Wedding of Darkness
Separate Ways
Chapter 21
As our heroes and Jack Spicer made their way further through the tunnel torches continued lighting up the further they walked. Their guard was up, eyes checking the surroundings, and they stayed close together in case a trap sprung into play. Knowing pppChase Young, our heroes might not have to worry yet because Chase much preferred to corner his prey before striking. It was more amusing for him that way to see the fear in his victims eyes when he had them where he wanted them. It's all apart of his sick humor.
Still Chase has also been known to bring out a few surprises when needed. Much like during his battle against Master Monk Guan for Dojo and the young monks freedom; when he pulled a few switches fire from a large hidden trap door emerged and a whole encircled area of mirrors surrounded him. Raimundo could still remember that day and the close showdown the two once friends had against each other for high stakes. The two masters were equally matched as they fought using all their skills and mind power to beat the other. If not for Master Monk Guan using a trick up his sleeve (or rather his own power against Chase Young) Dojo would have been made into soup and the monks terminated.
It was during that battle when Raimundo realized how much he wanted to be a great grand master warrior like Master Monk Guan. Always trying to prove himself to the others, training, playing in the showdowns to win the Wu, and kicking evils butt. He worked hard to fix his mistakes from the past and become not just a better person but a great leader. It wasn't easy but he finally earned the title of Suduko Warrior. Now it was his job as leader to once again save the world and Kimiko with the help of his friends.
As our heroes ventured deeper through the tunnel the temperature got warmer; it was beginning to feel like a sauna. Everybody could feel it, their bodies were starting to heat up and sweat within moments. Their throats began to go dry like the desert sand, some of their clothes had to come off, and the torches on the walls grew a bigger fire adding more heat which increased the temperature.
"Phew...it's hotter down here then our Uncle's sauna." Clay pointed out.
"You said it...Ugh...it feels more like the Texas prairie's during the summer." Jesse pointed out.
"Look let's just agree that it's getting hot down here alright?" Jermaine said a little annoyed.
The heat was starting to get to him. It was starting to get to everyone. Not just though their body but through their mind. The heat was taking its toll on everyone's minds making them get angry and talk allot.
"I have felt and endured much heat before, but this takes the pie." Omi said.
"That's take the c-Aw forget it...to hot to correct you." Raimundo said waving it off.
"Ugh...this heat makes me feel like I'm going to melt." Candace said.
"Melt? Heat can do that to a person?" Omi asked which made everyone groan or roll their eyes.
"There is something wrong with you, you know Omi." Jack said.
"There is nothing wrong with me Jack Spicer so mind your own bunker." Omi replied.
"That's business you dope." Jack corrected.
"Let's just keep going and quit the arguing okay? We can't be much further from an exit." Raimundo told them.
Little did they know that from his all powerful Seeing Eye, Chase Young could see the young heroes working their way through the heat to get to him. He knew they would try to sneak into his palace so used his powers to turn up the heat. What better way to slow the Xiaolin heroes for a while then with a heat wave?
This would keep them occupied until he could finish up the preparations. Once they got close enough he'd send his jungle cats to keep them occupied long enough to marry Kimiko and make her drink his soup. Only then would his plans for world domination be complete and the monks would be destroied.
He continued to watch the monks and Jack carry on through the heat wave until they reached a fork in the road. Chase smirked seeing this because this would only make things more interesting and fun.
For him that is.
With a wave of his hand above the eye the temperature rose a little higher while our heroes while deciding on who goes down which path on the fork in the road.
"Oh...the heat is so insynce..." Omi said waving his hand in front of his face.
"Intense...ugh but yeah it's too much." Raimundo said.
"We might have better luck cooling off down these dark tunnels if we split up and move swiftly. Okay...Clay, Jermaine, Candace, Dojo, and Tiffany will go right. The rest of us will go left."
"Okay, okay..let's just get moving before I sweat into nothing but skin and bones." Dojo said coming out and panting from inside Clay's hat.
"I haven't been this hot since we went to the center of the Earth."
