The Xiaolin Dragon King: Second Arc

by Unicornblossem13

The Xiaolin Monks, now Wudai Warriors, have grown stronger with the help of their leader, Juno. However, their skills are put to the test when they come face-to-face with the infamous Hannibal Roy Bean, the evil demon who turned Chase to the Heylin side and killed Juno fifteen hundred years ago. When the Xiaolin Dragon King meets her hated enemy again, she vows to make him pay.

16. Time After Time (Part Two)

Hey, everyone, great to see you again. I hope you're all ready for the second part of the Time After Time arc. Just a brief recap; after inadvertently causing a future where Jack Spicer ruled the world, Omi and Dojo manage to go back fifteen hundred years into the past to make things right. However, when they get there, they just so happened to land in the middle of the final battle between Wuya and Juno and her original team, including a good Chase Young.

I'm sure you all are excited for this chapter, I was excited to write it. After this chapter, I will publish two or three more chapters that are of my own creation to officially end the Second Arc. But, for now, please enjoy part two of Time After Time. Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OOC.

---

The Xiaolin Dragon King: Second Arc

---

Chapter Sixteen: Time After Time (Part Two)

---

As the battle between the Heylin witch and the original Xiaolin Warriors raged on, the fight had moved to an abandoned section of a nearby village. Omi and Dojo had followed and hid behind some rocks, getting a close view of the entire thing. Though, maybe a little too close.

"I think we may have picked-" the dragon and short monk ducked their heads to dodge the disembodied head of a rock monster that sailed their way. "A bad time for a surprise visit."

"No, this is a most wonderous time." Omi said, a smile on his face. "Master Monk Guan is here." he pointed.

Guan landed in front of a group of rock creatures. He shot out his fists and punched his way through them, their stone pieces flying everywhere.

"And there is Grandmaster Dashi."

Dashi had jumped on top of a stone wall, right across from where Wuya was standing. Letting out a shout, she charged at him and went to kick him. However, he blocked the attack with his arm. When the villainess tried to punch him, the bald man stepped to the side, grabbed her leg, and threw her far. He then looked down and saw three rock creatures climbing the wall. The Grandmaster jumped down, landing on their heads before he reached the ground. The monsters broke apart a moment later.

"And even Chase Young is fighting."

They saw Chase dodge a punch from one of the rock creature. Then he jumped on its arm, running up it before leaping up and aiming a spinning roundhouse kick at its head, knocking it clean off and sending it flying across the air.

"Most amazing." Omi said in admiration. "Although, I do not see Master Juno." he looked around for the Xiaolin Dragon King. He was so focused on trying to spot her, he and Dojo didn't hear someone come up from behind them. It wasn't until a hand was placed on his shoulder that he became aware.

"Hey, kid."

Thinking it was an enemy, the short monk immediately grabbed the hand. "Repulse the Monkey!" he spun around and threw the person.

It wasn't until the person straightened out in mid-air and landed safely on the ground did Omi realize that they were not an enemy at all. In fact, they were an ally. Or, rather, a future ally.

"Geez, kid." Juno said as she looked at the shorter boy. "All I wanted to know is what it is you're doing here, it's not safe with all these rock monsters around. Then again, that was an impressive throw. Just where did you learn Repulse Monkey, not that many people know it."

Omi didn't reply right away, all he could do is stare up at the redhead. The last time he had saw her, she was trapped forever in a giant crystal. And it was because of him that she was caught in the first place. But, now, she was standing before him, free and fighting against evil the same way he had seen her do many times before.

"Hey, are you okay?" Juno asked as she walked over to him, taking notice of his stunned expression. "Are you scared of the rock monsters? Don't worry, me and my friends are gonna take care of them. But you should get somewhere more safe before you get hurt."

"Master Juno..." the short monk said softly as he continued to look at her.

"Oh, you know me?" the redhead knelt down in front of him. "Well, it's not that surprising, I am quite famous, after all." she smiled proudly.

Even her attitude now was the same as it is in the future.

"I'll be more than happy to give you an autograph if you want, but I need to finish this battle first. Until then, get to safety, okay?"

Omi stared at the kind smile she gave him, the same smile she always looked at him and his fellow monks with. Before he could stop himself, tears sprung up in his eyes. "Master Juno!"

"Woah!" Juno exclaimed when he suddenly leapt at her, falling on her back in surprise. "Hey, what are you..." she sat up and looked down at him.

"You are alive!" the short monk cried, his head on her chest as his arms were around her.

"Of course I'm alive." the redhead blinked at him in confusion. "As if I would die because of Wuya and her pet rocks."

"I-I am just so happy to see you!" he sniffled, holding her tighter.

Juno stared at the strange boy hugging and crying on her. Though she was confused as to what was going on right now, she felt a sudden urge to comfort this child she just met. "It's okay." she raised her hand and placed it on his big head, rubbing it gently. "You don't need to cry, I'm right here. Why don't you calm down and tell me who you are and what you're doing here?"

"That's actually a long story."

"Dojo?" the female warrior finally noticed the dragon as he slithered over. "You know this kid? And you look..." she squinted at him. "A little different."

"Well, you see-"

"Juno!" a male voice suddenly called out.

"Chase." the redhead turned her head and saw the male warrior heading her way.

"There you are." Chase said when he reached her. "You suddenly disappeared, and I was worried that..." he stopped when he saw the short monk clinging to her.

"Yeah, I don't really know what's going on, either." she told him when she saw his questioning look. "But he is upset about something." she finally got to her feet. "Okay, sweetie..." grabbing the young boy with both hands, she pulled him off of her. "Let's start with your name." she gently set him on the ground. "Who are you?"

Omi sniffled once more, wiping his tears away before he looked at his future leader. "My name is Omi. And I-"

He was cut off when something landed directly behind him loudly. Tilting his head back, the short monk found himself staring up at the face of a rock monster.

"Oh, shit." Juno cursed as she summoned her Xiaolin Dragon Blade, Chase taking a stance beside her. "Omi, get back before-"

"Chimpanzee Chop!" Omi jumped high into the air, right above the creature's head. When he fell back down, he shot out his fist and punched it all the way through its middle, breaking it in half.

The other two warriors stared in surprise.

"The kid knows how to fight." Juno said, looking impressed at the young boy. Then she saw more rock monsters coming their way. "We can't let ourselves be totally showed up by the younger generation. What do you say, Chase?"

"After you, darling." he replied.

"Such a gentleman." the redhead smiled. "Eagle Slice!" she threw her guandao like a boomerang and it sailed through the air while spinning around fast. It sliced through a number of the rock monsters charging at them. When it traveled back to its owner, she caught it with one hand. "Damn, I'm good."

"Mantis Kick!" Chase leaped up and kicked two rock creatures in the face. He jumped further away as they fell on each other and crumbled to pieces.

Another, bigger rock creature charged at Juno and raised its stone fist to hit her. However, Omi came up from behind and kicked it hard in the shoulder, making its arm break apart. Chase broke the other arm off with a knifehand strike before the monster could attack with it. The Xiaolin Dragon King jumped into the air with a flip, grabbed the armless monster's head when she was over it, and snapped it off like it was a mere twig. Its body landed on the ground a second later.

"Not bad, kid, not bad at all." Juno said to the short monk, tossing the rock head away. "And, though it's strange, it feels like I already know you."

"I, too, get the same feeling when I look at you, little one." Chase added.

"You both do." Omi told them. "It just hasn't happened yet." he smiled.

Before the two could question him, the head of a rock monster suddenly sailed by them.

"A little help over here!"

The group looked over and saw Dashi and Guan surrounded by a horde of the evil creatures, fighting them off as best they could.

"Come on, Omi, why don't you show me what you're really made of?" Juno said, rushing over to where her other teammates were with Chase.

Omi stood and watched them for a moment before smiling and following after them. Halfway there, they jumped high into the air and landed directly next to the other two warriors, in the middle of the rock monster horde.

"Hey, who's the kid?" Dashi asked, looking at Omi.

"Explanation, later. Fighting, now." Juno responded, holding the blade of her weapon out in front of her.

"Good enough for me." the Grandmaster shrugged before they all sprung into action.

The bald man shot forward and crashed his whole body through the torso of a rock monster while the redhead slammed her knee against the face of one of them, breaking it to pieces. Then she backflipped off its torso before it fell to the ground and headed for two others. When she reached them, she grabbed their heads and knocked them together. Their bodies hit the ground before her feet did, then she noticed herself being surrounded from all sides.

Holding her Xiaolin Dragon Blade sideways above her head, Juno twirled it around fast and a powerful blast of water shot out, forming into a large cyclone. The top of it bent down and sucked up many of the rock monsters before traveling high into the air. The female warrior called off the cyclone and when they fell back towards the ground, she stomped her foot and sharp spikes made of the earth shot out. Most of the rock creatures were impaled on the spikes while the others collided with the ground and broke apart.

"Charging Bear!" Chase shot his body through a number of the rock monsters, splitting them in half.

"Roaring Phoenix!" Guan caught the fist of one of them and spun around fast with it, making it slam into its fellow creatures and destroying them. When he was done, he threw it, sending it crashing into more of them.

"Mantis Kick!" Omi shot out his feet and kicked off the head of a rock monster, soon doing the same with another one.

"You have got to be kidding me." Wuya said to herself as she watched all of her rock monsters being destroyed. "Ugh, I hate it, but it's time to retreat for now." she turned to run, but stopped in her tracks when someone landed in front of her.

"Going somewhere?" Juno asked causally, hand on her hip.

"You..." the Heylin witch glared at her. "If you didn't come along, I would so much closer to world domination."

"Oh, well, what can I say?" the female warrior shrugged one shoulder. "I just love to make things difficult for bitches like you." she smiled brightly.

"Aaah! That is it!" Wuya yelled. "I'm going to destroy you once and for all!" her hands became covered in green flames.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Juno replied, pointing the blade of her guandao at the other redhead.

With another shout, the villainess shot a barrage of green fireballs from her hands. The Xiaolin Dragon King jumped away to dodge, doing a backflip with one hand and putting some distance between them. She twirled her weapon out in front of her and a blast of water and fire shot out from both ends, combining into one attack that headed straight for the Heylin witch.

Wuya avoided the attack by levitating high into the air. She held her hands out towards the female warrior and shot out a blast of lightning. Juno stabbed the ground with the spike of her guandao and a rock wall rose up in front of her. The villainess's attack collided with her defense, blasting it to pieces and causing a cloud of dust to cover the area. The redhead used the wind to blow the dust away, soon seeing the Heylin witch coming right at her. Before she could do anything, she was knocked to the ground with her enemy on top of her.

