A/N: Hello there and happy new year to you all! May the luck be with you at all times!
As always, I'm really grateful for reviews and any other form of support ^^
Chapter 7
Breaking the ice
"How quick can you have those of robots of yours ready to use?" Wuya asked. There was tension in her voice even Jack spotted without a problem, so she was truly nervous about something. Two uneventful weeks have passed since he managed to See. He filled most of the time with tinkering with his machines and trying to get a better grasp on that new ability of his. And even wandered from time to time into the mansion. Keeping contact with family was surprisingly nice thing to do. It felt warm on the inside. Even if he couldn't tell then anything about what he really was doing.
"It would still take few days," Jack said carefully, narrowing his eyes. "Why?"
"I can feel new Shen Gong Wu," she wheezed. "And it isn't just one...!"
"That's impossible!" Jack muttered, before he could bit his tongue. But it was way too early! What was with the timeline, it suddenly got hiccups or something? Because not even the Orb of Tornami decided to manifest itself yet, no mention the Serpents Tail…
Jack was about to start cursing the universe and this completely screwed timeline, when he remembered he wasn't alone. And he definitely shouldn't tell a soul about his knowledge about certain things. Especially if that soul was ghost of an ancient and evil witch.
Luckily, Wuya interpreted his words wrongly.
"No, it could happened," she said quickly." Dashi created hundreds of those items, so it is not that strange. Just unexpected, but not impossible. "
"Can you tell me, how many?" Jack lick his lips. "And how are they working?"
"Four, four of them!"
"Now, that suck!" Jack grimaced. "I can be only in one place at times. And even if I try to ask Tubbimura for help, we would be still lacking in people..."
"Call this Cat-Girl of yours too," Wuya decided. "Even if we can't trust her, she still could be useful."
"Yeah, she can at least get monks attention while I do the real job," Jack rolled his eyes. "But still, one Wu is lost anyway. We need to make a decision here."
The witch told him about the Wu. Like last time, the four which activated at the same time were the Lotus Twister, Longi Kite, Sun Chi Lantern and Tongue of Saiping.
"Longi Kite is completely useless to us as it is for the monks, we both have other means of transportation, " Jack shrugged. "Let the monks have it. But I will definitely need to get the Tongue, it sound really useful."
"The Sun Chi Lantern would be most dangerous tool if the monks learn to use it correctly."
"Yes, I know!" Jack exhaled loudly through his teeth, then smirked. "But at the same time if they screw up with using it, it could be really hilarious. Anyway, let Tubbimura go for it. He feel the need to prove he's not being completely useless, so he would fight really hard to get it."
"So, you wish to send Katnappe after the Lotus Twister?"
"It don't sound too dangerous, so even if she decided to grab the Wu and disappear it would not hurt us too much," Jack shrugged, already standing next to the computer, tapping at the keyboard. "I'm going to send messages now, can you tell me the localization of each one?"
He dealt with organization as fast as he could. Not that it was all that difficult; just talk two idiots into joining the plan and then share his Wu with them. Not that he owed all that much at the moment. Thanks to Tubbimura losing the battle with Raimundo he was left with bunch of items that were pretty much useless in battle. He handed Katnappe some useless junk and threw her out of his lab before she could protest and Tubbimura left with Changing Chopsticks. Jack hoped that at least the ninja would be back with his Wu, he quite like that trinkets. Through it wouldn't be all that inconvenient with him losing the Chopsticks to the monks either. Because it was a matter of one clean thievery. The idiots weren't even able to use them correctly, at least not in the timeline he remembered – no mention the fact they were unable to find practical use for them in the first place – so it would take quite some time before any of them decided to even check if that particular Wu was still in that stupid lair of theirs.
Gathering supplies for his own journey, Jack decided it was quite lucky that the most interesting Wu was localized in the ice wastelands. Snow was pretty much connected to every sport he was quite good at, so his chances in succeeding were growing rapidly. It was also really good time to check out how his Wu detector was working, since Wuya decided to fly after Ashley instead, still angry at the girl for stealing the Golden Tiger Claws and pretty much leading to the doom of one of most useful artifacts.
The detector was working like gold, leading him straight to a block of ice, inside of which he was able to spot dark shade of frozen object which could be only the Shen Gong Wu.
