Warnings: Yaoi (no lemons though), fluff, violence... that's it.
Disclaimer: Don't own D. Gray-Man or Xiaolin Showdown (although I wish I had them both.)
Happy Halloween! Well, I hope you like this new story, and review. Part 2 comes out tomorrow!
Love, Keta.
Spicer's Wish
Red eyes stare up at their owner's bedroom ceiling, carrying a look of hopelessness and mild self-loathing. Yes, despite all of his excitable, annoying, cheerful air, Jack Spicer generally hates himself and loathes the fucked-up world he was born into. "Damnit..." he mutters under his breath and climbs out of bed, knowing that he's not going to get to sleep anytime soon. His feet, clad in soft socks the same color as his skin, make no sound as he skirts along the edge of his basement laboratory, and he slinks up the steps to the main portion of the Spicer mansion.
Thankfully, his parents aren't home, or rather, haven't been home in the last three months, so they can't yell at him for his appearance. His usually dyed hair has grown out enough that he could cut all of the red out, and his skin is just as deathly pale as normal. Why? Because, to put it simply, Jack is an albino, a white haired, pale skinned, crimson eyed albino... with a nasty (internal) outlook on life.
No matter what he did, his deformity, as his mother called it, would always be scrutinized and cause him more pain than he ever could have wanted. As a child, before he'd discovered hair dye, his family, other than his Granny, despised his looks and often commented about them negatively; in fact, he was locked up and never spoken about except to scorn. So Jack, having nothing else in life to do, built things...
The first of his mechanical contraptions (that worked) was a robo-mouse named Lulu that he carries in his pocket most times; it can't really do anything, but it's nice to have something to talk to. The second was a cat that, over the years, he's made look like an ordinary tabby house cat; it's named Numi. After the arrival of Ashley, sorry Katnappé, he's begun to despise every living cat, so he's only got the robotic one... That no one knows about.
A sigh breaks forth from petal soft lips with soft mist sliding through the air, making him aware that his feet carried him outside into the snow. "Why do I feel so lonely? Why am I always so alone?" He sits on the retaining wall of the flowerbed and listens to the wind, howling and empty run through the trees. "I've tried so hard... Why?" Long unshed tears come to his eyes, begging to be set free. "Why won't anyone be my friend?"
Jack wakes up at noon the next day to his Shen Gong Wu detector going off. 'Should I stay... Or should I go?' For a moment, his mind thinks stay then turns to go on a gut feeling. "Alright... I'm going." His familiar goofy grin twists his sorrowful, sleepy features into something much more approachable as he quickly gets dressed, and he calls out, "Jack-bots, let's roll!"
With a hood pulled up to hide his hair, Jack traipses through the tall brush in west Africa, a deep set frown on his face. He hopes that he's the only one to show up today (as if that would happen) simply because he just remembered that his hair isn't dyed red today, and in an attempt to ward off everyone, he left a perimeter of Jack-bots, hiding of course. His feet barely seem to touch the ground in his grace, not wanting to give his position away to any prowling enemies, but still, the heaviness in his heart weighs him down so he doesn't really feel like the boy everyone thinks they know... He feels like- "Spicer!"
'Speak of the devil...' "And he shall appear." 'Or rather they.' Jack turns around to face the newly arrived monks. "Morning."
"It's one thirty..." another voice, Katnappé calls out, "in the afternoon."
"Can't you tell time, Jack?" And there's Wuya.
'To make this worse, all I need is Chase!' He scowls, head down to hide his expression. "Unfortunately, I didn't happen to glance at the time when I got up a little while ago. So, Wuya, while I can tell time, I didn't know what time it was."
Katnappé laughs. "God, you're such a weirdo!"
'Bitch.' Jack sighs and sits in the grass, obviously not in the mood to deal with her barbs and insults. "You know, Ashley, I don't really give a damn. So go and shove your attitude up your ass!" 'I think I need a drink...' And there's yet another of his secrets, underage drinking... And smoking... Not that anyone would ever get to see that if he gets a say.
Katnappé's face twists up into an expression of fury and she snarls before beginning to walk away. "Let's go, Wuya. We don't need such a useless Shen Gong Wu." She pauses for a moment. "Or to be around such a useless boy genius."
When they've gone, Jack turns his attention back to the xiaolin warriors. "If you want to kick my ass, go ahead and do it. I don't really care."
"Jack," Clay starts, "are you okay, partner?"
"Just peachy." The albino finally stands and slips a hand in his pocket to switch Lulu on and feel her gears work in sync, a soothing sensation. "If you guys aren't going to kick my ass, I'm just going to go home."
He starts to walk away then only to her Kimiko call out after him. "Jack! Take the Wishing Stone Shen Gong Wu!" He blinks and looks over at her.
"It's yours."
A soft smile comes to his lips at the kindness, even if it is from one of the monks. "Thanks." They leave him alone to his own devises, and at last, he finds it hiding under a tree root. "So... I wonder what the hell you do..."
That night before he goes to bed, the teen cradles it in his hands and whispers, "wishing stone... I wish I had a friend that needed me and wouldn't betray me..." He nods off a short while later, and in that silence, the stone glows brightly.
