'Traitor.... Let his highness go.'

Siew Li let out a cold smile. 'Sure I will.... After his 'highness' here draws back the assault order, and surrender the throne.'

'Bastard...'

Cheng was still not moving. Slowly, Siew Li tightened her grip and edged the blade closer to his neck, until a little trinklet of red blood was seen.

'Tell them to put their arms down.'

Cheng was still unnerved.

'NOW!'

A vanguard was already about to assault her with his spear when Cheng suddenly blurted.

'Stop!'

The Vanguard froze.

'Do it.'

'But your highness.. she's....'

'Do it!'

The Vanguards placed thier weapons on the ground one-by-one.

Siew Li leered Cheng You. 'The most powerful man in UTAR also has a weakness, isn;t it.'

Cheng You froze. 'You can't possibly...'

Siew Li's smile grew even wider. 'Of course I do. Every part of your body is insanely strong, insanely fast... but this....' she said as she tightened her grip on the blade even harder.

'Garrgghhhh....' Cheng You cried out in pain.

Siew Li smiled. '..... is your weakness.'

The Vanguards stood in amazement. Their leader, at the mercy of this traitor.. and they couldn't do anything about it. How could she possibly...

'Call them off.'

Cheng You's neck was bleeding now. 'You... will pay..'

Siew Li's grin turned to a smirk. 'I know. But till then. You'll do as I say. Now call them off!'

Cheng You looked at his Vanguard, and reluctantly, nodded. Puzzled, but at such a demising sight, one of the Vanguards reached under his cloak, and pulled out a pistol. He pointed it at the sky, and fired. A red flare of light lit the sky, and exploded into the shape of a falcon.

Immediately, the soldiers at the coasts looked up, and as confused as they were, began to pull back.

***************************************************************************

Jessica saw the red flare lit the sky. The wounded Bin Li had barely made it back to the safety of thier cover, and was badly injured.

'How is he?' she asked.

'Pretty bad.' the medic replied. 'We have to begin an operation at once.'

Bin Li looked at him. 'This... cough... is nothing...'

Jessica grew wide eyed. 'Nothing?! Your bleeding down your throat! If you don;t get help immediately you'll....'

'I said its nothing! Now quit worrying about me and get back to your post, madam!'

The medic looked at her. 'Don't worry. We'll take care of him.'

Jessica nodded, and watched as the medic and his assistant carried Bin Li back to the base.

Jessica looked over the horizon, and deep inside, she knows she could only pray.
*****************************************************************************
'You know....' Cheng You said, as Siew Li drew backwards, before her all 12 Vanguards at the ready. '...you'll die right here, don't you.'

Siew Li smiled, her eyes still focussed at every slight movement before her. 'I figured as much.'

The Head Vanguard raised his hand, as Siew Li and her hostage approached the end of the clift. Siew Li said, 'That's enough. No one follow us, or you'll know what's coming.'

Cheng You smirked. 'Tell you what. I applaud you. No one has ever infiltrated me so deeply and managed to find out so much about me. In fact...' he paused. '....no one who ever did lived to tell anyone about that.'

Siew Li cringed. Something was not right. Cheng You continued to smirk. '... and so... you'll tell that General Hong of yours...' in a split second, she felt it. From above. An eerie, crazed laughter that forced itself into her, and in all its pain and agony, pierced her through the heart.

'..nothing' Cheng You raised his hands, and with a light push, broke the grasp Siew Li had on his neck. He turned back, and before him, Siew Li stood, motionless, her own blade pierced through her own heart, and behind her, stood a large eerie shadow, with an eerie laughter, that smiled at him and blabbered '...I want it... blood...'

Siew Li could not believe it... all those careful plannings, but she never thought Cheng You was capable of summoning something such as this... The shadow began to rise upward, and as it did, Siew Li began to lose her balance, and finally, as the entire shadow lifted from her, fell to the ground, her chest bleeding.

Siew Li cough, as red blood splurtted from her mouth. 'You... insane man....' Cheng You walked towards her, and just before reaching her, laying on the floor, stopped and bent down. Slowly, he grabbed hold of the blade that pierced her heart. 'You were this close, little girl.... this close.' Siew Li closed her eyes. 'Its over.'

