Dragon Fantasy VII: Eternal Fire, Chapter One

[lonewolfprincess]

Kimiko grinned at the other Dragons as Dojo soared over Japan.

“You guys are gonna love it! The Tokyo Joy Fair is where all the newest toys, video games, and electronics get shown to the world! Not to mention the huge cosplay community! Anybody who’s anybody is gonna be there!”

Tori and Mia squealed as they hugged each other, much to the senior monks’ amusement.

“I’m so excited~!” Tori all but sang. “I can’t believe we’re actually going to Japan, and we’re going to spend four whole days at one of the biggest nerd conventions in the world~! And I thought Portland getting Kumoricon was amazing!”

Mia grinned fiercely at Kimiko as she squeezed her sister in the hug.

“Seriously, thanks for letting us tag along, Sempai, especially for the industry-only days.”

Kimiko just grinned back. “Yeah, of course! I can’t wait to see what Papa has in store; he told me he was unveiling a ‘super amazing secret project’ today.” A softer smile graced her lips. “And if we’re lucky, Keiko might be there too, at least for part of it.”

“Ah, right,” Raimundo nodded, remembering how Kimiko used to talk with her best friend in Japan constantly on the phone. Now that he thought about it… it’d been a long while since their last hours-long chat. “How’s she doing, by the way?”

Kimiko’s smile sobered as she shrugged. “She’s… okay. We still text and email, but she’s been really busy with school lately now that she’s Year 10, and her mom’s major strict.” Exhibit A: no longer being allowed to call Kimiko after running up a colossal phone bill. Never mind that Kimiko wanted to make sure her best friend was okay after a resurrected witch almost took over the whole world. Kimiko tried to inject a little more hope into her face and voice. “Hopefully we can at least say hi; her mom runs her own big computer company, so she’ll likely be here too.”

Raimundo nodded with a soft smile, giving her shoulder a brief, gentle squeeze.

“Even if not, I don’t think any of us would mind paying her a visit on the way back.”

The others nodded eagerly, and Kimiko couldn’t help a real smile, reaching up to squeeze Rai’s wrist in return.

“Thanks. I’d really like that.” She’d just… turn forward on the dragon again before anyone could mistake the totally real windchill for a blush.

It was only a few more minutes before Dojo flew down in front of the massive, sprawling convention center, hugging the Chiba side of Tokyo Bay’s coast. Even with the first two days of the event being open only to industry attendees, the campus was bustling, and it took a while for Dojo to find a spot to land without everyone going “AAAAH GIANT DRAGON!” After donning their pass lanyards and looking over the brochures, maps, and Kimiko’s email from her father, the group wound their way in and up the Conference Hall building to one of the high security rooms on the higher floor. The security guard in front of the room’s door, however, rose an eyebrow at the gaggle of casually dressed teenagers (and… was that a lizard on the little boy’s shoulders?) just waltzing up here out of the elevator. Clearly the guards on the lower level hadn’t been paying attention…

“Oi. This area’s closed to the public, you’ll have to leave, please.”

Kimiko shook her head; clearly he was venue staff rather than Tohomiko security.

“It’s okay.” She held out her pass, and an ID card for good measure. “I’m Kimiko, Toshiro’s daughter.”

The guard squinted at both cards… then at her. Sure, Tohomiko was a unique surname, but…

“If that is not enough, I can vouch for them all,” cut in a voice from the newly-opened door, friendly and slightly bemused. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Kimiko.”

Kimiko grinned, running past the much taller guard to hug the shorter man, currently dressed in his version of formal with a dark gray, short-sleeved button-up over a white t-shirt, tan slacks, and black and white tennis shoes, his salt-and-pepper hair neatly combed… mostly.

“Papa!” Kimiko squeezed the hug tightly. “I missed you so much!”

He chuckled warmly as his daughter pulled back to look at him.

“I missed you too.” He shook his head. “I swear, you are growing taller every day.”

Kimiko giggled. “Or maybe you’re just getting shorter.”

Toshiro laughed easily. “Perhaps so!” He turned to the rest of his guests, giving them moderate bows. “It is good to see you all again. And to see these new faces! You must be the new Xiaolin Dragons in Training my daughter has told me about! It is a pleasure to meet you both.”

Tori and Mia nodded, bowing just a touch too deeply.

