Pandamonium

Location: China

Featured animals: Giant Panda, Golden Pheasant, Dhole

Villain of the Week: Phillip Han

Animal Names: Taijitu, Chubbs

It hass been awhile ever since Brandon "Ninja" Tran joined the Tortuga. Right now, everyone is busy doing their own thing: Aviva is sitting at her invention desk working on a project, Koki is busy monitoring the computers, Jimmy is using his favorite videogame controller to play one of his games while eating his massive sandwich, Brandon is in the middle of polishing and sharpening his weapons, and the Kratt bros are busy at the big computer looking for their next creature adventure.

"Boy am I glad to have you as part of the Wild Kratts team, Brandon," said Aviva.

"Well said, you make a great addition to the team," said Jimmy.

"Why thank you, guys," said Brandon.

Because of security issues and for his own safety, the team would normally refer to him as Ninja. Only if in a private, secluded area or in a good scenario then they can refer to him as Brandon, because otherwise the villains like Zach Varmitech or someone else as powerful as him can exploit him and as a result put everyone's lives into jeopardy.

"I can't wait for you to teach us some of your ninja stuff," said Jimmy.

"Hmm? What are you talking about, Jimmy?" Koki asked, "Aviva and I have been training with him since he joined. And every time we asked you to join us, you're always doing something else."

"Really? Like what?" Jimmy asked in defense.

"Like sleeping, eating, playing videogames…" said Aviva.

"Okay, I get the picture," said Jimmy.

"Attention Wild Kratts! We have an incoming transmission!" Chris shouted as the team gathers at the monitor and a Wild Kratt kid from China appears on the screen.

"Come in Wild Kratts, do you read me?"

"We read you loud and clear," said Koki.

The Wild Kratt kid from China continues, "This is really urgent. You have to come to China right away! Here's the location. Please hurry!" And she hangs up.

"Whelp, looks like we have a mission, in China!" said Chris.

"Ooh, China! I hope we can see some pandas!" said Martin all excited.

"Maybe, after the mission," said Chris.

The Tortuga lands in China and the team departs from the craft. There, they meet up with the Wild Kratt kid and a special person: Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

"The Chinese Prime Minister? Something tells me that this mission is more serious than we thought," said Aviva.

"You made it! You all made it!" said the Wild Kratt kid.

"Thank you for coming in time," said the Prime Minister, "You should all thank her for recommending you guys. I need your help. Someone has invaded a protected reserve for giant pandas and my agents have failed to capture the culprit. I fear that this madman will harm all of the pandas unless all of you can stop him and save the pandas."

"Wow, I can't believe we're actually gonna save Giant Pandas! This is gonna one Pandamonium of a mission!" said Martin all excited for the mission.

"Do you have an identity on this poacher or whoever he is?" Chris asked.

"Unfortunately, no," said the Prime Minister, "my agents weren't able to get a good look at him. They said the way he moves is almost ninja-like."

"Well luckily for us, we have a ninja on hand," said Jimmy.

"Don't worry, Mr. Prime Minister. With our knowledge in and experience with wild creatures and villains, we'll save your national treasure," said Aviva.

"Thank you all for doing this," said the Prime Minister, "This means everything. I'll do anything to protect China's pride and joy. Now you might want to follow me to the reserve. You might need to bring your aircraft, too, for it is quite a journey, if you know what I mean."

Everyone shouts "Right!" and head back to the Tortuga.

The team follows the Prime Minister as he travels through the Great Wall of China b means of a wagon pulled by donkeys.

"Wow, the Great Wall of China is so amazing!" said Aviva in amazement.

"Yup, says here that the Great Wall of China is up to 13,171 miles long, spanning from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Lake in the west. No wonder it's considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, along with Macchu Picu, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Pyramid of Giza," said Koki.

"Cool," said Jimmy.

"I can't believe we're gonna see some pandas, Chris! This is gonna be awesome!" said Martin all excited.

"Don't get too excited, yet, Martin. Remember, we still need to do this mission before having any fun," said Chris.

"He's right, might as well try to learn a few things about the Giant Panda before we begin our mission," Brandon implied as the big monitor opens up some clips of Giant Pandas.

Chris observes, "Hmm, giant pandas eat almost exclusively bamboo. And I mean about 99% of its diet consists of exclusively bamboo. "

Martin adds, "Oh yeah, I mean the giant panda may occasionally eat something else but almost eat nothing but bamboo."

