CHAPTER TWELVE: DEAL
It had been three weeks since Kimiko had left the Temple. She had not seen, nor heard from her friends, but she had spent all day, every day training. Kimiko was back in her human form now. After deciding she was almost ready to rule at his side, Chase had switched her back to a human. Chase had said he didn't want to become too accustomed to being a cat. Kimiko privately agreed. She had noticed some of her original power return to her since being back in her human form. As much as she was glad to be herself, or at much as it was possible to be considering her situation, she did not want Chase using her powers against her friends.
Kimiko thought that after spending so much time with Chase, she would grow to like him as her thoughts became blacker and more evil, but so far, she had only grown to despise him more and more every day. He no longer scared her, nor was he able to read her thoughts anymore. She had learnt to clear her mind whenever he attempted to, and whenever she felt his presence in her head, she would instantly block him out. It had irritated him greatly.
This gave her more time to think about her friends. As much as she longed to be with them, they were the only things that kept her sane. If she had been alone, Kimiko was sure she would have been truly evil by now.
Kimiko began to wonder if there was any way she could sneak out and see them. Chase trusted her a lot more now, but she doubted if it was enough to let her leave without him being beside her, especially to go and speak with the Xiaolin Dragons. Chase had trained Kimiko to think of them as the enemy and to no longer count herself among them. Despite this, she could not think of them as her enemies; she cared for them all too much to hate them, but she no longer counted herself as one of them. She had taken a completely different path to them now and Kimiko did not think she could ever go back and change it, not now.
Kimiko was used to Chase's home now. When she had first arrived, it had seemed much like a maze; there were corridors and rooms all over the place, but her time spent there helped her to learn the places within his home. There were a few rooms she had never been in before, and one corridor, which was forbidden to her. She wondered if this was where Chase kept his Jungle Cats, as she had often seen many of them wander in and out of it before, but she'd never been allowed anywhere near it. The one time she had tried to go near it, Chase had gotten so angry he transformed into his Lizard form before her very eyes. He was ten feet tall and his scales glistened. His long teeth were shining and his eyes were menacing. Chase looked very intimidating in this form, and Kimiko didn't try it again after that; when Chase was angry, he turned into a Lizard, and when he turned into a Lizard, he was deadly. No matter who it was he was dealing with and Kimiko was not ready to die, not just yet. She needed to say goodbye to her friends first.
"Kimiko." Chase greeted her at the table when she sat down. Chase knew her well enough to know that she did not feel like talking much in the morning, just eating. Kimiko sat at the table, not looking at Chase and she helped herself to a bowl of cereal. Chase watched her silently. He always watched her eat. The constant presence of his eyes irritated her immensely and when she was grumpy, she was liable to snap at him for it. When she snapped at Chase, he would usually raise his eyebrow, look away and then continue to stare moments later. Kimiko usually just thought of her friends when she was around Chase, it seemed to help block him and his methods of training her out of her mind.
"I thought we could try something a little bit different today." Chase spoke as he sipped a cup of tea, watching for her reaction.
"Different?" Kimiko meant to sound like she was interested, but she had not long woken up, so her voice sounded like a bored drawl.
"Yes, would you care to try it?" He asked her, looking down at the tea in his cup for a moment, then letting his snake-like eyes flash back up onto her face. His thoughts wandered again, and he found himself fantasizing about Kimiko as his Queen. Chase scowled for a moment, then remembered Kimiko was watching him. He tried to look normal, but he saw the confusion flicker on her face and sighed.
"Uh… depends what it is…" Kimiko said. She knew she didn't really have a choice. Whatever Chase wanted her to do, she had to do it, whether she liked it or not. If she defied him, he would simply take control of her mind. She had learnt to disable his control for brief moments when he tried, but it was very difficult to continue for more than a few seconds. Kimiko was trying to perfect the art; if Chase could not force her to do anything, he would be completely powerless against her. Of course, she would still be loyal to him, but she could defy him as much as she could.
