The Human Card

It was a normal day on the Tigeroid air ship. Finn and Rai were on look out duty and Donha was cooking dinner. Tori, Sena and Hak were in the command room when the screen flashed on showing General Aidan.

"Dad? What's wrong?" asked Sena, looking worried.

"Sena, I'm sending you and your team on an important mission," answered General Aidan.

"Guys," Sena said through the messenger tubes, "everyone needs to report to the command room immediately."

Once everyone had reported to the command room General Aidan continued with telling the team about the mission.

"The Tigeroid elders have found out about a secret Tai Chi symbol," he said, "but it is not like any other symbol we have seen before."

"What makes this one so different?" asked Sena.

"Something must have happened to this card when the Tigeroids scattered their Tai Chi symbols," replied Aidan, "this one appears to be... well... moving. We think that this symbol got into a living being on Earth somehow."

The team visibility looks shocked.

"How is that possible, dad?" asked Sena.

"We aren't sure, Sena," said Aidan, "the Tai Chi is mysterious, all we know is that the Tigeroids must get this Tai Chi symbol. Because we also learned that this symbol could be used by both a Tigeroid and a Dragonoid."

"What!" exclaimed Sena, "where is this Tai Chi?"

"I'll send you the location, and then you kids will have to take it from there," said Aidan, "this isn't familiar territory for both the Dragonoids and Tigeroids. This has never happened before."

"We'll get started right away, dad," exclaimed Sena. With that General Aidan's picture on the screen was replaced with a map with a glowing dot on it."

"This dot on the map is the Tai Chi symbol," said Aidan, "it is located in a heavily wooded area. Find it quickly, it won't be long before the Dragonoids find out about this."

With that said General Aidan disconnected himself, leaving the map with the Chasers.

"Alright guys, you heard what the General said," said Sena, "Hak, take us to that location."

"No problem, Sena," said Hak.

So now the Chasers were off on another adventure, but this one would be unlike any other they have ever had before.

"I've never seen so many trees," said Tori, looking through the window down at the forest below.

"Hak, how close are we to the Tai Chi?" asked Rai.

"We're very close to it now," said Hak, "but we'll have to land soon, otherwise there won't be any more clearings for the airship."

Finally the airship landed and the team stepped out.

"Donha and Tori I need you to stay with the ship," said Sena, "Finn, Rai and I will go bring back the Tai Chi."

"Okay, Sena," said Donha.

"Good luck, guys!" called Tori, as the rest of the team travelled through the woods the find the Tai Chi.

"According to the screen on our Tai Chi detector," said Rai, "this new symbol should just be right in front of us."

The trio looked up to see an ancient looking house. It didn't have a roof and the stone walls were mossy. There were a few holes that served for windows and an opening with a tattered cloth hanging in it.

"What in the..." whispered Sena.

"I think we found the Tai Chi," muttered Rai, walking closer to the hovel.

"Should we go in?" asked Sena, looking nervous.

"I don't think we have any other choice," said Finn, walking up with Rai.

"Okay, I'm with you," said Sena, joining them.

Finn was the first one to come up to the cloth door. Very slowly he lifted it up and peered inside. There was a young girl, about Sena's age, crouching over a dying fire. The room contained a small bed with rags for blankets. There was a little broken down table in the corner that held a single cup.

The girl was dirty and skinny. She was wearing a grimey T-shirt and torn, worn down jeans. She seemed very intense and focused on the fire. Suddenly she looked up and spotted Finn. The girl jumped up and held up her arm. Finn began to feel an constriction around his neck. Soon he wasn't able to breathe at all.

"Finn! What's wrong, Finn?" cried Rai, grabbing Finn's arm.

Finn kept on gasping, the girl suddenly used her power and threw him against a tree.

"FINN!" yelled Sena, running over to his side.

Finn was knocked out cold and there was a single drop of blood running down his forehead. The girl thrusted the cloth aside and walked out of the hovel.

"Listen," said Rai, "we aren't here to hurt you!"

"Right," said the girl, lifting up her hand to choke Rai.

"Please!" cried Sena, "just let us talk with you for a second!"

The girl looked over at Sena, and scowled.

"Fine," she said, letting go of Rai.

"What's...your name?" asked Rai, gasping for breath.

"That's none of your business," said the girl, walking back into her hovel.

