"I can't do this anymore!"
She gasped for air, completely drenched and shivering. An hour submerged in icey waters, a trap of the Water Dragon's design.
She lay, defeated, on a grassy plain, Omi and his friends towering over her. "I do not understand why you, na ally, would so suddenly oppose us!"
Raimundo shook his head as he watched the lab-coat clad woman sit up, still on her knees. She didn't look guilty at all, merely exhausted, and half-frozen. He was wholly disgusted by the pathetic-looking scientist sitting before him.
"Please, Miranda, tell us your reason for going against us!" Omi pleaded, placing a tiny hand on her sopping wet shoulder.
"I... can't." she choked, shivering horribly. "I can't tell you..."
"Why not?!" Raimundo demanded, and Miranda held up a quivering hand. "I'm n-not finished..." she gasped for air, the cold making it harder for her to breathe. Kimiko frowned. "Dr. Spicer, continue, please..."
"... I can't explain what it's like to be in love." she finally muttered. Omi looked at her, rather appalled. "... With who?" the Water Dragon's voice cracked. Miranda smiled a bit. "You know who, Omi." she said, still shaking from the intense cold that still wracked her body.
"Chase Young." he mouthed, looking up at her with watery eyes.
"Yes, my little water dragon. I've chosen my side." she said solemnly. Omi shook his head and clung to her. "I cannot believe you!" he sobed. "I will not!"
Feeling the tears streaming down his face, Miranda had no choice but to hug him tightly. "Omi... Omi, calm down..."
"No! You are lying to me! You cannot be in love with Chase Young!"
"It's true."
Though Miranda had opened her mouth to say those exact words, it was not her that had spoken them. The voice was more sly and cunning, more masculine than that of the scientist.
Four pairs of eyes shot up to the top of the temple, where, in all of his glory, Chase Young stood. "I've noticed the signs." he said sharply.
If she could have blushed, Miranda would have done so, quite a bit. Chase looked at her sternly, cold eyes never leaving her, though she averted her gaze. "Did you take me for a fool? Did you think I wouldn't notice? That I wouldn't respond?"
"No." she muttered half-heartedly. He stepped over and pulled Omi from her gently. He looked her directly in the eye and captured her gaze, with no intention of releasing it. "You. Dr. Miranda Spicer. Listen to me, and don't look away. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes." she stammered, the freezing cold still not fading.
"Alright..." Chase took a deep breath, and then looked at her with a gaze that was perhaps a bit softer. "Miranda... I can't..."
But the words that came after fell on deaf ears. Worn from the physical strain of the cold, the Dragon of the Stars had fallen unconscious against the great villain, missing his words...
"Refuse you."
