Chapter 15- Retribution

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The Temple was silent as Dojo came to a neat landing in the courtyard, sending a cloud of dust billowing over the deadened garden. Clay easily hopped off his back with a grin and looked around, expecting Kimiko and Jack to come meet him at any second. Instead, the Temple was eerily calm, and Clay felt a shiver run down his spine. Something was definitely wrong.

With a frown, he turned back to Dojo and unstrapped the large packs, filled with stolen food, off his back. The dragon immediately converted back to his smaller size, and trailed hesitantly after Clay. "Shouldn't they be out here by now?" he asked quietly, nervously glancing around the deserted grounds. Clay gave him a terse nod before swinging the packs up over his shoulder.

"Come on, Dojo…Somethin' ain't right here…Maybe they're somewhere in the Temple where we can't see them."

"Or maybe, they're sitting in the hands of Chase's warriors right now! Clay, this doesn't feel right…what if something happened while we were gone?"

Clay looked down at him grimly, then started walking briskly towards the Temple. "If that's the case, then we gotta go find out."

He entered the main room cautiously and looked around, but nothing seemed out of place since he'd left. A fire was still burning in its ring on the floor, its embers cheerfully popping in the silence. Slowly, Clay lowered his bags to the floor and looked around. There were no signs of false entry, or of foul play. Kimiko and Jack were simply…gone.

With a frown, he turned to leave, but not before a spattering of broken stone caught his eye by the doorway to the halls. His frown deepened and he walked to the doorway, but not before Dojo managed to slither up behind him and onto his hat. "I still don't like this," he grumbled, but he made no move to leave before Clay continued into the corridor.

They were in much worse shape than he remembered, and broken chunks of stone were strewn everywhere. And, here and there, he noted, Clay could see splatters of blood. He swallowed nervously and looked away, fearing the worse.

He soon reached the kitchen, and his eyes fell upon a discarded pack lying in the middle of the floor. There was a splash of blood on it, as if someone had picked it up and discarded it once again. Clay's body went cold, and he quickly opened it to find Kimiko's clothes hastily shoved in. Then, the pack slipped from his fingers, leaving a splash of red against his hands.

"The blood is fresh," Dojo murmured from above him. They were silent for a moment, and Clay simply stared at the pack on the floor.

Then, as if on cue, a low cry sounded from somewhere farther along in the Temple. Clay snapped his head back up and looked wildly around, searching for the source of the noise. "Dojo…did ya hear that?"

The dragon nodded uncertainly, and the cry sounded again. He dug his claws into Clay's hat, just as the young man took off running in the halls.

"Kimiko?" he shouted, nearly tripping over a fallen block of stone. The blood trail continued on, and he found himself following it. "KIMIKO! Lil' lady, are you in here?"

"C-Clay? Oh, god, Clay! Help me!"

He twisted around a corner at the sound of her voice, but it wasn't long before he came to a halt. Clay stood before a stone wall, a dead end. The halls were silent, and he felt Dojo rustling on top of him.

"Kim?" the dragon called hesitantly.

"I'm in here!" she cried desperately back. "Dojo, Clay! Get me out!" Her voice came muffled but audible through the stone, and Clay narrowed his eyes.

"Get back, I'll break it down. EARTH!" With a powerful move, Clay shoved his body into the wall. Instead of resisting his force, the wall crumbled easily around him, sending a cloud of smoke into the air. Coughing, he stumbled through with Dojo, searching frantically for any sign of Kimiko.

At last, as the dust began to fall, he saw her. She had been forced up against an exposed pipe, her hands tied behind her back with a strange, metallic cord, and her feet bound as well. Angry scorch marks surrounded her entire body, as if she had tried desperately to get free. Her face lit up in relief as she saw him standing in the doorway, and she quickly began her struggles anew.

"Kim, what the hell-"

"Raimundo's going to kill Jack!" she burst out frantically, twisting her arms in the rope. "You were right, he came back, and Jack challenged him to a showdown! GET ME OUT OF THIS GOD DAMNED THING!"