"You guys went down to the center of the Earth?" Jermaine asked raising an eyebrow.
"Oh well you see th-" Jack began but was interrupted.
"Long story...we'll tell you about it later." Clay replied using his hat as a fan.
"Let's move people..." Raimundo said making a hand motion and the two teams split down the paths.
Along the way down the paths, the flow of heat kept following our heroes like a bad driving record. It was as though the heat was stuck on the 'On' button and there was was no way to turn it off. The only way now was to continue forward until there came an exit.
Nobody knew where these tunnels lead too nor did they know what awaited them. The only few things our heroes knew were to be prepared, keep your guard up, and hurry along out of this heat before faint came over.
Chase continued to watch our heroes though the all seeing eye; awaiting for them to reach the end of the tunnels where he had set up a few traps for our heroes. Nothing would be given away just yet, but thing were going to heat up soon.
Since our heroes split into groups going down two different paths, they landed in different areas of Chase's palace. Clay's group ended up in the room where Chase and Master Monk Guan fought for Dojo and the monks freedom. Everything was as it was when they first came too this room. The only difference was the huge pot in the center was no longer there.
When Dojo realized where they were he freaked out and hid under Clay's hat in fear. Clay could feel his hat shake from Dojo's body shaking like a leaf. He tried to comfort Dojo with calming words which helped out a little, but Dojo was still a little scared. He knew he had to be brave for the monks and Kimiko, so he took some deep breathes to help him calm down.
"Why's your dragon freaking out so much over this room?" Tiffany asked Clay.
"It's not a pretty story. I don't think Dojo would want to hear about what almost happened." Clay replied.
"Suit yourself." She said shrugging.
"Okay so where do we go from here?" Candace asked.
"Hm...*scaning the room when he sees a door frame with stairs going up* Over there, there's some stairs leading up. I don't know where, but hopefully it'll lead us close to Kimiko." Clay told them.
So they walked towards the stairs thinking everything was going smoothly and they were in the clear. Until a gate came down and blocked the stairway. Followed by a group of jungle cats coming out from different sections of the room growling and creeping up on our heroes. They moved slowly towards the group inch by inch to add chills and tension to our heroes. The jungle cats could smell their fear which made them smirk as they drew closer waiting for the moment to jump in for the kill.
Now our heroes knew they had to act fast or become a five course meal. Dojo quickly took notice of this when he peeked from Clay's hat hearing the jungle cat's growling. At first he freaked out seeing those hungry carnivorous cats, but he then took notice of everyone else in their state of shock. Nobody was moving not that they could be blamed for tha due to the jungle cats closing in. It looked like fear had control of our heroes bodies and all hope was lost; however, Dojo noticed the Third Arm Sash on Candace and quickly yelled out its name.
The Wu activated, reaching out and grabbing a tiger. It held the tiger tight in its grip while waving side to side with the beast in it's hold. Those jungle cats didn't have time to react as the sash knocked them out into the side walls. Those cats were knocked out in seconds due to the strong force of the sash and the use of using another jungle cat like a wreaking ball. Once all the cats were knocked out the sash threw the cat it was holding hard against the wall before returning to normal.
Seeing what just happened shocked and stunned and surprised everyone. They certainly didn't see that coming let alone Dojo acting fast to save them. It took a few moments before anyone finally spoke up.
"Wow...That was...wow..." Was all Tiffany could say.
"Boy howdy I ain't never seen a stunt like that pulled off." Clay said tipping his hat.
"Well you kids were frozen in fear and those jungle cats looked hungry. Ain't no way I was dying by being dinner." Dojo explained.
"Good thing you stepped in or we'd all be cat chow." Stacy replied.
"Don't remind me..."Dojo said gulping.
"Now about that gate..."
Though the jungle cats had been defeated the gate that blocked the stairway was still in place. You'd think after taking down an good group/pack of those wild beasts would be enough to open the gate. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough which meant there was another way of opening the gate.
