I need to start working on From the Heart again. Why do I always fall behind so much? It's kind of hard to manage 6 stories at the same time though, that's probably why I can't update one story a lot anymore. Thanks everyone for the reviews (61 is the coolest number! XD) and the hits (Over 4200).

Okay, I gotta get on with it. In the future chapters, nobody will die. (waits for sighs of relief) Well, Chase will get destroyed and Wuya trapped again (haha, trapped three times in her life…I almost feel sorry for her) and all that. One day I need to write a story with a bad ending, but that day is not today. (grins)

Please read and review chapter 17, Final Battle Begins.

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Clay was terrified at the look on Chase's face, a look of malice and terrible evil. "So you all made it through alive, eh? How disappointing. Ah, well, instead of disposing of two of you at once, I can now destroy all four of you together. This plan was foolproof from the beginning. Well, perhaps not from the beginning. After all, I almost expected Jack to be a failure… but it turned out that Kimiko, that girl, has less wit than I thought she did. But the beauty of my plan is the fact that each of you care about one another. You make sacrifices for one another. You want to help each other and stay together until the end. That wish, I will grant. Today, you will die together."

"No," Clay whispered, horrified. He looked at Raimundo and Kimiko's bodies, unconscious and possibly even dead already. He looked at Omi, whose usually brave warrior's face was faltering like never before. Were they too late? Were they about to suffer the same terrible fate as their friends? Clay shuddered involuntarily.

"But you will not defeat us!" Omi said bravely. "We can stop you!"

"Can you? Can you?" Chase's deep voice was thick with derisiveness. "You are too weak and feeble! Perhaps you might defeat me one day, Omi, when you become strong enough…but I'm afraid your time has just run up. I have tried to get you to join me, but your little friends found a way to save you. I'm afraid that I am through with that thought. The only way is to kill you."

"But the four legendary warriors defeated your ancestor, Dark Young with their power of unity. Their powers did not measure up to Dark's, perhaps, but in the end it was the strong bond between them that counted!" Omi shouted with bravery in his voice that did not match the horror that covered his eyes.

"I reckon Omi's right, Chase! We might not have your power, but we have something way stronger than any power!" Clay said in a hoarse but nevertheless valiant voice.

"Ah, you are relating the present to the past, are you not? Well, I'm afraid to say, monks, that my power far surpasses the strength of any ancestor that I ever had! Nothing, not even that orb, can stop the power that I hold," Chase said smugly.

"Clay…" Raimundo's weak voice called out. "He's wrong. We can beat him."

"Yo, pardner, you gotta get your rest there," Clay said, looking concerned for the injuries that splattered Raimundo's bloody body. "Save your strength."

"All…right… but I want to help you," Raimundo said, giving Clay the faintest shadow of a smile as he lay there helpless, trying to encourage Clay. Instead, it made Clay feel horribly guilty and sad that Raimundo had hurt himself so much for the sake of Kimiko and that he himself had never done something like that, and that he wasn't fighting while he was in a good condition while the people like Raimundo and Kimiko were always fighting, struggling even when they were on the verge of death.

"No need," Clay said, turning away to hide his face. "I'll be all right."

"Yes. We will fight until we cannot fight any more!" Omi said. Then he turned to face Chase Young. "You told me that it is not the greatest warrior that wins, but the strongest will. And I will prove that me and my friends have the will to defeat you."

"That doesn't matter." Chase gave Omi a small smile. "You still remember, though, do you? I will give you another chance to join my side… to save your friends."

"Save my friends?" Omi's eyes widened and he looked at Clay. "Should I…?"

Clay shook his head. "What's the bargain?"

"You must give me that dragon, Dojo," Chase replied, his smile broadening. "With him, I shall become immortal and have no need of my other form, that hideous dragon that I become. If you give me him, I shall grant you and your friends your freedom. But if I do, you must swear to join me as well and your friends should never return to my palace."

Omi was confused and thought deeply about this. His friends? Or his freedom and Dojo's as well? He shook his head, trying desperately to think of what to do. Chase watched with pleasure as the little monk struggled.

"Omi," whispered the tiny voice of Kimiko. It was like before, soft and smooth, with a genuine sense. "Don't do it."

She reached her hand out to him and grabbed it. "Please." Omi looked deep into her blue eyes as she gave him a smile.

"But your life is at stake! I want you and Raimundo and Clay to be safe," Omi said, still not making his decision. "Your lives are at my hand. If I were to fail you, to let you three die… I could never live on."

"That isn't the way. You are risking yours and Dojo's life as well. Don't do this. We can all still fight…help you…even till the end. If we die, we can be comforted by the fact that we will all die together." A tear came sliding out of Kimiko's eye, falling onto Omi's yellow hand. He looked closely at the marks on her face, the bruises and cuts she had received during the terrible battle. She had never, not even once, given up hope on him when everyone else had. He smiled gently and lay Kimiko on the floor carefully.

"You're right." Omi winked to Clay and looked at Chase directly in the eye. "Chase Young, you want my answer? It is no."

"What?" Chase screamed in outrage. "I have given you a chance to free your friends, to let them live! Do you not understand the meaning? I am offering you your freedom, your lives! If you do not wish to accept that, then I have no choice."

Chase began to change, a transformation that Omi had seen so many times yet never gotten accustomed to. It was disgusting and fascinating at the same time, yet even through that Omi knew that it was possibly the most dangerous thing that could happen to someone. The sleek black hair disappeared into Chase's body, and the curved oval face morphed slowly into a square jaw. What had been Chase's mouth arose from his face, the mouth of a monster: jagged teeth hung from it, dangerously snapping at Omi. Claws came out of his hands and feet, and his body turned a sickly greenish brown color… a monster emerged from the human being, a terrifying monster that was evil from its head to tail. But the eyes never changed. They were evil and yellow in the human Chase as well, and they stared Omi down with a look that could scare any normal human out of their wits and make them scream.

But Omi knew that he wasn't a normal person. He had powers, and with that power he had the responsibility of being courageous and risking his life to save the lives of many others. He knew that no matter what, he could not give up right there or admit defeat by surrendering to Chase. The offer Chase had given him was a desperate measure. To have accepted that offer meant that Omi would have given up. But Omi wasn't that kind of person. He knew that no matter what happened now, he could never, ever give up. Even though Chase's form frightened him, he had to stand up to it. The entire world was depending on him and his friends.

"Orb of Tornami- Water!" Omi shouted, knowing that it wouldn't work. But that didn't matter, as long as he stalled Chase while figuring out some kind of plan.

Chase stopped the water with his sharp claws, sending it right back at Omi. Omi screamed as he was hit with the force of the entire orb, and he fell onto the ground. He looked at Clay, whose attack on Chase had also backfired.

Suddenly, Chase jumped right at Clay with his talons pointed at Clay's chest. Omi ran towards Clay, trying to save him, but in his heart he knew that he was too far away. With all his speed he kept running, but Chase had already started his strike. Suddenly, as if by an invisible force, Chase's hand was pushed out of the way and he stuttered back, his eyes wide with surprise. "What?"

Standing in the center of the area was Raimundo, standing on a rock full of his blood. His arms were in a position that Omi immediately concluded was his wind position, and he was sweating and breathing heavily. He fell to his knees again, giving Clay a thumbs-up sign. Clay stood up again, and this time he was ready to do what he could to destroy Chase Young. For Raimundo's sake, for his friends sake. And for the whole world.

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Please review! This one didn't take that long, but I thought I did pretty good on it.