"Wait!" yelled Sena, "don't go!"

"Relax," said the girl, walking back out with a cloth and a cup, "I feel bad about your friend."

Sena backed up as the girl knelt by Finn and pressed the cloth on his head.

"One of the good things about my power is that I'm pretty much an expert at treating the injuries I cause," she said, dabbing the blood and covering the wound.

"Will he be alright?" asked Rai, walking over to them.

"Yeah, I've done worse," said the girl, "but he's going to have a quite the headache when he wakes up."

"Will you come back to our ship with us?" asked Sena.

"No," said the girl, "I live here and this is where I am going to stay."

"You don't understand," said Rai, "soon everyone will be after you. The Dragonoids will take you by force and use you for evil if you don't come with us."

"I think I can handle the Dragonoids," she said, pulling the cloth back and dipping it in the cup.

"No," said Sena, "not when there's just one of you and when they're dedicated to taking you."

"Look," said the girl, glaring at them, "I've survived on my own before and I will do so now!"

Rai sighed, "listen, I've been alone before and these guys saved me. We can do the same for you, trust me. Besides, you kind of owe it to us for knocking our poor friend senseless."

Rai smiled at the girl, and the girl gave a small grin back.

"My name's Yvette," she said.

Finn's eyes blinked open, he grunted with pain and tried to stand up but then slumped back down again.

"What happened?" asked Finn, putting his head in his hands.

"Yeah... sorry about that," said Yvette, helping him up.

"We need to get both you and Finn back to the ship pronto," said Sena, "do you have anything you need to grab before we leave?"

"No," said Yvette, looking sadly at the hovel, "that house was about the only thing that truly belonged to me."

"Well now you'll have an air ship!" said Rai, happily.

"Okay, now that this is settled we'd better head back quickly!" said Sena, putting Finn's arm around her neck and having Rai do the same with Finn's other arm.

The four of them ran as quickly as they could back to the air ship. Tori opened up the entrance and met them there.

"Finn! You're bleeding, what happened? exclaimed Tori.

"I, uh, tripped..." said Finn, while Yvette sheepishly examined the floor.

"We don't have much time for questions right now," said Sena, "we need to move out as quickly as possible before Dragonoids show up."

Soon after that the Chaser air ship took off. It was perfect timing because not long after they left a Dragonoid ship showed up.

Luka stepped out of the ship and looked around.

"The Tigeroids must have beat us to the Tai Chi," muttered Luka, "the signal from the Tai Chi isn't here anymore."

"What's the plan now, Luka," asked Jahara, stepping out of the ship.

"I'm sure that those Tai Chi Chasers have this new symbol," said Luka, "so I plan to hunt them down and take it back."

Yvette woke that next morning and forgot where she was and what had happened yesterday.

"Where am I?" she wondered, suddenly remembering the strange kids and the air ship.

Yvette got out of bed and out into the hallway. It was still pretty early so most of the ship was asleep. She walked to the command room and saw Sena sitting alert in the head chair.

"Hey there," said Sena, smiling to Yvette," how'd you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well," replied Yvette, "it felt good to sleep in an actual bed!"

"That's good," said Sena, "the rest of the team should be up soon. Finn is upstairs keeping watch."

"How's he doing?"

"Better, Finn's pretty tough."

"Good, I feel really bad about smacking him around."

"You call that smacking around? Wow, I'm really glad we didn't make you too mad!"

"Yeah," said Yvette, smiling," I usually save the smacking around for peeping toms.

"Sorry about that, but we wanted to save you before the Dragonoids got to you," said Sena, "Finn probably wasn't thinking about anything else but that. He usually cares most about getting the job done than the other details."

"That's alright, I'm used to it," said Yvette, "I was the urban legend in the forest and all the kids would dare each other to sneak around my house."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Sena, "well your power is appreciated and respected here, just like all of the Tai Chi."

"Yeah, well, thanks," replied Yvette, smiling sadly and walking out of the room.

Yvette walked out into the cool night air. The ship was moving smoothly and the sun was just barely coming over the horizon.

"Will I always be seen as a source of power?" wondered Yvette, staring towards the sunrise, "whatever happened to me to give me this power... I sometimes wish it didn't happen..."

