Twilight Rising
Chapter 18
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Yugi had to say, for all the technical know-how that Jack was capable of, he had a bad taste in bot design. The redhead in question has assaulted them in the middle of the night, bringing with him a posse of cheerleader bots. Just looking at them left him a sour taste in his mouth of his high school years. It didn't take long before the bots surprisingly overwhelmed them, their routine so flighty that they made to dodge most of their attacks. Yugi near stumbled over his feet trying to avoid them, kicking out to attempt to trip one only to fail and she leapt from him. With a glance back to Jack as he gave a tweet of a whistle he had on hand, the bots tossed their poms up in the air which ignited into a blaze of fire that circled and entrapped them. "Jeez...this is why I hate cheerleaders." Raimundo grumbled. "At least ones not cheering on your side." Yugi added before looking to Omi who gave a nod and raised the orb, dousing the fire with his water. Jack grumbled a little to himself as he and the bots were soaked before tweeting on the whistle again and the bots got into a pyramid formation, ready to charge for them.
"Assume the Dragon X-Kumei Formation." Yugi spoke and they nodded as they channeled in their elements and Yugi pressed his hands together as he summoned upon his element to fuel their own. "Now...go." he whispered and the four charged ahead. Like a buzz saw they were as the monks came at the bots and tore their formation apart, Yugi grinning before touching the lantern at his side. "Sun Chi Lantern: Firelights!" he called, summoning the sparkling lights around him, before sending them forward towards one of the bots that charged for him. The male watched as it was blown apart bit by bit as it tried to muscle through the exploding lights until nothing remained before reaching him. The others were in a similar bout, using their element to rip into the bots until scrap metal was all that met Jack's eyes, the courtyard littered with pieces of the cheer-bots that he whined over. But as he lamented, Yugi glanced up to see another fiery problem coming their way and started to back away.
"Uh...guys?" he whispered and they all looked to the comet that was hurtling towards them and joined Yugi a couple steps back, Jack growing confused until he glanced up. seeing the fiery mass hurtling towards him caused him to yelp as he leapt out the way as the comet impacted the ground, the resulting shockwave nearly causing Yugi to fall. As the dust cleared, their comet wasn't actually a comet but rather a futuristic looking device that slowly activated to show a hologram figure in the large red panel. They all looked in awe as clarity was brought to the image and revealed it to be a very aged Omi. The elderly monk had come with a message from the distant future to warn them that the world has succumbed to evil, a fact Jack had whooped for that evil triumphed in the end, until the aged one spoke that there was a way to prevent such a future from taking the world. The key lying within the Sands of Time which they had to find before the Wu itself was to activate. "The Sands of Time...sounds pretty powerful." Yugi murmured as Jack began his quiet departure. With this knowledge under his belt, he had to see to getting to said Wu before the monks. With it, he would be unstoppable!
"Let's go check it out." Raimundo suggested and they nodded as they went into the temple library to look into the scroll to see what the Sands of Time was capable of. The elder monk was awaiting them there, holding the scroll out to the and Yugi took it to look to the swirling text that demonstrated the power of the Wu. It was a powerful one, Fung announced, a Wu that had not just allowed a passage through time but the ability to alter time itself. Yugi was in awe and so was Omi, being reminded of what happened back in the past though the confusion of the Wu's placement by Dashi and Dojo made it hard to think of where it's location could possibly be since then. "Remember young monks, that fate isn't changed with the Sands of Time." Fung murmured as he looked to them and they nodded before gearing up to start their search. With the Wu being inactive, it would prove to be hard for Dojo to find himself but he was willing to go the extra mile in search of it to keep the future from falling into the hands of evil.
As he flew, Yugi sat in the far back, thinking to himself. The elder Omi speaks of evil but didn't exactly tell them just who was the one in control of the world in the future. It would be nothing if he suspected Jack and Wuya to gain the world in their hands, that's to say that Wuya didn't gain her body back and shaft Jack to the side like yesterday's garbage. But then there was his own plight. The dreams, rather visions, of fire and shadows. The dark beings that were always present in his dreams and the destruction they brought with them. He expected something of their caliber to bring the world to its knees but with little information of their end goal, it was hard to discern if it was to really happen. Not to forget as well that their gazes were always on him, as if he was a key factor that brought such flames to the site of their appearance. A light sigh left him as Dojo continued to fly along, an inquiry of why they didn't just wait for the Wu to go active to be rebuffed as Omi spoke they couldn't waste time in waiting and letting Jack have the chance to gain it before them.