"Well, crap!" Jack decided. It was way too big to drag to the plane and unfroze in the basement and way too hard to just punch it in hoping it would break and free the artifact.
Luckily, he landed nearby and in the plane there was always kit of tools that might come useful. Like blow torch. He would need to be careful, but cutting chunks of ice around the Wu would make possible to transport it home for further defrosting.
He was still alone and there was no dragon in the skies right now, so he had time to set up some sort of tent around his working ground. Temperature difference between air and fire of his torch would make things different and he really didn't want the wind to go into his way too.
The work was really irritating. The ice was freezing all over again as soon as he was pulling away for just a short moment, the hot air was making him sweating, and the cold winter seemed to hit even harder, even if he was partially sheltered now. And huge chunk of ice almost felt on his foot.
He was halfway done, when one of the monks showed up.
It was Raimundo. He entered the tent with a smirk on his face, proud and sure of himself.
Jack felt uneasy. He lowered the torch slowly turning it off, then putted it away. Accidentally triggering it would be a really, really bad thing.
"I can see you made my job easier," Raimundo said with a smug smirk on his face and air of superiority radiating around him.
"Sorry, but you cannot have that one," Jack said, trying to sound like he wasn't afraid. Something about how Pendrosa was acting was really setting him on edge. Something was going to happen and it wouldn't be anything good at all. His instinct was practically screaming at him to get away this instant and as far as possible.
"I'm not asking," Raimundo hissed through his teeth. Then, suddenly, he was right next to Jack, pushing him away. The hit was strong enough that Jack felt down at tent canvas and dragged the whole construction down. The shock was strong enough to push the air out of his lungs. It took Jack a moment to get up and dark spots were still dancing before his eyes.
In the meanwhile, Raimundo walked around the block of ice and choose a spot. Jack got up just to see young monk kicking the ice hard. The rain of sharp, small chunks of ice hit Jack, sending him in the ground again, this time curled up in order to protect his face. Even if he was wearing goggles over his eyes, the whole movement was more or less automatic.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Jack screamed getting up on his feet yet again. Knees were shaking under him and he didn't even cared all that much about it. Dying while looking good about it wasn't high on his list of priorities at all. So he didn't care for his voice reaching really high–pitched tones either.
"Nothing at all," Raimundo didn't even look at Jack, too occupied by looking through all the ice pieces on the ground between them, searching for the Tongue of Saiping.
"Asshole..." Jack mumbled, but he looked down too. Now he definitely would not let Raimundo o away with the Wu. No chance in hell he will be playing nice also. The fucker could seriously hurt him and he didn't even cared! The anger took place of fear almost instantly, building up inside him at admirable pace.
They saw the artifact almost in the same moment and managed to get to the Wu in similar way.
"Spicer, I challenge you!" Raimundo spat, before Jack even opened his mouth.
"Your whatever, versus mine Eye of Dashi!" Raimundo grinned nastily. He knew that Jack currently hadn't many Wu, nor spectacular powerful ones. And he was using it to his advantage, pretty much putting on the table one of the most dangerous one of them all. "This is going to be a race. First person who grabs the Wu, wins it all. And to make things more interesting, we're racing on thin ice."
"You're on!" Jack hissed through his teeth.
The area created by magic for showdown was rather underwhelming. It was just huge frozen lake, with snow chunks here and shining with wet spots elsewhere.
The Tongue of Saiping was floating for a short moments between the boys, shining with bright golden light, and then flew away, heading straight in the center of the lake surface.
The ice croaked dangerously under them.
They started to moving forward at the same moment. Jack had more practice with moving on ice, so he was faster even without ice skates. But it was still quite slow pace. Why in the hell Pendrosa found the walking on thin ice a material for challenge? One could not die during the showdown, but falling into the freezing water would definitely be truly traumatizing experience. Especially if the ice surface would close upon the unlucky fellow.
Jack bit his lip. Just concentrate on moving forward, he reminded himself. Just walk, keep away from the wet spots on the ice surface as far as possible, grab the Wu, then run for your life…
Naturally, his enemy had other ideas.
"Eye of Dashi!" Raimundo roared, freeing the lightning bolt.
