I disclaim Xiaolin Showdown and all its characters, I in no way profit by writing this fanfiction.
(though, If I DID own XS, Chack would totally be canon and there would be a LOT more seasons, lol)
hope you enjoy the story!
hi guys! here's the Halloween chapter, as promised! hope you like it!
Chapter 25
Dojo touched down in the middle of the parking lot of Marks Gator Park, quickly shrinking down and slithering up clays arm, settling on his shoulder."Raimundo tugged a the collar of his shirt "Phew, it's hot here, huh...?" He muttered, fanning himself with his hand.
"Well it IS Australia, Rai." Kimiko said, running the tangle web comb through her hair. She had dressed up in a safari jacket and shorts, her hair was a light brown, tied back in a set of braided pigtails that rested along the back of her neck. "It's like, right ON the equator..."
"We will not be here long." Omi reminded them "We are here only to retrieve Han Xiang and his weapon and take them safely back to the temple..."
"Right. Let's move out..." The Shoku monk said, leading his compatriots towards the parks entrance. After using one of Kimikos credit cards to pay the entry fee, they were led towards a small group being led by a young black man in either his late teens or early twenties. He had dark brown hair streaked through with dirty blonde, and a respectable running build. Kimiko gave the man an appreciative look over.
"Mmhmm...G'day Mate..."
Raimundo frowned, crossing his arms as the man turned towards them "Alright folks I see our group is complete...Before we start the tour, there are a few things we need to go over... First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mark Pendrickson and I'm the owner of Marks Gator Park. Now this isn't some ordinary amusement park, this is also an educational facility." His voice was a deep, smooth timbre that made many of the women on the tour swoon as he flashed a winning smile and continued.
"With special governmental permission, I've collected over seventeen different crocodile, alligator, and even caiman species from around the world. They are all separated into their special enclosed bio-dome environments, so you'll be seeing many different exhibit types! There are some rules to go over before we begin the tour...Number One: keep your hands to yourself at all times. I don't want any one of you to get hurt...Number two: no throwing things into the exhibits...those who DO WILL be asked to retrieve them themselves. And number three, remember to have fun! Are there any questions?"
Omi raised his hand in the air. Mark turned towards him, looking down at the small yellow monk "Yes, young man?"
"Do you have an employee here by the name of Han Xiang?"
000000ooooo000000
Raimundo sighed in an annoyed manner, rubbing the bridge of his nose "Way to be subtle, Omi..."
Mark tilted his head, his bow knitting together "The name...rings a bell...Do you know him?"
"No, but we need to see him at once. It is a matter of great importance."
"Mm..."Mark turned towards the other group members and waved over some of his assisting tour guides "Edwin! Clara! Begin the tour while I assist these good people, would you?"
The two nodded and quickly escorted the group away, boarding them upon two crocodile shaped trams nearby as Mark guided the teen monks over to a shaded area advertising the rides in the center of the park "What do you need with Han Xiang?"
"We must speak with Han Xiang right away. This is a delicate matter."
"What do you mean?"
"The very world is at stake!"
Mark seemed rather casual as he brushed some bangs out of his face and dismissed their words with a wave of his hand "The world is always in danger...and Han is very busy..." he said, turning to leave.
"But sir, you don't understand!" Omi protested, following him "This concerns the evil Hannibal Bean! He has already killed one of the eight immortals!"
000000ooooo000000
Mark froze in his tracks, turning around, his face unreadable "One of the Immortals?...Which one?"
"Lü Dongbin" Omi said gravely.
Marks posture stiffened as his expression grew grim "Of course it was Lü...That demonic Legume always DID have a...THING with him more than the rest of us..."
"No way..."Clay gasped "YOU'RE Han Xiang?"
the aussie glanced at the cowboy "I go by Mark now...But yes, I am...The question is, who are YOU"
"We are the Xiaolin Draogns in training Students of Master Fung and Master Monk Guan. You must come with us right away!" Omi insisted.
"Yeah, it's not safe here for you..." Kimiko added
"What does he want?" Mark asked, his frown deepening "Besides world domination?"
"He's after the Immortal weapons." Clay said taking off his hat and wiping his brow before replacing it on is head. "You and your flute'll be safer at the temple..Where's your flute anyway partner?"
Mark unbuttoned the front of his shirt, showing off a toned, muscular chest, and a polished Black bamboo Qiang Flute with gold markings etched into it hanging from a rawhide string. "I always carry it with me... Given my line of work..."
Kimiko gave a little grin as his opened his shirt. Raimundo cleared his throat loudly " Aaahem!" Kimiko snapped out of it with a small laugh "Heheh...Sorry Rai..."
