Disclaimer;

"Whoa, this is Keanu Aragon Reeves and I would just like to totally inform you that my good buddy Darth Maud-Dib, totally doesn't own Xiaolin Showdown. He did create that awesome babe Lady Rin, and her wicked cool pals the fallen Dragons.

"Anyhow, before I go I just want to say that I totally see in your eyes the same fear that would take me. Dudes, there may come a time when we break our bonds of fellowship and totally forsake our fellow man, but that is so not this day. Today we fight and drive a wicked bus, 'cause if the bus full of cats goes under fifty-five miles an hour it'll totally explode. Most excellent!"

Chapter Seven

Evil Alliance

Alexander Argos floated within the empty darkness that was his mind. He drifted aimlessly trying to remember how he had ended up here, but his mind was unable to focus on one specific memory. All around him images of his past flared to life like a streak of lightning and then faded just as quickly. In one flash he saw himself playing in a courtyard with a kid in red robes. Another flash showed him fighting besides a girl with raven hair. He knew that he should recognize these people but he still couldn't remember.

A cold wind passed over and caused a sharp pain in his chest. Alex looked down and noticed a scar running across his upper torso. Another flash of lightning showed him fighting a kid in red robes with wind swirling around him. Anger rose in Alex while the flash faded and another flared. This flash lasted longer than the one before and brought with it clarity. He remembered his battle with Raimundo. He remembered Raimundo using his sword to finish him. Alex lashed out at the image but it faded before he could reach it.

The darkness slowly began to brighten as Alex began to remember more and more. He felt a familiar presence and willed himself towards it. As he followed it, one last flash of lightning sparked to life revealing Raimundo laughing with his friends. Alex smashed his way through the image burning with fury.

Alex awoke on a large bed in a wide spacious room. The room had a small mahogany table in the center and a wide bookcase to the left of the bed. He sat up and noticed Ayane sleeping next to him. He slowly climbed out of bed and felt a slight pain on his chest. Glancing under his tunic he saw that his ribs were bandaged. Walking around the room, Alex scanned the area searching for any clue as to how he ended up in this place.

"Finally awake." Alex turned around and saw Ayane sitting up on the bed.

Alex smiled over at her. "How long was I asleep?"

"About two day's." Ayane moved to the corner of the bed. "The boss lady's been treating your wounds, so ya should be back to full strength in a few days."

"What happened?"

"I wasn't around for details, but somehow the stupid Dragons beat Lady Rin and escaped."

Alex felt another pulse of anger wash over him. "And where are we now?"

"Full'a questions aren't ya?" Ayane smiled playfully. "I'm not sure of our exact location, but we're in Chase Young's citadel."

"Okay." Alex began to wonder how they ended up in the hands of a man he barely even heard off. He walked over to a pair of large, dull colored, double doors and pushed them open. He nearly jumped back when he saw two leopards standing ready to maul him. "Whoa, what's with the big cats?"

"They're supposed ta be guards. Ya know, ta make sure we don't go anywhere." Ayane hopped off the bed and strolled over towards the jungle cat starring them in the eyes. "Step aside and let us pass."

Alex smiled as the two leopards complied with her order. "I guess nobody told this Chase guy that the Dragon of fauna has power over all animals."

"Apparently." Ayane pulled him down a stone corridor. "Let's find Rin and Bob."

"So are we prisoners or guests?"

"I'm not sure." Ayane led Alex through the passageways. They passed several doors and even more jungle cats before they heard the sound of people talking. They traced the voices to a large open chamber and walked in. Rin floated cross legged and Bob stood next to her in the center of the camber. He looked over to his left and saw a young looking man with dark hair and armor sitting on a red throne with a woman in a black dress by his side.

"It seems our other guest has regained consciousness." The man on the throne smiled at him as he and Ayane joined Rin.

Rin smiled warmly at Alex then motioned towards their host. "Alex, meet Chase Young and Wuya."

Alex nodded towards them. "Charmed."

"As you should be, child," Wuya stated coldly.

