CHAPTER ELEVEN: Evil Boy Genius.

Jack stared intently at the wreck of a man in front of him. The boy was haggard, tired, withdrawn, and had the air of someone barely held together.

Inside the tiny cell, Raimundo was shielding his eyes from the bright light of the projector, which showed a huge picture on the wall, flooding the cell with light.

"Do you remember this one, Pedrosa?" Spicer asked, keeping his tone as soft and gentle as possible.

Raimundo nodded, wincing at the light. It was a selfie, one that Raimundo and Omi had taken together back at the Xiaolin Temple in years gone past. It had felt like a million years since then. Jack could see the pain in Raimundo's eyes, not just the physical pain, but the emotional trauma too. There was something here that Jack was missing, and Raimundi didn't want to reveal.

"You miss them, don't you? The other Dragons?" Jack realised quietly. Raimundo lifted his eyes to meet his, his tired eyes full of a longing that was eating away at him inside. Then, the boy shut his eyes once more, shaking his head wearily. "Of course." He whispered. He could barely sit still, twisting and writhing in his chair, seeming unable to focus on the screen.

Silence fell for a moment, as Jack sat back in his own seat, just across the table from Raimundo. He had lifted his finger to press the next button on his slideshow – if Jack recalled correctly, it was a picture Master Fung had taken of the four monks together, but paused mid-air.

"Will you tell me where they are, Raimundo?" Jack asked, cutting through the silence. He needed to know where they were, but he couldn't say why. It was eating him up, and all he could think about. His sleep was filled with dreams of them, and even work couldn't distract him anymore. At the very least, he needed to know what had happened between them. Perhaps it wasn't too late for them after all.

Raimundo looked up at him again, his eyes filling with tears, and shook his head once more.

"Why?" Jack tried again. "Please, Raimundo, if you know where they are, just tell me. I mean them no harm."

Eyes that had been filled with tears and sorrow moments ago flashed into fury and anger. Raimundo's body stopped quivering and instead became rigid with malice. "Then why are you asking?" His jabbed his bony finger in Spicer's face. "Everyone knows which side you chose."

Jack had jumped so hard at Raimundo's outburst that he had almost fallen out of his seat. Stiff with fear, he forced his mouth closed, swallowed once, and cleared his throat gently, trying to keep calm. His mouth was as dry as sandpaper.

Raimundo had never reacted that way since he had been here. Not once. He had barely spoken more than a few words. Jack saw the same realisation flash across Raimundo's face and he knew he had just realised it too. The anger in Raimundo's eyes slipped away, and the haggard boy returned.

Jack leant back in his chair, inwardly quite pleased with himself. He was no psychologist, but it felt like progress. He was getting somewhere.

He sat in silence for a little while longer then, contemplating his next move. Finally, he cleared his throat once more, and began talking in a soft and gentle voice.

"Raimundo, I have held you prisoner here for many, many years. Do you honestly think I would keep you alive when I could have killed you years ago if I wanted to do you harm?"

"You would," Raimundo sniffled into his hoody, concealing his face. "If you thought I might tell you where they were."

Jack had no argument for that. He was right.

Raimundo let out a long and heavy sigh. "Leave me be now, Spicer." He got to his feet. "I'm tired." His bones seemed to creak as he moved.

Jack shook his head sternly. "No, not yet. I want answers." He slammed his finger on to the key on his laptop, bringing up the group picture. Four smiling faces staring back at Raimundo from the wall. Jack pointed his finger at the screen." You know where they are, don't you?"

Raimundo stood, wordlessly, for what felt like a long time. His eyes were brimming with tears once more as he stood, examining his former friends.

When he spoke, it was so quiet that Jack wasn't sure he had actually heard him at all.

"No."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Did you say no?"

Raimundo sighed once more, and sat back in his seat. "I don't know where they are, Spicer. I don't know what happened to any of them."

"What happened to you? Why did you split up?" Jack knew he was pressing his luck. Raimundo did seem exhausted, but he was going to push as far as he could.

Raimundo folded his arms bitterly. "You're not going to leave me along until I talk to you, are you?"

"Nope." Jack replied cheerfully. "So you may as well tell me now if you want me to leave."

Raimundo sighed again, holding his head in his hands.

"You remember the rebellion?" Raimundo asked, his voice trembling.

Jack remembered it well, and felt his eyes glaze over as he cast his mind back to the dreadful time. 500,000 people stormed on Chase Young's Palace in the Capital City. Only a few hundred made it out. Almost all of them were tortured and executed for their treasonous crimes. It had been a blood bath. The rebels were enthusiastic, but Chase had skill and tactics on their side. Many of the rebels had just been simple folks who had never touched a weapon before in their lives.

