Dark Pursuit (Dubois Chronicles 2.104)(Quests Saga Part 3)
DJ Dubois
August 2007
Rating: T+ (Teen-Plus: Language, violence and character death. Read with caution and consideration.)
Notes: The characters from Xena Warrior Princess belong to StudiosUSA and Universal. Smallville belongs to DC and the CW. Kim Possible and her cohorts on her show are owned by Disney. All other characters are mine. .
Prologue [Yamanuchi School, Northern Japan]
Sensei, Master of the Yamanuchi School, writes…. While my heart rejoices at the return of Stoppable San and Miri-Chan from America, I realize that this event marks an inevitability: the final show down with Hansei Arighatto, the mortal host of Lord Yodoshi. As you have read, my friends, the demon nearly killed Stoppable San and Kim Possible in their first encounter—a fate thankfully that Yori and Miri-Chan saved them from. It is a shame that Dubois-Sama could not eliminate this dark adversary due to the Fates' requirements. He did, however, buy us time to prepare by wounding Arighatto. Alas, it is for Xena, Jasmine Bey and my three best students to do. Each student has his or her own weapons of choice regained for just this purpose as you shall see shortly. First however, we must deal with Miri-Chan's darkness and answer the long brewing questions about her past. And so, a story long buried by faerie magic must be revealed to the world once more…..
Chapter 1 [Dojo—Yamanuchi School]
Xena entered the dojo warily. Since Sensei had invited her to use this area, she anticipated a few surprises. As such, her eyes narrowed, darting about the room. Picking up on an almost imperceptible vibration, her right eyebrow arched and a feral smirk spread across her face. She slowly drew her sword and whipped it in front of her in the air, almost daring whoever or whatever was in the room with her to attack.
Nothing moved—not even a breath of air shifted.
"I'm waiting," she announced almost impatiently. Getting no response still, she hefted her chakram and whipped it at the shadows in the far corner.
The weapon caromed and ricocheted off of the walls and ceiling before returning to her hand. As it did so, it had penetrated the shadows.
In response, seven masked ninja sprung from those dark areas and encircled her. While keeping a healthy distance, they encircled her, maintaining first position as they did so. As one, they threw their star blades at her.
Xena jumped up, avoiding most of the flying metal while deflecting other pieces away with her sword. Using the ceiling and walls, she launched herself into the attackers halving their numbers with a kick to one's midsection and a roundhouse kick taking out three more.
The remaining trio reformed their perimeter into a triangular formation. Drawing various weapons, they advanced cautiously.
Almost like a cat waiting for its prey, the Warrior Princess' eyes kept careful watch on them. More importantly, she noted a loose floorboard beneath her left boot. She waited until one of the attackers straddled it before stomping down on it.
The board's other end flew up, hitting the unsuspecting ninja in the groin and letting that one roll about in pain.
She smirked almost taunting the other ninjas while motioning with her non-sword hand. "Who's next?"
Neither ninja took the bait, choosing to circle her and wait for an opening.
She drew a dagger from her boot and held it in her free hand. "Smart guys, huh?" She countered their observation with her own.
And so, for several more minutes, this dance continued….
Finally, one of the two hunters, tiring of the game, rushed her with chobos raised. The figure took several swipes with the weapons, missing the intended target each time.
She yanked one set away with her sword. Then she leapt over the ninja's head and disabled him with a hit from her sword hilt to the back of the head.
The last ninja unfurled a pair of fighting fans and swished them in challenge through the air.
Xena swung her sword in front of her in response.
It was then that the two remaining antagonists engaged each other in a deadly dance of feet and weaponry. To their credit, both anticipated the other moves, canceling out the other's attacks and dodging the weaponry.
The ninja swung her own leg out and knocked Xena off balance.
While a lesser warrior might've been finished, Xena twisted in mid-air, executing a flip and landing on her feet. "Nice!" She sheathed her dagger and threw the chakram again.
The ninja dodged the whirling blade's initial assault before raising the fighting fans to engage Xena in a final charge.
"Dumb," the warrior muttered.
On its return trip back, the chakram shredded both fans in its path before returning to its mistress' hand.
"Oops," the Thracian warrior muttered sarcastically.
Discarding the damaged weapons, the ninja exchanged several more blows with the intended target, resuming the dance once more.
Finally, Xena turned the other's tactic back on the latter, using the kick to put that one on the floor. Pointing her sword at the adversary's throat, she praised, "You fight real well. Nice moves…..Don't move." She used her weapon to strip away the facial coverings to reveal the other's identity. "Yori." She sheathed her blade and pulled the student off of the floor. "Up ya go!"
"How did you know?" Yori asked.
"The fans were the first giveaway. They're hard to use much less master. Besides, I saw you fight those other ninjas back at the manor," Xena recounted.
"You honor me, Xena. I must admit that I've studied your tactics and fighting style during my time here. I hope I will carry my weight when we face Yodoshi."
Xena nodded, looking the younger woman over. "Keep working on the kick stuff. You overcommitted on that last move. That's what I used against you. Do that against Yodoshi and it'll cost ya big time. You might also want to show your friend some of those moves too. He could use a few."
