Thanks for R&R! Part four, last preparation chapter…Not long till the war itself…To tell you the truth, I haven't been working on this for a while, my current chapter has been unfinished for at least a week now. I've been busy chatting to people on DeviantART (BRR mainly…) Anyway, on with the story…

Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown

Xiaolin Showdown: Legend of the Thunder Child III: Apocalypse Clone

37: The Art of War: Part IV

Temple Dormitory, 1 hour, 56 minutes left…

"Kimiko…" said Colza as she poked her head into her room, "It's time to go…"

Kimiko whined as she climbed out of bed, she got changed into her clothes and sorted out her hair. Just as she finished, she felt Ryan's hands move around her waist and saw his head rest on her shoulders in the reflection in the mirror. Her face drooped as she saw the depressed look in his eyes.

"I wish you didn't have to leave…" said Ryan. Kimiko sniffed as tears began forming in her eyes again, she turned around, resting her head on his chest.

"I wish there was someway to avoid this…" said Kimiko "But we have no choice…"

Ryan felt her body shake as she began to cry again.

"Hey…" said Ryan as he hugged her tightly "I'm going to miss you too, but we will see each other again…"

"I know…" cried Kimiko "But…"

"Shh…" said Ryan as he rested a finger on her lips, "No buts, let's just both concentrate on our jobs"

"I will…for you…" said Kimiko as she dried her eyes. They both kissed again, before they both walked out onto the temple grounds, hand in hand, where everyone was waiting for them.

Temple Courtyard, 1 hour, 51 minutes left…

"That's everything" said Dojo as he loaded the Sliver Manta Ray with all the Shen Gong Wu and some supplies to keep them going for a few days, "We're ready to go"

"Hold up" said Raimundo as he checked in the bag, "We're missing the Tesla Dynamo"

"Here it is" said Chucky as he held it up and put it in the bag himself.

"Don't you need that Ryan?" said Omi "I thought you needed it to use your Wudai weapon?"

"The Tesla Dynamo gave out a magnetic flux" said Ryan "I now know how to make that flux without the Tesla Dynamo…"

"Very well…" said Omi as he threw the bag into the cockpit.

"Are you ready?" said Master Fung, the four of them nodded as they climbed into the cockpit, except Kimiko who was still looking at her friends.

"Well guys…" sighed Kimiko "This is it…"

"No it's not" said Kelko as they both hugged each other, "This isn't the end; it's nowhere near the end…"

"Don't worry about me" said Lizz as it was her turn to hug Kimiko goodbye, "I'll give them one for you"

"You shouldn't be worried about us" said Hannah as she hugged Kimiko, "With Ryan on the frontlines, those losers won't even get to us"

Kimiko then turned to Ryan, she didn't smile, nor did she give him an unhappy look. She just put her arms around him and planted a deep loving kiss on his lips. Her arms loosened around him, her hand gently slid down his arm to his hand where she gently held it. She was still holding onto his hand as she climbed up into the cockpit, she lent over the side so her hand could still be in her loved one's hand.

"Good luck Dojo…" said Colza as she hugged and kissed Dojo multiple times, "Look after the monks, me and Chuck will look after the temple…"

Dojo smiled as he wiped her tears away, before climbing up into the Silver Manta Ray.

"Okay, let's go!" said Raimundo as he pushed the ignition button; the Silver Manta Ray began to hover in the air. Raimundo pushed the controls forward, but the Silver Manta Ray didn't go anywhere.

"Huh?" said Clay "Are we tied down?"

"Why are we not moving?" said Omi as they all looked behind them, they saw that Kimiko was still holding onto Ryan's hand, and Ryan was using his strength to keep the Silver Manta Ray from taking off.

"Err…Ryan?" said Dojo "You have to let go…"

Ryan took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, Kimiko saw tears form in his eyes as he slowly loosened his grip. His eyes opened as he felt the warmth of her hand leave his, he jumped at the Silver Manta Ray as it took off. He tried to grab her hand again, his fingers brushed hers, but she was too high to grab. Ryan lowered his head as he watched the Silver Manta Ray fly off into the horizon.

"Ryan?" said Hannah as she and the others stood around him.

"I'm okay…" said Ryan quietly as he wiped his tears away. He sniffed as he turned around, everyone was looking at him.

