Chapter 2: Following Through:

"I don't care what we do so I'll let you pick the game," you said tilting your head to the side and putting your free hand on your hips.

"All right…"Omi said a little confused, "the game is race to the Wu. First one to touch the Falcon's Talons wins. My Orb of Tornami against your-"

"My Shroud of Shadows," you said. You figured you would help him out since he didn't know what Wu you had. "And let's make this more interesting," you said. You had to wager Omi's freedom against yours, or so Chase had ordered. "If I win you'll come with me to Chase Young's lair." You heard the monks below you gasp. 'Is it really that shocking that I'm not on their side?'

"And if I win you'll return to the temple with us," Omi said.

'Just as Master Chase said he would.' "Agreed," you said bowing your head.

"Very well than, let's go-" Omi said

"Xiaolin Showdown!" You both called out in unison.

The scenery began to change from a dense forest to a twisted labyrinth. There was a river of lava with pieces of volcanic rock floating, forming, and melting. The second stage looked much calmer, a waterfall with pieces of rock sticking out in various places. The third stage had large mountain like spikes sticking out of the ground with pieces of rock barely balancing on top. The fourth, and final stage, was a vast empty space with the wind blowing in different directions. Each of the stages was placed at a higher elevation than the last, and the Sheng Gong Wu was at the top of a staircase just above the last stage.

Omi turned to face you, "Gong Yi Tan-HEY!" He called out. You took off before he could finish the "Tanpai" part. He quickly took off after you, "I will not be shown down by a girl!" He called after you.

"That's shown up, Omi!" The darker skinned boy called to him

You jumped on the nearest piece of volcanic rock, and the second you landed on it to masses of lava shot out of the river. You quickly leapt to the next one and looked over your shoulder, expecting to see the lava crash down onto the piece of rock. Instead you saw to humanoid figures made from lava. You felt a cool chill run down your back and turned to see Omi four leaps ahead of you.

You quickly continued down the river and just as you were about to leap off of the piece of rock you stood on when one of the same lava figures shot up in front of you. You jumped to the piece behind you and took your fighting stance. You quickly scanned the area trying to find the other one when you realized it was fighting Omi.

You turned your attention back to the lava man and prepared your spell. "I summon element water to lend me its power, spear," you muttered to yourself as you leapt toward the lava monster a spear of ice formed around you and you pointed to the monster. The spear flew at a high speed toward the creature and pierced its abdomen. You landed on top of the spear, 'Have to act before it melts,' you quickly chanted your second spell, "I summon the element wind to lend me its power, repulse." You held your right hand out in front of the lava man's would be face. An unseen force shot from your hand to the monster's head, forcing you back and the monster's head off.

You flipped yourself in the air and landed on a piece of rock a little behind the now headless monster. You began to look for Omi. 'Had best not let him die,' you smirked once you saw him almost at the end of the first stage. He was being followed by three of the lava men and looked rather panicked. He was also running fast enough that a trail of dust was following him.

'Better hurry or I'll lose' you chuckled at that thought. 'Wouldn't that be a bummer?' You ran after Omi, running just fast enough that you could catch up but not pass him. He made it to the end of the stage first (obviously), and you were just a few seconds behind him. He stopped suddenly and turned to face you. "Orb of Tornami Water!" He called out holding the orb up. Water came gushing out of the small sphere, and a huge wave formed in no time. It washed away the lava men, and continued its rampage toward you.

At this time you stopped jumping and instead leapt into the air calling out your spell as you did, "I summon the element wind to lend me its power, flight!" You felt the pull of gravity disappear and the air around you thicken. You began to urge your body forward and you began to move through the air. You stole a glance at Omi as you flew over him and the large wave; needless to say he was dumbfounded.

You landed on top of one of the large pieces of rock sticking out of the waterfall just as the spell began to fade away. You put your hand on your hip and looked down at Omi, "Coming?" You taunted. He glared at you and began to leap up the waterfall, making his way to you. When he finally reached you he leapt into the air and threw a kick at you. You caught his foot and twisted it causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the rock. He tried to kick your feet out from below you, but you jumped to the rock directly above you. You stayed crouched as you watched him get back to his feet and jump to the rock across from you. He leapt toward you and you did the same. Once you met in the air he threw several punches at you, and you blocked all of them. You began falling, and you kicked him in the stomach; forcing both of you backwards. He landed on his back and rolled to the edge of the rock, but he quickly recovered and stood up. You on the other hand landed gracefully on the edge of the rock just a little above him.

A loud crack broke through the temporary silence, and you felt the rock you stood upon begin to slide down the waterfall. You quickly jumped to another rock, but the same thing happened there. You kept moving up the waterfall and at one point looked back at Omi. He was jumping off the rocks you had just been on, following a few seconds behind you.

You finally made it off the waterfall and safely landed on…..a giant rock balancing on top of a spike that was a few thousand miles in the air. Just as you landed on it the rock began to tip forward. You quickly moved to the opposite end of the rock and it became balanced again once you got to the center. You let out a relieved sigh just as Omi landed on the rock next to you. This time he did not try to fight you, he just kept moving. You took off after him and kept a rather slow pace. 'Even if I'm supposed to lose I can't risk a fall off of one of these.'

Omi was now several leaps ahead of you, and you decided that if you wanted to look convincing you had to move faster. You sped up and in no time at all you were neck and neck with Omi. In a few minutes you were both at the end of the stage and came to a stop as you approached the empty vastness. You both stopped running and looked around for a way to safely make it to the other side. When you failed to find anything you turned to face Omi. He looked at you with a confused look and than his eyes widened.

"I have an idea!" He shouted out pulling the orb from his sleeve. He turned and faced the previous stage and called out, "Orb of Tornami, water!" The orb shot him into the air and to the end of the stage. You crossed your arms; you were impressed that he was able to think of such a clever idea in such a short amount of time.

He safely landed on the staircase and turned to look back at you. You stood there smirking and dismissively waved your hand at him. He turned and ran up the stairs and grabbed hold of the Falcon's Talons. The scene around you flashed and returned to the dense forest.

The other monks ran up to Omi to congratulate him. He stood in the middle of them holding all three Shen Gong Wu. He looked very proud of himself as he turned and looked at you. You were standing on a lower branch of a tree.

His face turned more serious as he spoke; "Now you must return to the temple with us." You remained quiet as you jumped out of the tree and stood in front of him. "Don't you have anything to say?" He asked with a confused tone, Or are you going to fight us? Or run away?"

"I am bound by my word," you said quietly. The monks looked at each other and than back at you. "What? Is it that unusual for a Heylin warrior to have honor?" You asked tilting your head to the side.

"Well yeah," the dark skinned boy said, "Especially a girl one." You stared at him which must have made him feel uncomfortable because he quickly added holding his hands up, "Although the only girl Heylin warrior we ever fight is Wuya."

"All right kiddos, enough chit-chat," the little dragon said growing into a much larger one, "Let's get back to the temple, you have chores to do." The monks began to groan as they climbed onto the dragon's back.

You began to walk toward the dragon when you sensed Chase's presence nearby. You glanced out of the corner of your eye and saw him standing at the very top of one of the trees with his arms crossed. He smirked just the dark skinned boy called out to you. "Hey, aren't you coming…uh…what did you say your name was?"

"It's Yurine Kaida," you said climbing onto the dragon's back.