Chapter 10 – The Infinity Bracers
"Guys, we gotta go right now! I mean it, hurry hurry hurry!" Roared Dojo as he burst into the monks living quarters. Master Fung ran in after him with the Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu. "Dojo, I may be used to getting up at the crack of dawn, but a cowboy needs more than two hours sleep, partner" moaned Clay, the others weren't too happy either as Raimundo planted his pillow over his head in an attempt to drain out sound, his moaning cleared heard, though muffled.
"Young monks, he is right. You all need to arise" Kimiko pulled back her curtain fully dressed but her hair messy and tied with no make-up on, "Let's just get it over with so we can sleep" she groaned. Omi bolted out of his bed and into his robes in excitement. By the time everyone was ready, they had no time to hear what the emergency was all about as they were rushed out into the courtyard where Dojo was waiting, already fully grown to his larger form. "Okay, okay, okay; we're here Dojo now let's go." All the monks got aboard and Rai gave the order to move out. "Alright , let's fly!"
But Dojo didn't go. "Uh… Dojo?" squeaked Omi.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"Why aren't you going?"
"Because I can't"
"You care to elaborate on that, Partner?" asked Clay.
"Of course, I can't go because I was told not to"
"But I just told you to go!" Shouted Raimundo.
"This comes from a higher authority than you kiddo" snapped Dojo.
The monks then began an outburst of questions, and Dojo couldn't make out a single one, hands over his ears.
"Young monks!"
The group stopped yelling and looked to see Master Fung with a box of Shen Gong Wu, "Forgetting something?" one eyebrow raised. Raimundo jumped down to take the box and noticed that Master Fung was wearing something more than his normal robes. He had boots on instead of his normal sandals; tighter bottoms as his usual are baggy and loose; he also had a chainmail vest on in place of his light blue one. Rai then asked "What's with the get-up Master? You looked prepped for war."
He replied with a stern and concerned look on his face, "That is exactly why I am armed like this Raimundo, the Shen Gong Wu that has revealed itself is one of the most powerful there is and if we don't get our hands on it before Synyster and Chase does, we're doomed. Now get on Dojo!" Master Fung and Raimundo hopped on Dojo with the casket of Shen Gong Wu.
"Now can we go?" shrieked Omi.
"No, you can't. We have business first." exclaimed a voice. Hannibal Bean was standing next to Jack Spicer on top of the outer walls of the Xiaolin palace.
"Jackbots got upgraded ladies, hahaha. The Jackbot 2.0 is here, now attack!" An array of strengthened robots swarmed into the temple and began to fire at Dojo.
Past all the gunfire, Master Fung roared to the monks and Dojo, "We have no time for this, we must leave now!"
Kimiko looked at Clay and he nodded, "We got this Master Fung, those tin cans ain't no match for us" exclaimed Clay as he and Kimiko jumped down from Dojo. "Wait! We need you guys!" Shouted Raimundo as he jumped down to help, "I'm not leaving you behind!" Kimiko blushed and then approached Raimundo and kissed him. As he stood in shock Clay ran out into the line of fire and shouted "Big Bang Meteorang!" and threw his Wudai weapon as far and as hard as he could. Before each separate boomerang had a chance to land Clay signalled Kimiko, "Get him outta here now, this will be their only chance!" Raimundo stared at Kimiko in awe and shook his head. "Lotus Twister!" Master Fung had snatched up Raimundo back onto Dojo's back and Kimiko blew him a kiss and whispered "I love you".
A series of explosions had went off as Clay's weapon had struck the robots. "Hold on!" roared Dojo as he took off. He flew through the black cloud of smoke from the explosions and almost hit Jack as Dojo's beard hit him in the face and almost fell from the temple walls.
Dojo was climbing high into the sky away from the temple; Raimundo was looking back with tears in his eyes. "How could you let them stay there?! They need us, we need them!" he roared.
"Pull yourself together Raimundo! There are greater things at stake here" yelled Master Fung.
"What if something happens to them? How can me and Omi pick up the slack? We need them!"
"Raimundo, do you know why we left here in such a rush?"
He stopped his roaring and shouting and hesitated, tears still dripping from his eyes.
Master Fung took the Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu from the casket and opened it, "The Infinity Bracers are one of the most powerful Shen Gong Wu that Dashi ever created. They are simply two armoured bracers, with incredible power. If you are in possession of only one of them, they can replicate any item or object of no power limitless time, including weapon ammunition; grenades, bullets and more that the likes of Jack Spicer could use"
Omi looked interested, "And if you have both of them?" he said with concern.