"You're leading the attack" said Master Fung "We're waiting for our commands…Commander"

Ryan thought for a moment as he looked at everyone standing around him. A small grin appeared on his face as he raised his fist in the air.

"Let's do this!" yelled Ryan. There was a cheer from the other monks from the temple as they all ran off to continue with their jobs. Ryan sighed as he looked to where the Silver Manta Ray flew off.

"Let's do this…" said Ryan to himself, "For Kimiko…"

Main Hall, 1 hour, 7 minutes left…

"Okay, listen up!" called Ryan "We're facing a new type of enemy, this isn't Wuya's golems, Jack's robots or Mala Mala Jong, we're facing…me"

There was muttering through out the crowd as Ryan continued with his speech.

"The enemy we're fighting is the purpose to my existence, they are mass produced clones made from…Err…Guan?"

"Heylin magic called Heylin Genome Splintering" said Guan as he stood up, "The clones are copies of Ryan who is a clone of Chase Young"

There was more muttering in the crowd.

"When defeated, the clones will crystallize and disintegrate, but be careful, unlike Ryan here, they are mindless, merciless, bloodthirsty monsters" said Guan.

"How many are there?" asked one of the monks "And will we be ready to fight them?"

"Hmm…" thought Ryan "The number of clones may have gone up…"

"Go ahead and tell them…" said a deep booming voice in his head, "Tell them the truth…"

"Wha…" thought Ryan "That voice…Guardian Angel?"

"There is every possible chance that you'll be ready" said Guardian Angel's voice, "But no chance that you will win…"

Ryan's mouth became dry as he looked at everyone.

"Ryan?" said Guan "Are you alright?"

"I'm…fine" said Ryan.

"Tell them the truth…" said Guardian Angel's voice, "We out number you a hundred to one!"

"There are far more of them than us…" said Ryan. Everyone gasped and began to mutter even more.

"But what we lack in size, we make up for in skill" said Guan. Everyone went quiet as he walked towards them.

"We're Xiaolin Warriors" said Guan "We will not fall to a swarm of Heylin insects…We will be victorious!"

The monks cheered as they clapped. A smug grin appeared on Ryan's face as he lent back in his chair.

"Suck on that, Guardian Angel" thought Ryan.

"Savour this moment of false hope…" said Guardian Angel's voice, "Soon it will be all over…"

Temple Courtyard, 54 minutes left…

"Commander!" called someone from the lookout tower, "There is an unidentified flying object coming in from the east!"

Ryan scrammed into the lookout tower, just as the man said; a large skeleton dragon was flying towards them on large decaying wings.

"What the hell is that?" gasped Ryan. He looked down as he saw Colza sliver up his leg.

"Oh my god!" gasped Colza "It's him!"

"Who is it?" said Ryan.

"It's Bonetail!" said Colza. She looked down as she saw monks cock their bows with arrows and aimed them at the dragon.

"Hold your fire!" yelled Colza as she jumped down from Ryan, "Come on Ryan! Follow me!"

Ryan ran down to the courtyard, where Bonetail was landing. He gave a loud hollow roar, signalling his arrival.

"Ryan!" called a voice from Bonetail's head, "Long time no see!"

"Kronego!" said Ryan. Kronego grinned at him as Bonetail lowered his head and so he could jump off.

"Thought you'd start the party without me?" said Kronego "I thought I come because you may need some heavy weaponry"

"The more the merrier!" said Ryan as he looked up at Bonetail.

"Ah…" sighed Kronego as he looked at Chase's army, "Just like old times…Did you know I was in the first Heylin War?"

"No" said Ryan "Glad we could have an old veteran on our team"

"Ya! Ya!" said Bonetail "He do good!"

"Sorry about him thought…" whispered Kronego "The part of the brain that controls speech rotted away thousands of years ago…"

"I don't care" said Ryan "As long as he can wipe out thousands of Ryan clones…"

Kronego chuckled as he looked back at Chase's army; they were beginning to format their troops. Ryan sighed as he lent against the wall.

"Chase is among them…" said Ryan.

"Where?" said Kronego "I can't see him…"

"I can feel him…" said Ryan "And he can feel me…"

War is imminent…R&R…