Chapter Six: The Siege
"I can't believe we have to walk home, again!" Raimundo complained as he and Omi made the long walk from Jack Spicer's manor to the Xiaolin temple. The Tunnel Armadillo had been stripped be some of Jack's Worm-bots and they now had three Wu to explain to Master Fung about when they got back to the temple.
Omi came to a sudden stop, his hand extended into Raimundo's face. "Something is very wrong." The Xiaolin warrior said as they came to the ridge that overlooked the Xiaolin temple.
Raimundo could sense it too. There was something wrong with the air, as if evil magic was taking place. But Wuya was the main evil magician on the Heylin side. She hadn't been up and about since Chase Young had locked her away in a sepulcher next to his lair. She definitely couldn't be affecting the aura around the temple.
"I think we should go carefully." Raimundo said after a while. He was trying to show true leadership right now by swallowing his own fear and confusion and coming up with a plan of action.
The two warriors made their way carefully towards the temple. They were pressed against the wall when they heard footsteps coming around the side of the building. Raimundo appeared on the roof while Omi compressed himself into a flower pot.
Rai groaned as he saw who was coming. Three Mongols and an ancient Roman hoplite. DEFINITELY from Chase Young's crew.
Omi waited until the men had turned the corner before slipping fluidly out of the flower plot and trotting ninja-style along the side of the wall. Raimundo quickly joined him, and the two warriors made their way around to the front side of the temple.
There were only two warriors guarding it – tall muscular bodybuilders with mean looks on their faces. They had apparently been raiding the vault since one of them was wearing the Fist of Tebigong.
"I get the big one." Raimundo whispered. "You take the other big one."
Omi nodded, and the two monks jumped back onto the roof and swiftly traversed its length so that they were standing directly above the warriors.
"Drop-bear attack!" Omi cried as he landed on the first warrior's head.
Raimundo opted for a swifter approach, dropping down on his own opponent and knocking him unconscious with a few swift blows to the throat. Omi's opponent staggered around for a few minutes before ending up using the Fist of Tebigong on his own head a few seconds before Omi had jumped off.
After tying up the guards with a vine, the warriors moved into the temple, taking care to avoid the one or two evil minions that still wandered around inside.
They found the monks bound and gagged in the meditation hall. Most of them were unconscious, but Master Fung had managed to lean against the wall and stare blearily at the door despite the effects of Chase Young's spells.
"Master Fung, what happened?" Raimundo blurted out as they rushed over to him.
Master Fung gave a loud, rasping cough. "…Chase Young." He said as his head lolled dangerously.
"Chase Young? Here?" Omi asked.
"No…" Master Fung groaned. "…quickly, you must stop him. I know that he intends to seize the Terrarcanum and use it during the Dragoncircle Ceremonies. It is on…the Circle of Fire. The maps…" The old monk pointed a finger at a stack of maps lying next to a sleeping elder.
The two warriors found the map that Master Fung was talking about. It was a map of the Pacific, with a bunch of islands on it. The largest island was labeled 'Circle of Fire' in Dashi's big, dark handwriting. Next to it was a fairly poor illustration of Dojo done in charcoal.
"Maybe this is where Dojo went." Raimundo said. "It looks pretty dangerous. Let's see what the other scrolls have to say about it."
The other scrolls revealed that the Circle of Fire was the ancestral home of Dojo's species. Most dragons left the island after a few hundred years of life but every once in a while—
"Probably 1500 years." Rai muttered.
--once in a while, the dragon Elders would put out a Summoning that would call them all back to the island. Both monks immediately realized that that was what had overtaken Dojo back on the Grand Mesa.
"We have to go there." Omi said. "It might be our only way to find Dojo and stop whatever Chase Young is planning."
The warriors stepped out into the hallway. The way to the Shen Gong Wu vault was to the left…and was currently being blocked by a horde of samurais.
"Oh, for crying out loud! How often are we going to get jumped today?" Raimundo complained as the samurais drew their swords. Even as the Xiaolin warriors backed across the hallway, the main thing that the both of them were thinking was, Well, at least it won't be Jack Spicer again!
"I give! I give!" Jack squealed as he ran around the mountain, pursued by the two behemoth dragons chasing him. They were dogging his heels, sending spurts of flame and light at him that just narrowly missed him. His Robo-Jack had fallen and didn't seem to be able to get back up, and he was completely all alone…
Oh please, said Chase Young in his head. You are never alone.
Jack felt his body stiffen and strengthen as some new magic took over him. He was still wearing Chase Young's form, but now he seemed to have gotten a little bit of his powers as well.
"So," said the black dragon. "The cannibal has decided to stop running and fight. Good; I was hoping that this wouldn't be satisfying enough."
Jack nodded, feeling oddly confident and elated. "Just bring it here, tough guy!" He called.
"Gladly." The black dragon replied.
He's about to shoot a burst of fire at you. Chase Young said. Fly up as soon as he springs forward and fire the Orb of Tornami straight down. Do it now!
