Gaaaahhhhh. I'm so sorry this update took so long. I blame my AP chem and Middle Eastern History teachers for assigning papers on the same day. Anywho, thanks to all reviewers who took their time to sing my praises. This was probably the most fun/hardest chapter to write. Chase and Omi's battles give me wonderful excuses to reference whatever I want and this entire god awful mess is starting to make the sense. So, without further adeu...A disclaimer.
Disclaimer: This writing and just about everything in it is, until House gets a puppy, not owned by me. Despite my efforts, I am making no money from this and XP to anyone who thinks that I am.
Paramnesia
A bolt of amber light flew by his head, if Omi had been only a fraction of a second slower in ducking, it would have hit him. He could not recall Chase ever using these sorts of powers before. Another bolt flew at him and the small boy jumped behind a fountain for protection.
He didn't dare peek around the corner, but he knew the warlock wasn't in any hurry to flush him out. That was fine by him. He had trained to sit still for hours in the pouring rain and he had learned endless patience from teaching his friends the way of the Xiaolin monk. And putting up with their music.
Omi was hard pressed to find anything about this showdown that could be used to his advantage. Even though for the first time Chase had allowed Shen Gong Wu to be used, Chase was moving far too fast to be hit with the Silk Spitter. Far faster than he had ever seen the Heylin sorcerer move before.
He glanced around the temple, looking for something that he could use, but the sand colored stone gave little in the way of protection or offensive positions. And he knew if he moved to another position, Chase would hit him with one of those fireballs and the sparring match would be over.
The sound of his furiously beating heart was the only thing he could hear over the occasional tap of the warlord's heavy boots and the bubbling of the fountain. He wondered if the water in the fountain would be receptive to his powers. He had never tried controlling the water in a showdown before, but he always assumed it was forbidden under some obscure appendix of the rulebook. Even if it was, he had no other options and he couldn't afford to loose this Shen Gong Wu.
Omi focused his chi for a moment, and then levitated a small amount of water out of the fountain. He was shocked to discover that it was almost easier than working with regular water. Of course, it would be easy for him. He was the chosen one.
He got just enough for what he had in mind. He froze most of the water and used the remainder to polish the surface until it reflected the entire courtyard. Careful now. Focus, this must be perfect, he thought, pointing the Silk Spitter at a wall. This was his only shot.
"Silk Spitter," he whispered, the web bounced off the wall and hit the warlord before he noticed what was going on. Omi flipped over the fountain and landed by Chase's head.
"You think you have won this young monk?" He said, laughing slightly.
"Why yes. I won in a style most resembling the Odyssey or the Iliad*," he said. For some reason, as Omi removed the Mantis Flip Coin from his hand, Chase looked slightly confused.
Omi was just about to land the finishing blow, when the web began to smoke. Within moments, the entire thing had turned to ash. Chase leapt to his feet and retreated to the other side of the courtyard.
The two warriors circled each other for a while, then Chase decided to go on the offensive.
"Snake cooking with ginger root," he shouted, executing a highly advanced attack.
"Bear stealing picnic basket," he said, countering.
"Giraffe playing snooker," Chase said, striking at his legs.
"Cricket figure skating," Omi said, jumping the strike.
"Horse jumping stream."
"Cat shopping on clearance."
"Bronx fury."
"Repulse the furry."
"Shark changing light bulb."
"Llama wearing hat." Omi was beginning to beat him back. His extra training was paying off. Chase wouldn't be able to put his most devious scheme into play. The Whip of Anubis would be theirs.
"Griffin racing Phoenix," the warlord jumped up and when Omi looked up, he was gone. The dragon of water kept rotating, so as not to be surprised by a strike from any direction. Where could he have gone? Chase was too tall to hide behind the fountain and there was nowhere else in the courtyard he could hide.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back. The young monk stumbled forwards a few steps, then whipped around to face the Heylin sorcerer.
"Never forget young monk, I've had well over a thousand years to hone my skills. You don't stand a chance," he sneered.
"I do too stand a chance. In fact, I have the tallest chance out of all the warriors in this showdown," he snarled.
"On the contrary. Your chance is tiny, petite, diminutive, dare I say it, short," he said, with every word he moved to a different position. Omi was used to this sort of mental warfare, but that didn't mean that it was any less infuriating. Chase didn't know what he was getting into.
"Wudai Neptune, Water," he said, using the water from the fountain to hit the sorcerer in the back. He fell forwards, and tried to rise again, but the water pressure was too much. The courtyard shrank back into a dark, stuffy, cold, tomb.
"Congrats kid. I've never seen a repulse the furry pulled off without screwing the rules," Dojo said, slithering over to him. "Let's get out of here. We need to see if Kimiko's okay."
Chase seethed with anger on the other side of the tomb, Wuya on the other hand, looked calmer than he had ever seen her. Omi picked up the Shen Gong Wu and backed out of the chamber, unwilling to turn his back on the Heylin duo. Then it happened.
Wuya kicked over the torch that they were using for light. Chase made a gesture with his hand that made the fire fly at the two of them. Omi had to drop the Wu to put up a water shield that would keep them from being fried. Before he could drop the shield, Chase had grabbed the Whip of Anubis and pushed the Xiaolin monk and the dragon to the side of the hallway as he ran out. Wuya followed close behind.
Omi tried to keep up with them, but without a light, he kept bumping into walls. When he finally reached sunlight, he was just in time to Chase drawing his arm back with the Whip in hand. The silver energy sent forwards by the Whip engulfed Kimiko and before anyone could do anything, Wuya grabbed her and the three of them vanished like smoke in the wind.