"And you can also see how the Giant Panda is getting a hold of that bamboo. It grabs that bamboo shoot with that specialized thumb, pulls it with its muscular arms, and then bites a chunk out of it with its powerful jaws. With a smaller piece to handle, it just munches away on those leaves," said Chris.

"Aviva, can you work on some Giant Panda Creature Power disks?" Martin asks.

"Sure can," said Aviva as she gets started on working on the Creature Power Disks with Giant Panda powers.

"Wow, eating nothing but bamboo. It's almost like a crash diet for weight loss," Jimmy said.

"Oh we eat bamboo, too," said the Wild Kratt kid, "as well as use it for everyday use, such as construction, tools, make fire, and even to build houses, like mine which is made entirely out of bamboo."

"Wow, who knew one tree can do many things," Jimmy said in awe.

"Actually, Jimmy, bamboo isn't a tree, but in fact, belongs to the grass family," said Koki, "Bamboo are so versatile because of their growth rate. Most bamboo shoots grow at a rate of about a foot per year. That's fast for a plant, especially grass. Did I forget to mention it's strong, too?"

"Wow, but wait! If bamboo has such a fast growth rate, then why did the Giant Pandas become endangered species?" Jimmy asked.

"I can answer that," Brandon steps in, "It's because of development, farming, and deforestation that's both taking away their home and depleting their food source. That's why there's a reserve, to protect their homes from such."

"But it looks like it's not gonna protect them from poachers, like the one we're after," said Aviva as she continues working on the disks.

The Tortuga arrives at the reserve and the team leaves the Tortuga to meet up with the Prime Minister.

"This is it, the natural reserve that holds China's National Treasure," said the Prime Minister, "I hope you're ready for this?"

"We're born ready!" Martin shouts in excitement.

"Then I wish you good luck," said the Prime Minister.

"You can do it!" said the Wild Kratt kid.

Everyone shouts together "Alright! To the Creature Rescue! Saving the Planet with Creature Powers!" and head into the reserve.

They trek through the bamboo forest hoping to find a lead. But with a dense fog in combination with the huge numbers of bamboo, the team is heading nowhere.

"This fog is so thick, I can barely see far ahead," said Martin

"We should split up to speed up the mission," Chris suggests, "Martin and I will find any Giants Pandas in this vicinity and make sure to keep it safe. The rest of you guys will track down this madman, hoping to find any clues."

"You got it, sir," said Brandon.

"Wha-wait a second. WE are going to find the bad guy?" Jimmy asked.

"Aww, don't worry Jimmy, there's nothing to be afraid of," said Koki.

"Now if only I can see through this fog," said Martin.

All of the sudden, there was rustling in the bushes. The Kratts team stops and stare at the rustling bush. Then, a Golden Pheasant appear out of the bushes and team was relieved.

"Wow, a Golden Pheasant. Another creature found in China," said Chris, "That's it! Martin, we'll use their powers to cover more area much faster and hopefully we'll be able to find a Giant Panda in time."

"Then you'll probably need these, too, guys," said Aviva as she pulls out two Golden Pheasant Creature Power disks.

"You made Golden Pheasant Creature Power disks, too?" Martin asked.

"I thought it might come in handy," said Aviva as she tosses the disks to the bros.

The Kratt brothers put the disks in their Creature Power Suit, touch a bird, and then activate their creature power suit by pressing the big button in the middle of the suit, shouting "Activate Creature Power Suit!" The Kratt brothers shrink down to the exact size of the Golden Pheasants and turn into copies of the Golden Pheasants. Both of them shout "To the Creature Rescue!" and fly off.

The Kratt brothers fly above the bamboo forest, where it is less foggy than at the forest floor.

"Wow, we're actually flying above the bamboo forest. Chris isn't this beautiful?" said Martin in awe.

"Martin, we need to focus. We just need to find a most likely place a panda would be hanging around. Then, we must keep track of them before that poacher gets to them," said Chris.

"You're right. Hey wait! I just saw something near the river, and it was black and white," said Martin.

"Then let's land there," said Chris.

The Kratt brothers landed near the river, still in their Golden Pheasant suit and hang on a bamboo branch, watching the Giant Panda.

"Yup, that's it, alright," said Chris, "Come in Wild Kratts, we found the Giant Panda."

"She's so beautiful and amazing. Oh, I know! I'll call you Yin-and-Yang," said Martin.

