CHAPTER SEVEN: REVELATIONS
Master Fung was sitting graciously on the opposite side to Kimiko. To her right was Clay, with a frightened-looking Dojo perched upon his shoulder like a parrot. To her left were Omi and Raimundo. They all looked rather intrigued with Kimiko at the moment. She could not understand why.
Master Fung was clearly struggling to find the right words; he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. With a look at the other monks, he nodded to them,
"My apologies, Omi, Clay, Raimundo and Dojo, but I must speak with Kimiko alone. I will leave it to Kimiko to speak to you all later."
Omi's face was a picture. The moment Master Fung had spoken, he pulled his small features into a grumpy expression a spoilt child might use when they were denied something they wanted.
But, all three of the boys left the table respectfully. Each of them shot a look at Kimiko, who pretended not to notice their eyes flickering towards her. She was getting rather irritated by constant presence of eyes upon her.
Kimiko said nothing, but only nodded to the boys to thank them for leaving them alone. She was glad that if Master Fung really did think she was weak, at least he asked the others to leave first, before he sent her home. What am I going to tell Daddy? He was so proud of me. How could I have let him down like this? With a sigh, Kimiko bowed her head, and waited for when Master Fung spoke.
Master Fung looked upon the small girl in front of him and smiled apologetically at her. He began to speak solemnly.
"First of all, Kimiko. I would like to apologise dearly for my actions. I should not have removed you from training without giving you a reason, as I see now that perhaps I have caused unnecessary damage which could have been prevented." Kimiko's jaw dropped. The last thing she had expected was an apology, but even so, he still was not making sense.
"You see, Kimiko. I have been trying to protect you for the past few months against a great evil. I am sure you know of what I speak?" Master Fung looked at her expectantly.
"Chase Young." She stated. Then she pulled a confused face as she really deciphered what he had said, "Protect me?"
"Yes, Kimiko. You are not aware of the fact that Chase Young has been watching the Xiaolin Temple for many months now, and I believe he has been watching one monk in particular." Kimiko raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Your element is the most valuable to Chase Young, and as you should well know by now, Chase will stop at nothing until he obtains it from you." There was a slight pause, as Master Fung lowered his head shamefully, "I knew Chase Young was watching the Temple, but I was unsure of if he had made his decision, which is why I waited for such a long time before I acted; perhaps in doing this I have only intensified the severity of the situation."
"Master Fung? What do you mean when you say 'decision' exactly?" Kimiko asked, still a little confused. Master Fung raised his eyebrows.
"Have you not guessed yet?" He asked, looking slightly shocked.
"No…." Kimiko responded. I'm definitely missing something here. She tried to fit all of the information in her head. Considering she had just found out that her hated enemy had been spying on her for months, she was surprisingly calm.
"So you aren't going to send me away?" Kimiko asked, getting sidetracked. She had only just realised that Master Fung was not trying to force her to go home. It was the only thing she could focus on.
"Of course not. That would make it much easier for Chase Young to recruit you."
"YES!" She cried. Without fully realising what she was doing, she jumped up and smiled, throwing her arms around him. She hugged the old monk tightly, who patted the girl awkwardly on her back. When she did not release him after a few seconds, he gently pulled her off him and cleared his throat.
"Sorry." She mumbled. How embarrassing. She blushed and sat back down. Master Fung continued, looking slightly awkward now.
"Kimiko, after you and the other Xiaolin Warriors defeated Chase Young and won Omi's freedom, Chase stayed very quiet for many months. I believe it was in this time when he first decided upon this plan. I can only speculate that he plans to recruit another Xiaolin Warrior to rule by his side. For a while, I assumed he would try to force Omi to rejoin him, as Chase Young was certain that Omi was 'The Chosen One', but clearly, after winning his freedom, Omi was obviously not truly evil. And that is why, Kimiko Tohomiko, Chase Young has visited you. I believe he intends to manipulate you or trick you into joining him but you must resist at all costs. When I realised that Chase was considering you, I removed you from training, in the hope that he would not get to see what a powerful warrior you have become." Master Fung began to speak very quickly.
"If Chase Young gains control of your element, Kimiko, the whole world and its inhabitants will be forced to bow down before him. You must not allow this to happen. I expect he will visit you again soon, in which time he will no doubt try to persuade you again."
"Again?" Kimiko asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Yes." Master Fung said, looking slightly confused.
"He hasn't asked me to join his side at all, or tried persuading me, I mean, if he has, I haven't noticed it."
