Anthology of Love

By: CrystallicSky

Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown, or any of the characters in it, so...don't say I didn't tell you that they weren't.

Warning(s):Ok, cursing, malexmale relationship, strong references to sex, but no actual sex scenes, and...probably general stupidity, corniness, or idiocy aside from that.

Notes: Well, lately I've been seeing a good deal of those one-word prompts for short/one-sentence stories, and so I figured I'd give it a try. I did a few, and found something out about myself: I really like them! XD So this would be the result.

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511. Heat Retention-

The only thing Jack loved more on winter's night than Chase's extremely warm body was the blanket's high capacity for heat retention, both it and his lover keeping him nice and toasty all night long.

512. Socks-

"Hey, Chase," a squeaky, high-pitched voice greeted, "you look a bit down; what's wrong?"

The warlord refused to answer, boiling in repressed fury.

Another, slightly lower-toned voice also tried to get his attention. "Come oooon, say hello! Don't be shy!"

Finally, after much longer than he'd expected himself to last, Chase snapped. "Spicer, get your putrid socks out of my face!"

"They're not socks," Jack defended, "they're sock puppets!"

513. Cellular Damage-

His mind snapped into full awareness within the space of a second, shock and terror at knowing nothing of what was going on immediately striking fear into his young heart.

Suddenly, the liquid that had kept him alive and healthy was painful, and something in his chest was stifled as he realized he couldn't alleviate a new instinct trying to make his lungs expand.

He could feel himself sinking lower as his encasement was drained, and when it finally stopped, he found himself on a hard surface, a whooshing noise sounding and an inexplicably-freer feeling around him coming into focus.

He was too disoriented to do or think much of anything (even open his eyes), but he could manage to cough instinctively, removing the gooey substance that had sustained him from his mouth and throat and initiating his first breath. He registered that wherever he was, it was cold; goosebumps already prickling on his pale, goop-slick skin as he shivered helplessly.

"Is he alright?"

He heard voices from somewhere near him speaking, but he was too preoccupied to pay attention to what they were saying.

"According to our sensors, he's just fine, sir. No cellular damage, heartbeat regular, and brainwaves strong. If anything, he's just disoriented."

The young male suddenly felt cloth drape over his shoulders, big, strong hands making sure it wrapped sufficiently around the rest of his body. Small, plastic circles (most likely used to keep data on his physical state) were pulled off of his temples and chest before he was abruptly lifted off the ground and into a comfortable, secure pair of arms, to which he jolted and squirmed slightly from startlement.

"Ssh, easy, Jack, easy," a deep, masculine voice assured, "I shan't hurt you."

...Jack? Was that his name? It sounded kind of familiar...

"I'm just going to take you to bed and let you get some rest."

A bed? Oh, that sounded really nice right now. "Mmm..." he sighed contentedly, the noise yielded a rather pleasant action from the man holding him, the slight pressure of lips pressed against his own.

His hazy, red eyes blinked open, taking his first look at the handsome, dark-haired man above him.

The male smiled, the image making his insides feel like mush, before speaking in that wonderfully-soothing voice, "That's right, now just rest; I'll take good care of you."

Jack believed him wholeheartedly, subconsciously tightening the warm fabric of Chase's captain's jacket around him and resting his head on the man's chest as he drifted off to sleep.

514. Pot-

"Chase, Chase, Chase, I need you to do something for me!"

"Oh," the man sighed, "what is it now?"

The goth looked at him quite seriously and demanded, "Start smoking pot."

"...Pardon?"

"You heard me," Jack frowned, holding out a joint in his hand, "smoke it."

"I will do no such thing," the warlord scoffed, batting the object out of the teen's hand, "the acting agent in marijuana is THC, which has a bit of a tendency to kill brain cells. There's a reason it's called 'dope', Spicer, and I would never debase myself by doing such a thing; I'm honestly a bit disturbed to think that you would."

"Me?" the albino blinked, "Oh, no, I don't smoke it; but you should!"

"And why is that?"

"...do you have any idea how long it's been since I've gotten any comments on my AMVs? Even my regulars have, like, dropped off the planet! I'm so lonely, Chase, I...I need comments. Just...get high for me so I can post it on Youtube and have a viral video, 'kay?"

Chase was pretty pissed: Jack intended to exploit him, his drug-induced stupidity, no less, for comments from idiots who had nothing better to do than critique the latest trashy clips online before going off to download porn somewhere.

"Spicer, I am both shocked and appalled that you would-" He cut himself off as an idea that would make them both happy came to mind, and he snatched away his lover's camera (which was hidden behind his back) and pulled him wordlessly to the bedroom.

Approximately two days later, one to recuperate and one to debate on whether or not he was really that desperate, Jack posted a video on his account entitled, "Smex with My Boyfriend" and under his comments, he had awkwardly typed, "So...erm...this is me...smexing with my boyfriend. Ah, if you're wondering why he, um, turns into a giant lizard at about 10:36...it's CGI."