“Tohomiko-san, hajimemashite!” Tori said brightly, her pronunciation much smoother now thanks to lessons with Kimiko. “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

Mia nodded, sticking to English out of nerves. “Th-thank you for inviting us, Tohomiko-san. It’s an honor.”

Toshiro grinned as he bowed back. “Good Japanese! The honor is mine for hosting you.” He brought his hand out palm down and beckoned the group. “Please, come in, all of you.”

The small conference room was bustling, a pair of engineers fussing over what looked like a pair of bright blue earpieces as a few members of Tohomiko’s security team watched stoically. Still, all the workers and guards gave their boss’s daughter and her friends light bows and quick greetings before resuming their work.

“I wanted you to have the honor of trying it out first,” Toshiro said proudly as he motioned Kimiko towards the device. “Put the device in your ear and tap the button twice.”

Kimiko nodded, following the instructions perfectly, a bright blue screen of hard light washed over her eyes, and…

And everything disappeared. The room, everyone on it, even the bright blue screen. Instead, her whole being floated in a sea of gently swirling white and blue. It felt a lot like… like when she used the Mind Reader Conch and the Eye of Dashi to hack into that satellite, reality fading away for light and electricity, pure data.

“Incredible, isn’t it?” That soft, warm baritone floated faintly through the void before Toshiro appeared at Kimiko’s side. “Your Xiaolin Showdown against PandaBubba inspired me. What if everyone could experience the virtual world firsthand?”

A flick of his hand, and rows and rows of walls flew past them, Kimiko holding her father close and raising a hand to block them instinctively, before the brown walls… no, bookcases stopped, serenely enclosing them.

“All of the world’s databases at one’s fingertips…!”

Another flick, and the two of them were suddenly standing in the middle of a fierce battle in the Sengoku era, samurai furiously clashing swords, two warriors with… very familiar and photogenic faces drawing their gazes.

“Immersing yourself in your favorite movies…!”

Another wave of his hand, and the two of them stood in a slightly-too-picturesque forest with towering trees, Kimiko in a pink elven dress and tiara, Toshiro bearing a sword and a green outfit that wouldn’t look out of place on a mall Santa’s elf.

“Literal first-person video games!”

One more wave, and they returned to the white and blue sea.

“The possibilities are endless, not just for a single user but for connecting people around the world! Imagine, scientists from different countries being able to work together in real time! Gamers developing deeper friendships with their online cohorts!”

Kimiko finally found her voice, eyes bright and jaw dropped in a grin.

“This… this is amazing, Papa.” It truly was. One question finally broke past the awe to her lips. “What about the real world, though?”

“Ah, an excellent question. To return, click your heels three times.”

Kimiko rolled her eyes with a smile- of course he’d throw in a reference like that- before doing so, one two three—

The conference room suddenly flared back into view as Kimiko found her body again, staring around dazed through the hard light screen still over her eyes. Her friends stood by, clearly awed at seeing their friend and her father’s minds literally enter the digital world and come back.

Toshiro smiled as he pressed the button on his earpiece once, shutting down the device.

“Our current models only have a battery life of three hours, and systems in place to automatically return the user to consciousness five minutes before, and in cases of hardware malfunction. User safety and self-care is our number one priority!”

Kimiko nodded; she was glad her papa had thought all that through.

“And of course, since you’ve always been my inspiration, especially now,” Toshiro just grinned more at Kimiko’s embarrassed blush, “I call this… Kimi no Sekai!”

Oh. True, “kimi” could also be used as a second-person pronoun for “Your World,” but…

“You’re naming it after me?” Kimiko’s World?

“Of course! It was about time I did, I just needed to find the right project!”

Kimiko’s smile turned soft, unable to keep a tear out of her eye as she hugged her father tightly.

“Thank you, Papa.”

Toshiro returned the hug eagerly. “Thank you, for being such an incredible daughter.” He pulled away with a sigh. “Unfortunately, we still have some work to do before the presentation.” Which was about two hours away. Toshiro gave everyone a light bow. “You and your friends are more than welcome to explore the convention in the meantime, and we’ll be able to host you properly after the presentation.”

Everyone gave light bows back, save for Kimiko who just nodded.

“That works for us. Ganbatte, Papa!”