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
He couldn't believe it. He let her get hurt again. Chase could be torturing her in some dungeon right now and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He collapsed into the sand, tears pricking at his eyes.
The others were in a similar state of shock. Omi's jaw hung open, the normally talkative monk unnaturally quiet. Clay's hat fell off his head, but the cowboy made no motion to retrieve it.
They stayed like this, absolutely motionless, for a while. Surprisingly, it was Raimundo that broke the silence. "We're not going to help her standing here," he said, standing and wiping his face on his shirtsleeve.
"You are right my friend. We must return to the temple to plan our next move," Omi said, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him back to Dojo. He sat numbly on the dragon's back while the other three talked about what they were going to do next.
He barely noticed it when they landed back at the temple hours later and he walked back to his room as if he was on autopilot. For a while, he sat on his mat, bouncing his soccer ball off the door. It was mindless, purely physical. Throw, bounce, catch, repeat. He could have done it for hours.
He was furious with himself for getting mad at her. He understood why she didn't tell him about how bad her flashbacks were. He already messed up his training and risked his life by going after Minerva. Even though none of them knew about that, he could tell that his explanations for why he couldn't go train with her were becoming suspicious.
There was a knock on the door, he quietly told whoever it was to come in and caught the ball one last time. He wasn't prepared for who was on the other side of the door. A taloned claw stepped hesitantly through the door.
"I heard about the mistress of fire," the griffin said, standing awkwardly in the doorframe.
"What's it to you?" He shot back. Knowing her, she probably masterminded the whole thing.
"I know what it feels like to have the one you love torn from you," she said. She was just using words to make him feel like she was on his side. She worked with Chase. Hell for the right price she'd work with that looser Jack.
"If you really cared, you'd never have given her those memories," he snapped. "You're probably in on all of this."
"I'm not going to lie to you. I knew what Chase was planning. I played my part. I did a favor for an old friend in exchange for information. I'm not ashamed of any of it," she said. It was probably about as close to an admission of guilt as he was ever going to get. The bitch wasn't going to get any sympathy from him. "It would have been worse for her if I hadn't gotten involved."
"Don't try to play the sympathy card Tweety. You did what you did for yourself, not for her." He wasn't going to fight her this time. He was too exhausted mentally and physically to win.
"I'm not trying anything. I truly want to help you get her back," she said. He didn't trust her at all, but her eyes showed rare genuine honesty. "I swear on my honor as a sorceress and a griffin."
"It's not enough. You're just going to betray us the second he gives you an offer," he shot back.
"For once, no. For the next few days, Chase is going to be highly mentally unstable. He probably won't remember any of this until his plan's complete," she said. "And I don't work with crazy people."
"Fine. If you want to help, go and research with the others," he spat. Raimundo didn't want her here at all, but she could be useful.
"Fine, and you're coming with me. I know what it's like to be alone for too long with your thoughts and you wouldn't be able to take it," she said, gesturing for him to follow as she backed out of the room. He stood up and, still quietly fuming, followed her towards the library.
They didn't get far however. Clay, Dojo, and Omi came careening around a corner looking for him. All three of them looked surprised to see Minerva standing in front of him.
"Raimundo partner, we need to rescue Kimiko right now," Clay said.
"Chase Young is planning on taking her powers during the Time of the Lion which is in four days," Omi said, gesturing wildly. He looked to the griffin for conformation of this. She nodded nonchalantly.
"Chase was the dragon of fire. He had to give up his powers to join the Heylin side via the Soup, but as it was not his choice to give his powers up, some part of them remained dormant in him until now," she started to explain. "During the Time of the Lion, powers can leave their hosts and take a new one, but only if given willingly."
"Kim would never do that," he said.
"Not if she was in control of her mind. However, due to certain outside influences, her mind would be too broken to fight the powers of the Whip. If Chase told her to recite Shakespeare backwards in Estonian, she'd do it," she paused for a few seconds to let her words sink in. "If Chase is successful in his plan, he'll have the powers of two fire dragons. He'll be unstoppable."
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
"Why can't I do it now? I was so close during that damn Showdown," Master raged. He paced back and forth in the circular entry hall, smoke flowing from his mouth. She felt like she knew how to do what he was trying to do, but the feeling passed. If Master wanted to do something, Master would figure out how. He was Master after all.
"Control is one thing, creation is another entirely," the witch said, sitting on a ledge. She would have leapt to his defense if he hadn't ordered her to stay still. Criticism of Master was intolerable. He made the pictures of the bird-cat go away. He quieted the storm of thoughts that raged against his control.
"You're not helping. I can't concentrate with your idle chitchat," he snapped. Finally, the witch would get what was coming to her for disrespecting Master.
"You just told me to stay here, something about how you didn't want me to put a knife in your back when you weren't looking," she said, rolling her eyes. She added, too softly for Master, who was still distracted by his work, to hear: "I'd never do that."
"How am I supposed to trust you when every time I turn around you're stealing my Shen Gong Wu or teaming up with that pitiful excuse for a soup ingredient?" He yelled, a small flame erupting from his left palm. Master stopped his raging and stared at it as if the little fire was the only thing in the world.
"Wuya?" He asked in stunned disbelief. "Do you see this?" The witch nodded and stared too. Both of them mesmerized by the dancing flames. For a moment, she saw an image of herself and a green-eyed boy toasting white, gooey things from a flame on her finger, but as quickly as the thought came, it was forgotten.
*Omi to English translation: Epic win.
Yet another chapter finished. I'm almost going to be sad when I'm done with this. Either way, I promise the next chapter will be up some time around Christmas.
So...What'd you think? Everyone who reviews gets to be Chase's master for the day...Why yes. I am drop dead serious.