"Wait and see. Get dressed and meet me outside when you are ready." Chase told her, before leaving the table. He moved with desperation, as if something was terribly wrong. Were Omi, Raimundo and Clay here? Had they come to save her? No, they think I'm evil now. Of course they haven't. Kimiko bowed her head sadly.
"Having trouble on the Heylin side, Kimiko?" A familiar voice called from behind her. It was a voice she had not heard for a long time, and, quite frankly, Kimiko could not care less if she never heard the voice again. Kimiko was rather surprised.
"Wuya?" She asked, turning around in her seat to look at the ghostly, purple figure gliding across the large room towards her.
"I thought you'd gone for good." Kimiko told her and Wuya scowled.
"Well, apparently I'm not good enough for Mr. Spicer. So I've just been window-shopping, looking for someone else to help me out." If Wuya could have spat, she would have spat the sentence. Kimiko heard the obvious sarcasm in her voice, but there was something in her tone, which made her seem less of an enemy to Kimiko, and much more like a friend.
"Look, Kimiko. I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't have a body and no one will help me. All I need is the Reversing Mirror and The Serpents Tail. Chase has them both here. All you have to do is get them for me and I can give you anything you want." Wuya pleaded, her voice was soft and she spoke quickly. Wuya was begging. Kimiko raised her eyebrows.
"Wuya, I won't turn you human again. Remember what happened last time?" Kimiko looked expectantly at Wuya, who looked rather embarrassed. She moved around so that she was hovering over the dinner table, Kimiko had to turn in her seat again to face her.
"That was then. Now I've got much bigger fish to fry, Kimiko." Wuya was holding her ghostly arms in front of her, looking innocently at Kimiko.
"You mean you're after Chase?" Kimiko caught on quickly. Wuya mumbled something, which Kimiko didn't hear. Then she spoke again,
"Kimiko, if you do this for me, I can get you anything! Please! I can tell you exactly where to get the Shen Gong Wu, if you can do it without Chase knowing, I will be human again and I can even get you out of here for a few hours. You could go back to the Temple and see the other Xiaolin Monks again!" Wuya was beginning to sway Kimiko. But the thought of going back to the Temple frightened her, as much as she longed to return, if the monks thought she was still on the Xiaolin side, they would attempt to rescue her from Chase's clutches. But… what if I pretended to be evil again? I could still see them, but if I acted evil, they would think I'd become like Chase! Then they would try and take Chase down faster, and I can go down with him!
Kimiko had worked out a plan within moments. She had firmly decided that she would go back and visit her friends, pretend to be evil, as she had done before. Not only would this satisfy her need to see them, but it would also speed up the monks attack. Kimiko knew that they would eventually attack, and she only hoped that she would be taken down along with Chase. It was too late be normal, and too late to be Xiaolin again. Kimiko had already accepted her fate and she embraced it. Being Chase's prisoner was not good, if her death was her only release, then she would gladly die.
Wuya cleared her ghostly throat, waiting for a response. Kimiko blushed, she hadn't realised she'd been thinking about it for so long.
"Alright, I'll do it. I turn you human, you take me back to the Temple to see them again." Kimiko nodded at Wuya, who beamed like a child at Christmas.
"Then we have a deal. But I should warn you; I'll only be able to get you out of here for a few hours. If Chase finds you with me, he'll know what you've done. He will kill me and you shall be punished for disobeying him." Wuya warned her, "And you must keep it a secret. I will come for you in one hour, by then you should have got the Shen Gong Wu. Chase keeps them in the West Wing of his home, down the long corridor and in the door at the end, but if his Jungle Cat's spot you they'll get Chase, so you'll have to work around it somehow, or just be really quick."
"That's the only corridor I'm forbidden from!" Kimiko scowled. This would make it even more difficult. Not only would she have to find the time to sneak away from Chase, but she would also have to sneak into a corridor, guarded by jungle cats, who would certainly rat her out if they saw her, and steal two of the most precious Shen Gong Wu to Chase, make Wuya human, then both of them could escape for an hour or two. It wasn't going to be easy. Not easy at all.
"How do I know you're going to keep your word?" Kimiko asked suddenly, as Wuya turned to leave.