And with that, Kimiko led everyone out of the conference room, Toshiro seeing them out. Just as they turned towards the elevator—

“Miko-chan?” a girl’s quiet voice called out.

Kimiko turned on her heel, and her eyes lit up at the sight: a girl about their age, a couple inches taller than Kimiko but still petite. Despite her severe outfit with a black blazer and black pleated skirt- her espresso brown hair in a tight, low bun- her deep brown eyes were soft and warm behind her oval glasses, and her smile was genuine and very sweet.

“Keiko!” The Dragon of Fire rushed over and pulled her friend into a hug, both girls laughing warmly. “Guys, this is Sakurada Keiko! Keiko, these are my friends from back at the temple!” Kimiko’s gaze ran down her friend’s form, and a teasing smirk flew over her face. “What on earth are you wearing?”

Keiko sighed softly. “Okāsan’s idea… She wants me to look the part for her presentation, even if I’ll just be standing there. I think she’s more concerned with showing off which school I go to than… well, me.”

Kimiko rolled her eyes. “That tracks.” She grinned mischievously. “We’ll just have to fix that afterwards.”

Keiko smiled conspiratorially back. “Oh, trust me, I already—”

“Keiko?” A firm voice called out from behind them. Everyone looked to the tall, middle-aged woman marching up in high heels and a black pencil-skirted suit, almost a mirror of her daughter, save for the height, high chignon hairstyle, and complete lack of warmth. “You’re disturbing the other rooms with that much noise. And who are all these teenagers? The event isn’t open to the public for another two days.”

Keiko immediately broke the hug, posture suddenly straight as a mannequin’s as she gave the woman a light bow and stood again.

“Gomennasai, Okāsan.” She cleared her throat. “You remember Mi—er, Kimiko-san, right? And these are her fellow monks from the Xiaolin Temple.”

Kimiko nailed a smile onto her face as she gave her friend’s mother a light bow, the others hastily following suit.

“It’s… nice to see you again, Sakurada-san.” Her voice sounded as if she’d just been served a plate of broken glass by a chef with a penchant for cooking their critics.

Sakurada’s gaze swept over the ragtag group of teenagers, face carefully neutral but unable to fully hide her contempt.

“Nice to see you again, Kimiko-san. And to meet you all. Do try to be more considerate.”

The corner of Kimiko’s smile twitched. “We were just leaving. Are you coming with us, Keiko?”

“I—”

“Unfortunately, Keiko is too busy,” Sakurada cut in, not reacting at all to the way her daughter’s face wilted. “Sakurada Tech has a presentation later, and it wouldn’t do for her to lose track of time and be late, or to mess up her uniform.”

“Ah, come now, Sakurada-san.” Toshiro finally moved from his spot in the doorway to approach the much taller woman. “Our girls have not spent time together in, what, two years now?”

Sakurada’s gaze narrowed. “Tohomiko-san…” Her eyes raked over his outfit like cat claws. “I see you’ve gone for a more… approachable ensemble today. As expected.”

Toshiro’s eye twitched. “And you, of course, look the very model of professionalism. How fitting, for a game convention.”

“Yes, well… some of us must work harder to be taken seriously.” Sakurada flashed Toshiro a cold smile. “But of course, I doubt you would know anything about such struggles, Tohomiko-san. Your style and demeanor are so… effortless.”

Toshiro took a long, deep, sharp breath through his nose as the teens watched stunned, especially the non-related ones. They didn’t know Toshiro Tohomiko, the one who thought Hong Kong crime lord PandaBubba was a genuinely nice man until he literally zombified all of Toshiro’s employees, could dislike anyone.

Dojo whistled from his perch on Omi’s shoulder, somehow pulling out a popcorn bag as half his size.

“Twenty bucks on the mean lady,” he quipped quietly.

“Dojo…!” the teens hissed.

“What? It’s a safe bet, she’s scary!”

“In any case…” Toshiro ground out, before calming himself. “Our daughters are nearly sixteen now, yes? Before you know it, they’ll be twenty. They should seize chances to enjoy their youth while they still can, ne?”

Sakurada glared at him, then looked at the two girls, hands clasped with the biggest doe-eyes ever.

“Please, Okāsan?” Keiko asked. “I’ve finished all my homework for the weekend, I’ll be sure to return to the stage well before the presentation, and I brought other clothes so my uniform will stay neat…”

Sakura’s glare hardened… before she sighed.