"Before I kill you, I think I'm going to disfigure that pretty face you're so proud of." Wuya said, smirking as she gripped the other redhead's face and began to dig her sharp nails into the pale skin of her cheek. "Good luck charming your way through hell with scars all over you."

Juno, however, gave her own smirk in return. "I always knew that you knew was better looking than you. So nice to hear you admit it before I beat your sorry ass."

The villainess growled as she started to drag her nails down on her cheek, about to tear into the flesh. But, before she could go further, the female warrior pulled her legs up and placed them on her enemy's stomach. She kicked upward, shooting a blast of water from her feet and sending the Heylin witch flying further back. Juno got up just as the other redhead landed on the ground.

Wuya got to her feet as fast as she could, glaring at the Xiaolin Dragon King. Then, kneeling down on one knee, she slammed the palms of her hands on the ground. The area where Juno was standing rose around her in rock strips and closed in on her until she was encased in a rock sphere. The Heylin witch snapped her fingers and rock spikes materialized from thin air, green flames covering their sharp ends. Then the spikes dove right for the rock sphere, dozens of them sinking in from all direction.

"A swiss cheese Xiaolin Dragon King is something I wouldn't mind seeing." Wuya smirked as she straightened herself out.

However, her gloating came to a stop when she saw cracks appear in the sphere. One second later, the sphere burst apart, pieces of rock flying everywhere. The villainess stared disbelievingly at the female warrior she saw standing in the same spot she got trapped in, perfectly unscratched as a pure white glow surrounded her entire body.

"Ugh, you are such an annoying, little cockroach!" Wuya shot out her hands and a great blast of green Heylin magic went for the other redhead.

"It takes a cockroach to know a cockroach!" Juno twirled her Xiaolin Dragon Blade around for a moment before holding it out in front of her, pure white Xiaolin magic shooting out from the blade.

The end of her attack took the form of a roaring dragon before it made contact with the Heylin witch's. A powerful force erupted from between the two, making everything nearby fly back a great distance. The female warrior and villainess fought against one another, trying to get the upper hand on the other as their magic was practically on the same level.

"Do you really think you have what it takes to beat me, the most powerful Heylin witch?" Wuya called over to the other redhead.

"I do, actually." Juno replied, putting all the magic she had into her attack. "I just know it takes more than magic to beat you. And, sometimes, even the smallest things can make all the difference."

Holding the pole of her weapon with one hand, she formed an icicle into her other one. Then she flicked it right towards the Heylin witch. It took off with great force and speed, reaching her in the blink of an eye and hitting her right in the shoulder. Wuya screamed, losing her concentration as she reached up with one hand to pull the icicle out. That was enough for the Xiaolin Dragon King's magic to overtake hers, colliding with her and sending her crashing through a stone wall.

Wuya groaned as she struggled to get to her feet, grabbing onto the inner stone of the hole she just made. When she went through it, she looked back at where the female warrior was. She just saw her jump into the air, going a flip before she began to fall towards the Heylin witch feet first.

Before she had time to defend herself, Juno kicked Wuya in the face and sent her flying back. The villainess landed on the ground and tumbled for a moment before she came to a stop. She managed to push herself up to her feet when she got surrounded by the Xiaolin Dragon King, her teammates, and Omi.

"This is were your evil comes to an end, Wuya." Juno told her, pointing the blade of her weapon at her.

"What are you going to do, kill me?" the Heylin witch questioned mockingly, taking a stance and preparing to fight.

"We have something a little bit better in mind." the female warrior replied, smirking. "Dashi, now!"

The Grandmaster nodded. "It's time to send certain evil packing." he pulled out an object, a wooden puzzle box.

"Oh, I hope you do a better job of that than how you performed that one night where you and I-"

"Time to say goodbye already!" he cut off the villainess as the box opened on its own and a purple, sparkling mist came out and took the form of a large hand.

"Noooo!" Wuya screamed as the hand grabbed her and pulled her back. Along the way, her entirely self was transformed into a disembodied floating head with a purple, transparent body that had limbs for arms and tentacles on the back of her head. The mask on her face was white with a spot of red in the middle of the forehead area and black around her yellow eyes, which had red swirls in them. She also had a long, pointed red nose.

The villainess, now ghost, screamed until she was pulled into the puzzle box and the lid immediately closed once she was inside. It shook for a moment before it stilled, completely quiet. The most powerful Heylin witch was sealed away, finally defeated.

"Oh, this means I was here for Wuya's capture?" Omi said in amazement.

"We both were, buddy-boy." Dojo came over and slithered up to the top of his head.

"Dojo, you look different." Dashi remarked. "Kinda..." he poked the dragon in the stomach, making it wiggle a bit. "Chunky."

"Hey, that's muscle." the reptile disagreed, hopping onto the Grandmaster's palm as he held the puzzle box in the other. "Anyway, Dashi, do I have a story to tell you."

As for Omi, he turned his attention to Juno, Chase, and Guan. His eyes shone brightly as he stared up at them in respect and admiration. To think that he would be standing before the team as they once were fifteen hundred years ago.

"It appears we have a new ally." Chase said, kneeling down beside the short monk and placing a hand on his shoulder. "And a new friend." he smiled.

Omi grinned widely.

"And he's as brave as he is cute." Juno added, also kneeling down to place a kiss on his big, round head.

The short monk chuckled bashfully, a spot of red forming throughout his face.

---

(Later that evening)

The entire temple was roaring with bustling activity, celebrating the defeat of Wuya and her plans for world domination. And they had four certain warriors to thank for that. Well, five, actually. And they were all sitting at a table that was set up in their honor.

"Dashi, slow it down a little." Juno told the Grandmaster as he was guzzling down what was his third cup of sake. "You would think you've gone without alcohol for years rather than just a few weeks. I know you vowed to stop drinking until Wuya was defeated, but you should still take it easy."

"I can't help it." he replied, setting his cup down. "Now that she's finally gone, there are a few things about her that I would like to forget."

"Like her face, right?" the redhead said. "Yeah, I understand that." she took a sip of her own sake.

"Master Juno, now that you and the others have defeated Wuya, what do you intend to do next?" Omi asked from his seat next to her, Dojo on the table and eating the food that was spread out.

"Hmm, that's a good question." she said, her face taking up a thoughtful expression. "I know there's a lot more evil out there that could use a good beating, so we might start with looking for something like that. But, for now, we're gonna take it easy for a while. We're earned ourselves a nice break, and, just maybe, focus on loving instead of fighting." she leaned over and touched her arm with Chase's as he was on her other side. "What say you, Chase?"

"Yes, that is something I'm looking forward to, myself." he smiled back at her, placing a hand over hers as she settled her head on his shoulder contently.

"What about you, Omi?" Juno looked at the short monk. "What are you doing to do next?"

"I..." he didn't reply right away. "I have my own quest to finish. I made a grave mistake and it cost me more than I realized it would, and I wish to correct and make things right once more. I just hope that it is not too late to do so." his saddened gaze turned downward.

The female warrior straightened herself up, keeping her eyes on him. Then she placed a hand on the top of his head, gently rubbing it. "Life has a way of making things seem hopeless, especially when you're put into a situation that's totally different from how you expected it to be. But if you keep hoping, keep working hard, and keep meeting those challenges head-on, then you'll get the outcome you so desperately want. Just don't give up, okay?" she smiled kindly at him.

Omi stared at her, amazed at how she wasn't at all different from her future self. Still so kind, wise, and encouraging. "Yes, thank you, Master Juno." he smiled.

"Anytime." the redhead said before she turned her gaze to the wide screen doors that were left open to view the temple courtyard.

There was a large bonfire burning outside with people dancing around it. Not only that, but there were two large puppets. One resembled a long-bodied dragon that was being controlled by a team of people who used poles to manipulate its movements. The other looked similar to a lion, one person controlling the head while the other did the rear. Both of them were moving to the vigorous beat of a drum.

"Oh, they're doing a dragon dance! And a lion dance!" Juno said excitedly, getting up from her feet. "Come on, let's go get a closer look!"

"Woah, Juno!" Chase exclaimed when she grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "I'm coming, you don't have to pull so hard."

Omi watched as the two left the table and went to the courtyard, stopping when they were at a good spot. As the female warrior's eyes shined from the large puppets being moved expertly, the male warrior had his eyes on her nearly the entire time, looking at her with a gaze of fondness. Juno looked at him, chatting enthusiastically as she wrapped her arms around his and placed her head on his shoulder. He smiled as he leaned his own head on top of hers.

"Master Juno and Chase Young seem most happy." the short monk remarked.

"Tell me about it." Dashi agreed after finishing another drink. "Those two kids are crazy about each other."

"They are indeed a lovely couple." Guan added, smiling. "I am sure they will be very happy together for a long time."

"Yes..." Omi said more to himself as he saw the two lovers pull their heads back a bit and look at each other with the same, exact loving expressions he had seen them give one another in the future. "I believe so, as well." he turned his head away just as they leaned in to kiss.

He hoped what he had planned would help to make sure things stay the way that they were for a long time.

---

(Later)

Things were finally settling down and people had turned in for the night, the only ones still awake were the four warriors, short monk, and dragon.

"I believe it's time for me to turn in."

"Aw, already?" Juno said to Chase as he got up from his seat at the table. "But you're gonna miss me beating Dashi's ass." she gestured to the game of Xiangqi, or Chinese chess as it was to be called in the future, she was playing against the Grandmaster.

"I'll be sure to watch next time, darling. But today has left me quite drained."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then." she told him as he leaned down and they shared a quick kiss.

"See you tomorrow." Chase smiled before he walked away.

As he was leaving the room, Omi saw a slip of folded parchment paper fall out from the male warrior's sleeve. Curious, he got up from his seat and went over to it, picking it up and unfolding. As he read the contents, he gave a small gasp as he saw that someone had asked to meet Chase in the woods outside the temple at this very time so as to offer him a deal that would greatly benefit him. But what shocked him the most was the signature at the end of the letter, H.R.B.. Hannibal Roy Bean.

"Omi, something the matter?" Juno suddenly spoke up.

"O-Oh, no." he replied, stuffing the letter into his robes. "I am just feeling a little sleepy myself." he gave a loud, exaggerated yawn. "I believe Dojo and I will be heading off to bed now."

"What, me, too?" the dragon questioned.

