Chapter Five: The First Battle

Hi. Again, I'm REALLY sorry for posting that first author's note. You guys wanted more action, I'll give it to you... with THIS chapter! Grab the popcorn, it's time for a battle between Ameko and Chase Young! Who will win?!

AAAAND, I'm done being hyper.

(Chase) Finally...

(Me) Hey, when did you get here??

(Chase) A while ago. You gave me a bad rep!!!!!!!!

(Me) um... sorry? eep, (Chase gives me a really evil look) ok, ok! I'll make up for it!

(Chase) You better... or else!

(Me) Oh, yeah, please notify me if Chase is OOC. Thanks a ton!

By the way, the reason why I took so long to update is because of the winter storm on Jan 12 in conjunction with drama at school, homework, and a nasty case of writer's block. Ugh. Yeah, you understand.

Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Oh, yeah, one more thing: ALL CHASE YOUNG FANS go to and search for: Chase Young Young Midnight. Exactly like I just typed it. Click on the video labeled, Young Midnight. It's kickass!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown, or anything affiliated. The only characters I own are the ones I make up.

Chase Young was growing steadily more annoyed at how elusive the ninja-ko was proving to be: Leap. Leap. DUCK! Scope out area, wait a while, avoid being seen. Go somewhere else, do the same thing. BORING! He'd done this for the last five and a half hours.

Chase slouched against the side of the tree and sighed disgustedly. Why do women always make you wait? Then again, life's no fun when everything goes your way. It's nice to have a challenge once in a while. The smell of the pine tree was so soothing, so familiar... He let himself ease into a small snooze under the cool shade of the branches above.

The sound of the clock tolling 12:00 and feminine laughter broke him out of it. Chase's eyelids snapped open and a second later he was alert and had located the source of the second sound.

Two raven-haired Japanese girls were slowly walking in his direction.

Oh my God, he thought, disgust quickly reappearing on his face. Ninja-girls in fukus. What the hell is wrong with these people?

The uniforms weren't very sluttish, though. Only the lower thigh was showing at the very most.

Chase's attention returned to the girls themselves. They could've passed for twins. However, as they got closer, Chase noticed subtle differences between the two, and then more obvious ones.

"...By the way, Kaoru, great job on the descant!" one of them said.

The girl named Kaoru responded, but Chase didn't pay attention to it. A memory of what Guan and Dashi had described as beautiful popped in his head: Long black hair, snow white skin with red lips, a slender body -- Kaoru satisfied all these qualifications. However, she carried herself like a princess. NOT a characteristic of the warrior he'd come to find in the first place. Chase shook the memory from his mind and observed the other girl.

Soon, the two parted ways.

"See ya in art, cousin!"

Kaoru waved and said in a sweet voice, "Bye Meko-chan!"

'Meko-chan'?! Something that awful has to be a nickname!

Meko-chan came closer to Chase with each passing second. From far away, she didn't seem as pretty as Kaoru, but she still had a nicely shaped face and pale complexion. Chase saw that she also walked with a sense of poise and purpose. At last. A warrior.

As Meko-chan walked by him, Chase recognised her hairstyle as the same as the ninja-ko he remembered. Coincidence? Only one way to find out.

He stalked her for a while, quietly bounding from tree to tree. Those calves would be the envy of any Spartan woman.

As sure as she'd heard his thoughts, Meko-chan turned and looked right where Chase was with a determined expression. This surprised him a little, and at first, Chase thought that she hadn't noticed him. Until the girl reached for a kunai.

Meko-chan found none. Students weren't allowed to carry weapons during school hours.

The teenager let out a grunt of surprise and pain as Chase rushed forward and knocked her down. Instinctively, she rolled into a somersault and landed on her feet in a battle position.

Meko-chan sensed and roundhouse kick coming from behind and a little to her left. She quickly turned to her right, caught Chase's leg and responded with a kick of her own, this one aimed and the right side of his gut.

Chase was distracted by the sea-green fireballs blazing in her eyes.

The kick hit dead on, and he was sent staggering backward.

He chuckled darkly and said, "Nice."

A bell sounded in the distance. Twelve o five.

The teenager frowned and said with an air of sarcasm, "Well, if the whole point was to make me late for fourth hour, you've already suceeded."

Chase laughed more openly. "So --"

"You're not supposed to be here." Ugh. Cliche line.

Chase tried again, ignoring her. "So, 'Meko-chan'? What the hell?"

Meko-chan shot him a bone-chilling glare. "Ever hear of nicknames? They're fairly common in high school."

"I know. That was meant to annoy you, if you hadn't figured that out already." She had. Naturally. "What's your real name?"

The teenager looked even more annoyed at this question. Chase chuckled in his throat. He spoke with a perfect Japanese accent. "O-namae wa?" Then went back to his regular voice. "Are my words incorrect?"

