The Grand Finale

Chapter 16

Omi didn't sleep that night. Wuya accompanied him without offering a word; her existence was but cold air in the tropical forest. They knew there were doubts between them, doubts that might grow to become regrets, but no one turns around once they have made it this far.

The sun rises slowly coloring the sky pink and orange. The ocean tide chanced -Omi could sense it, and the island's inhabitants moved at the edge of the shore. He should have given them a warning.

Wuya saw fear and regret in Omi, she saw a conflicted young man and hope that he wouldn't break. Wuya observed Jack grow with his unflavored ambition turned into fear of what he might become, and just wish he would overcome all his anxieties before they consumed him. Jack was still young and unspoiled, and he could become something great someday. Wuya hoped that her decision to not involve him would put her in a more positive light n the future, that their relationship would not be severed forever.

She doesn't care for Omi.

Hannibal sees the sun bathed the island and the trees steam at the sudden change of temperature. He could feel his old student approaching, the dragon's magic tried to mask the unique buzz of Spicer's machines. The bean dug deeper into the soil tasting all the death and life that hide underground. He could feel the old blood stain from Jack's imposter', and he assured himself he would soon taste it again.

"Where is Wuya? Kid." Hannibal asked, though he already knew the answer.

Omi didn't move; he was frozen in place by fear and regret, he could barely admit this is who he was now; a traitor and a liar.

"Close." He breathes in one more time, he wishes he got to warn the inhabitants of the reserve.

Hannibal prepared himself as he heard Chase appeared several miles up from their meeting place. He waited a millennium for this fight, and today the waiting is over.

The first attack was fire. Flames eat through the forest and clear the ground. Omi barely had time to create an ice barrier thick enough to protect him. Hannibal hums at the little attempt to hide Jack's descent. The young mortal was enclosed in massive metal armor, prominent than the one he first attacks Hannibal back at his mansion. It didn't matter because it wouldn't help him.

Omi saw the massive black bluer through whatever was left of his shield, the vapor and smoke mix in the air making it hard to breathe. He hoped Jack wasn't here.

What are you doing?! Wuya screamed in Omi's ear and the young man lifts the second shield in time to meet the second fire attack. He felt the magic cracking in the air too late as flames grew to cover miles of territory, hot enough to melt rocks, and powerful like a storm it crumbled Omi's ice barrier and the young man tried to propel himself higher away from the overwhelming heat. Hannibal decided to take refuge underground, but the fire made the soil boil. It lasted but a few seconds, and it transformed their battleground into an ash ring.

Omi laid on his side at the edge of the new wasteland, the sole of his feet burned to a crip, and the inside of his lungs had blisters -it hurt to breathe. He laid there temporarily forgotten while the adults talk.

"Dramatic." Hannibal didn't let his voice whined or his posture tremble, he knew Chase was trying to level the ground, but it was already too late; coming here had been a mistake.

*Bitch!* Jack laughed through their intercom, a miniature radio-cell phone in Chase' left ear that allows him to hear Jack from his tank. The young voice was deceivingly energetic and full of adrenaline.

"It is our big finale, or so you promised me," Chase says partially because he knows Jack would enjoy it, but mostly to undermine the old bean. The fire had two objectives; to clear the trees out and warn Omi to stay down. The fire purposed wasn't to hurt bean, and it shouldn't have the old master have enough magic on him to form a barrier in time. And Hannibal wouldn't ask to be face now if he was ready to fight.

Something wasn't right.

Little robots crawl through the back of the forest towards the fight, slowly to not detect it. Jack waits as the first group of spy-bots positions themselves across the perimeter and transmits a complete visual of every available angle. And a second team scans the rest of the forest, the local news pop-cast flashes in one of the seven screens Jack has in front of him: A vast sudden fire has been noticed by the inhabitants of Fernando de Noronha island, and soon a helicopter with a crew will come to inspect the scene. A sick wave of guilt engulf Jack's stomach; there were approximately 3000 people living on the island. A beep reminded Jack that he has to stay focus.

*We are in position.*

Their plan was simple and their goal clear. They will make Wuya's great weapon worthless.

Hannibal chuckled unaware of what was happening behind him; his yellow eyes fixed on Chase.

