Diclaimer- I do not own the rites to Xiaolin Showdown. If I did, Rai and Kim would be together by now. :)

The End

Kimiko stared at her palms, tears streaking her cheeks. She was alone now, her friends had all gone. She was alone, and without the one she wanted by her side the most. He had gone in the most horrible way….trying to protect her, trying to protect the team. No, her friends, her family, the ones that she held dearest to her heart. And now, they were gone.

Her life was over. There was nothing else to live for, nothing to protect. Her father had passed on only a year before from natural causes, and he was the only one that went without suffering. Kimiko stood, tear stains still fresh on her face. She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill him! He was still there, laughing at her, laughing at the death of her comrades. Flames engulfed her clenched fists, and then took her entire body.

"Murderer…...MURDERER!!!" she roared with fury, the flames flaring around her and turning blue.

"Hahahaha! You really think you can beat me all by yourself!? You couldn't even do it with the support of the other Xiaolin Warriors! Your leader was crushed under my power, and you think you have what it takes to beat me?! Hahaha….foolish girl, you don't have the sense to even run, so I'll kill you now and get it over with! Moby Morpher!"

His size increased dramatically, and he sprouted new arms.

"Bastard! You will die for what you have done! You will pay!" Kimiko hissed viciously.

She launched at him, and her eyes began to glow blue with the power of her fire. It was then that the flames took her entire body, her flesh and bone changing to suit her new armor. Kimiko had become a flying mass of molten rock and flame, hurtling toward her foe.

"Damn it," she cursed, "I promise Hannibal Bean, you will die by my hand, and you will suffer. You took everything from me, and now you deserve payment." She no longer sounded like the old Kimiko.

Her voice crackled and hissed like fire on water, with only an undertone of her old self. She could see the fear he was trying to hide in his eyes, beneath the insanity that had come with power. He took a fighting stance and prepared for her attack. Kimiko came down on him with all the pent up emotion she had from the last two years. Ever since Rai had become their leader, ever since that day when life couldn't have gotten any better, things began to go downhill.

Fate had come back and slapped her in the face. Fate was a bitch. Things began to spin out of control, Raimundo blamed it all on himself, Keiko had been killed in a car wreck, her father passed away, Chase Young disappeared and left them to deal with Hannibal alone, Omi got a severe case of smallpox and almost died……the list went on.

Hannibal managed to block her first few hits, but she never slowed, and he couldn't keep up. She smashed her fist into the side of his face and sent him flying. If she didn't get through this, he'd have a nice burn on his face to remember her by. As soon as he hit the ground Kimiko sent a barrage of searing blue fireballs at him.

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Raimundo opened his eyes. He saw the huge blue flames licking the sky, surrounding a molten black figure. It had to be Kimiko, but what had happened to her? He saw Hannibal Bean rise from a charred black patch of earth, and he looked pretty charred too. Had Kimiko done that to him, when as a team they had done nothing? She laughed at Hannibal when he stood, and her laugh was like nothing Rai had ever heard before. It scared him.

He wanted to call out to her, he wanted to get up and fight like a leader should, like a Shoku warrior should, but he could do nothing. Hannibal had broken his body. His arms, his legs, and nearly all of his ribs had been broken. He could only breathe in short gasps, and even that brought him pain. Kimiko probably thought he was dead. He looked for his other comrades then, wondering if they were still alive.

He saw Clay, battered and unconscious on the ground not too far from where he was. He hoped he was still…..yes, yes he was still alive! There was a slight rise and fall of his chest, so Clay lived on. But where was Omi? From his view point Raimundo could see neither head nor tail of the little monk. But wait….he remembered now. Hannibal had struck Omi first, with such a powerful blast of energy that it probably……oh. Raimundo cringed at the thought of it. Omi was gone.

Rai turned his gaze back to Kimiko, and watched with a sickening horror as she beat Hannibal to a flaming bloody pulp. He should have been glad to see this, but she was going way overboard. He couldn't stand to watch it anymore, he had to get her to stop, even if he got himself killed himself in the process.

"Kim…….Kimiko……Kimiko stop." He gasped out, but she didn't hear him. He just wasn't loud enough.

