All Spoilers for Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness will be Unmarked
Before Setting Sail
is a Kung Fu Panda fanfic by Deep Metal
and semi-sequel to the author's prior fanfic Notes from the Underground.note
Following the events of the final battle of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight the world has been saved, the restless spirits of the Ancient Army, Masters, Alfie and Veruca have moved on, and Po and the Dragon Knights are now international heroes...
But with their missions over, Blade is ready to go back to England, however loose ends must still be dealt with as Klaus is put on trial for his crimes against China and on top of that, the Brotherhood of Malfeasance has returned with plans to overthrow the Emperor of China and get revenge on Po. It's up to Po and his allies to put an end to the dark ambitions of the Brotherhood.
AO3
Link
Tropes
- Adaptational Expansion: More of Alfie's past is shown, particularly showing that his stay in Tikal was the event that drove him into extremism to begin with.
- And the Adventure Continues: The fic ends with Po and his allies about to confront the White Bone Demon and Pang Bing.
- The Atoner: Klaus showcases a protective streak towards Lucinda, as he feels remorseful over his complicity in the murder of her son and the fallout of the event and wants to make it up to her to be at peace with himself, something he takes a while to admit.
- Big Bad: Junije, who leads the Brotherhood in installing him as the new Emperor of China and breaks out the near-unstoppable Pai Mei and Kim the Invincible to finally defeat and kill Po.
- Canon Welding: It's unknown if canonically The Dragon Knight and Legends of Awesomeness series take place in the same continuity mainly due to certain characterization, worldbuilding and timeline discrepancies. Here they're explicitly in the same timeline as each other and the movies, the discrepancies were explained prior in the fanfic Notes from the Underground. Though, the TV series would all be declared non-canon
shortly after the release of Kung Fu Panda 4. - Hazy-Feel Turn: After his definitive loss to Po in the final battle and having already defeated him prior and tattooed his victory as he had intended for so long, Kim grows to respect him and later is hired by the Emperor as his personal bodyguard and broken out of prison to replace the many guards who sided with Junjie, though he doesn't act friendly with Po and nothing else shows he's grown into a good guy out of the good in his heart, it at least shows he's done antagonizing Po and his allies.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: While the finale of Dragon Knight didn't show Klaus being persecuted for his many crimes, this fanfic shows him being put on trial for stealing the Wu-Gao Gauntlet and his international terrorism and has Po and the Dragon Knights try and clear his name, so he won't be executed.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Kim is as tough as ever, but here he manages to be even tougher as he survives both a direct strike from the Storm Wheel (albeit injured) as well as Po's Wuxi Finger Hold.
- Post-Final Boss: Kim the Invincible and Pai Mei are the climax bosses for Po and the Dragon Knights. In the aftermath of their defeat, Junjie tries to run away but is confronted by Forouzan and Mr. Ping in a quicker confrontation to wrap up the story.
- Posthumous Character: Alfie's presence is felt despite him dying for good and his spirit moving on, particularly in how the aftermath of his actions set the stage for the Brotherhood of Malfeasance's return and their ultimate plan, as well as a past encounter with Kim the Invincible that helped shape the already-mighty wandering warrior into the nigh-unstoppable force of nature he became and simultaneously helped drive Alfie into extremism after the latter lost to Kim.
- The Worf Barrage: Po's Wuxi Finger Hold fails to defeat Kim, whose body toughened significantly after he survived a strike from the Storm Wheel.