"Yes, it is most late." Omi grabbed the reptile. "See you all in the morning, good night!" he quickly left the room before anything else could be said.

"That is a weird little kid." Juno remarked. "But he's quite lovable, too. Anyway, remember, Dashi, whoever loses a round as to drink."

"I'm finally gonna see you drunk, Juno." he said as they finished setting up the board game between them.

"Ha, you wish. Guan, make sure you keep track."

"Understood." the Master Monk replied as they started the game.

---

(Later)

After explaining what was going on to the dragon, Omi and Dojo headed into the woods to try and locate Chase. It took a while, but they were able to find him when they heard his voice nearby. Poking their heads out from a bush, they saw the male warrior standing by himself in a small clearing.

"Why would I be so foolishly as to turn to the Heylin side?" he said to seemingly no one. "Soon, I shall become a Xiaolin Dragon."

"You poor, naïve fool." responded a familiar, Southern-accented voice from above and the short monk and dragon looked up, seeing a certain bean-sized demon on the branch of a tree that was right over their heads. He was standing on top of the head of his Ying-Ying Bird. "You'll never become a Dragon, your place in history will be stolen from you. By the one you love the most." he jumped down and landed on the forest floor, standing right across from the warrior.

"No, I do not believe you." Chase declared, crossing his arms.

"I believe that you do." Hannibal Bean smirked.

A blue light shone from the Ying-Ying Bird's eyes and the image of a certain Xiaolin Dragon King appeared in front of the male warrior.

"Juno?"

"The little lady is the Xiaolin Dragon King, the strongest Xiaolin Warrior to ever exist. You have to admit that, compared to her, you're not really worth mentioning. Also, do you really think she's going to stick by you forever? I mean, I doubt she would want to be with someone who's so much weaker than her." the demon said maliciously. "You can train to get stronger, but, by then, she'll see you for what you really are, a weak man she'll get tired of protecting all the time."

Chase stared disbelievingly at the image of his lover, raising his hand to touch her cheek. However, she turned her back on him before she disappeared. He looked at his hand now, the the villain's words filling his mind. It was true that Juno was a lot stronger than him, but she wouldn't leave him just because he wasn't on the same level as her. Would she?

"Drink the Lao Mang Lone Soup, the ancient potion of the dragon." Hannibal Bean said as the Ying-Ying Bird flew down towards the male warrior, holding in its talons a golden pot that had four dragon heads on all sides and on the top, blue gems making up their eyes. Two of the dragon heads acted as handles. "And join me, forever, on the dark side."

Chase stared at the pot he took into his hands with a conflicted expression.

"Perhaps you would like some time to think it over." the demon offered as his bird flew down beside him. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision." he hopped onto the hawk-like creature's back, laughing as it flew into the night sky.

The male warrior watched the villain until he was out of sight. He looked at the Lao Mang Long Soup pot for a moment before he began to make his way back to the temple.

"I cannot believe the evil trickery of Hannibal Roy Bean!" Omi fumed after Chase had left.

"Kid, when you've been around as long as me, nothing surprises you." Dojo said from the top of his head. "Well, expect the platypus. What's that about?"

The short monk threw him a blank expression.

---

(Later, at the Xiaolin Temple)

As the crescent moon hung in the sky, Chase was in one of the many rooms of the temple, sitting in the dark and staring at the Lao Mang Lone Soup pot in front of him. The words that Hannibal Bean had said to him earlier still rang in his head, about how he could only be a truly great warrior if he was on the side of evil. But, what really stuck to him, was that Juno would leave him because he wasn't strong enough.

He didn't want to believe that what the demon told him was true. After all, the Xiaolin Dragon King wasn't the type of person who judged someone based on their strength alone. But he would be lying if he said he didn't want to be on more equal level with her. All the times they had sparred together, she would always get the upper hand over him. And, whenever they found themselves in a perilous situation, she would almost always be the one to protect him or the others. While he didn't mind her saving him, not at all, he would like to prove himself capable of protecting her from time to time and showing that she can rely on him for anything.

Even though he didn't want to even consider it, was turning to the Heylin side the only way that could happen? Would becoming a great warrior be worth betraying the side of good? Would it be worth turning his back on everything he believed in? Would it be worth... betraying the woman he loved more than anything.

As he contemplated all of this, Chase stared into the gem eyes of one of the dragon heads on the pot. The longer he stared at it, he could have sworn he heard a low roar emitting from it. So focused on the pot, he didn't notice a certain monk and dragon watching him from behind the door frame.

Omi and Dojo looked at each other once before they both gave a thumbs-up. The bald monk jumped up to the ceiling, grabbing one of the support beams, while the reptile slithered over to the male warrior.

"Hey, Chase, baby, want to see something mystical?"

"Not now, Dojo." Chase replied as the dragon got between him and the pot.

"Come on, this won't take long." Dojo got closer to him. He reached behind him and pulled out a deck of cards. "Pick a card, any card." practically shoving them in the male warrior's face, he spread them out so they blocked his view of the Lao Mang Lone Soup. "I know you want to."

Omi quietly jumped down from the ceiling and grabbed the pot, replacing it with another that looked exactly like it.

"It'll be fun..." the dragon gave the monk a thumbs-up and he leapt towards the ceiling again.

---

After getting out of the room undetected, Omi made his way outside the temple and to a section of the stone wall that surrounded it. He pulled out one of the heavy bricks and placed the Lao Mang Lone Soup pot into the hollow center.

"Instead of Lao Mang Lone Soup, Chase will have a little pea soup." the short monk returned the brick to where it belonged, concealing the pot completely from view.

---

"Go ahead, pick any card." Dojo waved the single card in his hand at the bored looking male warrior, all the other cards scattered around on the floor. When he took it, he covered his eyes for a moment. "It's the queen of hearts!"

"Seven of spades." Chase said blankly.

"How did that happen?" the dragon took at the card back and looked at it questioningly.

The male warrior got to his feet and picked up the fake Lao Mang Lone Soup pot. Dojo stayed in place and watched him leave the room. When he had disappeared behind the door, Omi came in a moment later. One could tell by the look on his face that he had completed his part of the plan. When he gave the dragon a thumbs-up, they both smiled and bumped fists with each other.

---

(Later)

After thinking some more on the matter, Chase had finally made up his mind about Hannibal Bean's offer. Despite his reluctance, he went back into the woods to meet with the demon in the same clearing from earlier.

"I see you've made a wise decision." Hannibal Bean said, sitting on top of the Ying-Ying Bid's head as it was settled on a stump.

Chase looked at the pot in his hands. He then removed the dragon-headed lid covering it and looked at the steaming, green liquid inside. He hesitated for a moment before he lifted it up to his face, placed the edge to his lips, and took a large sip.

However, a second later, he spit the contents right out, hitting the demon and his bird and covering them in it.

"I see you take me for a fool!" the male warrior said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "This taste like-"

"Pea soup?!" Hannibal Bean exclaimed in disbelief after tasting the liquid that dripped down his body.

Chase picked up the villain between his thumb and index finger. "You expect me to trade my eternal soul for pea soup?"

"No! This is a trick!"

"Here's another one. I call it, "The Vanishing Bean"!" he placed the demon inside the pot. Then he tossed it into the air and kicked it as hard as he could.

Hannibal Bean's scream sounded out from the pot as it sailed across the night sky, soon disappearing from view. The Ying-Ying Bird soon flew after its owner as the male warrior turned around and marched back towards the temple.

---

"And, to think, I was ready to trade in everything I believed in." Chase said to himself, climbing the stairs of the temple and walking through the gates. When he did, he almost immediately crossed paths with a certain redhead.

"Chase?" Juno blinked when she saw him. "You're still up? I thought you went to sleep already."

"Juno..."

"If you were awake, you should have stayed with us. Though Dashi won a few times against me, he's the who crashed to the floor, totally drunk." she chuckled. "I had Guan take him to his room while I head to mine. You wanna escort me?" she looked at him and noticed the expression on his face. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Instead of answering, Chase walked over to her and put his arms around her, holding her closely and tightly.

"Chase?" Juno looked at him questioningly. "What is it? Tell me."

"Juno, I... I almost made the biggest mistake of my life."

"Really? How did that happen?"

"I..." the male warrior pulled away and looked at her. "Juno, you... you wouldn't leave me if you didn't think I was strong enough, would you?"

The redhead stepped back a bit in surprise. "Idiot!"

"Ow!" he cried when she punched him hard in the arm.

"Of course I wouldn't do that, you think I'm that shallow?" she scowled.

"N-No, of course not. It's just that I'm not as strong as you, and I'm worried that I'm not worth being with you, and-"

"Dumbass!" Juno punched his arm again.

"Ow! Please stop doing that!"

"You are plenty strong, Chase Young." she told him firmly. "You are one of the strongest people I know, whether you're at the same level as me or not. But if you do want to get to my level, than you just have to keep training. And I will be happy to help you do that." she crossed her arms under her chest. "But, you should know, it doesn't matter to me if you're strong or not. Though that is an attractive aspect, me loving you has more to do with who you are. So, please..." she looked at him more gently. "Don't let it get into your head that I'm going to leave you because you believe that I think you're weak. Because I don't think that at all, Chase."

"Juno..." Chase saw her completely sincere expression. He suddenly felt like the world's biggest fool for doubting her feelings and believing Hannibal Bean's words to be true. "Forgive me, I must have lost my head for a moment."

"Well, it's okay, I kinda like it when you're a little stupid sometimes." Juno smiled at him. "Now, why don't you walk me to my room and tell me just how you got that terrible idea into your head?" she wrapped her arms around his, the arm she didn't punch.

"I would like very much." he smiled himself, entwining his hand with hers.

As the couple walked off, a certain monk and dragon came out from behind a nearby vase.

"It seems our work here is done, Tanto." Dojo stated.

"Oh, I cannot wait to return home to a world with less evil." Omi said, smiling widely at the success of his plan. "And to see Master Juno even happier with Chase Young." grabbing the reptile, he pulled out a certain Shen Gong Wu. "Sands of Time!"

---

In a flash of light, the monk and dragon were standing in the middle of the present day Xiaolin Temple, stars filling the night sky.

Dojo let out a yawn, stretching his arms over his head. "Feels like an eternity since I snoozed. Wake me up in another fifteen hundred years."

Omi turned his head and saw someone standing in the shadows nearby. He smiled when he recognized the familiar figure of a certain Master Monk. "Look who has come to welcome us."

"No." Guan stepped out from the shadows, revealing his face and the spear in his hand. "I have come to destroy you!"