Then, just before he had enough air to try again, a tear appeared in the air next to him and Omi popped out. Raimundo stared at him in shock, and then joy. He was alive! He must've used the Golden Tiger Claws to escape before Hannibal's attack hit him.

Omi looked around and saw Kimiko dishing out a severe beating to Hannibal Bean and Clay was unconscious a few feet away. He then looked down at Raimundo and grimaced at the odd position of his left leg.

"Raimundo my friend, what has happened to you?" Omi crouched down next to him and put a gentle hand on his back.

Raimundo cringed at the contact, and Omi immediately drew his hand away.

"You must……tell Kimiko…….to stop. She……thinks we're…..all dead. She…..she must be too upset…..to realize…we're alive. Hurry….she has to stop……she's out of control……" Raimundo managed to gasp, the pain in his chest overwhelming.

Omi nodded and dashed off, collecting spheres of water in his hands as he went. He was about dozen feet away and couldn't get any closer. The flames Kimiko was producing were too hot and too wild. He could be burned to ashes if he came in contact with them, so he launched water at the wall of flame, hoping Kimiko would notice him. She did not. Omi pulled out the Orb of Tornami next.

"Orb of Tornami!" Water burst from the sphere, drenching the land and pouring down over the huge flames.

It didn't hinder the fire in the least, but all the steam that was created alerted Kimiko of his presence. She spun around, her eyes blazing a fierce red.

"Kimiko, my friend! You must stop! You are out of control! We are all alive, please stop!" Omi yelled to her, and in response she looked from him to Clay to Raimundo and then back to him.

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Kimiko saw him, standing there pleading with her, but she just couldn't believe it. They were all alive? But, it wasn't possible! Raimundo……Hannibal had shattered him….she saw him fall….he wasn't breathing…...was he? She began to walk towards the rest of her team, but Omi held up his arms and told her to stop.

"You must not come any closer Kimiko! Your fire, it could burn them all! That's why I stand so far from you." Omi explained.

Kimiko shook her head and tried to douse her fire, but she couldn't. 'Why? Why can't I make it go away? I brought it out, it's mine to control! They're all alive; I shouldn't be so upset anymore, but Rai…..' Kimiko looked at Raimundo again, worry filling her heart. He didn't look alive. It didn't even look like he was….wait! Did he just draw in breath? Yes, he did! Kimiko watched for a few seconds to make sure she was seeing right, and then she mentally rejoiced. Raimundo was alive! But, for how long?

She let her fire dissipate, and the red in her eyes faded and became blue. She looked at her hands and watched as the molten rock hardened and fell away from her body. She then ran to her fallen leader, and this time Omi did not stop her. Lord, Raimundo looked absolutely horrible.

"Rai….Rai are you okay?" Kimiko mentally kicked herself for asking such a stupid question. 'I'm such an idiot, of course he's not okay!! His whole body is broken!'

"Kimi…..ko. I'm glad to see……that you're okay." He whispered.

Tears formed in Kimiko's eyes when he spoke to her, and her heart ached to see him in so much pain.

"Raimundo….." She couldn't think of anything to say to him.

Raimundo was so tired he couldn't even open his eyes to look at her. He wished so badly that he could see her. God, he loved that girl, she was his everything. Suddenly a droplet of water splashed on his face, and he realized that Kimiko was crying.

"Kimiko…why are you crying? You just kicked……wheeze……Hannibal Bean's butt…..you should be happy." He tried to make his voice light to cheer her up, to make it seem like nothing was wrong, but he cursed himself when he wheezed. It was getting more and more difficult to breathe.

"How could I be happy, Raimundo Pedrosa!? How could I when you're laying there dy……….dying." She was angry with him at first, for being so lax about his condition, trying to avoid it.

Another tear rolled off her cheek and landed on his face. Kimiko reached down with her hand, hesitant at first, and brushed the tear away. Raimundo flinched at the unexpected contact, but Kimiko didn't take her hand away. She sat there, lost in thought with her thumb placed gently on is face. Kimiko didn't even realize what she was doing until Raimundo wheezed again, and she flinched away.

"Kimiko…..how are the others?" Raimundo bluntly ignored the fact that he was on his death bed.

