CHAPTER ONE: The World We Call Home

A cruel laugh started ringing through the darkness, creeping closer and closer towards him. He tried to drag his wounded body backwards in an attempt to retreat, but it was hopeless. He thrust his trembling hand upward, as if it were going to protect him from the approaching figure.

"Please… Don't… I'm begging you…" He pleaded in a choking voice, staring at the figure towering above him as he lay on the floor. He couldn't fight her; he was too weak, too injured; defenceless. His throat went dry as a malicious glint appeared in her reptilian-like eyes; a pair of pupils that he had seen too many times on her masters smug face. She raised her razor-sharp sword, which was lined in his blood already, holding it high above his chest. There was no trace of hesitancy on her face, just malice, hatred, but above all, pleasure; she was enjoying this.

"Kimiko, please don't…" His voice broke into a sob and his eyes were wide with fear, with tears threatening to spill from them. A smile broke across the girls face and with a joyous laugh, she plunged the sword into his weak and defenceless body.

Raimundo flew forwards into an upright position and a strangled cry burst from his lips. His eyes wheeled wildly as his chest heaved, gasping for air. His blanket was soaked with his cold sweat, which was dripping freely from his whole body, which was shaking fiercely. He took a few deep breaths to steady his racing heart, and then got to his feet silently; he didn't want to worry Omi or Clay, who were both snoring on their blankets beside him. They had enough of their minds, without him revealing that he was still having the same nightmares.

The truth was Raimundo had been having recurring nightmares for two years. They had started when Kimiko had lost the Xiaolin Showdown to Chase Young, and lost her free will but they were just minor then; they weren't scary. It wasn't until the world starting falling into ruin when Kimiko began appearing in them, that same malicious glint in her eyes as she moved towards him with one intent: to kill him.

The changes to the world came slowly at first, most people didn't notice, or they didn't care what was happening, but when the major changes began, people started to panic. Slowly but surely, the world began to fall apart. The people sought help with their politicians, their governments, their armies, but nothing could protect them from the wrath of Chase Young. They soon realised that their world was no longer theirs.

After that, humans were slaughtered for fun, for sport or sold to those of higher standing upon the Heylin ladder as slaves. A few people refused to bow before him and started to rebel, but Chase and his growing army of warriors missed nothing. Once caught, their deaths were slow, painful and public; it was an effective deterrent. People were too afraid to refuse Chase Young after that.

Nothing was green now, nor had it been for a while. The trees lay blackened from countless fires, what little grass there was had died and was splattered with blood, still left from the lack of rain to wash it away. The rain had turned into miniscule balls of fire; turning everything they touched into a mass of red, orange, yellow. The sun never shone; miserable clouds remained poised in front of it, never budging even an inch. Cities had been destroyed completely; it was rare to see a building still standing. The once green earth had turned into a barren wasteland, littered with the bodies of the dead; even the skies had turned the colour of blood.

It seemed that the rest of the human race had given up all hope of things ever turning back to the way they were, and, privately, Raimundo didn't blame them. They were utterly defenceless, and what had the Xiaolin Monks done to help? Nothing. What could they do? They were not powerful enough to take down Chase before; their chances were extremely slim now since Chase had an entire army of warriors at his command, not to mention he had a former Xiaolin Dragon. Omi, Clay and Dojo had kept their spirits high, for Raimundo's sake; they knew how much Kimiko meant to him, therefore it was vital that they tried to convince Raimundo that something could be done to save her. Before he departed to go into hiding, Master Fung had warned them not to give Raimundo false hope, but the only thing he was holding onto was hope. They did not have the heart to take it away from him.

They tried not to stay in one place for too long. Chase was still searching desperately for them. If he could even catch one of them, he would rule the world freely and without worry. The thought of the remaining dragons launching an attack had been nagging in the back of his mind since day one. After spending two weeks in one place, the monks would search for a new dwelling. They mostly used old caves and ruined buildings. Occasionally, they came across others like them, planning to revolt against Chase Young. With one group of rebels, the monks had joined them and had been found plotting Chase's downfall by Chase's warriors. The monks tried to protect the humans, but the warriors were too numerous; the monks barely escaped with their lives.

Still, whenever they passed a group of rebels in search of hospitality, the monks would always feign as regular people, hiding their abilities and elements. They did their best to inject the rebels with hope. Whispers and rumours of three people who could stop Chase had reached many rebels' ears; the monks encouraged the rumours. It was shameful, having to look for help within the humans whom they once protected, but by themselves, Raimundo, Clay and Omi stood little chance of even reaching Chase's palace; they would definitely need help. The three spent most of their time trying to track down allies; most of whom had already perished, and the ones that had managed to survive were laying low – it was a long and tedious process, but when they found a new lead on one of their allies, hope and motivation was restored.

Raimundo sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He flicked his uncut hair from his eyes and cautiously approached the mouth of the cage. He shot a glare at Dojo, who was supposed to be keeping watch for Warriors, but he was fast asleep, snoring in the corner of the cave.

Raimundo had not seen Kimiko since the day that she had lost everything: the Xiaolin Showdown to Chase Young, her mind, her free will and her friends. Now, Kimiko was at Chase's beck and call, and she could do nothing to stop herself fulfilling his orders. The first six months of her absence had been the hardest on all of them, but it got slightly easier as the next eighteen months progressed, yet the loss of Kimiko was taking its' toll more harshly on one monk in particular. Raimundo pushed thoughts of Kimiko to the back of his mind. Any thoughts of Kimiko made his heart ache for her. Without a doubt, he belonged to her. One hundred percent, no amount of distance would ever change that; not even that Kimiko was no longer on their side would alter his feelings for her. Nothing could stand in the way of his love for her.

