Chapter 4: The Future: Tears
"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"
A flash of light erupted from the Fist of Tebigong as the world around them shifted into the setting for the challenge. It remained the eerie, Twilight Zone-esque place that was the Yin-Yang World was, but a great white cube now hung high in the air above the watchers on top of which Sarah and Riley stood. The challenge: be the first to reach the center of the maze. The problems: the walls of the maze were inside the cube and only shot up when approached; the center of the maze was on the bottom of the cube; and gravity still applied.
"Sarah's got this in the bag." Hunter said, confident in his sister's abilities. He and the other kids were watching the contest from down below.
"I bet you my dinner that she loses." Peter wagered.
"You're on." His cousin replied.
"I don't think so, you two." Logan protested. "No brother or cousin of mine is going hungry on my watch."
"Well what are we supposed to bet? Money?" Hunter chuckled.
"Kid's got a point, Logan." Bonny agreed.
"Still unwise to be malnourished." Hikari pointed out. "Especially when you're one of the youngest people left in your species."
"Oh, missing one meal isn't going to kill them." Bonny said.
"I bet Mom and the other adults would disagree." Logan said.
"Boo!" Peter shouted.
"Buzz kill." Hunter agreed.
"What do you think, Riku?" Bonny asked, turning to her twin brother. But she got no response. Riku was intently looking up at the great cube in the air, waiting for Sarah and Riley to start their Showdown. Bonny chuckled, having a good idea as to why Riku was oblivious to the conversation happening half a foot away from him.
"Gong Yi Tanpai!"
Sarah and Riley took off. After a few turns Sarah came to her first fork, surprised when a wall didn't shoot up as she passed it. She could either go straight forward or take the left she'd come across. Unable to make a decision, an idea crossed her mind. "Longi Kite!" she shouted. The Shen Gong Wu attacked itself to her back and she took off into the air, but she couldn't have gone ten feet up when her head hit something, causing her to lose her concentration and fall back to the ground. After regaining her senses, Sarah looked up to find a light fading in the sky above. A force field to keep her from cheating, no doubt. Sighing, she went with her instincts and took the left, only to be disappointed as it was a dead end.
Riley was having even less luck, having come across so many dead ends that she was beginning to think that this maze was more like a labyrinth. When she came to her twelfth dead end she let out a storm of cursing and barely stopped herself from punching the wall blocking her view of the edge of the cube. She glanced around, finding that Sarah was still on the same level as her, before turning around and continuing what she was now considering a ridiculous game. To her pleasant surprise, however, the next turn she decided to take took her straight to the edge of the cube. She grinned in satisfaction. "Jet Bootsu!" she shouted, activating the Wu upon her feet. She stepped over the edge and was glad to find that her Shen Gong Wu worked perfectly, making it seem as if gravity was now pulling her to that side of the cube instead of the top.
The game went on for a quite a bit and while the other kids were watching and cheering from close up the adults were watching quietly from farther away. While the kids did quite enjoy the Xiaolin Showdown, as they were almost the only entertainment they had, Mimi, Jack, Nina, Julia, and Elena saw them more as training, going as far as making them mandatory. The kids had to be ready for anything when going to earth, and frequent Xiaolin Showdowns prepared them quite well, given their unpredictability.
Jack turned his attention from the two competing girls to his wife sitting next to him. She seemed deep in thought, a concerned expression upon her face. "Nina?" he asked, drawing the attention of the other three women and snapping her out of her trance.
"Yes, Jack?" she asked.
"Something on your mind?"
She sighed and turned her head down to the ground. "Just thinking about… everything… About how we've saved the world time and again, but we slip up just once and suddenly humanity's numbers drop from six and a half billion to thirteen and now we're being hunted. I keep playing that day over and over again in my head, trying to think of a way we could've prevented all this, but I keep coming back to the same answer… Lilith had it all planned out from the beginning. She had meticulously noted every detail. She had a contingency plan for every possibly way we could've stopped her… And now the thought keeps running through my head: what if they find us here? What if they break into the Yin-Yang World… we're as good as dead."
"Nina…" Jack said softly, wrapping his arms around his wife.
