Runa CH. 7
Ask me why, I don't know
You ask me why and I say
Now you see me now you don't
I thought by now you'd learned
You're gonna get your fingers burned!
- The Alan Parsons Project
"So, let me get this straight. I get all the parts about him hating humans and once ruling and junk, but there's something else. Edward Cullen told Clay he had killed me and sucked out all my blood (like the CREEPER HE IS,) an' then Clay flipped out and made him get zapped?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"YES! I knew it! I KNEW he loved me!"
"Emma… you know about the rules, right?" Dojo asked. He was curled up in the hood of Emma's jacket, talking with her as she searched Runa for the others and the Zenith Mirror. "The rules about Dragons and ex-Dragons and non-Dragons."
Emma was silent for a moment. "… Nope. No, no rules. I don't know about any such rules. What are these rules of which you speak? I don't play by no rules!"
"The rules where-" Dojo stopped, realizing Emma's tone. It was that 'I-don't-like-what-I'm-hearing-and-will-refuse-to-listen-to-you-because-ignorance-is-bliss' voice she used whenever someone had to tell her that something had gone horribly, terribly wrong. This usually meant drawing straws to let her know that they were out of chocolate in one form or another. It may not have been 10,000 years of darkness, but in the Irish girl's eyes, it was just as bad. So she did know. And she simply chose to ignore them. Dojo supposed that she could, but not forever. "Emma, you need to be honest with yourself."
Emma winced. She knew Dojo didn't mean to be harsh; his tone had been kind, and he was her friend. He was just trying to help. 'Still,' she thought irritably, 'he coulda been less painfully honest.' "Yeah. Yeah, I know. Wish he did, though. I love him to pieces."
"Which is where the rules apply."
Emma felt a cavernous silence approaching and changed the subject to ward it off. "So, Zenith and Nadir Mirrors. You mentioned something about less desirable properties if the Mirrors came together. So talk."
Dojo sighed in relief at the welcome change of topic and began. "Well, the Zenith and Nadir Mirrors were originally created so that two lovers on opposite sides of the world could communicate. Then the Heylin stole them and found that they could function as something other than makeshift phones."
"I don't like where this is going," Emma said, shivering.
"With good reason. When combined, the Zenith Mirror and Nadir Mirror can create a black hole." Emma gasped. "And that's not even the worst part. Whoever controls the Mirrors controls the black hole. It's size, where it goes, what it takes in and what it doesn't… every aspect."
"So, in theory, if Edward had both Mirrors, he could get rid of all the humans ever?"
"Yes."
"Oh mah." Emma picked up the pace as her mind whirred, going at top speed to piece together the information she had. "Good on ya for stickin' around, though. I'm glad we at least know this. But that's why he joined the Wizard's Guild, isn't it? To get access to the Zenith Mirror, so he could find the Nadir Mirror, and make a black hole and take away all humans. Maybe even the sun. Then the whole solar system would be one big never-ending night for him and his Drag-whatever clan. He wouldn't have to worry about anybody resisting on the Heylin side, either, because he could just black hole them away too. It'd make him all-powerful, and then they would just keep making those stupid movies!"
"So I bet his superiors have no idea what he's doing," Dojo added grimly.
"That sounds just like him! I bet Bella dumped him for Jacob. At this rate, I'mma have to pull together a vampire-fighting task force! First thing we get home, remind to give Buffy a shout, 'kay? I need all the help I can ge- OMG A KITCHEN!" Emma dashed into the spacious kitchen, everything else forgotten. "I bet they have more chocolate in here!" It was large and surprisingly bright compared to the rest of the underground lair, and looked like something off of the cooking channel. Sandy marble countertops, light wood floors, and stainless-steel appliances that were surprisingly modern decorated the room. However, Emma didn't notice the stark contrast to the rest of the base in her haste to find chocolate.
"Emma, we need to stay focused! And did you learn nothing from the Gluttony room?" he added in a deadpan. But Emma wasn't listening as she was too busy searching for the chocolate chips.
"Gotta be around here somewhere…" Suddenly, a sound from outside the door caught her attention. "Hide!" Dojo hissed, and Emma was quick to comply, ducking behind a counter. Someone entered the room, humming. Emma peered over to see who it was, but was distracted when she noticed a cookie jar about a foot away on the counter. Carefully, she reached over, ever so slowly, to get a cookie, tongue stuck out of her mouth in concentration.
