Part 3: The Revolution

Chapter 15: Aftermath

"PRIDE!"

Rush appeared in the Sin's council room and stormed up to the highest throne where Pride sat. Rush grabbed the front of Pride's shirt and lifted him into the air the best of he could, glaring at his leader while Pride remained calm. "You never told me that people were going to die!"

"I did not realize that this was in question." Pride stated.

"Those were my friends that almost died! And people that were helping them did die." Rush shouted.

"They were your friends, Envy." Pride growled as a surge of energy shot from his body, knocking Rush to the ground. "But now they are nothing but insects… they are expendable and should be tortured until the day they die for standing against us! Why can you not understand this? Why do you remain so… human?"

Rush got to his feet and glared at Pride, the Seal of Thanatos glowing brightly on his forehead. "Because I am human."

"… I believe you have a job to do." Pride spat. Rush just turned around and stormed away as the seal disappeared for his forehead. He took one last look at Pride before vanishing. "And so begins… the end." Pride said.

~BENEATH TEMPLE RUINS~

It was the first time it had rained in the paradise beneath the temple ruins. The weather seemed to react with the mass emotions of the inhabitants. It was raining because they were mourning the two they'd lost in the battle at Lust's palace. Mala Mala Jong carried two crudely made coffins on its shoulders, one carrying the body of Jet and the other, though empty, carrying Raphael's honor. The rebels stood on either side of Jong, watching as it took the two coffins to the burial sight. Most simply stood silently, honoring the deceased. Chase and Hannibal (still in his armor) waited for the funerals to end further in the woods. They weren't concerned with honoring the dead, only the survival of the world and the living. Panda Bubba also stood apart from the others, but was to serve as a sort of priest and speak on the deceased's behalf. Jess, though standing with the group, could still be distinguished from the others. Jess was sobbing for the loss of her brother… the last true family she had.

Mala Mala Jong set the two coffins into the hole and Clay moved a large pile of dirt over them with a flick of his wrist. Panda Bubba lifted his head and began speaking. "Today we honor two valiant warriors who gave their lives in order to help liberate humanity from the tyranny of the Seven Deadly Sins." he said. "Young Jet stood alone against the Sin of Greed and fought to the end. My late co-leader Raphael willingly gave his life to destroy Lust's palace. We honor their sacrifice and hope the get the after life that they deserve, but today we are also here to make a promise to them. Though the Sin of Lust lives on and we were unsuccessful in liberating Asia, we were successful in making a stand, telling the Sins that we are not going down without a fight. In honor of Jet and Raphael, we will liberate this planet or die trying!"

The others cheered, punching the air in agreement before scattering, going to do their own thing. Rai, Kim, Clay, Saya, Omi, Mimi, Julia, Elena and Jess stayed together and set up a fire in their won secluded clearing once the rain died down. Jess was no longer sobbing, but she was still in complete shock and almost unable to speak. She clung to Rai's arm most of the time, which sort of annoyed Kim but she didn't bother trying to stop her. Jess was in a fragile state and needed someone to support and comfort her, obviously the person she was closest too… in this case, Rai.

"So, what do we do now?" Clay asked. He didn't get an answer. There had never been a plan on what to do after the destroyed Lust's palace. They just figured things would go smoothly from there… but then again, when did anything ever go smoothly?

"Maybe…" Mimi said. "Maybe we should consider funerals for Rush and Master Fung." She suggested.

Omi glared at his girlfriend and let go of her hand. "I refuse to believe Master Fung is dead until I see evidence." He growled.

"He was caught in the middle of the explosion!" Mimi pointed out.

"So was Wuya but we know she's alive!" Omi snapped. "And besides, Guan said himself that if anyone could survive something like that it was Master Fung."

"I agree with Omi." Elena said. "We have no proof that Master Fung or Rush are dead. Think about it. Master Fung was hiding right under our noses since we regrouped and haven't seen any sign of Rush since we were separated. Master Fung has the skill and intelligence to live through an explosion like that…"

"But what about Rush?" Kim questioned. "We all regrouped within a couple weeks. Why couldn't Rush do the same? The way I see it, either he's dead…"

"Or he doesn't want to be found." Rai said.

"You're all missing the point." Saya said. "There is a very real possibility that they're both gone. We don't know if they are or not, but if they are then wee need to honor them."

"And what if they're not?" Omi asked.

"Then we knock down the grave stones and throw a party." Jewel said.