"If they find us we fight and we escape." Mimi said bluntly. "We'll find a way to avoid the Great Eye's gaze and we'll hide on Earth. We're the last hope humanity has, so we can't just let them take us."
"She's right." Julia agreed. "We don't know why, but the Destroyer seems to refuse to unleash his people on the earth until he's obliterated every last person. All we have to do is stay alive until we find a way to defeat him."
"Yeah, but we'll be very, very lucky if there's two generations after the kids to keep up the fight. The Destroyer is the Demon King. He's all but all powerful and all but invincible. How do we beat that?" Nina questioned, giving a deadly glare at the redhead and raven haired women. "Tell me how or shut the hell up." With that she got up and stormed off, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Nina!" Jack called as he went after her.
When they were gone Elena sent a glare at Mimi and her wife. "How many times to I have to tell you two to keep your mouths shut when she gets like this?" she demanded.
"Sorry, Honey." Julia apologized.
"Yeah, sorry." Mimi agreed, though a little less sincerely.
Elsewhere, Nina had hidden herself behind one of the many obscure objects that dotted the Yin-Yang World. She heard Jack calling after her but didn't answer him. She wasn't mad at him, or even that upset about what Mimi and Julia had said… there was something else that was irking her emotions. Some overly foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach that was driving her to tears. "There you are." She heard Jack say as he approached her. "What's going on, Nina? You of all people know that you shouldn't go off by yourself in the Yin-Yang World. You made that rule yourself after we spent a week looking for Riley."
She looked up to him, cheeks red, tears rolling down, and unable to stop her jaw from quivering. "Something's coming, Jack." She said. "Something's coming to get us."
Jack immediately sat down next to his wife and wrapped his arms around her, doing his best to comfort the redhead. She'd had some small emotional breakdowns before, given her history with Pride and his ilk, but this was worse than usual. Usually she didn't even cry when she was feeling down, but this time she was struggling not to sob. "Shush, it's all right, Baby. Nothing's coming to get us." He kept repeating.
"I keep seeing the same face over and over again in my head…" Nina admitted. "It's Omi… he's covered in tattoos and he keeps laughing… then everything goes dark in my head and I feel cold."
"C'mon, its' okay, Nina." Jack continued. "I'll always be here to warm you."
Nina turned into Jack's embrace, nuzzling her face into his neck. "I need you to warm me now." She said softly.
Jack pulled his head back slightly in surprise. He had a good idea of what she meant but he thought she couldn't be serious. Maybe her emotional state was confusing her, but Jack cast out all his doubts when Nina craned her neck to capture his lips in hers. She needed this and Jack was more than willing to comply to see her smile again. As Jack removed his trench coat and undershirt the redhead pushed him onto his back and ran her hands over his now bare arms, feeling the warm flesh of his real one and the cold metal of his prosthetic one. She'd been a little hesitant during intimate moments about Jack's false limbs early on in their relationship, but now twenty-five years in she'd grown to like the feel of his metal, especially during warm nights. They continued kissing and removing clothing through the flash of light that signaled the end of Sarah and Riley's showdown.
As the flash faded Riley stood proudly holding the Fist of Tebigong and the Longi Kite, the Jet Bootsu still on her feet. Sarah, meanwhile, was lying on the ground as a result of what had cost her the game. She'd been flying through the maze on the bottom of the cube, the center of the maze and the Fist of Tebigong literally feet away from her. She'd thought she had a straight path to victory, but as the last second a wall shot out of the cube, blocking her path and causing the Longi Kite to fall off her back. She fell and watched helplessly as Riley claimed victory.
Riku smiled as he saw Riley holding the Longi Kite and Fist of Tebigong, still wearing the Jet Bootsu, as a result of her victory. But as he and his friends approached the two, he went over to Sarah and offered her a hand. "You all right?" he asked.
Sarah nodded and took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Yeah. Thanks Riku." She said.
"Way to go, Riley!" Peter said excitedly as he approached her. "Give me some skin!" She happily high-fived the ten-year-old who then turned to Hunter. "Told you she'd win, man."
"You know, your brother's right, Peter." Hunter said. "We really shouldn't be betting our food over Showdowns."
"Too late." Peter insisted. "I'm having two servings tonight."
