Chapter 17: Dragon Dance
Dashi waited silently, sitting against the wall of his prison cell. Fung sat in the same position on the opposite side of the cell. Charity and Raven where both lying on the ground, asleep, towards the back of the room. The two girls may have been ignorant enough to sleep, but the two monks knew what was coming. "It is all going to end soon." Fung said.
"Yes." Dashi agreed. "The final battle is close."
"Four of the virtues have gathered…" Fung said. "Raven, Kindness; Charity, Temperance; you, Chastity; and myself, Forgiveness."
"And Diligence and Charity will soon join us." Dashi pointed out.
"Jack and Jess… along with most of the other rebels." Fung sighed..
Before Dashi could say anything else the doors to the dungeon slammed open and a troop of Wuya's Golem Guard's marched in followed by a crowd of two dozen or so and then more golems. One of the golems threw open the cell door, startling and waking Raven and Charity, and pushed two people in: Jack and Jess. Jess stumbled forward and fell, Dashi moving barely fast enough to catch her. Jack managed to keep his footing, but swung around and tried hitting one of the guards with his mechanical arm. The door was slammed shut before he could. "Let me out of here you half assed excuse for a rock monster." Jack shouted through the bars. The golems just ignored him as they herded the others into the cell across the hall.
Dashi just chuckled. "Six down… one to go."
Jack turned and glared at the monk. "You wanna explain what's going on, old man? Specifically why the six of us are separated fr4om everyone else."
Dashi saw no reason why not to, so he explained. Meanwhile, Fung stood up and walked over to the bars. "My students, can you hear me?"
"Master Fung?" It was Julia, the only one of his students close enough to recognize his voice. "You're alive!"
"No time for that now, Julia." Fung said. "Please, gather the others and bring them over here. Forget about anyone else, just bring my other students." Julia did as ordered and soon the seven captured students were gathered by the cell bars. "So, Omi escaped… good. This may work after all."
"What are you talking about, Master Fung?" Kimiko asked.
"The final battle is coming very soon. We must be ready."
~ANTARCTICA~
Antarctica… nothing but ice, snow, and penguins for thousands of miles. Or, at least that's what most people assume…
Hannibal had used the Golden Tiger Claws to teleport the six remaining rebels to Antarctica. The closest he could get them to their destination, however, was one days trek through the frozen waist land. For almost twenty four hours now Omi, Chase, Hannibal, Nina, Katnappe, and Chief shuffled their way through knee high show and climbed up colossal dunes of ice… and now they'd found what they were looking for… the Sin's base of operations.
Immediately they noticed the single white spire before they'd even passed over the last hill of ice. A tower made of the whitest marble seeming to jut up from the ground. As they reached the top of the hill they saw the rest. The tower rose up from a large assortment of towers, only differing in height. The towers went in order of height, descending down in a spiral with the largest in the center. At the bottom of the towers was a wide, circular base with marble gargoyle statues sitting at the edge all the way around. There was a large pair of iron double doors, the two statues on either side of it being griffons instead of gargoyles. Surrounding the fortress itself was a high wall, again made of marble, with sharp spikes rising from the top.
"Do they really think a spiked fence can stop us?" Katnappe boasted. She started to walk again, but Chief put his spear in her way.
"Do not be so brash." He said before chipping a chunk of ice off of the hill with his spear and tossing it. The next thing they knew a few of the spikes on the wall lit up and huge beams of magic blasted at the ice chunk, incineration it. "The Sins are not so ignorant as to leave their home unguarded… and that's just the proverbial tip of the ice berg."
"If you weren't being serious I'd probably find that ironic." Omi said.
"So how do we get in?" Nina asked.
At this point Chase and Hannibal chuckled as if amused by their discussion. "You kids and your details." Hannibal laughed. "How do you think the Sins get in?"
"My guess would be magic teleportation." Om said, rolling his eyes.
"No, you young fool." Chase said. "… They go through the front door."
~ONE HOUR LATER~
The great iron doors creaked shut behind them as the six make their way into the darkness of the Sin's base. As beautiful and awe inspiring it was on the outside, it was simply horrifying on the inside. Plain black walls, ceilings, and floors and not light other than the occasional neon green torch on the wall.
