In the pitch darkness, the monks called for Raimundo, but their ex-teammate never returned. Clay rejected every suggestion to split up or wander too far from the campfire, knowing that doing so would only get them lost. No one slept that night, and by the time dawn broke over the sand, Jack had paced a nervous circle into the dirt around his sleeping bag.
Squinting at the first slivers of sunshine, Jack spun around and said, "Alright, Clay, there's light now. You happy?" Yanking up his sleeping bag, he made a haphazard attempt to fold it, gave up, and tossed it back to the ground. "Come on, let's blow this taco stand. There's no telling how far Raimundo went or where-"
Rolling up his own sleeping bag and shrinking it down with the Changing Chopsticks, Clay shook his head. "Jack, there's no way we'll be able to find Raimundo out here. We don't have time to go fetchin' a needle out of a hay stack, 'specially when the needle doesn't wanna be found."
"WHAT?" Jack whirled around, clenching his clammy fists. "Are you serious? We can't just leave him out here! There's no food or water!"
Clay strolled over to Jack's mess of a sleeping bag and shrank it down, too. "Raimundo spent his whole childhood survivin' stuff he shouldn't. He's got that reaper or whatever keepin' him alive. He'll be fine." He moved to shrink Kimiko's, Omi's, and Raimundo's sleeping bags, and he shoved all five into his pocket. Keeping his gaze low, he said, "He doesn't need us, and we sure don't need him. We need to find the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman, like Master Monk Chase said."
"Forget the stupid quest!" Jack gestured wildly out into the desert. "We're Xiaolin Dragons, and we're supposed to help people! Raimundo needs help!"
Clay's mouth pressed into a thin line. "We did help him. We saved his life. We let him back into our temple after everything he's done, and now look how he's repaid us." Finally matching Jack's glare, he said, "Face it, Jack: Raimundo's rotten to the core."
Omi, whose gaze had swapped back and forth between his two teammates, finally stood and said, "I agree with Clay. It is vital that we finish our quest." His thin eyebrows furrowed, and he bit his lip, but then he walked to Clay's side. "Remember when my old self took the Sands of Time? He warned us that there was a traitor among us, and Raimundo has now betrayed us twice. There is a saying about fooling me once, fooling me twice..."
Jack's teeth bared in an angry grimace. "You're so full of it, Cheesehead! You just want to keep the quest going so you can get your Wudai Weapon! Raimundo's one of us, and we're supposed to be loyal to each other-"
Omi flinched a bit, but then he shook his head. "Jack, you do not understand. I woke suddenly last night because I sensed evil. Raimundo was that source of evil. My tiger instincts do not lie."
Jack started pacing again, back and forth in front of the dead campfire. "I can't believe you! You're both just gonna abandon Raimundo in the middle of nowhere?" He paused in front of his last teammate, who sat hunched on a rock with her arms wrapped around her legs. "Kimiko, back me up here! You know we can't do this!"
Kimiko's face crumpled. Taking a deep breath, she unwrapped her legs and stood. "Jack, I... I didn't do anything to Raimundo. I didn't set him off. I didn't say anything to upset him. He still attacked me last night." She ran a hand through her tangled hair. "I don't think he wanted to, but... we can't trust him anymore. There's no telling who else he'll try to hurt. What if we can't stop him next time?"
Jack's eyes widened, and he pointed at her. "You're scared of him."
Kimiko scowled. "I'm not scared of anything."
Voice loud enough to echo, Jack took a step closer and snapped, "You're scared! You're a bigger coward than me!"
"Raimundo tried to strangle her last night," said Clay, crossing his arms, "and you think she ain't allowed to be upset about that? I'm done debatin' about this, Jack. I'm takin' charge. Raimundo made his bed, and now he can sleep in it. We're finishin' this quest, and that's final."
Mouth hanging open, Jack whirled around to face Dojo, who winced at the angry glower and said, "Sorry, pal, gotta go with the crowd on this one."
"Fine!" Jack stomped backward away from the group, nearly tripping over a rock as he went. He pounded the button on his chest, turning on his helipack. "You three go on your cutesy little trinket quest. I'm going to find Raimundo!" Snatching his Wudai Weapon off the ground, he threw the slingshot at Clay's feet. "Here! Take it! It's obviously more important to you, you big Xiaolin jerks!"
