One

High in the northwestern corner of Henan, one could make out the dark angles of the mountains, bordered dim blue by the light of the nighttime sky. The stars that could be seen were few and were half hidden under the heavy clouds of the highlands. The air would have been pleasant at this time, but something sinister had pervaded the summer wind, and had been carried all the way from an obscure section on the border of the Henan Province and Shanxi. As for the source of the discord, one would need to be familiar with the geographical anomaly situated somewhere past the ragged outlines of the mountains beyond.

A stony tower, three hundred feet tall and the color of iron, stood like a splinter in the back of a great beast along the range. Even in the shadows cast by the many crags and overhanging cliffs, any brave passersby could see the structure by its yawning maw of an entrance, which emitted an unsettling orange glow. While the outside of the tower was harshly juxtaposed enough with its otherwise peaceful mountain home, the inside was even stranger.

It would have been a happy sight for a forlorn traveler on any other night, even if the inside were completely vacated. Its smooth marble floors, lily ponds, white pillars, and winding staircases were fit for a palace, and its dining room fit for an army of at least a hundred. At first glance, the only imminent threat was the strange abundance of large jungle cats, which seemed to be forever on standby, lounging about on stone furniture, and eating of the leftovers of a dinner from the evening before. But even wild animals were not as unnerving a sight as what lay in the combat court, if one were compelled to explore the tower further.

Toward the center of the structure, and through an intricately carved set of double doors, a vast reddish floor in the shape of a fat crescent moon fanned outwards, its convex side ending with a black wall with carved out windows, filled in with chaotically patterned yellow and green stained glass. There was no other earthly light source within the chamber than the weak starlight from through the glass, yet it stayed alight, and brightly enough so that one could see many aggressively poised figures. Were the notion of a brutal battle about to begin not enough to chase off any witnesses, then the fight's chief instigator certainly would have been.

It was not simply that the creature was a nightmarish sight to behold; it was the air he had about him that implied he was capable of the unspeakable. Though the combatants may not have known this, they were well aware that this was no ordinary interloper—and one of them in particular knew true evil when he saw it. He and a slim whippet of a boy, who had stayed practically pasted to his side, were not especially well equipped to fight such a monstrous man, but they were prepared to face him if escape was not an option. Well, at least, one of them was.

The more well-composed warrior sighed in exasperation, his reptilian eyes dimming as his apprentice yelped and retreated into his shadow at the sound of the aggressor's heavy footsteps. In wooden sandals, they sounded very much like clubs striking a walkway. Startling? Yes. Terrifying? No. The warrior was ready to chastise the boy for cowering, when their mutual opponent spoke, at last.

"It's been such a long time, kiddo," the man said in a low, slithering drawl. Yellow, iris-less eyes ringed in red leered at the two from a ragged gash through his large, straw hat. "My, oh my, has time been awfully kind to you. I wonder why." the entity chuckled sarcastically, showing rows of crooked, yellowed teeth, then reached out as if to brush a few strands of long black hair from his prey's face.

"That would be close enough," the youth retorted, slapping the hand away in warning. "It is rather disrespectful to intrude on my home and not even give me your name."

The monster now guffawed, chilling the blood of everyone in the room, especially that of the boy still hiding behind his master. "Don't you play dumb with me, you rug rat! I'm insulted that you wouldn't remember the man that made you who you are…"

There was an uncomfortable silence, then the shuffling of footsteps was heard as the remaining figures, two young men and one woman, on the opposite side of the room attempted to bolt for an escape through the main doors. But the instigator whirled around on one foot, and slammed down hard on the wedges of the sandals with such force to make the doors swing shut, leaving the fleeing trio skidding to a halt in terror.

"And YOU." The chilling man snapped at them in a voice that made their stomachs turn, "You brats stay right where you are. After all, I've got ya to thank for leadin' me all this way, so take a seat and enjoy the show." He whirled around again to face a considerably more shaken young master and his now silent shadow.

"I highly suggest leaving the Xiaolin out of this," the youth spoke slowly and smoothly, despite the welling sense of dread, and assumed more of a proper fighting stance, "If this is a matter among the Heylin, then let us keep it as such. Now, you will tell me who you are, or I'll make sure Jack here gets to spend the rest of the night cleaning your remains out of the grout."

"Well… Since you asked so nicely, kiddo, the name's Hannibal."