There was a quick pulling sound, and then, silence.
********************************************************************************
Jake held the blade for only a moment, but it was enough to stop Cheng You from pulling the blade out entirely. He gave it a great push, and with one quick step, pulled Siew Li backwards. Bee Yoke immediately rushed forward, and tended to Siew Li's wounds. 'Oh god... It's...' Siew Li held Bee Yoke's hand, and brought her ear closer. Cheng You, sensing that, made a shift dash forward, but Jake managed to deflect the blow with a counter slash. Cheng You qucikly manipulated the counter slash, and managed to kick Jake in the chest, sending him flying backwards. '..he's fast..'

Before Jake could recover his ground, Cheng You made another quick dash. Bee Yoke stared in horror, as the sword in Cheng You's hand came directly towards her.

In the nick of time, there was another clanking noise, and the blow was deflected. Cheng You smiled. '...now that's a voice I know...' Yee Hong stood before him and Bee Yoke, who held Siew Li in her arms. Without looking back, and keeping his gaze at Cheng You, he said, 'You alright, Ah Bee? Sorry I'm late.'

Tears flowed down her cheeks. Joy and pleasure filled her heart. Nothing mattered more, thatn to see the person she loved standing before him once again.

Jake stood up, and joined Yee Hong's side. 'You know you could have been faster.'

Yee Hing smiled, 'and you could have been better. I mean a kick to the chest?'

Cheng You stood upright, withdrawing his sword. 'So you've been here quite a while, haven;t you?'

Yee Hong still had his eyes on Cheng You, and he too, stood upright. 'Barely made it. No thanks to you. You haven't changed much, haven't you?'

Cheng You smiled evilly, 'All the same, isn't it? All the same. Still trying to save the world?'

Yee Hong looked at him. 'The will be no need for saving, justice is without people like you.'

Cheng You let out a sinister laugh. 'It's always the same darn thing. Justice this, justice that. It's a different world now, Hong!! It's no longer the same. Democracy, peace?! Rubbish!! There will always be, someone at the driving seat, someone who pulls the strings. You think if I did not take things my way, others like me will not!?'

Yee Hong laid silent for a few moments. Then, he spoke. 'Maybe you're right. Maybe there is no such thing as democracy and peace. But there will always be right, and there will always be wrong. If there are people like you, and so darn it there will always be people like us.'

Cheng You drew his sword. 'Then I guess talking won't do much now, won't it?'

Yee Hong held his sword, and slowly, balanced himself as he lowered his body into a charging stance. 'Guess not.'

******************************************************************************
Siew Li's blood stained hands held onto Bee Yoke. SHe nudged Bee Yoke to come closer, and the last thing Bee Yoke heard before her hands let go of her were '...white collar...' Jake rushed over, 'Siew Li!! Siew Li!!!' he shook hard at her lifeless body, but he knew it was no use.

*******************************************************************************
Yee Hong dashed towards the side, dodging Cheng You's blows. He was fast, very fast, and precise. Every blow, every strike, was always followed by a counter strike, a counter defensive. A strike from the left, and if you were not careful another would come from the top. Cheng You was already clear about this, and so he backed away everytime. He knew this fighting style, besides, didn't they both train under the same sensei?

Yee Hong was always the better one, but Cheng You was always the fastest. His sensei would never understand speed and power. He said he was too aggresive, that he was too hard-headed. What did he understand? There is only power!! There is only pure power in speed and strength! And he proved it, when he took his sensei's life.

Yee Hong quickly edged the sword to the right, and did an uppercut from below Cheng You. Cheng You dodged it, but Yee Hong struck quickly from the side, sucessfully slicing his left arm. Red blood oozed out from his arm. Cheng You and Yee Hong both stood still and glared at each other. 'You're good... Still the same, I see...'

Yee Hong glared at him, and said nothing. CHeng You continued 'you know... people do change, don;t you think? You, me, the world entirely. But what if... what if... There was a way to stop change? Hmm? What if... there was a way... that we can preserve all the sweet memories, all the beautiful things in life, and make sure it never goes away?'

Yee Hong was still glancing at him, but said nothing. Cheng You smiled. 'I've always dreamt of such things, Hong. Such marvelous ideas that could chang the world. But people could never undersatnd the complexity of it, so I knew.. I knew I had to do everything myself. I knew I had to...'

'...clone.'

Cheng You's smile evaported. He looked at the right of his position, and there, with his sword drawn, stood Jake. 'You knew... the only way you can keep the things you want, and dispose of all the bad nightmares, is by cloning, every single one in this word. That way, when you die, your body, your beauty, your everything, remains in this world. And all the pain, suffering and dissapointment, goes with death. Isn;t that right?'