"Yin-and-Yang?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, you know that symbol where white is Yin and black is Yang. Plus, that's Chinese," said Martin.

"That symbol is called taijitu, which represents yin and yang," said Chris, "And you got it mixed up, yin is actually black while yang is really white. Yang refers to "the sunny side," which means that a place is on the south slope of a mountain, or on the north bank of a river valley. And yin refers to "the shady side, which means that a place is on the north slope of a mountain, or on the south bank of a river. All this because in the northern hemisphere, sunlight comes predominantly from the south, and so the south face of a mountain, or the north face of a river valley, will get more direct sunlight."

"I'm lost," said Martin all confused, "How do you know this?"

"Ninja told me," said Chris.

"Well, then," Martin said to the Giant Panda, "I guess I'll have to rename you Taijitu."

Then, a baby Giant Panda that's around a couple of months old appears to the scene.

"Aww, just look at that little fella," said Martin, "He's so chubby. I know! I'll call you Chubbs!"

"Chubbs?" asked Chris, "What kind of a name is that?"

"Well, baby Giant Pandas are called cubs and that cub is chubby, so that's how I came up with Chubbs," said Martin.

"Martin, you come up with the weirdest names I have ever heard," said Chris.

Suddenly, the mother feels agitated.

Chris observes, "Oh no, something's bothering her."

"Could it be that poacher," Martin asked.

Then, on the other side of the river, a pack of Dholes jump out of the bushes. Chubbs retreats back into the den while Taijitu stands her ground to protect her cub.

"Whoa, a pack of Dholes, one of the few predators that can take on the rare, elusive Giant Panda," said Chris, "Even though Giant Pandas are mostly vegetarians, they are far from helpless. Just like other bears, Giant Pandas also rear up on their hind legs and use their powerful forearms and claws to fight."

"Yeah, but that pack of Dholes is using their size in numbers to both overwhelm the mom and to outwit her so that they can get to the cub," said Martin.

"All she has to do is stand her ground and fight them off as long as she can," said Chris, "As long as she blocks that entrance to the den, those Dholes can never reach the cub."

The Dholes decide to cut their losses and retreat to the other side of the river. Taijitu relaxes and Chubbs comes out to play.

"Wow! Now that's amazing!" said Chris.

"You said it, Chris," said Martin, "I wonder what the others are doing?"

Back at the other group, Brandon, Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy are still trekking the bamboo forest, looking for evidence of the poacher.

"Did you guys hear the message, Chris and Martin found a Giant Panda and it's a mom with a cub," said Koki.

"That's great! Let's just hope we catch that poacher before he catches those poor pandas," said Aviva.

"Hold it!" Brandon shouted as the team was about walk on an odd-looking wire snare. Brandon draws out one of his chisa katana on his back and taps the wire snare. The wire snare gives of an electrical discharge to the horror of the team.

"Did that wire snare just gave off an electric shock?" Aviva asked curiously.

Brandon then attempts to disarm the trap with his swords and the wire snare entangles the swords, electrifying it at maximum voltage. The rest of the team was scared as they watch Brandon disarm the horrifying trap with his two swords. Brandon finally manages to disarm the trap but there were more traps within the vicinity.

"Now that's just awful," said Koki, "Wire snares are bad enough, but to go through the lengths of adding electricity into it is just horrifyingly disgusting."

"I can only imagine what would happen if one of the poor pandas get caught by this trap," said Aviva.

"Well, whoever this is, we're not dealing with just any poacher. This is a whole other level," said Brandon as he looks for more traps.

Jimmy starts to stutter and tries to remain calm. But his stuttering becomes faster and harder to control until he nearly falls for another trap: this time a pit trap lined with a net that is also electrified. Brandon caught him just in time before he gets entangled and shocked.

"Whew, that's a close one. Thanks, Ninja. Always good to have a ninja in our team," said Jimmy.

"Indeed…" said a mysterious voice.

Everyone's spine tingled.

"That wasn't me," said Aviva.

"Or me," said Koki.

"It must be HIM!" shouted Brandon.

"Koki to Kratt bros! Koki to Kratt bros! We located the poacher! He's heading your way!" Koki frantic through the Creature Pod.

Chris receives the message, "Martin! The poacher found them, now he's onto his target!"

"Taijitu!" Martin shouted as both Taijitu and Chubbs walk into the forest, "No wait! Stop!"