Unfortunately, though the clip got over 400 million views, not a single comment was posted because every last viewer died from massive nosebleed blood-loss.

515. Caesar-

The emperor smiled, seeing his son diligently poring over famous scrolls and texts: at this rate, the boy would grow up to be the next Caesar!

Guan would, therefore, be furious to know that tucked inside the scrolls were love letters, addressed, "My Dearest Jack" and signed with the name of an undefeated gladiator whose life he always favored at the finish of his battles.

516. Superdy Duper-

"Hmph, Barney," Chase seethed, "a mockery of lizard-kind everywhere!"

Jack wrapped his arms around his lover's shoulders. "Aw, don't get so riled up about this; I think you're a better giant reptile than he'll ever be."

The warlord snorted at the sentiment, but nonetheless thanked, "I appreciate that y-"

"In fact, I think you're superdy duper!"

Chase growled and deftly shoved his cackling lover off of the bed to hit the floor with a dull thump, who, on his way down, knocked a lamp to the ground.

Jack froze and stared at the broken object for a moment, soon laughing hysterically once more as a thought came to him.

Chase was only just barely happier that the goth was laughing too hard to speak as opposed to singing the "Clean Up" song.

517. Noogie-

Xi squealed as he was caught under Crane's wing, whatever passed as the bird's knuckles rubbing violently and traumatizingly over his skull.

"Hey, there, bunny-boy, whatcha' doing'?"

"Agh," he grunted trying to squirm away, "nothing...! Let me go!"

It was no use, though; Crane was a trained warrior, like Mantis, and Viper, and Tigress, and Monkey, and...Tai...

He was just a weak, little hare who didn't even have the luxury of camouflage because his father was from the arctic and had met his mother here; white fur did not disguise well in China.

"Come on," the bird insisted, "you must be doing something."

Xi struggled even harder, attempting to at least kick the troublesome Crane with his big feet, but unfortunately, that did no good either due to his awkward position, and, with no other options, he tried, "I was-"

"He was coming to see me," came the distinctively possessive growl, and Crane immediately dropped the hare who then scampered over to his savior, allowing himself to be picked up and held to a broad, grey chest, snuggling safely into the silky-soft fur there.

"T-tai-Lung," Crane stuttered, "I...I didn't mean to-"

"Save it, bird," the leopard snarled, "if I ever see your wings on him again, much less any other part of your body, I promise I will take the liberty of removing said body part, understand?"

Crane nodded shakily before fluttering off somewhere, most likely to boost his ego by wooing his girlfriend, Viper, and Xi softly murmured, "Thanks, Tai..."

"Did he hurt you, lover?"

"Uh-uh..."

Noting the slight undertone of depression in the hare's voice, the elder warrior demanded, "What's wrong, Xi?"

"I...I'm useless," the small creature whimpered, "I can't even keep Crane from giving me a noogie...How'm I supposed to become a master like you and Tigress and everybody else?"

Having discovered the source of Xi's distress, Tai merely laughed. "That's what you're upset about?" He sat the rabbit down and looked at him quite seriously. "You are a master, mate."

"Psh," Xi scoffed sullenly, determined to wallow in depression, "prove it."

The snow leopard deftly grabbed one long, white ear in his paw, and the hare tensed before administering six, lightning-quick strikes to his lover's chest, locking up his muscles and temporarily paralyzing him.

Xi immediately gasped in horror at what he'd just done, quickly applying force to the proper points to undo the paralysis and apologizing, "Ohmigosh, Tai, I'm sorry! You know I have a thing about my ears!"

"Exactly," the leopard assured, cracking his neck, "you are a master at pressure points and nerve attacks; you've studied them for ten years of your life, and you're only fifteen now. No other student here has such precision or mastery as you, not even I. Tell me, how many have died by your hand, because of your skills?"

"...eighteen? I think...Maybe more?"

"Well, there you are," Tai grinned, petting his lover's head, "so, you have no martial arts to rely on in a fight; what does that matter if you can end it quicker and expend less energy by paralyzing your foe and snapping his neck, as I've seen you do many times before?"

Xi brightened, nuzzling against his lover affectionately. "Thanks, Tai," he cooed, "
"you always know how to make me feel better!"

The snow leopard laughed, teasing, "Trust me, mate, with your temperament, it's not easy."

518. Chuckles-

Jack shot up in bed with a frightened yelp, breathing heavily.

"What's wrong, Spicer?" Chase moaned, absolutely exhausted (long day: a five-way Showdown, himself versus all four monks at once). "Have you any idea what time it is?"

"Sorry," the goth muttered, laying back down next to his lover, "I just had a really weird dream: we were both good guys, and you were blonde and scrawny, and I was, like, totally ripped and not albino, and we were fighting a pig in a cape who kept saying his name was The Dark Lord Chuckles The Silly Piggy."