Jack's helipack whirled to life, but before Jack could make it more than a foot off the ground, Clay threw out his Lasso Boa Boa, snagging Jack and pinning his arms to his sides. "You ain't goin' anywhere on your own, Jack. We can't be splittin' up out here. After we get the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman, we'll go look for Raimundo. Deal?"
Dojo expanded to full size, and Kimiko and Omi climbed on. Jack dropped back to the ground but otherwise didn't move. Clay started to tug him toward the rest of the group, but Jack dug his heels into the sand and snapped, "Who made you the team leader? You're not the boss of me!"
Clay's grip tightened on the Lasso Boa Boa, and through gritted teeth, he growled, "Knock it OFF, Jack, and get on the dragon before I give you somethin' to fuss about!" He gave the rope a sudden yank, causing Jack to stumble with a yelp.
Dojo pursed his reptilian lips, but he said nothing. By the time Clay had dragged Jack close enough to grab and hoist onto the dragon's back, Kimiko and Omi were now watching them both with an odd apprehension that Clay had never seen in their eyes before. Omi silently unrolled the treasure map, and when Dojo took off, Kimiko crossed her arms and glanced back at Clay.
"Y'know," she murmured, "when Master Fung and Master Chase were teaching me how to find absolute focus, I learned something." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Letting my anger control me? Losing my temper? That was never strength, Clay. It was weakness." She turned away from him, shoulders still hunched, and no one else spoke for the rest of the sunrise.
As the cool darkness gave way to dry heat and light, Raimundo kept his head down while he trudged forward, arms wrapped around his waist. His empty stomach ached with an unfamiliar nausea, and his eyes stung from wind, sand, and tears. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, and the back of his neck grew hot under the blistering sun, but he ignored it. He passed the odd rattlesnake here and there, a red and silver bird circled overhead, and he might have seen a single coyote in the distance, but there was no other sign of life. He was alone, nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
What had happened last night, and why couldn't he remember it? One second, he was falling asleep in a lumpy sleeping bag. The next, Clay was kicking him around like a soccer ball across the sand, yelling about strangling Kimiko. But why would he attack Kimiko? She had never done anything to him. Even in Rio, Raimundo had only hurt people worse than he was, and that was a high bar to reach.
"Lastly, Raimundo," Master Monk Chase had said, "you claim that the reaper has not possessed you, and your choices were yours alone. However, if my fears are correct, then the reaper could attempt to take that choice away and take matters into its own hands."
Raimundo's steady march came to a stop. Though he had been squinting in the light, his eyes widened now. He had been so sure that this whole reaper conspiracy was nonsense, just an easy excuse for what an evil little freak he was, but what if there was actual truth to it? What if there really was some separate, hungry entity dwelling within him, nudging him toward awful decisions he otherwise would have never made? He tried to gulp, but his mouth was too dry. If there was something that could possess him, make him attack people without ever remembering... then what else had it made him do while he slept?
And now that he knew it was there, what would it do now?
He straightened his back and spun around, trying to blink the sand out of his eyes. He had to stop walking. He had to stay exactly where he was, all alone in an empty wasteland with no one around for miles. Whatever this reaper thing was, he could starve it out. If he died, it would die with him. It would never hurt anyone again as long as he avoided everyone-
An odd, tone-deaf humming hit his ears. He turned, and his mouth fell open at the sight of a frail old woman toddling along across the sand. Her head scarf, dress, and apron barely shielded her from the blazing sun, but she warbled her little tune like she didn't notice.
The second he spotted her, a loud, carnivorous snarl escaped Raimundo's lips.
He gagged and slapped a palm over his mouth, but his shoulders and legs trembled with a sudden, desperate hunger that left drool on his fingers. This woman was old, ancient, full of life, and no one was around to see what he could do to her- Every muscle in his body ached to jump, to attack, to take, to kill-
"Oh, hello, kind stranger!" the old woman said, pivoting to face him. She had a lazy eye, a large nose, flabby skin, and about three teeth. She was ugly, UGLY, all alone, no one would miss her, GET HER-
"S-stay away from me," Raimundo said, barely a muffled whimper against his palm. His legs quaked. He didn't have the strength to actually step back, but he managed to slide one foot backward across the sand. His shoulders hunched forward, ready to pounce. "G-get back."
The lady waddled toward him, hands twitching in front of her. "Young man, could you help me? I'm afraid I may have lost my way." She bobbed her head, smiling blissfully. "Or have you lost your way as well?"