"I am Ronotaro Ameko," she said in a dignified tone. "You have invaded my village and are now my enemy."

Rain-girl. "Dozo yoroshiku (yoh-roh-shku), Ameko. My name is Chase Young."

Ameko gave him an acknowledging nod. "What are you doing here? And how did you get in the gate?"

Come to think of it, I don't know. "I've been trying to figure that out myself," Chase responded with a carefree shrug.

"Someone let you in, then," Ameko said pensively. "What time did the shield weaken?"

Chase smirked. "Are you interrogating me?"

"The only way in here is through the gate. Someone had to have let you in," Ameko's tone grew serious. "The person who did so would be guilty of high treason against his Lordship Hikage and the village as a whole."

"Ah, a criminal investigation." Someone in this place likes me. "It opened shortly after dawn, about 6:30 a.m. Help you at all?"

"Yes. Very much so." Question is, who would have the gall to betray us?,Ameko thought.

"Well then," Chase said, reptilian eyes glittering gold in the sun. "Shall we do this again properly, or do you need to get to fourth hour? I can't guarantee I'll stay out of trouble during that time."

Holy crap, he's handsome. Am I just now noticing this? Ameko blinked those thoughts away. No! Bad Ameko! Remember your training!

"Alright," she said aloud. "One more round, and then I have to get to class."

Chase smiled. "I thought so."

The two took fighting stances. Ameko's resembled Rock Lee's (Naruto).

"I won't make you do anything that'll make your skirt fly up," Chase said as he made the first move. "Just for the sake of your dignity."

"First of all, that counts as a handicap, which I hate. What's necessary is necessary," Ameko replied defensively as she blocked with one arm and aimed another kick at Chase's gut. "Second, my dignity is preserved."

This time, Chase caught the leg, and was pleased to see that his opponent didn't start to lose her balance.

"Oh, you mean the black shorts under there?" Chase taunted. "I noticed."

Ameko flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger. The muscles in her captured leg flexed, and the leg ripped itself from Chase's grip onto the ground. She charged forward, swapping punches and guards with Chase. One fist broke through his defense and clipped Chase's jaw as he tilted his head back; He caught the attacking arm by the wrist and held tight.

In an attempt to free it, Ameko twisted her arm and threw another punch at Chase's face, only to have it caught at the wrist too.

What was the point of that? She's not very quick, and has mediocre arm strength. Some ninja. "How old are you?" Chase asked aloud.

"Why?" Ameko borrowed his taunting smile. "Interested?" She jerked her arms backward.

Chase, thinking it was a plan to headbutt him, held on and straightened his arms. Bad move, as he soon found out. He had underestimated how far back she would pull, and how far he would have to go forward, and the consequences were two kicks to the chest that sent him backwards into a tree.

If I wasn't wearing this armor, I'd not only have the wind knocked out of me, I'd also have a severely injured back. Her legs are very strong, but perhaps there's a weakness somewhere...

"Hardly," Chase panted.

Not completely a lie. He still wanted to see how well she'd progressed as of now, and if her skills had time to be improved. Besides, now that he'd gotten a good look at her, Ameko wasn't that attractive overall. Despite how pretty her eyes were.

"I'm 17." Ameko's hands moved quickly into a series of hand signs. Chase saw this, and made a mad dash toward her. "Nature style. Vine wrap-jutsu," she whispered.

Thick vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around Chase's ankles, wrists, and chest. They pulled him backwards onto a tree and bound him to it, legs and arms spread apart.

"You should've stayed put," Ameko said, wiping the sweat off her brow and turning to leave.

"You should not dismiss me so quickly!" Chase called.

Chase was amused to watch Ameko become visibly amazed and frightened at the same time when he turned into his dragon form. Needless to say, the vines were shredded.

"What the hell are you?!" Ameko demanded. "A tatsu?"

Chase chuckled darkly again. "Is that what you think now? I assure you, I am human. Just complicated."

Ameko scoffed. "Cursed is more like it."

Not exactly news to him. "That's your opinion. Monkey strike!"

"Repulse the monkey!!"

Another surprise! "What -- How -- Where did you learn that?" Chase stuttered, for once. His dragon self was sprawled on the ground.

"I saw Omi doing that yesterday," Ameko smiled smugly. "I figured he picked it up from you."

Chase recovered quickly and charged her, only this time, Ameko was overwhelmed.

"Same time tomorrow?" Chase asked, extending his human hand to her.

Ameko rose without his help. "Not same time. Tomorrow at five P.M. at the sparring area. You probably know where that is."

Chase nodded as the bell tolled one. "See you there." He leaped into a nearby tree and watched as Ameko reunited with Kaoru.

"Where were you?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, I didn't feel like putting up with Tomatsu-sensei's crap today," Ameko said with an attitude. "He's so single-minded!"

Chase laughed inwardly as the two walked away. "What a cool liar you are!"