The Crimson Shadows
A revision of "The Black Hand"
Chapter One
Attackers Unknown
The Xiaolin Dragons were found training in the center of the grounds, their usual spot, at the peak of the dawn, around six in the morning which was their usual time. The dragon couldn't figure a reason why it took so long to find them. The news as always was that a new Shen Gong Wu had been revealed, "The Sword of Hours," Dojo explained to the children, "gives the user the ability to slow time for a short period."
After a brief explanation of the location he expanded himself to accommodate the four students as the usual transportation. Omi, feeling superior as always, sat front most towards the serpent's head. Raimundo Pedrosa sat second in line but closer to Kimiko Tohomiko, rather than the yellow skinned monk ahead of him, who was talking to Jenny on her cell phone and checking her email on her P.D.A. Clay Bailey brought up the rear, closest to the tail, away from the group.
They were flown above towns and farms all laid out like a green quilt rather than land. All of which was connected to the dark blue of the ocean beneath the accenting clear sky. The salty air and spray was a refresher from the constant routine loop of training and chores, this retrieval felt somehow different from the others. They knew not what was in store for them in coming weeks.
The land on the horizon had left from view. They were now completely detached from the world, and that was when Spicer showed up, but earlier than usual. He ordered his robot minions upon the children, many of which were disposed of quickly and effortlessly, but when contact was made with the remaining their attacks accounted for naught. There was some kind of physical shielding. Spicer simply laughed at their vain attempts to destroy his new model of Jack-Bot, "Jack, quit fooling around," Ordered Wuya, "We should take this time to get ahead and find this Sword of Hours!"
The self proclaimed "Evil Genius" left his new minions to keep the Xiaolin Dragons busy. The only flaw aside from his generally poor craftsmanship was the amount of abuse the shielding would be able to take at one given time. Clay caught wind of the matter and retrieved the Fist of Tebigong from his hat where he kept it most often. He disposed of the bots quickly, almost effortlessly and once again they were on their way.
It was a small chain of islands, very small, only five arranged in a circle forming a large pentagon. The island at the seven 'o' clock position was host to a large building, the landing pad atop this building was a picture of a large crimson scull. The inside was bright, the luminescent white tiles reflected the light in such a way that there need be only one light per room. The only dark room was in the center of the facility and it was a simple office; a bookshelf against the wall behind the desk, a chair or two lazily placed at the front, and one big carpet in the middle.
The only light came from the smoldering embers of a lit cigarette. They didn't give much to see just the white of a porcelain mask and a deathly pale hand, wedging the fag between two bony fingers. The owner of these fingers was brought to view by the opening of the room's door. The mask covered most of the face, but the stretching of skin around the edge of the covering was a telltale sign of major burning. "Sir, four children have been spotted entering the area on some kind of serpent."
The man smiled, "Send a helicopter. Take them out. Use a storm stick to cover it up. I don't want our neighbor getting suspicious again."
"Yes sir."
The islands were just on the horizon, palm trees rapidly came into view as well. "Well," Dojo began, "There it is. The Pentagon Islands. Home to more spiders, big cats and poisonous reptiles than you can shake a stick at. We'll be landing on Five Island soon."
Just then a bolt of lightning struck Dojo seemingly out of nowhere and dark, almost black, rain clouds rolled in. Dousing the dragons in a heavy downpour. He kept his flight, descending towards the surface of the ocean; however, his action was in vain for he was struck once more. "Hang on kids we'll be able to wait this out on Five Island!" He shouted over the storm. And then the helicopter making it's quick decent towards them.
There were four flashes of silver light, the reflection of a bolt of lightning off of what ever they were. Omi, Kimiko, and Raimundo were instantly bound by the objects which threw them into the water. Clay had just ducked in time to avoid the one meant for him, but their attackers in the helicopter wanted different, wanted them dead. The cowboy ran towards Dojo's head, but failed when the second of the binding items managed to wrap around one of his heals, he lost balance and plunged into the cold, dark-blue waters.
Gasping for precious air, Clay watched as Dojo, yet again, was struck by another bolt of lightning. The time knocking him unconscious. The waves were harsh, they constantly put the dragon of earth under the freezing water, and the binding made matters worse, weighed his leg down, made it hard to swim. The repeated plunging was too much for his body to handle, and he too dipped into the realm of unconsciousness.
A Half-Hour Later...
A man quietly hummed to himself while casting his fishing line into the violent, stormy waters. His messy black hair wast starting to get wet even under the shelter of his umbrella. He was fishing on the outfacing shore of Five Island. The helicopter flying over his head. He smiled just before he felt a tugging at his line. Reeling in he found it to be a tuft of seaweed and recast to the sound of booming thunder.
"Damn, the storms are a little softer than this," the man said to himself taking up his catch, and other personal items to make way back to his boat when he noticed something wash up the shore. It was Clay. "Well, well. This is interesting." He picked up the boy and continued to his motorboat