"You wanna repeat that?" Logan questioned, casting a menacing shadow over Peter as he stood behind his younger brother.
"Good job." Hikari said to Riley. "I guess defying gravity is more reliable than flying."
"Got that right." Riley agreed with a grin. She then turned to her fallen opponent. "How's your ass, Sarah?"
"Bruised, but I can still sit down." Sarah said, then a thought crossed her mind. "And if that was some kind of innuendo, still as spankin' as ever thank you." This made Riley laugh. Why that girl was so upbeat all the time was far beyond everyone else, but no one was complaining. She lightened up their otherwise depressing lives.
As the eight children went to meet the adults, a thought crossed Bonny's mind. "Hey, Riku… What was it like, meeting everyone's parents in the past? I've always wanted to know what Mom and Dad were like at our age."
Riku just chuckled. "You remember how we'd all spend hours watching old home movies years ago when we all got together at the temple?" he asked.
"I was an infant the last time that happened." Hunter pointed out.
"Well I wasn't asking you." Riku said. "Anyway… it was exactly like that." He said. "Except… ten times more real. Actually getting to interact with our parents instead of… In all honesty, greatest feeling I've felt in a long time."
"Sounds like paradise." Hikari said.
"Pretty damn close." Riku agreed. "Pretty damn close…"
When Mimi, Julia, and Elena finally came into view was when thinks started turning sour… extremely sour. A vortex opened in the path of the eight children. They'd all been trained to scatter and prepare for a fight when this happened and everyone was already there, but none of them ever actually thought it would happen and they froze up. Omi stepped through the portal, his expressionless face and tentacle tattoos causing Logan's blood to boil. "Dad!" he shouted.
But Omi didn't respond. Instead the Darklings followed him through the portal; first Clay, the Kim, then Saya, and finally Rai. "Well, well, well, look what we have here." Dark Rai laughed as he eyed the eight children before him, lusting for blood. "Riku! You're back! No wonder we couldn't spot you in the time stream."
Despite every nerve screaming at him to attack, Riku remained still, allowing his rage to build as he heard the sound of his father's voice. "So, here before us stands the last of humanity." Dark Rai continued. "What do you think we should do with them, my friends?"
Dark Clay licked his lips. "They look… tasty." He said, chuckling darkly.
"Indeed they do, Darling." Dark Saya agreed. "But I believe they'd be more useful as statues in the garden."
"Perhaps we should bring them to Mistress Lilith so she may present them to her father." Dark Kim suggested.
"All excellent ideas." Dark Rai complimented. "What do you think, Omi?"
Omi slowly looked over the eight children before him, stopping briefly when he spotted Logan and Peter but showing no reaction to their faces. "Mother wishes them destroyed." He finally said. "We must obey Mother… her word is law."
Dark Rai chuckled. "You heard the man." He said to his fellow Darklings. "Get them."
"Star Hanabi!"
The flaming shuriken shot out at the Darklings, nearly hitting Dark Kim but she managed to catch it in her hand without flinching. While Omi kept his gaze on the children, the four Darklings turned their attention to their attackers, finding Mimi holding the Sword of the Storms, Julia wielding the Golden Tiger Claws and Hitsuji Hammer, and Elena with the Thorn of Thunderbolts and Chimera's Breath. Dark Rai began laughing. "Well look at this! A complete family reunion!" The other Darklings laughed along with him until he stopped abruptly, his amusement switching to determination and anger. "Get them!" he ordered.
Elsewhere Jack and Nina had realized what was happening and were just finishing pulling their clothes back on. "Of all the times for there to be an attack…" Jack complained as he slid one arm into his trench coat.
"Shut up, Jack. They need us over there." Nina scolded as she finished buttoning her blouse.
The couple raced towards the sounds of battle and stopped dead in their tracks when they found it, discouraged but not at all surprised at what they saw. There was no doubting the power of Omi and the Darklings. Even doubling their enemy's numbers, Riku and the others were no doubt fighting a losing battle even if putting up an amazing fight.