“I want you backstage fifteen minutes before the presentation, no later.”

The teenagers were all about to cheer, before catching Sakurada’s icy glare, and controlled their reactions down to smiles and bows.

“Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!” Keiko nodded as she rose from the bow. “I’ll be right on time, Okāsan, I promise!”

Sakurada nodded sharply, a very faint smile on her lips. “I must get back to work now. I’ll see you all soon.”

The teenagers all nodded, waving to the adults before heading to the elevator. The two CEOs traded cool bows before Sakurada began her march down the hall, and Toshiro closed the door to slump against it.

“Phew…” He sighed and shook his head. “It’s like facing down a yuki-onna…”

Everyone on the team nodded vigorously.



Out of her mother’s line of sight, Keiko relaxed significantly as they made their way towards the Sakuradas’ hotel room.

“I forgot to say back there, but it’s wonderful to meet you all. Miko-chan’s told me so much about you.” Her smile grew mischievous. “Especially you, Pedrosa-san.”

“Uh…” Raimundo felt his cheeks burn as he rubbed the back of his neck. They were doing this here, in front of Kimiko and all their friends? “Really? What’d she say? Hopefully she got how cool and handsome I am down!”

Keiko just smiled serenely. “Something like that.”

And suddenly, a black ballet flat slammed on top of his black and white sneaker.

“AI!” One hand held his aching foot so he could hop on the good one, while the other fist shoved itself to his mouth to avoid another noise complaint. The other dragons watched with wide eyes and cringing mouths, gazes flitting between their leader and the quiet girl.

“That is for selling the whole world, including my best friend, for video games.” She gave him a prim smile and nod. “I believe we’re even now.”

Raimundo winced. “Y-yeah, that’s fair…”

He limped and hissed down the hall after the others, until they reached the hotel room and Keiko swiped the key card.

“Actually…” Keiko piped up as she opened the door, “if you gentlemen wouldn’t mind waiting outside for just a while, please? We won’t keep you waiting long.”

“Uh, okay?”

The boys and the dragon shared puzzled looks; the Sun and Moon Dragons were only slightly less confused, but Kimiko had a coy, excited smile on her face as Keiko ushered them in. As her guests took off their shoes, Keiko traipsed over to her suitcase, pulling out three garment bags by the hangers, marked with sticky notes with little pictures of a flame, a sun, and a crescent moon.

“I hope these turn out alright,” she said as she neatly laid the garment bags across the still-made hotel bed. “It would’ve been nice if I could’ve done the tailoring in person, or if I had time to do outfits for the boys.”

Tori unzipped her bag… and gasped at the deep marigold yellow fabric inside.

“Aaaaah, a Cadet Soleil cosplay~?!” she squealed, releasing the hanger from the bag in one fluid motion. “It’s beautiful, thank you so much!

Mia unzipped the moon bag, squinting at the dark gray trench coat and a headband with fuzzy black ears… before it clicked, and she gasped too.

“No way!” Her whole face lit up as she pulled the outfit free. “Is this… Shadow from Wolf’s Snow?!”

Keiko beamed as she led Kimiko to her bag. “Now for this one, I went a bit old school, and…”

Kimiko unzipped the bag, finding what might’ve been a yukata at one point, the long sleeves removed entirely and the body cut nearly in half. Wait…

“Is that Princess Kurumi?” Kimiko asked with a grin. Old school indeed; one of the first female protagonists in a video game.

Keiko grinned back. “I figured this was the closest I’d get to dressing you in wafuku.”

Kimiko rolled her eyes playfully at the old argument. “Yukata are okay, and you have dibs on my seijin-shiki kimono. Otherwise, no.” The Golden Tiger Claw hunt was already one occasion too many. Kimiko shook her head as she addressed the Americans. “Keiko’s been sewing for ages; I think like a third of my clothes are Sakurada originals! I keep telling you, you should go pro!”

“Oh, for sure!” Tori nodded eagerly as she shrugged off her patch-studded green jacket. “These are amazing, especially since you said they were rush jobs! You could totally be a fashion designer or a costumer if you wanted!”

Keiko smiled, shyly pleased and… a little rueful. “That would be nice…” She tried to banish the wistfulness. “A-anyway, I’m really glad you like them! Come on, let’s get dressed, we shouldn’t keep the others waiting.”

