Chapter 3

Omi's eyes diminished into slits, anger beginning to build up in his system. This guy, murdered everyone in this place! His brothers in the Xiaolin Arts! And now, he had the audacity, to threaten them?

Feeling the energy build up inside him, he began to carefully calculate the man's every move. "Kimiko, I suggest that you get back."

Extending his arm and pulling with a fluid motion, Omi channeled his anger into energy, letting his power flow.

A sudden rumbling motion came from the back wall…

The masked man laughed, "So, you think you're going to frighten ME, with noise?"

A small smile crossed the Chinese boy's face. Whispering behind him, "When I give you the signal—run."

Raimundo and Clay had already shifted into position, Kimiko between them. Though the Brazilian nodded in affirmation, his mind was working overtime, trying to piece together the puzzle that was nagging at the back of his head.

His brain was suddenly interrupted, when Omi yelled, "Now!" Releasing his built up energy, the rumbling went into a crescendo, followed by the sink, pipes--the entire wall, bursting open! The pent-up water became alive, following Omi's movements, and crashing, full force, into their enemy!

Rai took off, while quickly taking charge, "Kim-ko, get to the foyer and try to contact Master Fung with your cell phone! Omi, let's go! Clay, you know what to do!"

Fire was in Omi's eyes, "One minute, big brother." His hands began to form into a constricting, crushing motion, and likewise, the water, became dense, semi-solid "fingers", following his actions.

The watery "hand" raised the man's drenched form into the air. Its captive shook the water from his face, coughing up any swallowed liquid. Looking into the eyes of the water manipulator, he saw clouds of determination, and flames of rage! A smile appeared under his mask. Well, at least their taking me seriously…unfortunately, seriously, isn't enough.

Speaking aloud, he said humorously, "Ohhh, it looks like things are going to start getting interesting."

Confusion crossed Omi's face, what was this guy talking about?

With sudden strength, the man began to push against his watery binds! The water fingers began to give way, pushed by the brute force their captive was applying! Likewise, Omi could feel his fingers continually, also getting pushed apart, further and further. What was this guy doing?

Then, with sudden gusto, the murderer thrust his hands apart, breaking the water hand into nothing!

"AHHH!" Omi screamed, as he felt the bones in his fingers crack and break. Falling to his knees in anguish, he realized his attack had backfired!

Sticking his broken hand under his opposite arm, he looked up—just to see his enemy, staring down at him!

"Come on, you're making this easy." He said amusingly, raising his foot and kicking the boy in his side. Omi cried out, falling over onto the ground in pain…

Out of the blue, a big slab of brick, removed itself from the wall, smashing into the assassin! Not enough to crush him or anything, but just enough to knock the wind out of him. Running inside Clay muttered, "I was tired of waitin'." Then picking Omi up into his arms, he watched the masked murderer pick himself up, shaking his head to clear the stars. Looking at his teammate, he whispered, "Can you still do the cage?"

Omi weakly raised his working left hand, "TORRENTIAL RAIN PRISON!"

The water again began to solidify, but this time, taking on the form of thick semi-dense sheets. They formed quickly, surrounding their enemy before he could even blink, but this time, in a shifty, impregnable water cube.

Running out into the hallway, Clay switched Omi to one arm and held the other out. Using his element, he cracked the very ground and raised it up, sealing the kitchenette door with a thick slab of solid rock. Jogging to join up with Rai and Kimiko, Clay tipped up his hat at his friend, "How long will that little water bubble last?"

Sighing, he answered, "With me close to control it? Indefinitely. Without me? About five minutes."

The sudden sound of an explosion rocked the ground. The Texan looked behind him, "Better make that two minutes."

They made it back to the foyer, but only to see Raimundo and Kimiko crowded around the closed door.

"Come on, the Masked Ninja is about to come this way! Omi's hurt, and what in the heart of Texas, is wrong with the door? We've got to get out of here!"

Rai turned to Clay, "Cell phone signals can't get through this place, we've both tried. Plus, it didn't look like it from outside, but this place has one of the best security systems in the world. This guy must have left the door open, and when we closed it, the system must have reset. Kim-ko's been trying to rewire the thing, but so far…"

The young Japanese teen, flicked her green hair back in frustration. Looking up from the unscrewed control panel, she said "If I had my laptop, or even my PDA, I could deactivate this thing in a heartbeat. This system was made by my father's company, and I know all the ins and outs of them, but I have no clue of how to rewire this thing by hand! What are we going to do now?"

A familiar, but unwelcome voice answered her, "How about, sticking around for a while? I'd hate to have you leave so soon."

Turning around, the four looked at their enemy, this masked assassin.

Putting Omi down, Clay looked at him angrily, "Now, you just about as hard to put down as a prairie dog with rabies. It seems as if now, I just have to get rough."

The assassin smoothly moved into a fighting stance, his hands poised in front of him, ready to fight. "It might actually be amusing."

Kimiko, Raimundo, and even Omi, stood and formed ranks with their partner. Smoothing out her clothes and tying back her hair, Kimiko said, "All right guys, Rea Corpus Insidea Latin Formation. This guy wants a fight, maybe it's time we heated things up."