The dragon sighed but nodded, as he continued. Terrains changed under them as they looked for any lead to the Sands of Time. Their eyes grew heavy and Yugi was barely able to keep himself balanced which the shade made to keep him on the dragon's back by tying him down with his shadow. As it looked down, the sights and smells was of a familiar place. Home. As it looked down to the sands of Egypt, the shade could only grin wistfully. It had been a long time since it saw home. It has changed over the years but the stretch of Saharan desert was unchanged. Dojo commented that the passengers must be just as tired as he was, that they should take a break and start fresh in the morning. Of course, being too tired to make for a safer landing, Dojo began to drift off and Kimiko gasped as she went to wake the dragon. "Don't doze off on us now, Dojo!" she cried, pulling at his eyelids. She can understand his drowsiness, she desperately wanted her eight hours but until they found this Wu, it looked as if sleep was going to be of no option here. Omi had glanced down, knowing that they were pushing it but if the future was to rest in his hands they just had to find-
His eyes widened as a sight caught his eyes. "The Sands of Time!" Yugi woke quickly before looking down as well, seeing a neon sign that directed them towards a large pyramid not too far from it. "Did we really find it? Seems so odd for a sign to literally point to where it is." he murmured as Dojo finally got to land, Clay mumbling in his sleep before he tipped over and woke to the shock of hitting solid ground. "I'm awake!" Yugi hopped off with a short thanks to the shade for keeping him leveled and went to help Clay up before they headed into the pyramid, the shade watching closely. There was indeed something odd about this place. As if something was sorely desecrated. At his lair, Jack had busied himself with repairing his cheer-bots but was interrupted as Wuya floated to his face, telling him that another Wu had gone active, one that she wanted to get her hands on. The Sands of Time. Jack groaned as he tapped his chin, there was so much repair work he had to do to the girls and Wuya was pulling him from that.
But, he supposed, to get the Sands of Time was a higher priority. With it, the future would be his to command. The girls can wait...just this once. Back in the pyramid, the halls were dark to their presence and Yugi glanced around along with the shade. "It has to be down here somewhere. But we should be careful. My jii-chan was an archaeologist in his day. Rather still is for smaller archaeological visits. Places like this are often littered with traps to protect the kings' treasures." Raimundo was interested in treasures but Omi made sure to have him stay focused, a step into the hall lighting up cobra shaped torches. The further they walked, the more the shade became displeased. The little light was right. The place should be filled with traps but its senses didn't catch a single one. Was this tomb of ancients a joke? A hiss left the shade as they rounded a corner and up upon a golden statue sat an hourglass.
"That must be it!" Yugi called and Raimundo nodded, slipping on the Jetbootsu to fly up and grab it just in case the place was booby trapped. He landed before them and they nodded to their success, moving to leave out only for guards to emerge from the darkness. Believing them to be an evil force to guard the Wu, the four jumped into action to take them out, the guards falling with ease and the shade huffed from behind Yugi. "These are no guardsss. Ones to protect the pharaoh'sss court would never be so weak." It spat before a wall began to slide open and behind it was a mummy. Yugi gasped as he stepped back but Kimiko was quick to bring out the Tangle Web Comb to bind the creature...or so she thought. The head popped off, revealing it to be a mask and the cowardly male looked to the group in horror as such wasn't written in the script. Stage lights flickered on before the director's voice shouted that they had ruined the show that was promoted there. A chain of dinner theaters that was to show the heroics of brave travelers combating ancient Egyptian obstacles to claim the Sands of Time, one that was revealed to be nothing but a cheap bauble to serve the purpose as the great treasure.
"Dinner theater?! You daaare to make a mockery of important pharaonic burial groundsss for a dinner theater?!" The shade roared and Yugi quickly snapped its mouth shut as Clay turned to him, waving a hand quickly as the shade struggled behind him. It was livid, angry, absolutely furious. Whoever was truly buried here would find such a thing an insult but if the pyramid was as fake as the Sands of Time...the shade would want to see the place burn. As Kimiko apologized for ruining the show, Dojo began to sense the activation of the real Sands of Time, hurrying the others out of the theater to get back. But a combination of his Wu senses going wild and the drowsiness from the aimless flight earlier, Dojo couldn't fly and needed to recharge. "Then what are we to do...we didn't even bring the Silver Manta Ray for a problem like this." Yugi muttered, crossing his arms. "There's only one thing we can do." Raimundo spoke and with a brief guidance to the nearest city, they got the earliest flight they could find and was heading back to the temple. Omi was cross to know they were losing valuable time in getting back to the location of the Wu, the location itself right back where they started at the temple once they had gotten back.