Clay had been standing dumbfounded by the door, but as she shouted at him, he quickly sprang into action. He scrambled over to her and tried to undo the cords, only to find that they were burning hot to the touch, an effect of using her element in an attempt to free herself.

"Get out of the way, Clay!" Dojo snapped. He flopped down and began to untie her hands with his fire-resistant claws, while Clay went to work on her feet.

"Then why are you-"

"They didn't want me to try and stop them," Kimiko interrupted bitterly, squirming impatiently as they hacked at the cords. "I tried to fight them…to stop them…but they overpowered me and locked me in here. I couldn't follow them, they could be anywhere by now!"

She sprang to her feet as the last of the coils fell away, then tripped over them into Clay's arms. He caught her, but before he could set her on her feet, Kimiko grabbed his hand and began tugging him through the halls. "We have to stop them…they're going to kill each other! Jack can barely walk, what the hell is the matter with him? He knows Raimundo is too powerful for him to fight!"

Kimiko was stumbling herself already, and her back was screaming in protest, but she kept going. Dojo hurriedly slithered up beside her, trying to match her pace. "And what exactly do you plan on doing?" he snapped at her. "You're not exactly in a position to fight right now, either! Think of your injuries before you do something rash!"

She stopped suddenly and whirled around on him, her eyes deadly. "I'm not going to let them hurt each other," she snapped angrily, crossing her arms. "I don't care what I have to do, and if you care even remotely about saving the world, you'll help me save them first!"

Kimiko turned on her heels and marched out of the corridor and out of sight, leaving Dojo and Clay to stare at each other. With a sigh and a guilty look, Clay looked over at him. "You know what we have to do, don't ya?"

Dojo nodded tersely, and together, they slowly followed her out.

Kimiko leaned out over the side of Dojo, one hand shading her eyes as she struggled to look over the landscape. It was her first time flying in over a year, but she couldn't appreciate it. Instead, all she felt was a tremor of dread and anticipation at the bottom of her stomach.

What if I'm too late?

"I don't see 'em anywhere," Clay called from behind her. Kimiko sighed heavily and kept looking. They couldn't have gone too far in the hour she'd been left behind, but Kimiko knew it was more than enough time for Raimundo to finish Jack off if he really wanted to.

"Dojo, go down a little bit! I can't see anything from way up here!"

The dragon grumbled before descending a hundred feet, a glare fixed on the younger girl. "Did it ever occur to you that they don't want to be found? They're not stupid, Kimiko!"

There was a sudden crackling of branches off to her left, and Kimiko jerked to attention as a massive tornado burst through a patch of dead trees, sending debris flying. Her heart caught in her throat as she saw a figure stumble from the falling branches into a clearing, just barely missing the rapid winds.

Jack.

"Dojo! There!" she shouted, her eyes wide in horror. Clay yanked her back against his chest as the dragon turned into a nosedive, sending them plummeting to the earth. Kimiko could see the two men in the distance now, and her heart fluttered madly inside of her. They were both in the clearing, and from what it looked like, Jack was on the defensive.

Dojo finally jerked to a stop, and Kimiko leapt off of his back. But, before she had even taken two steps, an arm curled around her waist and yanked her backwards.

"Kimiko…this ain't your fight," Clay said slowly. With confusion clear across her face, she turned around and stared at him, as Clay's hand wrapped around her upper arm.

"What are you doing, Clay?" she asked, her voice low. She tried to step away from him, but he held onto her tightly in an unbreakable grip. Kimiko looked up into his suddenly cold face, and she froze. "Clay, they're going to kill each other! We have to stop them!" she shouted at him angrily. Kimiko began to twist violently in his arms, but he barely even moved to contain her.

"Kim, this is the only way they're ever gonna to settle anythin' between them. It's not our place to interfere."

"NO!" she shouted at him again. "Clay, no!" Kimiko cried out in pain as she twisted her back the wrong way, sending sharp jolts down her spine.

"Don't you understand, Kim? They're fightin' over you!" Kimiko froze in his grasp, her eyes suddenly going wide in shock. Her legs gave out for a moment, and Kimiko sank to her knees, defeated.

