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Undercover Lover- Chapter Seven- The First Showdown

Kimiko had gone to sleep at five, just like she said- of course, for some reason she woke up again at about six, because she thought that a light had been shining in her face, but she was probably just dreaming… So she went back to sleep and didn't get back up until the cats collected her. They woke her, left and let her change, and then they led her down the hall to the training room. Kimiko had her hair back up in a Chinese bun again, but it still looked boyish on her…

Chase was already waiting for her, as usual, and he started off that morning's training session by asking one simple question, "Sleep well?" Kimiko had almost replied, when her instincts caught her.

She still didn't trust Chase- he was a Heylin- and she asked warily, "Why?"

"You never came to dinner," he replied- Kimiko let out a soft 'oh' before getting ready to fight. Chase struck her feet today- A LOT. She kept having to jump to avoid his sweep-kicks. It was like jump rope at one point, because he just kept spinning his legs around under her, trying to knock her down, and after about her fifth jump, he did. But immediately after…he didn't attack… Kimiko was dumb-founded. He told her to get back up and went back to trying to knock her down.

After falling about six times, she understood- he was teaching her how to avoid being knocked down. And it was actually starting to work- it took more and more jumps before he'd manage to knock her down. By the thirtieth time she had fallen, she was up to fifty-three jumps. Except at one point when she had gotten distracted by thinking about how Chase was spinning and wondering how he was able to do it so fast; that time took three….

It was about nine when suddenly Wuya ran into the room, shouting about a new Wu. Kimiko nearly screamed when she saw her- where had Wuya been these past few days?

Chase answered her mental question. "Come crawling back, have we Wuya…? Spicer not enough…?" he asked, not even sounding like he was joking- Chase just sounded utterly angry. Kimiko blinked and looked at Wuya.

Wuya looked at her and asked, "Who's the kid?"

"Raioki," Chase replied for her, making Kimiko feel slow, and he growled, "He's my apprentice…" Wuya made a disapproving face toward Kimiko, so Kimiko mimicked it. Chase listened to Wuya babble about the new Wu and Kimiko saw the wheels in Chase's head start turning fast.

'Crap,' she thought as loudly as possible.

Chase looked at her and said, "Perhaps this is your first chance to test your new abilities, Raioki…" Kimiko was afraid he'd say that… Chase took her and Wuya to wherever the Wu was; Kimiko never knew how valuable teleporting could be.

Chase gave her a pat on the back, which was more of a nudge, basically telling her to go. Wuya jumped ahead, wanting to be the one to find the Wu this time. Kimiko glanced overhead, after starting to run out to find the Wu, and saw the familiar serpentine shape of Dojo.

"Oh gosh…" she breathed softly but with terror in her voice, "What did the guys do about me not being there?" Her answer came with the all too familiar Chameleon bot hopping off with the guys- did that mean Jack lent it? Or did the guys steal it?

Shaking her head, Kimiko realized she shouldn't be worrying about all this; she needed to find the Wu. And as she ran, she could completely feel Chase's eyes boring into her. He was supervising her- and it really made her feel like prey…

Kimiko spotted a shimmering item in the trees above her, and she jumped to grab it. Unfortunately, and ironically, Raimundo grabbed it as well. She widened her eyes warningly at him, basically asking, "What the eff are you doing, you idiot?"

Raimundo grinned. She understood quickly- he wanted to kick her butt and prove that Chase wasn't teaching her anything useful. She wanted to burn his pants off…! He had absolutely no idea who he was messing with, did he?

"I challenge you—uh, name…?" Raimundo shouted, then stopped to ask with a perfect confused face.

"Raioki," Kimiko growled through gritted teeth.

"Raioki, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" he shouted. Jack flew down and Kimiko vaguely ask who she was before the landscape began shifting. "The challenge will be—first to knock their opponent into the sand wins," Raimundo said, "I wager my Sword of the Storm…!"

Kimiko wanted to kill him- that was his favorite! He really thought he was going to win! HE was willing to bet his baby! Now she was TICKED.

Kimiko fumbled instantly- she had no Wu. "Raioki," Chase shouted her false-name, she looked and caught the Serpent's Tail just after he called to her. She looked at him, Chase only nodded once. She understood- no Wu.

"Gong yi tempai!" Raimundo shouted.

Kimiko shouted in response, "What you said!" And then the landscape finished with a tall, thin pillar with a flat top hundreds of feet above the sandy ground below. The spectators; Wuya, Jack, Chase, Omi, Clay, Chameleon Kimiko, and Dojo, were all put in stone bleachers surrounding the pillar.

Kimiko waited for Rai to make the first move- he immediately used his favorite Wu to try and blow her away. Kimiko ducked under the breeze before he even finished calling its name and she was swiping at his feet. Rai fell over and Kimiko swiped the sword from him. She frowned down at him and gave him one huge kick- sending him sliding to the edge of the pillar. Omi and Clay were cheering for Rai, Chameleon Kimiko was cheering for 'Hunky Raimundo' because apparently Jack hadn't gotten it to talk like her yet… Raimundo scrambled to his feet, and he was staring at her in wide eyed shock.

She whispered to him, "Did you really think I'd just let you win?" Raimundo glared at her- apparently he thought she wouldn't have to let him and he'd just win.

He ran at her, kicking straight at her stomach, but Kimiko did what she remembered Chase had done when she tried that- he slid to the left, grabbed her leg, and throw her; which was what she did. She grabbed Rai's foot and tossed him into the sand with ease. It was kind of scary- it wasn't even a challenge! Had what… two days with Chase really helped her improve that much?

The landscape returned to normal, and Kimiko found herself holding three Wu. She swallowed- she wanted to stand with the guys. But she knew she had to go to Chase…

Turning her back to look at her temporary master, Kimiko saw Chase grinning maliciously. She wanted to cry- he only looked at powerful villains that way… She was no villain- she never wanted to be.

"I want a do-over!" Raimundo shouted, getting to his feet, behind her, "I was cheated!"

Kimiko looked back at him, her eyes full of sorrow, but before she could even process an answer, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Chase's voice beside her saying, "Raioki agreed to your terms and knocked you into the sand… He owes you nothing…"

"He didn't use his Wu!" Raimundo shouted in argument.

Kimiko wanted him to stop talking- she wanted him to be quiet- she wanted them all to go away and never talk to her again. She felt like such a traitor… And when Chase responded to Raimundo, she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"There was no agreement that Wu had to be used… Face it Dragon, you've lost," Chase hissed darkly.

Raimundo shouted angrily in retort, "There was no agreement that I would lose either!" Kimiko hid her face in Chase's armor- probably the worst place to hide, but she couldn't look at Raimundo… Not now… Not like this… It seemed like Chase understood her discomfort, and within an instant, all the sounds around her were gone, and she was welcomed into the warm embrace of silence.

Lifting her head to look around, she found herself back inside Chase's palace. Chase carefully took the Wu from her hands and he said quietly, "I apologize… I should not have kept you there for that long…"

Kimiko bit her lip and muttered under her breath, "I didn't do anything wrong…"

"No," Chase said softly, "in fact you pleased me very much today… I had expected you to fail your first Showdown…" He gave her an awkwardly uncomforting pat on the head before walking off. Chase was terrible at making people feel better…

She felt worse now- she had made her enemy proud: she should have lost… She had just made herself into a traitor… And it made her feel green inside… All she wanted to do now was beat herself up… She needed pain to numb the pain in her heart…

Kimiko ran after Chase, shouting, "Can we train some more?"