Disclaimer: I wish I did own Xiaolin Showdown, but sadly, I do not. Also the song is by Slipknot, and I really do wish I owned them (drool).
In this chapter, we see the plot behind Chase's plan and see what Blaise does in her free time.
Clever Cat
The Virus of Life
I can see you, but you can't see me
I could touch you and you wouldn't even feel me
Wait a second and you'll settle down
I'm just waiting 'till you really let your guard down
You're relaxed
You're sublime
You're amazing
You don't even know the danger you're facing
If I'm quiet, I'll slide up behind you
And if you hear me I'll enjoy trying to find you
I've been with you all day
I'm trying to stay calm
I'm impatient and it's really hard to breathe
I'm going to empty you and fill you in with me
Just keep the violence down
Not yet - don't make a sound
Oh God I'm feeling it
It's reaching fever pitch
My skin is caving in
My heart is driving out
No mercy, no remorse
Let nature take its course
Watching – BRING ME TO MY KNEES
Waiting – I AM YOUR DISEASE
Lover – SET MY SYMPTOM FREE
Covered – YOU CAN'T STOP ME
I'm sweating through my veins
I'm trying to hold on
It's unbearable, it's almost worse for me
I'm gonna tear you apart and make you see – make you see
Watching – BRING ME TO MY KNEES
Waiting – I AM YOUR DISEASE
Lover – SET MY SYMPTOM FREE
Covered – YOU CAN'T STOP ME
This is the virus, the virus of life
This is inside us, the crisis, the knife
This is the virus, the virus of life
This is inside us, the crisis, the knife
It's almost time to play/ It's time to be afraid
I can't control the pain/ I can't control in vain
Oh God I'm ready now/ You're almost ready now
I'm gonna love you now/ I'm gonna put you down
I see you in the dark/ I see you all the way
I see you in the light/ I see you plain as day
I wanna touch your face/ I wanna touch your soul
I wanna wear your face/ I wanna burn your soul
Watching – BRING ME TO MY KNEES
Waiting – I AM YOUR DISEASE
Lover – SET MY SYMPTOM FREE
Covered – YOU CAN'T STOP ME
This is the virus, the virus of life.
This is the virus, the virus of life.
This is the virus, the virus of life.
This is the virus, the virus of life.
THIS IS THE VIRUS, THE VIRUS OF LIFE.
THIS IS THE VIRUS, THE VIRUS OF LIFE.
THIS IS THE VIRUS, THE VIRUS OF LIFE.
THIS IS THE VIRUS, THE VIRUS OF LIFE.
(-)
Chase awoke with a start. His arms felt… cold, but the top of his chest was warm. He looked down. Blaise's head was rested on his chest, her arm around his stomach and her short blonde hair flicked about here and there. His left arm was under her neck and around her shoulders. A smile full of malice spread across his face, remembering what he had done just a few hours before. For a few seconds, he stroked her soft hair, savouring the heat of her body before he got up. He lifted her gently and placed a pillow underneath her so she didn't wake up.
He very quietly got dressed and headed out to the room he most liked to meditate in, the one with the scene-changing ceiling. The glass dome reflected his mood perfectly. It was a bright sunny morning; the sky was painted soft blue with gold, pink, orange and pure white clouds. The sun was half-hidden behind a large gold and pink cumulus. The room was circular with deep blue floors and walls. When he stood in the middle of the room the sky changed to a clear starry night. He sighed and sat down among the air current so it looked like he was floating, closing his eyes as he planned his next move. Making a soft whistling noise, hundreds of candles suddenly lit and floated around. Thoughts clouded his mind.
He knew Omi was the original target, but Blaise was much more important now. She would go home to her island and not return for five days, as her usual routine would go. Omi would be easy to lure into a trap, as his purpose was to protect Shen Gong Wu from evil. Wuya could sense them, making it easier for Chase to find the right moment. All he needed to do with Blaise was "persuade" her to give up the Vermillion bracelet as soon as it became active and Wuya would be sure to inform him then. Blaise may be faster than him, but if he did get Omi to swear loyalty he could fuse his power, making him faster and stronger than ever. Blaise won't stand a chance. It was so easy that he could do it blindfolded. He stayed there for two hours, tying everything down to the very last detail. It became much clearer of what he had to do.