Off in the distance, another funnel of wind began to form, and Kimiko could only choke as Clay's grip on her arm grew tighter.

The showdown had started, and already Jack was suffering. The terms had been simple: they would fight using whatever means possible, and the last one standing was the winner. Jack assumed that the man not standing would most likely be dead, although he knew if it came down to it, he would not kill Raimundo….even if the other man would not show the same mercy to him. Jack had enough blood on his hands as it was.

The landscape hadn't changed for their fight, nor did any magic come to them like in showdowns of the old ages. They faced off, struck their stances, and began to fight.

Jack had held his ground in the beginning, but Raimundo was growing tired of fighting in hand to hand combat, while this was all Jack had to defend himself. After he managed to strike a few blows, Raimundo seemed to snap, and he summoned his element. Jack took one look at the wind in his hands, and knew he was in trouble.

Now, he was running for his life, and Raimundo knew it. He could hear the high whistle of wind behind him as Raimundo's attack picked up speed, and Jack could only put on an extra burst of speed. The edges of the tornado caught him at the last moment, sending Jack flying into the hard ground. He stifled a cry of pain as his wounds, both new and old, scratched along the rocky earth. His body was trembling, but Jack ignored it and scrambled to his feet. Overhead, he caught a glimpse of a green dragon cutting through the sky, but he had no time to process what it meant.

"What's the matter Spicer, giving up already?" Raimundo called behind him with a bitter laugh. Jack whirled on his feet to see the young man standing a few yards away, his hair whipping wildly in the wind around him. "…Because I'm not stopping until I watch the light leave your eyes!"

With a snarl, Jack threw himself at Raimundo, fighting against the hurricane-strength winds that came straight at him. "Fight like a man, damn it!" he shouted back at him. "You're only hiding behind your element!"

"Oh, am I?" Raimundo disappeared, and in a moment, he was suddenly in front of Jack. Before he could even move, Rai struck another fighting stance, and charged. Jack narrowed his eyes and managed to throw off his first punch, but it wasn't long before Raimundo broke down his defensive stance and kicked him squarely in the gut.

With the wind knocked out of him, Jack gasped and stumbled backwards, and Raimundo followed, his fists flying. Jack saw a blinding light as Rai punched him square in the mouth, and he crumpled to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to get back up, but his body screamed in pain. Raimundo walked directly in front of him with a cocky grin, resting his hands on his hips.

"Not so tough without your precious robots, are you?" Jack's eyes narrowed, and he lunged at Raimundo's legs. The warrior was caught off guard, and Jack snarled as he tackled him into the ground. Rai hit the rocks first as Jack launched a fist into his face, just able to make contact before a powerful gust of wind threw him off. Jack stumbled, but managed to remain standing, while Raimundo leapt to his feet. There was murder in his eyes as he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth, and both slowly went into fighting stances.

They faced each other for a long moment, both breathing heavily as they waited for the other to make the first move. Even though Jack was clearly in worse shape, Raimundo was starting to get worn down from the constant use of his element. Jack saw a hint of exhaustion in his eyes, and grinned back.

"What's the matter, Pedrosa? Giving up already?"

Raimundo's eyes narrowed into a glare, and again he charged. Raimundo tried to punch him again, but Jack grabbed his fist in midair and sharply yanked it down, breaking his attack. He slipped under Raimundo's other flailing arm and managed to hit him in the side, directly in a pressure point he had often used against Kimiko. Rai choked and stumbled backwards, and Jack took his moment of hesitation to his advantage. He ran at Raimundo and swung his leg directly into his, catching him off balance. Before he had a chance to recover, Jack slammed his palms into his neck and gut, forcing him to the ground.

Choking, Rai hit the ground and rolled for a few times, before colliding with a rocky outcropping. There, he lay for a few seconds, the wind knocked out of him, before he struggled to get up. Jack calmly watched him from afar, his eyes narrowed in hate. He was breathing heavily now, and there was a bloody gash across his forehead. Jack could feel his limbs growing weaker with every passing second, and his clothes were soaked through with blood. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last like this, but he had to try. When he had asked for a showdown, he knew he was at a disadvantage, but there was nothing he could do. However, Raimundo was starting to slow down as well, and Jack knew he could at least hold his own…at least if Rai didn't use his element again.