"Now, now Wuya, play nice." Chase glanced at her for a moment then looked back towards Rin. "So, have you given any more thought on sharing information about the Chest of Oda?"

Rin laughed lightly. "I've told you the history of it already."

"Yes but we already knew that," Wuya snapped.

"I have graciously allowed you and your friends to rest in my home," Chase leaned forward.

"You've attempted to hold us here," Rin corrected.

"There is no reason for us to be enemies. I have the Chest of Oda, and you seem to know more about it than Wuya."

Alex leaned over to Ayane's ear. "He has the chest?"

"He took it after the Dragons left," Ayane whispered back.

Rin held her gaze on Chase. "And I intend to keep things that way, but since you do have my chest, perhaps we can come to an arrangement."

Chase smiled as he leaned back. "I'm glad you see things my way. You will help us open this chest and in return we will help you destroy the Xiaolin Monks."

"And how can I be sure you will keep your word?" Rin adjusted how she sat in midair.

"You can't," Chase stated plainly.

"Be glad that we are willing to share the power of the chest at all." Wuya fixed her bitter stare on Rin. "If not for us, then you would still be lying broken in the forest."

"You brought us here because you know I'm the only one with the knowledge and power to open it." Rin defiantly stared at Wuya.

"Whatever the reason may have been, the fact remains that we each have something the other needs." Chase held up a hand to cut Wuya off before she could reply. "Now how can I be sure that you won't betray me?"

Rin smiled and lowered her feet to the floor. "You can't."

(-)

"Out of my way!" Jack kicked Omi from behind as they ran along a narrow bridge.

Raimundo stood next to Kimiko, Clay, and Dojo, on a large pillar over looking a spiraling bridge that curved around them. They had left the temple early this morning in search of a new Shen Gong Wu, but Jack managed to grab it and fly off. They tracked him to another Wu and Omi ended up challenging Jack. Raimundo watched as Omi climbed back onto the bridge. Jack had gained a sizable lead and stopped to look to see how much farther he had to go.

Jack activated his hover boots and began to fly up, but he stopped once he was half way to the Wu and turned back towards Omi. "Gee it's too bad you aren't a genius like me, then maybe you'd stand a chance against Jack Spicer, master of evil."

"It is too bad that you have not learned from past mistakes." Omi pulled out the Wu he wagered. "Orb of Tornami." A powerful wave of water slammed into Jack and sent him flying over the other Dragons. Omi then used the orb to build an ice ramp and ran to the top of the bridge. Just as soon as Omi claimed his prize the ground around them reverted to normal.

"Way to go good buddy." Clay clapped Omi on the back.

"Now thanks to me, we have the Holy Chi Glove and whatever this one is called." Omi held up a chrome ball that was slightly smaller than a baseball.

"Maybe next time you won't forget to bring the scroll," Dojo muttered as he elongated.

"We can figure it out once we get back home." Raimundo climbed onto Dojo's back along with the others.

The journey back to the temple didn't take long. Once they landed and talked with Master Fung, they headed out to the courtyard to train. Raimundo and Clay set up two training dummies while Master Fung told them about the chrome Wu. "The Shen Gong Wu you have recovered will be extremely useful in the fight against evil. The Holy Chi Glove will greatly increase the power's of one filled with good chi, but if worn by evil, it will turn their dark chi into good."

"Kinda like that glove Alex and Ayane stole from us a while back," Kimiko said.

The old master nodded. "It is in fact the opposite of that glove, its yin to our yang."

"So what does the other one do?" Raimundo finished setting up the dummy and joined the others followed by Clay.

"The Kamikaze Elf is also a most useful tool to battle an enemy."

Omi stepped forward. "Please allow me to be the first to use it, Master."

"Why do you get to go first?" Raimundo complained.