Silver eyes open wearily, and their owner looks about the room, wishing he could touch something. He sighs and wonders where he is. "I'm just glad I'm no longer in eternal darkness." He looks over at his now pale left hand, feeling sadness overwhelm him. "Crown Clown... I am alone now, aren't I?"
The soft sounds of snoring draw him from the room that reminds him of Komui into a bedroom where an albino sleeps peacefully only to wake when the air becomes frigid. "Wuya?" he murmurs, and the ghost is too entranced to hide. A light's flicked on, and suddenly, the other teen screams in terror. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Allen... Who are you?"
The genius is a little put off by the innocence in the other white being's question. "Jack. What are you doing in my room?"
"Don'no... I just felt like I was needed, and suddenly, in here. It's much better than in the silence of my heaven... Or was it hell?" Allen seems to fold into his ghostly self, saddened. "It must have been my punishment's completion... The reality of my curse."
"Allen..." Jack's eyes land on the wishing stone, and suddenly, it makes sense. "Allen, would you like to be my friend?"
The other albino's eyes widen, and a smile comes to his face. "Yes."
The next morning, Jack makes himself breakfast only to feel horrible about eating it as Allen watches, wishing that he could eat. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." He fusses with his left hand, looking at it like it's not his. "I'm going for a walk in the garden." He leaves without another word, causing a shock of fear to run through Jack. The self-proclaimed evil boy genius quickly finishes his food and goes outside to find his new friend is staring up at the sun as he sits on the retaining wall. "The song-" The teen raises his left hand up to the sky as if calling something back, desperation in his song.
"Allen?"
He stops and looks at the living albino, cocking his head slightly in confusion. "What is it Jack?"
"What were you singing?"
"A lullaby..." Allen seems to shirk into himself as he says, "I'm sorry if it disturbed you."
The teen merely climbs up beside him and 'takes' his alabaster hand. "It didn't. Continue... Please?"
A nod is his answer before Allen begins again. "More song-"
Two weeks pass by for the two albinos, and in them, they each explain the worlds they come, or came from, and each is fascinated to no end about the things that they'd never known. During these talks, Jack learned how Allen died when he'd killed the Millennium Earl because Crown Clown, his innocence that had been keeping him alive was called back to heaven. The clown promised that he'd keep him safe forever and find another place where he'd belong. The only one, at the time, was the darkness. Only when Crown Clown came back did he feel safe... It was if he was still drenched in the life he'd once been apart of.
Jack took up his left hand and squeezed it, promising that he'd be his clown if the albino ex-exorcist needed him to be...
The sound of the Shen Gong Wu detector going off wakes Allen from is peaceful 'doze' in bed with Jack one day, and slowly, the living teen wakes up and glares at it. "Come on, Allen. We have a Wu to get to."
"Okay!"
Allen, from right beside Jack, looks around in awe at the rainforest. It isn't the first time he's seen one, but that doesn't mean he can't still feel wonder at them. "Jack."
"Hm?"
"It's pretty here. I like it."
"Me too." He looks down at the ground, finding a snow-white floor that's bloomed all alone. Taking it into his fingers, he says, "Allen." The ghost-like boy turns around and is startled when his friend pushes the flower into his hair. The blossom becomes a ghostly version of itself, allowing Allen to wear it, a magic that only seems to work on plants. "There."
Allen blinks, as his friend holds up a compact mirror for him to see his reflection, then smiles. "It's beautiful. Thank you." For a moment, the fallen soldier forgets what he now is and leaps to hug Jack only to go right through him, sending chills through the human. "Oops. Sorry."
"It's okay. You're not used to this stuff still." The albino ghost nods and drops his head to stare at his left hand with remorse. "Allen." The teen looks up as his friend sits down. "Do you want to go home?"
He shakes his head. "I want to help you find the new Wu. And kick Wuya's sorry ass." The devilish expression on the angelic boy's face has Jack looking a little afraid. "What's wrong?"
"Are you feeling alright?"
Allen nods, then realizes what happened and chuckles. "That was just what my friends called Black Allen. He generally only comes to be when I talk about my master. I hate him so much. and when I play poker."
"Remind me never to play poker with you."
"Aww! Why not?!" The two laugh, comfortable together, and that breaks apart quickly. The teen's instantly on high alert when he hears the sound of a breaking branch and jumps up to his feet. In reflex, he spreads his fingers apart as if Crown Clown had activated, and realizing this, he puts his hand back down, yet still keeps Jack behind him.
"You need to hide."
A growl comes from the dead teen's mouth. "You do know that I can take care of myself."
"Allen!"
"I'll be fine!"
There's no time to argue, throwing the duo into a uncomfortable situation as Chase Young, Katnappé, Wuya, and the monks appear. Still, Allen pays their obvious strengths no mind and states, "do you really need my help against them? I mean, I'm pretty sure I could kick their asses back when I was alive."
"Who the hell is this?!" Wuya screeches, pissed about his remark.
"Allen Walker. Ex-exorcist for the Black Order. A worker of the Vatican church. The new ghostly best friend of Jack Spicer." Allen smirks and pulls his hand back to launch and strike her in the face. "And you've pissed me off."