The three Dragons shared worried looks, silently agreeing to let it slide for now and ask later.

“Do you have a cosplay too, Keiko-san?” Tori asked.

A truer smile, coyer, flitted across her features. “The designer shouldn’t outshine the models… buuut I do have something else prepared.”



Meanwhile, the boys were doing their best to wait patiently and politely. … Okay, fine, they all had their ears pressed to the door, trying to discern what the squeeing and chattering inside was about.

“Anybody hear anything?” Clay asked.

Omi shook his head. “Of all the times to leave the Mind-Reader Conch at the temple…”

Raimundo rolled his eyes. “I might hear something if you two stopped talking—WHOA!”

The mighty Xiaolin Dragons of the Wind, the Earth, and the Water (and Dojo) all fell in a heap as the door opened.

Once the shock of the fall wore off, they looked up… and saw a very pretty, very annoyed Kimiko looking down on them. Her crossed arms bore silver-painted cloth bracers, the only coverings on her bare, lithe arms. An orchid purple obi held the red yukata closed, the new hem hitting mid-thigh over a pair of black biker shorts hugging her lean legs. She shook her head, gently shaking the purple bellflower kanzashi holding her long black hair in a large, high bun, and tapped the toe of her purple high-tops paired with knee-high gray socks.

The boys scrambled to their feet, fighting down blushes at being caught and seeing Kimiko in such a sporty but classically beautiful outfit.

“We uh…” Raimundo cleared his throat. “Nice costume?” He paired the compliment with a grin and finger guns.

They did not land. Kimiko just rolled her eyes.

“Boys…”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Tori said blithely as she stepped out in her calf-high marigold boots.

Omi’s eyes widened in awe. “Your outfit is most exquisite as well, Tori!”

“Ah, thank you~!” Tori sang as she spun on one foot, fluttering both the long, butterfly-like tails of her marigold soldier’s coat and the ruffled tiers of her skirt, a gradient of all the purples and pinks and golds of a summer sunrise. “I can’t believe I’m in Japan in a full Cadet Soleil cosplay~! Keiko did such an amazing job, everything fits like a dream!”

Mia smiled softly as she basked in her sister’s joy, crossing arms cloaked in the storm gray, thigh-high trench coat.

“You look beautiful, sis.”

Tori grinned as she flew over to take her sister’s hands and pull her out of the room.

“So do you!” She threw her arms around Mia’s shoulders. “Doesn’t she look amazing, guys?”

Raimundo and Omi nodded at Mia’s sharp coat and the way it defined her lean figure, paired with killer knee-high black boots and a tastefully ragged black cloth scarf. Even the black wolf ear headband and the fluffy wolf’s tail attached to the back of the coat’s belt looked cool and mysterious instead of goofy.

Clay… needed a moment to gulp and beat down his own blush before nodding too, shakily reaching up to tip his hat at her and fighting to keep his eyes on her face. She smirked, even as her cheekbones turned a bit pink too.

Keiko stepped out to join them, eyes shining warmly behind her glasses. Her dark brown hair was free from its tight bun and now fell in a loose braid over her shoulder from under a dusty pink newsboy cap. The white lace hem of a pine green linen dress hit her knees, the ruffled white petticoat falling even further to her shins, not quite concealing the dusty pink knit socks above her ankle-high brown boots.

Everyone smiled as she emerged; even for the people she’d just met, this outfit felt much more like her than the austere black uniform from earlier.

“Eeee I still can’t get over how cute you are~!” Tori squeed. “You look like a Miyazaki heroine~!”

Keiko chuckled, shy but pleased as she adjusted the large brown messenger bag on her shoulder.

“You’re so sweet, thank you. Now come on, we only have a couple hours before the presentations start!”



The next few hours were a whirlwind! Playtesting Fredo Kart’s debut at the arcade level (Omi, to everyone’s shock and Raimundo’s groaning shame, smoked the Shoku Warrior two races in a row once he figured out how to reach the pedals). Perusing a whole alley of yet-to-be-released toys and action figures like a museum. (Mia made a note of which ones made Clay’s eyes light up the most, for later.) Trading bites around a small mountain of pizzas and takoyaki and okonomiyaki and white gyoza and dango from the food court. The girls dancing off the calories in Dance Armageddon ApocalypXe’s new Quartet Mode, before Raimundo challenged Kimiko to a duel on the hardest song on the playlist. CRUSHING! Difficulty, of course.