"I help those who help me, if you'll remember the last time I rose to the height of evil, Raimundo helped me and was rewarded for it. I won't break my word. Chase is getting close, so I must leave. Keep it secret. I'll find you in one hour!" Wuya left the dining room, leaving the room silent and empty, until Chase burst through the door.
"Have you seen her?" He shouted to Kimiko, he was grinding his teeth together furiously as he paced around the room.
"Who?" She asked, trying to look innocent as she took a bite from a slice of toast.
"The Ghostly Hag!" Chase shouted, throwing his arms out to the sides. Kimiko didn't flinch at his shouts anymore. She had grown used to them already.
"Wuya?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and trying to sound as innocent as she could. "She's been gone for ages. Is she back?" Kimiko tried to sound as genuine as she could.
Chase growled and stormed over towards her, he banged his fist on the table, which cracked, split in two, and fell over, leaving broken cutlery and dishes all over the floor. There were also splats of food all over the floor. Kimiko's breakfast was no longer edible. She scowled grumpily. Kimiko had no idea why Chase was so angry. If he believed Wuya was at his home, was that such a big deal? Perhaps he was just angry because he thought she was trying to steal the Shen Gong Wu. After all, Wuya was incredibly annoying to Chase.
Wuya isn't going to steal the Wu, Chase. That's my job now, Kimiko thought.
After Chase had stormed out of the room to go and calm himself down, Kimiko had leapt into action. She took advantage of his absence and fled into the forbidden corridor in the West Wing. There were only two jungle cats guarding the door at the end of the corridor, and Kimiko took care of them easily. It was strange for Kimiko to think that a month ago, the jungle cats would have bested her. Even though she despised Chase, even Kimiko had to admit, he had given her more power and made her train harder. She began to wonder if she was stronger than Omi now. Pushing the thoughts of her friends aside, saving them for later, she entered the room
The large room was dimly lit and there were many rows of glass cases, each had a special shape and nametag. Each Shen Gong Wu had its own case; Kimiko saw some labelled with familiar names, such as The Black Beetle, and some labelled with names she had never heard of. Oddly, the room reminded Kimiko of the Yin Yang World, when there had been shelves filled with bottles of Chi, only this time there were Shen Gong Wu cases in rows.
Kimiko ran across the cases, looking for the two she needed. She came across the Serpent's Tail first. She picked it and stuffed it inside her robes. She still needed the Reversing Mirror to complete her mission. Kimiko checked her Cell Phone for the time, there was only thirty minutes left for her to find the other Shen Gong Wu. She didn't even know if Chase had the Reversing Mirror. So many Shen Gong Wu had been stolen or traded, it was hard to tell who still had what.
Kimiko ran across another row, panting. She still didn't find it. She ran down the last row and skidded to a halt halfway down it. Inside one of the cases lay The Reversing Mirror, gleaming. Kimiko caught a glimpse of her reflection in it and she was surprised. Since she had left the Temple, she no longer wore her hair in bunches and she was amazed at what effect it had had on her. She looked older now, much older. The way her hair hung around her face made her cheekbones look higher; even Kimiko could not deny that she looked better with her hair down. The bunches she used to wear had made her look much younger than her actual age, but she didn't mind. She thought they were cute. She'd always thought her hair down made her cheeks look chubby, but now, Kimiko realised that she was much prettier with her hair down.
Kimiko snapped out of her distraction and took the mirror out of its case. There was only fifteen minutes left. She was starting to panic. If Chase caught her in here, he would go crazy. He might even kill her. I should be so lucky, Kimiko scoffed and wheeled around. She had been so busy concentrating on finding the Shen Gong Wu that she had not realised that she had lost sight of the entrance to the room. She ran to the end of the isles, and looked for the door. After running around for another five minutes, Kimiko found the doorway and burst through it, panting.