Following Dojo, they came upon the rock garden where a pyramid shaped formation stood, the dragon rubbing the back of his head as the formation was easy to mistake in terms of location, mumbled under his breath that he was right in a sense of where the Wu was placed 1500 years ago. But to their horror, Jack had appeared from behind one of the formations, grinning as he held the Sands of Time in his hands. "Looking for this, Xiaolin losers! Seems like you're out of luck and out of time!" he claimed before flying off and Omi looked down in regret. The small monk had been tasked to find the Sands of Time and had failed in doing so. The world was now one step closer to destruction and it was all his fault. Yugi frowned before stepping to the small monk, resting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get it back, Omi. You haven't failed yet until you deem yourself unable to continue." The monk looked to the teen before smiling, nodding before they all left the garden to brainstorm how they were to get the Sands of Time back.
They couldn't dally for too long as whatever Jack had planned could be a detriment to their future...or so he thinks.
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Jack could just feel the power in his hands. He had the means to collect the biggest and baddest of evil doers from the past to be on his side. With such intellect on his side, he could do whatever he wanted! Wuya urged the boy to go and get the evil he needed for his army as talking about it won't make things happen any quicker. He nodded and used the Sands of Time to go back, overshooting just once into the Jurassic period but righted himself to land in the right places. Coming back, he grinned as he presented to Wuya the best of evils that he knew and respected, revealing to her Attila the Hun, Billy the Kid and Blackbeard...along with his first grade teacher, Ms. Cornhaven whom he had to explain that the woman was vicious in her teachings back when he was little. "Excellent! Most excellent! But it is a shame that we lacked what is truly the greatest evil." she murmured as she ghosted around the figures that stood before her. "A greater evil...are ya talking about that primal darkness thing? I didn't even know where to begin looking for them!" Jack whined. Wuya waved his concerns away, knowing well that the boy of course would never know how to find the darkness without knowing their lives before.
"Their reign is hard to pick out. Their story had been rather construed over the years. I myself know just a small bit of it but know of their power that spread over the lands when I was trapped." Wuya spoke and Jack was quick to stand before her. Story time? He was all for story time! The witch rolled her eyes before she began. She spoke of the dragons of darkness, once monks that had defected from the temple. Originating far from where their assumed burial site was located, they have lived life with a lack of understanding of their element, a rumor that had been passed around that to unlock the real power behind it, they had to seek the light and reclaim balance. Jack tapped his chin as he listened before a light lit over his head. "That's why you told me to capture Yongi!" he spoke.
"Yes! The light element in him is the key! With him, the darkness would obey us and their power would crush all beneath it! They are much stronger than I but to command them would be a dream." With a grin, Jack wanted to believe if he could travel back to get them before their passing, he could harness that power without the use of Yugi. "Wuya! At least tell me you know where they were the last you sensed them! I can use that device you told me to work on! I'm sure my charm can get them to come to our side!" Wuya hummed as she shuffled through timeless memories before telling him the last she remembered feeling their power was around a thousand years ago, near the mountains in China. "Aw yeah! Let's get some darkness on the team! Sands of Time!" As the glow of the Wu took Jack back, Wuya hoped the boy wouldn't be massacred.
She did forget to mention they were ruthless in their rule, like kings. And as kings, they don't easily take to something lesser than them trying to command them.
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Jack yelped as he landed in the general spot Wuya told him and looked around. Things looked...normal. Well as normal as a completely destroyed village scorched to the ground could be. He swallowed a bit as he headed towards the village and saw practically no one there. Were they toasted like their homes? Whoever these dragons of darkness were, they were brutal. Ashen wood cracked under his boot as Jack took out the tracking device and flicked it on. The delicate beeps of the machine echoed in the silent air, directing him towards the source that he worked tirelessly to calibrate to the shade's power source. His feet had carried him from the burned down village and into an open field, scorched just as bad as the village behind him, deep gouges in the ground resembling claw marks making him shiver.
Were they even human? Something moved from the corner of his eye and he squeaked as he tried to catch sight of it but it was gone from his peripherals only to appear on his other side. Turning his head while his device was going wild with the shade's presence, Jack lost sight of it again and whimpered. He was alone, in the past, about to contend with the primal darkness. Jack felt like he was about to piss his pants and nearly did as a hulking shadow landed before him, dropping the device.