"Everyone else is okay. Rai, please….please don't leave us….I know it may be selfish, but you can't leave us alone here without a leader!" Kimiko begged him and added in a small whisper, "I need you."

She hadn't meant for Raimundo to hear the last part, but he did. He struggled with his heavy eyelids, trying to open them and see her face. Finally he got them open halfway, and he wished so badly that one of his arms wasn't broken so he could hold her hand. He wished that more than anything.

Kimiko saw his eyes open and she smiled a sad smile, trying her best not to burst into tears again. He looked so worried about her, when in truth he should have been worrying about himself. Her emotions flared when they made eye contact, and the strange blue aura surrounded her again just like it had before the blue fire appeared. Kimiko glanced down at her hands and noticed this, and then they burst into blue flame.

Raimundo looked at her with confusion, and saw that she was quite startled herself. But Raimundo was distracted from the flames when he breathed in and a sharp pain lanced across his chest. He gasped for air, and Kimiko stared down at him in shock, and then fear. Omi had finally managed to wake Clay and the two hurried over, and Clay was limping really badly, but he had the earth to support him since Omi couldn't.

"What's wrong with him?" Clay questioned, his face creased with worry.

Kimiko shook her head, and the tears began to roll down her cheeks once more. He was dying, and she could only watch. Raimundo gasped again and then coughed, his face flushed white. The sweat beaded on his forehead and as he coughed flecks of blood splattered the ground. Omi hurried over and almost turned Rai on his side, but he hesitated. He couldn't do that, Raimundo was too broken to move at all!

Finally the spasm stopped and Dojo appeared. He told the monks to get on, but one of them had to stay with Raimundo. Kimiko absentmindedly said she would as she watched Raimundo's face return to normal. The tears still flowed from her eyes, but she made no sound. Her throat had nearly closed up, and it was hard to breathe. Dojo said he would be back with Master Fung, and they left her there all alone to watch Raimundo die.

"Kimiko…..please, I can't take this anymore……the pain, it hurts too much….Kimiko…." Raimundo gasped out, and with a sickening horror Kimiko realized what he was asking her to do.

Raimundo wanted her to kill him. He wanted her to be the one to end his life. She looked down at her hands, and the fire that engulfed them flared with her rising emotion.

"Rai….I can't do it! I can't…..I can't take your life! I…..I would never be able to forgive myself!" She clenched her fists in uncertainty, and the fire grew larger and made its way up to her elbow.

"Please Kimiko--" but Raimundo was cut off by another fit of coughing.

He looked so desperate for her help, and his emerald eyes pleaded with her. She could see how much pain he was in, and the bile rose in her throat. She nodded, unable to say anything at the moment.

"But….before I do, Raimundo…." She couldn't think of how to tell him.

She was about to kill the one she loved the most, and she wanted to let him know how important he was to her before it was too late. No words came to mind, and I love you sounded too hollow, with no meaning. So Kimiko leaned down and placed a kiss on his blood flecked lips.

He was shocked, and when she pulled away he just stared at her. Why had she done that? Could…..could she possibly be returning the feelings that he harbored for so long about her?

"Kimiko?" She stared at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.

"Kimiko, look at me." Her eyes flitted up to his, brimming with tears.

For a few moments it just stayed like that, Kimiko weeping silent tears and Raimundo searching. Searching her eyes for some sort of hint why she kissed him. Yes, she had given him a peck on the cheek a few times before, but this was different. It was on the lips, and he was at his deathbed. Was she trying to tell him something?

"Kimiko…..why did you…?" He trailed off as he ran short of breath.

"I….I…" Kimiko stuttered and twiddled her thumbs, watching as the blue fire danced around them. "I love you Rai. That's why…..why it's so hard to do what you're asking me to do to you. It's….it's going to break my heart."

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Okay peoples! This was going to be just a one-shot, but I just couldn't pass up this chance for a cliffy!! Hmmm, the ending is still being debated, so I'm down to two endings. One is very sad and heart wrenching, while the other is very sad, but turns out good. So tell me what you think, and as soon as I get five opinions I'll post the finale!! And I already have the endings written up, so it's just a matter of which one will be posted. :)

Mistoffelees Shadow