Thinking that maybe there was a switch hidden somewhere in the room the group spread out and began too search. They looked on the floor and felt around on the walls for anything that could trigger the gate to open.
Then it occurred to Jermanie...
"Hey if The Third Arm Sash can take down a bunch of cats, why couldn't it pull the bars off of the gate?"
D'oh!
Dojo and Clay literally slapped themselves on the face for not thinking of that. It was such an obvious answer that was right in front of them. Use the Shen Gong Wu to create an exit and move on.
So Candace gave it a try calling out the Wu's name and watching with everyone else as the Third Arm Sash grabbed a bar and tried to rip it apart. It pulled with all its might, but something was wrong. The bar on the gate wasn't budging or having any affect from the Wu.
Like it was Wu proof.
"Darn thing won't budge an inch!" Candace complained.
"Let me have a try with this here magic comb." Tiffany suggested pointing to the Tangled Web Comb in her hand.
She said the Wu's name, aiming it at the bars and once it had a hold of it Tiffany was pulling or trying to pull with the comb. She pulled as hard as she could, holding onto the Wu, walking a few steps back, but her struggle with pulling off at least one bar wasn't making any process.
What the heck was with this gate?!
Everyone else noticed the struggle Tiffany was having with this gate, so Clay got involved having Tiffany take a break while he took a gander at this gate. Clearing his mind, Clay focused on the task at hand; using his strength, gripping ahold of the bars, trying to pull them apart. The harder Clay pulled the more his hands grew red, sweat dripped down his face, and pain was shooting into his hands. Ignoring the pain to focus on the task wasn't making a difference making Clay pull back to shake his hands.
"Woo! That gates stronger than a bull with a broken leg pulling a tractor." Clay said.
"Looks like I'll need to try a something else. Wudi Crater Earth!"
Summoning the power of the Earth underneath him the ground began to shake, cracks spread out to where Clay stood, and then...
Blood chilling screams of pain from our heroes broke out. They had just been electrocuted by this sudden force of electricity that shot out all over the room. Bolts of lightning struck our heroes with thousands of electricity shooting through their bodies to the point that they were knocked unconscious. Their bodies grew a burning sensation, pain growing, hearts racing, and when the lightning disappeared everybody was on the floor out cold.
When that happened the gate opened only to have Chase Young come into the room up too where our heroes laid unconscious. He looked down at the group feeling no guilt nor worry for them. Satisfaction and triumph were the only emotions that played on his face right now. He smiled an evil smile showing off his fangs before chuckling evily. That's one group down and only one to go.
Meanwhile...
Our other group of heroes and Jack were finally out of the heat. The tunnel they went down lead them straight too a black door. Curious our heroes had Jack open the door first in case of any traps then only Jack would get hurt. Groaning in annoyance he first tried to pull the door open but it would not budge. He tried using all the strength in him (which wasn't allot) to pull it open with nothing happening. He tried once more until Omi kicked Jack into the door which pushed open knocking Jack into a wall.
"Ow..." Was all he could say.
Looking both way to make sure the coast was clear, Raimundo singled everyone out before closing the door behind him.
"Okay we're officially in Chase's palace, but now we're back with another fork in the road." Raimundo explained.
"Fork? *looking around* Where is this fork you speak of that's on the road?" Omi asked curiously seeking the fork.
"It's a metaphor Omi as in two different paths to take like back in the tunnel." Raimundo explained to Omi who made an 'Oh' gesture with his mouth and nodded.
"Looks like we'll have to split up again."
"Agreed, I will go left with Jack Spicer while you and Sandy go right Raimundo." Omi said.
"Works for me." Sandy replied.
"Okay let's get to it." Rai said.
"Ow..." Jack said still up against the wall in pain from that kick.
Omi sighed, grabbed Jack's coat sleeve, and dragged him down the hallway with ease. Raimundo and Sandy went the other way leaving the hallway empty once more.
Don't worry mores to come, but this chapter ends with a cliffhanger
You read what happened to one group but what'll happen to the others?
Who really knows?
Stay tune too find out and don't forget to leave a comment thank you