The short monk and dragon gaped when they saw his left eye. It was now red with a strange, green mark around it. He was also wearing a sash made up of small skulls. The deadly look on his face didn't help his appearance, either. But what happened next really shocked them was the Master Monk had transformed his entire body and was now towering over them as a giant scorpion-like creature.

His body, pinchers, one of them holding his spear, legs, and flat tail were a reddish brown. On either side of his face were four horns while sharp spikes ran down his back. Both of his eyes were now red as the green markings were still around his left one. He revealed his sharp teeth and long tongue when he roared at Omi and Dojo.

Placing his spear between his jaws, Guan flung his large pinchers at them. The dragon quickly grabbed the Sands of Time and leaped into the robes of the short monk, who jumped to avoid the attack.

"Master Monk Guan! I do not understand!" Omi kept dodging. He jumped high up to keep from getting hit by both pinchers when they slammed down towards him. "You are on Heylin side?!" he landed behind the humanoid scorpion, dodging the tail that was thrown at him. He then leaped away to avoid the spear and pinchers, getting some distance from the Master Monk who was now, clearly, a villain.

"I'm beginning to think something may be amiss." Dojo remarked as he slithered out of the monk's robes.

Guan threw his tail at the two. Omi jumped to dodge, and the dragon just barely managed to miss being hit. However, his tail was suddenly grabbed by something and he was pulled into the air. Before the short monk could help him, he was soon preoccupied with getting away from the the sharp spear that was slashed down towards his face.

"What an unpleasant surprise." Hannibal Bean said from the back of the flying Ying-Ying Bird, who had Dojo clutched between its talons. "You should have fled with the others when you had the chance."

The hawk-like creature moved its feet closer to the dragon's neck and squeezed. Air was leaving his body, but, when a small Kuzusu Atom popped out of his ear and the demon grabbed it, he was released and fell towards the ground. He landed in a small water fountain that was, luckily, right under him. Dojo resurfaced and attempted to climb out when a shadow fell over him.

"Time to finish off these pest, once and for all!" Wuya declared, a green glow surrounding her fist.

Just as she was about to hit the reptile, Omi sailed by and grabbed him. The water fountain the Heylin witch hit instead crumbled to pieces as the duo landed some distance away.

"Dojo, we must undo whatever it is that I have done!" the short monk stated, setting the dragon down and reaching into his robes to pulled out the Shen Gong Wu that could help. "Sands of-"

"Kuzusu Atom!" Hannibal Bean pointed the Wu in his limb at the other.

Omi saw the beam of the Atom coming and moved to keep the Sands of Time from being hit. However, it made contact with the spot close to him and the blast sent Omi and Dojo flying back, landing on the ground harshly. They looked and saw the demon pointing the Shen Gong Wu at them again.

"Kuzusu Atom-wah?!" the villain exclaimed when the Atom was taken from him by a hand that came out of nowhere.

"Flying Monkey Strike!" the person now holding the Shen Gong Wu spun around in the air.

The beam that came from the Kuzusu Atom surrounded Omi and Dojo in a wide circle, preventing Wuya and Guan from getting closer to them. It wasn't until the person landed in front of them that they recognized him.

"Chase Young!" the short monk exclaimed when he saw the male warrior, who looked the same as he did fifteen hundred years ago. "And, exactly who's side are you on?"

"You must have taken some hit to the noggin, my good friend." Chase said, patting his head for a moment.

"We are good friends?" Omi looked up at him with shining eyes.

Their attention returned to the villains when they saw them jump at them. Just as they were about to move away, another person appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her legs around Guan's neck. Using all her strength and momentum, she flung him at Wuya, knocking them both to the ground.

"Master Juno!" the short monk smiled happily when he saw that it was the Xiaolin Dragon King who landed by them.

"You are in so much trouble, young man." Juno declared, a none too pleased expression on her face when she looked at him. "You know you're not suppose to be here."

"I... do?" he blinked in confusion.

"I'll deal with you later. Right now, we need to leave, and fast." she said, looking at the two villains who were getting to their feet.

"Allow me." Omi stored the Sands of Time in his robes and pulled another Wu out. "Crouching Cougar!"

He set it on the ground and it grew to its larger, mechanical feline form. The three humans climbed onto its back while the dragon slithered onto the redhead's shoulder. The Shen Gong Wu sprinted at full speed, making Wuya and Guan get out of the way and giving them a clear route through the temple gates. They didn't stop, even when the temple was no longer in sight.

---

(Later)

Morning had already come and the group was still riding on the Crouching Cougar, making their way through a forest.

"Just what were you thinking, Omi?" Juno said to the short monk sitting in front of her, settled between him and Chase. "You know the temple isn't safe anymore since Hannibal and the others managed to take it over."

"But, Master Juno, I am most confused." Omi told her. "How is it that Master Monk Guan is on the side of evil?"

"What do you mean?" she looked at him in confusion. "Don't you remember the story?"

"Story?"

"It happened fifteen hundred years ago." Chase spoke up.

"Uh... could you please refreshen my memory?" the short monk asked sheepishly.

"After Hannibal Bean failed to deliver me to the Heylin side, he turned his sights on Guan."

"Turning him into that gross arachnid you saw earlier." Juno added.

"Then, because of me, Master Monk Guan is evil." Omi said, almost unable to believe it. He had messed up the future again. And it was almost as bad as the first time. "Please, take me to the others. Are they okay?"

"Don't worry, they're fine." the redhead reassured him. "But our current living conditions still leave much to be desired."

Before the monk could question what she meant, the Crouching Cougar suddenly slid a stop on a hill. He looked and saw in a barren clearing was what looked like a crudely makeshift farm. There were huts made of straw, a crop field that had nothing planted in it, and an incomplete wooden animal pen. There were also dead trees scattered around and a small watering hole.

"We're here, home sweet home." Juno said.

"This is my home?!" Omi exclaimed in disbelief.

"The kid is really out of it today." the female warrior whispered to the male warrior, who gave a small nod in agreement.

The Crouching Cougar went down the hill and towards the farm. When they arrived, they saw Raimundo, wearing a green shirt and overalls, trying to corral a group of full-grown pigs in the mud.

"Hey, come on, you guys!" he yelled as he was knocked down by them.

"Just show them who's boss, Raimundo." Juno said as they passed him.

"Hello, Kimiko." Chase waved to the female monk, who was wearing a ragged, pink dress with a blue apron over it, gloves on her hands, and her hair tied up in a blue bandana, as she was tending the fields.

The Couching Cougar went over to where Clay was and came to a stop, the humans and dragons on its back dismounting. The cowboy was wearing his usual hat, a sleeveless light blue shirt, and darker blue pants held up by pieces of rope that were around his shoulders.

"Whew! Well, despite a few setbacks, I think we have done pretty well for ourselves." Clay said, standing next to four stalks of corn. "We're raising the tastiest corn this side of Houston." one of the stalks went limb and fell to his feet.

"We should be fighting evil!" Omi yelled. "Not raising tasty corn!"

"I agree with cueball." Raimundo said when he managed to get out from under the group of pigs, covered in mud. He removed a piglet that had gotten on his head and set it on the ground as Kaze came trotting over to perch himself on his shoulder. "I would much rather fight evil than mud wrestle some pig."

The small phoenix chirped in agreement.

"Woah, there, partner." Clay came over and picked up the piglet when it approached him. "All pigs are special in their own way." he cuddled it close to his face.

"Oh, I must speak with Master Fung at once." Omi said.

"Omi, are you okay?" Kimiko asked when she walked over, looking at the shorter boy in concern.

"I'm afraid he may have hit his head pretty hard." Chase told them.

"Seems he's forgotten a few things." Juno asked, crossing her arms.

"Huh?" Omi looked at them all, not knowing what it is they meant.

"Come with me, Omi." the redhead took him by the shoulder and lead him over to a statue that was in the middle of the farm.

The short monk looked up and saw that the statue bore resemblance6 of Master Fung.

"Master Fung was wrangled into the Ying-Yang World years ago by Master Monk Guan and never returned." Clay explained after he and the others followed, the little piglet tucked in his pants.

"We wanted to go after him, but we only had the Ying Yo-Yo." Kimiko said as Juno and Chase knelt down in front of the statue in respect. "If we tried, we would have turned evil the way Jack turned-"

"Good morning!"

The Japanese girl's face turned blank at the cheerful voice that suddenly spoke up. It was Jack, but he was also dressed in an outfit different than what he normally wore. He had on a long, yellow shirt that had a green bow on it, white pants, a large sun hat, and his hair was now down and long enough to be in a low ponytail. In his hand was a basketful of blueberries.

"Isn't it a glorious day to be good?" the redheaded boy grinned. "Group hug!" he pulled Kimiko, Omi, and Raimundo into said hug, squishing them together. He eventually let them go and skipped off, humming to himself.

"Yeah, he's a little hard to get use to." Juno remarked, standing up straight with Chase.

"Oh, this is all my fault." Omi said in anguish.

"How is it your fault?" Raimundo questioned.

"I am afraid when I traveled back in time and stopped Chase from turning evil, I may have turned the future all downside up!"

"Omi, what are you talking about?" Kimiko asked with a small chuckle. "Chase is good, not evil. I doubt Juno would be married to him if he was."

"I can prove it!" the short monk reached into his robes and pulled out the Sands of Time. "I used the Sands of Time to travel into the past, and I hid the Lao Mang Lone Soup that would have turned him evil in the wall of the Xiaolin Temple."

"You must have hit your head a little harder than we thought, partner." Clay remarked.

"But it is the truth! Master Juno, please, believe me." he looked up at the redhead.

"I do sense you're telling the truth, Omi, but it is a little hard to process. I mean, why would you go back in time to stop Chase from turning evil?"

"Well..." Omi took a moment before answering. "You see, we were trying to come up with quest to prove who would raise to Shoku Warrior, and I believed that preventing Chase Young from turning to the Heylin side would be a good quest for me. I-I also thought that you two would have happier times together, that you would not have first died fifteen hundred years ago, and that, maybe, Mei Young would have lived, and-"

Juno visibly tensed at the mention of Mei. "Alright, I've heard enough." she cut off the short monk. "I need to think about all of this." she turned on her heels and walked away.

"Juno." Chase followed her.

"Omi, what the heck, why did you bring up Mei like that?" Kimiko questioned.

"Yeah, you how much of a sensitive topic it is for Juno and Chase." Clay told him.