His scream would've shaken the land, a red eye glaring down at him before blackened lips pulled back to reveal obsidian teeth. Jack though he saw blood on them but didn't know if it was a trick of the flames that still smoldered around him. "Another ssslave to add to the pile. The mastersss have enough. Not to mention you're rather ssscrawny and pale. Tastelessss." It whispered lowering its head before demanding Jack's purpose in the monarchs' land. Jack went to step back, stuttering as he tried to speak of his motive there before taking a real good look at the shadow. The body shape...it was exactly like the tiny thing he saw with Yugi before but bigger. Was this the form it really took?!
"I-I am Jack Spicer! Evil boy genius from the future! I came seeking the dragons of darkness!" he spoke though his voice quivered as he tried to sound strong before the creature that was before him. "The future?" An eye glanced down, seeing the Sands of Time in a white-knuckled grip and grinned more. "Such a pathetic little cretin as yourself hasss no place in seeing the mastersss...but I'll humor you. Maybe you'll provide a nice sssource of entertainment...before you are executed." It spoke, grabbing Jack before he could run and carried the cowering redhead towards a massive pyramid. On the scorched ground, the device was left behind, beeping slowly dying off as the shade walked farther from it.
Entering inside, there was only one room the path led to and there laid two thrones, in those thrones being two figures. Cerise hues fell to the shade before looking to the boy in its claws and narrowed. "Khial, what do you bring before us?" The voice, strong as thunder but deep and rich as saccharine honey, spoke. "A mere morsel, massster. He sought for you, from the dissstant future he claims." The shade, name revealed as Khial to Jack, answered before tossing the boy to the foot of the thrones. Jack whimpered as he went to look up to the two. Power clearly exuded from their forms, regal and strong and clearly felt like they were both of royal descent. One was a tall yet pale figure, not as pale as him as Jack pales in comparison to the color in his skin -hah, funny joke, Jack, real funny-, with flowing obsidian hair that reached down pretty long from his perspective.
The satin locks were kept tied together by a single thread while crimson eyes bore into him, as if looking right into his greedy black soul. His outfit looked simplistic enough with a tunic and a pair of pants but they were heavily embroidered with silver threads while a heavy broad collar that dipped to the center of his chest rested about his neck, an aquamarine jewel situated in the center of the polished gold. Nails that were practically claws tapped on the armrest, waiting for him to preach his case to th-wait, was that a human rib grinding in his teeth!? Shaking at the sound of bone withering to what was likely sharp teeth behind those firm lips, red eyes then turned to the other, the one that spoke upon his entrance and what could've alarmed him more is how closely he resembled Yugi but held plenty of differences from the teen.
Hair shaped the same except with a few extra blonde streaks and sharper eyes of cerise, the male was toned, strong muscle resting under bronzed skin with bangles of gold encircling his wrists. Light silk garments covered his form with sandals to match and it was clear that these two weren't native to China like Wuya said. Jack shook a little, eyes glancing down to the pile of polished ivory beside the throne. He really hoped that wasn't the servants the shade claimed they had. "You...y-you look similar to s-someone I know in the future." Jack stuttered and that made a brow arch in interest before the look alike went to sit up. "Someone in your future looks like me? Well...speak up!" The figure demanded and Jack jumped. Swallowing as he circumvented the telling of Yugi's name and instead began to ask instead if the two wished to join him in world conquest in the future but stuttered as he tried to plead his case to gain the two on his side. But it got worse as both pairs of eyes narrowed before the two rose from their thrones. "I didn't ask for an alliance, I asked for you to tell me of the one that looks like me." The male growled, pupils thinning as Khial cackled from behind.
"Better tell them, boy, or you're going to find yourssself demon chow~ A ssspoil of the appetite but I think you will be a first exception." Jack looked back to Khial then to the two as they descended down the staircase to their throne but with each step, a ripple in the air pulsated around the redhead. Jack whimpered like a child, seeing the slow transformation of the two right before his very eyes. The power from them made him dizzy, brought under a fog and it took everything to stand on his own two feet as darkness swirled around them the more their form changed. "Well then, boy, care to continue wasting my time and my patience or will you speak to me of the child to resemble me." The look alike hissed, forked tongue passing his lips before lips parted into a snarl to show the rows of very sharp teeth to line it now.
Monsters, Jack thought, they were monsters! No way Wuya could have not known these guys were a walking pair of reapers that destroyed whatever got in their way! Another scream echoed through the room as Jack bowed his head to the two. "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY! THE KID'S NAME IS YUGI! HE IS THE DRAGON OF LIGHT IN THE FUTURE! HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE YOU BUT WITH VIOLET EYES! He's strong but very soft..." Jack wailed, voice softening to the last part before feeling heated breath play at the back of his neck. Right within striking range should he choose to break his neck. "Yugi, you say..." The figure whispered before Jack felt his coat grasped in a clawed hand, dragged up to face the completely changed male. Smooth scales, like snake skin, covered parts of his face as snake like eyes looked dead into his own. A sleek tail came from behind him as wings of his own grew onto his back.