Even for experienced DA players like them, the song was brutal: a record-breaking runtime, a breakneck pace, a rapid-fire step chart, random pauses and even less predictable changes in step tempo. Both the Xiaolin Dragons felt their legs and lungs burn only halfway through.

Raimundo dared to shoot Kimiko a grin between steps. “Looking good, Fire Girl!”

Kimiko spared only a fraction of a second to glare at him before gluing her gaze back to the step chart.

“Don’t distract me; I wanna kick your butt fair and square!”

“Whaaat, no!” Raimundo clutched his ‘wounded’ heart as he kept dancing. “Why would a compliment from me distract you? I thought you were the master of focus!”

Kimiko growled. “I’ll show you focus! Fire!”

Power blazed through her legs, steps growing faster, more driven as the song launched into an insanely fast climax.

Raimundo merely grinned back. Sure, teasing her was fun, but… more than that, her drive and passion, her inner and literal fire, were beautiful, addicting to watch, even more than her physical beauty. He wanted to see it as often as possible, even if it meant a few sharp words or socks to the shoulder.

“You’re on! Wind!”

Cool energy flowed through him, his steps even faster and lighter as the song wound up and up, launching into a series of short held arrows, all precisely timed. The chi flowing through them held the burning in their legs and lungs at bay, but only barely, and once the song ended on two long held arrows, both of them were shaking and panting from exhaustion. Letters spun and spun like a slot machine wheel, before landing on SSS for both of them! Both of their numerical scores were massive too, rising into the millions, but… Kimiko won by only a few dozen points!

“Well, look at that. You kicked my butt fair and square after all.” And he gave her a fist-to-palm bow as everyone else cheered.

Kimiko blushed, the warmth in his eyes making her stumble more than that bombardment of sixteenth-beat steps during the chorus, before bowing back.

“I didn’t beat you by that much, you dork.”

“Hey, a win’s a win. And the razor-thin ones are the most fun.”

Kimiko couldn’t help a wry smile. “You’re not wrong.”

Keiko looked between them, lips pursed, before checking her phone’s clock.

“We should head to the main stage,” she said, calm but a bit sad. “Tohomiko Electronics’ presentation is starting soon, and Okāsan’s is the second one after it.”

Kimiko rose an eyebrow as they began walking. “You okay, Keiko?”

Keiko nodded stiffly. “Yes, just…” A soft sigh. “This is the first time I’ve felt like me in months. I don’t want it to end yet.”

Kimiko squeezed her hand. “Hey, it’s okay. We can totally hang out afterwards, and we have all weekend.”

Keiko’s smile relaxed as she returned the squeeze and let go.

“Thanks, Miko-chan. I hope so.”

The girls smiled at each other as they found the edge of the slowly-building crowd, the mass of people swallowing their small group as more and more tech industry giants gathered to see what Tohomiko Electronics had in store this time. Last year’s U-Bot had been a wild success, and now there were whispers that Toshiro had made something even more brilliant? What could it be?

A bright, rousing orchestral from Crossroad Hearts. A warm, cheerful announcement from an off-stage MC. And Toshiro Tohomiko strolled onto the stage at the head of a small group of engineers, waving enthusiastically at the wildly cheering crowd.

“Mina-san, konnichiwa! Thank you all so much for coming!” One of the engineers stepped forward, holding the earpiece on a pillowed tray as Toshiro kept speaking. “It is my greatest honor and pleasure to present you all with the latest—”

Darkness surged through the convention center faster than lightning. A round of panicked shouts from the crowd later, the lights flooded back on… only to find the crowd swarmed with figures in black jumpsuits, hoods, and masks raising katana and nunchaku and sai and bō high above their heads, aimed at the confused businesspeople and engineers, and the cosplaying teenagers.

“Ninjas?!” Raimundo called out as he and the other Dragons jumped into fighting stances, a panicked Keiko in the center trying to make herself smaller. “This isn’t part of the show, is it?”

Kimiko growled impatiently. “Yeah, Rai, we always have ninja attacks during conventions—NO, it’s not part of the show, you moron!”