"Time has made you reckless." He hums as he decides where should his first attack be; maybe a leg or Chase's hair? Maybe Jack?

"It could be that you are no longer a real threat to me, not in a face to face fight at least." Chase provoked him.

"Ha! Your arrogance is, so r-" Chase tackled first; a quick interruption as he forced Hannibal against the floor one clawed hand held a root and gripped tight enough to cut the appendage. The left side clawed Hannibal's face. In a desperate attempt to protect himself Roy tried to bite his attacker but the soft skin became covered by sharp scales, and the weight of the dragon punctured his skull as Chase dragged his claws down. A large root broke free from the soil and pushed Chase up and away.

Chase landed in his full dragon form and watched Hannibal pressed the new wound to prevent his eye from spilling on the floor.

"Not you or your toys scare me," Chase growled.

"You Little Shit!" A guttural scream was followed by an unholy screech. The ancient evil felt fear for a moment, he knew how to control or at least managed his old student, but Chase counted on it and decided to change his fighting style. Chase Young was mighty and very skilled, and he usually toys around a fight; he enjoys a good battle too much to cut it short. He likes to wait for his opponent to make the first move and counter-attack only with enough strength to stop the attack but allow the impression that it was an equal match.

The frontal attack was unlike him, and it questions his integrity as a fighter to start a conversation and to attack his enemy mid-sentence.

Hannibal's lips twitch into a smile that almost reach his eyes. He let go of his eye but maintains it closed, a black thick substance drip from the vertical cuts.

"Oh. No. I won't make this fast," Hannibal dragged himself forwards Chase, inch by heavy inch, and there is a cracking sound within him, the soil under him moves and cracks. "I waited so long for this," black liquid drips from his face and falls on the floor, more of it seems to pour out of the wound. The biggest cut over his eyes seems to open wider; it pulses revealing brown rotten flesh. "I will take my time." The wound splits open, and a yellow and bloody orb are push out enough to exposed half of its size.

The ground trembles and large vines burst through the ground.

Jack stares at the screens in front of him; they changed sites depending on where is movement detect it. At the moment the machines recognized an absurd amount of seismic activity.

*Shit! Shit! Chase, he is under! The ground!*

Chase jumps in time to avoid a vine that sprouts under him. The field under them was crowded as Hannibal's roots had silently taken over the island. The dragon steps with cation only to hear Jack's cries *Shit! He is everywhere! Fucking sh- South/East* Chase dodged the attack and proceeded to run a frontal assault. He could hear Jack cursing him his ear, but this was their plan.

A helicopter flies over their private event, but the Heylin master couldn't afford a distraction. Omi looks up.

*Keep him there for me*

Chase hurdles his weight over Hannibal who laughs with childlike glee as he captures the dragon with one of his new appendages, he smirks and looks at Chase before smashing him against the ground. The floor shatters under him and Chase claws and bites his way out.

"It hurts me~" Hannibal taunts him, "that you don't fear me anymore; What a big boy!" The dragon looks so small with his little sharp claws, while Hannibal has an island for an arsenal.

Chase doesn't have to win this fight; he just has to get Jack's spy-bots time.

*Avoid the kerosene! And fucking kill that asshole!* Five metal ball shot at them, three hit Hannibal, and the other two hit the floor near them, they sprayed a thin yellowish substance. Chase used his control over the air to evade the liquid, and immediately set fire to his enemy. Kerosene has the properties to burn high and long, the flames from Hannibal are command by the dragon who pushes the heat down to smolder the roots. The creature wiggled desperate free itself from the fire, and it jolts its roots above ground.

Chase Young and Jack Spicer came with the sole purpose to subdue Wuya's grand weapon by any means. They could try to force the witch to shoot before time, making the big gun into a joke -junk floating in space, but the potential collateral damage was too high; they must prevent Wuya from shooting. Jack knows that there is a single master control for the satellite and that the code to fire must be entered manually; which means the control must be on the island.

The island shook, and Omi felt his insides flip. The sun was moving up, and he was running out of time. The young man waddled to at standing position and look at the fight. He felt so small, so dumb and so immature. He had been wrong to believe he could fight here, against the old masters of the Heylin. Omi was blinded by his ambition, and now it was too late to run.