"With both of them, the user can bend the landscape and atmosphere of earth at will. You could alter the air and make it poisonous to breath in a single area of a few square yards; you can bend trees and other plant life to fight for you, a large tree with many branches could use those branches to attack your enemies by grabbing them and throwing them great distances; not to mention the ability to control the very ground, even more than the way Clay can cause spikes to appear from the ground. It is a deadly tool if Synyster or Chase gets a hold of it"
"Master Fung, I'm sorry. You were right, this is far more important than helping Kimiko and Clay; they should be able to fend them off long enough for us to obtain the Infinity Bracers"
Dojo then shouted something that scared Master Fung and the monks, "I hate to interrupt, but did anybody else notice that it was just Jack and Hannibal that attacked us? I think it could have been a way to keep us busy to the rest of them can go find the Infinity Bracers themselves, which is not good"
"It's also why I'm here Dojo; just get us there as fast as possible. They have the Shard of Lightning so they can get anywhere incredibly fast. Hurry"
CRASH!
Robots were dropping to the ground back at the Xiaolin temple, hard and fast. But it wasn't the normal walk in the park for Kimiko and Clay were used to when facing off against Jack's new robots. Rubble and metal scattered the ground and there was little of the temple that was even recognisable, the sky was grey with the smoke from the exploding robots; and the ground shimmered with bullet shells and there was constant flashes from the fired bullets that were aimed at Kimiko and Clay. A large portion of the courtyard was in complete ruins and chunks of the vault tower were lying on the ground, being used as cover for gunfire by the two monks.
"Kimiko, you got anything for me? This cowboy needs a new trick" called Clay from outside the vault tower, keeping one hand on his hat as he crouched below a piece of rubble.
"Master Fung took most of the good Wu. We've got nothing good but our own powers" roared Kimiko in reply. She bolted out of the tower to Clay ducking to avoid gunfire. "Here, it's the Longhorn Taurus. I have an idea" Clay smiled briefly before a bullet grazed his hat.
"Come on out monks! You'll find it's gonna be difficult to get outta this one, no matter what Shen Gong Wu you have" taunted Hannibal. Jack was basking in the power of his new robots with manic laughter. "I love these new robots!" he screeched in an odd tone of joy. "Come on out cowards"
"Alright, but you asked for it Spicer" yelled Clay. He had leapt from behind cover and dodged all bullets that were fired high; when he landed he drove his fist into the ground, the result was the tiled courtyard began to envelop itself around the robots like a blanket of flame around wood. "Kimiko! Now!"
Kimiko leapt to the top of the vault tower and screamed with all her might, "Cat's Eye Draco! Arrow Sparrow!" Flaming sparrows had materialised from her bag and dived for the centre of the courtyard which was almost entirely enclosed bare one opening for the sparrows. The resulting explosion had destroyed almost all the armoured androids. The flames could vaguely have been seen through the tiles that surrounded the explosion and the rest blasted into the air in a direct line, like a shot from a volcano.
Once the flames had settled, smoke flew high into the sky while small pieces of scrap metal slowly fell to the ground. An entire robotic head had landed at Jack's feet, causing him to scream; it was one of his trademark, high-pitched, girly screams. Hannibal wasn't happy at this, "Boy you need to calm down about the tin cans, now we fight ourselves" groaned Hannibal
"But I can't fight, I don't know any Kung Fu or anything like that" whimpered Jack
"Well you better do something, you coward. Or I'll kick your ass myself when we're done here"
"How about you just go on back to your ranch? It'll save us some time" grinned Clay, who was now standing right beside Hannibal.
"Let's go Cowboy!"
Clay and Hannibal had launched into a close combat battle; Clay had thrown the first blow, striking Hannibal's ugly face with a right hook as he reached out his slimy arms. Hannibal had fell to the ground with a thud, but he was quick to get on his feet. "Moby Morpher!" Hannibal had transformed his measly claws into four monstrous, muscled arms. Clay was now on the defensive, holding up his arms in an 'X' formation, deflecting the powerful blows from Hannibal. He waited for the right moment and It came; Hannibal had drove one fist into a slow and powerful blow at the straight centre of Clay's arms, and he retaliated. Clay pushed his arms out, staggering Hannibal briefly, but it was enough time for Clay to raise his thigh and flick his leg straight between his foe's eyes all while airbourne; Hannibal flew so far from the kick that he was launched towards a wall trapping jack between the wall and himself.
"Sphere of Yun!" cried Kimiko. The two attackers were encased in an impenetrable sphere that glowed strangely. Kimiko approached Clay and buried herself in his chest in an embrace.
"That was quite a performance Clay, but you have bigger problems right now, do you not?" said a familiar voice. Master Monk Guan stood behind Clay and Kimiko looking thoroughly impressed with Dojo's cousin Chunky Choo sitting around his muscular shoulders. Chunky was like in Dojo in many aspects, expect he was slightly larger around his stomach and had thick black hair that was slicked back with grease; his scales were yellow in place of Dojo's green, and for some reason was wearing a Hawaiian styled shirt that looked to be sized for very small children. Master Monk Guan also appeared to have made an excellent recovery from his encounter with Synyster.