The conversation continued for a while, but at some point Jess, who'd remained quiet the whole time, got up and walked away into the forest. It didn't take long for them to realize why. Her brother had just died and all they were talking about was death. What was wrong with them? Rai glanced over to Kim. She knew immediately what he wanted to do and was pleased that he was considering her feelings first. "Go ahead. She needs you right now." Kim answered. Rai nodded, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then went after Jess.

Just as Rai left Saya stood up and stretched her arms. "I've got stuff to do too." she said. "I'll be back in a bit."

~ELSEWHERE~

Chase and Chief glanced up from their fire as Saya stepped into their clearing and joined them around it. "Ok, I'm here. Now what do you two want?" she questioned.

Chase turned away from her and back to Chief, nodding at him. Chief nodded back and began to speak. "I believe you know better that most here that the means that these people are using to defeat the Sins will never work."

"Of course." Saya said. "I only agreed to help with blowing up Lust's palace out of spite."

"But do you know how the Sins were defeated fifteen hundred years ago?" Chase asked. "Do you know how Pride and the other Sins, with the exception of Lust of course, were imprisoned?"

"Does anyone but you two?" Saya mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Chief ignored her sarcasm and began the story. "Fifteen hundred years ago, when the Seven Deadly Sins emerged from what we can only assume is a true hell, Grand Master Dashi, Guan, Chase, and myself banded together to battle them but soon found ourselves easily outmatched. We went into hiding for a time until one day the witch doctor of my tribe came to me, possessed by a strange purple haze. The spirit that possessed him gave us the means of which to defeat, though not destroy, the Sins."

"In order to defeat my brother, as the spirit called Pride," Chase continued, "you must gather the seven virtues together and unleash the golden force upon the evil ones, it said. We didn't quite understand until after the spirit left the witch doctors body. There was a faint golden aura coming from the old man. He was Humility. From there we set out across the globe, searching for those who carried the virtues within them. It did not take us long, slightly less than a year in fact. But soon we had the virtues of Humility, Forgiveness, Temperance, Chastity, Charity, Diligence, and Kindness on our side."

"We gathered an army and attacked the Sins head on." Chief continued. "It was not long before they began to fall. First was Wrath." To Saya's amazement, an image of a Samurai with a sword through its chest appeared in the fire, but disappeared quickly. "Then Gluttony." This time the image was of a monstrously obese and hideously scarred man. His skull seemed to get crushed. He continued to name them off until only Lust and Pride were left. Together, we helped the virtue of Humility defeat Pride, sealing him in a stone statue atop a mountain in what is now Kenya. We hoped that he would remain imprisoned forever… unfortunately, that was not the case."

"But now we know how to stop them!" Saya said. "All we have to do is find these virtues and we can take down the Sins just like you all did in the past!"

Chief laughed. "Poor, ignorant girl. Who said anything about finding them?" Saya tilted her head slightly and raised one eyebrow, completely confused. "They've all been found. All we have to do is bring them together." Chief explained as his body began to give off a golden aura.

~ELSEWHERE~

Jack and Nina sat silently around their fire. Jack was doing maintenance on his mechanical arm while Nina was staring blankly into the fire, hugging her knees to her chest. It was awkward, Jack had to admit. Normally in a situation like this they'd be making out, cuddling, or deep in a conversation at the least. But that night Nina had distanced herself for some reason. "Is something wrong, Nina?" Jack finally asked, setting down his screwdriver. Nina remained silently, but glanced at him with a glare. "C'mon, Nina. I know something's bugging you… you know you can tell me anything."

Nina just glared at him for a few more seconds before sighing and answering him. "You're an idiot." She murmured.

"Wha…" Jack questioned.

"All of my life I've been miserable." She said. "I grew up in an orphanage, I was adopted by drug dealers who treated my like a slave, and then Pride comes to me and offers me a better life. I finally think that my sorrowful days are over, but it turns out that Pride was just a psychopath who needed a business partner. I didn't know what to do with myself… and then you came along. You were the first thing in my life that truly made me happy. I practically signed my own death warrant to leave the Sins and be with you. I'm finally happy… and then you almost kill yourself for a lost cause."

"Nina…"

"As I said, you are an idiot! What could you have possibly accomplished by setting off that bomb?"

"We were going to liberate Asia…"

"Well it didn't work, now did it?" Nina shouted. "Raphael gave up his life, not only to set off that bomb, but to save you. And to what point or purpose? Wuya is still alive and Asia remains miserable."