Raimundo sighed, looking skywards. This was what he got for flirting with other girls, wasn't it?
"How did you Know where to find me?" Mark asked as he re-buttoned his shirt
"Lan Caihe" Dojo said, slithering forward "He's with us already."
"Ah. He's a real trip, isn't he?"
"Makes good ice cream though. We should really get out of here before Hannibal Bean shows up...Or worse that no good, dirty,rotten dragon eating-"
"You flatter me Dojo..."
000000ooooo000000
The small green dragon stiffened as Chase Young seemed to materialize from thin air -and probably had. "Gaaaahahahaha!" He launched himself forward, hiding under Clays hat "Hide me!"
The Monks took defensive postures around Mark "Chase Young... What are YOU doing here?" Omi asked, his eyes narrowed as Chase smirked in amusement at Dojos fearful antics, straightening before answering Omi
"I know all about your efforts, little warrior...I am here for the Flute."
Mark gripped his flute tightly, glaring at the Heylin overlord "You will NOT be getting it... It belongs to me."
"Not for Long..." Chase promised Shifting into a position of attack. Mark blew on his flute, playing a high, soothing melody. Two large stone statues of giant crocodiles glowed with pure Xiaolin magic and sprung to life, hissing and snapping at Chase, who was forced to dodge and fend off the protective beasts with powerful strikes and several well placed kicks, reducing them to rubble. The distraction of the statues was all the monks had needed to usher Mark onto a full grown Dojos back and take off into the air, beating a hasty, narrow retreat.
Chase growled in annoyance as the group disappeared from sight, but didn't seem overly concerned or disappointed. Better the immortal and his weapon end up in the monks hands rather than Bean's...The Flute wasn't all that impressive anyway. Healing and bringing statues to life? He could do that on his own...In the hands of the monks it would be, at most, a minor upgrade to their arsenal. He could live with that.
Jack lay in bed, tinkering with a small device, having nothing else to do until he recovered. JB-13 dutifully tended to his creators needs, making sure his master was comfortable and had everything he needed as his tinkered
"What are you working on master?" He asked after the better part of several hours had passed. Jack had shrunk himself down with the Changing Chopsticks to do some detail work on...Whatever it was he was making.
Jack was silent as he spliced some wires and input some data codes, concentrating intensely on his work "...Master?"
The Goth lowered his goggles, glancing up at the automaton "oh, JB-13...You remember when I said I had an upgrade for you?"
"Yes."
Jack clicked the changing chopsticks and regrew to his normal size, holding out what looked like a little metal sphere about the size of an apple "Well this is it."
JB-13 took the Sphere and examined t "What is it?"
"Connect it to your mainframe. Its a nanized version of the tech I used for chameleon-bot. It'll allow you to create a humanoid appearance for yourself, as well as increase your physical durability and processing capabilities by a factor of twelve."
"Master Jack...that is most generous. I accept the upgrade." The Automaton said, his mechanical voice portraying a tone of awe and pleasure. He opened his chest compartment and placed the sphere inside, shutting down and going into a dormant state as his programing synced up and melded with the new. Jack waited eagerly as his mechanical minion twisted and bent, it's shape changing as the nanites engulfed and altered JB-13s appearance and mechanisms from the inside out.
Within the span of all of 2 minutes, the boxy Jackbot had transformed into a dark haired young man around Jacks age. He had red eyes, with three dark markings beneath them. He appeared Asian in appearance, and was wearing a formal outfit consisting of white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up messily, a dark red vest with the Jackbot symbol adorning the space on his left breast, black slacks, and a pair of black and red shoes. His choice of attire had clearly been influenced by his creators colors of preference.
"This is my chosen appearance, Master Jack."
"Niiiiiice~" Jack said with a grin, flashing an approving thumbs up.
JB-13 inspected himself in the mirror, examining his new appearance with a pleased expression. The door to Jacks room opened as Wuya entered without knocking.
"Hello, monkey-boy, how is your recovery coming along?" She said, glancing at JB-13 with a frown "Who's that?"
"Wuya, I believe you already know JB-13... He's been promoted to JB-13 2.0!"
"You mean that tinker-toy that follows you everywhere?" She asked with distaste. JB-13 scowled at her, rolling his eyes "Coming from the Bride of Frankenstein's monster. No wait, I take that back. I wouldn't want to offend the monster. HE'S actually cool."
"Scrapheap!"
"Elf"
"Why you-"
"Hey! I love a good insult fight as much as the next evil boy genius, but I've got a migraine comin' on, so would you two cool it?" Jack said, rubbing his temples.