The other was just as bad, sharper features and definitely bigger teeth as scales grew over his arms and face, keeled and flattened but much sharper that he was sure to cut himself if he even dared to touch the sharp edges. "You are wise to finally open your mouth of this Yugi. Our reign is sure to last long into your time and when it does, he will becomes ours. Hear me well, peasant. He is not yours to claim...DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" Jack cried out again from the roar and nodded quickly before he was dropped, daring not to correct the male that he was certainly not alive in his future. "Use your Sands of Time and leave my sight but know this...if I ever catch sight of you or your Heylin stench around this Yugi...your life is forfeit to me." Jack was quick to nod, activating the Sands of Time to leave the throne room. As the light of the Wu faded, a soft hiss left the other before a smirk pulled across his lips. "Yugi...such a beautiful name. Not of Chinese descent yet it plays on the tongue so sweetly." The other smiled and nodded. "He sounds like a beauty too. Etherious had spoken about the balance we need for our power to be at the level it deserves. I would've imagined that was planned in this point in time." The raven looked to the other, a frown crossing his face.
"But...if our rule does ends prematurely before we meet this boy, what do we do, Atemu?" The figure, Atemu, moved to step back to his throne, followed by the other as the darkness shed from their form like a serpent's skin. "Then we will call to him, Nenrion. Anything that belongs to the night belongs to us as our element dictates. The light pulls from the sun and sky while the dark pulls from the moon and stars. When the light enters the world, so will we. Vestiges of our power will coax him, beckon him. His dreams will be the road that will guide him to our tomb if we die before his birth." he spoke with a grin, sitting back on his throne before reaching into the pile of bones beside his throne. When he found the item, he lifted a shining surface, looking into his reflection in the Reversing Mirror. "Khial!" The shade's head snapped up before the mirror was tossed in its direction. "Always remember, that mirror will be the key to bring us back. If we don't live to this future where he is born, you are to find the light, protect him until you bring him to us. But remember your place. You are to do nothing that will ruin his light or we will ruin you. Understand your master?" Khial swallowed before nodding as it looked to the mirror. "I understand, masssster. Without hisss permission I shall do nothing to overpower hisss light."
"Good. And one more thing," Nenrion added, reaching up and in the apex of his throne was a purple item in the shape of a pyramid. Pulling it free, he brought it down and tossed it to Khial who ends up juggling both items. "Take the Indigo Pyramid. If anyone dares to stray him from his path, correct them." Khial nodded as it looked to both items entrusted to it. Without these, the light will never find the darkness. If it failed, it would rather die than to linger in such failure. The master counted on it. "I will not fail you, Master Atemu and Master Nenrion."
I will not fail...
It was that very moment that Jack altered time. Meeting the famed dragons of darkness only to be overstimulated by their power had started the wheels of fate as one name uttered into their presence long before his birth revealed the existence of their other half. The balance that was warned to be incomplete will soon be whole but what the result of such will do...is far beyond anyone's visions.
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"Well?! What happened?!" Wuya asked and was only met with a scream. With each call of the boy's name was met with another scream to the point that it was comical to anyone watched before Wuya gave a groan. "Did you meet the primal darkness?" she asked slowly before jumping as Jack appeared right in her face. "Met them!? Met THEM?! I was almost eaten BY them!" he screeched. Jack began to pace, telling her every single second of their meeting, how they were so regal and powerful that he could bow to their feet if he had a weaker spine, which he'll admit he rather have done to begin with than to have kept with his offer to join forces. By the time he was finished, Wuya tapped her chin. So it was thanks to Jack's blunder warping the continuum that they knew of Yugi ahead of their time. "Wuya...tell me that you had at LEAST known they were not human." Jack pleaded. She rubbed her face sheepishly, mentioning that from the puzzle box she only knew of their power surpassing hers and nothing else. But it was clear from his story that they were absolutely picky to their alliances.