Martin deactivates his creature power suit to go after the pandas. Chris deactivates his, too, and communicates through his Creature Pod, "Koki, anything I need to know about this poacher?"

"Yeah Chris, all these traps are rigged with electricity, enough to paralyze and knock the winds out of you!" said Koki, "Just make sure you don't touch it."

"Right," said Chris as he's catching up with Martin.

Martin catches up with Taijitu and Chubbs only to be too late as he watches Taijitu get caught by one of the electrified wire snares. Taijitu screams in agony and tries to free herself but the pain was too great and she passes out. Chubbs runs away and Martin tries to free Taijitu. Chris tries to stop Martin from trying to save the unconcious Taijitu.

"Martin, stop! The trap will affect you, too," Chris warned Martin and tries to pull him away. But Martin already grabbed the wire snare and the Kratt brothers get shocked and become unconscious. They wake later to see Brandon, Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy right in front of them with Chubbs, who managed to avoid the trap.

"Boy am I glad to see you guys," said Martin still dizzy from the shock.

"Chris, I told you not to touch the trap," said Koki.

"Whelp, I tried to warn Martin, but he had to go on without me," said Chris also still dizzy from the shock, "By the way, where's the Taijitu?"

"You mean the mother Giant Panda, she's gone," said Brandon.

Chubbs was about to cry for missing his mother.

"Aww, its okay, sweetie, we'll find your mother," said Aviva as she picks up Chubbs.

"Oh no, we failed the misson," said Chris all depressed, "Explaining to the Prime Minister is one thing, but dealing with losing an endangered creature?"

Chubbs then starts sniffing the air.

"What is the Chubbs doing?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course, he's sniffing the air, looking for his mom," said Chris.

"We can use his sense of smell to both track down his mom…" and Martin.

"…and find that poacher," everyone else said.

"Go Chubbs!" everyone cheered.

They follow Chubbs's sense of smell until they come across Taijitu still unconscious in an iron cage. Chubbs tries to get to his mom but the cage shocked him and kept him away.

"Well, there's momma Taijitu," said Martin.

"But where's the poacher?" Chris asked.

"Right here!" said the mysterious man as he appears right in front of the team, wearing a brown trench coat, a hood shading his face, and two electric prods on his back, "And you're not gonna get that!"

"Who are you and why are doing this to such a magnificent creature!?" Aviva questioned to the mysterious man.

"I am what they call a professional rare species taxidermist, or stuffer if you must," the mysterious man replied.

"A stuffer?" Koki questioned.

"I don't think I want to know," said Jimmy.

"Stuffers like me take rare or endangered creatures from their natural habitat and stuff them to turn them into lifelike statues," said the mysterious man.

"You take live creatures and stuff them to turn them into statues!? You're disgusting!" Aviva was so intense with him.

"What you may call disgusting, I call it a form of art," said the mysterious man.

"Art!? You call this an art form!?" Koki was also so intense with him, "you're psycho!"

"Think about it. Life is short and we can't appreciate them to the fullest when they die. But by stuffing them, I not only preserve the species, but they also can now be immortalized. Plus an added bonus, I get paid millions for doing what I am passionate about," said the mysterious man as he pulls out his two electric prods.

"You won't get away with this!" said Chris, "Ninja, I need you to hold him off while Aviva tries to deactivate the electric trap. Then Martin and I will use Giant Panda powers to free Taijitu."

"Uhh Chris, Giant Pandas are strong enough to bend bamboo, but iron bars?" said Martin.

"Just trust me on this. Everyone's lives hang in the balance here. We have to try," said Chris, "Now let's move out"

Everyone shouts "To the Creature Rescue! Saving the Planet with Creature Powers"

Brandon draws his swords out and clashes with the mysterious man.

Aviva attempts to disarm the cage's defense with Koki and Jimmy helping her.

And the Kratt brothers wait on the side lines until their cue.

"Why would you shock these poor creatures?" Koki wondered.

"Well, when selling a creature statue to a high-paying client, they like their's to be more intact and uninjured. And of course the majority of the creatures I face are also too dangerous to handle. So shocking them is the safest way for me to control the creature without injuring it. Very clever, indeed," said the mysterious man as he keeps fighting Brandon.

"Yup, you are officially the most disgusting person I've ever met," said Koki.

"You can do it, Ninja!" Martin cheered.

"Just a little longer, Ninja. So hang in there!" Chris shouted.

