The Long Dark Path
Echidna fell through the Yin-Yang Portal headfirst. Her flesh and bone still seared with the mystic flames that the Xiaolin monks had called up. But now her mind too, the most formidable weapon in her arsenal, was being invaded. She could feel her dominant yin, the spiraling darkness that pulsated through every fiber of her being, being sublimated by a rising yang, the force of light.
"You think this will rid you of me, mortal?" She shrieked. She exhaled a gust of fire that served only to increase the intensity of her agony. "Nations fall, mortals crumble into the dust, but Echidna is eternal! Eternal!"
Her screams were drowned out by the howling void behind her.
The dragon found herself in the middle of a vast garden. At first it seemed to be merely an expanse of grass and flowers, watched over by the sun above. But when she watched closely she saw that the garden was split along the middle by a translucent energy fence. On one side of the fence was a bright and tranquil valley, filled with beautiful blooming flowers and the aura of light and life. On the other, a sprawling, lifeless wasteland was obscured by the overpowering aura of cold and darkness.
"What is this place?" Echidna demanded. The flames around her body subsided, and she could think clearly again.
As if in answer, a sign suddenly flickered into view in front of a healthy tree on the light side of the fence. It read – The Valley.
"Oh, that clears thatup." Echidna muttered disgustedly. She raised both hands into the air, sending a bolt of electricity bouncing between her palms. "Xiaolin Dragon – release me from this place at once or I will raze it to the ground!"
"No need for that," said a soft, gentle voice. Echidna pivoted in place and wound up floating face-to-face with a short, hooded old man with a flowing green beard and three milky-white eyes.
"Who are you?" Echidna asked.
"My name does that matter, o Queen of the Universe." The old man said. "As for your previous question – this place, well, this place has many names. Some call it the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Others have called it Duat, Yomi, the Cocytus, the Bridge of Dread, Hades… The list is rather endless. My personal favorite is the happy hunting ground, but I think that, in your case, it would be better to call it 'the Taijitu Space'."
Echidna found herself following the man as he walked along the fence separating the two realms of the place – 'the Taijitu pace' as he called it. The two of them seemed to drift along, keeping astride the fence even though Echidna felt as if they would fall off.
"Normally," The man continued. "Normally, when a soul is forced through the Yin-Yang Portal as you were, it is stripped of its dominant chi and forced to live life as a sort of… puppet, for the corresponding chi force back in this realm. But you – my Queen of the Universe, Lord of Time and Space – you are the terrible exception to this law. Youdon't have any chi to speak of! You live and breathe not light or darkness, warmth or cold, life or death… you are driven only by the eerie magics of hatred, fear, pain, and oblivion. You are a vacuum, my Queen, and nature abhors a vacuum."
Echidna snorted. "I do not care to hear about your metaphysics. Release me back onto Earth now or die."
The man shook his head. "You mistake yourself. I have no control over your fate. You consigned yourself to this place thousands of years ago, when first you rose from the mists at the beginning of the world and put yourself above nature itself. In a sense, you defeated yourself."
"What do you mean?" Echidna snapped.
"I admit, part of the blame for your being here lies with the Xiaolin monks." The old man said. "Raimundo Pedrosa's plan worked too well. He intended only to trap you in the Yin-Yang World so that if you escaped you would be purged of your inner evil and become like Hannibal Bean. He did not realize that you had no chi to purge, so when he defeated you and forced you through the Portal he banished not only your evil but everything that is you as well." The old man shook his head. "A sad, sad fate, but not one that is wholly undeserved."
Echidna roared in fury. "I will break free of this place! This I swear!"
She took flight, tearing through the sky at blinding speeds. Blasts of raw magical force issued from her mouth and palms, destroying huge swathes of the Taijitu Space. In her anger, she tore into the earth, tunneling down and down until she could no longer see the sky above. But still, despite her efforts, she could not escape her prison.
"I too tried that when first I was banished here." The old man said.
Echidna ignored him and took wing again. This time she soared across the expanse of the garden of light. The beauty of that place seemed to mock her, but whenever she tried to land she found herself flying back towards the fence. She retaliated by setting it ablaze, and then retreated to the dark wasteland. There too, she was unwelcome, and forced to raze it and retreat.
"There must be a way to escape." Echidna declared.
The old man shook his head sadly, his eyes glistening beneath his hood. "No. We two are doomed to walk the Middle Path, for ever and ever, til the end of time."
The fence seemed to shift sideways, turning into a cobblestone road that wound throughout the valley. On either sides of the road the two lands of yang and yin were cleared of Echidna's ravaging. Shapes – of people, of buildings, and of animals – rose out of the ground and populated it. Echidna could see people she had known on Earth mingling cheerfully amongst them.
Here! Omi, Kimiko, and Raimundo played a game of soccer while Clay carved up a wooden horse and examined it with pride. There! Jack Spicer strolled across the divide over to the light side, dragging along one of his numerous evil inventions. Chase Young and Master Monk Guan ate some ramen soup straight out of the cup across from Marduk and Echidna's minion Mayun, now restored to his human shape.
It was enough to make Echidna want to vomit.
"Show me no more of this!" Echidna commanded imperiously.
"That is another of our torments." The old man said. "To watch, but to never act. To see, but to never enjoy. This too, for ever and ever, til the end of time."
Echidna shot at the Xiaolin monks with her lightning power but it seemed to subside before it hit them. Worse still, they did not even notice her.
"They cannot see us." Echidna realized.
"No-one can see us." The old man said. "A third torment, one that will continue for ever--,"
"SILENCE!" Echidna commanded.
The man inclined his head in penitence.
Echidna too was silent, for the longest time. She pondered her plans for the Earth, her decision to rise up a useless mortal like Jack Spicer and make him ruler of the world. A glimmer of hope suddenly struck her.
"At least my minions will continue to fight." Echidna said. "I may be trapped now, but the Xiaolin monks are finished! Humanity will not soon forget the name Echidna, the name of the goddess who conquered their race! That, at least, is still allowed to me!"
The old man said nothing.
Echidna sighed, a great shuddering noise that echoed throughout the Taijitu Space. "Who are you, anyway?" She demanded. "What caused you to be trapped here, as I am trapped?"
"You do not recognize me, my Queen?" The old man said softly. He lowered his hood. Superimposed over his flabby human features was the aura of powerful many-headed dragon, noble yet deeply and fundamentally broken.
"Typhon?" Echidna whispered.
Typhon replaced his hood and took Echidna's claw in his hand. And, together, the King and Queen of Dragons continued their endless march down the Middle Path.