He went into a fighting stance again as Raimundo slowly stood up, murder in his eyes. There was blood trickling from his nose and the corner of his mouth, and he made no move to clean it off. "I'm going to kill you," he snarled. As if on cue, his hair began to whip around his head as he summoned his element, and Jack felt his stomach drop. He could only stand and watch Raimundo as a swirling ball of wind appeared in his hands, laughing all the while. Wind picked up in the clearing around them, violently shaking the trees. Jack could feel it nipping at the back of his neck, and he knew he was in trouble.

Before he could move, Raimundo charged at him, thrusting the wind directly at his torso. It hit him with the force of a tornado in his chest, sending Jack flying backwards. For a few seconds, his body flew weightlessly through the air. Then, his back slammed into a rock, and he crumpled to the ground.

Jack couldn't move. From the position he was lying in and the pain in his limbs, he knew one of his arms was broken. His leg was bent underneath him, sending shooting pains all throughout his body. He let out a sharp gasp of pain and tried to get up, but it was too late. Raimundo was already upon him.

The wind picked him up once more, sending him whirling in the opposite direction. This time, Jack could not stifle his scream as he hit the ground violently. Dazed, Jack managed to get on his hands and knees, even as pain shot up through his arm. The world was spinning, and he could only helplessly stare up at the blood red sky. His heart was pounding as he heard Raimundo's footsteps slowly approaching him, and the same haunting laugh piercing the sky.

The Dragon of Wind paused by his side and looked over his beaten body, as if he were a predator stalking his prey. A smirk appeared on his lips, and Raimundo kicked Jack flat on his back while he screamed in pain. Then, Rai narrowed his eyes and slammed his foot down on his chest. Jack choked as blood bubbled out of his mouth, and tears watered in his eyes.

"Before I kill you," he whispered, though his voice was full of hate, "…know this. You will die a traitor and a nobody, and no one will remember your name, except for when it is known that I killed you. Your act may have fooled Kimiko, but you'll die being the heartless git you always were…and in time, she'll see just how big a mistake she was making. She's mine, and now, she always will be."

He pressed down harder, and Jack cried out as he felt something crack within him. Fighting through the pain, Jack managed to grit his teeth and glare up at him. "You're…wrong," he managed to gasp. "She'll never…forgive you."

Raimundo laughed again, and stepped off of him. "And that's where you're wrong," he whispered. He turned on his heels and began to stride away quickly from him, wind rushing faster and faster with his every step. Then, a few yards away, he stopped and raised his hands in the air. Wind began to whirl around them until a tornado grew from his fingertips, filling the air with a gruesome moan. The wind stayed the width of his palms, until he had a column twenty feet high swirling madly above him. Raimundo closed his eyes to concentrate, and the wind began to shape, until the tip was as sharp and pointed as a steel blade. He moved his hands downward, and the wind cracked like a whip around him.

With a sadistic grin on his face, Raimundo opened his eyes and stared directly at Jack. Their eyes met for one pitiful moment before Rai began to gloat in victory. "Die," he whispered, and released the wind.

And from her imprisonment, Kimiko watched in horror as Raimundo's final attack began to spiral down towards Jack. He was lying on his back, unable to move as the piercing wind flew directly towards his chest. "No," she whispered softly. "NO!"

She tore forward violently in Clay's grasp, her skin suddenly flooding with the heat of her element. He tried to hold onto her, and then, although she didn't know how, she broke free. Kimiko took off across the clearing as fast as she could, the barren landscape becoming a blur around her. There was a shout from behind as Clay yelled at her to stop, but she kept running, pain tearing at her every step. Her mind was numb with fear as she ran, and she could see nothing but the broken man in front of her. Raimundo's attack seemed to get stronger with every step she took, and Kimiko could hear nothing but the harsh moan of wind around her.

