Jack landed on the ground with a soft thud. The wind blew around him, freezing his ears. He flipped the collar of his jacket up around his ears, zipping it up. It covered his mouth. The Himalayas were cold at this time of year, apparently.

He was looking for the Baozhu de míngtian, meaning The Orb of Tomorrow. It teleported someone one day into the future for a time period just under twenty-four hours.

Dojo landed, and the monks hopped off his back. Shrinking, Dojo slithered up Clay, and slipped across his shoulders.

"Hey, Jack-ass," Raimundo called, feeling clever. Jack scowled towards him.

"How long did it take you to come up with that?" He asked, his voice muffled. Raimundo glared, and turned away from Jack, towards his friends.

"Ok, so, if you were a time-travel Wu, where would you be?" He asked Kimiko. She shivered.

"Somewhere warm?" She answered, "I almost want the Polar Paws." Her hair was gelled up in spikes around her neon green ear-cover. Her gloves matched her ear-cover, but everything else she wore was black. It had splatters of neon colours on it, but still, mostly black.

Omi was walking around the base of a outcrop of rocks. He stared upwards.

"It amazes me that the earth could create such impressive things." Kimiko looked at him as though she wanted to punt kick him.

"Omi, it's negative five degrees here, and you're taking in the scenery. Just look for the Wu, so we can leave." She shivered again, before blowing fire out of her nose. Omi sighed. Kimiko's snobby attitude was bothering him as of late.

"As you wish, oh mighty queen," He muttered bitterly. Clay sent him a look from five feet away. Omi sighed again, continuing to search. Suddenly, his slipped.

"AUGH!" Clay whipped around to look for him, and saw Omi disappearing through a hole in the ground. He ran over, calling out to Rai and Kimiko that Omi'd found something.

"Ya'll 'ight, Lil' Buddy!" Clay cupped his hands around his mouth to shout down the shortest of them.

"Yes!" Omi called back up, "Oh no!" The ground gave way under Clay, Rai, and Kim. Jack turned around as the underground cave-in continued towards him. As he activated his heli-pack, Jack fell.

The heli-pack caught him, saving him from injury, but he was inside of a now open cavern.

"Ughhhhh," Dojo slithered out from between rocks, "I forgot about this part." He muttered. Clay rose up out from the pile. Rai was helped Kimiko up, and Omi was staring at the damage. He hadn't been in the area of the falling rocks, but he was shocked.

"Omi, you okay?" Rai called over.

"Yes, I am fine." His voice was just above a whisper. Jack looked down, and right beneath his feet, the Shen Gong Wu was glowing. He swooped down, and grabbed it, but at the same moment, Clay did, too.

"Jack Spica', I challenge ya'll to a Xiaolin Showdown, yer Monkey Staff 'gainst meh Fist ah Tebigong!"

"Challenge?" Jack asked.

"First tah reach the top o' the mountain there above us wins."

"I accept." Clay and Jack were ripped away from each other, and reality changed. The ground below them dipped down, forming a deep crevice. The mountain above them shot up, high past the troposphere. Jagged outcrops burst out at random spots, providing something to climb on.

Jack activated the Monkey Staff, and start up the mountain. Clay followed closely after, but he was quickly loosing ground to the much more agile monkey-Jack. He smashed the Fist of Tebigong into the side of the mountain, after making sure his footing was secure. Jack felt the vibrations, and activated his heli-pack.

After the shaking stopped, he deactivated it, and continued climbing. Clay tried again several times to shake Jack loose, or attack him, but Jack moved to fast. He evaded every offensive effort, and knew better than to attack Clay.

He grabbed the newest Wu, and the reality returned. Clay was standing near his friends, breathing harshly.

"Next time, Imma get them Wu from ya'," He promised. Jack laughed at him, replying, "Maybe."

Chase had watched the showdown, and was slightly impressed by Spicer. Sure, Clay had chosen a challenge that he'd obviously had no chance at winning. But with Clay having no chance, Jack's chances of winning only improved about one percent. The boy was just that weak.

"Still watching the monks, Chase?" Wuya asked, sneering.

"Spicer won, oddly enough." He told her, ignoring her tone of voice.

"Who'd he fight?" She leaned on a wall, letting her long hair wrap around her waist.

"Bailey." He walked past her, headed to his training room.

"Still thinking about what Hannibal said?" She was smiling darkly now, "I'm surprised you'd let such a little thing get to you."

"Silence," Chase said, his temper soaring, "My training has nothing to do with Hannibal. Even I must hone my skills constantly!" Wuya noted the embracement in Chase's voice. It was about that Jack thing.

Wuya turned to leave, and began to walk away. Halfway across the room, she paused, turning back towards the training room.

"Ya know, Chase, Jack hasn't been here in days. Maybe Hannibal was right, maybe he does think you're weak now." With that, she left.

Chase stopped his training, remembering that Jack had, in fact, not been around the temple in days. The thought of someone as pathetic as Spicer thinking of him as weak, it made him angry.

But there was something else. Something that felt heavy, deep inside of him. It made it hard to breath, and he hated it. It only increased his rage. Chase knew he knew the feeling, but he could not name it.

Author note: Crappy chapter needs work, but I can't say what's wrong with it. Someone be amazing and tell me so I can fix it? Really, telling me what's wrong with it will only make me happy, I love improving.

Reviews are love. 3

Okay, this is just a quick thing for everyone reading the story. Ever since the last update, things went downhill. My best friend, a guy who's like an older brother to me, and my number one trust-worthy, go to him for help whenever I feel awful person… He's decided that he isn't going to be talking to me anymore, and treating me like crap when he does acknowledge me. I can't write when unhappy, I have writer's block. I keep trying to write, but… I just… can't… I have three sentences in the next chapter. I just wanted to let anyone who still cares about this know. Everything sucks, I can't fix it, and I have no one to rely on. I'll try to write more and update, but I barely have energy for schoolwork anymore. Pretty sure this is called depression, but whatev's. I don't friends. ~3