Hey everyone, this is my first completed fan fiction. The completed version is on my deviantART account which you can find in my profile. I've finally decided to get an account and post my fanfics here as well so I hope you like them, tell me what you think in the reviews and I'll be uploading the other chapters as they get edited. The chapters here will be edited, the raw/original version can be found on my deviantART page. Happy reading.
Oh and warning this does contain light fluff between two men, so if you don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown and any characters or actual Shen Gong Wu from the show. Only the Shen Gong Wu that I made up for this story are mine.
Job-hunting and the Sakura Clip
Jack Spicer, evil boy genius was unfortunately once again, broke. He had destroyed his mother's favorite vase the other day when his cleaning bot malfunctioned. It was no surprise that his parents decided to cut him off...again. Jack leaned back in his chair wondering what he could do on a budget of nothing. Jack couldn't possibly fix or upgrade or even invent any of his robots if he didn't have the right parts. He honestly wasn't going to bother asking Pandabubba a third time after being cheated twice. Jack leaned against his table and decided that it was high time to go get a job, which he would do after he got the next Shen Gong Wu. Jack took his detecto-bot and left his evil lair using his heli-bot.
"Wuya, prepare to be defeated!" Jack heard a familiar high-pitched voice belonging to a certain ego driven monk.
"Defeated? Me? You can't defeat me, I'm a 1500 year old Heylin witch," Wuya taunted as she always did now that she had her body again.
"Yeah, but you got no powers," Raimundo, the Shoku Leader, pointed out.
"I'll show you power. Thorn of Thunderbolt!" Wuya shouted as she attacked the Xiaolin warriors using the Shen Gong Wu.
For once Jack just went on looking for the Shen Gong Wu, not bothering to make any sort of comment about the Xiaolin warriors or Wuya. He was just going to quietly get the Shen Gong Wu, return home and go job hunting. Jack did however; look around for any signs of his long time idol and secret crush Chase Young. He didn't see any signs of the dragon lord and continued his search for the wu, which hadn't been found yet. It was then that Jack saw the oddly designed item. It was in a tree, camouflaged with the other cherry blossoms that decorated the dark branches. Jack couldn't help but welcome the small sense of peace that Japan brought to him today. Jack plucked the Shen Gong Wu from the tree, careful not to disturb the other blossoms. It was a brooch and a clip, which meant that it could easily be put in his hair or pinned to his jacket. The nice thing was that the specific color of the sakura blossom was white, not pink. Which meant Jack didn't have to be bugged by Kimiko about the fashion rules of red and pink. Jack looked around and noticed that the Xiaolin were quickly approaching, with Wuya hot on their trail. Jack pinned the brooch to his coat and head home, wondering what the decorative Shen Gong Wu could do.
Jack returned home in one piece, which was surprising even for him. Luck must have been on his side today since he avoided the monks and Wuya twice, and got away with the new Shen Gong Wu. Now he would have to try out the Shen Gong Wu to see what it did, and even if it were useless, he wouldn't mind. This small decorative Shen Gong Wu proved to Jack that he could to something right.
Jack took the clip off his coat and held it out in the palm of his gloved hand. "Sakura Clip," Jack said. Jack watched as a shower of sakura blossoms and petals came from the small clip. Jack smiled softly, enjoying the little peace in his dark lair.
Jack pinned the Shen Gong Wu back onto his jacket and wondered if it did anything else besides shower sakura petals and blossoms. It acted much like the Star Hanabi Shen Gong Wu, which shot fireworks from its center, or the Orb of Tornami, which could release an infinite amount of water. But the Sphere of Yun could do two things, trap someone in an invisible and impenetrable force field as well as transfer the captive's powers and abilities to the captor.
"Sakura Clip," Jack said as he watched in the mirror for whatever would happen. He felt the magic surround him and change him, and it really did change him. Jack stared at his reflection amazed at what happened. He turned into a girl. Jack shrieked loudly for a moment and jumped away from the mirror before slowly returning to it and examining his changed body.
