Disclaimer;
"Ladies and gentlemen please put your hands together for the master of malcontent, the viceroy of villainy, Darth Maud-dib. Yes folk's he's back, he's bad, he still doesn't own Xiaolin Showdown but he did not create it. Yes it's been sometime since our heroic despot crammed a cat down the barrel of a cannon and blasted the flaming feline into a pile of landmines. So sit back a ruminate while he lays another sweet story on you filled with thrill's, frill's, and plenty of gratuitous cat related explosions."
A/N
It would be greatly appreciated if you good folks would kindly leave a critique of my story. Whether you loved it or hated it, let me know what you think. Also I will update the story/ chapters after every 2-3 reviews, so the more you review the faster I update.
Dramatis Personae
Alexander Argos (Fallen Dragon of Lightning)
Ayane Von Deprave (Fallen Dragon of Fauna)
Bob Peterson (Fallen Dragon of Metal)
Chase Young (Heylin warrior)
Clay bailey (Xiaolin Dragon of Earth)
Dai Gui (herald to the destroyer)
Kimiko Tohomiko (Xiaolin Dragon of Fire)
Master Fung (Xiaolin Monk)
Master Monk Guan (Xiaolin Monk)
Omi (Xiaolin Dragon of Water)
Raimundo Pedrosa (Xiaolin Dragon of Wind)
Rin Anor (Heylin sorceress)
Wuya (Heylin witch)
Extinction Agenda
Chapter one
The Tablet and the Man with the Ponytail
By Darth Maud-dib
Warm light filtered through the halls of the Xiaolin temple giving the ancient structure a comforting, peaceful look. The wooden floors reflected the afternoon sun light brightly, mainly due to the hours spent polishing them by four young monks whose mental discipline had been found lacking by their senior instructor. The smell of Pledge and Windex still lingered in the corridors from the vigorous cleaning the windows and statues had received from the two would be food fighters. The halls were fairly quiet which usually meant everyone was out in the courtyard, or someone was up to trouble.
Rounding a corner, Kimiko purposefully strode through the hallways with her body moving on automatic. Pushing aside her irritation, she stepped into the courtyard and saw Clay practicing his Tai Chi in the shadow cast by the outer wall. Over to her left she heard the familiar giggling of her oafish compatriots and glanced over to find Omi and Raimundo examining something with their backs towards her. Clearing her throat, she forced a smile to her face and stepped onto the lush grass. "What're you guys doing?"
Clearly startled, both of the young boys jumped then quickly spun around with wide grins on their faces while Raimundo tucked his hands behind his back. "Hello," they both exclaimed in unison.
"How are things?" Kimiko continued to smile.
"Oh… good, I'm peachy. How about you?" Raimundo's smile broadened.
"I am also like a peach." Omi nodded his head. "I am just duck, frozen as a pickle, and I am here cooling with no intention of snooping."
"We're good." Raimundo elbowed Omi. "How are those friends of yours?"
"It's funny you should ask." Kimiko took a step forward and smirked as the boys took a step back. "I was going to e-mail Kaname and see if she wanted to hang out but I can't find my PDA."
"That is funny," Omi agreed.
"I can't believe you actually hang out with her." Raimundo shook his head.
"She's nice enough… once you get passed her violent mood swings."
"Have you forgotten that she held you hostage and we spent the whole day trying to free you only find you eating burgers and drinking shakes?"
"They weren't that bad, and it's not like anyone hasn't kidnapped one of us before."
"It's funny that we've become so jaded that kidnapping gets filed under mundane."
"Yeah," Kimiko replied thoughtfully then glared at Raimundo. "Did you take my PDA again?"
"Perhaps the forces of darkness are responsible and plan to use it for something sinister," Omi stated ominously.
Letting out a sigh, Kimiko looked down to the short monk. "Why would they want my PDA?"
"I cannot say, but I am sure it is for something most sinister and has nothing to do with us reading your e-mails."
