Jack Spicer, Wealthy Boy Extraordinaire
Chapter 1: "Hitting the Jackpot"
Summary: A lackluster birthday instantly takes a dramatic turn once Jack wins the lottery. How will winning millions of dollars affect him? This is the story of how Jack's life changed forever and how he evolved from Evil Boy Genius … to Wealthy Boy Extraordinaire.
NOTE: Just so you know, the Shen-Gong-Wu that I made up for this story, the "Chouyaku Band," means "leap" in Japanese.
Open on Jack's house. Night. 11:36, to be exact. Inside, down into the lair, six Jack-bots are preparing for a birthday party. Four folding tables are set up around the lair with an assortment of gifts, snacks, and beverages lying on top. However, one folding table is designated to the gigantic birthday cake which has eighteen candles spread around it. Multiple streamers also hang across the walls along with balloons scattered as far as the eye can see.
The Jack-bots, who are overly dressed for the occasion, wear fancy tuxedos and party hats. Together, they raise a long banner to the ceiling which has "Happy Birthday, Jack!" displayed across. After successfully hanging it up, they return to the ground as Wuya passes through the door in a hurry.
"He's coming!" the old witch shrieks. The Jack-bots rapidly assemble around the door with Wuya beside them. They then fix their bow ties and quickly squirt some breath spray into their mouths. Even though they don't breathe or have a mouth. One of the bots floats over to the light switch and turns it off. It then gets back in place as everyone begins to anticipate the birthday boy's arrival.
A moment later, the staircase light turns on and soft footsteps are heard coming down from behind the door. A hand grabs the doorknob as the Jack-bots pull out their party poppers. Once the knob turns and the door swings open, the person immediately switches the light on.
"Surprise!" the Jack-bots and Wuya yell as the bots fire their party poppers into the air, releasing bits of confetti. However, confusion takes over as soon as they see that Jack isn't there. The bots look at each other while the final pieces of confetti hit the ground.
"Where is he?" a bot asks. Before having the chance to say anything else, they are interrupted by someone noisily clearing their throat. More confusion settles in as the bots and Wuya search the lair for the source of this sound. Again, they hear the throat clearing, which is louder than the first time. Now recognizing where it's from, they turn towards the door and look down to find Megan, Jack's cousin standing there with her arms folded. Wuya floats over to her.
"Megan! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for the surprise party. Duh!" the little girl says before walking past her. The witch grumbles as Megan strolls over to one of the tables to swipe a bag of potato chips.
"I don't remember you being invited," Wuya states.
"And I don't remember when you've looked uglier!" Megan snaps. Wuya boils with anger as the little girl struggles to open the bag of chips. Almost instantly, a Jack-bot floats next to her.
"Allow me," it says. Megan smiles while handing the bag over.
"Thank you!"
The robot opens it with ease and then gives it back. Megan wastes no time as she dives into her snack, munching gleefully. The Jack-bots stare back and forth at each other.
"So …" Megan begins saying between bites, "… Where is Jack?" A Jack-bot turns to Wuya.
"You said he was coming."
"I heard the front door open, ok?" Wuya shouts while flailing her arms. "I figured it was him. Where else could that incompetent boy be this late at nigh -- Wait!" The witch's eyes commence to glow real bright. "I'm sensing a Shen-Gong-Wu!"
The Jack-bots turn to shoot her a glare while Megan obliviously finishes consuming her snack.
Cut to Jack proudly standing atop a grassy hill while raising a Shen-Gong-Wu high above his head. Two Jack-bots hover beside him as the startling sound of thunder erupts throughout the sky, which is soon followed by a light drizzle. Jack laughs robustly, making sure to spend plenty of time in savoring the moment.
"The Chouyaku Band is mine! Bow down before the evil genius that is … Jack Spicer!"
Another sudden thunder clap is heard which spooks the Jack-bots. The robots nervously turn their heads up at the sky, and then look down to see how far they are above ground level.
"Pardon me, sir, but I don't feel very safe being this high with a thunderstorm occurring right over us."
Jack lowers his arms and tucks the Wu inside his jacket pocket. He then examines the night sky while grinning.
