A/N: Little semi-Chack I thought of. Won't be too intense but there's still some intensity there. I wanted to try a concept where Jack had his own form of magic this time. Enjoy~
. . .
Jack of All Trades
He had knowledge of everything.
There wasn't one area that Jack Spicer wasn't interested in. He, quite frankly, dawdled in everything.
The genius' mind was restless and it was both a strength and a weakness. His restlessness in general allowed him to create his own experiences—the successful ones and the failures. One could even go far to say that his brain was like a computer, a reflection of the robotics domain he resided in. If he did not understand something, he tinkered with whatever it was until he did, taking it apart piece by piece until he understood what was inside and how to put it back together to how it was once before. He picked up many things someone would have to be taught—law, business, science (specifically virology and botany), and lately into the occult arts. Yes, Jack Spicer had magic just like the rest of the XiaoHey belligerents now and he could use it well. However, with such rewards come downfalls and one major downfall is that his restless mind kept him up, making him sleep deprived. It made the genius irritable and even after he forced himself to sleep at normal hours instead of when he could see the sun rising again through his window, still retained that irritability in place of his usual cocky attitude. To an extent, Jack could perform martial arts now, preferring to use specific brutal moves to get the fight over with, but it had terrible effects on his body if he was the one to get hit due to his albinism.
Jack made his robots with the potential to be deadly, incorporating his knowledge of virology and botany into how he made them. Not only did his robots have his usual laser guns, Jack also managed to have several different kinds besides the lasers ranging from acid to chloroform and even lead. He also made them have the ability to "grow" plants that would prove to be very annoying to the other belligerants, one such being poison ivy. Science and robotics combined made Jack's bots a more worthy adversary, a better means of giving Jack the upper hand. One of the greatest things that gave him the upper hand now was his ability to sense Shen Gong Wu without the use of his technology. Ever since his knowledge of the occult and magics grew, he gained the ability to sense when something was "off" in terms of energy at first, then slowly transitioned to the image and name of a Wu appearing in his mind and the exact location in his head.
Jack cleaned up a bit of his character as well. He did not allow his boasting to lose him a challenge and knew when to count his losses. He also became more honorable in terms of partnerships, choosing to stick with whom he was with and not betraying them every second like a certain witch he knew, however mainly choosing to work alone from now on. His so called admire for Chase Young diminished as well, now only seeing the warlord as another adversary that was in his way which caused surprise with all those in the Heylin circle. Cleaning up his act also involved changing how he looked to a minor extent. He wore something akin to a long black robe now and grew his hair out only to his upper back, still it's fiery red with his goggles rested at the top of his head instead of around his neck. He kept his signature warpaint though much lighter than before and less dramatic. He wore closed finger gloves now and his technological device to summon his bots now was obvious as a long arm device including all the functionalities he rendered into his bots. He had a backup which was the old watch-like device he couldn't give up just yet still on his right wrist, the downfall being that the only code he embedded into the watch was the main one he always used to use for his regular, unevolved Jackbots. His waist held a metal staff, ordinary looking but holding so many functions. Jack could extend it however long he wished, and could morph it to any kind of weapon he wanted from a sword to a gun. Lastly, Jack didn't make any "huge" modifications to his helipack save for adding two propellers at the bottom which allowed for better movement and a backup in case the top propellers were destroyed.
The genius sat crosslegged in his living room, the furniture moved out of his way as a circle of rocks surrounded him as he sat. He was concentrating on something new, levitating himself up just slightly. He wanted to achieve the ability to spy in on the conversations of others, just settling with the Xiaolin for now. They weren't too skilled with detecting spies with magic just yet, save for Raimundo whom could use the winds to aid him, however, Jack wasn't using the winds to form images in his mind, so the attempt from the Shoku Leader to even sense him was futile. He could see the image of the Temple forming in his mind as clear as day. He was doing it! Just a bit more and he could peer inside to—
"Jack!"
Instantly, the genius was broken out of his concentration and slowly descended back to the ground. He sighed in contempt knowing just who it was that could break his focus so easily. Walking into the room was none other than Wuya. He found it ironic. Ever since he'd cleaned up his act, she never left him, not once. Jack even forged failures, losing Showdowns on purpose for a week, and yet she never left. He did not trust her, but he surely wouldn't tell her that or make it obvious that he didn't. She seemed to be more loyal, having heard from Hannibal Roy Bean himself that she denied a chance to partner with him for favor of the genius, therefore giving Jack the idea to keep her close, just to keep an eye on her. Always know what she's up to.
That was Chase's job, but the genius considered him fired. It belonged to him now. She still didn't have her full powers, prompting Jack to figure out some sort of way to give her at least half of her powers back. It ended up with him "lending" her some of his. She could now defend herself and attack, but her powers now were mainly for defense rather than offense. Jack sighed loudly so she could know his annoyance, which now scared her to an extent.
"You… You were concentrating?" She asked him, voice shaky.
Jack let out a "hmph" sound and stood.
"It doesn't particularly matter anymore. Now, what is it that you had to interrupt it?"
She put her head down, not wanting to look at the obviously annoyed genius.