He had been there that day, in Chase's Palace, watching the action. The rebels had fought bravely, but nothing could save them from Chase's malice and skill. The Xiaolin Dragons ordered their rebels to retreat, to live and fight another day, but Chase had other plans. He sealed the exits quickly, trapping many thousands inside his Palace.

It was a short rebellion, but Raimundo, Omi, Clay and Kimiko had been the leaders of it. They led 500,000 people to their deaths in a failed attempt to overthrow Chase Young.

After the rebellion, those few hundred that remained scattered to the wind, and talk of the famed Xiaolin Dragons turned to hatred. Their reputation was in tatters after shattering so many families. After a few years, they had slipped into legend and myth. Many people questioned whether they existed at all, or were just a fabrication of Chase's propaganda. Nothing was certain any more.

"I remember." Jack told him calmly.

Raimundo wiped his nose on his sleeve, and sniffed loudly. "After the rebellion, we didn't know what to do. We killed all those people." His eyes started to swim with tears. "We just couldn't handle it. We didn't know what to do. I wanted to quit. Clay wanted to give him. Kim and Omi wanted to keep fighting." Raimundo was sobbing now, remembering it all.

"So you fought about whether to continue the rebellion? Is that why you split up?" Jack asked, and Raimundo nodded, still whimpering as he choked on his tears.

"I couldn't handle the pressure of it all. Everyone hated us after that. The ones that wanted to keep fighting hated us for wanting to quit and the ones that wanted to quit hated us for wanting to keep fighting. We couldn't do it anymore."

"So you went your separate ways? You and Clay together, Kimiko and Omi together?" Jack asked, passing Raimundo a clean hankie from his pocket.

Raimundo wiped his nose and eyes. "No. We all went our separate ways." He said, sniffing, and clearing his throat.

"So you don't know what happened to any of them?"

"No." Raimundo whispered, struggling to try and hold himself together. "I haven't seen them in almost 120 years. They could be dead for all I know."

"Well, Omi is alive. I know that for sure. Clay will be tucked away somewhere, biding his time. And if I know Kimiko, she's out there kicking ass." Spicer said, offering what was meant to be a comforting smile. "I want to track them down, Raimundo, I really do. I want to help."

"Why?" Raimundo said, eyeing him suspiciously. "You picked Chase."

Jack was taken aback by that. It was his turn to sigh. "I was wrong."

Raimundo nodded then, seeming to understand, but his eyes were not forgiving.

"So, you had an argument and you went your separate ways. How did you end up on the streets like that?" Jack decided to keep the conversation moving as much as he could, prompting Raimundo with more questions.

Raimundo sniffed again, and seemed to have regained control of his tears. "Have you heard of White Joy, Spicer?" Raimundo asked.

Jack Spicer raised his eyebrows. He had heard of it. It was supposed to be the ultimate thrill; a brand new type of drug, known to have stunning effects. It could be taken by needle, snorted or in pill form, depending on who you got it from. Its side effects included bursts of energy and feelings of elation, it was supposed to make one feel as if they were a superhero, but the come downs were said to be worse. Vivid hallucinations, so severe that people often ended up hurt, whether it be the user doing it to themselves, or to someone else as part of a severe hallucination. One taste of White Joy was supposed to leave a user hooked for months and some were even supposed to have gone crazy from it.

He had never thought about it before now, or even considered that Raimundo's state on the day Jack had found him had been down to the drug. He had been wandering around, barefooted, talking about The Water God.

Omi?

"You took it?"

Raimundo nodded.

"After what happened, I wanted something to make me forget. Even if it was just for a little while. Once I took it once, I couldn't stop. I lost everything I had. Soon, I was just some homeless bum on the street." Raimundo's eyes filled with sorrow again. "I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd done."

"It wasn't just you, Raimundo. You all led the rebellion." Jack tried offering comfort, but Raimundo shook his head.

"No, I mean what I'd done to Omi. I hurt him. I said some things I didn't mean..." He trailed off then for a second, as if he was remembering it all over again. "I blamed him for it all. For the rebellion. For Chase even taking over the world in the first place. I said it was all his fault. Told him I didn't want to die for him." Raimundo sniffed once more. "I said he was an idiot and that he deserved what he got if he kept fighting. I stormed out, and I haven't seen him since."

Jack was aghast. He had always known Raimundo had had a temper, but he had never thought he would turn on Omi like that. Jack knew how much Raimundo's words would have hurt Omi, who had always done everything he could to impress Raimundo.

"I never got the chance to apologise." Raimundo continued "Now maybe I never will."

"No, Raimundo." Jack whispered softly. "I'm going to find them, I promise. We will find them, and you'll make peace with Omi."

XXX