The means of their entry wasn't as simple as Chase made it sound. Chief had to lead the way because, being the Virtue of Humility, he was the only one who could successfully deflect the Sins magic. Once they'd gotten through the outer wall they found out that the gargoyle statues weren't just for decoration. Not only did the gargoyles and the two griffons spring to life and attack them, but from beneath the snow an army of Sloth's skeletal soldiers burst up. It was easy enough fighting their way through that… but the possessed Cyclopes, now black with a red eye, and Mala Mala Jong, his blue flame aura now black as well, were another story. But, through whatever means, they managed to get passed the Sin's guards and successfully entered the Sin's lair… with a consolation prize of a treasure trove of Shen Gong Wu after shattering Mala Mala Jong.
Nina shuttered as they made their way deeper into the lair, looks of horror crossing her face occasionally. "Something wrong?" Katnappe asked.
"Just bad memories." Nina said. "What I wouldn't give to tear this place down brick by brick."
"You may not need to." Chase said. "If we are successful here then this place will most assuredly crumble after Pride's death."
"I thought this was a rescue mission!" Nina and Katnappe both snapped together. They glared at each other after wards, but quickly smiled mischievously and nodded. They both knew that they specifically meant saving Jack and they also knew that they both had feelings for Jack. During the days trek before Katnappe had somehow let it slip out. Needless to say that there was an argument afterwards which, to all four of the guy's annoyance, lasted a few hours. In the end, however, they both came to an understanding and put their anger aside. Long story short, they'd agreed that Katnappe wasn't to make a move on Jack... so long as he and Nina remained together.
"Something's wrong." Nina said later on. "I know that Pride knows we're here… and experience tells me that he should've tried to kill us again… something's wrong."
"Or perhaps he has something worse planned for us than death." Omi said.
"He needs me alive." Chief finally said. "He wants all seven Virtues alive and imprisoned so that there's no chance of his plans failing. Leave any one of us unchecked and had has to live in fear… kill any of us and he has to start the search for us all over again."
"I see." Om said, thinking this over. "So how exactly does the whole Sin / Virtue thing work again?"
"Each Sin has his or her own Virtue counterpart… someone who had equal and power to them and the ability to at least entrap them… If the seven of us gather and our powers are not suppressed then we have a chance to take down the Sins once and for all… unfortunately, fifteen hundred years ago the Virtue of Chastity was unwilling to take the life of Lust, and thus the Sins lived to this day."
"And the Virtue of Chastity back then was…" Omi started.
"The same man it is today." Chief explained. "The Sin of Lust has not changed, there for Dashi must remain the Virtue of Chastity as well."
"I see…"
Not much was said after that. the simply continued deeper into the bowls of the dark castle until they reached what Nina assured them would be a one way ticket directly to the Sins. It was another set of double doors, only smaller and made of wood this time. With a single shove Hannibal able to push them open. Only Nina had any idea of what to expect on the other side and she gasped. It was in no way how she remembered it.
What had once simply been a large open chamber was now half occupied with a colossal machine, no doubt the handy work of Jacks brother and robots. It had no lights and made only a small noise, almost like a large creature snoring. It was just a large metal box with large, black cables jetting out from it in all directions except on the frontal side. On that side there were four latches that looked like they were designed for a gigantic human, only the legs would've been latched together and the fourth went around the neck.
"He actually built it." Nina breathed.
"What?" Katnappe asked.
"The VDU… Virtue Detector Unit. It was a machine designed by my teams Wrath and Gluttony. It was never put into production before I left… but I guess my replacement put Jacks robots to work… but it shouldn't be optional. The power source isn't in place."
"Power source?" Omi questioned.
Nina pointed to the machine, indication the latches on the front. "The dragon was supposed to be there… Dojo, right? He was supposed to be latched onto it and used to power the machine. But he's not there."
"Don't be so sure." Hannibal said. "Is it not true, Omi, that you haven't seen your dear Dojo since you tried defeating the Sins the first time?"
Omi didn't answer. He pushed his way past the others and looked at the machine. "I knew I recognized that snoring. Dojo!"
It was the biggest mistake he would make all day.
Before Omi was even done speaking there was a thundering roar from behind the machine. The sound of rattling chains and bursts of flames sounded behind it and soon after that shattering steel and shuffling of cables against each other. The creature emerged from its nest behind the machine, one black claw reaching up through the cables above the machine and then another. Its head snaked out next, long, crocodilian, with blazing red eyes, a main of golden yellow hair running from behind its eyes down its back and a long goatee of the same color, red from the jaw to the under belly and black everywhere else. It snaked its way out from behind the machine until its entire body was revealed, serpent like and with one of the cables attached to the back of its head, connecting it to the machine.
It roared at them, jets of fire bursting from its nostrils. No one flinched, but Omi looked at it completely horrified. "Dojo…"
Dojo roared and lifted into the air, beginning to circle the ceiling of the chamber and snaking through the cables, blasting fire from his mouth occasionally.