"You did not sense the Wu? It is an important one this time, I swear!"
Jack closed his eyes, feeling for the familiar energy of the Shen Gong Wu. He found it, seeing in his mind the image of a statue of an angel holding a wave in her hands whilst two staffs stood at her side. The Wu was small enough to hold in one's hands yet large enough to be noticed.
"The Lady of the Divine Waters," Jack responded. "It can stop any large natural disaster related to fire. Something a water element can't do by his or herself. That is important. It's in Russia, for some odd reason that I don't care about. All I care about is getting it. Let's go."
Wasting no time, Jack teleported himself and Wuya to the place where the Wu would be, standing outside of a museum. The temperature immediately hit Wuya and Jack like bullets which was nothing Jack could not fix. He formed a red aura around himself and Wuya, thus warming them up instantly. Jack frowned seeing guards by the doors. It seemed to him there was some sort of event going on which was invite only.
"Oh great," Wuya said, rolling her eyes. "We'll have to deal with a crowd."
"No we don't," Jack told her.
He lifted up his left arm, pressing a button to call his Jackbots whom he always teleported with him a short distance away hidden, ready to be on the attack. Sure enough, they floated lowly towards him and Wuya, awaiting their master's orders.
"Fire pellets at the guards and anyone else inside where the Wu is. Make sure no guest isn't too roughed up. I may be Heylin but I have some morals." Jack ordered.
Heeding their master's orders, the bots went off, shooting out pellets at an inhuman pace. Sure enough as expected, there was chaos with the guests running out of the museum and the guards already gone.
"Effective enough," Wuya told him. "Where do you suppose the Wu is?"
"It'll be easy to find," is all Jack said. "Come on, everyone's gone."
They walked in quickly, Jack busting the doors open with his foot. He raised his hand, clenching it into a fist thus destroying all cameras in the room. Conveniently enough, the Wu was under a display case, probably the same item the guests were all viewing. Jack disposed of the glass case, letting it fall and break on the floor and grabbing the Wu which glowed.
"It's ours. Let's go," Jack told Wuya.
She nodded and turned, beginning to walk when she felt a shudder. Jack noticed this and looked at her.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"…It's Chase. He's here," She responded.
"You've got to be kidding me," Jack growled, instantly scanning the area. Wuya would prove to be right as the warlord materialized right in front of the pair, his arms crossed authoritatively.
"I must thank you for clearing the crowd, Spicer," Chase said to him. "However, you will not be leaving with that. It would be a shame if someone as unstable as you held on to such a valuable Wu."
"Well, I can't just give it to you. It doesn't work like that," Jack responded. "Chase, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!"
As the declaration of challenge was said, four very annoyed Xiaolin monks finally made their way into the building looking as if they all have just come out of a forest with leaves in their hairs and on their clothes. Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Looks like the four of you made it, but you're all a bit too late. Now, you all can watch as either Chase or myself wins. Either way, it will be a victory for the Heylin," Jack addressed them.
"And that's where you're wrong, Spicer," Raimundo said. "You'll remember, since you're supposedly following the XiaoHey rules now, that one Xiaolin representative must also be in the Showdown to make it fair to both sides."
"…Fine," Jack said.
"But you have to choose one of us," Kimiko said.
Jack looked them over. Omi and Clay looked genuinely worn out, while Kimiko and Raimundo were the two least damaged from whatever ordeal they went through, which was probably his Jackbots due to the leaves all over them. Having made his decision, he snapped his fingers, removing the leftover leaves and minor cuts that were on Raimundo.
"So… I reiterate… I challenge you, Chase and now you, Raimundo, to a Xiaolin Showdown Trio for The Lady of the Divine Waters. The game is Homing Blizzaja. The Lady of the Divine Waters will be in the middle of the field, however, the temperature will get colder and colder and hail will fall down. The first one to be closest to the Wu while retaining homeostasis wins."
"I accept," Chase says. "I wager the Emperor Scorpion."
"I accept as well—and to make it fair, no Jackbots, helipack, or anything that'll give you an unfair advantage, Spicer," Raimundo says. "I wager The Sword of the Storm."
"I won't need them anyway!" Jack responded. "I wager The Jetbootsu—and no damned Wu use, either. None of them would work here anyway."
"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" The trio called out.
The land around them shifted to something like an ice castle with The Lady of the Divine Waters floating from Jack's hands and resting on a throne shaped ice slab. Jack saw his arm device disappear along with his helipack. His red aura disappeared as well, along with a red orb coming out of his body and floating to a cage made out of ice and was effectively encased.
"Hm… you did say anything," Jack said, noting what happened, mumbling to himself. "Smart, Pedrosa. Well, let's get on with this."
"Gong Yi Tan Pai!" They shouted.
Immediately, a large gust of wind that wasn't originating from Raimundo roared, bombarding the three with a cold, followed by hail beginning to fall.
Watching the Showdown was Wuya whom still had Jack's red aura influence on her and Omi, Clay and Kimiko (whom used her own element to make sure her friends stayed warm). She noticed the red orb and eyed it curiously.
"What is that…?"
"It's Jack's fire element," Wuya told her. "He can't use it as it would be an unfair advantage."
