"You can sense the evil too, can't you my young monks?" Master Fung asked, as he paced back and forth in front of them. They had made a line, as they watched their sensei move around slowly. "This evil is not to be blamed on one person, you have all equally failed each other. If you worked better together, Crow wouldn't be in bandages," the old man said, stopping in front of the boy, staring at the marks up his arm, and the cloth wrapped around the palms and back of his hand.

"Crow we have yet to find out the cause of what happened to you," he said. "But you're out of comission for a while until you have fully healed. Also, the other monks and I have decided you wear the third chain again for your own safety." He pulled out the chain that had been concealed in his sleeve, and placed it around Crow's neck. "If worst comes to worst, you may have to wear a fourth, blocking all of your chi from moving, meaning you may also have to stop being a warrior."

Crow's eyes turned to a shocked expression and he was in fear of what would happen. "I understand," he said, nodding. "Unfortunately, we've proved something. It wasn't my doing, and this chain will only make matters worse." He pulled it off and dropped it. "And there's this evil in the air." He lifted his arms, before determining to pull off the chain on his left wrist.

"That evil will need more than just half of me."

Master Fung watched as the second chain had been dropped to the ground. He smiled calmly. "If this all goes well.. I will let you keep them off. But you are right, you have trained to keep this under control and it is time you let yourself be free." He grabbed Crow's other wrist and pulled the chain off. "No limits."

Crow smirked as he rubbed his wrists, feeling the freedom. "I hope I can control it.."

Master Fung turned his attention to Raimundo. "This battle requires much skill. All of you must be at your best. If all goes well then we shall defeat this evil and may he never return again, giving us all a piece of mind even though evil shall still lurk." He continued to stare at Raimundo for a few more seconds, gaining an awkward look from the boy.

"Is there something wrong Master Fung?" Raimundo asked calmly. He didn't have anything that blocked his power like Crow did. Perhaps evil was coming from Raimundo's general direction? But Raimundo was on the Xiaolin side so it couldn't be that.

"Something far more evil than we thought is here," Master Fung said, staring at a tree that was just past Raimundo. "I fear that it may be more dangerous than Mala Mala Jong itself. It is not Wuya, or the evil from her and Mala Mala Jong would be combined.. and still wouldn't compare to this.."

Hidden in the tree was a dark figure.. the same that had been following Crow for a while. "So I've been caught?" he muttered quietly, staring back. Quickly he thought of a plan, and changed his intentions. "Find the evil now you stupid old man," he smirked, as all traces of him disappeared.

Master Fung continued looking past. "Excuse me Raimundo," he said, moving the boy aside and walking past. For a few seconds, he continued toward a tree just outside the temple walls. "The evil has left, but someone is still here. Show yourself."

The figure grit his teeth. "I underestimated you old man," he said, jumping out of the branch and walking over to the wall, jumping up and over it. He no longer coated his aura and let the evil flow free. "The evil you're searching for is here." He looked over to Crow. "Ah, little birdie. Why don't you come with me Crow? Spread your wings and fly with me," he said.

All seven saw a pitch black figure, with no real mass. All they knew was that it knew Crow's name, possibly a clue to what happened earlier that day.

"Oh.. yess.." the figure said, slowly letting the darkness that covered him vanish. What they could see who it was, it was obvious the person was young, no older than nineteen. He had short, curly black hair and blue eyes. He was a bit shorter than Master Fung. He wore what seemed to be an American-standard t-shirt that was pitch black except for a small, white circle in the middle. He wore white shorts, that seemed to had originally once been longer, but cut down due to a fight.

"If it isn't obvious I'm from America.. but now I'm here.." He stared at Crow and started to walk towards him. "Come with me.. learn to fly little bird."

Crow backed up. "I'm not a little bird. You're not old yourself. Now answer some questions!" he yelled, as he continued to back up until against a wall. The figure continued moving slowly, but was interrupted by Omi.

"This is as far as you go!" Omi yelled, running in front of the person. "Whoever you are.. prepare to lose to the Xiaolin side!" He jumped up to the top of their head and attempted to snap kick in mid air. "You won't win!"

Omi's attack was useless. They had caught Omi's foot in mid-air without even turning to look at them, then threw the little monk at Crow, hitting dead on, knocking them both to the ground. "Call me Seth," he said calmly. "I'm not here to fight. Not yet at least. I just wanted Crow.. but I guess I can't have him.

"Damn straight," Alyssa said, coming up to the side. Everyone stood to battle this new opponent. "So Seth, if you aren't here to fight, why are you here?"

"Because none of you can defeat Mala Mala Jong without me. All it takes is for me to just look him in the eyes and he'll crumble. But in return for defeating him.. I want Crow." He stared at them all, slowly looking back and forth. It would be an easy fight until their sensei, who would be trouble.

"Leave," Master Fung said, still in a fighting stance. "We can handle this by ourselves. You can't take the dragon of the darkness."