"...Spicer?"

"Yeah?"

"Never tell me about your ridiculous dreams again."

"Right," Jack sighed, still clearly recalling the feel of a slender body pressed up against his chest as he shielded his lover from an amulet's red energy blast, "that'd probably be a good idea."

519. Involuntary Spasm-

"Ooh, I swear to god, Chase, those monks think they're all that and a bag of crack! They just make me so mad that I-I-I-I-" Jack abruptly cut off as he fell to the floor with a loud whump, taking a moment to collect himself before vehemently finishing, "They make me so mad, it sets off that involuntary spasm in my leg and I friggin' fall over!"

Chase was silent for a moment, looking his lover over blankly as he tried to pick himself up off the ground unsuccessfully, the goth's leg still bent at a weird, uncomfortable-looking angle.

"Your body has many problems, doesn't it?" he mused.

"Yeah," the albino admitted with a grunt as he slipped back to the marble floor for about the third time, "but if you don't help me up soon, I get the feeling that three parts of it in particular are gonna stop working for you for, oh, let's say two months."

And it was that kind of statement that made the warlord feel suddenly-helpful and haul his lover back to his feet, his skilled fingers soothing locked-up calf muscles into relaxing and returning control of the limb to the youth.

There were some things even the mighty Chase Young was unwilling to risk, and Jack Spicer's body was among the few.

520. Dancing Zombie Army-

"Ohmigod, Chase."

"...yes?" The warlord had a feeling that this was going to be one of Jack's bad ideas, mostly influenced by the fact that, quite frankly, good ideas didn't happen in graveyards.

"I just realized something: how much ass would I be able to kick if I had a zombie army at my disposal?"

Oh, lord, now he was onto messing with death!

"Spicer," he advised, "it's never a good idea to resurrect the dead; there are usually very grave consequences to it, especially if it's only done for personal gain."

"But you did it in Chapter 26."

"What?"

"Nothing. But, I mean, really, though, it'd be so cool to have an army of the undead, and like, they'd obey my every command-..."

Oh no, and here comes the power-trip...

"Dude, I could make 'em dance!" Jack crowed. "Then it'd be a dancing zombie army! How bitchin' would that be?!"

"It doesn't sound like-"

"The correct answer is 'very bitchin', Chase: 'very bitchin'. Now, if you'll excuse me," the goth informed, "I'm off to find a copy of the Necronomicon. When you next see me, I will be the leader of a massive and powerful dancing zombie army."

The two stared at each other for a long, awkward moment.

"I'll be home in time for dinner."

And the younger took off into the sky with his heli-pack, leaving Chase to stare at the nearest grave and mutter, "You poor, dead, soul."

He then teleported home with the intention of moving all precious objects somewhere where a decomposing creature doing the jitterbug wouldn't be able to ruin them.

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A/N:

Heat Retention- I figure Chase technically should be cold-blooded, but...he's still somewhat human, right? :D

Socks- ...Okay, I admit it: I do make Jack do some ridiculous stuff he probably wouldn't do in the actual show, but seriously. There are some things he doesn't do in the show that he really should be doing, namely Chase, but also sock puppets. Sock puppets in an episode of Xiaolin Showdown would make my day, no kidding.

Cellular Damage- Continuation of Response from Chapter 45; Jack wakes up, and Chase promises to take care of him. :)

Pot- I would totally fave that video. X3

Caesar- Continuation of Gladiator from Chapter 47; I expounded on their secret relationship a little bit more.

Superdy Duper- ...No comment.

Noogie- As you can probably tell, I saw Kung-Fu Panda a while back, and...this resulted. Basically, I've decided that instead of a panda becoming the new warrior, it's a hare, and that hare is played by Danny Cooksey, and I have totally forgone the fact of the dragon warrior. XD That means that Tai-Lung never left the Jade Palace, and I've decided that instead of being played by Ian McShane, it's Jason Marsden now, because if you've seen the movie, you know there's more awesome on that snow leopard than all the awesome in Awesome-Town; just watch that escape he pulled from that prison. It's like: WHOA. o.o But anyways, I've also put the cast of Xiaolin Showdown into the movie: Rai as Crane, Kimiko as Viper, Omi as Mantis, Clay as Monkey, and Wuya as Tigress. So...yeah. :D

Chuckles- I had to do a dream-crossover with Dave the Barbarian; why? Because that'd be totally cool, and we all know it. XD

Involuntary Spasm- ...I'm hoping I don't have to explain which three parts are being discussed. '.'

Dancing Zombie Army- This is Matt's idea; he's always going on about getting a dancing zombie army, and I figured, "Why not Jack?" XD And by the way, notice the blatant shattering of the fourth wall again; I can't help myself.

And so that's Chapter 52! Thanks for reading! :D