The air became a little colder and a slight hint of rotting and decay surrounded him.
"Can't sleep Wuya?" Chase still sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.
"You know I don't sleep Chase. Such pleasures as this are out of my range of being, you know this."
There was a loud yawn behind him, he half opened his eyes and turned around to find Blaise walking towards him, fully dressed with her hair a little messy. She was rubbing her eyes in a tired fashion and she stumbled a little when she yawned. Wuya stared incredulously from Blaise to Chase, putting two and two together, as only Wuya could.
If anything her trousers looked even baggier then before Chase had slipped them off her. He remembered how slim and slender her long, lean legs were. So curved and tapered. He also noticed that she tied the back of her top where he had ripped it off her.
Blaise grabbed an apple from a nearby table and bit into it, still rubbing her eyes.
"What time is it?" she said wearily.
"Half nine." Chase replied, giving the clock tower a glance. Blaise yawned again.
"Okay, I gotta go before the boys wake up and get hungry for computer games. See you later, yeah?"
"Five days, as always Blaise."
She blew him a kiss and ripped open a portal. She stumbled slightly as she stepped through it. As soon as that portal closed, Wuya exploded into a rant.
"WHAT WAS THAT? WHY WAS SHE HERE? WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"
"Slow down Wuya, one at a time." He closed his eyes again. He was enjoying the less than subtle hints of jealousy in her cackling voice.
"WHAT have you been DOING with her?" She snarled.
Chase looked up at the shimmering ghost and snickered, "Can't you guess?"
Wuya looked murderous. She went into angry monosyllabic outbursts of rage for a few minutes until she finally asked, "So you… and her… and,"
"Yes, Wuya."
"Ugh, you have GOT to be joking!"
"No joke but do not fret, it is all part of the plan."
"So it was all part of you plan to do-"
"Well, that just tied in with it really."
Her ghostly form rippled with fearsome rage. She was saying something, but Chase had trailed off into his own thoughts. Shen Gong Wu… When Wuya senses the next one, I will have to go after it. If I take it back here, Omi will be sure to come and get it, and he will come alone. He doesn't want to get his friends into a mess that he had accidentally created. But his friends care too much… Funny though… they are a joke next to Omi, powerless. Nevertheless they are no threat. It won't take much for Omi to see sense. If he doesn't… I will have to make him see it and if that means killing Earth, Fire and Wind then so be it. But Tetra Elemental, he may be a challenge… that fool Fung has been belittling Omi for years.
Wuya was still talking. Chase drowned out what she was saying by singing a Latin song in his head. Eventually when he heard a slight pause he decided to interrupt her.
"I need you to inform me when the next Shen Gong Wu becomes active. I have a feeling Omi's time for good is running out."
"What's the point?" She hissed. "You didn't even bother to go after the last three Shen Gong Wu."
"I am not interested in your little magical toys. When I feel like it I'll go get you some. Right now I have more important matters; like delivering Omi to our evil ways." An insane smile spread across his face. It stretched so far that he morphed into his reptilian form. The smile grew over his vicious elongated jaws, his dripping serrated teeth gleaming with malice. His fearsome yellow eyes glinted, inspiration running through the scales of his body. It was so simple, so clear of what he had to do.
Wuya was much too angry to realise how dangerous Chase was now. "I don't understand!" The raised her ghostly arms up. "Why are you wasting your time with that runt of a monk?"
A hot surge of anger ran through him. His scales stood on and he thrust his face right into Wuya's. "THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" He snarled. Wuya flew backwards, away from him. Claming down, his body glowed and he changed back to a human, crossing his legs and sitting in the currents of air that passed around him. He had forgotten how many times he had to explain this to her.
"Kindly leave me to my plans." Calm as he could be, he closed his eyes and ran over what he had to do.
Wuya blinked at him, but took on a sultry, even alluring look.
"Such command," she sighed and batted her non-existent eyelashes, "such authority. Why if I was five hundred years younger, and had a body…"
Chase flinched and growled.
Idiot.
(-)
Everything was planned. Chase was ready and raring to go and he knew it wouldn't be long until a new Shen Gong Wu would activate, he just had to be patient.