"Very well Omi." Master Fung handed him the chrome ball. "But I must warn…"

"Kamikaze Elf!" Omi shouted. Raimundo watched as the orb morphed into a tiny chrome elf and leapt out of Omi's hand hooting and hollering like it was insane. Master Fung stepped back while the tiny elf sprinted towards the first dummy. Halfway to the dummy it did a one eighty and ran back towards Omi. It jumped straight on to his chest and began to laugh like a mad man as it exploded. The blast sent Omi flying high up into the air.

"Whoa," Kimiko exclaimed as Omi flew up. After a few moments Omi finally crashed into the ground.

"As I tried to warn you, the Kamikaze Elf is dangerous because it well turn back on you if you do not remain fully focused on your target." Master Fung looked down at Omi as the Wu reappeared in his hand.

"On second thought, I'm glad I didn't go first." Raimundo helped Omi to his feet and suppressed a grin.

"I'll give it a try." Kimiko took the ball from Omi.

"Whoa, hold on little lady." Clay held up his hands.

"You don't have ta worry about me." Kimiko smiled.

"Good to know, but I don' wanna be standin' next to you if you explode." Clay moved over to Master Fung.

"Besides, maybe Omi wants to give it another try." Raimundo helped Omi walk over to Clay.

Omi flopped down and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh no, I have had my fill for now giant monkey."

"That had better have been because you're still smoking baldy." Raimundo glared at Omi.

Kimiko activated the Wu and it again changed into a tiny chrome elf and sprinted, howling like crazy, towards the dummy. This time the elf stayed on target and exploded on the dummy. "I just have better self control than you guys." She held out her hand as the Wu reappeared.

(-)

Alex walked down the narrow stairwell that led to the vault room below the warehouse. He followed behind Rin and the others still thinking about everything that had happened at Chases' lair. "We're really going to work with that guy."

"For the moment." Rin's voice held a bitter tone as she sat on the table's edge and crossed her legs. "He took the chest while I was weakened, so until we can get it back we don't have much of a choice."

"So what do we do now?" Ayane picked up the Tongue of Saiping and tied the Third Arm Sash around her Waist.

"The way I see it we've got two problems." Alex walked around to his shelf and picked up the Shard of Lightning and Mantis Flip Coin. "One we gotta deal with Chase Young and two we still have the Xiaolin punks to worry about." He tucked the Wu into his belt.

"Plus we still need ta find a way ta open the chest ourselves." Ayane pocketed the tongue.

"I have a few theories on how to do that," Rin stated.

Bob slipped the Two Ton Tunic over his head. "You figured out how to open the chest?"

"After Alex told me about the spear he saw, I remembered seeing a monk in the minds of the Dragons, who wielded a spear." Rin glanced at Alex.

Alex remembered the odd vision that the chest had shown him, but he still didn't fully understand it himself. "You know where to find the spear?"

Rin nodded in reply. "We need the Spear of Guan."

"Where do we find this spear?" Bob asked.

"Finding it should prove easy." Rin glanced around the room. "The trick is getting it without Chase learning about it."

Ayane leaned against the wall. "So you don't trust him then."

"Hardly," Rin laughed. "And I trust Wuya even less. The first chance we get, we are going take back the chest and get rid of those two."

"So what are we gonna do in the mean time?" Alex asked.

Rin paused to think for a minute then glanced over to Ayane. "Ayane, you will go back with me to his citadel. Since he is so found of cats, it should be easy for you to maneuver around his feline guards." She then looked over at Alex. "And after what happened before; I think we need to strengthen ourselves before we make a move against the Dragons."

"What did you have in mind?" Alex inquired.

"It's time we evened the playing field," Rin explained. "The Xiaolin warriors often use the Shen Gong Wu and they have their Wudai Weapon's. It's time we found yours."

Alex smiled at the thought of holding his old weapon again. His mind flashed back to when he had fought Raimundo and he had used his sword to finish him. Alex felt his anger rising and pushed it back down. Once he had his Wudai Weapon then the next time he fought Raimundo would be radically different.

