the stormy greeting of the village and bowed politely. "My name is Ryuga and I..."
"Ryuga?" He was interrupted by Po. "That's not a Chinese name, is it?"
The bird cleared its throat again. "My family is from Japan, but I was born in China."
"Oh, all right."
"I have a message for the Dragon Warrior," the crow continued quickly.
"That's me!" Po pointed to himself.
The crow narrowed its eyes for a brief moment, as if he was eyeing the introduced Dragon Warrior suspiciously. But then he shrugged. "Fine. I have a letter from Yin Yan City."
"Yin Yan City," Po repeated calmly. But then he pricked up his ears. "Yin Yan City?! Oh! Something happened? An attack? An earthquake? Something like that happens all the time..."
Without batting an eye, Ryuga took out a rolled-up piece of paper and held it out to the panda. "Why don't you read it through first?"
Po paused. "Oh, yes, yes, of course."
He took the scroll and opened it.