Raimundo actually broke his stance to lean away and do surrendering jazz-hands from the shrill tirade.

“Okay, okay! Just making sure we’re not kicking actor butt or something, sheesh!” But if this was a real ninja attack… time to go all out. “Shoku Feilian, Wind!”

Tapping into the Wind alone sent a swirling blast out to push back the ninjas circling them.

“Sword of the Storm, Wind!”

More slashing gusts to push the ninjas back even further, giving the team more room to work with.

“Clay, you and the girls protect Keiko! Kimiko, Omi, let’s clear this level!”

Everyone nodded, the Dragons of the Sun, Moon, and Earth circling around the ordinary girl in defensive stances, waiting for any attackers to dare approach them.

“Wudai Mars, Fire!” “Wudai Neptune, Water!”

The two smaller monks leapt out and up from the group, lingering in the air.

“Arrow Sparrow!” “Shimo Staff!”

Dozens and dozens of flaming birds and icy needles flew over and into the crowd, striking ninjas before they could swing or stab their weapons into the innocent bystanders. They fell to the floor in heaps, clutching their wounds and holding in… sparks?

“Robots?” Mia growled as she punched an oncoming ninja square in the chest, not surprised to feel hard metal under the ninja costume. “Is Scaredy Spice at it again?”

“Ohhh that would explain the lack of stars,” Tori mused as she twirled her own ninja back into one of its companions. “You’d think one of them would be some kind of artist when they’re not busy ninja-ing—what is the right verb for that anyway—”

“Tori!” Clay and Mia both lunged to fend off a pair of robo-ninjas from pouncing on her.

“EEK!” Tori startled out of her rambling and leapt back, recovering quickly to a defensive stance while rubbing the back of her neck. “Ahaha… thanks, guys.”

Keiko’s gaze darted around the convention center frantically. There had to be some way to get them all to safety, something to help—wait. What was that shadow…?

She gasped as it hit her, pointing towards the stage where the Tohomiko team was frozen in place and the shadow sprinted towards them.

“It’s a distraction! They’re heading for the stage!”

Kimiko gasped, all attention snapping towards the stage even as she finished kicking straight through the metal plating on one ninja’s stomach.

“Papa!”

Meanwhile, the techs were frantically grabbing Toshiro’s shoulders.

“Sir, we need to evacuate—”

Too late. The ninja punched the tech unconscious, unsheathing a sword and tilting the edge of the blade towards Toshiro while the other hand flew forward, rough, demanding.

The tech mogul looked around… nothing to use as a weapon, and his daughter and her friends were approaching fast, but still too far away. And the engineer on the floor: Nakamura Shotaro, Toshiro recalled, the young father of a two-year-old girl… How many more injuries before the Dragons cleared out all the ninjas, if they could? How long until emergency calls would be answered, until security succeeded in evacuating the rest of the crowd?

A soft sigh, and Toshiro set his face, nodded, and held out the Kimi no Sekai earpiece, his second greatest work, to the assailant. The ninja nodded coldly, and as Kimiko called out for her papa again, he and every remaining ninja threw down a smoke bomb, already vanished by the time Kimiko’s next leap landed on the stage.

Toshiro’s first greatest work flung her arms around him. “Are you alright? What about the earpiece?”

Toshiro nodded grimly. “Daijoubu desu.” A deep sigh. “I wish I could say the same for my staff. Hopefully the attacks will stop, now that they have what they came for.”

“What?!” Kimiko growled. “I’m going to recycle those ninja into trashcans when I—!”

Toshiro shook his head, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders.

“Kimiko. We must focus on making sure the civilians are safe first.”

Kimiko looked at the panicked crowd, some civilians holding arms or legs in pain, thankfully from blunt attacks… and took a deep, resigned breath.

“Hai, Papa.”

He gave her a calm, proud smile. Kimiko had always been brave and kind, but her temper was much easier to control after two years of training at the Xiaolin Temple.

“Besides…” He pulled out a large, blocky device like a PDA with a calm smirk. “Did you think I wouldn’t put a tracker on a small, extremely valuable piece of equipment going into a public space with a bunch of jealous competitors?”

Kimiko blinked… and grinned deviously.



“Okay, looks like this is the place,” Kimiko looked up from the screen to their target: an unassuming warehouse on the waterfront, the sun barely shedding any light from below the horizon.