(-)

Beams of sunlight filtered through the morning clouds as Chase strode down the corridor towards his throne room. Almost a full day had past since he allowed Lady Rin and her ensemble leave, but he wasn't worried. He was sure that she would return if only for a chance to steal the chest from him. She would try sooner or later but he would easily deal with her when the time came for it. The only real concern was her companions, especially the girl Ayane and the silver haired boy. He caught a faint glimpse of their power when he found them, but what he felt when they walked into his meeting with Rin had surprised him.

Turning the corner Chase tried to think of the reason he felt that way, but none came to mind. In the end it did not matter, if they stood in his way then they would be swept aside with any other annoyance that got in his way. He turned into the throne room and found Wuya standing over the Chest of Oda. "Find anything useful?"

"Nothing at all." Wuya glanced at him for a moment.

"Really, an ancient Heylin witch knows nothing of a chest belonging to the ancient Heylin?" Chase stepped over to Wuya.

"I've merely heard legends."

"You wouldn't be holding out on me would you?"

"I would have thought you knew me better than that." Wuya forced a smile that looked sincere.

Chase held her gaze for a second. "It's because I know you that I ask." He moved over to his throne and sat.

"Why do we need that woman?"

"Jealous?"

Wuya snorted in disgust. "Hardly. I was reigning over the lands long before she was even born."

"Maybe, but she is a Heylin witch. One I've never seen before."

"Did you expect to meet every one of the Heylin in your fifteen hundred years?"

Chase laughed. "No but its odd that she turned up now, and those kids with her are Xiaolin Dragons."

"That's impossible."

"You saw them yourself." Chase leaned forward. "I'm sure you felt their power. It was the same as Omi and his lot. We need to learn more about our Lady Rin."

"You don't trust her?"

"If I've learned anything from working with one Heylin witch, it's never to trust a Heylin witch."

"Subtle." Wuya sneered. "What do you plan to do then?"

"I want you to deliver a message to Lady Rin and invite her to return and work on opening the chest. After that go see what you can learn about her and her Dragons." Chase watched as Wuya turned and left. He walked over to the chest and put and hand on top of it, but just as soon as his hand touched it a jolt of electricity sent him flying back. He slowly climbed to his feet, not taking his eyes off of the chest. "So, you seem to have already picked who can open you."

(-)

Alex stood next Rin and stared down at the concrete floor. A swirling black cloud floated above the floor and displayed the image of a students training. Alex looked over to Rin and asked, "Where's that?"

"I can't pinpoint the exact location, but its somewhere in the city." Rin waved her hand and the cloud disappeared. "That's where you'll find your Wudai weapon."

Alex smiled at the thought of both his and Bob's weapon being in the same place. It struck him as odd but in the end didn't matter. "Why are they together?"

"I'm not sure." Rin shrugged. "I did sense a strong presence with them so they may be guarded."

Alex nodded but before he could say anything a loud chiming sound echoed through the warehouse. Alex looked around and saw Ayane and Bob step out on to the balcony above.

"What going on?" Ayane asked.

"We have an uninvited guest." Rin waved her hand and the chiming stopped. A moment later the door swung open and ten large jungle felines walked in followed by Wuya. "What are you doing here?"

Wuya ignored Rin and began to slowly walk around the room. "Nice place, all be it a bit lacking in decoration."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "State your business."

"You are going back to assist Chase with the chest."

Ayane jumped down from the balcony followed by Bob. "I really don't like your attitude old hag."

"Such a charming girl." Wuya snapped a finger and one of the cougars sprinted forward. It lunged at Ayane but before it could reach her Alex sped over and sidekicked it. The animal slammed into the wall then started to rise but a black orb hit it causing the cat to disappear.

"Don't send your cats to attack us." Rin pointed towards the rest of the jungle animals.

"My apologies," Wuya said insincerely. "However Chase is waiting."

Alex started to step forward but a hand from Rin told him to stop. Rin stepped around Alex and held her arms out. "I'll go back with you; after all it is my chest." Rin smiled warmly, but Alex could tell that the smile hid a much darker thought. "Ayane will accompany us, to assist if needed."

"What about the other two?" Wuya asked.