"Jack Spicer… is a fire elemental? I am not understanding," Omi said.
Wuya sighed. "Everyone is made up of the elements. You can have an affinity for one element but it's not the only element that is inside you."
"It's just like that time Omi tried controlling all of our elements, I recon," Clay said, understanding what she meant.
"So… Jack can control all of them?" Omi asked.
"Yes," She said. "He is exceptionally good with fire."
The Xiaolin were silent after that, as if this was an entirely new concept to them.
Meanwhile during the Showdown, Chase Young found it extremely difficult to even participate, due to the weakness of the draconic form during harsh cold temperatures. He can barely move, and he knows it.
"Shoku Astro, Wind!" Raimundo called out, directing the attack towards Jack.
Jack chuckled, directing the attack back towards Raimundo by putting his hands out and having them act as a mirror to reflect the wind back. To make it worse for the Shoku Leader, he increased the intensity of the cold as he did so, effectively freezing Raimundo in place.
"D-Damn it..!" Raimundo stuttered. He knew he lost this one, oblivious to Jack's move then.
One down. Jack thought. Just one more big one to go.
"Looks like it's just you and I now, Chase… You look like you've having a hard time there. Here, let me help you," Jack said, taking his staff off of his waist and extending it towards Chase.
"Ice!" Jack called out, directing the attack towards Chase's legs, also freezing the warlord in place.
"Closest one to the Wu wins," Jack reminded.
And Chase growled as the land shifted back to normal with Jack the victor with all four Wu.
"Do not think I will allow such insolence from someone like you, Spicer."
"Someone like me…." Jack repeated. "I wonder, what could you mean… but then again… I do not care. You are just another person I'll get rid of in the future. It pays me no mind."
Jack turned his back from the warlord and began to walk towards Wuya. "Come on, let's go. The spell wore off of you. You look cold."
"Oh? I didn't even…" She looked herself over and noticed herself getting paler.
"Wait!"
Jack turned his head to see Raimundo approaching him and sighed.
"What? Are you angry? The hell do you want?"
"I've never seen you do that before," Raimundo said.
"Well, there's a first time for everything. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a partner to tend to."
He teleported away with Wuya, leaving the Shoku Leader to sigh deeply.
The Xiaolin's lives just got even more difficult.
. . .
"You should have told me when it worn off."
"You don't have to help me," Wuya told him. "I'll be fine."
"You say that now, but you're shivering," Jack said, wrapping a blanket around her. "For the record, you don't have to flinch every time I touch you. I'm not someone like Chase who would throw you away anymore."
"I don't think you are," She said. "It's why I'd rather be around you."
"If I didn't know any better," Jack started. "I'd say you were under the influence of some spell, but since I know you're not… thank you."
She nodded, holding the blanket closer to her. It was then she felt the familiar energy of another person once more, sighing deeply.
"You have a visitor," she said.
Jack reciprocated the sigh. "I'll deal with it. You can go on ahead and rest, if you'd like."
"But it's Chase!" Wuya told him. "He could be planning to hurt you, you know that!"
"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, Wuya. He has no reason to hurt me," Jack responded.
"…Fine. If you're sure."
She got up and turned to leave for the bedroom he'd given her. She didn't want to argue with him, lest he get irritable and start to yell at her. It was rare he yelled at her anymore, but she couldn't risk that.
Jack was capable of protecting himself—she just didn't believe it herself yet.
Jack sat down on his couch and crossed his leg, ordering one of his Jackbots to get two cups of tea.
"You know, it's more polite to knock, Chase."
He appeared before the genius across from him, taking his seat.
"This is my way of knocking. You were prewarned, as well."
"So, what brings you over? I've never known you to hold a grudge over a Showdown."
"I do not bear a grudge," Chase responded. "I came to express my intrigue."
"Intrigue… that's funny," Jack chuckled. "Because you did threaten me at the end of the Showdown."
"And I retract that. I do not care for Dashi's toys."
"You said that it should not be in the hands of someone as unstable as me if I won it. I hope you didn't mean mentally. Do you doubt my intelligence… still after all of this time?"
"If you'll forgive me," Chase said. "I did not mean that in the manor you are suggesting."
"Hm, fine. I don't feel like arguing with you."
"I don't feel like arguing, either," Chase looked at him curiously. "Tell me, what prompted you to change your act?"
"I was sick of the bullshit. Tired of being the Heylin's little bitch that they could use and discard like trash. Tired of the Xiaolin even getting hits at me. Simple as that. I know everything I need to know now. Just call me a Jack of all trades."
Chase chuckled. "You realize that would make you a master of none?"
As the Jackbot came back with two cups of tea for the both of them, Jack immediately picked up his off of the table and took a sip before responding.
"Jack of all trades, master of none… but better than a master at only one."
And Chase Young's eyes widened along with a new respect developing for the boy sitting across from him.
. . .
A/N: I really enjoyed writing Jack in this fic. He may seem a bit off in terms of character, but I really did. Also enjoyed writing Wuya without her whole snarky-slash-betrayal complex. Hope you all enjoy. Reviews always welcome~