Jack immediately dropped on the ice, not carrying at all if he bruise badly by doing so. Everything was better than getting struck by the lightning. Luckily, the one created by the Shen Gong Wu was slower than the real one and it flew right over him, to finally stop at the far end of the arena. Ice made quite disturbing, croaking sound that echoed loudly in the air. Raimundo used his momentary advantage and skills to move forward.
Jack cursed under his breath. The monk was almost there. And he really couldn't let Pendrosa get the Wu. The idiot almost seriously hurt him twice in a row!
Jack get onto his knees and arms, but he not got up. On all four his face was at least partially hidden. And that was exactly what he needed right now. He took deep breath, calling upon the Sight. Wuya said, that it was mostly useless ability, simply letting its user to see the connection between everything in the world, turning the clearest of image into messed up piece of colors and thin lines. But she did not possessed the knowledge he did, no mention the understanding. She learned to simply force the world to work her way, without really understanding why it was acting in specific way at all.
Jack himself didn't know everything, wasn't even close, but he understood at least a bit and could think his way through several other details, what gave him at least idea what he was supposed to do. He looked for the blue threats around his left hand, still lying on the ice, burning with bright red fire for some reason. Then Jack raised his head, finding connection between threads between him and the ice surface right next to the Tongue, where Raimundo was heading.
"Crush..." he whispered. The sound echoed in the air in small red buzz of something that looked like lightning, then moved through him straight into the ice. He wasn't really going to crush anything at all. It was all about the sound of this word, which somehow seemed to be just right for this situation. All Jack did, was force few tiny bits to move faster. The chain reaction caused by it was almost immediate.
The ice broke completely by itself with loud crushing noise. Raimundo screamed and fell on the hard surface, far enough from the crack that water overflowing from under ice did not even touched him.
This was his chance. Jack grabbed the Shen Gong Wu of his choosing, the Mantis Flip Coin, and whispered its name and jumped forward, feeling magic of artifact enchanting his abilities.
He didn't dare landing on his feet, the ice was too thin for risking something like that. He landed on his shoulder and rolled over in the direction of Wu. The ice surface was breaking apart following his footsteps with loud, high pitched shriek of breaking glass.
Jack cursed and jumped forward once more, this time landing completely ungracefully right on the Wu. In the same moment the freezing water hit him with all its force. He was still shaken up, when magical territory disappeared. But he won! It was risky, it was stupid as hell, but he managed to win the showdown and use his new abilities. Almost hurting himself in the process, but it was quite good start.
He headed towards his plane, activating the Jetbootsu before Raimundo decided to do something he wouldn't like. He looked over his shoulder just once, only to meet Raimundo's eyes. What he saw in them, shaken him way more than freezing water, still dripping from his clothes.
xxx
"Hello, Tubbi! Need a ride?"
"Katnappe, right?" he nodded in her direction, stopping by the driver doors. The shiny convertible of hers definitely the best thing that happened to him all day. And the fact it was really fancy car didn't really matter. He never was the one to recognize even the most popular marks on the market nor he was interested in motorization at all. It was just about pretty girl stopping by rather than driving away and leaving him in the cloud of dust. Just a small mercy after rather misfortunate loss and wandering around really hot desert for far too long.
"You get the accent wrong, but yes," the girl smiled charmingly. "So? A ride?"
"Why are you here?" he asked. "Not that I'm not grateful for the gesture, but..."
"Oh, don't be like that, my interests in you are genuine!" she laughed a little. "Well, mostly."
He walked around the car and then climbed in the passenger seat, since a ride would be quite a nice thing in day like this one. He needed his rest before he start training, to get better and stronger. Next time he will met with the xiaolin monks, he would definitely walk away victorious. He had too.
Tubbimura eyes the girl in the driver seat. She didn't look like somebody beaten up too badly. Smirk on her face was saying just the opposite of it. And sparks in her eyes were telling him even more.
"You wishes to backstab Spicer, am I right?"
"What if I am?" She answered with a question and mischievous smile glued to her face.
"Well, you're out of luck then. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I lost my showdown."
"Aw, that's too bad!" she patted him on the knee. "But do not worry, I'm not like Spicer. I don't throw people away only because they were out of luck."
"What do you need from me?"