"But, I... I didn't mean to..." Omi stammered.

"Yeah, considering how it all happened." Raimundo said, Kaze giving the short monk a disapproving stare from his shoulder. "I mean, one of her best friends turns evil and then teams up with the demon bean-dude who turned him evil to kill her and her daughter."

"Chase was devastated, losing the both of them." Kimiko looked down sadly. "I mean, he had to wait for so many years to get Juno back."

"Yeah, I remember when he immediately ran up to hug her when he saw her that day she arrived at the temple before she got her memories back." Clay added. "I ain't never seen a grown man cry so happily before."

Omi blinked as he processed all that he had heard. Despite his efforts, the past had hardly changed for Juno. She still lost her life and her daughter all in one day. She still got to reunite with her husband, but the situation they were in was worse since they were now fighting three, powerful evil beings.

He turned his gaze to where Juno was, leaning against Chase as his arm was around her shoulders to try and comfort her. He looked at the dirt below his feet now, the feeling of guilt he was beginning more familiar entering his body once again.

---

(Later)

"Master Juno?"

The female warrior glanced at the short monk when he approached her, sitting by herself on a tree stump after asking Chase to give her some time alone. "What is it, Omi?"

"May... May I speak with you for a moment?" Omi asked hesitantly, looking worried that she would reject him. "Please?"

"Make yourself comfortable." she moved over to make room for him.

He sat down next to her, neither of them looking at one another. The silence that surrounded them was nearly unbearable as they didn't speak right away.

"I... I wish to apologize." Omi finally spoke up. "Bringing up Mei Young the way I did, it was most insensitive of me. But I really did hope that there was a chance for her to live if Chase did not turn evil."

"Why would you even do all of this, Omi?" Juno asked. "I get the feeling it wasn't just for me to be happy. And to go through such lengths to be Shoku Warrior, there has to be more to it."

"That is true." the short monk kept his eyes on the ground. "I did all of this to prove myself worthy of being a Shoku Warrior... and a leader."

She turned her gaze fully on him now.

"Before I froze myself to travel to the future to get the Sands of Time, I had overheard you and Raimundo talking the night before. You were going to make him your second-in-command once he was the first one to raise to Shoku Warrior. You believed him to be the most worthy, more worthy than me despite how much I have trained to make myself a great warrior. I believed it was not fair."

Juno said nothing and let him continue.

"Then Hannibal Bean found me. He said that the reason you didn't think I was worthy of being a leader is because... because I was not as important to you as the others." he clenched his pants tightly in his hands. "I did not want to believe him, but I could not shake his words out of my head. He said that I should do something really, really big to prove myself to you, to prove that I am just as capable as Raimundo. I wandered in on you and evil Chase Young talking and got the idea for my quest. I did think it would help to prove my worth, but I really did believe that things could have been better for you if he was still good. However..." his shoulders began to shake. "I have messed up the future twice now, all because my ignorance. My ego really is bigger than my head." tears flowed out of his eyes. "I am just so sorry, Master Juno. I have brought dishonor and shame to the Xiaolin name you have given me, I do no deserve it." he cried softly.

A pair of hands placed themselves on either side of his head and turned it to have his eyes meet a pair of golden ones.

"As usual, Hannibal has a way with words." Juno said, using her thumbs to brush the monk's tears away. "Now, Omi, you are the most skilled fighter among the monks, but Raimundo has certain qualities that I believe make him fit to be a leader. I'm not saying that you yourself don't possess similar qualities, and I'm certainly not saying that you're less important to me than the others. Don't I keep telling you that you're my favorite monk?"

Omi sniffled a bit and nodded his head.

"And I mean it, too." the redhead smiled gently at him. "While I believe Raimundo will be the first to raise to Shoku Warrior, I also know, without a doubt, that you will raise not very long after him. You just have to keep working hard like you always do, because you are so worthy. But I am sorry I made you feel like you weren't, that was never my intention."

"N-No, Master Juno is not to blame." he told her.

"Well, regardless, there is no one more worthy than you to bear the name I gave you. And I know for a fact that you will help to fix things, Omi Xiaolin."

Omi looked into her eyes and saw the same sincerity she would give him whenever he had doubts. He wiped his tears away and gave a firm, determined nod.

"That's my favorite monk." Juno smiled and placed a kiss on his head.

"Does this mean that you believe me about my time traveling?"

"I do, but you might need to convince the others, it all is a little too crazy to believe."

"Oh, I know, I can use the Sands of Time and-"

"Hold it there." she stopped his hand from reaching into his robes to pull out the Shen Gong Wu. "I'm sorry, Omi, but I think we should hold off on more time traveling for now. Things happen when you do that, and they're not good most of the time."

"Yes... you are right." Omi said.

"What about that Lao Mang Lone Soup you mentioned before? The one you said Hannibal first used to try to turn Chase evil."

"Oh, yes!" the short monk jumped to his feet. "That could prove I am telling the truth! We must gather the others at once!"

"That's the little monk I know and love." Juno smiled, standing up and going with him to get the others.

---

(Later, at the Xiaolin Temple)

Raimundo, Kaze on his shoulder, peered around the corner of the outer stone wall of the temple, checking to see if anyone was near the gates. He looked back at Juno, Chase, the other Wudai Warriors, Dojo, and Jack, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Kuzusu Atom!" Omi pointed the Shen Gong Wu at one section of the wall. The beam fired and vaporized it, revealing the Lao Mang Lone Soup pot. "There it is!"

Chase grabbed it, pulled off the lid, and sniffed the steaming green liquid inside it. "Omi is right, this is Lao Mang Lone Soup."

"So chrome-dome is telling the truth." Raimundo said.

"I never doubted that for a minute." Juno remarked, smiling at the short monk as she petted his head.

"I don't get it." Clay spoke up. "If this Omi is from some parallel world, what do you reckon happened to the Omi we know?"

"I believe I know exactly where we can find me." Omi said. "In the vault beneath the temple greenhouse. We should hurry and-"

Suddenly, they all saw Wuya and Guan appear out of nowhere. The group prepared themselves to fight, but they soon found themselves encased in a sphere-shaped cage that was made of thick glass and metal bars. It had been dropped from above.

"I think that's going to have to wait." Juno said as a horde of Jungle Cats circled the cage, the Ying-Ying Bird flying in the sky.

---

(Later)

The trapped Warriors had been taken to a wide, spacious room that had a large fire pit in the middle of it, their cage dangling over the flames. On the floor, the Jungle Cats lounged about.

"At last, there is nothing to stand in our way of total, evil world domination." Wuya laughed, leaving the room with Guan and Hannibal Bean, who was on her shoulder in his smaller.

"Yeah, you better hope I don't get out of here." Juno said. "Because if I do, I'm going to make you all regret being born into the same world as me." she sighed when they disappeared through the doorway. "Well, this sucks." she leaned against one side of the cage as Jack was sitting down and playing the harmonica.

"Come on, guys, we'll get out of this." Raimundo told the others, Kaze sulking on his shoulder. "We have to."

"No offense, Rai, but I fail to see how can you be so sure." Kimiko said to her boyfriend.

"Let me explain. If we can stop Omi from freezing himself into the future, he won't travel to the past, where he did what he did which resulted in what happened. Simple."

"Raimundo, you are a genius." Juno praised. "If we do that, then things should definitely go back to normal."

"That may be." Clay said, banging his elbow against the glass cage. "But that don't mean squat if we can't bust our way out of here."

"We can." Raimundo insisted. "If I drink the Lao Mang Lone Soup." he held up the pot they retrieved earlier.

"No, you can't!" Kimiko immediately snatched it from him. "If you drink it, you'll turn evil! I... I don't want that to happen to you."

"I'm sorry, Kimi, but, if I do this, it'll give you guys enough time to escape." the Brazilian knelt down in front of her, trying to coax the pot from her.

"No, Kimiko is right." Chase spoke up. "Only I should be the one who drinks it."

"Absolutely not." Juno said. "There has to be another way for us get out of here without anyone turning evil."

"Juno, I do not think we have time to come up with any more ideas. The world, and the future, are all at stake."

"Then... Then I'll drink it, too, and-"

"Now that is something we cannot allow." Chase interrupted her. "You are the Xiaolin Dragon King, you must continue to fight for good. I know you're scared about me turning evil, but-"

"That's not what I'm scared of." Juno said. "I know that, when you drink the Lao Mang Lone Soup, you won't be the same person anymore. You'll change. That means your feelings will probably change, too. I'm scared that... you're not going to love me anymore." she covered part of her face with her hand, tears brimming her eyes. "I'm scared I'm going to lose you all over again."

"Juno..." the male warrior placed his hands on her shoulders. "I am so sorry that I have to put you through all this. But, listen..." he put his forehead to her. "No matter how much I change, no matter how evil I become, I swear that I will always love you. How I feel about you will never ever disappear."

The redhead looked into his eyes, showing how serious he was. "If you break your promise, I'm gong to kill you one way or another."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." he gave a small, sad smile.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He put his arms around her, holding her close. They were putting as much as they could into their kiss on the chance that it could be their last.

When it came time to pull away, they did it slowly and looked into one another's eyes.

"Goodbye, Chase." Juno said softly, knowing this would be the last time she would be able to see his good self.

"This isn't the end for us, Juno, I promise." Chase told her.

The redhead didn't reply as she reluctantly pulled back and went over to the others, her tears now freely flowing down her face. Clay put a comforting hand on her shoulder, Dojo slithering up to her other one and rubbing her back.

"Kimiko, if you please." Chase held out his hand.

The female monk looked at the pot for a moment before she hesitantly gave it to him.

"Raimundo, you and Juno must lead the others to find the frozen Omi." he told the younger man.

"Right, I won't let you down." the Brazilian responded. It was going to be hard to watch the man he had come to see as a father turn evil, but he knew that this was the only course of action they could take right now.

"Chase, if we do find me, and stop what happened from happening..." Omi trailed off.

"Then you won't be there to save me from the dark side." Chase finished. "This may not be the future I would chose, but it is the future that must be. For the greater good."

Jack suddenly started to cry, blowing his nose into a handkerchief. "That is so beautiful! I haven't cried like this in hours!"

"Remember, little one, as the past can be changed, so can the future." the male warrior told the short monk. "Only time will tell." he removed the lid of the pot. He looked at Juno once more, seeming to rethink his decision, before he took a breath and drank as much of the Lao Mang Lone Soup as he could.