"Relax. Your exterior is made out of pure titanium," Jack explains. "It's impossible for lightning to harm you. … I mean, it's not like metal attracts lightning or anything ..."
The Jack-bots glance at each other as the thunderstorm worsens. The light drizzle promptly turns into a downpour along with strong winds. Suddenly, a lightning bolt shoots down from the sky and strikes one of the Jack-bots. It explodes on impact, leaving Jack and his remaining robot in shock.
"Then again, I have been wrong before," Jack says. The lone robot gives him a worried look. "Well, one thing I know for sure is that lightning never, ever strikes twice –"
A second bolt wipes the bot right out. Jack flinches and then turns to stare at the wreckage for a few moments.
"Wow, I should just stop talking."
"Jack Spicer!" an all too familiar voice calls out from nearby.
"Present!" Jack yells without thinking. "Oh." By now, he recognizes who it is. He turns and looks down to see the Xiaolin Warriors posed in their battle stances along with Dojo curled around the crown of Clay's cowboy hat. Jack folds his arms across his chest and laughs.
"Once again, you're too late, Xiaolin losers!" Jack pulls the Chouyaku Band out and raises it so they can see. Dojo's eyes widen.
"That's the Chouyaku Band! Whoever possesses it has the ability to leap across vast distances," Dojo clarifies. A jolt of thunder booms above them which frightens the dragon. He hurriedly unwinds himself from Clay's hat and slithers to the ground. "It'd be best to use it under the right weather conditions, though."
"Yeah, anyway … normally, I'd stay and gloat for another, oh, three minutes," Jack says while tapping his watch, "but I'm being expected right about now at my surprise party, so –"
"You?" Kimiko asks while chuckling. "Why would anyone throw a surprise party --?"
"For you information, Kimiko, I've had countless parties thrown in my honor by the people who love me dearly and –"
"Jack!" a coarse voice yells from behind. He turns around to see Wuya, several Jack-bots, and Megan approaching him.
"Wuya, w-what are you doing here?" he nervously says. "You're supposed to be waiting for me at my surprise party."
"You never told me you were out gathering Shen-Gong-Wu!" the old witch shouts. Jack's eyes get droopy.
"If I told you, then we'd have to skip the party. B-but I already got the Wu, so if we leave now, we can still make it before --"
"Forget it, boy. I just sensed that yet another Shen-Gong-Wu has activated close by," Wuya says while floating past. Jack slides down the hill and lands next to Megan and the Jack-bots.
"It's tradition!" Jack cries out, extremely dismayed now. Megan walks up to her cousin and places her hand on his back.
"Don't be sad, Jack. I mean … my birthday's coming up pretty soon," she says while smiling big. Jack frowns and then looks down at her.
"Have you been eating my chips?" he asks, noticing the crumbs around her mouth. Megan giggles nervously while backing away. Wuya turns around and then throws her arms up.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Start searching for the Wu!" the witch orders. Jack narrows his eyes at her and then glances at the Xiaolin Warriors. He turns to give a momentary look at his Jack-bots who simply shrug at him. Jack sighs and hangs his head in sorrow. The Warriors stare at him in confusion. Finally, Jack lifts his head up, reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls the Band out. He then hurls it to the ground as Wuya gasps.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Wising up," Jack replies. "As of right now, this partnership is over." He begins to walk the other way as Wuya struggles to think of something that she can say to change his mind.
"Let's not be hasty. We've had plenty of disagreements in the past. We can't let one little -- After all, you need me to –"
"Wrong," Jack says while whipping around. "I don't need you, I don't need Shen Gong Wu, and I especially don't need bratty cousins who eat all your food!" Jack screams, now in Megan's face. The little girl quickly wipes the crumbs off with her sleeve. Jack proceeds to stomp away as Wuya flies over to him.
"Jack, listen –"
"Don't you get it? This was supposed to be my day … I told you that. But, of course, you turned it into another one of your last minute Wu hunts." Jack scoffs and then resumes storming off, but Wuya doesn't give up.
"You haven't given me a chance to explain. The –"
"Wuya …" Jack began with a minor hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Just hear me out. Next year –"
"I mean it, Wuya."