"Is... Is that really me?" Jack asked as he touched his face, which was a bit more feminine, despite it already being slightly feminine for a boy. His voice changed only slightly, it was smoother as a girl's, almost like it was supposed to be. Jack couldn't help but stare at his new figure. He looked adorable for a girl. He couldn't help but smile. "Well...better go job hunting...and maybe clothes shopping." Jack added as he looked at his clothes, which were still fitting but he needed more girl clothes because he had a feeling he would be using this wu a lot. Before he left he turned back into a boy and asked his mom for money for clothes and she gladly gave him more than enough, as she liked buying him clothes.
Jack walked out of his house as a boy before turning back into a girl to go to the mall. When he got there, he found a Victoria's Secret store and decided that he would need to get a bra as he at least had A-cup breasts now. As scrawny as he was, he knew he wasn't going to get as large rack as a girl, but he didn't mind. Jack cautiously walked in, completely embarrassed. A sales associate asked if he needed anything, and he told the lady his situation and she gladly helped him. In about half an hour Jack had been fitted with the right size bra, picked out a few of different styles and materials and some boy-shorts because he would never let himself be seen wearing panties or worse a thong.
Jack's next stop was Hot Topic because he liked dark colored clothes and it was one of the best stores for both guy and girl clothes. He picked up some clothes for both genders, as he would be switching between them.
After buying some clothes there, just to make his mom happy he went into one of the fancy stores that he never remembered the name of so that he could get nice clothes for when he went job-hunting, because if his parents had taught him anything, it was that first impressions are most important when looking for a job. Jack had enough suit jackets, slacks, ties, shirts, and whatever else was proper attire for a boy going to his parents' parties. Since he was set for that, he walked into Papaya, which had some really nice girl clothes, and picked out a few dresses, some dress shirts, some skirts and a few pairs of slacks. Somewhere between there and Payless Shoes he got some tights and leggings. When he finally made it to Payless Shoes he got some heels and practiced walking in them, which was hard because he was already somewhat of a klutz, but after a while he was able to walk without wobbling. Jack knew that he would have to practice more when he got home. He got a few boots and flats too. Jack was glad his mom gave him all that money because he definitely needed it.
When Jack was finally finished, he called for a taxi and went home. It was easy for him to be unnoticed when he came home as his mom had left for some social at another friend's house. Jack went up to his room and organized his clothes. He loved having his big room and was glad that he had enough space for all his clothes. He never thought he needed so many clothes, but it was nice to be a bit dressed up. When he was finished, he called the name of the Shen Gong Wu and turned back into his true self.
Jack walked over to his dad's study and picked up the newspaper to look through the wanted ads section. Jack was in luck as he found a few places where he could possibly work at. Three of them were companies in engineering and robotics production, which was the perfect field for Jack, and another three of them were for cafes in his town. Jack called the three companies first as they required an appointment. Jack easily got the interviews scheduled for the companies and had them relatively all around the same time. The teen decided to take a shower, and put on a clean dress suit and some slacks before returning to his room. He put on a tie and combed his hair back all the way so it was slicked back and not spiked as it usually was. It made him look professional enough for his age. Jack pulled on a pair of dress shoes and went to his computer to work on a proper resume.
Jack had never worked before so he knew he would need one to show his possible employers what his experiences were. Jack was tempted to put down hunting Shen Gong Wu, but ultimately decided against it. When Jack was finished he printed it out and grabbed a few old blueprints and went to the garage where his car was. His parents got a car for him when he got his license and he was glad too. It was a black Porsche, fast, and elegant, and of course it was a car his parents could afford. Jack got into his car and drove over to the first company building for his first interview.
Jack wasn't hired because he was too young. He absolutely hated that. It was an outrage. Just because he hadn't gotten a degree in college didn't mean he couldn't do the work they needed him to do. And they didn't like that he was albino, said it would "scare the other workers". Well fuck them all, Jack would just find a way to start his own business later.
Jack decided to check out the three cafes that had wanted ads in the paper. Sure enough they still had wanted signs in the window and lots of customers. Jack had decided to go into each place and figure out which one he liked the most and inquired what the pay was like.
The one cafe he liked most was bigger than the others, needed the most help, paid well and was the most well known cafe in his town. It had enough fame for rich people like his family to want to stop there. The service was very good too. Jack made a decision and chose to come back tomorrow for a job interview. He spoke with the manager and found that they needed more male waiters than female waitresses on the weekends and the weekdays they didn't need anyone really. The busiest days were Friday through Sunday. Jack asked if he could have a job application so that he could work there, but the manager just said, "You're hired Jack. Go ahead and fill this out and I'll see you tomorrow. We'll have a uniform ready for you tomorrow. Thanks a lot for helping us out."