"Ninja!? Is that what you go by now!?" said the mysterious man, "Come on, Brandon, even Abbot would've thought that name was silly."

Everyone paused in shock from what they heard.

"How did that poacher know his name?" Martin asked Chris quietly.

'Impossible,' Brandon thinking to himself.

"Oh come on, now, Brandon! Don't tell me you forgot ME, your own BROTHER!" said the mysterious man, "don't you remember the times we were together in the Shaolin temple. Where we grew up in the streets together, fought and trained together in the temple, and even called ourselves 'The Dynamic Duo' after fighting off the many bad guys we faced?"

"I don't understand. What's going on here?" Chris all confused and worried.

Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy finish disarming the cage.

"Think later guys, time to do your thing!" said Aviva.

"Right," said Chris and Martin as they touch Chubbs, "Activate Creature Power Suit!"

The Kratt brothers turn into humanoid versions of the Giant Panda try to pry open the cage with all their strength.

"It's not working, Chris," Martin complained.

"We have to keep trying," said Chris not willing to give up.

The brothers continue to struggle opening the cage until Taijitu wakes up and helps with opening the cage. The cage opens and Taijitu is free, reunited with Chubbs. Brandon was defeated, dropping his blades as he got zapped by the electric prods.

"So, you managed to free the panda. Well, there's no point in staying here much longer?" said the mysterious man as he pulls out smoke bombs and escapes.

Right after that moment, the Prime Minister and his agents arrive to secure the reserve and check Taijitu and Chubbs for their health. Some medics also arrived to help recover the unconscious Brandon.

"You did it, Wild Kratts," said the Prime Minister holding some medals, "As an honor to commemorate your bravery for saving China's national treasure, I award each of you these medals."

The Prime Minister awards each team member a medal with a Chinese symbol.

"Gee, thanks Mr. Prime Minister," said Aviva, "but that poacher got away."

"No needs to worry," said the Prime Minister, "we are securing place right now and hopefully the giant pandas can live in peace, once again."

"Alright! Mission accomplished!" said Martin.

The Wild Kratts team settles back down in the Tortuga for a serious discussion.

"Alright Brandon, spill it! We know you're hiding something from us! And tell me, does Area 51 even know about this?" Chris questions Brandon.

"Actually, Area 51 doesn't know about this because I thought I would never see him, again," said Brandon.

"He said he's your brother, you both trained in Shaolin, and you used to call yourselves the Dynamic Duo," said Aviva.

"Not to mention he beat you badly," said Jimmy.

Koki hits Jimmy with her elbow.

"Right, not only is he my brother, he is my half blood brother," said Brandon as the team continues to hear his story, "His name is Philip Han. A long time ago, when he and I were only infants, we were abandoned by our parents. Left in the streets, we only had each other to keep ourselves company until we were adopted by the Shaolin monks and it was there we trained for the rest of our lives. We've never seen our parents since, we were the only family we had left, and we share a lot in common, including our love for creatures. Unfortunately, there was a major difference between us that forever severed us. I respect creatures in their natural habitat and would interact with them in their own environment while my brother believes that he can't enjoy them to the fullest while they live short lives and once they die, they're gone forever. So in order to immortalize every individual creature, he studied taxidermy to turn creatures into statues in order to keep them immortalized since it will stay in its living-like state for eternity. His so-called art became an obsession and during our graduation ceremony when we were supposed to be moving on to the next level of training, my brother was instead after something he always wanted since he first saw it, a Giant Panda. He abducted a Giant Panda cub from the wild and was about to stuff the poor creature. I fortunately stopped him in time and by the time the Abbot arrived, he ran away, vanished, and was never seen ever since. And so, I moved onto my next level of training, alone for the first time, without my brother beside me. I traveled to different countries to train in other styles of martial arts and, along the way, studied more creatures and that's how I became who I am."

"Wow, so you two were like us," said Chris, "only, one decided to go nuts and you had to fend for yourself. Now I feel terrible for you."

"Hey, don't feel bad," said Martin as he pats Brandon's back, "because look at the bright side, you have a new family now! You got me and Chris, the wildest brothers you can ever imagine, Jimmy, the coolest dude you will ever meet, Koki, the best computer whiz anyone could ask for, and finally Aviva, the most amazing girlfriend you'll ever have in your entire life."

"He's right; we are your new family, now. We'll always have each other's back, no matter what," said Aviva.

"Thanks guys," said Brandon, "I really appreciate it."