"Just your cooperation, dear!" her grin widened.
"You really want to betray Spicer," he raised eyebrow.
"Can you blame me?" the girl blinked, making innocent face. "He never ever cared about us, didn't he? Like he was sure from the start we aren't worthy of his time..."
Tubbimura was silent, thinking.
The Spicer kid indeed was acting strange towards him. With that little smile on his mouth and one eyebrow slightly raised, like he found hiring Tubbimura as a really good joke. it was truly infuriating, how this boy was confident about it, no mention how he acted during the fight. Polishing his nails, how dared he!
"You're right," Tubbimura finally nodded. "He indeed was truly awful man to work with."
"See?" Ashley said happily. "And I'm much better than him!"
"Are you telling me you want to hire me?"
"Not at all," she shook her head. "What I'm proposing is a partnership."
"Partnership?"
"No bossing around, my dear friend. Only working together. You in?"
"Where's the catch?" Tubbimura asked with a heavy sight. There always was some sort of a catch, no matter how good things seemed to look at first. He knew all too well that everything and everyone had a price. So he preferred to snoop around for a bit, just to check if he wasn't selling himself cheap.
"Catch?" she once again played the innocent card. "What catch? I just found the Shen Gong Wu interesting enough to be worthy fighting for. Aren't you?"
"They are indeed powerful tools," he carefully agreed, observing her with a corner of his eye, hoping for catching at least a glimpse of something that would tell him of her true agenda.
"And that's pretty good reason to grab a hold on a few of them, right?" she asked sweetly.
"What do you propose?"
"Right now, we have not many Shen Gong Wu," she sighed dramatically. "But I'm sure soon enough our situation will become way better!"
"Are you planning on stealing from Spicer?" Tubbimura raised eyebrows. "Or from the monks?"
"That is one way to do things," she shrugged. "Through I think, you don't like the idea all that much, don't you?"
"Indeed, I prefer honorable fight," Tubbimura nodded in agreement.
"So we can do just that," Ashley grinned. "Through I wouldn't put honor anywhere near Spicer. He's so much less than you are..."
"What is your plan?"
"First thing, we need to learn how to fight together well. With enemies like the Xiaolin monks we will need every advantage we can get, don't we?"
"And afterwards?" he snorted. "Taking over the world?"
"Nah," Ashley grimaced. "That would be just boring. I'm more for long, comfortable life... And I bet there would be a lot of strong guys who would like to try their skills against yours, right?"
xxx
Raimundo didn't run after Spicer. He stayed where he was, sitting where the end of showdown left him. He couldn't believe, what he just saw. Was that for real? Or just his mind was playing trick on him? It shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't have happened.
But no, the more he was thinking about it, the more he was sure that Spicer's eyes indeed flashed with bright red light when he touched the ice surface. And moment later the ice broke in straight line, heading right at him in astonishing pace.
He really did it. He really crossed the line and advanced from irritating obstacle to true danger. Raimundo exhaled deeply and then stood up, grimacing. The snow was really cold and he just touched it with his bare hand. He shrugged, then looked around.
Spicer left with the Wu in hurry, leaving everything else behind. Maybe he could find here something useful? He needed to wait for Dojo anyway, he might at least do something more interesting than standing there and freezing his ass off. And he might put the tent back up since it already was here. No reason to stand in the freezing wind if he hadn't to do so...
After he was done, he could look through abandoned stuff. Still needed to dig it out of the snow through. The stuff managed to get pretty much everywhere, even in the places that seemed impossible. There was a blow torch and other cutting tools around the place, through the torch stopped working. Shaking it or hitting it multiple times didn't work. he also found a suitcase with aluminium bag inside. Jack probably planned to carry still frozen Shen Gong Wu in it and defrost it at home. Or wherever he lived.
Lucky for him, there also was thermal flask with hot cocoa.
"Well, what do you know..." Raimundo mumbled taking a careful sip. Then another one, much bigger. Whoever Spicer was, he surely got all the good stuff. It tasted really good, not like that powdery stuff he remembered drinking from time to time. Thick and creamy, sweet almost enough to make his taste bud hurt from over–exercise.
