Mark of the Multiversal Pretender

"....Don't mind if I do." Hearing from Master Oogway that he can take as many as he wants, there was no hesitation in Leo's moves as he grabbed as many peaches from the ground as he could, thankfully the robe that the Jade Palace provided for him was enough to fit several more peaches by making a makeshift basket using the robe's cloth.

Meanwhile, Master Oogway simply stared at him and watched as Leo took ten to twenty peaches solely from the ground.

No one knows why there are so many peaches on the ground, even though it isn't the autumn season yet.

"Uhm, thank you? I guess." After Leo was done gathering peaches and his whole body was already full of the said fruit, Leo thanked Master Oogway with slight uncertainty in his voice, expecting the old turtle to somehow reveal that the entire thing was a test and he had failed it or something.

Thankfully, nothing like that happened and Leo was allowed to walk away scot free by Master Oogway.

"So that's who you used to be, Leo." Master Oogway mysteriously whispered to himself, his eyes sharing the same mysterious glint in them.

Coincidentally, Leo felt a sudden chill on his back, as if a ghost had just passed by him.

"What was that? Master Oogway is not thinking of punishing me for this, right?" Leo muttered to himself, noting to stay cautious on his way back.

Now, his current problem would be where he should store all these peaches?

He can't just eat them all at once.

Or maybe he can, but one at a time while cleaning the Jade Palace.

When Leo first ate the peach, he felt all his exhaustion from the constant cleaning fade away and instead, his body was now brimming with energy. As if his stamina had just doubled.

***

"How is he now?" Approaching Tigress and the rest of his students who are standing side by side in the training grounds, Master Shifu asked for their report.

Earlier after instructing Leo where and what to clean, he also instructed his students to watch over Leo, to see if he would really clean the entire Jade Palace.

And now, a whole day has passed and he decided it is time to ask his students for their report.

"He.....cleaned everything, Master." It was Tigress who answered just now.

"Everything?....Hmm, I didn't expect he'd truly do it. Alright then, I guess I'll just teach him a few moves and I'll see if he could continue his stay here." Master Shifu was stunned by the answer first before responding, muttering the last sentence to himself.

"But...." Tigress suddenly continued.

"But? But what, Tigress?" 

"....He also made quite a mess."

"Mess?" Master Shifu raised an eyebrow at that. What kind of mess?

***

"What in Oogway's shell is going on here!!!?" Upon arriving at the Jade Palace main hall where the old artifacts of the previous Kung Fu Masters resided, Master Shifu was shocked to see Leo passed out on the ground while several peaches could be seen scattered all around the floor.

Normally, Master Shifu would just be slightly angry at this however, upon seeing the familiar peaches on Leo's unconscious hand and the floor, the first thing that went through his mind was that Leo somehow stole the peaches and ate them all without asking for permission.

The peaches that his master cultivated for hundreds of years!

You know, even Master Shifu himself is very considerate and careful when it comes to eating the peaches that Masher Oogway provides for him, treating them as if they were treasures.

Only for them to be recklessly consumed by this newcomer!

Just as Master Shifu was about to shout and yell at the sleeping black panther, a certain someone arrived and it made Master Shifu's blood run cold.

"Now that's a mess." Master Oogway commented with a hint of joy and amusement in his eyes. Meanwhile, Master Shifu quickly approached him, followed by the Furious Five who all bowed their heads in respect to the founder of Kung Fu.

"Master! He- I- uhh-." Trying to find a good reason, Master Shifu failed to come up with one and instead, became a stuttering mess.

"It's fine, Shifu. It was me who gave the peaches to him." Master Oogway put his hand up for Master Shifu to stop and continue.

"It is his right to decide how, when and where to eat it, just like our destiny of how to find our path, when to start our journey and where to search for answers." Just as expected, Master Oogway can't live without throwing a single wise words.

"I-....I see." Master Shifu looks like he wanted to make an explanation but upon hearing Master Oogway's wise words, he can only stop and truj his eyes to the sleeping Leo before sighing in defeat.

