Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown.

Clank. Clank. Clank. Fssssssss!

The redhead worked busily at his latest creation, turning the large, metallic barrel noisily before welding the next part together, a spray of sparks flying up around his face. His goggles were down, peripheral vision blocked, not that it mattered anyway. His focus was such that a herd of elephants could have paraded past and he would not have paid it any mind if it didn't interfere with his administrations. Rather, it was the simple things that would snap him from his trance. A loose bolt.

Turning off his welder, Jack set it aside for a moment and reached for his wrench and felt…table. Turning his head to try and spot it, Jack was surprised to see nothing there. He knew it had been right there. Blinking, he lifted his goggles, trying to get a better view of his surroundings. His jackbots were still, standing off to the side, looking perfectly innocent. Why would they take his wrench? Unless they were conspiring against him. He wouldn't entirely put it past them after they cheered on Robo-Jack.

"If any of you guys took my wrench, give it back or I'll dismantle you when I find out which of you did it!" Jack said, glaring at each of them in an attempt to get them to hand over the wrench. None of them did, they simply glanced at each other in mild confusion, even checking their own compartments to make absolutely certain they didn't have anything that would get them dismantled. No, they didn't do it, and that meant he wasn't alone. "Wuya?" She and the others always treated his basement like they were all invited to drop in whenever they wanted, even when they weren't working with him. He wouldn't put it past them to have shown up and walked off with something. He bet Wuya didn't even know what a wrench was, just figured it was something he'd need. And she wasn't the only one that would do that kind of thing. "Ashley?"

Though why would they sneak around? Wuya was more of a 'storm in and make her demands' type, and usually when people were trying to escape detection, they didn't grab something essentially useless to them that was likely to be noticed within a few seconds. Something was wrong, and it was seriously creeping him out.

"Jackbots! Scan the perimeter! I think we have an intruder!"

The robots came to life, hurrying to obey his command as he grabbed his flashlight, flicking it on. While the lab was lit just fine, the chills that ran up Jack's spine and set his hair on end made him want to eliminate even the slightest shadow. Slowly he walked forward, shining the shadow into every man-sized shadow he could find, not even noticing the figure standing right behind him.

His eyes went wide as he felt a hand clasp over his face and he gasped, breathing in the smell of…

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Shen gong wu alert at nine o' clock!" announced the small green dragon.

"Where?"

He pointed. "Over there."

"Oh."

The Omniecho Parrot, a simple wooden bird that could mimic any sound in any place in the world that was happening right at that moment. All you had to do was tell it what you wanted to hear. A very valuable shen gong wu if you needed to pry into others' business or practice your bird calls. Kimiko could think of a few good uses for it, although that might just turn out like the mind reader conch did.

As they walked toward the shen gong wu, apparently unopposed, Omi said, "It seems Jack Spicer does not wish for us to beat him sideways today."

Rai corrected, "Up."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Kimiko said, "This is Jack. He always goes after wu. This is probably a trick."

"But this is Jack…" Clay began.

"You're right. He probably does have a trick, but he'll screw it up on his own even without our help."

Walking over to the bird, Kimiko picked it up, turning to the others. "There. Easiest shen go--huh?" Kimiko looked over her shoulder to see a grinning Wuya gripping the bird. "How'd you get here?"

"Oh, got a ride," Wuya said, pointing a thumb at Chase Young, who Kimiko now saw stood behind her, smirking.

Kimiko sighed. "I challenge you--"

Wuya, however, was not content to let Kimiko finish. "No, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown. Your falcon's eye against my reversing mirror."

"Fine." Kimiko's eyes narrowed. "What's the challenge?"

Wuya glanced around for a moment before picking up a piece of discarded metal she found on the ground. "Retrieve the jack."

So that's what the piece of metal was. Probably lost by some child that had been playing in the area. Kimiko nodded, and together they yelled, "Gong yi tempai!"

And then the landscape began to shift. A bird flew by, snatching the jack out of Wuya's hand. As it did so, water burst from a rock and soon they had a steadily flowing stream, which the bird dropped the jack into. Between them and the river, and obstacle course of brush and logs formed. They would have to move quickly if they wanted to even reach the river before the jack was lost.

They ran toward the river as fast as they could, jumping over logs and sticks as they went. Kimiko struggling to keep up and failing due to Wuya's longer legs. Well, she'd just have to move them twice as fast then, wouldn't she? With a sudden burst of energy, Kimiko just managed to catch up with Wuya when the ancient witch shoved her to the ground.

"Why you--!" No. No time for insults. Wuya was getting away! Kimiko raced after her, then paused. She wasn't going to catch up with Wuya by just chasing her, and if she wanted to play dirty, Kimiko could do the same. "Wudai Mars -- Fire!"

A blast of fire shot out hitting a bit of brush that stood in Wuya's path, sending it up in flames. Kimiko went a different way, running to the river and diving in while the startled Heylin witch back tracked to get around the rapidly spreading flames. The water was not Kimiko's element, however, so any advantage she had would be gone once Wuya reached the river, so she'd have to move quickly. Swimming as quickly as she could downstream despite the drag her clothes created, and glad she didn't have to go in the other direction, Kimiko stuck her head above the water to cry out, "Falcon's eye!" Diving down, Kimiko used the wu to search the area around her when she saw it, deep under the surface of the water. Still watching it, Kimiko lifted her head above the surface of the water to get one final breath of air before diving after it when she heard a voice.

"Reversing mirror!" And everything through the falcon's eye went black. Instead of allowing her to see what she normally couldn't, now it blocked her from seeing what she normally could. Kimiko shoved the now useless wu into her pocket and glanced around, seeing Wuya not far behind her. She dove under after the jack, hoping it hadn't moved too much and Wuya dove after her, likely realizing that if either of them knew the general location of the jack, it was Kimiko. Fortunately, she found, it had gotten lodged in a tree root. She reached for it and, seeing a well manicured hand join her own, frantically made a grab for it, but in her sudden movement, Kimiko only succeeded in dislodging it, after which it was rapidly whisked downstream by the tide. Kimiko swam forward, kicking Wuya in the face as she did so, lending herself the extra momentum she needed to get closer to the jack as well as slowing Wuya down.

There! She saw it! Almost there…almost there…Kimiko grabbed for it. She missed. She grabbed for it again. Got it!

The showdown was over. The water washed away, and the victorious and dripping Kimiko while the equally wet Wuya glowered at the girl, but joined Chase who teleported her away.

Joining her fellow monks, Kimiko said, "I want to try this out."

"Sure," Raimundo agreed, "but who should we listen in on?"

It didn't take much thought. Kimiko still wondered why Jack hadn't shown up to the showdown, and listening in on him would let them know about any schemes he was currently working on.

"Who else? Omniecho Parrot, let us hear Jack Spicer."

A moment later, the sound of Jack's terrified scream came from the wooden bird.