The dragon's speed brought the four monks across the North Pacific Ocean in a matter of minutes. As they came closer to their destination, the beast emerged from the clouds to reveal a cluster of tall buildings and numerous little bodies moving on the ground. At the sight of the Golden Gate Bridge, three out of the four monks knew exactly where they were.
"Hey, doesn't Jack live in California?" Raimundo questioned.
Dojo shrugged his shoulders, "Not sure, but I'm definitely sensing a Wu around here." The people of San Francisco were too busy with their own daily activities to notice a large green dragon flying overhead; and the ones that did notice the shadow assumed it was an advertisement banner being pulled by an airplane.
At the sight of a beach with massive waves crashing onto the sandy shore, the tan boy's need for fun flickered. "Can we catch some waves after this?" He was hoping no one would object, but at the sight of the dragon's unamused glare he held up his hands in defense. "Alright, sheesh!"
Dojo flew a few miles away from the city until they were above a more suburban neighborhood. He landed on the empty road and shrunk back to carry-size before any onlookers had the chance to double-check their sanity.
"This place isn't so bad," Kimiko stated before getting excited. "If we find the globe soon, we can go see one of those parades!"
Clay seemed to shrink at the mention of a parade, "Sorry Kimiko, but I'd have to pass on that one. Those parades give me the willies."
At the mention of such a joyous event, Omi spoke up. "A parade? Oh, I like parades!"
"I don't think you'll like the one they're talking about..." Raimundo chuckled, imagining the monk's expression if he ever did attend a parade in San Francisco.
Ignoring their conversation, the dragon stuck his nose in the air before he caught the strong scent of the Shen Gong Wu. "This way!" He pointed with a claw before slithering forward. The four followed until the dragon lead them out of the cluster of houses and into a much richer part of the neighborhood. The houses were not only bigger, but were more spread out and seemed to become more extravagant than the next as the group kept walking.
A whistling noise came out of Raimundo as he stared at the mansions. "I bet whoever lives here is lovin' life!"
"Those houses are huge!" Omi gawked, never before seeing such large houses for just one family.
The only girl shrugged her shoulders, not too impressed by the mansions. "They're cool...but I've seen bigger."
Without hearing their conversation, Dojo slithered up a small flight of stairs to one of the large houses. He sniffed around the door and pointed at it. "It's in here."
"Great...another family heirloom probably!" Raimundo crossed his arms. "Thanks for starting a trend Clay."
"Hey now, at least we were able to get the Star Hanabi!" The large boy defended himself. "We probably don't even know who ever's livin' in this here coop!"
"Or if they'll want to give it to us," Kimiko added.
Omi smiled optimistically before going up to the door. "I am sure if we explain the situation, they will understand completely!"
A scoff came from Raimundo before he added, "Or they'll think we're loco..." The short monk ignored his comment and stood on his tiptoes to push the doorbell. All five of them heard the melodic chime from the other side of the white door. At the sound of movement from the other side, Dojo crawled up Omi's arm and took his place along the monk's shoulders.
Inside the house, they heard a feminine voice say, "Give me that!" followed by a not-so feminine, yet not-so masculine, voice order, "Don't open that door!". The order had been ignored completely as the door was opened by girl about Kimiko's age. She had dark skin, brown eyes, and short wavy black hair, which had been pulled back into two pig tails; she was wearing a uniform, suggesting she had just gotten home from school. Up against her hips and hand was what looked like a snow globe. The pedestal had intricate patterns carved into it and the inside of the globe only had water and a large amount of white flecks, which were supposed to represent snow.
The girl stared at them with an unamused look and asked, "Can I help you?"
Before anyone had time to answer with an excuse, Omi spoke up to tell the truth. "Yes! You see, what you have there in your hand could lead to WORLD DE-"
Very quickly, Raimundo covered the boy's mouth and smiled nervously. "Uh...What he meant to say was...um... Would you want to by some cookies?" His grin grew wider, hoping she would buy it, even as Dojo did a little face-to-palm action.
She raised an eyebrow and stated the obvious, "I don't see any cookies."
Though the other monks were not too happy with their teammate's plan, they played along anyway.
"That's because...you have to order them first!" Kimiko added with a grin.
"Uh...yeah!" Clay added on, "Fresh baked cookies are always better than the kind that sit in a box all day long."
For a while the girl just stared at them before placing her free hand on the door. "My parents aren't home right now, so I'm gonna have to say 'no'," she began shutting the door when Raimundo grabbed it and pointed at the snow globe.
"Oooh, cool globe-thingy!" He feigned interest.
The girl's suspicious stare turned into a look of realization. "You're the people Jack was talking about!"
"Jack?" Omi repeated, "Jack Spicer?"
"Yeah!" The girl opened the door and pointed behind her.
Standing awkwardly in the clean hallway was the self-proclaimed 'boy-genius'. Jack waved at them with very little enthusiasm, "Hey guys."
"What the heck are you doin' here?" Clay asked with a bit of aggression in his voice.
While Jack was refusing to explain himself, by sticking his tongue out and taunting them, Omi tried to take the globe out of the girl's hands before she could notice.