"I'm going to kick his ass anyway," he declared loudly, making himself more comfortable in his waiting spot. There was a lot to think about, starting with some plan how to beat Spicer into the ground to how in the hell he was actually going to tell the others about his miserable failure in the Showdown.
xxx
"Crap, crap, crap!" was pretty much everything that was coming from Spicer's mouth, since the kid got back from his little trip for the Tongue of Saiping. He was pacing in his basement, walking in circles and looked like he was close to tearing hair out of his head.
"What it is now?" Wuya asked. She swallowed the 'boy' part down, knowing it would enrage her young apprentice even more. He was always so touchy upon this subject, almost like that single world was hurting him. Irritating. Compared to her he was but a child and was going to stay this way, no matter how old he managed to grow before he will finally die.
"You get the Wu you wanted most of them all," she continued. "True enough, that Cat-Girl decided to betray us once more, but you expected this already..."
"It's not about Ashley!" Jack shook his head, still not able to banish his panic away. "I think he saw it!"
"Who saw what?" the witch blinked, still unable to understand what he was talking about.
"I was fighting for the Shen Gong Wu with Raimundo," Jack sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "He was winning and almost threw me underwater too, with the way he was using the Eye of Dashi..."
"And?"
"And I used the magic to break the ice before him," he groaned. "I was careful to make it look natural, but I'm sure he managed to caught a glimpse of my eyes!"
"And why are you so stressed up about something like that?" Wuya chuckled a bit. "You wanted to learn magic to stand a chance against the Xiaolin Dragons in the first place!"
"Yes, I did," Jack rolled his eyes. "And I was planning on using that power... but when I would be way more stronger than now! I wanted keep them oblivious to my abilities as long as possible! But now... now they will be able to see me as a treat!"
"Oh, how tricky of you!"
"Well, now it doesn't matter!" Jack whined. "The truth is out... damn, I should have just let him get the Wu instead!"
"Oh, don't be like that!" Wuya patted him on the shoulder. Well, reached with one of her ghostly arms and simulated patting, since she hadn't no body to pat anyone with. But as far as she could tell, he appreciated the gesture.
"You don't know if he really saw it," she continued after that moment of pantomime. "And even if, he has only his word to prove it. Do you think somebody would really believe such story?"
"Well, everyone knows already we're working together..." Jack chewed on his lip.
"But would they believe I will be eager to share my secrets? That dragon of theirs, he do not hold a very high opinion about the generosity of mine,"
"Guess you're right," Jack finally sat down and relaxed a bit. "There is no way telling if they really knows about me. We need to wait to see about that one."
"Even if young Raimundo saw your magic, you can always just act like it was just his very own brain tricking him," Wuya proposed. It sounded like a pretty good idea. It should keep the kid from pacing on the walls like a lost fly.
"You mean, lie and play innocent?" Jack raised eyebrow. "But I'm not really good liar, you know..."
"That might be a problem," the witch sighed. "Whatever the situation is, now is the time you plan, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Jack smiled. "That what I do. Planning for all sort of occasions... I should put that on a logo, or something."
"Do that," Wuya nodded. "It will definitely give you some peace."
"I also need to learn more…" he mumbled, then looked at her, waiting for reaction.
"How so?" she would definitely raise eyebrows if only she had her physical body at disposal. But without it she could only put a slightly surprised expression on the mask she used as face of sort.
Jack sighed, then decided to gave her explanation.
"If they decide that I AM dangerous, they definitely would fight seriously with me. And then, there wouldn't be any chance for me to get any Wu at all," he visibly shuddered. "No mention the beating I could get out of it."
"So, you're just afraid?"
"You should be too," Jack smirked. "Since I'm the only one who's loyal to you enough to keep coming back, even if you switch sides on me–"
"Oh, you still bring it on?" Wuya chirped sweetly. "You know you're the only one I'm teaching..."
"Yeah. And the more useful I'm to you, the more powerful I am, right?"
"Are you planning on overpowering me, my dear student?"
"You? After you finally gain your body back?"Jack laughed silently. "I have read through legends, you know. There's no chance you would ever consider me as a treat."