"What are you doing?" Dojo cried as quietly as he could.
"I'm hungry!" Emma whispered back. "I'll get you one too, no worries." Dojo facepalmed as Emma's hand got nearer to the jar. Five inches, four, three…
"Oh, ho! And what have we here?" Emma jumped so high her head just about hit the ceiling. She looked at the door, but didn't see anyone. "Behind you, miss!" Emma whirled around to see what she thought was a woman standing behind her. However, what she saw was far different than what she had expected.
Yes, the voice had certainly come from this creature, and yes, the creature did resemble a woman in figure and voice, but that was where the resemblances ended. She was covered in short, tawny fur and had green eyes that looked just like a cats'. The cat-woman wore a tattered maid's outfit, and her hair, a shade darker than her fur, stuck up in two tufts on either side of her head. Her ears seemed to have been replaced with a cat's as well, but remained where human ears would be. A tail swished lazily behind her, adding to the cat-woman look. "Wh-who are you?" Emma managed to squeak.
"I am known as Sphinx, caretaker of Runa and keeper of her secrets. I make sure only those who are worthy enter by testing them. I do not, however, remember testing you, so I would like to know who you are as well!" She seemed eerily cheerful for just having caught an escapee.
Emma blinked, then stood straight and cleared her throat. "I am known as Emma O'Reiley, caretaker of the Xbox and keeper of candy. I specialize in the visual arts, though I like the musical arts as well, and my favorite color is yellow." Then she felt Dojo peering around her head and remembered he was there. "Oh, yes! And this is Dojo, a shapeshifting dragon who helps me and my friends out. He's not very good at video games and I'm not sure what his favorite color is."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Miss Emma," Sphinx said, curtsying. "And you as well, Mister Dojo. Would you like to stay and chat for a while? It's been so long since I've had real company." Emma's face split into a crooked grin. "You betcha!"
"Uh, Emma? Dragons captured, Zenith Mirror, gotta go?" Dojo muttered, tugging on her hair. Emma's face fell.
"Oh, right. Actually, ma'am, my friends kinda got kidnapped by your boss. I gotta go save 'em." Emma was half-expecting Sphinx to attack when she found out that Emma was with the Warriors, but instead, she just scoffed and looked away.
"I assure you, Chance is not my 'boss.' My people have long been worshipped as gods by the Egyptians, though we sometimes needed to engage in combat, as we were truly only mortals. Years ago, Chance's father saved mine. Our custom is that if a man's life is saved in battle, his first-born daughter (or son, if he was saved by a woman,) will go to the one who saved him. Chance's father did not want to wed me, but was kind and let me go back to my people. Chance was not nearly so. He returned to take me as a servant after his father led their clan into hiding."
"Huh. Sounds like a nice guy," Emma muttered. "So… you're not gonna kill me or anything for bein' back here?"
"Of course not," Sphinx replied, smiling. "If you can defeat Chance, I'll help you in any way possible." Emma and Dojo traded a glance, and then both of them faced Sphinx.
"Well, ma'am, there is something you could do…"
"Okay. I officially hate this guy," Raimundo muttered. The Xiaolin Dragons, masters and mistress of the four elements and many-time saviors of the world, were sitting in an electrified cage in a darkened room, their only light source a harsh spotlight right above them. Not only could they hear things moving around in the dark, inhuman things, but they couldn't see those things. It was unnerving, and they knew that whatever was about to happen, they'd need nerve to face it. Too bad it was dwindling.
"If it was unofficial before, I hate him too," Kimiko agreed.
Omi nodded. "How are we to escape? Dojo may not be able to defeat Chance on his own, and Emma…" he glanced at Clay, who remained silent. "Well… we need to find some way to escape."
"And that's where I come in!" The Dragons all looked into the darkness for the source of the voice; it was the same one as the voice that had asked them questions. A half-cat, half-woman creature stepped out of the shadows, curtsying gracefully.
"Who are you?" Raimundo asked, raising an eyebrow. "If this is some trick to mess with our minds-"
"I assure you, it isn't," the woman replied, glancing around. "Listen closely. I cannot stay long, in case Chance finds out I'm here. A friend of yours asked me to relay a message to you."
"Go on," Raimundo said, some of the suspicion leaving his voice.
She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Careful At Nobody, Now Or Never."
"… That's it?" Kimiko asked, confused. "Careful at nobody, now or never? That doesn't even make any sense!"