The others pressed close to the other side of the cage, watching nervously for something to happen. And it did one second later. With a cry, Chase dropped the pot, his hands turning green as his nails became sharp claws. His whole body soon began to change.

"Chase!"

"Juno, no, it's too dangerous!" Kimiko told the taller girl, she and the other monks holding her back to keep her from rushing towards her husband.

Chase was soon standing before them as a large, humanoid reptile that resembled a dragon with green scales, black stripes on his arms, body, and tail, which had four red spines at the end of it. Four, large black spikes ran across his back. When he roared loudly, revealing his set of sharp teeth, the glass of the cage burst apart from his new and intense Heylin powers.

Everyone fell and landed on the floor, luckily avoiding the fire pit, and the humanoid reptile immediately ran through the doorway and out of the room.

"Master Juno, are you... are you okay?" Omi asked the redhead.

Juno stared at the spot she last saw her husband before he disappeared from sight. "Not really." she finally answered. She sniffled once and hastily wipes her tears away. "But I can't afford to break down now, I'll do it later."

"Glad you said that, because we have another problem." Raimundo said, talking about how the Jungle Cats in the room were now stalking towards them.

"Sure could use some Wu right about now." Kimiko remarked.

"And I know just where to look." Omi told them. He smacked Dojo on the head, catching the tiny Shen Gong Wu that fell out of his ear in his other hand. "Changing Chopsticks!" he tossed them into the air and pointed the Chopsticks at them, returning them to normal size.

Juno caught the Silk Spitter, Omi the Orb of Tornami, Raimundo the Cannon Blaster, Kimiko the Ants in the Pants, and Clay the Lasso Boa Boa. The Warriors all took stances, ready to fight the Jungle Cats.

Suddenly, Jack pushed himself in front of them. "All that good inside just gave me a peachy idea! I'll draw the Cats away by giving me to them!"

"Uh, Jackie Boy, that's not nec..." Juno started to say just as the other redhead ran over to a pillar and climbed up it. "...esarry"

"Here, kitty-kitties! Look! Yum-yum!"

His distraction was working, the Jungle Cats were now turning their attention on him. He screamed when a panther reached up and swiped its claws at him, making him climb higher up the pillar.

"I think he's got this." Juno told the monks. "Let's go while we have the chance."

The others nodded and they ran out of the room, entering a long hallway that had rows of statues, all of them of a certain evil Master Monk.

"Here, I know a shortcut." Raimundo said, holding out his Shen Gong Wu. "Everyone, hold on!"

They all put their hands on the Cannon Blaster, Kaze staying on the Brazilian's shoulder.

"Cannon Blaster!"

The Shen Gong Wu turned into its larger form and the hatch opened. Everyone jumped inside it. When the hatch closed, the Cannon aimed itself at the floor and fired multiple cannonball-turned Xiaolin Warriors, dragon, and phoenix in quick session. They all went through the stone floor, creating a large hole. The Cannon Blaster shrunk down and fell through it and the others that were being made as the cannonball group continued heading down.

---

When they reached the vault of the temple greenhouse, the group turned back into their normal forms and landed on each other in a heap, the Cannon Blaster hitting the ground near them. As they picked themselves up, Dojo, settled around Clay's hat, let out a small scream when he suddenly came face-to-face with the dragon statue that was still wrapped around the chest containing the Heylin Seed.

"You okay, Kaze?" Raimundo asked the little fire bird, holding him in the palm of his hand. "Nothing broken?"

Kaze chirped in response, flapping his wings a bit to show he was fine.

"We have made it." Omi said. He went to the back of the statue, seeing his frozen self and Dojo. "There I am!" he smiled.

"Excellent." Juno spoke up. "Now all we have to do it-"

They suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the stairs leading into the vault. A second later, they saw Chase, still a humanoid reptile, Wuya, and Guan enter and stand across from the Xiaolin Warriors.

"I must thank you for delivering Chase Young to the dark side." Hannibal Bean said from the Heylin Witch's shoulder. "You did what I failed to do years ago. Tell me, Xiaolin Dragon King, how does it feel to see the one you love on the side of evil? How does it feel to lose everything?" he laughed evilly.

Juno glared at him, clenching her fists tightly.

"No, I didn't come this far to lose!" Raimundo stated. "We're going to find a way to win. It's our destiny."

The other monks looked at him and smiled, nodding in agreement. The redhead saw the determined look on the Brazilian's face, showing that he wasn't going to give up, no matter what. He really was being the leader she knew he could be.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Raimundo." Juno told him, smiling proudly at him. "Giving up isn't my style, kicking evil's ass is."

Then a sound came out of nowhere from above, getting louder and louder. A second later, a screaming Jack and a few Jungle Cats came from the hole in the ceiling and landed on the group of villains, all of them crashing to the floor. The Xiaolin Warriors took a step back in surprise.

Raimundo turned his head and spotted the Eye of Dashi on the floor, waiting to be used to unfreeze the short monk in the block of ice. He went for it, crouching down to grab it. However, the moment he touched it, a single, small limb did at the same time as him, making the Wu glow.

"Huh?!" the Brazilian blinked at Hannibal Bean, shocked he got to it so fast. He glared a moment later. "I challenge you to Tag-Team Xiaolin Showdown!"

"I'm assuming Juno is gonna be playing on your team." the demon said. "That's fine, you kids are gonna need all the help you can get." he chuckled sinisterly. "Our Serpent's Tail, Moby Morpher, Moonstone Locust, and Ju-Ju Flytrap against your Cannon Blaster, Silk Spitter, Ants in the Pants, Lasso Boa Boa, and Orb of Tornami!"

"The game is Rescue the Damsel in Distress! First one to save the damsel wins!"

"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!" they yelled at the same time.

In a flash, the stage was set for the showdown. Way up in the sky, a large castle was connected to an incredibly tall rock pillar. Vines nearly covered every inch of its outer layer. The highest point was the tower, where a certain dragon poked his head out its window to reveal he was playing the part of the damsel.

Dojo was wearing a purple dress, a purple princess hat with a pink veil, and a wig of blonde curls. "Please! Rescue me! Rescue me!" he called, waving a white handkerchief. "Though humiliating, I do get to wear something pretty." he batted his eyelashes.

The drawbridge to the castle lowered, landed between the pillars the competing teams were on, Kaze and Jack on the pillar with the Xiaolin side.

"Gong Yi Tanpai!" Raimundo and Hannibal Bean shouted in unison, officially starting the showdown.

The Brazilian immediately started running up the drawbridge, soon jumping up on top of one of its large chains.

"Moby Morpher!" the demon used the Shen Gong Wu and grew to human size, following after his opponent.

Raimundo leaped off the chain and landed on one of the spikes that surrounded the bottom part of the castle. He jumped from one to another until he came to the one that Hannibal Bean had gotten on, standing across from him. The villain got himself airborne, slamming down on the spike and making the end of it break off. The monk screamed as he found himself falling towards the large, alligator-filled moat below.

"Clay, tag in now!" he yelled, getting closer to being the semi-aquatic reptiles' snack.

Then, in a flash of whitish-blue light, the cowboy had taken his place.

"Lasso Boa Boa!" Clay threw the Shen Gong Wu and got it around one of the castle spikes. "Yeehaw!" he swung himself over the alligators' heads, narrowly avoiding getting bitten, and flung himself higher into the air. He released the Lasso and grabbed the vines covering the walls, using them to climb up.

Hannibal Bean grabbed a vine and used to it swing around the spike he was on, flinging his body upwards. "Tag in, Guan!" he called.

In a flash of red light, the evil Master Monk took over for the demon.

"Ju-Ju Flytrap!" Guan pointed the Shen Gong Wu at the cowboy as he sailed past him, releasing a swarm of bees.

Clay exclaimed as the insects began to sting him all over, making him let go of the vines and fall with the bees following after him.

"Kimiko, go in!" Raimundo shouted.

In a second, the female monk was in the falling monk's place. She lit her body on fire for a moment, burning the bees to ashes and giving herself a boost upwards. She grabbed onto the vines and started climbing.

"You can do it, Kimiko!" Omi cheered.

"Go, girl, go!" Raimundo encouraged.

"You're almost there, partner!" Clay called.

"Kick his ass!" Juno shouted to her.

Kimiko scaled up the wall as fast as she could, seeing the Master Monk ahead of her. Getting her legs around one of the vines, she pulled out her Shen Gong Wu. "Ants in the Pants!" she lifted up the top and sent a swarm of ants after her opponent.

The insects immediately reached Guan, forcing him to release the vines he was holding onto and fall when they made him itch so badly he had to scratch him. Luckily for him, there was a ledge that his back landed on. The female monk continued making her way up.

"Wuya, stop her!" Hannibal Bean ordered, grabbing the Heylin Witch and throwing her up.

The itchy, evil Master Monk disappeared in a flash of light and the villainess was the air, flying past the Japanese girl.

"Moonstone Locust!" Wuya used the Shen Gong Wu and released a swarm of the stone insects.

They covered all the vines on the wall and devoured them in mere seconds. There was nothing left to hold on to.

"No waaaaaaaaaaaay!" Kimiko screamed as she fell.

"Kimiko!" the other Xiaolin Warriors yelled.

The female monk landed on a castle spire, sliding towards the edge of it quickly feet first. She dug her hands and heels into the stone to slow herself down. Then, just as it seemed she would go over the edge, she came to a stop just in time. She sighed in relief, seeing how far she would have dropped had she not stopped in time. Jumping off the spire, she landed in the large courtyard of the castle. However, she quickly noticed she wasn't alone.

"Hey, no fair!" Kimiko yelled, pointing at the entire Heylin team. "One player at a time!"

"So, we're cheaters." Hannibal Bean retorted before he leapt at her and smacked her with one of his limbs, making her fly into one of the stone walls.

"Why do evildoers always have to break the rules?" Dojo questioned disapprovingly.

"Kimi!" Raimundo immediately jumped into the air and took his girlfriend's place.

While still in the air, he kicked Guan, Wuya, and Chase, punching Hannibal Bean before he landed on the ground and kicked him away. He dodged the spear the evil Master Monk slashed down at him, moving behind him and jumped back to avoid it again when he turned around. But then the Heylin witch kicked him and sent him flying towards a wall.

Raimundo soon regained himself and touched the wall with his feet, soon jumping away when Chase came at him. He hissed in pain when he landed on the ground, feeling the slash marks on his back and seeing the tore cloths from his armor on the humanoid reptile's claws, his mask between his teeth before he spit it out. He was then in front of the Brazilian in an instance, getting punched in the face once before he slammed his elbow into him and sent him back.