"I see," Kimiko responded with a warm smile. "Give me my PDA!" Unable to hold her annoyance, she lunged at Raimundo and tackled him to the ground.
"Not until I figure out what it is you say about me." Raimundo squirmed beneath her, trying to wiggle free while keeping her PDA out of reach.
"I never even mention you." Kimiko reached for her computing device only to get pushed to her side as Raimundo rolled to his feet.
"I'll figure out your password eventually." Raimundo smirked while mashing buttons.
Growling in frustration, she pounced on Raimundo again. "This is why I tell my friends you're a jerk."
"So you do talk about me."
Kimiko managed to sit on his stomach then waved a flaming finger over his face. "How would you like me to burn your eyebrows off, again?"
"I wonder who's gonna wear the pants in that relationship."
Looking to where the voice had come from, Kimiko spotted Dojo perched on Master Fung's shoulder as he walked into the courtyard holding the scroll of the Shen Gong Wu.
"Since you two have so much energy perhaps I should have you scrub down the roof tiles." Master Fung smiled at the two quarreling monks.
Kimiko laughed nervously as she climbed off Raimundo. "I don't think that's necessary."
"They look clean enough from here." Raimundo rose to his feet.
"In that case, perhaps you would like to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu that has just revealed itself?"
"Which one we goin' after?" Clay walked over and joined the other monks.
"Da Hippa Hoppa."
Raimundo stared at the elder monk for long moment before erupting in a fit of laughter. "That's a good one. I knew you had some jokes in you. So, really, what Wu are we going after?"
"That is the actual name of the Shen Gong Wu," Master Fung replied as he opened the scroll and revealed the picture of a hippo with its arms crossed. "When activated it makes anyone in area speak in rhymes."
"I have always wanted to speak in rhymes," Omi proclaimed cheerfully.
"Why would Grandmaster Dashi make a Wu that would do that?" Kimiko stared deadpanned at Dojo.
"What can I say, it was a faze. Besides it was a great way to distract an enemy." Dojo shrugged then jumped off of Fung's shoulder. Growing to his full size, Dojo motioned for the monks to jump on. "Let's just go grab it and hurry back."
Snatching her PDA from Raimundo, Kimiko climbed onto Dojo's back followed by the others and watched the temple quickly begin to shrink as they flew off.
(-)
The flight to the Wu had been a fairly quite one. Raimundo had spent most of the trip talking to Clay while Kimiko busied herself with encrypting the files on her PDA. She had been so focused on her privacy that she barely heard Dojo's announcement that they were close to the Wu. Tucking the device into a pocket, she looked down as Dojo started his decent and noticed a wide river running through a grassy field. "Where are we?"
"India," Clay responded.
"How are we gonna find the Wu in all this grass?" Kimiko jumped off of Dojo's back and found herself waist deep in vegetation.
"Last time I was in this part of India there used to be temple around here." Dojo shrank after the others had gotten off.
"I assume that you and Grandmaster Dashi hid the Wu inside of this temple." Omi began to look around.
"Well we were, but getting inside looked too hard so we buried it under a tree," Dojo replied. Sniffing the ground, he began to make his way through the grass. "I think it's over here."
"Can we hurry this up? I'd like to get out of here before we get dragged into another unnecessary fight for a Wu that seems pretty useless." Kimiko followed the tiny dragon.
"Too late baby."
"Speaking of useless." Kimiko rolled her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice and looked up to find Jack Spicer floating over head, flanked by a half dozen bots.
"Jack Spicer." Omi turned and glared menacingly at the flying weirdo. "Go away."
"Not until the Wu is mine. You will all rue the day you met Jack Spicer, evil boy genus."
"Already do," Clay replied dryly.
"Do we really have to go through this whole pattern again?" Raimundo crossed his arms. "Every week it's the same thing; you show up, you brag about how evil you are, you sick your newest and lamest bots on us, we break them, and you fly home crying for your mom."
"Hey, the crying only happened the one time and I was under a lot of stress that day and I had something in my eyes."