"Hey, I need the money, and I think this place is really great," Jack said as he filled out the form he was given which asked him for personal information as well as the hours Jack could work. Jack asked which times were busiest on weekends. Afternoons and evenings were the busiest as everyone was enjoying tea and snacks or coffee and desert during those times. Jack checked off the evening shift for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When Jack was finished he handed his form back to the manager.
"Thanks Jack. See you tomorrow," the manager said as he shook Jack's hand.
Jack went back to his second favorite cafe and found that they needed more female workers during the day because more men came to the cafe for lunch since many companies were around the cafe. Jack took a job application and went back home. Jack put the Sakura Clip in his hair and activated it. After he turned into a girl he put on a more casual shirt, a skirt and a pair of heels. Jack took a long look at himself and smiled. He easily filled out the application and went back to the cafe.
Jack was instantly hired as he was apparently very attractive and his coloring was unique. They valued individuals there and they had various different uniforms to fit the worker's personal style. It was in a way, a host cafe as one of the waiters explained to Jack, or Jackie as he called himself in his female form. Regular customers would request their favorite waiter or waitress and other waiters and waitresses would take care of the other customers, eventually getting people to request them too. Jack liked it here and the other cafe, because he was different and he could be attractive. Actually since he had started hunting Shen Gong Wu nearly four years ago he had been getting a little bit more physique, not much but a little. His baby face was almost gone but it still held that youth that girls and some boys liked. Jack had known he was homosexual for a while, but hadn't quite come out of the closet yet. No matter, both his new jobs would provide some help in figuring out who he was.
The waiter who was helping him get accustomed to his new environment showed him where everything was and how to use everything. It was all very simple and Jack could easily remember how to do his new job. The waiter led him to the girls' locker room where they found a locker and put his name on it. Then he took him to the room where they had the uniforms. According to the manager, for special occasions, the entire staff would wear matching uniforms. Jack didn't mind, he thought it was kind of fun. Jack looked through the different outfits and found a black and red waitress dress and smiled. He knew it was perfect for him and found a pair of black and red striped tights and a pair of black boots, which completed the outfit. Jack smiled at his reflection in the full-length mirror after he changed and walked out of the locker room. This would be his uniform and he would do his best at work.
Jack's day was nothing less than satisfying. Many of the regulars who came had asked to see the rumored new girl, Jackie. He felt bad for stealing his co-workers "clients" but they weren't upset about it. It wasn't like their pay was determined by it. It was just a little thing the manager wanted to do to separate their cafe from others in town. Jack was glad that his co-workers were friendly, and it was nice in a way to have some human friends, though he was still a bit of an outcast for now. He would work there for four hours in the afternoon, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The next evening he learned how to properly wait tables as well as do all the other things he needed to do at the fancy cafe he worked for. The uniform wasn't bad. It was similar to what he wore the day he was hired, though a bit more casual. A white dress shirt, necktie, black vest, slacks and dress shoes were the required uniform. It was actually nice. Jack was also popular here and didn't mind being nice to the customers since they gave him compliments and not insults. His co-workers liked him too, a few of the older ones invited him to a party once, but he respectfully declined as he had other things to do.
When Jack got back home from his second day of work he took a long relaxing bubble bath and calculated how much money he was making a week.
"Let's see...I work four hours a day, two days a week for $8 an hour at the Simply Sweet Cafe, which I work as a girl in a totally cute Goth kind of outfit, so that means there I make $64 a week. Then there's the Mystic Cafe where I work three nights a week, for three hours a night at $10 per hour, which is another $90. So in total I make... $154 a week?!" Jack was surprised at how much money he was making a week. He'd have to pay and file taxes and tax returns but it didn't matter, just knowing he made that much made him smile. Most people would say that it really wasn't that much money, but Jack knew that some money was better than no money. And from his first two days of work he was well liked so there didn't foresee any problems.
After Jack got out of his bath he pulled on some pajamas and looked at his new pocket planner that he purchased. For now it was blank, but it wouldn't be when he wrote down his schedule. Jack turned off the main light and crawled into bed, proud of himself having for once been successful at something.