Jack stared at Omi through the screen and hopelessly wish the boy would run.

They once had a conversation about this; what do you do when you had walked into a trap?

An alarm alerted the people of Fernando de Noronha that an immediate evacuation has started.

The second group of the spy-bots hurry to scan the island but they had been unsuccessful at finding the control.

Omi stares at the fight between the two creatures.

Chase uses his control over fire to burn everything around him, the dirt hardens into the volcanic ground, the air becomes hot, and it burns to look in their direction everything that touches him flickers into shocking red lights and turn to dust. The dragon breathes fire and destruction.

But Hannibal was deep-rooted in the ground, no amount of power could keep him from growing. Every limb cut was replaced by seven or more smaller vines. The black poison that boils spills and makes the air into a weapon.

They had transformed the natural reserve into a mythological hell.

Omi could only stare in disbelief; each attack was aimed to kill, each attack showcase more power than he had dreamed of, and he was running out of time. The young man tried to control his breathing, to look away and then he was the large black tank-like-armor.

Jack.

The command to fire must be done manually, meaning that the control on the island. Wuya didn't have a physical body. Therefore she can't hold it. She must have to give it to some else. The witch would never trust Hannibal enough to provide him with the control. Omi couldn't hold the control and fight; it would be too easy for anyone to take the control from him. But Omi could still use the control once the right time comes: Wuya has merely to hide and use Omi at the right moment.

Jack stares at Omi for a second, but it felt like a lifetime.

Best case scenario the control has already been destroyed by the fight, Omi doesn't longer had a purpose and will escape unharmed. Against all reason Jack for this to be true, he hopes for Omi to run away.

You can't just turn around Omi; you give into temptation.

Omi grounded himself. This is what he wanted. This is what he agreed to. The young man calls upon his element, and heavier than rain snow started descending, and Omi runs towards the fight barefoot.

*Southwest! O-*

Omi screamed. First, he wouldn't attack an enemy from the back before announcing his presence, no matter how many disadvantages pile on him.

*Dumbass.*

Chase got of the way to face Omi, he caught his fight and pulled the arm forwards to force the young body to meet his kick up close. The young man felt the vile and saliva that had been mixing his stomach shoot to his mouth. He grabbed the offending foot and looked at Hannibal. The monster smile as his roots unconsciously search for the relief of ice and tangled a thick vine around Chase's arm. The look of panic the warrior gave him as he prepared for the long and thin spikes that perforate his armor and dig into his arm.

Like...honey and bees. Jack tried to explain a long time ago. Do you know what temptation Omi is?

Omi wanted to have his name praised by history, to be someone people couldn't forget, to be someone great, someone, who could never be abandoned and forgotten. Omi wanted an idealized aspect of glory. He made a deal with a witch for it.

Chase tore his arm away from Hannibal and kicked Omi to the ground. The buzzing in his ear became louder than Jack's cursing.

Vines climbed over Jack's tank. *Fuck! Chase- I think -Shit!* There was too much to said. *I going to attack!* Chase turned to look at Jack; he pressed with his left arm the little microphone glued to his neck. "Not yet."

Chase switches strategies as he tries to decide his next move. He didn't expect Omi actually to fight. He hoped the young monk would retrieve and lead them to the control. Having to fight Omi adds more variables than Chase was prepare to face. The water dragon has a great skill over his element and is far too willing to risk his well being for the glory of a victory, and more importantly he will stop Chase's fire -his best attack against Hannibal.

Omi could barely breathe, and the ground was hot enough to burn his back. He stared at the sky; the sun stings his eyes.

Hannibal stared at him from above and hummed at the snow that lightly falls. Omi was barely conscious, and he still had such solid authority over his element. He turned his eyes to Chase, his right arm would be useless throughout the rest of the fight.

"It has been fun, hasn't?" Hannibal laughed, he didn't sound it human.

Chase pants heavily as he patiently waits for Hannibal's next move.

AN: So I hope people like this, please let me know what you guys think. The climax is almost done, but most likely I'll write some extra fluff at the end. Thanks to EmilyKayros and Miratirx!