I quickly doubled back, but took an alternate route. I climbed a large tree easily and bounded through the branches from tree to tree, stopping at the one next to Chase. The shadows rolled over me, cloaking me better than any invisible spell. Fine, I was ready.
As if on cue, a voice with a thick accent spoke from the tree behind Chase.
"Chase Young, mighty Xiaolin Dragon of Water," the voice said, a faint sneer audible. The voice came from a tree branch and his head immediately snapped up. There was a grey and red bird glaring down at Chase. The venomous expression looked like it belonged there permanently.
"The gods," he muttered. "A talking bird."
"It's not the bird talking, it's me!" the voice exploded. I could see now a tiny red form hopping on the bird. I narrowed my eyes, squinting. It was a bean with yellowed eyes and teeth, and root like arms. And it looked mad.
"Not a talking bird, a talking bean," I muttered. "Incredible."
The legume seemed to have recovered himself and he spoke again.
"My name is Hannibal Roy Bean," it- he announced grandly. When he saw Chase's puzzled expression, he frowned.
"Forget it," he snapped. "This isn't about me, it's about you."
"What do you want?" Chase demanded abruptly.
"I've been watching you for sometime now," the bean said.
"Watching me? Why?"
Hannibal's grinned. "I have a question for you. Are you really content to always come second?"
"What do you mean?" Chase asked warily.
"I mean do you really want to continue to be second-best? Don't you want your name to go down in history? The Chase Young, the Greatest Warrior that ever lived?"
"I don't see why I can't," said Chase stiffly.
"I'll tell you why you can't," Hannibal said. "It's Guan's fault. Never mind Dashi, he's already gone down as the man who defeated Wuya and prevented a thousand years of Darkness. But how about Guan?"
"What about him?"
"You will never achieve your full potential as long as Guan is around."
"It doesn't matter to me," Chase replied coolly. He turned to leave.
"Wait! I'm offering you a proposition!"
"I don't want to hear it," Chase snapped. He did anyway.
From out of nowhere, the bean produced an ornately carved chalice. There appeared to be a dragon's tail snaking out of it.
"Save it," Chase snapped.
"This chalice here contains Lao Mang Lon Soup," the bean continued.
"The potion of eternal youth," Chase breathed, suddenl intrigued.
"You can have it," Hannibal said generously. "Not only will it give you eternal life, it will give you more power beyond your wildest dreams."
"What's the catch?" Chase demanded.
"Of course, there is the condition that you have to join me and the Heylin," Hannibal grinned.
"Never," Chase spat and turned to go.
"I see you've found yourself a girlfriend." Hannibal's tone changed grew more pleasant and casual.
Chase spun around, looking murderous. "If you dare touch –"
"You love for that girl is touching," the bean taunted. He leaned forward, resting what should be his face on his arms. "But do you really believe she is as faithful?"
What are you talking about?" growled Chase impatiently.
A light appeared out of the grey bird's eyes. It flickered a few times, and then formed an image of me and Guan. When Guan was attempting to rape me. I shuddered at the memory then my eyes widened.
The image of me was … encouraging Guan.
That was sick.
"She … Did that?" Chase's voice was soft, hesitant.
I hadn't thought it was possible, but Hannibal's grin grew even wider. He had finally found a chink in Chase's armour.
"You can't trust anyone can you?" his voice grew warmer, gentler. "But you can trust me.
"I'll leave you to think about it." He tossed the chalice at Chase, who caught it deftly. "Take your time. I'm not in any hurry to go anywhere."
I felt like dashing into the scene and force-feeding Chase the potion. I wanted him to be evil. Even if he thought I was two-timing him and Guan. I still loved him.
Chase stared at the chalice for a long moment. A pungent smell had begun to fill the area. I was pretty sure it came from the soup. Then he drank it down swiftly.
Yes! I smiled. Much as I wanted to squash Hannibal Bean, I had to admit, I owed him.
"The strength of temptations is all-powerful. Remember that Eva", my mentor had told me once."There is a saying that Evil will never win. That is untrue. Look." He pointed at the sunlit garden. "The shadows will always be there, no matter how brightly the light shines. But the shadows can exist without the light."
"Why is that?" I asked innocently. I was only six at that time.
"Evil lurks everywhere Eva," he answered. "Even in the hearts of the strongest warriors."
The chalice fell from Chase's hands and landed on the ground with a thud. He doubled over in pain.
Hannibal was laughing. I just shrugged and continued to watch. It was his choice. There is a sacrifice made for every decision we make.
Chase's figure contorted, and very quickly grew to an inhuman size and shape. He changed into a reptilian creature with spikes that traveled along the length of his spine and onto his newly-grown tail. Wickedly curved claws grew along his hands and feet and impossibly large and sharp teeth filled his new mouth. His skin darkened, stretched over his heavily muscled body, and changed into bands of green that alternated with black. The pupils of his eyes changed into reptilian slits, but they were still the same gold.
No, not the same, I realised with a shock. The warmth in them had vanished. They were like liquid gold that had frozen over.
Evil in it's purest form…
I jumped out of my hiding place and landed nimbly on the ground. Chase and Hannibal immediately gave me their undivided attention.
"You believed that?" I asked Chase, unable to keep some of the sadness in my voice.
"Oh lookie here," Hannibal sniggered. "The girlfriend."
"Couldn't you have come up with a better story?" I demanded. "This is my reputation you're wrecking."
The puzzled expression on his face was amusing. It looked so wrong on his disgusting face.
"You're not going to fight?" he asked, disappointed.
"He made his own choice," I answered quietly. My eyes flicked to Chase for a second and then were back to Hannibal. The bean shrugged his tentacle/arms.
"That's too bad then," he sniggered. "Chase, attack her!"
I spun around quickly to face him. A snarl issued from the reptilian crea- Chase. He advanced slowly towards me, as if still unused to his new body. Which he probably was.
"Chase…" I whispered. Sure he could still have a shred of humanity, of his recognition left?
He leapt towards me. I had a split second to react – defend or attack? Time didn't slow down; instead I seemed to react much faster than I usually did..
My two elements wanted to do different things, the Earth to attack him, and the Shadows… Nothing. They recognized him as a fellow warrior.
Instinctively, I raised an arm to shield myself. There was a sharp, stinging pain on my arm, but there was barely enough time to register it.
The last thing I saw was a pair of golden eyes, filled with… Anguish? I couldn't be sure…
And the next thing I knew was oblivion. Absolutely nothing.