They refused to obey the Xiaolin that had abandoned them, refused to work under the Heylin that would abuse their power. They only desire the light and the balance that comes with it to strengthen their own abilities. "Ok, ok! Ya know what, I think that little episode is enough to age me a few hundred years. We can try again some other time when we have a better plan cause that...THAT is something I don't want to experience twice. We got the Sands of Time; I got the muscle. As long as I can collect all the Shen Gong Wu, I will have the world in my hands!" Jack exclaimed, laughing wickedly. His confidence was back and he shoved the experience to the back of his mind though he was sure he'd have nightmares about this when he goes to bed. The others joined him in his laughter but it wasn't as catching as he wished it, telling them they would have to work on their evil laugh before yelping as the old teacher slapped her ruler on the table, nearly hitting his hands. "Jackie, stand up straight while speaking and stop whining!" Ms. Cornhaven snapped and Jack pouted, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his new evil friends before she had sent him off to the corner.
He groaned before doing as the teacher ordered. He had forgotten how wicked she was...also that folding ruler hurts. He didn't want the back of his hands to suffer like when he was younger. Hiding within a vent, they had missed the conversation of Jack's episode with the dark royalty but hearing enough urged the monks to break out from the vent to get the Sands of Time. They wasted enough time and couldn't allow the boy genius to get a head start on world domination. Kicking out the grate, they leapt out and landed into the work space. Omi demanded the Wu from Jack but he huffed, crossing his arms as he sent his associates after them. Yugi stepped around the hulking form of Attila, eyes narrowing before he shot forward to attack him only to yelp as his collar was grabbed and flung across the floor. He groaned as looked up seeing the others taking a similar beating before glancing up to Jack as he decided to go overboard with his new patented evil laugh. Yugi looked to him blankly, his mind registering the laugh to be too overdrawn. Short and sweet, that was enough but he supposed it was a villain thing.
Evil laughs and monologues, why do villains always make them longer than necessary?
As they went to stand, they looked to each other and nodded. If their individual strengths did not work as planned, it was time for their signature move. "Shall we?" Kimiko asked and Omi agreed, concentrating their energies together. Yugi brought his hands together and inhaled before letting his light flow to the others and they were off. Compared to before, the evil dream team were of no match to their heightened elemental power and Clay easily roped them together. Wuya huffed as she looked to them all. She thought they were the best history could provide not accounting for the dark element but they were pathetic. With them out of the way, Yugi sighed a little as he glanced around. "Now where did Jack go...?"
"You mean, when is Jack! Sands of Time!" he called, activating the Wu and disappeared before Omi could leap for him. They blinked and glanced around them before jumping as he reappeared, having taken a year off for vacation and to think of his next plan which he went to act on just as quick as he reappeared. "The greatest evil? Who could he be talking about?" Yugi questioned and they all shrugged. With no indication of when the redhead would return, they decided to call it there and returned back to the temple for now. The Sands of Time would be in their grasp soon enough, they just had to be patient.
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Wuya hummed in silence as she floated about the garden. Jack had been gone much too long. Did he try again to get the dragons of darkness? No, he was pretty adamant of never trying for a second meeting with them. So who...who?! The witch sucked in a hard breath as Jack appeared before her with the others, speaking that he had found the greatest evil to roam the land and would help them find all the Wu with ease; himself. A hoarse cough left the aged evil genius as he stepped out from behind the others, weak on his feet and nearly tipping over if Jack didn't grab hold of his walker. With someone that knew of all the locations, swiping all the Wu would be endgame for the monks aside from their stash and that wouldn't be too hard to steal.
It's a shame they don't seem to realize how easy it has been to get into their vault these days and hadn't pony up for better security.
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"I swear the Sweet Baby Among Us was right around here somewhere." Dojo mumbled as he flew down to an abandoned valley. The Wu had activated about halfway towards home and Dojo took the detour to go and get it but as quick as it went active, the presence had disappeared. He landed in the spot where it should've been and Yugi looked around to see if anything was around. Dojo hummed, wondering if maybe it was a false alarm and his Wu sense was going haywire again until Clay spotted something on the ground and reached to grab it. "Seems like we came to the rodeo long after it closed." Turning, he showed Jack's calling card as an indication that he had come and grabbed the Wu long before they got there and to them, it made no sense. How could he have known about it before they did? Wuya and Dojo usually notices things around the same time which leads to them meeting up about the same time as well. Hearing a sound from below, Kimiko made to look over the cliff side and saw Jack was still there, with his evil team and a new addition that sported grayish-red hair but there was no mistaking it. "Look down there! Let's get a closer look." Climbing back onto Dojo, the dragon made to head down to the lower level of the valley, slipping in behind a rock before they all peeked out.