"Next year, we'll plan the biggest blowout that –"
"Back off!" Jack shrieks. Wuya shuts up as Jack shakes his head in frustration. He then opens his heli-bot and takes flight, set on being as far away as possible from everyone else.
While the group was watching him fly off in the distance, Raimundo moves toward the discarded Wu and then picks it up. After examining it, he turns to his fellow Warriors and smirks.
"Well … that was easy."
After flying around for a few minutes, Jack lands and closes his heli-bot. He sighs and then sits down on a curb. After momentarily watching the cars pass back and forth, his stomach begins to gurgle in hunger.
"Could've been eating cake right now," he mutters to himself. He stands up and scans the area real fast to find a place where he might eat. Right away, he spots a restaurant that serves an all-you-can-eat buffet. However, it just hits him that he hardly has any money on him. Jack kicks the dirt and then moans in his increasing frustration.
A car horn honks which grabs Jack's attention. He looks in the direction from where it came. A bunch of cars are crowded around the local gas station. Jack sighs and thinks that maybe he could grab some snacks there. After all, it's all he can afford. So, he heads to the gas station at a slow pace, weaving in and out of the maze of cars. Once there, he opens the door and enters.
Jack immediately spots the shelf of snack pack pudding and grabs two packs of the Butterscotch flavor. He then makes his way to the front to pay. Standing behind the counter is a rather large and grumpy-looking man who's wearing a backwards baseball cap, white button-down collared shirt and jeans. Jack places the pudding on the counter as the man nods at him.
"How you doin'?" he asks while typing into the cash register. Jack shrugs.
"I've been better."
The man nods once more before finishing up and then reading the final amount out loud.
"The total comes to $2.85."
Jack begins to rummage through his pockets as the man looks on. After fumbling for a bit, Jack pulls a $5 bill out and hands it to the man. He waits patiently as the man gathers change. A moment later, Jack's watch abruptly starts beeping. He pushes his sleeve up to notice that his watch is flashing '12:00'. Soon, the tune to the "Happy Birthday to You" song plays on it along with the flashing '12:00'. Right away, Jack turns it off as the man hands him his change.
"Someone's birthday today?" he asks. All of a sudden, the watch turns back on and the tune to "Funky Town" plays. Jack quickly switches it off and looks away in embarrassment.
"Uh, yeah … mine."
"Is that right? Well, happy –"
"Don't," Jack interrupts. The man raises an eyebrow. "Please, just …"
"Ok. All right," the man replies. He then looks around in hopes of changing the subject. "Uh, do you want a bag with that?"
"No." Jack grabs the two packs while beginning to turn around. "I'm good." He heads to the door, but while he's opening it, the man calls out to him.
"So, how old are you?"
Jack stops and stares outside for a second before facing the man. He sighs and then shrugs again.
"Eighteen."
"You know, you're old enough now to buy a lottery ticket. That is … if you want to." Jack stares at him, a little confused. "Might change your luck." Jack scoffs.
"With the way things have been going lately, I can't help but doubt that." Jack turns, puts his hands in his pockets, and pushes the door open. However, he pauses in the middle of stepping out upon staring across the block at the restaurant that serves an all-you-can-eat buffet. His stomach grumbles some more as he feels how little money he has in his pockets. He then closes his eyes.
"What am I doing?" he thinks. After mulling it over, Jack spins around and walks back in. He returns to his spot in front of the counter as the man grins while holding a lottery ticket up. Jack scowls and rubs the back of his neck.
"What do you say?" the man asks. Jack shakes his head.
"But what are the odds of winning? I mean --"
"It's different for everybody," the man says. Jack stares at the ticket, studying it very carefully. He shakes his head once more, frustrated with everything he's gone through. A minute later, he finally comes to a decision. He pulls out some of the change that he got from buying the pudding and places it on the counter. He then looks up at the man.
"What have I got to lose?" Jack asks. The man chuckles, grabs a single dollar from the pile of change, and adds it into the register.
"Nothing to lose … but you have everything to gain," the man replies with a smile. Jack nods as the man gives him the lottery ticket. Once in his hands, he stuffs it into his pocket. But before leaving for good, Jack asks for one more thing.
"I'll also take a pack of cigarettes."