CHeng You glared at Jake for a few moments. Then he smiled. 'Very clever.... I never expected you, of all people, to..'

Jake shouted 'BUT YOU'RE WRONG YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!'

Cheng You startled.

'YOU THINK, THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU KEEP WHAT YOU CAN SEE, WHAT YOU CAN HEAR, TOUCH AND FEEL, YOU CAN REMAIN ALIVE!? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ALIVE!!! LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT HER!!!!! SHE'S DEAD! YES, YOU CAN CLONE ANOTHER SIEW LI. YOU CAN PRESERTVE HER LOOKS, HER SKILLS, HER ATTITUDE, BUT YOU CANNOT F*KING PRESERVE HER SOUL!!'

Cheng You looked at him, silent. 'Your anger will kill you...'

Jake glanced up. Yee Hong looked towards him. 'Jake, don't...'

Cheng You smirked. 'You want it? Come get it.'

Yee Hong rushed forward, but it was too late, Jake was already charging forward. 'Idiot.'

Jake dashed towards Cheng You, and tried to slash him, which he dodged easily. Jake was in a blind fury now, his attacks were fast and aggresive, more aggresive than he has ever been in his life, but he was reckless, he was open to attacks in all direction. He taught of nothing else... nothing at all.

CHeng You manage to catch him off guard on one of Jake's slashes. He bent low, and did a summersault. His knee caught Jake in the face. 'Uuuarrgh!' as he fell backwards. Just then, Cheng You realised Jake's sword was not with him. He immidiately felt a great urgency of danger. As Jake fell backwards, his lips turned into a smile. There, in hang time, was a long, metal thread between Jake and his sword, which was firmly attached to the ground. Cheng You';s summersault caused him to be temporaily immobalized in mid air, and there, below him, was Jake's katana, firmly stuck to the ground.

''DIE!!!'

WIth one quick pull, Jake's katana split in two, and the base of the sword popped open, revealing a lotus-like blade, that shot upwards, hitting itself firmly on Cheng You's left shoulder. The small blade was also attached to a metallic thread. Jake immediately bounced back up, and tugged heavily of the katana. It gave way, as it split into two blades, and Jake caught hold of both. He rose into the air, just where Cheng You is, and with a quick, decisive move, plunged the blade into his chest. Cheng You cursed in agony and pain, as he fell to the ground. Jake did a backflip as he reached the ground, and the entire contracption, blade, sword and thread, was pulled out of Cheng You's body, and in its place a deep wound a pool of blood.

'Finish...' As Cheng You screamed in pain, before finally stopping, and then, silent.

Yee Hong stood there, unbelieving, as waht happened next shook him. Cheng You rose up suddenly, his mouth bleeding from the severe wounds, and held the lotus-like blade just before it reached Jake. Jake was dumbfounded as well. He tried to pull at the blade, but it woudn't budge. Before he could react further, Cheng You, with a strong pull tugged Jake towards himself. He reversed the blade, and Jake impaled himself on the blade, just below the stomach. Jake yelled in agony.

Cheng You lifted Jake up by the neck, then, drew his leg to the back. Then, with one quick blow, kneed him, causing him to fall backwards. He moved his hand backwards on his mouth, wiping the blood away. 'That hurt... like hell u bastard.'

Jake struggeld to get up. 'Impossible.. I... I killed you.'

Cheng You limped towards him, but Yee Hong stepped between them.

'You're insane, you know that right?'

Chegn You laughed, so loud that it echoed all around them. 'So you know what this is, don;t you?'

Yee Hong looked at him. 'Of course I do. I stopped you from doing it once.. but how did...' In a split moment, a thought struck him. '.. my god.. you cloned yourself, haven't you?'

Jake tried to listen, but nothing made any sense.

Cheg You laughed even louder. Limping, he came closer. 'You can't kill me, you know that.'

Yee Hong backed towards Jake, and quickly dragged him from the ground. 'He's waekened, but we cant kill him.' Jake uttered, 'what... why....'

'That's not the real him.' Bee Yoke quickly got hold of Siew Li's lifeless body, and followed as Yee Hong and Jake made it out of the open and into the forest. Immediately, several Vanguards opened fire, some drawing thier swords and giving chase.

Cheng You walked alittle further, before kneeling to the ground, and coyghing out more blood. 'FIND THEM!!!' The Vanguards saluted, and more gave chase. 'They know too much. They cannot live.'