Guan came from behind and slashed his spear down at Raimundo, but he jumped up to dodge. He felt himself get kicked in the back, but used the momentum to lean back and grab the pole of the evil Master Monk's weapon with both hands. He landed behind the taller man, twisting his arm behind his back and making his release the spear before he kicked him back a few feet. Guan growled angrily, seeing his weapon in the younger monk's hands.

Raimundo saw Chase charging at him and, when he jumped, got the spear under him and slammed him to the ground. He kicked him away, but was soon punched into the wall by Guan. He groaned as he fell to his knees, dropping the spear. The evil Master Monk got the pole of the weapon under his feet and kicked it up into his hand. He used his other hand to send out a strong, green pulse of Heylin power, making the Brazilian fly towards Hannibal Bean.

The demon smacked the male monk to the ground when he reached him. Laughing evilly, he used the Moby Morpher to grow two more limbs on either side of his body. Raimundo got to his feet and tried to block as many of them as he could, but he was all too soon overcome by the rapid number of hits raining down on him. The latest hit sent him to the ground once more.

Wuya raised her hands up towards the sky, her magic coming out of her palms and making contact with menacing gargoyle statues that were above. Their eyes glowing red, they all came to life and flew down to the ground. Raimundo's eyes widened as they crept towards him, shouting when they jumped on him. He tried to fight them off, but there was too many of them as they bit and scratched him all over. Then Chase, Hannibal Bean, and Guan all hit the ground at the same time, making the section the Brazilian and gargoyles were on break apart from the castle.

"Rai!" Kimiko screamed, her eyes wide along with the others as the castle section began to fall.

Dojo saw the Heylin team climbing up the rest of the castle towards him, making him scream and faint on the spot.

"That's it!" Juno raced forward and jumped into the air.

In a flash of light, she had taken Raimundo's place and was in the middle of the gargoyle horde. Ignoring their attacks, she concentrated and sent out her own surge of power, making the stone creatures break apart when it came in contact with them. The redhead then flew to where the Heylin team was, halfway up to the tower, and landed in front of them, standing sideways on the wall.

"Hey." she glared at them, summoning her Xiaolin Dragon Blade to her hand. "I'm your problem now, you sons of bitches."

Before they could attack, she twirled her guandao in front of her and sent out a whirlpool of water. It hit them dead-on and sent them falling back down to the courtyard below. Juno followed after them, flipping once before sticking out her foot and kicking Guan in the chest. She then kicked him multiple times before hitting him in the face and sending him flying into a wall.

When she landed on the ground, someone wrapped an arm around her neck from behind, trying to choke her. The female warrior grunted and proceeded to cover her entire body in flames. Wuya cried out, immediately releasing the other redhead. Juno jumped up, wrapped her legs around the villainess's neck and grabbed her arm, making her drop to the ground.

"I'm going to make you uglier than the gargoyles you siced on Raimundo, you hag." Juno told the Heylin witch as she squeezed her legs tighter against her neck, pulling her arm as far back as it could go.

Her attention was drawn in by a shout and she turned her head. She released Wuya, got to her feet, and jumped back, dodging the limbs Hannibal Bean tried to smack her with. She slashed the blade of her weapon at him, but he avoided it and flung another limb at her. Juno grabbed it and flung him at Guan, sending them into a wall.

"Looks like you're the ones you need all then help you can get." Juno said, poising her guandao to attack. She then heard a roar and turned around, holding her weapon sideways just as a sharp teeth clamped down on it. A small gasp escaped her. "Chase..."

The humanoid reptile was pushing against her Xiaolin Dragon Blade, a dangerous hiss emitting from him. As she fought against him, the female warrior saw his eyes. There was a look in them that was new to her. A look that revealed he didn't recognize her at all.

So caught up in the fact her husband saw her as only an enemy, Juno didn't feel his tail wrap around her waist. She let out a small sound of surprise when she was pulled back. Chase spun around once before he threw her and sent her sailing toward Hannibal Bean. The demon then smacked her with all of his limbs and sent her in Wuya's direction. She kicked the other redhead, making her fly high into the air. Before Juno had the chance to recover, Guan was in front of her in an instant and slammed both of his fists down on her head. The Xiaolin Dragon King fell back to the ground at high speed, crashing hard and making a small crater.

It didn't take Juno but a moment to get back on her feet, some scraps and bruises on her body.

"You are one resilient little lady." Hannibal Bean remarked as Guan landed back on the ground. "You got right back up even after the beating we just gave you."

"Beating?" the redhead scoffed, dusting herself off. "Please, I've had worse beatings than this since I was kid." she wiped at her bottom lip and looked at the spot of blood on her finger, recalling all the times her biological family would physically abuse her. "My body's use to pain." she flicked the blood away.

"Well, how about we give it something new to experience?" the demon grinned evilly before he charged at her, limbs shot out in attack.

Juno didn't move an inch until the last second, jumping over his head and landing behind him. She kicked his back, sending him flying away. Moving her head back, the female warrior dodged the kick Wuya aimed at her face. She avoided the next kick by lowering herself to the ground. Sweeping her legs across the other redhead's, she made her lose balance and fall. However, before she hit the ground, Juno grabbed her face, spun around, and threw her into a wall.

She saw Guan come at her and held up her guandao, blocking his spear. The two clashed weapons again, sparks flying every time they made contact. The female warrior jumped up to dodge his blade when he slashed it at her legs, shooting out a kick. However, he blocked it with his arm and pushed her back. Juno landed on her feet and saw him charging at her once more. He aimed his spear and she moved her face just in time before it could make contact. But the blade of the spear sliced the binding holding her bun and released her hair.

Juno saw her jade dragon pin fall out and immediately reached for it. She grabbed it before it could hit the ground and sighed in relief. However, that relief was short-lived as someone jumped on her and pushed her to the ground. Looking up, the redhead found herself staring up into the eyes of a certain humanoid reptile.

"I'll let you have the honor of finishing off the Xiaolin Dragon King, Chase." Hannibal Bean said. "Considering it a treat for finally joining the Heylin side." he snickered.

"Chase..." Juno said softly as his husband bared his teeth at her. "I know you know me, you just have to remember." she held up her jade pin and he paused for a moment, staring at it silently. "This is something I treasure more than anything. That's because you gave it to me and it helped me to realize how much I love you. And I still love you, even now." tears were building up in her eyes. "You swore that you would still love me despite turning evil. So, please..." she looked into his eyes. "Don't start breaking promises to me now."

Chase said nothing, letting out a low growl as he bared his sharp teeth again and leaned down to her neck. Juno felt his hot breath on her skin and closed her eyes, expecting him to enclose his jaws around her. However, it didn't come and she opened her eyes, seeing that he was now completely still over her.

Before he could bit her neck, Chase had gotten a whiff of a scent from the female warrior that made him halt. As he sniffed her more, her smell similar to cherry blossoms, his mind suddenly became clearer and memories filled him. Memories of the redhead under him; her strength, her wit, her beautiful smile, and more. But what really stuck to him was something she had said to him over and over again.

"I love you, Chase."

And he loved her, as well, he realized. He couldn't explain it yet, but he was in love with...

"Juno..."

Juno blinked in surprise, seeing the look of recognition that entered the humanoid reptile's eyes as he continued to stare at her. "Chase, you..." she slowly lifted up her hand and placed it on the side of his face. "Remember me?" her response was him leaning further into her touch and she let out a small chuckle. "It's about time, you bastard." she smiled.

"What it taking so long?" Hannibal Bean suddenly spoke up, stepping forward. "If you've lost the nerve to kill her, then let me-"

Chase flung out his tail and hit the demon, sending him flying back. Wuya and Guan gaped in shock at what just happened.

"What the..." Hannibal Bean pushed himself up. "It shouldn't be possible."

"Hannibal, you really don't know anything." Juno said, raising to her feet when her husband got off of her. "Why, love is one of the most powerful weapons ever, of course." she smiled.

"Of all of the most ridiculous..." the villain glared at the both of them.

"Well, since no one's loved you, it's understandable you don't understand it yourself." the redhead told him casually.

He was seething now as Guan charged forward. He jumped into the air and fell towards the female warrior, his spear aimed at her. However, Chase immediately got in front of her and grabbed the pole of the weapon, the tip of it just an inch from his face. He spun around and flung the evil Master Monk away, sending him crashing into Wuya.

"You are, by far, the sorriest excuse for a villain I have ever known!" Hannibal Bean declared, pointing one of his limb at the humanoid reptile.

Chase was about to lunge at him, but Juno held her hand out in front of him and he stopped.

"You know, whether someone is good or evil..." she stepped forward and held her guandao out in front of her, pointing the blade at the ground. A pure white light surrounded her body, as well as her weapon as she lifted it up higher. "It's not for you to decide for them!" her eyes flashed white as she slammed the blade into the ground.

Cracks instantly appeared and spread out everywhere, even reaching halfway up the tower. White light poured out of the cracks and the ground shook for a moment before it broke apart. The villains screamed as they fell down along with the rubble. Chase grabbed Juno by the waist and jumped from falling stone piece to stone piece.

"Omi, it's your turn now!" the female warrior called down.

"Orb of Tornami Water!" the short monk jumped up and used the Shen Gong Wu to send out a powerful blast of water that sent him higher into the air just as the tower was beginning to fall.

Dojo, now awake, looked out the window and saw what was happening. He screamed, flailing his arms around.

"Wudai Neptune Ice!" Omi pointed the Orb of Tornami at the tower and shot out a blast of ice, freezing it and keeping it connected to the castle before it fell further. Landing at the top of the ice, right under the tower window, he removed his mask and held out his arms to the dragon. "Dojo, you're saved!"

"Oh, sweet prince!" Dojo jumped out the window and landed in the monk's arms. "My hero!"

Fireworks instantly exploded in the sky, flowers appearing out of thin air and floating to the ground. The Wudai Warriors, Kaze, and Jack all cheered at their victory as their friend used the Orb of Tornami to create a slide of ice to carry him and the reptile to the pillar they were on. Hannibal Bean, Wuya, and Guan, all of them on their own pillar, did not look at all happy about their defeat.

"Great work, kids." Juno said, smiling at the monks. "You know..." she looked at the humanoid reptile standing next to her. "This is going to take a while to get use to, but..." she placed her hand on either side of his face. "I still have you, and that's all that matters, right?"

Her response was Chase letting out a sigh of contentment and leaning his forehead against hers.