"Now are ya gonna leave peaceful like or do I have ta put a hurtin' on ya?" Clay stepped forward and tipped his hat.
"Jack-bots attack!"
Kimiko yawned as four of the bots rushed forward while Clay met their advance. She watched as he weaved his way through their attacks until he found an opening and lashed out with a kick or heavy fist. To her surprise the usually useless bots didn't explode after the first hit. I guess Jack made some upgrades. A noise from her right caught her attention causing her to glance over and spot Dojo slithering out of the grass with the golden Wu over his head.
"I got Da Hippa Hoppa."
"Wanna bet?" Jack darted over the idle monks heads and snatched the Wu from Dojo's grasp. "Ha, the Wu is mine. Now taste the wrath of your new evil dictator. Da Hippa Hoppa!" As the Wu activated the golden hippo flashed brightly in Jack's hand while he gazed at it expectantly. After a long moment he shook the Wu and looked it over. "Hey, where's the carnage and destruction? Don't tell me I went to all this trouble so this Wu can malfunction."
"Why'd you activate that silly Wu? Now we're gonna be stuck rhyming like you." Raimundo glared at Jack.
Kimiko couldn't help but laugh as Raimundo cringed at his own rhyme. "Relax Rai, it ain't so bad. Let's just kick his butt and make him sad. We can burn his hair then char his skin, just to remind him that he'll never win. We can take the Wu and with just a scare and turn his day into another bad dream, then with one last final threat he'll let out his trademark girlish scream."
"You'd do that for a Wu?" Jack floated backwards nervously. "What kind of people are you?"
Omi and Raimundo lunged at Jack with wide smirks on their faces as they began wailing on the pale Heylin robot enthusiast. Hurling a large fireball at the two remaining bots, Kimiko nailed the closest one square on its face. The damaged bot retaliated with a hail of laser fire forcing her to back flip to avoid them. Just as she landed she faintly heard the sound of something cracking but ignored it and returned her attention to the attacking bots. The two bots were rapidly flying down towards her, each firing a round of lasers. Waiting until they were a bit closer, Kimiko flung a wave of flame at the bots, melting their optic sensors then jumped back, allowing them to crash into the ground.
With a smile on her face, Kimiko watched the duo of robots crash into the ground with a thud. An instant later they exploded, but as they did Kimiko again heard the sound of stone cracking and the ground lurched beneath her. She looked down in time to see her footing collapse and found herself falling into a dark cavern. Landing harshly on her back, she quickly threw her arms over her head while dirt and rocks rained down.
Waiting until the last of the debris had fallen, Kimiko looked up to find she had fallen about thirty feet. Ignoring the pain that raced through her back, she slowly climbed to her feet and glanced around. The stone walls were covered with cobwebs and ancient writings. She spotted a corridor to her right and started towards it since climbing up through the hole would be too hard. Walking through the dusty corridor, she followed the dark tunnel and lit a flame in her palm for light. Just as she rounded a corner, she heard the sound of footsteps and saw a shadow dart out of view.
Quickening her pace, she emerged into a large chamber filled with dusty scrolls or worn tomes. A few torches were lit and cast a flickering light over the room. Another corridor could be seen on the opposite side with a trail of foot prints left on the sandy floor. Kimiko started to follow the foot prints when a stone tablet caught her attention. She stepped over to the shelf that held the tablet, carefully glancing it over as she picked it up. There wasn't anything remarkable about the tablet that she could tell. It was cold and covered in dust just like everything else was in the musty room. It had an ancient writing carved into it that she couldn't read, probable Bengali or Sindhi.
"Hey Kimiko; you down here?" Hearing Raimundo's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"I'm down here," Kimiko replied. She started to put the tablet back when a nagging voice in the back of her head told her to hold on to it.
"What are you doing in here?" Raimundo asked as he entered the chamber. "And what's that?"
"I have no idea." Kimiko looked up at Raimundo wondering the same question.
"Well we got the Wu so let's get going before Chase or Hannibal decide to show up."