"You're right Master! Kim, we gotta get a move on. Raimundo and Omi will need us if things get hairy" exclaimed Clay, "But we got no way of getting there?" his voice was filled with sorrow in this sentence. Chunky Choo and Guan exchanged looks and Chunky Choo flung himself from Guan's shoulders and as he fell he transformed; in the same way as Dojo would and in seconds another large dragon lay in front of them which then roared "Me and Dojo's family, there's a lot he can do that I can do too, thank you very much. Now hop on!" Master Monk Guan jumped on and helped Kimiko and Clay up as Chunky was much larger in this form than Dojo was. As the second team took flight to the same location, the sun began to rise over the ruined temple and the dense grey fog from the gunfire had begun to lift.
Even though the sun was rising before them, Dojo was flying into darker skies as the team approached a very dangerous looking mountainside; it was actually an active volcano as there was a deafening rumbling in the area, indicating that the lava was stirring in the pit a top the cragged mountainside. As the dragon flew ever closer to the peak, something was off and they all knew it. "Shard of Lightning!" echoed a voice all around the mountainside. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning had cut across Dojo, causing him to swerve severely and he lost control of his flight, eventually hitting a large stalagmite with his head. The whole team was shocked and then fell down the mountainside a great height. When Raimundo came to Master Fung was speaking to Dojo with urgency in his voice. "Ah, Raimundo, you're awake. This is good news." said Master Fung.
"What happened?" croaked Raimundo, still feeling dizzy from the fall.
"Dojo had a bit of a collision and Omi was knocked unconscious. He doesn't seem to be stirring but I'm sure he's fine."
"We should go on to get the Shen Gong Wu before Synyster can get anywhere near it. Dojo should stay here to guard Omi"
"A very good idea, I knew I chose true when I selected you as the leader of this team" Master Fung looked proud as he said this.
"I'm just doing what needs to be done, for the good of the planet. And to avoid any more chaos that this maniac is trying to cause. Now let's go Master Fung!"
Dojo looked at Raimundo and Master Fung as they walked away. The he turned to Omi and started to stroke his head which was slightly bruised by the fall.
Raimundo and Master Fung had climbed the mountain a great distance when they reached a platform near the peak. The air was thin up this high and filled with soot, the land looked even worse than it did when they first arrived at the volcano and ashes were falling from a large black cloud emitting from the peak of the volcano. Coughing, Raimundo looked around and saw a cave opening that looked oddly natural given its location. Master Fung beckoned Raimundo to enter and Fung followed close by. As they travelled deeper into the dark cave they heard voices. They belonged to Syn and Chase. What they were saying could just about be made out…
"These inscriptions are the key to locating the Infinity Bracers" stated Chase
Syn snorted, "Why should it be hard to find these goddam bracers when I could simply blast the walls a little to find them"
"Because if you use anything like that this close to the inside if the volcano might cause an unexpected eruption"
"I hate it when you're right sometimes, you know that?"
"I find it amusing that your impatience to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu makes you more reckless than what you truly are"
"Well, I've hit a couple of setbacks. What with that huge period of time when no Wu had been revealed. I am on a schedule"
"How's that working for you?"
There was hesitation. Master Fung and Rai took this time to move in a little closer and finally got a glimpse of the two. They stood in a chamber filled with inscriptions on the cave walls and absolutely no sign of the Shen Gong Wu, just as Synyster had complained about. He stood with his arms folded and then replied to Chase.
"It's an estimated schedule, and it's not going great. Now how do we open the area to the Shen Gong Wu?"
"Give me a minute, will you?! This writing is old and faded; making it out is very difficult"
"If we had gone and got the Crystal Glasses from the monks, we wouldn't be taking this much time"
"Rivela I segreti"
"What the hell was that? Was that Italian?"
A loud sound echoed the chamber, even from where Master Fung and Raimundo stood, hidden in the shadows. The centre of the room had started to produce large amounts of dust and once it cleared, a pedestal had risen from the floor. It was only feet away from Syn. Both Bracers lay on it and Raimundo would have to act fast.
"Emperor Scorpion!"
Master Fung had used the only Shen Gong Wu that has control over any other. A risky move; but it had worked! The Draco's Choke had a mind of its own and formed into a dragon's mouth in the air, and before Synyster had the chance to grab it, the Shen Gong Wu shot out a fire bolt which had destroyed the most of the floor where the pedestal stood. Much of the floor unaffected had started to cave in, and slowly the cavern they were in was going to plummet into the lava below.
Raimundo broke from cover and dived into the growing gap in the cavern while Synyster staggered from the initial blast, grabbing the Draco's Choke and diving in after Raimundo. Though much of the cave's roof had begun to crumble and collapse into the pit, Master Fung quickly left the cave, followed closely by Chase.