Yvette heard a sound behind her and quickly turned around. Finn was just finishing his turn with lookout and was about to go inside.

"Hey, Finn," called Yvette, "I'm sorry about hitting you and busting your head open. I'm just not used to really thinking about what I'm doing before I use this power. It was just kind of a reaction, you know?"

Finn grunted, nodded his head and walked back into the air ship. Yvette looked surprised.

"Was it something I said?" Yvette thought, "maybe he's still mad at me."

Soon all of the ship was awake. Everyone was in the command room getting ready for another conference with General Aidan and the three elders.

In four parts on the screen were General Aidan, Komorka, Master Sid and Elder Pyron.

"Greetings Chasers," began Komorka, "I see that we have a new friend on your ship."

"Yes, Elder Komorka," said Sena, "this is Yvette. We were able to bring her to the ship without any trouble from the Dragonoids."

"That is good news, Sena," said Aidan, "but I am afraid the Dragonoids know of Yvette's whereabouts and that she is with you guys."

"What should we do?" asked Sena.

"You are to bring Yvette to the Tigeroid headquarters as soon as possible," said Pyron, "we will decide the fate of Yvette there, where it is safer."

"Decide my fate," thought Yvette, "maybe I should have stayed in the forest. At least I had a say there..."

"Yvette? Are you alright?" asked Donha.

"Huh? What was that?" asked Yvette, getting out of her daze.

"I was wondering what your ability is?" asked Sid, smiling at Yvette.

"Oh, um, I guess I can manipulate things by...um... I'm not really sure how to explain it," stuttered Yvette, blushing.

"Here, Yvette," said Rai, "use this can I brought up. I figured you could use it to demonstrate."

"Thanks, Rai," answered Yvette, gratefully."

Rai placed the can on the floor in front of Yvette and the team cleared the way so the elders and Aidan could see. Yvette looked at the ground and held her hand to the can. The can lifted up into the air by itself, and as Yvette made a fist the can was crushed.

The elders and Aidan were visibly shocked at this wonder.

"You are truly powerful," said Komorka, "it is amazing what has happened to you. You have been blessed with a gift that no other person can possess."

"Uh, thank you," said Yvette, bowing slightly.

"I'm sorry to interupt this," said Hak, "but I can sense Dragonoids coming from the west straight towards us!"

"We will send out reinforcements immediately!" said Aidan, "but protect Yvette at all costs!"

As the screen shut off Sena began making orders.

"Rai, Tori and Donha go out on the deck and fight off the Dragonoids when they come around. Finn, right now you're in no shape to really battle so you stay with Yvette down in the lower parts of the ship. I'll stay here to battle any enemies that get inside. And Hak, fly us out of here quick!"

The air ship took off quickly and everyone went to there assigned places. Finn and Yvette ran down the stairs to a door. Finn unlocked the door with a key and they both ran in and Finn locked the door again from the inside. Then he took her to the Tai Chi chamber.

"These are the other Tai Chi symbols and they need to be protected as well," explained Finn, bluntly.

Suddenly the ship trembled from an explosion, nearly knocking Yvette to the ground.

"Looks like they're here," muttered Yvette. Finn said nothing back.

"Listen, Finn," said Yvette, "I don't know if you have a problem with me, or if I hit your head too hard, but I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to hit you and I don't really know why you haven't talked to me back. Do you have any feelings at all?"

Finn turned around to look at Yvette, "of course I have feelings. I just don't like to talk so much. And thank you, I accept your apology."

Much taken aback Yvette responded, "uh okay" before another explosion shook the ship.

Up on the deck it was a tough battle for the Tigeroids. The Dragonoids brought Ave, Jahara, Garnia and Luka to battle, along with hundreds of robots.

"Tai Chi Hwa! Fire!"

"Nice try kid!" exclaimed Garnia, deflecting the attack, "a small fire won't be enough to stop me!"

"Someone help me take out these 'bots!" cried Tori, easily outnumbered.

"I can't!" cried Donha, trying to take out Jahara and Ave with his boulders.

No one noticed Luka sneaking into the inside of the air ship.

"Nice try, Luka!" said Sena, blocking his path, "Tai Chi Mok! Tree!"

Branches stretched out to grab Luka, but he cut them down with his sword.

"Pathetic," spat Luka, "Tai Chi Su! Water!"