Jack sighed. "I get it, Nina."

"No, you don't get it, Jack! The Sins may be killing the world, but you're the only thing keeping me alive!..." She paused to take in the remorse on Jacks face. She was starting to feel guilty for yelling at him, but this had to be said. "… Don't you realize that without you I'd probably be suicidal?"

Jack's eyes widened.

"It's true." Nina continued, starting to cry now. "Before I met you I'd thought about killing myself… I hated my life that much. But once Pride came along it was impossible. I…" she stopped as she felt Jack's arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight hug.

"I had no idea." Jack said. He was crying too. "I swear, as long as it's within my power I will never leave you… I swear.

Nina buried her face in Jacks jacket and hugged him back. She wanted to believe him so badly, but something in the pit of her stomach told her that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise. But still… she was going to hold him too it.

~THE WOODS~

"Jess, you ok?"

Jess glanced over her shoulder to find Rai walking up to her. She sighed. Of all the people around her Rai was the only one she wanted to talk to at the moment. "What do you think?" she asked. "My only family is dead. I don't know what to do now… and for once I don't think that God's going to give me the answer." She looked down to the silver cross in her hand. She'd given it to Jet before the battle and she'd hoped that he'd give it back to her… but sadly that wasn't the case. She clutched it tightly as tears began running down her cheeks. "He promised me that he would come back… but I never imagined that it would be as a lifeless husk."

Rai placed his hand on her shoulder. "Look, I miss him as much as you do. We're all mourning over him and Raphael… but I understand that none of us could even come close to feeling what you do right now."

Jess looked over to him, not knowing what to say. "Jet was a great guy." Rai continued. "He died for what he believed in, and the only thing more he could've done was died to save you… which if you think about it he kind of was." He paused as he noticed a small grin force its way onto Jess's face. "He's up in heaven now… and I'm sure that he's joined your parents in watching over you."

Jess's smile widened and she nodded. "You're right." she said. "He's not really gone… just watching over me in a distant place. Thanks Rai."

"No prob…" Rai was cut off. His eyes widened.

Jess was kissing him!

Rai pushed her away immediately. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Jess insisted. "It was just a… an impulse. I swear I didn't mean too." She stopped, waiting for Rai to respond. He just glared at her for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. She could see the gears turning in his head. Eventually he sighed.

"This never happened." He said. "Nobody, especially Kimiko, finds out." With that he turned around and started back towards camp. "If anyone asks I couldn't get through to you, you're still depressed, and I'm pissed off about it."

~MONK'S CAMP~

Saya, Rai, and Jess returned just as Clay was starting to cook some fish that he'd caught. Rai took his seat next to Kimiko and Jess, still looking depressed, sat on the other side of the fire between Elena and Mimi. As far as those two were concerned things were awkwardly quiet… but Saya couldn't shut her mouth. She was busy explaining something that Chase had told her.

"… And Chase say's that they've all been found already. All we have to do is bring them together and we actually have a fighting chance!"

"But we have no idea who they are." Kimiko pointed out. "Even if all seven of them are among us, we have no way of knowing who they are."

"Well…" Saya paused as if not sure whether to continue or not. She eventually shrugged her shoulders and continued. "… I saw for myself that Chief is one of them. The Golden aura says it all. And Chief and Chase both say that at least two more of them are here with us right now."

"And the other four?" Omi asked.

"They're together somewhere in the southern hemisphere. That's all Chief could tell me." Saya explained. "If he were closer he could give us a more precise location, but since we can't leave here right now that's not exactly possible."

"So in other words we know how, we just can't at the moment." Jewel said.

"Pretty much." Elena agreed.

"I might be able to help with that."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but it defiantly wasn't one of their fellow rebels that they knew. Everyone except Jess jumped to their feet and turned towards the voice, ready for a fight. But as soon as they saw who it was they dropped their guard and gasped.

He was leaning against a tree with that smug look on his face that they all remembered. He looked quite a bit different, what with the thin layer of facial hair now on and under his chin and above his upper lip. His outfit was also completely different. His pants and shirt were both black and he'd ripped the sleeves off of his shirt. His shirt also had a red Chinese dragon on its chest. He had a red sash tied around his waist and another, smaller one tied around his forehead with two long strands dangling from the back of his head. Still, even with all of these differences from the one they remembered him as, they all recognized him easily.

"Now why'd you go and start the party without me?" Rush asked, chuckling.