Raimundo fell throw the air with his arms and legs out, slowing himself down as he caught up to the Shen Gong Wu, it was still falling faster though, and towards a pool of lava. Then a gush of wind had blown by Raimundo's face like a blade cutting his cheek; it was Synyster. His legs were dead straight and his arms were tucked in, so he was falling at a rapid pace, like an arrow had been fired directly downwards. Raimundo then spotted a platform of rocks in the pool, somewhere safe to land and so he followed Syn's lead; being lighter than him gave Syn the advantage, but he had an ace up his sleeve.
"Two Ton Tunic!" roared Raimundo, his cry had echoed all around the lava chamber and Syn distinctly heard what Shen Gong Wu was activated. Raimundo was then directly in line with Synyster as they came level with the Infinity Bracers, they were still linked together. With great effort from the harshness of gravity and the downward force, both men out-stretched their arms and placed them on a Bracer each. A Xiaolin showdown in the pit of a volcano, an active volcano.
"Synyster, I challenge you to a…" Raimundo began, but was interrupted.
"Hey, get a move on! Plummeting to our demise, and everything. I accept, game is reach the top of the pit before the lava rises. First person that touches it, loses"
"Game on, Raven's Tailfeathers against Serpent's Tail"
The Infinity Bracers then glowed extremely bright and the two combatants were blinded; then the sensation of falling had left them and solid ground was beneath them. When Synyster opened his eyes he saw he, was on a platform just above the lava which could be seen rising, Raimundo was on a similar platform and their many more like it above, with ways of accessing each from the other without the need of wings. In between the first two platforms where the enemies stood a burst of lava had flew into the air in a plume, then another some distance away, and another away from that. Then several at once; these flew high into the sky and actually stuck part of the walls that encased the lava, once the plumes had dispersed, more lava had begun to pour into the arena.
Rai cried out to Syn, "Let's get a move on! Gong Yi Tanpai!"
The Showdown had begun and both combatants had used their Wu immediately; Syn flew faster but had to dodge the platforms, slowing him down. Raimundo simply flew straight up into the sky, ghostly fazing through each platform. As the two fliers had gotten far, the two separate sets of platforms for each had now merged, they shared the same space for the rest of the flight. Ten minutes after the showdown had begun Syn had reached the highest platform and could have leapt to the exit; Raimundo was still in the game and could still win, so Synyster waited a second or two in the centre of the platform to ambush Raimundo. When Syn saw his fist rise through the platform, he planted the scepter onto it and it began to spark with electricity. Hoping this would be enough, Syn leapt up but Raimundo flew past him and rocketed to the exit unscathed.
When the scenery had changed back to the normal environment, the two had found themselves falling towards the lava that was getting more violent. "Now that you have a useful Shen Gong Wu, how about making us a platform where we don't get cooked!" roared Synyster as he fell with his limbs opened out to slow himself down. Raimundo placed the bracers on his arms and used them. Falling, he screamed, "Infinity Bracers!" and so from the lava a rocky and rough terrain begun to rise and form into a large platform a good twenty feet from the lava surface. Raimundo decided to fall faster and tucked in his arms and legs; Synyster saw this as an opportunity and he moved closer to Raimundo and blasted him with the scepter. Raimundo fell flat on his face on the hard rocky platform; when Syn landed on his two feet majestically, he walked over to Raimundo to inspect his good work. Raimundo had been knocked out and was gaining consciousness; in a rush, Syn swiped back the Raven's Tailfeathers and began to remove the Infinity Bracers from Raimundo's arms. Just as Syn reached down to remove the second Bracer, Rai came to and acted quickly. He jumped up with great speed and prepared to fight Synyster, in perfect formation for combat; but Syn just stood there. Smiling.
"I'm not gonna fight you here Raimundo, the game has been evened out. I have an Infinity Bracer and you have an Infinity Bracer." Smirked Syn. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind I took back the Raven's Tailfeathers, some Wu I just can't let go of"
Raimundo began to relax his muscles and look around, he turned his body completely around to examine the scenery and from behind he heard a swishing sound. When he turned around a black cloud was rocketing towards the entryway of the volcano and Raimundo followed suit with the Serpent's Tail. Once the two were clear of the rocky footing, a blast of lava ruptured from the pool and drenched the platform. The lava had then begun to rise rapidly to the top and Syn didn't have a way out. In a panic he flew around the roof of the chamber, drenched in sweat and grinding his teeth together, desperately looking for a way out of this assured doom. And after a few seconds he was in luck and found an exit, possibly the same way they got in. Once through, and back into the stone room; Synyster quickly jumped to the side to avoid a blast of lava. But it never came. He then turned to the entrance and walked towards it proud just before the blast he was expecting erupted into the small room; and Syn ran out of the room screaming in a coarse voice, "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"