Chapter 26

Disclaimer: see chapters 1-8

A/N:kk, some of u hav said that chappie 24 wasn't exactly my best work, which is probably true cuz SOMEONE thought it was necessary to hit me on da head with an ANVIL. *glares @ Hyacinth* lolz. This chapter is for da pplz who gave me all da torture ideas. So thanx, and hope ya review, cuz if ya don't, I'll send my duck after you!

~~ = time change      

Kally went outside in a shirt and breeches, ready to begin her morning exercises. She saw Chris and Jake fighting and everyone else was standing around watching. Jake was good, but not good enough, Chris beat him within minutes. She walked over to the people gathered around the two who had just finished fighting.

She smiled at Chris before asking if anyone felt brave enough to fight her. Instantly everyone challenged her, thinking that it would be easy to beat a girl. They were in for a HUGE surprise. The first challenger was Greg. He lost right after they started fighting and walked away trying to cover up his wounded pride by saying that he had gone easy on her so that she wouldn't get hurt. Next was Blake, then Jake; both lost. Jordan was the next one up, he was confident. In fact, Kally observed that he looked overly confident. They circled each other warily. Jordan feinted right then attacked on the left. He swung punches while she just either blocked or dodged. She aimed a kick for his shin and while he was busy blocking it, she shoved him hard. Taken off-guard, he fell and the match ended. She turned around to see who her next challenger was and heard something coming at her from behind. She ducked and a fist whizzed over her head, narrowly missing her ear. She threw herself down on her side and kicked out at Jordan's legs. He toppled over, halfway on top of her.

He was roughly pulled off by a red-faced, angry looking Chris. Alfredo helped Kally up. Despite plans to totally ignore her, Alfredo was one of the first to rush over to where Jordan and Kally lay.

Jennifer watched from afar and winced as she heard some of the curses that Chris was shouting at his childhood friend. Those two used to be inseparable, then Chris went off to Shang and they grew apart. She also watched Alfredo and Kally. Kally suspected something; Jennifer knew it and would have to warn Alfredo. She knew she probably wouldn't get any fighting lessons from Kally today; Chris would make sure of it. She sighed, it was time to go wake up Izzy and try to coax the girl into telling her all that had happened in her months of captivity. Most likely, they would just talk about clothes or boys. She loved her cousin, but sometimes Izzy was just so annoying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 hour later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris walked away from a thoroughly beaten Jordan. He sighed, stupid temper, stupid fist, stupid JORDAN!

"I need a drink," he muttered to himself. He walked over to where Wes, Scott, and Nick always hung out, they would have some sort of alcohol, they always did. He grabbed a mug of beer and walked over to a tree and sat down at the base of the trunk. He downed the beer and leaned his head back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes.

*world shimmers and spins making pplz dizzy, flashback begins*

"Hey! Jordan, Wait up!" The little seven-year old raced after his best friend. They were heading for there 'secret place', which was a clearing next to the lake near the Summer Palace.

Chris finally caught up with Jordan at the base of the old, gnarled tree that held their treasure. The surface of the lake sparkled a few feet away. Chris took the 'treasure chest' out of its special hiding place and plopped down on the grass across from Jordan. He ceremoniously took everything out of the box and handed each item reverently to the little boy across from him. Jordan carefully placed each item on the ground beside him. When they were through, the items on the ground included a shiny piece of glass, an old ring, a rusty dagger, and an oddly shaped rock.

"When I go to Shang, will you guard our treasure?" Chris asked.

"I'll guard it with my life. We should take an Oath of Friendship." Jordan said.

"What's that?" Chris asked.

"I dunno, I just wanted to say it. But, I think it means that we promise to be friends forever."

"Okay! That sounds cool! Let's do it!"

"Alright. Now, repeat after me. I, say you name…"

"I, say your name…"

"NO! You are supposed to say your name."

"Oh! Ok! I, Prince Chris…"

"Swear on the twisty tree and secret treasure…"

"Swear on the twisty tree and secret treasure…"

"That I will always be best friends with Jordan of the Duckyplace and always hate girls."

"That I will always be best friends with Jordan of the Duckyplace and always hate girls," Chris swore. "Because they have cooties!" he added.

"Hehe! And they scream a lot!" Blake shouted before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

*World goes all shimmery again and spins making the duck spin and fall, as flash-back ends*

Chris opened his eyes again. It was late afternoon. Jake walked over.

"What did you do?" he asked suspiciously.

"Huh?" Chris asked, confused.

"Jordan was beaten very badly. Did you have anything to do with it?"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" Chris asked a little too innocently.

Jake sighed. "Why'd you do it?" he asked.

"Why do you think I did it?" Chris's voice was filled with anger and sarcasm.

"Okay, Okay, gods, sorry. But you should apologize."

"NO!"

"Fine, I'll go tell Kally you're awake." Jake left and Kally walked over a few minutes later, not looking too happy. She plopped down beside him.

"How much did you drink?" She wanted to know.

"I only had one beer. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok. And since you only had one beer, you should be feeling well enough to go apologize to Jordan."

"Are you CRAZY?! After what he did to you?!"

"We all know I'm crazy," she rolled her eyes. "And he didn't really do anything. You overreacted."

"He tried punch you when you had your back turned. That's dishonorable and he should be punished."

"By getting beaten to near-death by the guy who pledged to be his best friend forever." Seeing Chris's confused look, she added, "Jennifer told me all about it. You may not be as close as you used to be, but you still shouldn't treat him like that. Save it for guys like Scarface or Sir Ugly."

"But he tried to hurt you; I have to protect you, or at least your honor."

"He didn't do anything to my honor, and, no offense, but how can you protect me if I fight better than you."

"It's the whole principle thingy."

"Look, I love the fact that you want to protect my honor and all, but I don't want you to lose all your friends because of it. Now go apologize. If it helps, he already apologized to me."

"Alright, I'll go. I don't want to lose all my friends either." He kissed her and left to find. Jordan. Meanwhile, she went to find Alfredo and confront him about that little secret of his.