"They have some errands to run." Rin motioned for Ayane to follow. They walked behind Wuya and her vanguard, leaving Alex and Bob alone in the warehouse.

"I don' trust the hag." Bob walked over to him.

"We'll have to be careful around her." Alex walked over to the door and saw that Rin and Ayane where already gone. "For now let's just go get our stuff."

It didn't take long for Alex and Bob to walk into town. Once there they began to search the streets for the building Rin had shown him. After about half an hour of looking, they eventually found the place. Alex laughed slightly as he read the wooden sign the hung over the door. "Chen Lao's Dojo huh, maybe this'll be fun after all."

"Yeah," Bob replied with a grin. "Don't that name sound familiar?"

"Little bit." Alex walked in followed by Bob and saw some of the students sparring or working on their form. The floors were made from smooth wood and four redwood columns held the finely decorated roof over head. Alex felt himself grin as he looked to the side of the large room and saw a massive steel spiked ball attached to a thick steel chain, resting in a display case. He looked above the case and almost started to laugh when he noticed his old long bladed katana mounted on the wall. Alex stepped over to one of the students. "Hey buddy."

The student turned and greeted him with a smile. "Hello."

"What the deal those weapons?" Alex pointed towards the sword and mace.

"Those are the treasures of the dojo. They say that Master Lao won them from defeated warriors and brought them here so he could watch over them."

"More like stole," Alex whispered to Bob. "And I remember the name now."

"How's 'bout some payback?" Bob cracked his knuckles.

"So are two interested in joining our school?" The student asked with a wide smile.

"Why?" Alex smiled at him for a moment then lashed out with a punch to his jaw. Alex grinned as the student fell to the floor and everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked towards him. "Will one of you be a pal and go get old man Lao for us?" Alex casually strolled into the center of the room. "Tell him Alexander Argos says hi."

"Who the hell are you?" a tall student stepped in front of Alex.

"Weren't you just paying attention to what I said?" Alex kicked him on the stomach and knocked him back into one of his friends.

"If you're looking for trouble then you got plenty now." Another student rushed at towards Alex, but Bob cut him off then picked him up and slammed him into the floor with a loud crack of wood.

Alex couldn't get his grin to fade as he stalked towards the group of students. It had been so long since he fought with anyone who wasn't close, if not equal; to his strength that he had forgotten what it was like to fight normal people. He glanced around the room sizing up the group and figured some were probably good fighters but they weren't on his level. It's still fun to pick on weaklings, he thought with a laugh.

"Why you." One student rushed towards Bob and tried to kick him, but he caught the student's foot and used him like a club to attack two more that had ran over. Bob held the student up by his leg and punched him hard in the ribs then tossed him to the side.

Still grinning, Alex leaned on Bob's shoulder. "C'mon you chumps can do better than this."

A student with a black uniform stepped forward. "I will take you on."

"I'm gonna smash your face." Bob started forward but Alex stopped him.

"I got this." Alex moved in front of Bob and glanced over the student. "I gotta say I don't like your chances in this."

"I have had enough of your arrogance. I, Yu Wei, will end this here and now." The other students began to slowly back away and lined up along the walls. "Fight me. Fight if you're not a coward."

Alex took a step forward. "Are you calling me a coward?"

"You attack without reason. You attack those who can barely defend themselves." Yu stood ready to attack. "I can see you have skill. Let us see if your courage holds when you face one who is your equal."

Alex laughed at his boastful speech. "One, I got plenty of reasons to want this place and everyone in it to suffer. Two, there's only one guy I've meet so far who can claim to be my equal, and pal, you ain't him." Alex lashed out with a side kick, but to his surprise Yu managed to block it.

Yu began what probably could pass for a fast attack, but Alex easily swayed away from it. Yu kept up his attack kicking and punching with near perfect technique but Alex was simply too fast. Every punch, every kick, was effortlessly evaded. Alex felt his disappointment rising as he continued to dodge. He had figured that this guy wouldn't be up to Raimundo's level, but he had hopped for a better fight than this.