Raimundo growled again and bit into his fingers. His other hand shuddered at his side, fingers clenching around an invisible neck. He was going to die out here, starve and die all alone and unwanted and unloved unless he acted now, GRAB HER NOW-
"Don't come any c-closer." He forced his body to sink and crouch down with his knees near his chin. "I c-can't help you, I'm sorry..."
"What was that, dearie?" She cocked her head and pressed a wrinkled palm behind her ear. "Forgive me, my hearing's not too good."
Raimundo's teeth scraped into the flesh of his fingers, and he tasted blood. With a cough, he freed his hand, and his throat rumbled with a low, steady snarl that he couldn't stop. The lady waited in front of him, oblivious, helpless, just as alone as he was. Raimundo dug his fingernails into his khakis, and through gritted teeth, he said, "Y-you said you're lost?"
"Will you help me?" she repeated, still smiling that ugly, nearly toothless smile.
With a gulp, Raimundo slowly stood, fighting the consuming impulse to leap at her. Panting, he asked, "Do you r-remember where you came from? Where was the sun when you left home? To your r-right, your left...?"
For a moment, neither spoke. Then the lady began to hum a tuneless song again, rocking in place- Useless old woman! – Raimundo squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he spoke again. "O-okay. That's fine. Listen. I'll s-see if I can get you home-"
The old woman beamed. "Oh, thank you, young man! You are too kind!"
"Not really." Raimundo squinted into the horizon. "I'm n-not sure how to find your house, b-but you won't last long without water." He pointed at a patch of green in the distance. "I think those are cacti. Clay said... He said yesterday... He said saguaros have water in them. F-follow me, and I'll- I'll get you there, okay?"
"What a nice young man you are!" The lady reached out and rested her bony fingers around Raimundo's arm. At the contact, Raimundo gritted his teeth, quaking against the uncontrollable hunger rising up from somewhere deep and dark inside him. He squeezed his eyes shut and froze where he stood. Humming cheerfully, the old woman didn't notice. With a hoarse gasp, Raimundo finally found the strength to start moving, one step at a time, leading the lady out to the green at the horizon.
The treasure map led the Xiaolin monks back around Cactus Creek to an ancient cave. Passing dripping stalactites, Kimiko kept her shoulders tense and her fists raised for battle, and Clay clenched his jaw while he dragged Jack along on the Lasso Boa Boa. Jack, still a flight risk, grumbled under his breath about leash laws. Among the crankier teenagers, Omi made a valiant attempt to remain somber and stoic right until a glimmer in the cave sparked to life before them. A short, glowing stick sat embedded in a rock like a tiny, ice-colored Excalibur.
The four stared down at the stick, too confounded to speak. The stick began to wiggle frantically like a puppy's wagging tail. Then Omi's face flushed scarlet, and he blurted out, "What? This cannot be! My Wudai Weapon is a pitiful stick, and guarded by nothing?" The stick went still and actually wilted, and as Omi approached, he sheepishly added, "Oh, I am sorry... I did not mean to hurt your feelings!"
He plucked the weapon from the stone, and he turned to beam at the others, to which Jack said, "Great. You got a third of a children's baseball bat. Totally worth the trip." He yanked at the rope, but Clay held tight. "Can we go now?"
"Hold on there, partners." Clay leaned over Kimiko's shoulder to peek at the map in her hands. "Looks like the Treasure of the Blind Swordman is further inside." Ignoring Jack's frustrated groan, Clay led the way, following the sound of rushing water.
After the monks traveled deeper underground and Jack whined about the dangers of "enclosed spaces," the cave eventually opened up into a massive, oddly well-lit cavern. Among smoking craters, waterfalls poured down from every wall, filling a pond in the cavern's valley. A ray of sunshine dropped from the ceiling and lit up a small plateau, upon which sat a glittering black treasure chest.
Everyone's eyes but Jack's lit up, and Clay said, "Looks like we hit pay dirt!"
The monks cautiously approached the treasure chest, but before any of them could reach it, a cloaked figure dropped from the ceiling and landed between them. When he stood, his hood pulled back and revealed an elderly face with a long, white mustache and black glasses. The elderly man turned to an empty space at their right and said, "Who dares to enter?"
Jack wrinkled his nose. "Just what this creepy cave was missing: old people smell."