JB-13 immediately went to Jacks side, "Do you require pain medicine, Master Jack?"
"I could use an Excedrin."
"As you wish" he nodded, crossing the room to fetch the bottle. Wuya tossed her hair back and sat at the foot of Jacks bed, crossing one leg over the other "So what's all...THAT about?" she said, motioning towards the human-looking robot "Another one of your attempts to build yourself a friend?"
"I felt like upgrading JB-13. He's like, my head minion! Besides, now he's WAY better than my typical Jackbot design."
"Speaking of which, why haven't you been working on building THOSE?" She asked, taking a more comfortable position.
Jack shrugged "Don't have enough supplies yet...I'm still tinkering with a few gadgets I can sell so I can earn some cash to build my bots and start rebuilding my house."
"I see...So, what'd Chase say when you woke up post-op?"
"He said he's gonna train me on how to defend myself so he won't have to keep fixing me."
"Well, look on the bright side, Jack... Maybe you'll finally be able to stand up to the monks without getting your pasty albino ass handed to you...Plus training you will probably involve a lot of touching and you'd probably like that."
Jack made a face and kicked at her with his good leg "Shut up!"
"It's true isn't it?" She said, easily dodging the pale foot.
"Yeah, but when YOU say it, it makes me sound WEIRD!"
"You ARE weird."
"No, I'm a genius, so I'm eccentric! Stupid people with low IQ's are weird."
"Whatever..."
"Your medicine, Master Jack" JB-13 said, returning and presenting his master with two pills and a glass of Ginger ale.
"Thanks" Jack said, popping the pills into his mouth, washing them down with the soda. "Speaking of Chase, where is he?"
"Who knows, probably off brooding or doing Tai Chi..." the redheaded witch shrugged, reaching over and lightly running a hand though Jacks soft, silvery locks "White hair doesn't suit you at all...You should dye it again."
"With what? My brand canceled my dye..."
"Did it ever occur to you to find the same color under a different brand?"
"..."
"No, of course it didn't..." Wuya said, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you send Metal-head over there to go find you some?" she said, standing.
"I guess I could..." he shrugged "It's not like I can do it myself, in this state."
"That's your own fault, Spicer..."Came a reply from the doorway. Chase had returned and was leaning against the doorframe casually. Naral stalked past him and padded over to Jacks bed, climbing up and settling down beside him.
000000ooooo000000
JB-13 bowed at the waist "Master Chase..."
Chase nodded his head, acknowledging the greeting the young man who smelt of metals and oil and electricity, clearly not a human. "I see you found the time to upgrade your little toy..."
"My MINION." Jack corrected "Not much else to do in bed all day..." He added, scratching the panther beside him in a few choice places and earning a purr. Chase folded his arms behind his back "You won't be there for long. That potion I gave you should repair you within 36 hours...assuming you can go that long without further injuring yourself..." the dragonlord added, giving him a pointed look.
"Cheap shot." He grumbled "...Assuming I can, what happens then?"
"Then we begin working on your Self-defense training and resume our Search for the Immortals...The monks have Han Xiang in their fold now...along with his Flute of Life. However, Lan Caihe's castanets are not with him. I will be working on a spell to locate them
"What do the Castanets DO anyway?" the technophile inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"The Right Castanet generates explosive energy waves...The Left Castanet can deceive and distract your opponent by producing the sound of something they desire greatly..."
"Ah, I see, it's like a whole 'Music To Their Ears' kinda thing? Corny, but kinda cool..." Jack shrugged. "Doesn't seem particularly useful, though."
"Never underestimate the enemy Spicer...All of the immortal weapons are powerful in their own way...Much like the Shen Gong Wu...only THESE are actually worth going after."
"Well...What about the one the bean has? The sword? What can IT do?"
Chase frowned, his eyes narrowing at the reminder "It can pierce any material, no matter how strong or what enchantments are placed upon it...And once it has penetrated its foes flesh, it releases an acid that can corrode through anything it touches...even a single drop would be enough to kill a man at his peak faster than a cyanide tablet"
"Fuck, that's overkill if I ever heard it."
"That is why we must gather our own defenses..." He said sternly "I sense a change stirring in the Balance...We must be ready to face what is coming...Whatever the cost..."
By the way, JB-13 2.0 can be found on my deviantART account Xilex90
Hope you liked the Halloween chapter!
Told you guys I'd have it up, didn't I? ::Grins::
I worked hard on it for you~
Here's hoping my next updates are just as good!
::drinks from goblet::
Chase: where is my lao mang long soup?
Me:: glances at goblet:...Oops. ::Hides under a rock:: DON'T LET HIM FIND ME!