"Why do you only evade?" Yu asked breathing heavily. "Or do realize that you cannot match my skill?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "I could beat you with both arms tied to a truck." He crossed his arms behind him and grabbed his belt with both hands. "Observe." He rushed forward and roundhouse kicked Yu on the jaw. As he stumbled back, Alex leapt forward and hit him with a spinning heelkick. Before either of them touched the floor Alex finished his rotation and high kicked Yu then finished with a hard heelkick on the sternum. Alex flashed a cocky grin as he landed lightly on his feet while Yu slammed onto the floor, cracking some of the wood. "See."

"Enough!" An older looking man in black robes walked into the dojo and over to Alex. "I am the one you truly want."

Alex couldn't stop himself from laughing once he recognized the old man. "You aged horribly Master Lao."

"I left the Xiaolin Order many years ago." Lao fixed his gaze on Alex. "I am no longer a part of that world."

"Don't care old man." Alex felt his amusement turning into anger.

"How did you escape from the crystal cell?"

"In a few minutes you won't care."

The old master shook his head. "Way do chose to follow the path of evil?"

"Because you tried to destroy us." Alex looked fiercely at the old man as his mind raced back to images of his childhood. He remembered the fire that had killed his parents and the monk standing over him with a sword. "You forced me into your Xiaolin temple only to lock me up when I had a different opinion than you."

"You let yourself become corrupted by the evil of Rin Anor."

"I tried to help her after you and the Xiaolin Order betrayed her." Alex felt his fury burst in him and he grabbed Lao, turned and threw him into one of the pillars. "You betrayed her and you betrayed us." Alex picked him up and kicked him through the pillar. From the corner of his eye he noticed Bob had started to attack the remaining students. Alex looked down at Lao and forced a smile. "Time to pay the piper old man."

(-)

Raimundo sat in between Kimiko and Omi as they ate their dinner, Clay sat across from him and woofed down a large slice of pizza. They had spent the last few days training, working on double team attacks. He still felt a bit of resentment towards Omi since he was the first to perform a double attack, but after some long practice Kimiko and Raimundo had gotten closer to completing one. One good thing to come from all of the training and the recent fights with the fallen Dragons was that they all had unlocked some of their hidden strength and learned some new attack's that were powered by their chi.

Raimundo finished the last of his pizza just as Dojo slithered into the room. "What's up?"

"Bad news." Dojo looked up at Master Fung who stood by one of the walls. "Chen Lao was attacked earlier today."

Master Fung stepped towards Dojo. "What, by whom?"

"It was Alex and Bob," Dojo replied. "It looks like he'll be okay though."

"Who is Chen Lao?" Omi put his pizza down.

"He was once a Xiaolin monk. He left many years ago and started his own martial arts school," Master Fung answered.

"Why would Alex attack an old monk?" Raimundo inquired.

"Chen Lao had taken it upon himself to look after the Rikkaken, and the Ogres Mace." Master Fung glanced over towards Raimundo. "They were once the Wudai weapons wielded by young Alex and Bob."

Kimiko shook her head in disbelief. "You mean they've got Wudai weapons like us?"

"Well duh." Dojo hopped onto the table. "They were Xiaolin warriors."

Raimundo felt a wave of dread wash over him as he remembered the grueling fight he had with Alex back in the forest. "I was kinda hopping we'd finished with those guys."

Master Fung only nodded in reply.

"Well if they're lookin' for weapons, then I'm bettin' that they're hankerin' for another showdown." Clay ran his fingers through his hair then returned his hat to his head.

"Yeah but we stopped them from opening the chest," Kimiko pointed out.

"You may have stopped them for a time, but evil is persistent." Master Fung glanced at each of them. "We must learn what it is they're planning and put a stop to it."

"And I was so looking forward to things getting quiet again." Raimundo exhaled loudly and leaned back. He slowly resigned himself to preparing for another long battle against Alex. Part of him began to wonder what it was he and Rin where planning this time, but he figured that he would learn soon enough.