The others barely had time to get into position, before she took off. Flying into the air, she swung out her leg in a low kick. Energy rushed out, causing a ball of white flame to extend from her feet!

Dodging the fireball with lightening speed, he rolled low across the ground to the left. Then, reaching up, he grabbed her ankle in midair, and using the momentum, spun her around in the opposite direction!

Still in shock by his swift moves, Kimiko had but a split second to create a burst of fire and smoke to propel her to the ground, instead, of straight into the solid rock wall!

Raimundo had watched whole thing in amazement and confusion. This guy knew her moves! But how? Looking around at Omi, he could see the boy had fought hard, but he held his right hand limp and useless. It looks like this guy knows ALL our moves! He also seems to know the layout of this place pretty well. He knew about the security system. and that we'd be trapped in here! How could he know all that? Unless—

The pieces were beginning to come together…

But, his thoughts were again interrupted, when Clay shouted, "Alright, here we go! You take on one of us, you take on us all! GRAVE FISSURE! SOUTHERN STYLE!"

Thrusting his fist to the ground, the floor suddenly cracked wide open! Sand, silt, and soil spun out from it in a whirlwind, swirling around the assassin at tornado speeds. Laughing, the man said, "Is this the best you can do? Throw rocks? How primeval…"

The cowboy only smirked in response, "Can you do this one, Omi?"

The boy grinned, "It'll be my pleasure." Holding up his good hand, water began to collect from the air, and swirl into a continuous spiral of high pressured liquid. Combining with Clay's whirlwind, heavy, but malleable mire began to form.

Kimiko knew what came next. Pushing her energy flow almost to its limit, a stream of fire issued from her hands, mixing with her partners' elements. Immediately, steam billowed, thick and fast. The assassin covered his face as the blast seemed to overcome him! The monks also all closed their eyes from the hot vapors, but relaxing in their victory.

Rai mentally pushed the steam away with a cool breeze, revealing the fruit of their efforts. The assassin was encased from his neck down, in hardened clay, one that was more solid and durable than concrete.

The masked man shook his head and looked around at the "tomb" he was encased in. Sighing, he said, "Well, it looks like you got me."

This time, Clay laughed, "You're darn right we did! Now it's time to see who's behind that mask."

The man shook his head once more, but this time, with more ridicule than submission. "Didn't you hear me? I said, 'it looks like you got me'. You four should know: looks can be very deceiving."

Without any other warning, the rock tomb exploded from the inside out! Jagged pieces flew everywhere! Dust and excess dirt billowed up into the air! Clay and Omi (who had been the nearest to him) where hit by some of the biggest shards, sending them flying towards the wall and crashing to the ground! The piece that hit Kimiko wasn't as big, but was enough to send her flying again, into the air.

Not having the vigor to do another fire cushion, she had no choice but to take the hit. Of course, Rai wouldn't have any of that. In fact, he had had enough. He had solved the puzzle…

Launching himself into the air, he used his own momentum and the aid of his wind powers, to effortlessly catch his love, and then switch his weight, to land gracefully on the ground.

As he put her carefully on the floor, she watched as he slowly stood and turned away. Was he going to take on this man all by himself? Remembering back to the last time Rai had taken things into his own hands, her heart began to cry out at the memory. Don't do anything foolish, please!

Raimundo slowly walked toward the assassin, who stood there nonchalantly, almost like he did when they had first seen him. He looked at the boy coming towards him, determination in his eyes. Was he coming to challenge him?

"Well, isn't this nice? You're finally going to make a move? Well, I guess I can have a few more minutes of fun, before I kill you and all your friends."

The corners of Raimundo's mouth turned up slightly, as he stopped only three feet in front of the man, and moved into the fighter's stance, his hands up and in position. The assassin did the same, following Rai's every move.

The two looked at each other with equal fortitude and equal strength of will. The assassin's golden eyes burned into Rai's jade ones, and vice versa. The tension between the two, seemed to crackle in the air, like electricity itself.

"Make your move." The man ordered, more of a goad than a command.

Raimundo Vega smiled, raised his arm, and then—slowly put it down to his side.

The assassin looked at him in surprise! What was the boy doing?

Rai gradually came out of his stance. Then, standing straight, he raised his left hand vertically along his chest, and then bowed at the waist—a sign of submission and respect.

Clay, Omi, and Kimiko all looked on in shock. Had Rai flipped his lid?

Rai (still in the Asian bowing position) said smiling, "Though I think you were kind of rough, you taught us a lot in our first lesson—Master Kama."

The masked man let a grin cross his face underneath his mask. Stepping out of his own stance, he bowed to the boy in the same manner. "I'm glad. It was a pleasure introducing myself to you, Señor Raimundo Vega."

The others looked on in speechless confusion. The assassin they had been fighting all this time, this young, silver-haired, masked man—was really, their new teacher?

Clay sighed, I know Dojo said there was an age difference, but he didn't say this guy was young enough to be your siblin'!