Master Fung raised his eyebrows.
"Very well, Kimiko. It is true that I have only heard Raimundo's version of the events. Tell me everything you can remember about the events last night."
After a short but detailed summary, Master Fung fell silent for a moment.
"If he did not ask you to join him, then I am at a loss for the reason of the visit last night. Perhaps he just wanted to make you consider all that he had said, which I trust you have thought about a lot? Or maybe it was to see if I had, in fact, sent you away, as you believed I would." Master Fung smiled at her.
Kimiko nodded, and then summarised.
"So, Chase Young wants to rule the world again, but is too weak to do it alone. So, he wants me to help him with my element so that he can become more powerful. You took me out of training to stop him watching me so much when you thought he was going to choose me, but you acted too late, and now he's made his mind up and he's trying to get to me?"
"Nicely summarised." Master Fung said. "But Kimiko, I am not sure how much of the information I have told you, you would wish to share with your friends. Although I am sure by now they have found some method of listening in." There was a banging noise from the behind the closed door, as though something had just fallen over.
"Ouch!" Omi cried. They heard Raimundo shushing him, and then silence.
"You can come in guys." Kimiko called to the closed door. Sure enough, the door swung open, and the three boys walked into the room, smiling sheepishly. Master Fung stood up, neither looking angry nor upset at the boys' disobedience.
"Now all of you are here." Master Fung addressed them all. "In the next few days, I expect Chase will visit Kimiko again at some point. We must not allow this to happen. You," He addressed the boys, "must do your duties as Xiaolin Warriors and not allow Chase to get to Kimiko. If he attacks the temple, you must fight, to the death if you have to."
Kimiko shook her head.
"No way. No one's fighting Chase, just to stop him from talking to me, if it means people are going to die." She said seriously, glancing at the faces around her. She would not allow them to make any kind of sacrifice for her. It was not in her nature to run away from anything whilst someone else did the work.
"Kimiko, Master Fung is right." Omi said, "I have been in this position and it is most unfair, but you must try at all costs to avoid him. The three of us will be able to overpower Chase Young if we work together." Raimundo and Clay nodded.
"What about those jungle cats?" Kimiko asked smartly. At this, the boys exchanged worried glances, but Clay seemed to catch on first. With a fake smile of reassurance, he put his hand on Kimiko's shoulder.
"I'm pretty sure we can take em', Kimiko. You gotta stay outta the way on this one, lil' lady. I mean, let's face it, Chase is bad news and you can't be getting' yourself trapped like poor Omi did." Clay said. Kimiko knew that her friends always struggled against Chase's jungle cats. Just a few of them would be enough to overpower them; they were much stronger than just ordinary lions and tigers.
"Nope. I'm sorry, guys, but I'm not letting you take all the risks. I want to have some fun too." Kimiko said, looking at Master Fung.
Master Fung frowned,
"Kimiko. I do not think you understand the severity of the situation. If Chase Young were to have you at his disposal, it could mean death for us all, not to mention millions of other people."
Kimiko laughed whilst the other dragons stared at her. They could not understand why she was not treating this seriously.
"Calm down, Master Fung. I'm not going to go to the dark side. I'm sitting firmly on the Xiaolin side."
"Kim, you don't get it." Raimundo shook her shoulder and she stopped smiling. "Don't you remember what happened to Omi? Chase tricked him into joining him and he was bound by his own word. If you swear your loyalty to him, there will be nothing we can do to get you out of it, apart from challenge another showdown."
"But, I'm not going to be tricked." Kimiko said confidently. With a frustrated sigh, Raimundo shook her shoulder again.
"What if it does happen? What if… I don't know… he threatens to kill Dojo and use him in that soup he drinks to keep him immortal if you don't join him?" Raimundo pointed at the scaly green dragon on Clay's hat. At the sound of his name, Dojo began to tremble.
"I… hadn't thought of that." She admitted. After a pause she spoke again, "Okay, fine. But if anyone, and I mean anyone, gets hurt, I'm joining in the fight." Kimiko said firmly.
" I really don't think that's a good idea, Kim." Raimundo said, but knowing Kimiko, she wasn't likely to pay the slightest bit of thought to what he thought about a subject when her mind was already set; she was the most stubborn person he knew.
"Well then, monks. You will spend the day preparing for an attack. We do not even know if an attack of such sort will come, nor do we know what to expect, so I suggest you all be on your guard. Chase will come again soon, and when he does, we must be prepared." Master Fung informed the four warriors.