The cat-woman smiled. "I thought you'd say that. Just remember, you might be looking at the problem the wrong way. Adieu!" And with that, she vanished back into the shadows.
"Wait! That's not enough! Who- who sent… aw, man!" Raimundo's protests fell on silence, and the Dragons began to think. "That doesn't sound like something we can use."
"No, it does not. But perhaps she was trying to tell us something else?" Omi pointed out.
"She put emphasis on looking and the wrong way. Do you suppose that was part of the message, too?" Kimiko offered.
"Nah, if it was, she'd have just said so. I think maybe it's a code, you know, just in case Chance is listening in or something." Raimundo began to pace. "Careful at nobody, now or never. Careful at nobody. Now or never. Careful. At. No. Body. Now. Or. Never."
"The first part doesn't even make sense, grammatically speaking," Kimiko added. "What are we doing wrong?"
"Ah got it." Everyone turned to Clay. "She said she might be lookin' at th' problem th' wrong way. Emphasis on lookin' an' wrong way, like Kimiko said. It's 'cause we ain't lookin' at it, we're sayin' it."
"Yes! That makes perfect sense!" Raimundo exclaimed, nodding. "But let's pretend like I have no idea what you're talking about for a second so you can show us what you mean." Kimiko facepalmed and Omi remained confused.
"Here." Clay leaned down and wrote the message in normal left-to-right in the dust beneath them. "This is one way to look at it. But there're others." He wrote it up-and-down and stepped back. "This is what she meant."
"Yeah… I'm not seeing it," Kimiko said, looking over the message.
"Careful At Nobody, Now Or Never. Y'all know what an acrostic is?" Clay asked. Raimundo and Omi shook their heads, but Kimiko's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! Oh… oh. Oh."
"Jus' the first letters," the Texan explained. Raimundo and Omi read over it, Omi saying the letters out loud. "C-A-N-N-O-N."
Clay grinned. "Somethin' tells me Chance is as honest as he is modest."
"Yes! We now have front down!" Omi said, beaming.
"Ya mean backup."
"… Can we not have both?"
"This is glorious."
"I have to admit, it's pretty impressive." Emma stood in front of an old cannon, Dojo sitting on her shoulders. The cannon itself was as long as Emma was tall, and mounted on wood-and-iron wheels. Though it was intended for purely ornamental purposes, Sphinx had assured them that it would operate just fine. "Question is, will it work?"
"What, my plan or the cannon?" Emma asked, glancing at the dragon.
"Both. Either. No offense, but your plans can be a little, uh…"
"Far-fetched?" Emma offered, beaming. "Yep! But we're in a fanfiction, so anything is possible! Except me being not awesome, obviously. 'Cause, y'know. I so am."
"Riiiiight," Dojo monotoned, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, we'd better get this to the, ah… what'd Sphinx call it?"
"The extraction chamber. Sounds ominous, huh?" Emma asked, going behind the cannon and rolling up the sleeves of her jacket.
"No kidding. Let's go!" Emma grinned and pushed- and nothing happened. "Urgh!" She pushed with her arms, then her back, then her legs, but nothing worked. "Why! Isn't! This! Stupid! Cannon! Moving!" she grunted, putting all her weight into moving the weapon.
"Maybe because you didn't move the breaks," Dojo said, pointing at the triangles of wood shoved under the wheels. Emma blinked, then grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. Eheh. I knew that." She dashed forward, removed the wedges, and then back behind the cannon. This time, she actually moved it, picking up speed as they rolled down the corridor. "Alright!" Emma huffed, getting the hang of maneuvering it. "Let's go shoot us a vampire!"
"Hello, Xiaolin Dragons!" The four kids looked up at Chance, who had emerged in another spotlight. "And how are we today?"
"Other than being nearly drowned, kidnapped by a psychotic vampire and possibly killed, pretty good, thanks." Chance ignored Kimiko reply and flipped a switch, making all the light in the room come on. Once their eyes adjusted, the Dragons could see that they were in what looked like a car garage, with machinery spilling from the ceiling and filling the air with hums and whirrs and clanks. The vampire stood on a mesh platform that jutted out from a door in the wall, with stairs leading down to the floor. Also on the platform was what appeared to be a control panel, covered in flashing lights, levers and buttons. On top of their cage was what looked like a large siphon, attached to several tubes that led to a big, empty tank. Wires sprouted from the tank and attached to what looked like half of a hand mirror. It was black, with a glassy quality like obsidian, but it almost looked like something inside the blackness was moving. The part someone looked into was opaque, however; too fogged up to see through. Chance's smile grew when he saw them staring at the tank.