"Friend? Ah! You mean Stoppable San! He is too used to being in Kim Possible's shadow. He possesses the tai-sheng-pek-kwar. Besides, I have seen what he can do in battle. We will work on bringing those skills to the fore," Yori affirmed confident in her friend's abilities.
"You'd better hope so. Lotus Blade or not, a weapon's only as good as its holder. Come on; let's see how Miranda is treating him," Xena countered.
"Hai. Domo," Yori concurred as they headed for the courtyard.
[Courtyard]
Ron swung his staff around in his hands trying to judge its dexterity. In the past few days since his return to the school, he'd experimented with the Lotus Blade and felt okay with that. However, he could not feel his monkey powers even after trying to focus on them. He sighed and looked at Miranda who had her own staff and stared at him expectantly. "And why are we doing this again?"
Rufus sat on a stump and shook his head.
She shrugged. "Sensei wants you to fight and…." She shot him a playful smirk. "…not lose your pants in the process. Besides I did promise you some pointers." She tapped his staff with hers. "Lesson 1, act don't react."
"Huh?" he wondered before her staff caught him across the back of the hands, knocking the staff out of them. "OW!"
"Pay attention!" she urged. "Let's try again." When he had, she rushed him again, feinting with the weapon in her hands before striking from another direction.
This time, he managed to parry the stroke however; its force bowled him flat on his ass in the process. "Aw man!" He slapped the ground in frustration.
"Come on! Up you go!" she instructed. "Look, don't knock it. That parry was pretty good for a first try. At least you held onto it." She looked at him pointedly. "Yori mentioned you had tai-sheng-pek-kwar. You should be able to spar better than this."
"I guess you snooze, you loose. Kim was scared of it so…."
"So you let it go. Well, it's still in you according to the legends. You need to work on bringing it out however," she indicated while shaking her head. What is the deal with Kim anyway? Could she do any more damage where he's concerned? Hopefully we can work on his confidence. "Let's keep this basic. Did you do any acrobatics while you were the big dog or whatever that was?"
He stared at her in surprise.
She rolled her eyes. "Uncle Dave let me see your file. The foam was…a…"
He grinned, bragging, "Oh yeah! That was the special Ron touch! Hey, it made the Mad Dog the howl of the mascot world! BOO YEAH!"
"Actually, I…was going to say….a little much not to mention gross. Sorry, Ron, but well…." She shuddered. "Yuck."
"Hey!" Rufus protested.
Having adjusted to having regular conversations with both the mole rat and his human friend, Miri added, "Look, Ron. I realize we all need to be individuals. That's your thing, fine. But you can fit in doing other things too. So did you do any acrobatics?"
"Yeah," he replied before running in a couple of circle to get some speed up. Then he executed a near perfect cartwheel and a back flip in the air. However, as he went to land, his right foot came down first and found a slick spot on the stones. He slipped and fell on his ass again.
"That was amazing!" she praised. "The ending stunk but we can work on that!" She pulled him back to his feet. "You relaxed just now, putting on the dog role again. More basics." She tapped his left and right legs. "Keep your legs spaced out for balance. Also, I pushed you back before because you lean back on your heels. Get on the balls of your feet. Move your feet with each step. When you land, land with both feet and bend your knees to help absorb the shock."
"Oh…kay," he replied hesitantly, trying to take in everything she was saying. "Wish I could take notes."
"You already know more than you know, trust me." She sighed, recalling their earlier encounter with his alter ego, Zorpox. If we can get Ron to fight like his creepy other half, we'd have a much better chance against Yodoshi. "Let's see you try those things. Legs spread and bent. Stand on the balls of the feet."
He did so, spreading the legs out too much and falling again.
"Ugh!" She slapped her hand over her face, trying not to blow her cool. 'We really need to work on this stuff, Ron." Seeing Xena and Yori watching them, she smiled. "Watch, we're about to give you a demo." She whistled shrilly. "Flip over here! He needs more examples!"
The two observers launched themselves from the central building's top step into the air, executing a double flip before landing perfectly spaced in between the tutor and student.
"See how they did it? Ron, you're not that far off. You just need spacing," Miranda coached some more before taking her staff again and flipping the other to Xena. "Let's show him some more stuff. Watch, Ron. Stay balanced and move your feet with each move. Step, strike, step, strike."
"Don't overcommit," Xena added. "Watch your opponent's eyes."
He nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the tips. "Don't overcommit. Watch the eyes. Yeah." He bowed his head.
Yori rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. "You have done all of that before. You are too tense."
"I hope so. I may have to stay behind if I can't hold up my own weight," he lamented.
She picked his chin up and locked eyes with him. "You have never disappointed me, Ron San. I have faith in you." She kissed him for emphasis.
Miranda motioned toward her long time friend and sparring partner. "Yori doesn't give out compliments like that too often, Chief. Listen to her. Meantime, we'll keep practicing with you. Come on; dinner will be ready soon." She took two steps while rubbing her forehead to deal with the numbness again. "Whoa!"
"Hey, are you okay?" he queried.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, Ron, for noticing," she assured him. "I just need something to eat."
As she walked into the main building, the other three (and Rufus) were left wondering what was going on with Miranda now.