Seth laughed at Master Fung. "Old man, there is no such thing as "darkness" or "light!" They're called HATED and GRACE you stupid fool. Darkness isn't a dragon, it's a nickname for all evil. And light is a bright substance, not an element. Grace is to bless all under the sky with a good side. Except me." He continued to watch them all, and saw Omi and Crow slowly get up.

"I controlled Crow earlier. I lent him a small portion of my power."

Everyone froze and stared at him. "No!" Crow yelled, clenching a fist. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR THAT!" He was enraged and ready to attack and strike now. No one could control Crow but himself. "But.. that's what you want. You want me to come over there.. so I can be taken."

Seth's eyes widened. "What? Dammit.. no one would have guessed.." he said angrily. "Fine. But when the temple is destroyed, don't cry to me. One day I'll take you Crow. I'll make you out to be the Heylin master you were meant to be."

Crow stared at Seth's face, careful not to look at his eyes. "How about I stay with the Xiaolin? Because I trust them, while you admitted to forcing me to get scarred hands." Crow raised both his hands to make his point. "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have these bandages."

Seth laughed cruely at him. "But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have lived. You all would have been killed slowly and painfully. And isn't that last battle one of the reasons you were able to take off the chains? My my Crow, you have more to thank me for than to hate me for."

"Now isn't the time to argue though." Seth pointed to the front of the temple. "Mala Mala Jong is coming. You all are weak. Too weak. Give me Crow and I'll save everyone. Choose wisely." He ran towards Crow again and leaped to the top of the building. "When you're all about to die, just give the word."

"They're here!" Master Fung snapped, looking over to the front of the temple. Indeed, a beast was nearing. This would no doubt be a tough battle, with bloodshed and pain. The mere sight of it made Kimiko shudder.

"That thing is going to be our opponent?" she asked nervously, knowing the answer already. She wouldn't have a doubt in her mind about winning if it weren't for the fact that weren't allowed to use their Shen Gong Wu. After they returned earlier that day, they were warned for the dangers of losing their items to Mala Mala Jong and Wuya.

"Yeah girl." Raimundo raised his fists. "That thing is going down." He looked close though, and saw there was almost no way to destroy it. The upperbody had the toughest armor they knew of, and the two fists were made of other Shen Gong Wu of equal destruction.

"Do not try to attack with your sheer strength. None of you could handle it this way. We must think clearly and hit hard the first time. Or else this opponent.. may be your last." Master Fung was not subtle about death, and seemed to be prepared. "But we cannot let this be an option."

All the warriors ran to the front, greeted by Wuya. "Well well. It seems you're all ready to die. You've even prepared yourselves for Mala Mala Jong. He's already taken out Jack, so you're our final enemies before I can rule the world." Wuya glanced up and saw Seth sitting atop of the roof of a main building. "Who are you?" she asked, flying towards him.

"I'm a spectator. Now go. I want to see how this battle turns out."

Wuya laughed evily. "Gladly. Mala Mala Jong.. ATTACK THE XIAOLIN WARRIORS!"

Mala Mala Jong seemed too happy to do so, and immediately went for Clay. He used the Third Arm Sash to grab at Clay, but missed as Clay jumped out of the way. "No you don't!" Clay yelled as he ran up to the beast in an attempt to it off of its feet. His attempt was a failure though, as Mala Mala brought the fist of Tebigong down as a distraction for Clay to dodge before he was caught by the Third Arm Sash and thrown.

Seth yawned. He wanted to see how Crow would react when it was his turn. He made sure Crow would be last. Crow had looked in his eyes when they first came face to face.

"Clay!" Omi yelled. He ran towards his friend, dodging out the way of Mala Mala's punches. Safely, he reached Clay, happy to find his friend awake, unhappy to find him in much pain. "This can't be! Just rest Clay!" Omi turned to look at the enemy. "You will pay!" he yelled. He ran and jumped. "Water!" He brought his fists down towards the back of Mala Mala, but the Two-Ton Tunic was too strong and Omi fell. He was scooped up by the Third Arm Sash and thrown high into the air, and punched by the Fist of Tebigong on his way down, flying across the air, luckily missing a building and falling to the ground, rolling over. A bit of blood from his mouth.

Crow stood with an open mouth, wanting to scream, but for some reason he couldn't move his body. He didn't suspect Seth of anything, just thought he was too scared to move.

"No way!" Raimundo yelled, running up to Mala Mala. He jumped high over Mala Mala's Fist of Tebigong, in front of his face which he tried to hit while in the air. He instead had a spike of pain go up his hand and was trapped by the Third Arm Sash. "Dammit how many times is this sash going to defeat us!" he yelled, trying to squirm free. This time, instead of being thrown away from the group, he was thrown at Kimiko at a high speed, crashing into her, taking them both out.

"Ow.. Raimundo.." Kimiko whined, trying to get up but having no avail. Raimundo had fainted near her, rolled over in an awkward position which he would be feeling whenever he woke up. "I can't let them lose.."