“Huh, a warehouse,” Dojo mused as he and the rest of the Xiaolin Warriors and Keiko all hid behind a stack of crates. “Still classic, but a big change-up from all the fancy evil mansions lately.”

“Focus,” Raimundo cut in flatly. “Girls?”

Mia nodded, closing her eyes and listening around the harbor… before shaking her head.

“Can’t hear anything but rodents and cats.”

Tori scanned the area with her eyes closed.

“No light at all. Either it’s empty, all robots, or none of the humans inside have a single creative bone in their bodies.”

“Sounds about right…” After all, why would anyone with actual talent and creativity steal someone else's work? “You ready, Keiko?”

Keiko nodded firmly, the Two-Ton Tunic draped over her dress, hands trembling but tight as she held the Eye of Dashi and the Silk Spitter.

“Nobody robs my best friend’s family on my watch.”

Everyone nodded, and leapt onto the roof- Clay and Mia helping Keiko up- to scout it out. Very thankfully, there were dirty windows built into the tin tiling.

Keiko nodded, pulling out her glasses’ case and retrieving a small spray bottle and a cloth to wipe down the windows… and immediately regretted it, cringing at how the white cloth came back pitch black.

“Iiii was gonna say, we have the Falcon’s Eye?” Kimiko held the Shen Gong Wu up with a nervous chuckle.

“… Ah.” Keiko cleared her throat to hide the blush flooding her face. “Right, still not used to… you talked about these things all the time, but I never imagined they’d be so…”

“Real?”

Keiko nodded, eyes shining as she remembered Kimiko and Omi’s beautiful attacks at the convention center. “Incredible…”

Tori and Mia grinned. “Don’t think it’ll ever get old for us either,” the Moon Dragon said softly.

“Um, hate to interrupt, ladies, but uh…” Clay pointed down into the dark warehouse, and everyone’s eyes followed.

A conveyor belt wound through the wide space below, each station having a robot to place chips, solder circuits, assemble casings, charge batteries, and align on a pillow before one last ninja presented them to. A woman in a long, flowing black dress, ankles primly crossed and hands folded neatly in her lap as she sat on a throne of shining black wood and red velvet. A bone white mask covered her whole face, Mona Lisa lips painted blood red, eyes like black holes in the shadows.

“Is that… one of your villains, Miko-chan?”

Kimiko shook her head. “Never seen her before. Ugh, it’s like if Wuya went into low-grade spy movies.” She pulled away from the window with a glare. “Worse, she’s making knock-offs of the earpiece.”

Everyone glared down into the warehouse.

“So, do we go in guns blazing, or sneaky-like?” Clay asked.

Raimundo hummed…



The queen sat serenely as more earpieces were presented to her. One, two… ah, seven—

The window crashed as the horde of teenagers flew down through the roof to land in the center of the warehouse, the lanky brunet boy gesturing heroically.

“Alright, you hag, shut down the machines and give back all the earpieces!”

The woman on the throne merely sat there, perfectly still, for a long few seconds.

“… No big monologue?” Kimiko growled, voice building in anger. “Your ninja-bots trashed the convention center, hurt innocent people, and stole my dad’s hard work so you can rip it off? And you don’t have anything to say for yourself, you old witch?!”

“… Perfect.”

“What—AH!”

A sharp sting cut her off, cut all of them off as the rest of their group cried out. Kimiko looked down… and saw a tranquilizer dart lodged in her arm, fully depressed. She looked up- whoa, too quickly- to see the woman rise, the train of her dress flowing like pitch behind her as she strolled up to the group.

“G-guys, run—”

It was too late. The world swirled around her as she turned to her friends, but they were already wobbling on their legs or crumbled onto the floor. She whipped back to the calmly approaching woman, tried to growl, trash talk, tap into her Fire, something…

“Oyasumi nasai…”



Kimiko gasped, flinging herself off the ground to stand up, tapping into… wait. Where was her Fire? Or her Shen Gong Wu? Or the warehouse? She spun on her heels with wide eyes. A clearing with too-smooth grass in a grove of too-triangular evergreen trees, pointing towards a sky with too-circular clouds.

She looked down at herself; her Princess Kurumi cosplay was gone, replaced by a long red and gold duster over a short, lacy black dress.

“… Oh, crud…”