"You like it? It's my own invention. Not that I invented it or anything, but theft counts." He walked over to the control panel and pressed a button, making the siphon begin to generate a whirring sound. "This is the extraction chamber. It's powered by the Zenith Mirror, an extraordinary little thing called a Shen Gong Wu that's going to help me take over the world. But first, I'm going to use it to take your powers out of you and put them into anything I want. For right now, I think I'll keep them stored away until I become ruler of Earth. Then I'll use them for myself." The looks of horror on the faces of his prisoners only increased his happiness. "Oh, but don't worry. It only hurts a little. Then it kills you!" As he laughed evilly (as villains are so prone to do in these situations) the Dragons traded glances. If their rescue was coming it was now or never…
Suddenly, they heard a rumbling sound that wasn't coming from any of the machines. Chance stopped laughing and frowned, glancing at the far wall. "What-"
"FA'R INNA HOLE!" The Dragons ducked just in time to dodge the cannonball crashing through the wall. Chance was not so lucky. The cannonball itself missed him, but a large hunk of what was once the wall hit him square in the stomach and sending him flying. As the dust settled, the Dragons could see a large shape in the middle of the hole in the wall. Then Emma rolled the cannon through, Dojo perched on top and ready to light the fuse again. "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost! Or vampire, as the case may be."
"Dojo! Emma!" their friends yelled. Emma's face lit up and she said something to Dojo, who nodded and went behind the cannon. Emma, however, ran into the room, beaming. "Hey, guys! So you got my message?"
"Yeah, thanks for the whole rescue thing," Raimundo said, not bothering to hold back his grin. "Cutting it a little close, though."
"In my defense, that cannon is really heavy," she replied, reaching for the cage bars. As a unit, the Dragons cried "NO!" Emma froze, fingers inches away. "What? What is it?"
"The bars are electrified. You'll get zapped," Clay explained, having found his voice again. Emma nodded.
"Okay. There's probably a lever or something to open up the bars. Any ideas where it might be?" she asked. The Dragons looked around until Kimiko spotted the control board. "There! I bet the release switch is somewhere on that panel," she said, pointing to it.
Emma nodded again. "Right. I'll have you guys out in a jiffy!" She darted over to the stairs and clambered up, then skidded to a halt at the control panel. "Woah. Thaaat's a lotta buttons." Amongst the few display panels on the control board, there were indeed lots of buttons. Most of them were small and only had symbols or abbreviations next to them, all in rows of jumbled color and size.
"Emma! Just look for a knob like the bass tuner on Rai's boom box! It should be pretty big compared to everything else!" Kimiko called.
"Um, okay, but I don't- ah-ha!" Emma spotted a knob that was at the bottom of a track, farther away from the center. She pushed it up, and as the knob rose, so did the bars of the cage. The Dragons ducked out and Emma ran back down to meet them. "You guys okay?"
"Getting better. Let's go before Chance wakes up!" Raimundo said.
"Too late." The five looked back at the source of the growl, where Chance had risen with an expression of fury marring his features. An aura of palpable rage surrounded him, and his hands were clenched so tight it made his already pale skin go stark white at the knuckles.
"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" Emma squeaked, ducking behind Clay and peering over his shoulder. "Cullen's back up!"
"On it!" Dojo had slithered back to the fuse of the cannon, and another ball had been loaded into it. Chance's eyes widened when he saw what was the dragon was aiming at.
"NO! You can't-" but Chance was cut off by the lighting of the fuse and a cannonball crashing into the tank. Sparks flew everywhere and everyone ducked as he wires detached themselves from the Zenith Mirror. The Mirror was mounted on a wire stand, but a stray piece of debris sent the stand and the Mirror flying. It landed on the top of what was probably a generator and skittered to a halt. The Warriors glanced at Chance, then at each other, and suddenly, everyone's goal was to get to the Zenith Mirror. After a mad dash to cut him off, the Warriors were successfully blocking Chance's way to the Mirror.
"If you want to get to the Zenith Mirror, you must get through us first!" Omi declared, striking a pretty cool kung-fu pose. Chance snarled and his eyes flitted over the group. On the outside, he was seething with fury, and on the inside it was pretty much the same. But he was also furiously trying to figure out how to not fight the keepers of the elements and still get the Mirror. He needed a weak link. And when he glanced over the witch girl, he knew he had found it.