Kimiko wasn't sure where to wait for Wuya or if she would even turn up. Wuya hated Kimiko. Maybe she was playing a cruel joke on her, trying to get her into trouble with Chase, who could have come bursting through the door at any moment. The five minutes Kimiko spent waiting in her room for Wuya to turn up were the longest she'd ever experienced. After a few minutes, Kimiko was sweating because she was panicking. Wuya's not going to turn up, Chase is going to kill me for stealing the only two Shen Gong Wu Chase wants to keep away from her, and I'm not going to get to see my friends ever again.
"I'm here!" Wuya called as she glided through the solid walls of Kimiko's dull little room. Kimiko's heart skipped a beat at the shock of it, and then she sighed in relief. "You've got them? Excellent!" Wuya folded her hands. "Now you've just got to give me back my body and you can see your friends again."
"Now?" Kimiko asked, putting the reversing mirror on the floor, leaving upright against the wall.
"Yes, of course now. Just activate the Shen Gong Wu and I'll activate the Mirror, and then we can go." Wuya said impatiently.
"Okay." Kimiko held up the Serpents' Tail.
"Quickly!" Wuya hissed, "Chase knows that you've taken the Shen Gong Wu!"
"Serpent's Tail!" Kimiko cried and she felt her body pull in the direction of the Mirror.
"Reversing Mirror!" Wuya shouted and the mirror glowed.
As the two Shen Gong Wu touched, the whole room was filled with a golden light and suddenly Kimiko felt herself land on the floor with a dull thud. She picked herself up and looked around for Wuya, who was sat on her bed, posing. She looked exactly the same as she had done before. The markings around her eyes, her big, red hair, her bright green eyes and her black dress were all the same. Kimiko smiled. She remembered when the monks had fought Wuya before, when Raimundo had switched alignment. Everything had been so simple back then.
"He's coming! Quickly!" Wuya cried and grabbed Kimiko's arm. Wuya snapped her fingers and as the two disappeared into the green smoke, Kimiko heard a bang from her room, and, what were unmistakably, Chase's screams of fury. Kimiko gulped; when she got back, there was going to be hell to pay.
Wuya took Kimiko directly outside the entrance of the Temple. Wuya turned to Kimiko.
"Thank you Kimiko. You know Chase will be angry when you go back?" Wuya asked, not looking concerned at all. On the contrary, she was grinning like a maniac. That's my little present from her then. I knew she hated me.
Kimiko nodded and Wuya turned to retreat into the forest.
"You've got an hour before I take you back. Chase will be watching, and probably listening so make sure you don't mention my name to them. If he questions you, you took them because you wanted to see your friends and you needed the Serpent's tail to escape, and the Reversing Mirror to reflect any attacks they used on you. He only saw you fly through the wall, I made sure of it. One Hour." Wuya called over her shoulder, and Kimiko saw her form disappear into the forest.
Taking a deep breath to calm down her nerves and her excitement, Kimiko looked at the Temple once again. It was remarkable how beautiful it seemed to her now. Even the smell of it was heavenly. Kimiko stood outside the Temple's entrance for a moment, and then looked up to the left. Sure enough, on the mountainside pass, stood a tiny figure. He knows I'm here now.
Kimiko composed herself and straightened her robes. Remember Kimiko. You have to act evil. Kimiko told herself.
Okay… It's time for my poker face.
Kimiko fixed her facial features so they she would appear to be expressionless. She would have to maintain this look for the whole hour. Realising that she needed to make use of the time she had been given, she stepped inside the Temple's courtyard.
She admired the stone fountain as she passed it, trying to hold her expression to stop herself from smiling. Then, she heard the unmistakable sound of Raimundo's shoes against the wooden floors of the Temple.
Raimundo had run to the doorway, smiling, clearly expecting someone else's return. He froze at the sight of her and went paler than she had ever seen anyone go in such a short amount of time. It took every ounce of energy and self-discipline she had in her body to stop herself from running and hugging him. But even a slight smile had to be stopped.
"K- Kimiko? Is that you?" He stammered, looking at her in disbelief.
"I came to say goodbye." Kimiko told him, trying to imitate the way Chase spoke. Her murmur was soft, but it still loud enough for him to hear her clearly. With authority, she walked past him and into the Temple itself.