"Diamond Gauntlet!" Riku shouted, slipping the band of precious stone onto his arm. A gleaming energy blade shot out from the gauntlet and Riku charged at his father who wielded his black iron sword with the neon green glowing etchings. The blades rebounded off each other again and again, sending sparks flying in all directions. Suddenly Bonny came out of nowhere with the Canine Crossbow and launched the bolts at her demonic father. Dark Rai folded his leathery wings in front of his face, blocking the explosive darts. When the smoke cleared he hadn't a scratch and was laughing. Suddenly Dark Kim dropped down in front of him and swiped the Star Hanabi through the air before her, sending a wave of flames at their children. As the twins jumped out of the way of the attack Julia dropped out of a rift created by the Golden Tiger Claws and attacked the two demons with the Hitsuji Hammer.
Dark Clay dropped down on one knee and punched the ground of the Yin-Yang World, a wall of rock and earth shooting up to protect him and Dark Say from the blasts from the Emerald Gauntlet, wielded by their daughter, Sarah. As Dark Clay maintained the rock shield against Sarah's relentless attacks, Dark Saya spread her wings and maneuvered around the attacks and tackled Sarah to the ground. Pinning her daughter to the ground, Dark Saya raised one hand into the air, fingers outstretched like claws and electricity surging through them. But just as she was about to bring her wrath down on the blond girl beneath her… "Silk Spitter!" Sticky ropes of string shot out, knocking Dark Saya off of her eldest daughter and onto the ground, her arms and wings pinned to her body. It had been Hunter who had attacked her. While Dark Saya struggled against her bonds, Dark Clay rushed at the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders and lifting him into the air. Dark Clay looked up at the struggling boy with wanting in his eyes, saliva dripping from his lips in anticipation of his next meal. But before he could make a move Hunter was ripped from his hands but Hikari using the Ruby of Ramses, followed by Elena striking Dark Clay with the Thorn of Thunderbolts. At that point Dark Saya managed to break her bonds and lunge at Elena, jumping over the jet of flames from Elena's Chimera's Breath and landing on the Spanish woman's back, pinning her to the ground. Just as she was about to rip Elena's heart out with an electrically charged hand, Dark Saya noticed Sarah standing once again with the Emerald Gauntlet pointed right at her.
Omi stood silently as Logan, Peter, Mimi, and Riley surrounded him. As the prepared to attack Omi clenched his fists and a dark aura manifested around his body. "Omi, stop this!" Mimi pleaded. "I know you're still in there!"
"I'll be the judge of that!" Logan cried out. With Musha's Sword in hand, Logan charged at his father. Omi simply raised his hand and blasted his son away with a pulse of dark energy. Riley came at him next, trying to subdue him with the Tangle Web Comb but Omi managed to jump out of the way, grab onto the teeth of the comb and pull it away from her. He then used it to trap Riley in a cocoon using the Shen Gong Wu. Tossing the Tangle Web Comb aside, he sidestepped the oncoming Lasso Boa Boa from Peter and blasted him away as he did Logan. With only Mimi left Omi remained still, waiting for her to make the first move.
"Damn it." Mimi growled. She slashed the Sword of the Storms through the air, sending a hurricane force wind at Omi, but the demon man stood his ground and simply knocked the wind away with his hand. Then, with a clap of his hands, he send a wave of dark energy at Mimi, knocking her off her feet. He waited silently for another attack, and whirled around to catch the blade of Musha's Sword as Logan came at him, trying to decapitate his father.
As Jack and Nina watched the battle before them unfold, they failed to notice a small portal opening overhead. But with an earsplitting cry something dove down and grabbed onto Nina's shoulder, lifting her into the air. It was a small gray and black bird with a red crest. "The Yin-Yang Bird?" Jack questioned in shock as the bird passed back through the portal with Nina. Less than ten seconds after the bird disappeared with Nina it reappeared over the battlefield, dove down, and grabbed Peter, taking him back through the portal with it. The bird proceeded to do this with the other seven children, taking them safely out of the reach of the Darklings but to where was uncertain.
"Quickly! Get the women before that retched bird returns!" Dark Rai ordered. The other three Darklings surrounded Elena, Julia, and Mimi. The three women stood back to back, ready to fend off any attack, but weren't expecting what came next. While Dark Clay, Dark Saya, and Dark Kim kept them distracted Dark Rai produced the Sphere of Yun and activated it, capturing their remaining three foes in a mystical bubble.