"Now what?" Katnappe asked.
"We sit back and enjoy the show." Chase said nonchalantly. "This is young Omi's battle… look."
They all looked at Omi. He had his back turned to them as he watched Dojo circle over head. "Dojo… what have they done to you?" he asked as his body was surrounded by a dark aura and a black spot appeared on the back of his head. The spot again began to branch out like tentacles, quickly covering his head in tattoo like markings and beginning to spread over his body. The others could feel could feel the energy surging from his body as he rose into the air. Most of them didn't know what to make of this… but Chase could sense the darkness being unleashed within him. "You'll make an excellent protégé yet." He grinned evilly.
"They will pay…" Omi said as his eyes faded into darkness and the dark aura around him grew. "They will pay for what they did to him!" With that Omi flew straight up, heading for Dojo. Dojo sensed him immediately and dove at him as well, sending a jet of fire his way. Omi went straight through the fire and stopped, midair, in front of Dojo, kicking him in the face and knocking him into the wall with a thundering crash. Dojo recovered quickly and went at him again, hurling multiple fireballs from his mouth. Omi avoided each of them easily but barely had enough time to avoid Dojo's snapping jaws as they tried to close on him. Omi flew upward to escape but Dojo managed to capture him in one of his claws. The dark dragon brought the monk close to his face, glaring at him to savor the moment before Omi was burned alive and devoured. But just as the dragon was about to blast him with flames Omi broke free from his grip, summoned his elemental ice powers into his fist and hit Dojo directly between the eyes.
Dojo roared and fell backward into the machine. His head was half frozen and much of his mane had frozen and broke off in the collision. But still, he was ready to kill. With one twitch of his head Dojo broke the thin layer of ice from his head and went at Omi again. Omi flew away, leading the dragon into the mass of cables above the machine Dojo chased him through, blasting fire at him often and melting many of the black cables. Despite thinking that this would tangle the dragon in the cords, Dojo managed to follow him through without getting stuck.
Omi dove straight down to the ground, stopping at the last second for one last ditch effort to defeat the possessed dragon. He landed gracefully on his feet and then looked back up to find Dojo hurtling straight down at him, light building up in the back of his throat for another blast of fire. Summoning all of his strength Omi channeled all of his elemental energy into his hands and blasted Dojo with an ice beam. The dragon roared and returned the blast with his fire. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as they two attacks met and seemed to stop each other, but Omi's overpowered Dojo quickly. The dragon was hit with the blast and frozen solid. He fell to the ground, crashing into the machine, shattering both it and the ice he was encased in.
Like a miracle Dojo returned to his normal color and shrank to his regular size. The cable attached to the back of his head detaching and falling limp. Omi finally relaxed and the dark aura and marks disappeared. Dojo lay unconscious on the ground and Omi raced over to him despite being exhausted. He kneeled down and lifted up the little dragon, almost cradling him in his arms. "Dojo… are you all right?"
Dojo groaned and groggily opened his eyes, smiling weakly as he saw Omi. "If by all right you mean in severe pain and feeling like I'm about to die even though I'll probably be fine… then yeah, I'm all right." He groaned.
Omi smiled and hugged the dragon tightly as tears began running down his cheeks. He didn't say anything… being with his lost friend again was enough.
"Aw… what a touching moment… it sickens me!"
The Sins appeared out of nowhere in front of their destroyed machine. Standing side by side; Sloth, Wrath, Lust, Pride, Envy, Greed and Gluttony in that order. "If it weren't for possessing all seven Virtues already I would be severely enraged." Pride said. "But no harm done. You have delivered Humility to me there for I have no further use for this machine… or for you. Greed! Gluttony! Take them all to the dungeons… put the old, dark skinned one with the other Virtues… take the dragon too."
Greed and Gluttony had taken no more than two steps when one of the side walls suddenly shattered and a small portion of it fell apart, revealing Dashi, Fung, Jack and all of the others behind them.
"Don't bother." Dashi said. "We'll be joining them."
The mass of kidnapped rebels moved quickly to join Omi and the other five. Surprisingly, Cyclops even pushed through the double doors, now normal again, and joined in the crowd. For last minute effect, Jack used the Emperor Scorpion to summon all of the Shen Gong Wu and form Mala Mala Jong again.
This was it. The beginning of the final showdown between the Seven Deadly Sins and the rebel forces. Thirty-two versus seven… it all came down to this.
"Time to raise some hell." Pride growled.