Jack cradled the Sweet Baby Among Us in hand as his evil team followed behind him but to their shock is who trailed behind him. The elderly version of him. "This is bad..." Yugi whispered as he looked up to the others. If Jack brought back himself from the future, it was no wonder how he arrived so soon. Waving to the rest, they began to make their way to the vehicle parked there once all of the evil doers were inside, Omi lifting himself to look through the window. It was muffled but he could hear their conversation and that their next target was the Ruby of Ramses once the elder Jack told him of its location. Ducking back down before he was spotted, Omi stepped back as the vehicle started up and began its way back towards Egypt. "Looks like we got our next location down." Dojo nodded as he shifted forms and they all hopped onto his back. Taking the scroll from the dragon, Yugi opened it to reveal the Ruby of Ramses and read up on what it was capable of. With its power, one could move any object at will no matter the size or weight. "I remember it now; it was in the head of the pharaoh back at the dinner theater." Dojo commented.
"Really?! If we had known that sooner, we coulda snagged it then!" Raimundo groaned as Dojo hurried along.
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Landing before the pyramid that hosted the dinner theater, they all ran inside and back into the main area, catching the attention of the director who claimed if they were going to make a mess of his show once again. "No, no! We're just here for that thing there!" Yugi claimed as he motioned to the Ruby of Ramses in the statue's head. But they weren't able to take a step as Jack entered into the room, glaring at them. "That belongs to me!" Jack demanded and they glared in return before the fight began. Yugi stepped back for a second, observing the field. He thought about it and wondered if a figure from the same time would be of use to them.
"Only fair for one of wise knowledge to be fought with the very same. That's it!" Yugi gasped before reaching into his shirt and pulled out the shroud, heading for the exit. "Wait! Yugi where are you going?!" Kimiko called. "I know who we need! I just need to get one thing! Hold down the fort!" he called as he used the shroud and hid himself before running out from the pyramid. Taking a second to locate Jack's mobile, he moved over to it. Opening the door, the teen stepped inside and saw the patrolling bots. Grateful that the guard was so weak with just two of the bots, he crept towards the table where the Wu sat and while he could've taken all of it, it would make the bots suspicious and alert Jack of someone getting in. Reaching for the Sands of Time, Yugi brought it under the shroud and left out the mobile. "Now, to get future Omi. Sands of Time!" The teen disappeared, flinging himself into the future.
Back inside, the fight continued with no one making a grab for the ruby until Yugi appeared and at his side was a familiar but aged face. "Hey old Jack Spicer, I brought a friend for you." Yugi claimed as Omi went to meet with his future self. Nodding to each other, the two began to head for the Ruby of Ramses and Jack not wanting to be outdone, dragged his elder self with him to go for the Wu as well. As they touched the Wu, Omi had called for a showdown tsunami, each wagering their Wu with their challenge to escape the pyramid maze. With the challenge set, the ruby activated their playing field, the pyramid transforming and splitting into three levels. Statues rose from the ground that held the monks and evil team to watch the match from their position.
The shade peeked out through the teen's shadow before its eye caught sight of the Sands of Time in his hands. This was a perfect opportunity. Coerce the boy to return to the past and the masters can meet him and be able to live. Or they can follow him back to this time and avoid the mess that caused their death to begin. "Little one...oh little oneee, you know what you hold in your handssss?" The shade whispered, crawling up his leg and across his back, peeking over his shoulder. "I do..." Yugi murmured as he glanced to the shade. "Yesss, you hold something I did not conssssider before. After all this time~ If you use thisss, I can take you to someone who can help you with all the evilsss of this world." Yugi blinked as he looked to the hourglass in his hands. The shade grinned as it continued, whispering sweetly of its masters, how they would be ecstatic to meet him. "They would care for you...pamper you...give you the worrrld~ If you ask, they can eassssily be rid of Jack and Wuyaaa." Yugi was silent as he ran a thumb over the glass of the Wu. The offer was very tempting and the shade would never steer him wrong.
He questioned himself often if the shade was really bad but it always helped him, looked out for him. And it knew of someone that could help them with Wuya and Jack even if the latter wasn't that much of a threat. The shade grinned sharply. "Go back, dear one...go back a thousand yearssss. Meet my mastersss and let them give you everything your little heart desiressss~ You need not do anything in return exccept love them...adooore them~" Violet hues blinked slowly as he went to raise the Wu, the four in the showdown just reaching the second level as the first began to crumble with the Jacks taking the lead. "This is intense, isn't it Yugi?...Yugi?" Kimiko commented as she looked back to the teen and saw the lost look in his eyes. He jumped, gripping the Sands of Time while the shade hid behind his back, hissing angrily. It was so close! Kimiko asked if he was alright and Yugi nodded, lowering his hands and the Wu. With his thoughts cleared and Kimiko turning her gaze back to the showdown as the second level crumbled to give way to the third and final one, he exhaled softly. "It's too risky. I also don't want to alter the future by bringing someone from the past here. No matter how helpful they could be...I'm sorry."
