A/N: Okay, so this turned out a lot worse than what I was hoping for... just a warning. Big Guai and Little Guai get Doctor Black to create a time machine to send them to the past so they can get the Heroes on their side to take over Planet Xing. Of course, it doesn't work out the way they wanted...
"This Xiao... he loves talking and rambling on. It's really weird; his personality has changed so much!"
"It must have been when we were trying to open the box that the stones got damaged, changing the Heroes."
"Then, if Xiao is like this, then what about the others?"
"...Kai has become sad and pessimistic, Tian is timid and easily scared, Hua has no self confidence whatsoever, and Chu can now memorize anything he sees!"
"...well, this should be interesting..."
1) Xiao glanced around and carefully slipped inside the room. No one noticed him; they were all preoccupied with the current speaker. It was a convention of sorts, a bunch of supposedly-smart people gathered to discuss a certain powerful object. The object he was sent to retrieve.
By the time they figure out the danger, it'll be too late...
His eyes narrowed as he spotted the key card he would need to get the object. It was currently hanging around the neck of one of the speakers, and if he wanted get close enough to use his rubix cube to copy the key, he would have to go up in front of everyone.
He saw an opening and he took it. "I have something to say..." he said smoothly, slipping to the front. Unfortunately, the speakers weren't too keen on letting, in their minds, a mere child speak.
"Get lost kid," one said. "We don't need you here." And they all seemed to agree.
Except for one.
"You don't have to agree with him, but [he has the right to make a point!] [he's allowed to make a point!] [at least listen to what he has to say!]" someone protested, making his way to the front. Xiao recognized him as the man who had just gotten shot down for "proposing ridiculous ideas and not having anything to back it up".
"Only invited guests may speak," was the snobbish reply. And then, Xiao's defender was suddenly in front of him, pinning a small badge onto the front of his shirt.
"See, he's my assistant! Now he can speak, right?"
Oh, the joy of loopholes.
The others reluctantly let him onstage, but the key card was still too far away. He'd have to get closer somehow. However, he'd have to say something first.
He looked out at the crowd and the flash of the cameras nearly blinded him, making him even more nervous than before. Just say something random. Anything. I'm always cut off anyway.
But then, he saw the man who defended him smiling encouragingly at him. "Don't be scared, I believe in you!" he called.
A cheesy thing to say, Xiao knew, but it helped nonetheless, and enabled him to say what he said next.
"Once there was a mountain, and on the mountain lived a monk..."
2) Chu looked left and right as he walked down the aisle, his eyes absorbing every detail around him. It has to be here somewhere, there's no way I would have missed- there!
Having spotted the object he needed, he dashed over and grabbed it- only to find someone else had gotten a hold of it too.
"I saw it first!" they shouted simultaneously.
The stranger said, "This is outdated anyway; no one buys it anymore. You should get something else!"
"Don't think I'm clueless," Chu replied, smirking. "After just one glance, I can tell that it's a product of Planet Xing. It's 15.356 centimeters long, weighs 90.746 grams, and has a diameter of 4.342 centimeters!"
"Wow," the stranger said, impressed. "A true expert!"
Chu smiled and rather sheepishly said, "Not really, there's a sign right there. The point is, I remember everything I see."
"Even so, the fact that you'd want this shows that you know what you're doing, despite your age," he said. "So, you can have it."
Chu took the object with no small amount of surprise; he didn't think that the stranger would just let him have it like that. Before he could say anything, the man added, "Here, take this too." He held out a vial of liquid.
Chu took it and, looking at the two objects he held, commented, "You could make a powerful weapon with these two materials."
"Why does it have to be something that harms others? With the same materials, you could make something useful; something to help other people!" And with that, the man turned and walked away.
3) Tian huddled on the ground shivering, even though it was a relatively warm night.
She knew she should have just pulled the plug once, stolen the object, and gotten out of there, but when she did, every light went out, and it was dark... scary... And now, the entire city was dark.
A sudden light made her look up- someone was shining a flashlight on her. "What's wrong?" he asked kindly.
"It's so dark... I'm scared of the dark..." she said.
The man looked thoughtful for a moment, then unscrewed the light bulb from the flashlight. Tian curled back into a ball with the sudden darkness, but before long, there was light again.
Tian looked up and saw him holding out the flashlight to her. "Here," he said.
She studied the flashlight; the bulb was now a smiley face, shining brightly at her.
"When you're scared, just take it out, and you don't have to be afraid anymore!" the man said. And it was true; just by looking at it, the smile- and the light- made Tian feel... better.
4) Hua was running for his life.
Of course the professor had to wake up, and of course he had to call all of his fellow scientists, including those on other planets. And now they were all chasing after them.
Beside him, Kai was was crying- as usual. "They're catching up..." he wailed. Hua felt like crying himself. If they were caught...
Then, a man appeared in front of them. "Quick, inside," he said, directing them into a small unassuming building. Hua was in no position to protest, so he and Kai went inside, followed by the man, who quickly shut the door and looked out the window.
"They're gone," he said after a moment, before sighing and muttering something along the lines of "all this fuss over two kids".
And then Hua heard, "Why are you hiding your face like that?"
He looked up to see the man in front of him. He scrambled back and, still covering his face with the cloth, replied, "Don't come near me, I'm too ugly!"
To Hua's relief, the man didn't come any closer. Instead, he left the room. Moments later, however, he was back. "I made a mask for you," he said. "If you wear it, you don't have to be afraid of people seeing your face." He helped Hua put it on, the held up a mirror for him to see.
"It- it is better," said Hua. "I... can face people now!"
The man smiled, then, without warning, tore the mask off. Hua saw his true reflection, and... it looked exactly the same as the mask had.
"See, you're not ugly at all," said the man. "Be more confident!"
He had felt safe with the mask. But, after taking it off, he hadn't changed at all. So, did that mean that he didn't need to hide himself in order to face the world?
5) Kai watched as Hua took a mirror and comb and began fixing his hair. He wondered at the change, but a moment later the man was standing before him.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Why are you crying?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead, he held something out.
"A sad face..." Kai said.
The man held it up and said, "You're right. But sometimes, a sad face..." he turned it upside down. "...can become happy!"
He gave it to Kai. "Little kids should smile more, right?"
Kai held it, and for the first time, well, ever, his eyes were completely dry.
A/N: I might add an epilogue later, but for now, that's it. Review? :D
I've always found it terribly ironic that the one who sent Big and Little Guai back in time was technically the same one who stopped their plan from succeeding. (In case you didn't know, it is Doctor Zhai who is in all five scenes.)
The beginning of Xiao's speech at the end of #1 was a reference to a particular never-ending story in Chinese. He went on for approximately three hours.