"Tai Chi Chun! Stream!" yelled Sena.

Sena tries to overpower Luka, but with Luka being an experienced Dragonoid her Chun is weakened and wiped out by Luka and her with it. Luka stepped over Sena's unconcious form and started to head for the Tai Chi chambers.

Luka finds the door locked but he kicks it down. Yvette jumps at the sound, but Finn doesn't seem quite so surprised.

"Stay behind me," said Finn, and Yvette did as he said.

They could both hear Luka's footsteps heading towards their door, and quietly he opened it up.

"Ah, here you are," said Luka, "and what a delightful surprise. I can take out yet another Tigeroid and take the Tai Chi as well. Along with this more special... being."

"You're not leaving with anything but defeat," said Finn, "Tai Chi Jeun! Lighting!"

Finn's attack was strong, but it was still weakened by his previous injury. Luka was able to block it with his sword.

"I figured they'd saved the strongest person to protect the Tai Chi," said Luka, sneering, "but I guess I was wrong!"

"I can't just stand by while Finn gets beaten and I get taken away!" thought Yvette.

Yvette lifted her hands just as Luka was about to strike Finn and squeezed her fists. Luka began gasping for air and sheathed his sword, putting his hands around his throat. Then moving her hand, Yvette lifted Luka in the air, throwing him back through Komorka's room and slamming him against a wall out in the hallway.

Yvette walked past Finn and out where Luka was. He was kneeling over, grasping his neck, taking deep breaths.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," snarled Yvette, choking Luka again.

Yvette watched with delight as Luka's life force was slowly deminishing in her hands.

"Yvette! Let him go!" yelled Finn, "that's enough! Let go of him!"

Shocked at what she was doing, Yvette immediatly let go of Luka. He dropped to the ground, gasping.

Once he stood up, Luka said, "very well, you Tigeroids win this one. But mark my words, the Dragonoids will have this new Tai Chi power."

With that said, Luka retreated back down the hallway.

The Dragonoids retreated just as the Tigeroid reinforcements arrived. Sena recovered and was ashamed of herself.

"It's not your fault, Sena," said Tori, "Luka's the toughest and it didn't help that you were alone."

"I'm still sorry, Yvette," sighed Sena, "that I let Luka get to you."

"That's alright, Sena," said Yvette, smiling, "I think I took care of him just fine."

The Chasers and Yvette were safely transported to the Tigeroid headquarters. There were many people awaiting their arrival, for they have never seen a human Tai Chi before.

The Chasers and Yvette met the General Aidan at the ship docking bay.

"I am very glad to see that you all have made it safely," said Aidan, "come with me, the Elders will be please to see you."

The group made their way through the growing crowds, and eventually they came to a room with the three elders sitting in three separate thrones.

"We are very happy to see that you are safe, Chasers," said Komorka, "and you, Yvette, it is nice to finally meet you in person."

"If you'll excuse us, Chasers," said Pyron, "the elders and I would like to speak with Yvette alone."

Yvette sent a distressed look to Sena. Sena gave her an encouraging smile back.

"It'll be alright," she whispered to Yvette, just before the team and Aidan walked out of the room.

"We know that you must be very uncomfortable," said Komorka, "a lot has happened to you in these few days that it must be overwhelming."

"Um, it's not so bad," replied Yvette, "I really like those kids that I was with."

"That's good," said Sid, "I can tell they like you, too."

Yvette smiled to herself, pleased to have made so many friends in a short time.

"We would like to know more about you, Yvette," said Pyron, "where did you come from?"

Yvette's smile turned into a frown, she didn't like to talk, or even think, about her past. She could tell, though, that these three people were pretty important.

"Well, I lived with my mom for a while," began Yvette, "but she could tell I was different. I could move things with my mind. She wanted to keep it a secret and that worked out for a while. But then it started to get out of control, the power inside of me was growing and I couldn't really control it anymore. It started with a kid on the playground, I really hurt her with this power and my mom got scared. After the incident on the playground the authorities were contacted and were coming after me. That's when I ran away from home, and I mostly been on my own ever since. Sometimes my mom would come out into the woods to bring food or other things, but I haven't seen her for a while."

"I am sorry to here that happened to you," said Komorka, "but here you can be taught to control and advance your power."