The four warriors nodded determinedly and left the room, Omi's voice rang through the corridors loudly,
"Chase Young will be no match for me now! I will use my Tornado Water Strike, then jump to the left, and strike him from behind. Then I will…." Omi's voice died away as the monks continued down the long corridor.
"I must keep a close eye on Kimiko." Master Fung muttered to himself. As he paced the dining room, he wondered if he had made the right choice in telling her. She would be more cautious now she knew, but she was likely to do something rash under the pressure of it all. Master Fung only hoped that her friends would help her to bear her heavy load.
Chase Young was sat on the solitary throne in his home. He was thinking of his conversation with Kimiko two days earlier. It seemed she had trusted him. Yet the dragon of the wind had stepped in and ruined it all at the last moment. No matter, thought Chase, when the time is right, I will destroy them all. The old monk would surely have revealed what he had known to Kimiko by now. The Xiaolin warriors had not trained at all yesterday. Chase had spent the day on the mountainside yet again, only to see nothing at all. He knew that they were most likely waiting for an attack. He smirked, lost in his own thoughts, when a jungle cat came dashing up to him with a large group of jungle cats behind it. One was carrying something. Chase only realised that this 'something' was a person when it waved at him.
"Spicer." Chase said, as a way of greeting him.
"Hi Chase!" The small bundle of black and red, which was dangling from the lion's mouth waved and smiled at Chase. The jungle cat dropped him at Chase's feet.
"I've finished your robots!" Jack gibbered excitedly. He looked a mess. His hair was even messier than usual, and his goggles were filthy. His black clothes were stained and smelly, and Chase could see that there were deep blue marks under his eyes.
"Really? That was much sooner than I expected." Chase said, rather impressed at Jack's speed. It had only been two days since he had asked Jack to build him a robotic army to occupy the dragons whilst he got to Kimiko. It shouldn't take long, Chase thought.
"You can always rely on me, Chase! I stayed up for two days making you these guys. I'll call them in!" Jack pressed a button on his watch and grinned widely. From the door walked in well over five hundred robotic warriors. Chase was interested to see that Jack had engraved each of their chest plates in their armour set with his initials. If Chase didn't despise Jack so much, he would have been flattered.
Their heads were similar to the design of Jack's famous 'Jackbots', but their bodies were coated in a black metal. They had legs, unlike Jack's Jackbots, and all wielded a shiny, black sword.
Chase was quite surprised. Not only had Jack been fast, he appeared to have been efficient. Chase looked at them all with clear authority in his voice.
"Robot Warriors!" He called. The robots turned and addressed him like soldiers would do to their commander in an army.
"You will do as I command." Chase said to them. Their red eyes flashed as they chanted "Yes, sir!" back to him. Chase pulled his sword from his belt and pointed at one of the robots.
"You there, come. Fight me." Chase told the robot. The robot attacked, but before even striking a blow, the robot was lying on the floor, completely cleaved in two by Chase's sword.
"They will suffice." He told Jack, who was still smiling. The robots would not be too difficult for the Xiaolin dragons to defeat, but that was enough for what Chase had planned.
"Thanks, Spicer." Chase mumbled quietly, hoping he wouldn't hear.
"Anytime, Chase. You name it, I'll do it." Jack put his thumbs up at him. The jungle cat behind Jack growled. At least I'm not the only one he irritates.
"You can go now, Spicer." Chase said icily as sat back down in his lonely throne.
"Bye Chase! Anything you need, just call!" Jack gibbered as the jungle cat roughly dragged him away by his muddy, black boots.
Chase Young had noticed that Wuya did not accompany Jack on his visit. She wouldn't miss an opportunity to irritate Chase. She must have found some other fool to fetch her Shen Gong Wu, Chase thought, not that he really cared where she was.
He glanced at the warriors who stood; ready to follow him into battle at the Xiaolin temple.
"Come, Robot warriors. We have an attack to administer to the Xiaolin monks." With a nasty smile, Chase smiled. His plan was going perfectly so far.
He raised his hands above his army and teleported them directly outside the Xiaolin Temple. It was nighttime and no light could be seen from the inside the Temple. Chase assumed they were either sleeping or waiting for him. He silently raised his arm to ready his warriors, much like a general, and, after a moment, thrust his extended arm forwards. The robotic warriors charged forwards into the temple silently with their weapons at the ready.