To pass the time he trained with Wuya silently watching and sighing with delight in the corner. There was a room in his palace that he completely destroyed again and again, and then he fixed it again and again. It always took forever, but you had to be patient. The best part about it was that the room was completely blank, no chairs or desks or anything, even the walls were white. You could just punch and kick and blast the walls until everything was reduced to rubble. It was a great way to get your anger out. But anger didn't fill the room; he was gripped with an insane excitement. He forgot how strong it made you feel when you were you were ready for something that you knew you could do and it would make your life so much better. Not only that but nothing was better that waking up in the morning next to a beautiful woman, all the thoughts of the night before rushing through you.
He was through three quarters of the room until he spotted Wuya writhing and glowing.
"Chase, " she cried, "A new Shen Gong Wu has revealed itself. It's… the Wushun Geyser."
He nodded and headed out to ruin the world, as we know it.
(-)
"It's all ready, Chase." Jack Spicer chirped, coming around the corridor and rubbing the oil off his hands with a ragged cloth.
"Excellent." Chase stayed expressionless. He passed a small bag to Jack. As it shook, an audible chink of metal emitted from it.
"Seven of these should be enough to build you a new arm of robots, or at least something useful for that matter. Now get out of my sight."
"Hey hey hey, wait a sec!" Jack said insolently. "I think you should give me a bit more respect, man. I just built an electronic torture chamber in the space of twelve hours. Cut me some slack."
Chase cracked his knuckles threateningly. "I'll cut you something Spicer and it will be more than slack if you don't-leave-right-NOW! Don't think I have forgotten about the Sphere of Yun."
Jack gave a shrill little scream and flew off. Chase walked into the new room. He had to admit it to himself that even though Spicer was incredibly annoying and weak, he was an electronic genius. The devices were impressive and despite what a klutz Spicer was, everything was neat and clean. It was perfect.
(-)
You would guess that by the point that Chase had finally turned Omi over to his side with trickery, he would not spare a minute to get Blaise to give up the Vermillion bracelet, but part of him was worried… or at least he thought it was worry. His heart felt low down in his chest and it beat slowly, his head hurt and he felt like it was suddenly a good idea to put it through a wall. His new power of water control and his increase in speed and strength, thanks to turning Omi into a cat, did make him feel a little lighter on his feet, but not lighter in his head.
Omi was sitting in the corner cleaning the back of his long ears with his paws, his fluffy tail flicking backwards and forwards. Despite being forced to stay with Chase as a servant on the side of evil, he seemed a little more content than a day before when he had to chase his own friends out of the cave. He lay down on all fours and kept his head up, awaiting his next instruction and looking at Chase, who just stood there staring into space with a slight frown. Wuya, now that her human form returned to her, sat on the edge of a desk filing her nails. Chase looked at Omi and threw a folded piece of the paper at his feet.
"I want you to bring this to Blaise. When you get there you mustn't talk to anyone, not even Blaise, just give her that piece of paper and then she will bring you back here. Understand?"
"Yes, but how will I get there. I do not know where Blaise lives."
Chase put his right hand up his left sleeve and drew out a tiny purple crystal. He threw it to the ground and it exploded, ripping open a hole in the air.
"Take this portal. If Blaise is not on the bottom floor then she is in the attic. Don't forget that you must not speak to anyone, even if they speak to you. Now get going."
Omi picked up the piece of paper with his new fangs and jumped into the portal. Flying through it reminded him of The Golden Tiger Claws. When he got to the other side he was hurled out, but landed on his feet. He liked the way he was slightly more nimble now, and the way he could walk on all fours without hurting his back. He stood on a soft deep green grass outside a big pastel white house with a redbrick roof. Supposing this was Blaise's home, he walked inside the open front door. The place smelled serenely like grapefruit and strawberries. Running around the wide first floor, he noticed how soft the place was. It was very homely, just simple like Clay's home, but with a touch more class and less bullhorns on the walls.
Omi ran up the oak staircase after he ran around the first floor and acknowledged that Blaise was not there, therefore she must be in the attic as Chase had said. Looking up, he saw that there was about four or five more storeys to the house, even though it didn't look as big on the outside. He had gotten up to the third storey when he heard people talking to each other, and what sounded like muffled gunshot.
