Feeding Frenzy

The Xiaolin monks were in the tunnels underneath the Vault, huddled in one of the inner alcoves with only the glow of the Star Hanabi to illuminate them.

"Echidna's going to be here a few minutes," Kimiko whispered under the noise of the combat raging just outside the vault.

"You really think so?" Dojo asked. "Uncle Tiamat's a great fighter; I'm sure he can give that old bag a run for her money."

Everyone winced as the sound of Tiamat's agonized screaming cut through the stormy air above. "Or… maybe I'm wrong." Dojo hung his head, looking as utterly and abjectly miserable as all of the other monks felt.

"Guys, what do you have?" Raimundo said.

The monks turned out their Shen Gong Wu purses.

"Most of the other stuff was gone," Clay began. "But I was able to grab the Fancy Feet and the Star Hanabi."

"I got the Denshi Bunny and Yin-Yang Yo-Yos." Kimiko said.

"I hold only the Shard of Lightning," Omi admitted.

"And I snagged the Serpent's Tail and the Sphere of Yun." Raimundo said, balancing both Shen Gong Wu in his hands. "It's okay, though, because this is where the next part of my plan to beat Echidna is going to kick in. See, what we've got to do is split up--,"

The other three monks and the dragon glared at him. "Have you gone plumb loco, Rai?" Clay demanded. "Splittin' up always bites us in the unmentionables!"

"No, you see, that was before I had a plan!" Raimundo protested. "This time, the only person who's gonna get bitten, is Echidna."

"Raimundo, I sincerely doubt that biting Echidna is going to solve anything." Omi said.

"Not literally, Omi!" Raimundo said. "All we've got to do is lure her on a wild goose chase and--,"

"YAH-AH-AH-AH-AH!" Dojo screamed.

The other monks jumped up in alarm, knocking over the Star Hanabi and casting the caverns into darkness. "What is it, Dojo?" Kimiko asked as she groped at ground in search for the Shen Gong Wu.

"Someone… stepped on my tail." Dojo said quietly.

"Come on, stop messing around, Dojo." Kimiko muttered. She picked up something round and pointy and lifted it up into the air. "Star Hanabi."

The cavern was lit up again. Kimiko looked down and saw that she wasn't actually holding the Star Hanabi. She was in fact holding a long curved talon. She suddenly turned paler than she usually was as she followed the length of the talon with her eyes and saw that it was connected to the grotesquely large claw of Echidna.

"H-hello." Kimiko stammered.

"Hello." Echidna replied. Her mouth lolled open and the cavern was suddenly filled with intense heat.

"We're out of here!" Raimundo cried.

There was a brief, intense frenzy of motion. The four Xiaolin dragons galloped away in four different directions. Dojo, for his part, vanished under a rock, going completely unnoticed by Echidna.

"The old 'divide' tactic." Echidna mused. "I'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetic." Instead, she roared. "I'm coming for you, Xiaolin monks!"

Clay headed east, propelled at manic paces by the mystic power of the Fancy Feet. It was a good thing too, because Echidna had decided to make him her first target. But even her great speed wasn't enough to overtake the Dragon of the Earth.

He turned a corner, using the momentum to keep himself from losing any ground to Echidna. The dragon was only several yards away from him now; somehow, she was gaining ground even with Clay's amazing speed.

"You're starting to get tired, aren't you?" Echidna's voice echoed throughout the caverns.

It was true. Clay had developed quite a bit of endurance from his exhaustive training regimens, but the Fancy Feet was eating up all of his energy. Each accelerated step took more and more out of him.

"You can stop." The voice informed him. "You will not live to see tomorrow anyway. Why make your last few moments on Earth a misery?"

Clay was only staggering along by then. Echidna was sailing closer and closer towards him, both mouths open. "You won't… you can't…" Clay gasped.

"What can't I do?" Echidna asked.

"You… can't win." Clay slumped to the floor. The Fancy Feet popped off his feet and fell inert. "It just ain't possible, ma'am."

"Oh? And why not?" Echidna was standing above the fallen cowboy.

Clay grinned weakly. "EARTH!" He slammed his fist into the ground with all of his strength. A pillar of solid stone burst out of the ground, slamming into Echidna's chest and crushing her against the tunnel ceiling.

The dragon quickly pulled herself free. "That little stunt just cost you your life!" Echidna snarled. For the first time Clay had seen her, the evil queen was looking just a bit tired. She reared up her hind legs, swept Clay into the air with her tails and dropped him into her cavernous mouth. All the energy she had absorbed from her worldwide conquests had made her grow much larger than she had been before, but she still had enough room in her belly to swallow him up.