"Yeah sure." Kimiko nodded, following him out but stopped for a second to look back down the second corridor, wondering what it was she saw earlier.
(-)
A cool breeze blew a stray hair from Kimiko's face as she stared down at her laptop. Waiting for the translation program she had downloaded to finish its work, she glanced at her side at stared down at the tablet. Following the uneventful trip home, she had spent her afternoon and the early evening trying to find information on the underground temple and her mysterious tablet only to find no mention of either on the net. Dojo wasn't much help either. He said that he and Grandmaster Dashi had gone to India a few times and that they hid the rhyming Wu there for a reason, but he didn't remember why.
"Is something troubling you Kimiko?"
Kimiko smiled and looked up as the master monk joined her on the front deck. "I was just wondering about this tablet."
Master Fung nodded understandingly. "Dojo told me of your discovery. He said you were drawn to this lone item."
"Yeah, it was kinda weird. I saw it and couldn't help but pick it up."
"Although not as developed as Omi's you must not forget that you too have a tiger instinct. You were drawn to this item by more than coincidence and I know you have it in you unravel the meaning of this mystery."
"Hopefully I'll have some of the mystery unraveled in a few minutes." Kimiko smiled feeling better about herself. "I already input the data into the computer so I'm just waiting for it to be translated."
"I see." Master Fung picked up the tablet and glanced over it when something caught his attention causing him to turn away. Kimiko followed his gaze and spotted a man in his mid thirties with a long black ponytail walking over towards them. He wore a gray Taoist robe with dark purple designs on the shoulders and chest, white pants as well as white shoes.
"Please forgive my intrusion." The man spoke with a smooth, cold voice as he bowed.
"Who are you?" Master Fung asked.
"My name is Dai Gui. I am here on behave of my employer to express interest in the stone tablet you found in India."
Kimiko stared suspiciously at the man for a moment then sat her laptop aside and stood next to Master Fung. "How do you know about the tablet?"
"I have spent many years searching for that item. My employer is rather anxious to have that artifact so I have been authorized to buy it from you now."
"It's not for sale." Kimiko felt the skin on her neck crawl as she stared into the man's dark eyes.
"All things have a price young lady, and I am offering you ten thousand British pounds for a simple tablet."
"Why do you want it?" Kimiko asked. "If you know that I have it then you must be that shadow I saw in the temple in India. Why didn't you take it then?"
"I knew someone had found the temple but I had no way to tell if you were thieves or rivals."
"I am sorry for your trouble but as she has said, the tablet is not for sale." Master Fung took a step forward. "Allow me to show you out."
"Forty five, I'll give you forty five thousand pounds."
"It's late and we would like to retire," Master Fung replied politely but firmly.
"Is there no way I might change your minds?" Dai Gui looked from Fung to Kimiko and narrowed his eyes. "I am afraid I cannot leave without that tablet." In a swift motion, he thrust a glowing lavender palm towards the older monk causing him to stagger backwards. "I had hopped to avoid violence but you arrogant monks always seem to bring out the worse in me."
"Who are you?" Master Fung demanded.
"I am Dai Gui. That is all you need to know before I send you to the underworld and take what I want." Extending his arm, lavender smoke formed around his right hand and fell to the ground. The strange cloud split into six pieces with each expanding to the size and shape of a man. After a second, six men with dry, ragged skin appeared in lavender robes. "Destroy them."
Springing forward, the six warriors split into two groups and attacked the surprised monks. A kick from one warrior forced Kimiko to roll to the side then duck under another attack. Pushing aside her surprise, she retaliated with a spinning heel kick to her third attackers chin then rolled over him to get room to maneuver. Ready to attack, Kimiko spun on her heels and blocked an oncoming kick from one goon then unload a large fireball with her free hand. As the first warrior fell to the ground and dissipated in a lavender cloud, the second one jumped through the smoke and aimed a dropkick at her knees. With a smirk, she somersaulted over the sloppy attack, but just as she landed the third warrior swept her legs out from under her. She had barely hit the ground when a kick to her stomach sent her sliding across the ground and knocked the wind out of her.