"We can teach you about the other Tai Chi symbols," said Sid, "and we can teach you about the world that the Tai Chi is originally from. Whould that be alright?"

Yvette was overjoyed, she had no idea what kind of power was inside of her and now these people were offering her big chance!

"That would be great!" Yvette exclaimed, smiling.

"Good, good," said Pyron, "well I think it's about time for dinner, if you're interested."

"Definietly!"

Yvette joined the other chasers in the dining room. They were happy and talking to the other Tigeroids about their different missions and about the different blunders of the Dragonoids.

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe what Ave did when... oh hey, Yvette!" exclaimed Tori, when Yvette walked in.

"Everyone, I'm sure you know about her already, but this is our new friend, Yvette!" announced Sena.

"Hey, Yvette!" greeted the rest of the room.

Yvette smiled back at all of them, "hi, everyone!"

"Here, Yvette! Eat something, it's been a long day and you must be hungry!" said Donha, giving Yvette a big plate of food.

"Thank you, Donha!"

Yvette sat and ate, watching the others. Rai and Tori were reinacting a successful mission, and Donha was laughing and getting seconds. Sena was sitting next to her, keeping her company, which she was very grateful for. The only person she did not see was Finn.

"Hey Sena," said Yvette, "where's Finn?"

"Oh, he doesn't stick around too long with crowds this big," said Sena, "besides I think he's with Elder Sid right now. It's been a while since he's gotten to see him."

"Is he like his dad or something?" asked Yvette, confused, she didn't think Finn would like to be with anybody.

"Well, Finn's known Elder Sid since he was a little kid and had been his student for a long time," said Sena, "I don't know anything about Finn's parents, or if he has any. All I know is, is that Finn is very attached to Elder Sid. Which is good, everyone should have a mentor!"

Yvette thought about who she could count as a mentor. Her mom, no.

"I can't think of anyone," realized Yvette, to herself, "I guess I might be a mentor of myself, then."

Eventually, after a lot of eating and talking, the team went to bed. Yvette was happy to spent another night in a soft bed, but she couldn't sleep. Her mind was still active, with all the events that occured that day.

"I've found out so much about the rest of the team," thought Yvette, "there's too much to think about, and there's no way I can sleep."

Frustrated, Yvette got out of bed and stepped out into the hallway.

"Maybe a short stroll will wear me out enough to sleep."

So Yvette began walking around the Tigeroid base. She peered inside a room to see all of the White Tiger spirits sleeping.

"And I thought they couldn't get any cuter," thought Yvette, quietly closing the door.

Yvette walked through the air ship landing yard. Some of the ships were missing, probably out searching for some more Tai Chi.

Suddenly, it felt as if something was beconing Yvette to come to it, but Yvette didn't see anything. So she started to walk, she didn't know where she was going, but it felt as if she needed to go in this direction. It felt like something was calling to her.

Before she knew it, Yvette was in front of a large door, which opened into a large, circular room. There was another large door across the room, there the strange feeling was even stronger. Yvette walked across the room and opened up the door.

There was a large, blue stone that stood in the room. It seemed to be glowing, and there were different symbols etched into it. The stone seemed felt like a part of her, somehow. Yvette stepped closer to the rock and reached out her hand. Very slowly she put her hand on the rock.

A flash of light filled the room, but it didn't blind Yvette. All of a sudden, there were Tai Chi symbols surrounding her on all sides. Yvette felt a comforting warmth covering her body, inside and out. It felt as if she were home, safe, this was where she belonged. Yvette looked at the palm of her hand to find a glowing Tai Chi symbol.

"So it's true," thought Yvette, "I really am a Tai Chi."

Yvette took her hand away from the stone and the light disapeared as quickly as it came. The room was back to its soft glowing light from the stone. Yvette heard a noise behind her. She turned around to find Finn.

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Yvette.

"Long enough to see all of... that."

"How'd you know I was in here?"

"I spotted you walking around," said Finn, "but then you started acting strange. So I followed you here."

"You won't tell anyone?"

"No, I won't."

"Thanks."

Finn nodded and stepped out of the Tai Chi room.

"Wait!"

Finn stopped and turned around.

"Will you show me back to my room? I think I pretty well got lost, you know, with all that trance stuff going on."

Finn gave Yvette a small smile, and said, "okay".

"Thanks."