The man hollered a hoarse battle cry, whirled around, and swung his cane at an empty space to their left. None of the monks flinched at the attack. Clay tilted his hat back with a puzzled frown, and Kimiko said, "Uh, we're here for the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman...?"
The old man went still, and he finally turned to face where they were actually standing. "You must be the Xiaolin Warriors I have heard so much about."
"And you must be the blind swordsman!" said Omi with an triumphant smile.
"No." The man bonked Omi upside the head with his cane. "I am the guardian of the treasure, protector of its magic, keeper of all its glory..."
"Blindand chatty," muttered Dojo, to which Jack nodded in agreement.
"Who said that?" snapped the guardian, flailing his cane around. "Who?!"
Clay kept his voice as calm and friendly as possible when he spoke up, "Um, how 'bout we have a look-see inside your treasure chest, partner?"
Instantly calming once more, the old man stretched his back straight and rested his hands on his cane. "According to quest rules, your bravest must defeat me in battle in five moves," He held up an open palm with all fingers outstretched, "and the chest is yours."
Clay briefly glanced down at Kimiko, but before he could speak his thoughts, Omi gave a smug grin, approached the old man, and said, "But I cannot fight you. You are old and blind!"
Swift as a cobra, the man's cane lashed out and smacked into the back of Omi's knees, throwing the small monk across the cavern. When Omi landed with a pained yelp, the guardian said, "And I fight dirty! You have four moves left!"
Omi jumped back to his feet and adopted his traditional battle stance, but then Clay piped up, "Hold on there, lil partner. We shouldn't be rushin' into this. He said he's gotta face our bravest. Maybe we oughta figure out who that is first."
Omi's eyes widened, and his shoulders sagged a bit. "You do not think I am brave?"
"We're all brave, Omi," said Kimiko, ignoring Jack's incredulous scoff, "but I mean, Clay's made a lot of the big decisions since we came out here. He did most of the work against the evil cacti, and he saved me last night, and he got us out here to your Wudai Weapon-"
"By abandoning a teammate to die in the desert," muttered Jack. "Real leadership material there."
Clay flinched at Jack's words, but he decided to pretend he hadn't heard them. "Shucks, Kimiko, I don't know 'bout all that. Maybe Omi's right, and he'll have a better shot. I reckon either of you would." Dropping his voice so the guardian hopefully wouldn't hear him, he added, "Besides, like Omi pointed out, I ain't too comfortable fightin' a blind old man..."
"Are you serious?" Jack snapped. "You'll kick Raimundo off the team for something he didn't mean to do, you'll drag me around like a misbehaving dog, but your oh-so-strong Texas moral code draws the line at fighting some random old guy?" He yanked back at the rope and yelled, "We don't have time for this! Titanium Bolt, Metal!"
Out of the helipack between his shoulders popped a thin metallic blade. Pivoting in the air at his side, the blade stabbed into the Lasso Boa Boa, causing the Wu to flinch and unravel with an angry hiss. Pulling his arms free, Jack stepped out of the rope and squared his shoulders. "Last time I checked, being brave was about facing your fears, and only one of us managed to beat the Shadow of Fear: me, Jack Spicer!" He grabbed the floating blade and threw it past the old man. It clanged against a stalagmite, and when the guardian whirled around to face the noise, Jack kicked him right in the small of his back. The old man dropped like a sack of mashed potatoes. Jack jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "And guess what? Jack Spicer also fights dirty!"
Clay took a couple steps forward to assist the old man, who coughed and stood on his own with barely a grunt. Spinning back to face Jack, the guardian said, "Ah. Master Monk Chase has taught you well, young warrior. It is refreshing to face an opponent who so wholly embodies the values of a Xiaolin Dragon."
"Are you...?" Omi raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Are you talking about Jack Spicer?"
"Whatever, old man," said Jack, crossing his arms. "I busted you up in less than five moves, and that means we get to take the box and blow this dump, right?"
"Very well," said the guardian, completely unfazed at Jack's rudeness. "You have earned the right to take a look and behold all its glory." He gestured in the complete opposite direction of the treasure chest. After a brief, mildly annoyed double take, the monks approached the elevated stone. Clay lifted the glittering chest from the platform and set it down at their feet, but when he popped the lid open, the monks all gasped. It was empty.
Jack took a long breath in and out through his nose. "Wow. I'm sure glad this wasn't a total waste of our time."