"No, man you can't do that! You go to the right hand side after you kill the red guys."
"No, look dude, I'm telling you, you have to take the first storey down to the basement and then go left!"
"You're both nuts," said a third voice, "You have to get to the next level way before you start any of that!"
There was more muffled gunshot and what sounded like someone pressing buttons. Omi walked into the room on the left to see three men, sitting on a couch playing a video game. They all looked more or less the same, long hair to their shoulders and baggy trousers with blue t-shirts. One of them on the right had slight facial hair and the one in the middle had very light blonde hair. The last one had brown hair and was bent over, concentrating on the game.
"You see! I told you," said the last one with the brown hair, "I knew it was on the next level!"
"Yeah yeah yeah…" muttered the middle one.
"Aww man, how did you know that?" The one with the facial hair threw his controller to the ground and folded his arms.
Omi was about to ask them where Blaise was, but then he remembered what Chase had said. Thinking about how to grab their attention, he decided it was best to just say something, just not in English.
"Mrrrrow…" he mewed quietly, which just meant excuse me. The three men turned around.
"A cat?"
"Blaise doesn't have any cats."
"It looks like one of Chase's cats, but then again it looks kinda runty don't you think?"
They went back to playing games, Omi just stood there patiently waiting for them to give him some directions. The one with the facial hair had caught him looking at them.
"Top floor, Blaise should be up there painting." He muttered to Omi.
"Yeah, story of her life." The blonde one sniggered.
"Hoe long has she been working on that thing?" The guy with the brown hair had just missed his target on the game and groaned. The game shouted at them ONE MORE HIT LEFT!
"About four decades now. I don't get it, it looks great to me, I mean if it's not broken don't fix it, you know what I'm sayin'." Omi was already out of the room and starting on the next flight of stairs when he heard GAME OVER and three loud groans and someone said, "That was all your fault, Dan!"
"ME! You were…"
He finally got to the top when he was faced with a large oak door. He pushed his way through it and entered a huge room, about the size of the inside of a cathedral and just as high. It has to be magic, he thought, it just has to be. There were paints and paintbrushes and bottles of varnish everywhere. The ground was speckled with all different colours of paint and some of the small tables were covered with cloths. Old yellowing drawings and sketches littered the floor and several clay models of dragons and faces stood randomly around the place. The room even smelled of art, of drying paint and pencil filings. He could see Blaise on a ladder painting a huge painting, the size of the wall, all the way across and up. It was a huge castle with a dragon breathing fire in front of it. It looked like night time and there was a dragon one the left and in the middle to the right was a huge Xiaolin army, each character was life size and incredibly realistic. Should the painting have not have been frozen Omi could have sworn he stepped into a new land. He walked closer to the painting. The painted sky was filled with stars and it had three moons, the castle was on top of a hill and the army filled the bottom of the page. It was amazing.
Blaise was painting very fine scales on the dragon, but from what Omi could tell the painting was perfect. He could also see that she had painted herself near the front of the army in thick armour, holding a large silver scythe with a wooden handle in a battle stance. A younger Chase was near her, waving a naganata. His hair was shorter and his armour was different, but he could tell it was Chase. It was so realistic. He dared himself to touch it, just to see if it really was real. It was like a mirror that didn't reflect the opposing image, but a new one entirely. Omi purred loudly at, enjoying the beauty of the wall.
Blaise jumped slightly at his noise and looked down at him. She slid down the ladder by her heels and gently laid her paintbrush on a nearby table.
"Well hello there," she bent down and scratched Omi behind the ears, much to his delight, "now what's your name?"
Omi bent his head away from her. He didn't expect how much that sentence would hurt him. His big round eyes welled up with tears. She didn't even recognise him, and it hurt so much. He spat the note out at her feet. She picked it up and unfolded it.
"Blaise," she read, "You have to get down here. Chase."
She stared at Omi and frowned. "Is he okay?" Omi purred.
"Okay, let's go then," she scooped him up in her right arm and hugged him close, "You sure are cute, I'll give you that." She raised her left arm up and brought it quickly down, ripping a portal open.
She scratched Omi behind the ears again and stepped into the portal back to Chase's home, and to her end.