Everything went still for a brief moment, and the malevolent man smirked as though he had already won. Then, a flurry of silvery blades and bright red hair shot past the young master, followed by a cacophonic shriek of agony.

It all happened so fast, it was hard to tell what had happened right away, but the young master backed away as he saw his immense adversary on one knee, one hand against an unseen wound on his face. In his other hand, he held Jack, his apprentice, down against the floor by his throat.

At length, everyone in the room seemed to compose themselves; Jack, enough to start yelping and thrashing at being caught, and Hannibal, enough to wrench the boy's twin blades from his hands.

"Heh, heh, heh. I thought you were a spineless, little whelp from the looks of ya, but you've got guts," the monster smirked cruelly, apparently thoroughly delighted at getting on with the bloodshed, "Maybe we should see how much guts you've got."

"Unhand him, demon!" the dark-haired warrior rushed at the two of them, leapt forward, and managed a good two strikes to Hannibal's head, knocking away his hat.

The Xiaolin warriors, still trapped in the room, reacted on various levels at the sight of the wound. Two screamed in surprise, while another turned and promptly vomited. One of Jack's blades had claimed Hannibal's right eye.

This, however, did not phase the most seasoned of the fighters in the least. In fact, he grinned at his apprentice's handiwork before attempting a few more strikes at his foe, but he was promptly swatted aside like an insect. The resulting crash against the wall should have broken bones and knocked out teeth, but he managed to right himself with little effort, right as—

A sickening crunching sound pervaded the air, and bloodcurdling wails resounded throughout the tower. Hannibal cackled as the Xiaolin warriors awkwardly rushed over to stop him as he tore Jack's right arm free from his body. Crimson fluid sprayed across the floor, the dismembered limb thumped against the tiles, and the boy's hysterical cries rang through the room.

"Master Young! HELP ME!" the little redhead frantically thrashed and called out, tears streaming from his ruby eyes.

It made Hannibal laugh, and he proceeded to take another limb. "Think it's enough yet, Chase?" he cackled gleefully as he ripped Jack's left leg away in his massive hand.

The warrior's stomach lurched, both at the sight of his apprentice's anguish and at the sound of this… thing saying his name. "Y-you…" he stammered, his voice barely audible over the wailing. He tried desperately to move forward, but instead fell to his knees. "Let him go…"

Hannibal cocked his head at him, his single yellow eye and his gaping black socket locking onto his tiny slit pupils.

"I didn't think so," the demon replied cryptically. He then dropped Jack for but a moment, letting his body splash into a syrupy, vermilion puddle. With both free hands raised over his head, he conjured what appeared to be a ball of sparking, fizzing, violet light, and launched it at the Heylin master.

The ball hit its mark, dead center on Chase's stomach, and exploded with an ethereal scream on impact. The youth was sent flying once more against the wall, this time cracking the intricate stone work. He collapsed against the floor with a loud clunk, immediately followed by shrill gasping. The pain that ripped through his abdomen was unlike anything he had ever experienced before; it tore through him like hellfire and shook him like an earthquake, and its influence only became stronger the longer he lay wheezing and helpless. The worst part of all was that, no matter how much he willed himself to rise and fight, it was as though he had been completely cut off from his body. He could not move a muscle. He could only watch as the Xiaolin finally staggered over to their target.

These young combatants skidded to a stop at Hannibal's back, alerting the monster with the ghostly glow of their weapons. Now that they were this close to him, Chase could see how this thing practically dwarfed them; they looked so much stronger and fiercer from far away. Illuminated in unearthly light, their youthful faces were twisted in horror as their adversary turned to look at them.

"I thought I told you whippets to stay put," Hannibal growled as he rose to his feet. He stomped down hard on Jack's remaining limbs when he did, severing them with a loud squelch beneath his sandals' blunt wooden wedges.

Chase thought he heard the warriors attempt to reason with the monster over the sound of his apprentice's wails of suffering, but, whatever they said, they were almost immediately cut off by loud crackling and blasts of energy. The shapes of their bodies being flung away like rag-dolls grew fuzzy against the harsh, chaotic light of Hannibal's magic, and the room seemed to grow progressively dimmer and dimmer. The Heylin master now lay very still against the floor, his breathing shallow and ragged. Everything was melting into a sickening blur.

As he closed his eyes, he could only hear dying echoes of screams.