And that was definitely the truth. Well, almost. He not only managed to learn all he could from the books about his frienemy of sorts, but he saw with his own eyes, how powerful she could be, while holding upon all of her powers. It was painful to admit, but if Chase didn't take her magic away when he decided to let her gain her material form once more, even he would definitely get his scaly ass kicked pretty badly. Wuya was in the league of her own way ahead of anybody else. To think, what a dangerous game he was playing…
"True enough," she nodded, smiling lazily. "If I'm going to have only one pawn, let it be at least a powerful one."
"Only a pawn?" Jack snorted, displeased with her statement. "I hoped at least for a knight..."
xxx
Later that day, he climbed up the stairs, to visit his second life. Or maybe it was the third? Hard to tell. Jack shook his head. There was lie upon a lie with a lie at its base. How long, before something goes wrong and his facade fell apart like a house of cards? Because things like that never last long. Sooner or later, Wuya would get her brain back and find out he was just milking everything he could get out of her.
And the moment was closing in. The moment she would try to construct Mala Mala Jong was the moment he will be forced to take a run for it. Not that he hadn't planned for it since the very beginning. He needed a power of his own, not powerful witches and demons wandering around and wreaking havoc. No mention, the taking over the world part.
But that one wasn't the scary one. It was going to be revealed anyway. When Raimundo discovered his magic, Jack didn't freaked out as much as he wanted Wuya to believe, through that one was rather troublesome. No, there was only one thing that actually scared him witless even when he was only thinking about it.
"Hi, mom," he smiled brightly, feeling anything but. "How was your day?"
"Oh, hi honey!" she smiled back. "Out of your basement to catch some fresh air?"
"You can say that," he shrugged. "And I don't spend there that much of my time anyway!" That he added quickly, because she was just about to raise her eyebrow. And then she would probably tell him to try out some other sport and, before he will be able to even blink, he would end up in ridiculous girly get–up, doing some strange stuff that somebody not right in the head called once a sport. Once was enough. It literally took him years to get out of the whole deal with figure skating.
"Oh really?" mom raised her eyebrow anyway.
"Really! And I got plenty of exercise also!" Jack protested loudly, waving his hands and feeling unavoidable doom approaching.
"Oh?" she giggled. "You started fitness training down there?"
"No, I told you before, I'm getting out! Travelling the world! And stuff!"
"Yeah, that 'stuff' would be about that," mom shook her head. "Would you mind helping me a bit in the kitchen?"
"I guess so?" Jack blinked, a little bit surprised. She never before asked him for something like that. On the other hand, he never was spending a lot of time with his parents, finding it annoying as hell. Funny, how people change.
So he ended up chopping and slicing things, while mom was mixing the ingredients and adding spices.
It smelled nice.
It felt nice too.
"Did something happened?" she asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Jack blinked. "No, why are you asking?"
"You seem to be down a little," she smiled gently. "You can talk to me, if you want."
"I know I can," Jack stopped chopping and put the knife away. "You told me it once before."
"And you told me, you're feeling okay," she sighed. "But you seemed so sad all the time. I just can't stop, but worry. You know how's mothers are, right?" she took new portion of chopped things from him. "We always worry, even if there's no real reason to do so."
xxx
"You saw how the world looked like," Jack recalled once more Wuya's words, almost hearing her croaking voice in his ears. "And now, you're going to try to feel it. Not like touching it, but really feeling, like odor in the air, ghostly touch on your shadow. It can help you feel the disturbance in the balance between good and evil, but also recognize danger coming in your way. The xiaolin side calls it by the name of Tiger Instincts, but they barely scratched the surface."
But how in the hell he was supposed to feel anything at all, with her hanging in front of his face? Even as a merely ghost, her presence was overwhelming.
But he was at least able to feel that one alright. But it was hard not to. She was like burning darkness, swallowing everything around her without even thinking about it.
Wuya naturally promised him more, much more, but he was supposed to get more Sheng Gong Wu for that to happen.
And the Helmet of Jong just activated.
Winning it was easy enough, because of Omi's stupid idea of a showdown.
Now, it was just waiting for the Hearth of Jong. And Wuya knew that too, trying with all her might to force his hand.
And why not?
Sometime, he needed to test his abilities. Sometime, he needed to take a chance and see, how far he was able to go, before it would be too much for him to handle. Why not now? When nobody, not even him, know what he is able to do?