Jack bobbed his head up and down. "Okay!" He jumped. He pressed the button on his heli-bot, taking wing just seconds before the black dragon sprang forward. It felt like it was in slow motion as the dragon's scales brushed against the underside of his boots. All Jack could think was, Whoa, as an unseen force made him reach into the compartment of his heli-bot and point the Orb of Tornami at the ground.
Then everything went back to normal, and a jet of water shot down upon the black dragon, drenching him. Not only that, the water itself began to move, forming tendrils that ensnared the black dragon completely. The black dragon groaned loudly but could not break free of the oceanic forces.
You see? Chase Young said. That is just the power wielded by the Lunarcanum. Imagine what we could do if I had BOTH?
Jack tried to imagine it. Controlling the water…and controlling the dirt. His evil imagination was vast, but all he could come up with was creating an army of super-strong mud soldiers. But even as he envisioned them, Chase shook those notions out of his mind.
Is that all you could come up with? You really don't have much ambition, do you? Chasethought back at him. Oh, and jump to the left.
The evil boy genius stumbled out of the left. A split second later, several earth spikes rose out of the ground where he was standing.
"That's…that's one heck of a splinter!" Jack Spicer said as he eyed the spikes warily.
The gray dragon was not done yet. She had a lot of spells at her disposal and the drive to vanquish what she thought was the greatest threat to all dragons.
"I'm trapped on a mountain in the middle of everywhere, with no Jack-bots, a mystical water fountain, and I'm about to be devoured by the Loch Ness monster!" Jack wailed. "I always knew this day would come, but so soon? Gah!"
Running equally as fast away from an enemy were Raimundo and Omi. Chase Young's people had flooded the temple, bursting through doors and walls like they were cardboard. They would have liked to believe that they were enacting some grand plan, luring them into a trap or getting them away from the temple and onto the courtyard where the cavalry was waiting. But there wasn't any cavalry, or indeed anyone who was coming to help them.
"Arr, scurvy dogs!" growled a stereotypical pirate as he popped out of a trapdoor in front of them.
The pirate waved a cutlass at Omi, forcing him to block with a temporary shield made out of solidified water.
"Dude, was that an ice shield?" Raimundo asked.
Omi shrugged as the cutlass arced over his head. "What are we going to do now, o wise dragon of the wind?"
Rai glanced around like a trapped rabbit, keenly analyzing every aspect of their situation. As far as he could ken, they were standing at a four-way intersection. Berserkers were behind them. Hoplites and samurais were to the left and right. And ahead were enough pirates to fill Davy Jones's locker from top to bottom.
A light shone in his eye. "Nah…it's too dumb. It'll never work…" He murmured to himself. Then he heard the twang of someone – probably one of the hoplites – playing with a bow. "I guess it's worth a shot!" He turned to his partner. "Omi, follow my lead. It's time for this Shoku warrior to do some Shoku-ing." He cracked his knuckles loudly.
Omi nodded sagely. "Yes. Let us…bring on the hurting."
Raimundo grinned as he hefted Omi into the air over his head. He was lucky he was partnering with the little monk; any extra girth would have completely screwed up his next maneuver. "Go, dude!" Raimundo yelled. With a mighty effort, he hurled Omi forward like a missile, sending the diminutive warrior sailing through the air over the heads of the berserkers.
"HAH!" The berserkers shouted, charging forward as if to attack.
"Ha!" Omi squeaked as he flexed his fingers. "Scorpion Sting attack!" He jabbed at their faces and throats, driving them into their trademark rage.
Rai meanwhile was sucking on his finger distractedly as the possessed warriors prepared their onslaught. "Come and get it!" He said, raising a finger into the air. "Wind!"
At his command, a burst of wind flooded the temple. It was not nearly enough to do any damage to any of the bemused warriors, but it was sufficient to put out each and every lantern in the hall, casting the temple into total darkness.
Even in the dark, the maddening rage of Chase's berserker forces was unabated. Omi rolled out of the group just in time to avoid their insane charge down the hall towards the shocked and immobilized pirates. As they brawled, the hoplites and the samurais jumped into the fray, just for the heck of it.
Twenty seconds later, Raimundo raised his finger again, and an opposite wind blew through the halls. Curtains somewhere up ahead were blown open. A faint shaft of moonlight illuminated some of the unconscious fighters.
"Who kicked butt?" Rai said in a sing-song voice. "I kicked butt! Who kicked Chase Young's rear? I did! I did! Woo! Woo! Woo!"
"Ah, well." Omi said, stepping towards a window. He pulled aside the curtains and looked through them. The windows were covered with dust but even with the layer of grime he could still see the warriors that were closing in on the temple. Some of them were humans but still more were felines.
Raimundo came over. "What are you looking a-a-a-at—HOLY JUMPING TUNA-FISH ZOMBIES, DUDE!"
Omi agreed with his sentiments. "The Xiaolin temple is under siege!"
"We—we can take them, right?" Raimundo asked. His face was pale and sweaty.
"No." Omi said, shaking his head. "But we must try."