Struggling to catch her breath, Kimiko looked up and saw that Master Fung was holding his own. Swaying left or right he easily avoided the swift attacks the conjured warriors threw at him. Avoiding a punch from one warrior, Fung landed a kick to the temple of another then scored with an elbow and back fist to another.
"You fight well for a child and a man with brittle bones." Dai Gui blasted Master Fung in the back with a plume of lavender smoke that knocked the old monk down and caused him to drop the tablet. Just before the tablet hit the ground it became enveloped in light and floated over to Dai Gui's waiting hand. "It's time to end this little game."
"My thoughts exactly partner." Kimiko looked over to see Clay, Omi, and Raimundo step into view.
"I have what I wanted so I need not linger here with children." Dai Gui held up the tablet and let out a laugh. The tablet began to float over his hand for a brief moment when a pulse of light shot from his palm and shattered it. As the pieces fell to the ground a wave of energy washed over the ground, followed by the sound of thunder.
(-)
Alexander Argos sat on the couch next to Bob inside their warehouse hideout playing on their stolen Xbox. Mashing the turbo button in hopes of catching up in the racing game they were playing, the sound of thunder caused Alex to look towards the upper window. "I don't remember seeing clouds."
"Don't make excuses 'cause you lost twice in a row." Bob leaned back with a grin.
"Just start the next race and I'll show…" Alex started but stopped at the sound of a loud groan. He turned to face Rin to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly fell from her floating perch in the corner. Dropping the controller Alex and Bob rushed over to where she had fallen and knelt beside her. "Rin?"
Grabbing the sides of her head she cried out as if in pain. "Seal's broken… the doors were shut. Blind Swordsmen… Blind Swordsmen… where none shall pass."
(-)
Silence filled the halls of Chase Young's palace. Most of the jungle cats had slunk off to find a place to sleep while they awaited their masters' orders. Moving slowly, insuring his form was perfect Chase practiced his martial arts faintly aware of Wuya's presence near the fountain. Pleased that she had finally stopped nagging him about the latest Shen Gong Wu, Chase was surprised that she had remained quiet for so long. Stepping into the next stance, he smiled at the familiar sound of thunder.
As if sensing that he was in a good mood, Wuya let out a long shriek and started shouting, "One of three... fifth race, fifth race… name in iron… broken seal."
"Kindly be quiet and leave me in peace." Rolling his eyes Chase stepped over to the edge of the balcony and peered down to find Wuya writhing on the marble floors clutching her head. Before he could say anything else, a wave of pain doubled him over. Strange images of ancient cities and fallen empires flashed in his mind. Odd writing in a language he had never seen before seemed to wrap around him as his head throbbed. His vision blurred and shifted to a picture of the world burning and the sound of laughter filled his ears.
(-)
"I shall take my leave of you foul monks; however this is not an act of kindness." Dai Gui laughed coldly as he disappeared in a cloud of lavender smoke along with his warriors. "Your days are marked and your end is nigh."
Climbing to her feet, Kimiko watched as the cloud of smoke disappeared then stepped over to the others. "I guess that tablet was important after all."
"Are you okay?" Raimundo asked.
"I'm fine." Kimiko nodded.
"Who was that man?" Omi helped Master Fung to his feet.
"He called himself Dai Gui." Fung dusted himself off.
"My translation program should be done by now so lets see what that tablet had written on it." Kimiko hurried over to her laptop and began reading the translated text. A jolt of fear ran down her spine as she read. "I think we might have a problem."
"What does it say?" Raimundo asked.
"It's a warning from a Hindi monk that knew Grandmaster Dashi. It says that the tablet was used as some kinda key to banish a demon from our realm. Dashi turned the tablet into a seal to keep the demon from returning and set up a Wu to act as a warning."
"So what happens if this demon thing gets loose?" Clay inquired.
"According to this, the end of days." Kimiko swallowed the lump that clung to her throat. "If the seal is broken then the destroyer of worlds will walk among us."