"Heeeey," She felt him tugging on the globe and brought it up to her face, along with the still-clinging monk. "What do you think you're doing?" The short boy laughed nervously as a response.
It was Clay who decided to come clean to her, "Sorry ma'am but we need that globe! Jack over 'ere's been messin' with yer head. He's an evil...er, well...he tries to be evil...but, he ain't gonna use it for good intentions."
"Sooo...why would you need my snow globe?" She asked.
"Because it could be used to destroy the world if not in the right hands!" Omi dramatically informed.
Again, the dark-skinned girl stared at him like he was crazy. "It's just a snow globe..."
"Maybe we should demonstrate for her?" Raimundo suggested, "After all, it's not like Jack can win a showdown."
"Hey I've won showdowns...! Once or...twice..." Jack stated before sounding disappointed.
Kimiko rolled her eyes and scoffed at the pale boy. "Yeah, biiig accomplishment. Even after those "wins" you still lose the Shen Gong Wu."
Jack gritted his teeth, "Oh, go to the parade! Maybe then you'll pass out from blood-loss..."
"Enough!" Omi interrupted, "We shall demonstrate." The short boy yanked the globe out of the girl's hands before going over to Jack and saying in a not-so-motivated tone, "Jack Spicer, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown. Do you accept?"
"I don't know...you gotta sound like you mean it first."
An aggravated mumble came from the monk before he yelled, "JACK SPICER! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN! DO YOU ACCEPT!"
Jack rubbed his ear from the pain and the sudden ringing. "Ow! Fine! I accept your showdown!"
"That is what I know." Omi grumbled.
"That's what I thought..." Raimundo corrected him.
"Correct! The challenge shall be..." The bald boy looked around the room before his eye caught a tank full of fish. "First to catch a fish wins! Your Monkey Staff against my Orb of Tornami." While the other monks prepared themselves for the change a Xiaolin Showdown would bring, the dark-skinned girl just watched in confusion at what was happening.
"Fine, let's go!" Jack exclaimed. The moment both boys declared "Xiaolin Showdown" a bright light flashed before everyone's eyes. The moment it was gone, the fish tank broke and let forth a wave of water that was not possible for such a small container to hold. The water flooded the entire lower floor of the house, forcing those on the sidelines to stand on a floating table. The dark-skinned girl stared in horror at what had happened to her house; especially when her father's very expensive HDTV floated by.
"What the heck!" The girl gawked, "My house!"
Kimiko merely crossed her arms, "Well, we did try to tell you about it..."
"Gong Yi Tempai!" The two boys hollered simultaneously before the snow globe disappeared into the water. There were more fish than before, but they had all stayed the same size to make the challenge harder.
Thinking that being a wild animal would make the challenge easier, Jack pulled out a staff with a monkey engraved at the top. "Monkey Staff!" He hollered before most of his pale skin was covered with thick fur. Canines formed in his mouth and a tail sprouted from his pants. A strange monkey-like howl came from him before he began groping at the water for fish. The small creatures swam through his fingers easily, making him snarl in frustration.
Omi, however, giggled at the monkey-Jack's attempts of getting the fish. "Silly Jack, you cannot win!" The monk pulled a great blue orb from his sleeve and exclaimed, "Orb of Tornami, Ice!" A beam of ice shot out of the orb and froze the water around Jack's hand, which was still in the water. In a panic, Jack began to screech and punch at the ice; he even began hitting at it with the Monkey Staff, but the surface would not even crack.
Taking his time, the bald monk picked up a container of fish food from the water and began to sprinkle the flakes onto the surface. When the fish began to migrate towards the surface for the food, Omi plucked the closest one out of the water by its tail. "See Jack? I told you I would win!" The monk beamed, but frowned when the fish wiggled out of his fingers and slapped his cheek before plopping back into the water.
Another bright flash appeared before revealing that almost everything had been returned to normal. The fish tank was not broken and all floating furniture had been put back to their original places; however, there were still puddles of water all over the floor.
The three monks and girl stepped down from the table before Clay turned to her and asked, "D'you believe us now?"
the girl stared down at the puddle she was standing in before saying, "I guess I have to now...So...you're gonna help me clean my house up now, right?"
Dojo jumped down to the ground quickly before interjecting, "Nope! Sorry kid, no time." He transformed into his larger self, waiting for all of the monks to get on his back before he flew out of the house...through the roof. Bits and pieces of shingles fell into the room, missing the stunned girl and cowering Jack.
She turned to the only boy remaining with fire in her eyes. The pale boy grinned meekly at her, "Heh...sorry about...losing your globe?"
"Since you're a 'genius'," She started, "you will fix my roof! AND CLEAN MY HOUSE!"
The boy shrunk away from her, "Uh...how about I...get the hell out of here?" Two propellers emerged from his backpack and began to swirl in fast circles. He lifted off the ground and began to fly out of the house. "So long, Fulgora!" the boy hollered before disappearing into the sky.
Fulgora growled and clenched her hands into fists. "JAAACK!" It was then that the door to her house opened to reveal the girl's parents. She groaned at the scolding she knew was coming up, "Fuck my life..."