"Something like this should be enough to make anyone in their right mind angry, this man is disgracing our sacred Palace! I truly can't understand how your mind works, Master." Master Shifu stated with resolute a devout loyalty to the rules that are implemented to the Jade Palace.

"Then don't." Master Oogway only gave two words as an answer before walking away, leaving Master Shifu stare at his shell back with dazed expression.

"Master?" Seeing their master being like this, Tigress felt odd. She wanted to get angry at the nonchalant newcomer, who just like what Master Shifu said, disgracing the Sacred Palace. However, she knew she should know her place and not let herself be driven by emotions.

Though it seems like her master himself is the one who is being driven by emotions.

"Bring him to his room, it's the one next to Crane. And let the servants clean this place up. Make sure no sign of filth is left in this place." After leaving those orders, Master Shifu placed his hands behind his back before walking away at a normal pace, his face looking like it is deep in thought.

"Yes, master...."

***

Leo doesn't know how many hours have passed since he went on his peach-eating spree. At first, it was just a common peach eating whenever he got exhausted from cleaning however, his body kept desiring the peach as if it was drugs until it went to the point that Leo failed to stop himself and probably due to euphoria and his body almost exploding from all states of satisfaction, happiness, excitement, etc.

Before Leo knew it, he already passed out and now he woke up in a new room.

"Lesson learned, don't eat those peaches again." Leo groggily said to himself, making a note in the back of his mind. Thankfully for some reason, he felt like he was back to normal, no more feeling any urges to eat the peach or addiction to it.

'That old turtle is definitely growing weed on his background under the guise of a peach.' Grumbled Leo.

"Hopefully, I managed to clean the entire Jade Palace, which should be the case or else I wouldn't be in this room." 

*Slide!*

"You're finally awake. It's time for morning training." Suddenly, the sliding door in front of Leo slides open and he sees Tigress looking at him with the same usual cold face of her.

Before Leo could even reply, Tigress closed the sliding door on his face.

'I thought the reason why she was cold in the first movie is because Po stole the Dragon Warrior title from her but seeing this attitude from her even though I wasn't chosen as the Dragon Warrior, I think it's just part of her personality to be this cold. I mean, I remember Master Shifu rarely showed concern to her in her childhood, as Master Shifu is still plagued by the pain his previous student, Tai Lung caused.' While deep in thought, Leo suddenly noticed that the sliding door was once again open.

"Hey there, you okay? You were literally a mess yesterday, like me when I get drunk." This time, instead of Tigress, it was Monkey who was standing by the sliding door.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. I heard from Master Tigress that the morning training is starting soon. Can you guide me there, I don't think I know where I am and where I'm going."

"Oh sure thing! You can follow me, I was just on my way there."

"Sure, just hold on a second."

"Okay."

After Monkey left the room, Leo decided to have a quick peak on his status, wanting to see if there are any kind of changes and also to accept the quest that he received.

[• Quest Title: From Cleaner to Master

Main Quest: Finish the final test before becoming an official Kung Fu student under Master Shifu's guidance.[Completed!]

Secret Quest: Discover the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom and eat a peach [Completed!]

• Rewards:

Main Reward: 5% of Black Panther Template, 5 Gacha tickets, A Mop] [Claim]

Secret Reward: Rank D Universal Travel Ticket [1 week] [Claim]]

Seeing this, Leo was surprised. Who would've expected that the secret Quest is actually related to what he just did yesterday.

It might sound like a coincidence to others but to Leo, it's not!

'Genesis....are you manipulating the quests so I would be able to accomplish the secret quests?' Leo stated his suspicions.

[What are you talking about, Leo? I have absolutely no control over the Quest and Sub-Quest functions as it goes against my protocols and policies.]

Hearing Genesis's answer just made the entire thing more suspicious. Unfortunately, he can't keep Monkey waiting outside, so he decided to settle this later after the morning training.

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 17 - The Great Pretender's training arc!]