The shade sneered from its spot before telling him he had no need to apologize. Things would just have to proceed on its previous path. The Sands of Time would've made things so much easier but it promised to never force the smaller male to do anything without permission. That was the rule given to it by the masters and it didn't want to become a black smear on a temple wall somewhere if it disobeyed. But there was another thought it had in mind. Moving to peer back over his shoulder, the shade smiled gently. "Little one, may I make another suggessstion? Remember when you asked how I could acclaim more power to assist you? But I could not sssspeak of it then? I wish to implore you to allow me into your sssoul." Yugi gasped sharply but covered his mouth to keep him from alerting the others. Let the shade into his soul? For what purpose would that do to give it more power?
A claw touched his cheek, making him shiver. "It's all about balance...light strengthensss the dark while the dark shieldsss the light. That is a lesson so many forget. Bring me in and I can better protect you." Yugi listened to its words and was reminded of the last two times it expended all to protect him. He felt terrible for those times, knowing that while he wasn't truly at fault but for failing to stand strong in the face of danger that had scared him with the fear of death, he pushed the shade to work harder. Especially when he was left alone. Yugi just worried that someday...he'll get the poor thing hurt by his lack of action. He gave a nod and the shade was pleased, telling him that it will do what was needed when they returned back to the temple. The rumble of something breaking through the walls of the pyramid made them look down, seeing both Jacks fly out of the pyramid and the Omis reached the Ruby of Ramses that hovered above. Showdown won, they ran over to the two, congratulating the two for their win while Jack huffed. He was in the zone and thought he had the edge but the stinking cheeseball and his older self ruined everything! Leaving his older self behind as it wasn't worth keeping him around, he headed back home to regroup and plan.
They took some time to get the other historic evils back to their own timeline and once that was done, the monks returned back to the temple to put away the Wu they gained but kept the Sands of Time out. Yugi held the Wu in his hands as the elder Omi stepped up to them. "I must return to the future and I will take the Sands of Time with me and hide it somewhere to never be found again." he told them and Yugi nodded before passing the hourglass to him. As he took the Wu, Omi's aged eyes widened a little as he stared at the teen, making Yugi tilt his head before asking if something was wrong. Shaking his head, Yugi went to step back to watch as the elder Omi left with the Sands of Time, taking the old Jack with him whom they brought back to make sure he wouldn't be sought for again to find Wu for anyone else that wanted his knowledge. As Omi traveled back to his own time, he was concerned. The teen...had a taint of darkness within his chi. Such a thing could prove bad for the others but alas, there was little he could do now. Knowledge in the future can't travel back to the past. Therefore he of that time won't know what he does. All he could hope for is that whatever happens there, it doesn't change his future. Once the small monk and his adversary were gone back into the future, Yugi stretched. It was a long set of hours and he was ready to rest for the entire day.
"Rest well, my friend." Omi spoke as Yugi left to head back to his room. As he entered the room and slid the door closed behind him, the shade separated from his shadow and appeared on his futon. "So...what do I have to do?" Yugi asked as he went to sit down beside it. "Rest your head and relax. The mesh of our powersss will feel weird but I promise you, it won't be for long." The shade whispered and Yugi nodded as he went to lay down. The moment his head laid on the pillow, he felt his eyelids grow heavy but wanted to see the shade settle itself where it wanted to be. The shade cooed softly, climbing over his chest and looked into his eyes. "Sleeeep, my dearest one. Sleeeep and dream. When you wake up, you will feel a sensssation deep in your mind. That will be me so we can still ssspeak." Yugi breathed softly as he nodded, unable to keep his eyes open but the last sight to meet his gaze was the slowly growing pool of black that spread over his chest as the shade began to seep into his body, almost like it was melting into his body.
A shudder ran through him as their elements adjusted to the other, an uncomfortable moan escaping his lips before he felt a presence grow in his mind. It strengthened as a bond was established between him and the shade, a purr thrumming through him and soothed him. /I'm comfy here~ Now ressst, my dearest light. I'll be here to talk when you desssire~/ The shade whispered and Yugi nodded, finally letting slumber take him, rolling over to his side as the candles in the room blew themselves out, a rumbling purr from a second effervescent presence rolling through the quiet room.
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Zypher: thanks Jack, you single-handedly brought about the end of the world in a manner no one is to expect...for a while lol