"Alyssa!" Master Fung called. "We must defeat him. For some reason, Crow isn't moving. I think be removing the chains so quickly, it's caused a temporary paralysis on his body, so we must defeat Mala Mala Jong without him."

Alyssa nodded in agreement, and ran at Mala Mala, running through his legs. As the monster turned to face her, he was struck in his back by Master Fung, making him stagger a bit.

"No!" Wuya shrieked, flying over and watching closely. If she could she would be sweating over the outcome, but she couldn't and could only watch in horror as an old man continued to hit hard at her creation, slowly defeating it.

Master Fung grew tired quickly. All he had to do now was get Mala Mala on the ground and he could defeat it once and for all. But unfortunately, he had a slight mistake and missed his attack, and was caught by the sash. He was pinned against a wall, being slammed into it over and over before being dropped on the ground, breathing heavily. He was too old to fight a battle this difficult.

Alyssa was nervous, she had nothing she could do now. Her powers were just as strong as the others, too weak for anything against Mala Mala Jong. Luckily for her, its attention wasn't pointed towards her anymore, it was pointed at Crow. Still bad though, for he wasn't moving.

Crow watched in horror as his opponent stared at him. Wuya was laughing, gloating about already winning. The Fist of Tebigong came down fast towards his face, and it took all his will to break away from Seth's control. He wanted Crow to mutter the words "help" and he wouldn't do that.

Seth was fighting hard, something was messing with his ability to control Crow's body, and Crow got away, severely angering Seth.

Crow jumped out of the way. "Seth wants me to beg for help!" He looked over to Alyssa, unfortunately so did his enemy. As Mala Mala Jong's Fist of Tebigong came towards Alyssa, Crow moved quickly, pushing her out of the way, bracing himself for the full on attack. "Do your worst.. I won't let Seth win." He closed his eyes, ready to die.

He waited for the attack, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Seth holding the fist back with a knife.

"You're stubborn Crow. But one day your wings will open and you'll serve the Heylin." Seth threw the fist back and jumped up, staring Mala Mala Jong in the eyes. Instantly the beast was frozen momentarily, and when Seth landed, he threw the knife into the air, and jumped, catching it. He tossed it at the center of the thing before him and appeared next to the blade, grabbing it and stabbing it deep in the armor. In a swift motion, Seth had jumped up and thrown his blade before cutting inside of an ultimate armor, making it ultimate no more.

Mala Mala Jong started to wobble. The Heart of Jong had been pierced, rendering him dead. In mere seconds he crashed into his original Shen Gong Wu, a monster no more. He was reduced to a pile of Shen Gong Wu. Wuya screamed as she saw this and flew off.

"Crow, I can teach you to do this. Just join the Heylin.. this won't even be a fraction of the power you could obtain." Seth stared Crow in his eyes. He could no longer control him due to the dragon's chi stopping him.

"Give me your knife," Crow demanded. He took it from Seth, feeling the evil in it. "An evil blade.." he said harshly. "Is this what you think I want to feel everyday? So much power it could scare someone?" He then did something unexpected. He grabbed the back of his hair, getting it into a ponytail, and slashed through the back, making it much shorter. "This is all I need you for," Crow spat, as he continued to cut through the rest of his hair.

"You.. took my knife to cut your hair?" Seth said, shaking his head. "In due time, we'll be working together." He drew the evil from the blade. Literally, taking all the dark out of it, and letting it flow through his body. "Keep the knife. It's useless to me now that such a kind heart touched it," he said, turning and walking off. "Whenever we meet again Crow, you'll have a much stronger urge to be evil."

Crow spit at him, before running off to his friends. He went after Omi first, waking the young monk, and surprising him with his haircut. "Omi, Mala Mala Jong is defeated.. Seth did it.. but I'm still on the Xiaolin side," he smirked.

Omi was shocked and jumped to his feet. He wiped blood from his mouth and ran. "Come on! We have to wake the others!"

Crow followed and soon the two had gotten everyone up. With no one too badly damaged, Crow looked off into the distance. He didn't see Seth, but knew he was near. Crow took the knife he was gifted with and tossed it far. As far as he could over the wall guarding the temple.

"No evil shall lurk here."

"I'm impressed with all of your efforts in the face of danger." Master Fung paced in front of all of his students, a few sashes in his hands. "These are your apprentice sashes. You've all earned the right to step up to the next level. This also means new powers letting you further control your dragons. Crow, you have proven that you do not need the chains. Alyssa you are able to build plans of fighting quickly. You distracted a great evil for me to attack. Clay you showed much endurance to take such an attack and stay conscious. Omi you showed much care to run just to check on a teammate, and Raimundo much bravery to attack knowing full well what your fate would likely be. Kimiko, you tried to get up to fight even though you were in much pain." He started to hand out the sashed one by one as he said his reasons.

"You're all ready to take on the role of apprentices. And Seth, if he's as strong as Crow, Alyssa and Kimiko tell me from their witnessing him against Mala Mala Jong, is a force to be reckoned with. A very dangerous one."

"But no evil can stop us from doing what we fight for."