"Who says I need to?" A blur of movement and suddenly, there was a very pointy piece of shrapnel at Emma's throat. "Oh, come on!" Emma barked, raising her hands in frustration. "Does it ALWAYS have to be me?"
"Well, you're not as skilled as us, and he's probably still mad at you for wrecking his place and hitting him with his own wall," Raimundo pointed out, earning glares from everyone but Chance. "What? What? It's true and you all know it."
"The Dragon of Wind is right. So, what will it be, children? Let me have the Zenith Mirror and I let you and your friend live. Continue to go against me and I kill her, then you. Make it easy on all of us and do the right thing." The Dragons traded uncertain glances.
"Don't worry, guys. I got this," Emma said, not moving for fear of the metal digging into her throat. Chance looked at her dryly and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what, may I ask, is your brilliant plan?"
"Well, it's actually pretty boss, Sparkles," she replied, her voice disturbingly cheerful. "You know what backwards magic is?"
"Yes," Chance replied, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you going with thi-"
"Then you know that backwards magic doesn't normally require chanting, but some Verse spells need it. A growth spell, for example. We're underground, so I figure we must be surrounded by roots and stuff, right? Right," she added, cutting off Chance's reply. "I also figure that if I use the right hex, you'd be done for and we'd be done with you! It's a lose-win on your angle, fella."
"Are you actually summoning the gall to threaten me?"
"Naw. I don't threaten, Eddie. I promise." Then her smile turned dark and her eyes flashed. "Tremor temper tantrum turn. Bubble brewing bashing burn."
"What are you-" Chance's question was interrupted by a small root twining around his ankle. He kicked it off, then turned back to Emma, grinning. "Really? That's your big plan? That was almost as pathetic as you!"
Emma glanced over Chance's shoulder and beamed. Chance looked over his shoulder, then did a double take. Emma's smile grew as Chance took in the writhing mass of roots behind him, snaking through cracks in the walls and reaching towards him. The vampire pulled the sharp metal away from Emma's throat and began to hack frantically at the weeds that surrounded him.
"Get the Mirror, I'll keep Edward busy!" Emma yelled. "Got ya covered!" Raimundo called back, heading up the slope for the mirror. Clay, Omi and Kimiko continued to wreak havoc with Chance's defenses to let Raimundo through.
" Jumper jammer jaguar jinx, mayhem mosey monster minx! Racer, runner, rennet, rash! Bludgeon, bitter, better, bash! Leaping, leopard, lighter, lake! Dungeon, dragon, double, drake! Whither, weather, wearer, witch! Slither, scissor, swagger, switch!" The walls gave way as more and more roots broke through, tangling around Chance's arms and legs. He roared and cut a swathe away, managing to get closer to the platform holding the Zenith Mirror. Emma grit her teeth and ran forward, directing the roots as she went. "Spatter, sputter, splitter, slice! Danger, dancing, demon, dice! Careful, corner, caustic, clash! Feisty, fearsome, fatal, flash!"
"NO!" Chance cried as the weeds continued to pour in. Then he turned around and faced Emma, who skidded to a halt. He snarled and threw the shrapnel at her. She ducked just in time, though it took some hair off. Emma straightened up, looking back at where the sword was now stuck in the wall.
"Dude! You coulda killed-" her complaint was cut off when she turned back around and saw Chance had already made it to the Mirror. "-me..."
Chance laughed. "Nice try, Xiaolin Dragons, but even you can not stop destiny!" Then the Zenith Mirror began to glow under his hand. Chance looked down at it, confusion all over his face. "What?"
Raimundo's hand was on the other side of the Mirror. The Brazilian grinned triumphantly as Chance's confusion increased. "Chance Young, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!"
A/N: AAAAAWWWW YYEEEAAAAHH! }:D Stuff's about to go DOWN! The chapter will have the final, (hopefully) epic conclusion to Runa! After a long hiatus, it's almost over. About time, if you ask me. Stay tuned for the final battle and the epilogue! If you have any ideas for some Chance-torture, I'd love to hear 'em. Also, if you liked the hints of Clay/Emma in this (though if you want, you can think of it as Clay sticking up for a friend in need) please check out Sandglass and Drover. They are my neglected fanfiction babies. *forever alone face*