Kimiko couldn't breathe as she saw the wind coming faster and faster towards Jack, and somehow, she managed to put on a burst of speed. Her eyes frantically fixed onto Jack's face, and her heart froze as she watched his eyes close in defeat. His blood pooled around him, reflecting the brilliant red of the sky.

"NO!"

Kimiko screamed as she slid in front of Jack at the last second, hurling her body on top of his to protect him. She raised her palm and felt warmth flood her fingers, just as the violent winds bore down upon her. For a moment, the wind struck her skin like a thousand piercing needles, just before her fingers intensified in heat.

Fire burst from her hand and cracked around her, forming a dome above their bodies. Raimundo's attack hit the shield a split second later, and Kimiko cried out in pain as its sheer force pressed down upon her. The sharp light of the flames blinded her eyes before her defense broke his attack, sending a whirl of flames flying in every direction. Kimiko fell down across Jack, a sob catching in her throat as he wearily opened his eyes, and a weak smile crossed his bloody lips. Then, his eyes drifted close, and Kimiko choked.

Raimundo stared at her a few feet away, his lips parted in shock, and his body shaking. "K-Kimiko," he stammered softly. "I…didn't see you, I couldn't stop. I didn't mean-" He stopped abruptly as he stumbled towards her, his eyes wide. She had appeared out of nowhere…and by then, it was too late to stop his attack. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, but there was nothing he could have done to stop the wind. Kimiko didn't acknowledge him as he stepped behind her, and Raimundo could see her body shaking. Slowly, he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she cried out, whirling around overtop of Jack. A wave of fire burst from her fingertips directly into Raimundo's stomach, sending him flying away from her. He yelped and hit the ground roughly, clutching his arm as an angry red burn flared up on his skin. Kimiko's eyes were bristling with rage and brimming with tears as she got to her feet, and Raimundo struggled to get to his. She stood protectively in front of Jack, almost daring him to try and go past her. "How could you, Raimundo? WHY?"

Raimundo stepped backwards in shock, uncomprehending as she advanced on him. "Jack saved my life, and you try to repay him by taking his? Why can't you just accept him? You know we're the only chance to save the world, and we need as much help as we can get! But instead you're forcing us apart over a petty grudge! You can't get over the fact that Jack bought me, even if it was to save my life. And what's more, you can't accept that I care for him as much as I cared for you! You're the most selfish, hateful bastard I've ever met!"

She was seething with anger, yet beyond her narrowed eyes, Raimundo could see the hurt in her expression. But instead of apologizing, his own face screwed up in anger, and he began to shout at her.

"How the hell am I supposed to feel, Kimiko?" he yelled angrily, wiping a trickle of blood from his face. "You were bought by one of our worst enemies as a slave, and you hated him as much as we did! Do you know what it was like, worrying day after day if you were even alive? And what's worse, when we found out where you were, thinking about all the ways Spicer was using you? I was out of my mind with fear for you! And when we rescued you, I was so happy! Things were supposed to go back to the way they were, but the first thing you wanted was him! After all that I had done for you, you wanted the man who had made our lives a living hell since the day we met him! You barely even looked at me, after all we had been through! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL AFTER THAT?"

His voice cracked on the last word, and Kimiko noticed that his eyes were beginning to tear up. "You wouldn't believe me, Rai," she whispered, shaking her head in agony. "You wouldn't believe me when I said Jack had changed…when I told you he had saved me. I owe him my life, Rai! Even Clay could accept him, but you just lashed out again and again…you want me to choose between him, or you and Clay…do you even know what that's like? I wanted everything to go back to normal too, but we can't anymore! It was never going to be the same, whether Jack was with me or not!"

The fire burning all around them in the opening suddenly flared up, casting darkened shadows across both their faces. Raimundo angrily ran his hands through his hair as wind whipped it out of shape, but his eyes looked defeated. Slowly, he moved his gaze from the angry girl in front of her to the bloody Jack behind her, and his lips began to tremble.