"One down," She growled. "Three… to go." And with that, she waddled off in search of the rest of her prizes.

Omi had been lucky enough to find a naturally-occurring basin of water to the south of the cavern. It was at the edge of that pool that he was waiting when Echidna happened upon him.

"Come to me, my pretty!" Echidna demanded.

"As a Xiaolin warrior, my duty is to resist any cooperation with the forces of evil." Omi retorted angrily.

"Fine by me." Echidna said. She dove at him, narrowly missing by inches. Omi noticed that her flight pattern was a little wobblier than it was before. "You know, I caught your friend Clay." She informed him. "He was delicious, but I'm worried that he might have gone to my thighs. Tell me, Dragon of the Water, do I look fat?"

Omi ignored her. He was far too preoccupied with dodging the fireballs that she was belching at him. Her aim was bad, but the sheer number of her attacks was making it harder for him to dodge, even with the Shard of Lightning.

"Hold STILL!" Echidna let out an enormous blast of fire that hit Omi dead on. The Dragon of the Water screamed as he plummeted into the pool.

Echidna pondered diving in after him, but decided that it wasn't worth it to fight in Omi's own element. She decided to drink up all of the water. She dipped both heads into the basin, lapping up all of the water and the assorted cave scum that generally accumulated in underwater pools. By the time she was done, she had grown to twice her previous size and the top of her back was scraping across the ceiling of the building.

"Perhaps if you did not each so much, you would not have such enormous thighs!" Omi yelled.

Echidna's response to snap him up between her jaws. "Tut tut, Dragon. It's not nice to say things like that to a woman." She moaned weakly, then burped. "Even though it might be true."

"Denshi Bunny!" Kimiko transformed into a living bolt of lightning. She was bouncing up and down the long tunnels, moving as quickly as the lightning that she had become. She navigated through the entire length of the cavern without seeing Echidna or any of her fellow monks, but she had found Dojo cowering in a corner, looking even greener than usual.

"You know, I always thought that turning into electricity would hurt," Dojo was saying. "I mean, it looks painful. All of your skin cells turning into yellow sparks and jumping around like… uh… something that jumps around a lot. Jumping beans? Yeah, that's a good metaphor. I always thought it would be like that. But this…"

"Dojo! Shut up!" Kimiko hissed.

Dojo zipped his lips, just in time to allow Kimiko to hear Echidna's voice coming from around the corner.

"Perhaps if you did not eat so much, you would not have such enormous thighs!"

"Tut tut, Dragon. It's not nice to say things like that to a woman, even if it might be true."

Omi, Kimiko thought. And Echidna.

It was time to put her part of Raimundo's plan into action. This would hurt; it would definitely hurt, but if she pulled it off without a hitch then Echidna could be finished off.

"Kimiko?" Dojo whispered. "What are you doing?"

Kimiko placed the little dragon on the ground and gently padded around the corner. The monstrously-large Echidna was crouched over a large empty pool of water. She was now standing on all four legs but was still swaying as if she was sick. Kimiko was almost directly behind her when she heard her.

"Another little morsel?" Echidna demanded. Moving faster than Kimiko had expected, she turned around and swept her into the air. "Which one are you?"

Kimiko struggled to break free but saw that it was useless. "Denshi Bunny!" She shouted, transforming again into a flash of electrical energy. Her transformation zapped Echidna's leathery claws, forcing her to drop her and allowing her to dart out of the way.

"You know, I have two of your other friends." Echidna said. She picked at her teeth idly as she watched Kimiko dart from side to side. The Dragon of Fire couldn't hit her back; if she stopped moving to launch an attack, Echidna would have her again. "I think I'll just get rid of that thing." Echidna said. Her tail lashed out, as quick as the thunder, and snatched the Denshi Bunny out of Kimiko's hands. She watched in horror as Echidna crushed the Shen Gong Wu with her tail, forcibly releasing a surge of magical energy that briefly illuminated the room with an unearthly light. "And now…"

Kimiko screwed her eyes shut as Echidna's giant claw slowly approached her. She knew that she had to let the dragon win temporarily, but that didn't make what was coming any more pleasant.

Dojo poked his head around the corner. What he saw there confirmed his worst fears. Echidna was squatting there alone. A scrap of torn fabric lay on the ground; the remnant of Kimiko's Xiaolin armor. He could even see the remains of the smashed Denshi Bunny in the corner, glowing feebly. And last but certainly not least, he could see all four of Echidna's glittering white eyes watching him.