"I do not understand," said Omi, reaching into the chest and feeling around as if expecting to find something invisible. "Master Monk Chase said that the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman would reveal why our Dragon X Kumei formation isn't working, but it is merely an empty box!"
"Maybe the treasure was here, but someone else took it," said Jack, pointing a thumb back at the old man, "while he wasn't, y'know, looking."
The old man, still utterly unperturbed by Jack's insults, turned away and said, "Sometimes one must look closely to find what they are truly looking for."
Clay lifted the chest and turned it upside down over his head, but only crumbles of rock and dust fell out. "Looks like Jack is right. I'm afraid we came all the way out here for nothin'."
"At least we still have our cool Wudai Weapons, right?" offered Kimiko, holding up her feathered purse.
Omi shook his head and said, "Our Wudai Weapons are of no use if we cannot become Wudai Warriors!" When Clay set the treasure chest back down, Omi clambered into it and started poking around at its sides as if hoping to reveal a secret button.
Dipping back into the cavern's shadows, the old man said sagely, "The secret to the treasure and the missing piece to your team formation are one and the same. The answers to all your questions lie inside. You just need to know where to look."
"I am looking!" said Omi, trying and failing to keep his voice from cracking in frustration.
"And speaking of looking," said Jack, tapping the button at his chest. "Peace out, losers." The buzz of his helipack was faint against the roaring of the surrounding waterfalls when he took to the air and glided back toward the cavern's exit.
Clay picked up the Lasso Boa Boa again, but he refrained from throwing it this time. "Hold on, Jack, we need to talk this out. I know I said we'd go lookin' for Raimundo next, but we all saw what a threat he is, and if we go fetch 'im now-"
Jack swirled around in the air and swung his fists down. "I'm done, Clay! All three of you agreed to leave Raimundo behind so you could finish this stupid quest, and look how that worked out! You picked an empty box over your own teammate, who's all alone in a barren desert, possessed by some evil death monster, and you have the nerve to act like any of you deserve to be Wudai Warriors?" He pointed at the guardian. "That old man isn't the only blind one in here, that's for sure! Peace! OUT!"
He spun around and buzzed out of the cavern. Clay stepped forward, swirling the Lasso Boa Boa at his side, but a small hand touched his sleeve. He turned to Kimiko, who pulled her hand back and said, "You know what? Maybe Jack is right. Raimundo lived with us for years, and he never tried to hurt any of us before." She frowned and touched the bruise at her neck. "What happened last night... it wasn't like him. I don't know Raimundo as well as Jack does, but... I don't think he'd ever hurt me on purpose."
Omi bowed his head. "We are Xiaolin Warriors. We are supposed to protect the weak, and we are supposed to help our friends. If Raimundo is truly under the influence of the reaper, then he needs someone to save him." He squared his shoulders and peered up at his teammates. "Jack is right. By abandoning Raimundo in favor of the quest, we have failed as honorable warriors. I have failed. I have been disloyal to an old friend."
"And I've been a coward," murmured Kimiko.
Clay shook his head. "Neither of you are any of those things. We ain't done anything wrong. We saw what Raimundo did to Pandabubba, and we know what he did in Rio. Whether it's his fault or not, he's still dangerous, and I don't want him hurtin' any o' my teammates again. We know he's capable of worse. Even Guan said that we'd pay for bein' nice to him-"
"Guan?" Kimiko blinked up at him. "When did Guan say that?"
Their voices went silent against the roar of the waterfalls. Kimiko and Omi stared up at Clay, who tipped his hat down and shrugged. "Well, uh. I didn't want to worry anyone. He cornered me while y'all were fightin' that fella in the painting and gettin' Kimiko's Wudai Weapon." He gritted his teeth and clenched his empty fist. "He told me that Hannibal Bean has been watchin' Raimundo all along because he's prime material for the Heylin side. If even Guan thinks he's evil-"
"Do you trust Guan?"
Clay's eyes widened under his bangs. Kimiko's palms rested on her hips, and she added, "I mean, of course you don't, right? You're not stupid. All that stuff you said last night, that was all you, wasn't it? You wouldn't let Guan tell you what to think, would you?"
Clay's face flushed, and his fingers tightened on the brim of his hat. His teeth scraped together for a moment before he looked away and muttered, "We better go track down Jack before he wanders too far off." He spun on his heel and marched back toward the cavern's exit, barely waiting for Kimiko, Omi, and Dojo to follow.