A lump rose in his throat as he remembered the promise he had made to her in their final moments together.

Kimiko pulled Raimundo's ear to her mouth. Tears were still spilling from her eyes, dripping down Raimundo's chest – but he didn't seem to care. She whispered into his ear, hoping that Chase would not hear. "Promise me that you'll take me down when the time arrives? Promise me?"

The words resounded in his head continuously each time he recalled the scene.

But now, it seemed like he would have no choice but to keep his promise, even though it would, without a doubt, completely and utterly destroy his heart. It would smash into thousands of pieces in his chest, and he would be left a hollow and empty shell.

Cruel laughter rang through an almost deserted hall, which was located inside Chase Young palace.

"Do you think that I care?" A harsh voice spoke, still chuckling, but then her expression turned angry as the young girl opened her mouth to respond.

"I'm sorry, m-miss. F-forgive me…" The young girl squeaked in terror. Her legs started to tremble as she cowered before the angry being in front of her. She was so scared that she could barely talk. Tears ran down her dirty face, and cuts and gashes were scattered all over her body. Her once beautiful dress was tattered and torn, hanging loosely off her frail body, and her dirty blonde hair was tangled and uncombed.

"Listen, I don't care if you're the presidents daughter. Your daddy was warned that if he refused to surrender, Chase would be forced to take action. Who knew that he meant kidnapping the president's daughter? So you had run along back to your little island and tell your daddy that if he refuses Chase again, bad things are going to happen to his beloved daughter." The cruel voice of an eighteen-year-old girl rang through the stone hallway. Her face was a mix of expressions: disgust, amusement and hatred.

"Yes, Miss." The girl squeaked and trembled as she bowed down before Kimiko, and then scurried off as fast as her legs would carry her. Kimiko narrowed her eyes and looked at two of Chase's warriors, who had been standing in the corner of the hall, waiting for an order.

"Follow her." Kimiko commanded, "Wait for her to deliver the message, then kill her. Daddy won't dare deny Chase again after that." A smirk spread across her face.

"Yes, your highness." The warriors bowed and left the room, following after the young girl.

Kimiko turned around and walked up a few steps to reach the two thrones, one for her, and one for her master. Her throne was slightly lower down, but it was more elegant. With a sigh, she collapsed into her throne and brushed the dust from her black, silk robes. How filthy these humans made her feel.

"You handled that beautifully." A voice called from behind her in a soft tone.

"Thank you, sire." Kimiko smiled, flashing her reptile pupils towards her master, who appeared before her.

With a rare smile of pride, Chase took his place on the throne beside her, staring at the long and empty hall before him.

"Thing's are quiet these days, sire." Kimiko sighed in a bored tone.

"Would you prefer they were how they were at the start of my reign?" He smiled again.

Chase narrowed his eyes slightly, and a brief but noticeable pain flashed across Kimiko's head. He was allowing her access to her memories. Kimiko's head ached as the memories of the rebellions and panicked villagers flashed through Kimiko's mind. Chase kept Kimiko on a tight leash, especially when it came to accessing her memories. When he let her see selected memories, Kimiko would feel a sense of her old self returning, which is why Chase Young usually chose to keep Kimiko's memories locked away.

She could only remember things that had happened since Chase had reigned, but sometimes she had difficulty remembering the start of it. Chase assumed this was because, in her heart, she was still fighting against him at that point, yet she seemed to have given up now, as she could recall anything after the start with ease. She had struggled to cope with the switch in alignment at first; her head was telling her to be evil, but her heart was screaming at her to be good, but Chase was too powerful for her. She could not access her memories without Chase's authorisation; he controlled her mind completely. Her enemies often described her as a female clone of him now. She mirrored him exactly. She talked the same as him, shared the same expressions, she even had the same posture as him now, yet the similarity which struck most people was their eyes; both had slits for eyes, baring resemblance to a reptile.

Kimiko couldn't even remember her old life anymore. Those memories of her days as a Xiaolin Monk were gone; her love for Raimundo was lost, the memories of the Temple and of her friends had vanished. Without Chase's permission to view it, anything good was locked away inside her mind, and Chase never gave his permission for her to glimpse at her old way of life. He didn't want the trouble it would cause; she was doing so much better now.

The pain flicked away and a smile broke across Kimiko's face.

"I think I would, sire, at least I had something to do then." She said with a small laugh.

"Well, you shall be pleased to know that the latest shipment of humans is arriving as we speak for the games tonight."

Kimiko smiled widely. "May I inspect them?"

"If you wish it, but be thorough. I have been told that some of them are a handful to control." Chase warned, but his eyebrow was raised.

"I won't let you down, Chase." Almost running, Kimiko leapt from the throne with a gleeful laugh and left the room.

Chase Young smiled as his apprentice left the room. He marvelled at Kimiko often, but sometimes she was a complete mystery to him. How could one girl have changed so much in two years? She had grown so much, but not just physically; her mentality had changed dramatically.

Before, she had only followed out orders, with the appearance of taking no enjoyment from them, yet now, she seemed to take pleasure from her commands.

Chase Young pondered how strong her cravings for evil had become.