"You're spending almost all of your change," the man points out. Jack nods. The man turns and grabs a single pack of cigarettes off the shelf behind him, and then tosses it on the counter. He calculates it into the cash register as Jack picks the box up. Jack immediately tears into it and puts a cigarette in his mouth, feeling a little on edge. However, he also realizes that he's got no way of lighting it.
"Uh … I-I got no –" He then watches as the man pulls out his own cigarette and light it. The man puffs a few clouds of smoke out. Jack frowns. "You mind?" he asks while holding his unlit cigarette.
"Hey, buy your own, buddy."
"I already spent the last of my money!" Jack exclaims. "Come on, just do me this one favor and – and I'll be outta here." The man shrugs.
"Shouldn't have bought cigarettes if you didn't have enough for a lighter," the man simply says. Jack grows real angry and slams his fist onto the counter.
"Look, I've had maybe the worst night of my life tonight, ok? You'd be really helping me release all that stress by just loaning me a –"
"Fat chance, kid." Jack gets really steamed now and starts pacing back and forth.
"All right, how about a … discount?" he asks. The man puffs a few rings of smoke.
"A discount," the man says in a monotone voice.
"Yeah, you know, then I'd be able to pay for a lighter if …" Jack counts what little change he has left on the counter. "… If say the price dropped to 19 cents!" The man looks uninterested.
"A discount," he repeats.
"Yeah …"
"Here."
"Yeah."
"At the gas station."
"Yeah!"
"Get out."
Jack exits through the doors with the unlit cigarette still sticking out of his mouth. He then walks around to the side of the gas station and takes his seat against the wall. Once settled, Jack grabs one of his pudding cups and peels the top off. Just as he was ready to dig in, he realizes something.
"No spoon. Fantastic." Jack raises the cup over his mouth and waits for the pudding to spill out. After some falls in, he sets it down and then pulls the ticket from his pocket. Again, he stares at it curiously. It's one of those scratch-off tickets.
"Scratch all three bubbles to reveal if you have won 64 million dollars!" he reads in boredom. "Right …"
But just the same because he's got nothing better to do, he reaches into his pocket and pulls a dime out. He then places the ticket on the ground and begins scratching it off using the dime.
The first bubble that Jack scratched off read "Win!" which earned a scoff. However, the second bubble that was scratched off also read "Win!" At this point, Jack thinks that there's absolutely no way this can be happening. He figures he'll lose at the end.
"What a scam," he tells himself. Even so, Jack slowly scratches the final bubble. He's not exactly sure what it says yet. So, he decides to scratch harder and faster. A bead of sweat drips down his face as the entire bubble gradually clears away. Once he's finished, Jack's cigarette falls out of his mouth. Jack drops the ticket and leans back against the wall. His face is frozen with absolute shock. He starts to mumble incoherently while his heart races rapidly. Soon, he begins to hyperventilate.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I …" Jack stops himself and then decides to take a slow, deep breath. After inhaling and exhaling for a few minutes, he finally starts to relax and regain control. Nevertheless, once he returns back to normal, Jack jumps up and raises his arms into the air.
"I won!" he shouts so the world can hear. "I won! Whoo! Yeah! I'm a millionaire! A millionaire!" After failing at doing a somersault, Jack runs all around the gas station, overwhelmed with happiness. "Old Jack-o is back on top-o! Whoo! Yes!"
Inside, the man behind the counter hears Jack's screams of joy. He looks up and out the window next to the cash register to see Jack jumping up and down. The man shakes his head and laughs.
Jack grabs a woman whose pumping gas into her car and starts to slow dance with her. The woman has never been more confused in her life. Jack lets her go and proceeds to skip away. However, his celebration comes to a screeching halt as Jack clutches his chest and gasps for air.
All the spectators watch as Jack wobbles back and forth, thinking nothing of it. He looks at everyone once last time before finally keeling over and hitting the ground like a ton of bricks. Panicked, the crowd rushes to him and gather around. And then there is a moment of agonizing silence as concerned people look on.
Right away, that silence is shattered as Jack's watch somehow switches back on … and "Funky Town" resumes playing.
A/N: Wow. That was way longer than I originally expected it to be. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed it. Next chapter will be up in a week or so. Please R&R!