When the Yin-Yang Bird returned a tenth time, it was discouraged to find Julia, Elena, and Mimi already captured. But then it caught sight of Jack, the last person it had any hope of helping. It dove down at the red haired man, grabbing him by the shoulder and flying back to its portal.
"There's that blasted buzzard!" Dark Rai exclaimed. "Would you take care of it, Darling?"
"With pleasure." Dark Kim agreed. She manifested two fireballs in her hands and tossed them both in the direction of the Yin-Yang Birds portal, timing it so perfectly that when the Bird was just about to pass threw her attack struck it. The Bird lost its concentration as it was struck, losing its focus on where it meant to return as it passed through the portal. Still, Jack and Yin-Yang Bird got away.
"Blast." Dark Rai growled.
"Fret not, Dear." Dark Kim said. "We got three of them."
"That's not what anger's me."
"Pray tell?" Dark Saya inquired.
"That Bird… It was rescuing them as if commanded too." Dark Rai explained.
"So?" Dark Clay asked.
"So, that means there's someone still on Earth which it takes its orders from… which means there's one more person out there that we haven't found."
"Sounds like a certain traitor to me." Omi pointed out.
"Indeed." Dark Saya agreed."
"Rush has certainly earned himself a whipping." Dark Rai commented.
"Later." Dark Kim said. "Right now we must take care of the spoils of war… Omi, I believe you know what to do."
Omi nodded and stepped forward towards the magical sphere which trapped Julia, Elena, and Mimi. Laughing quietly by sadistically, Dark Clay reached inside the bubble, pulling Julia and Elena out and throwing them to the ground before Omi. The two women got to their knees and looked up to Omi. Seeing no remorse in his eyes, they prepared for what came next and hugged each other tightly. "At least Riley made it." Elena whispered into Julia's ear. Omi then reached out and placed his hands against their heads. Slowly, their flesh began to turn to stone. Both women cried quietly, but as their faces became as rock, tears continued to steam.
Once the transformation was complete Omi stepped aside and Dark Clay reached inside the sphere again, pulling out Mimi this time. She too got to her knees and looked up to Omi, but didn't lose hope when she saw nothing in his eyes. "Please, Omi, don't do this." She pleaded. "It's me, Mimi… Your wife, the mother of your sons! Don't you remember?"
And for a brief moment, Omi seemed to recall the auburn locks of hair on the woman kneeling before him. "Mi…mi?"
Mimi smiled, hope seemingly restored. "That's right, Omi." She said as she pulled the short, demonic man into a hug. "Remember, please… If not for me or our boys, then for yourself, remember."
"I… I…" Omi seemed immobilized, the realization of who this woman was conflicting with his base demonic instinct of wanting to destroy her.
"You're mother is waiting, Omi." Dark Rai reminded him.
And then hope was lost. "Mother…" he pulled away from Mimi as he remembered his soul purpose in life. "I must obey my mother…" he placed his hand against the forehead of the now crying woman. "Mother's word is law…"
As her flesh slowly turned to stone, Mimi whimpered and took one last look at the man she once loved. "Protect them, Omi… Protect our boys…" Those were her last words before she was consumed in lifeless rock.
All four Darklings grinned, knowing full well how obliviously Omi had just murdered his own wife and basking in the pure evil of the moment. "Mistress Lilith will be very pleased with you, Omi." Dark Rai said. "Now come, we must continue are search for the young ones and the other two adults."
Dark Rai opened a portal and stepped through it, followed swiftly by Dark Kim and the other two Darklings. But Omi remained behind for a moment, taking one last look at the statues he'd just created. All three continued producing tears as if still alive and wallowing in their own sorrow. But as Omi turned to enter Dark Rai's portal he felt something in the corner of his eye, an alien wetness that moved down his cheek. He raised a finger to his face and wiped it under this sensation, pulling it away to find a small drop of water resting on his finger. He recognized it as a tear, but could not comprehend why he was crying. Passing it off as nothing in his own mind, his wiped the tear away on his shirt and passed through Dark Rai's portal, joining the Darklings in the hunt.