"I didn't know what to do," he whispered dejectedly. His hands were beginning to shake as he looked back to Kimiko desperately, and for the first time, she saw pain in his expression. As he stumbled forwards towards her, Kimiko's body froze as she saw the face of the wounded comrade she had loved and lost, the man who had supported her through all the pain in her life and never complained, and the one friend who had ever really known her. Their eyes locked, and for the first time in weeks, the Raimundo she had once known was standing defeated in front of her.

"You were my only reason to keep going," he whispered. "And then, you wanted nothing to do with me, and everything to do with him. I see the way he looks at you." Raimundo suddenly could not meet her eyes, and he dropped his gaze. Kimiko felt something rising in her throat, and her body grew cold. "…And I see the way you look at him. Kimiko…tell me. Do you…love him?"

She couldn't speak. Raimundo finally raised his eyes back to hers, only to see that Kimiko stood trembling before him, her eyes wide. Her fists, which had been clenched in anger, slowly released, and her shoulders dropped. With pain and tears in her eyes, she met his gaze, and Raimundo felt something break within him.

"Yes, Rai," she finally whispered. Kimiko couldn't tear her eyes away from his, even as pain and betrayal flooded them. She wanted to stop, run into his arms like she had done so many times before, and tell him that this was all just a bad dream, and that they would soon be waking up together, happy and safe in the mountains. But, it was too late. No matter what she did now, there would be no returning to the past. Feeling her own heart breaking, she took a step backwards and whispered, "I…do."

Raimundo's composure broke entirely. He sharply turned away from her, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the pain. Heat flooded his veins in shame and anger, and he knew it wouldn't be long until he lost control of himself again. Raimundo couldn't think, or even breathe, and he knew that he could stay here no longer. "Then know this, Kimiko," he murmured slowly, pulling the Wings of Tenabi out of his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, he activated them and clutched the handle tightly, but made no move to fly just yet. Kimiko could only watch, dumbfounded, as he raised his head to the blood-red skies. Then, Raimundo slowly turned back to her, and closed the short distance between them. She remained frozen to the spot as he gently clutched her chin, and raised her face up towards him. Blue met brown, and Kimiko felt his pain begin to consume her.

"I…will never stop loving you."

In one quick move, Raimundo pressed his lips down to hers, and wrapped his other arm around her waist to pull her close. She tasted the saltiness of both their tears on her lips and his blood from the battle, and smelt the familiar musky scent of his clothes. Her shocked eyes slid closed for a moment, and she reached out to cup his face in her hand. Yet, before her fingers even touched his skin, Raimundo broke away. Their eyes met for one last moment before Raimundo threw the wings onto his back, and took off into the sky. Within seconds, he was gone.

Stunned, uncomprehending, and weak from his touch, Kimiko could only stare at the spot where he had just been standing, and tremble. She felt her legs give out beneath her before she crashed to the hard ground on her knees, staring hopelessly up at the sun.

"Raimundo," she whispered weakly. Her vision blurred until she could see nothing in front of her, and a sob broke out from her throat. Tears silently ran down her face as she swayed back and forth, unable to get to her feet. Raimundo was gone. Simply…gone. And it was all because of her.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, and she managed to turn her head to see Clay staring at her in concern, with Dojo waiting right behind him. Jack's unconscious body was already spread across his back, and Kimiko choked back another sob.

Clay gently lifted her into his arms, and she didn't resist. Her body remained limp and weak like a rag doll as he slowly brought her over to Dojo, and managed to set her onto his back. "Come on," he mumbled, his face downcast. Kimiko couldn't look at him, and could only feel a dull ache in her veins. "We can't stay here…soldiers are sure gonna come lookin' for us after all of that…they know where we are now." Kimiko managed to nod back weakly, and Clay climbed on behind her. Slowly, Dojo took off into the air, and they began to fly up into the darkened clouds.

Exhaustion and pain weighed heavy upon her shoulders, and Kimiko could only numbly stare into the distance. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was the Xiaolin Temple, illuminated in the light of the blood red sun, and surrounded by Chase's warriors.

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