"I'll take that as a yes." she placed a kiss on his mouth.

In the blink of an eye, the scene changed and everyone was standing back in the Heylin Seed vault, everything how it was before the showdown started.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Juno said, going behind the dragon statue and pulling out the block of ice containing the other short monk and dragon. "Raimundo, I'll let you do the honors."

The Brazilian smiled and held up one of the Shen Gong Wu they had won in the showdown. "Eye of Dashi!"

A bolt of electricity shot out of the Wu, coming in contact with the ice block and instantly melting it into a puddle of water. The Omi and Dojo, who took a moment to yawn, blinked as they slowly took in their surroundings.

"Well, this is definitely one of the more stranger things I've seen." Juno remarked, she and the others staring at the previously short monk and dragon as they made eye contact with their other selves.

The two Omi gazed at each other silently, raising their hands and touching fingers together. The second they did, their arms merged together and a bright blue light shot up from in-between them. The light went through the ceiling and high into the sky, turning a bright purple now. A powerful force shot out, breaking the entire temple into pieces.

"What's going on?!" Kimiko yelled over the strong wind that started to blow.

"My guess, two parallel universes running into each other in a cosmic, timeline continuum powerup!" Raimundo answered.

"Brace yourselves, kids, this is gonna get intense!" Juno told them, holding onto Chase.

Suddenly, they were all floating in a vast, black space. Every now and then it would change colors, shapes, and scenery.

"Oooh, there are so many of me!" Omi exclaimed when he saw different, parallel versions of himself appear in the space. "What a wonderous sight!"

"Hold me!" an image of the original Jack Spicer appeared out of thin air next to Good Jack.

"No, hold me!" the two tried to cling to one another, but their bodies just phased through each other.

"Hey, I think I just saw another me." Juno said. "But I think I'm a guy in that universe."

The space turned into a swirling, purple vortex. Dojo saw what looked liked a suit of armor, a helmet, and some sort of crescent moon-like weapon fly by. He also could have swore he heard the sounds of a monkey. At the end of vortex, all three items exploded.

Then a bright flash of green light shot out in all direction and everything went silent and still.

---

The next time everyone opened their eyes, they were standing in the temple garden in the daylight.

"I hope you have learned well from your quests." Master Fung, suddenly standing nearby.

"I'm..." Raimundo started to say as they all looked at one another, wearing his regular monk robes along with the other Wudai Warriors. "I'm not quite sure what just happened, but I know I'll never forget it."

"You can say that again." Juno sighed. "You know, I never had to deal with this kind of stuff until I met you kids."

"That goes double for me." a now human Chase said, back to his regular, Heylin warrior appearance, as he put his arm around the redhead's shoulder and held her close.

"But I'm glad that you kept your promise to me." she told him.

"Just goes to show you that you can have complete faith in my feelings for you, darling. No matter what universe we're in."

Juno smiled, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"But did what happen really happen?" Omi questioned.

Suddenly, Jack Spicer, back in his normal apperance, appeared out from behind Clay, screaming loudly. "I want to go home!"

"It was definitely real for Jackie-Boy." Juno remarked as the redheaded boy ran away.

---

(Later)

After everyone took a while to recover from what happened, they all gathered in the great hall of the temple. There was an important announcement that Juno wanted to tell them.

"Before everything started, I told you kids that one of you would raise to Shoku Warrior from the quest." the redhead told the monks, Chase standing next to her as Dojo was draped over her shoulders.

The Wudai Warriors were standing in a line in front of her, Raimundo nursing the bandage on his right hand as another one covered his left cheek. Kaze was perched on his shoulder.

"And, I'm pleased to say that happens now." Juno smiled.

A sudden bright light shone and Omi, Kimiko, and Clay turned their heads, looking at the Brazilian in amazement as he had a similar expression on his face. The little phoenix chirped loudly, flapping his wings excitedly. When the light went out, he was now wearing black robes with red outline along the collar and ends of the long sleeves and red pants. Around his waist was a yellow sash as there was a red dragon on the upper left shoulder sleeve.

"Congratulations, Shoko Warrior Raimundo." the Xiaolin Dragon King said, looking at him with nothing but pride.

"Oh, Rai, way to go!" Kimiko cheered, jumping in her boyfriend's arms and kissing his cheek repeatedly.

"You did it, partner!" Clay clapped him on the back.

"I don't know what to say." Raimundo said, Kaze nuzzling against his cheek. "Except that I never thought it would be me."

The Japanese girl, cowboy, and fire bird all looked at him.

"Well, maybe a little." he smiled.

"Very well done, Raimundo." Chase said as he stepped towards the younger warrior. "You indeed performed the role of a leader quite well, just has I expected."

"Thanks, Chase." Raimundo set Kimiko on her feet and shook hands with the Heylin warrior. "I appreciate the help you gave me."

"Just don't let this promotion go to your head."

"Says the narcissist." the Brazilian chuckled as the taller warrior began to ruffle his hair.

Someone cleared their throat and everyone looked at Juno. She stepped to the side and revealed that Omi had moved to stand behind her. Raimundo, handing Kaze to Kimiko, went over to the short monk, standing just a few feet from him.

Omi looked up and they stared at each other silently. His expression was a bit sad, but he soon smiled sincerely, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the new Shoku Warrior. Raimundo smiled back and returned the bow.

Juno nodded approvingly as Dojo released a small, happy sigh.

"Raimundo..." she walked over to him. "Now that you have risen to Shoku Warrior, your job has only just begun. I'll be counting on you to help me ensure the survival of the world."

"Not too much pressure there." Dojo remarked, stroking his beard.

"Don't worry, Juno." Raimundo told her, removing the bandages from his hand and cheek. "I won't you let you down."

"I know you won't." the redhead smiled before hugging the Brazilian. "I am so proud of you."

He hugged her back, happy he could finally become the warrior everyone, and now himself, believed he could be.

---

(Later that night)

"What's up, Kimi?" Raimundo asked his girlfriend after she had dragged him away from the celebratory feast that was set up for him.

"Well..." Kimiko started to say, stopping when they came to a spot that wasn't too far from the building the feast was in, but they were far enough to talk privately. "You see, before all that craziness started, I told Juno there was something I was going to do after our quests."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Something I've been wanting to do for a while, but was too nervous to say it before. But, after everything, I think now would be a good time." she took a deep breath before she looked him straight in the face. "Raimundo, I... The thing is that... I love you..." her voice went soft at the end, her face turning a bright pink.

Raimundo didn't say anything, his face showing nothing but shock.

"I-I know we haven't been dating for that long." Kimiko quickly said. "B-But I just wanted to let you know that's how I really feel about you. I also understand if you don't feel the same way about me yet, and-"

She stopped when she felt hands on either side of her face and a pair of lips cover her own. Her blue eyes widened and, after a moment, found herself looking into her boyfriend's green ones.

"I love you, too." Raimundo told her softly, a small blush on his face.

The female monk blinked, slightly taken aback. "R-Really?"

"Yeah. I love you, Kimiko." he told her again, smiling.

Kimiko, her face a light shade of red, stared at him with tears beginning to brim her eyes. Then, smiling widely, she jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, laughing happily as he encircled his own arms around her waist.

The couple pulled their heads back a bit and looked at one another. Leaning back in, they shared what was probably their best kiss.

---

"Well done, Kimiko." Juno said to herself, leaning against the support beam outside the building the feast was taking place in and watching the two monks some distance away. Even though she couldn't hear what they were talking about, she knew what it was based on their actions alone. "I wish you two the very best." she took a sip of sake that was in the small cup she was holding. "I think they're going to be together for a long time, what do you say, Chase?"

"I believe it's very likely with them." the Heylin warrior replied after he walked over to stand beside her.

"Yeah." the redhead smiled. "Well, now that Raimundo is Shoku Warrior, we can focus more on getting rid of Hannibal. Just two more ingredients to go."

"Yes, the scales of the jade dragon and essence of the good. The scales might be troublesome to get, but the essence has me a bit stumped."

"We are going to have to think on that one." Juno agreed, finishing the rest of her drink. "But, right now, we should focus on celebrating. I'm going to go freshen up a bit, be right back." she handed him her empty cup.

"I'll have this refilled for you by the time you get back." Chase told her.

"Aw, you're so good to me." she gave him a quick kiss on the mouth before walking away.

---

As Juno was walking through the temple, heading to the nearest bathroom, she couldn't help the smile on her face. Raimundo had become Shoku Warrior and her second-in-command, they were nearly done making the mortal potion, and they were much closer to getting rid of Hannibal Roy Bean. Things were finally starting to look up.

Then, out of the silence of the night, she heard the sound of flapping wings close by. Stopping and turning her head up, she saw a certain hawk-like bird perched on top of the roof of one of the buildings.

"And what do you want?" Juno asked, immediately narrowing her eyes.

The Ying-Ying Bird flew down and flapped in front of her, clutching a piece of paper in its foot. She snatched it and it flew away into the sky. The redhead watched it go until it was out of sight and looked at the paper, unfolding it. She looked over the contents inside it quickly, crumbling it in her hand when she was done. Then, turning on her heels, she stormed off.

---

(Later)

"Xiaolin Dragon King, so nice of you meet me."

"I admit, I was curious why you sent your lackey to give me a note, saying you wanted to meet me." Juno said to the bean-sized demon after arriving at the clearing in the forest outside the temple.

"I simply want to have a little chat with you." Hannibal Bean told her, settled on top of a rock across from the redhead.

"So talk." she crossed her arms, glaring down at him.

"Let's face facts, you and I hate each other with a passion. You want to destroy me, I want to destroy you. We just keep going back and forth, but, just maybe, we can come to some sort of compromise."

"Compromise?"

"I know you're planning something, something that requires you to get tears from a unicorn, ashes from a phoenix, and who knows what else. I may not know what it is, but I do know it'll cause me nothing but trouble. So, I want you to stop whatever it is you're doing. In exchange, I'll leave you, your boy toy, and your monks alone forever. How does that sounds?"

"Interesting proposition, Hannibal." Juno said. "I only have three words to say to that." she looked at him coldly. "Go screw yourself. You say you'll leave us alone, but they could just mean you'll send someone else to do your dirty work. You've caused me, Chase, and the kids enough pain and suffering, I refuse to let you do the same to anyone else ever again. And, when I'm done with you, you're going to regret ever hearing my name, you pathetic bastard."

"Now that's a shame to hear." Hannibal Bean shook his head. "Well, don't say I didn't give you the chance." he smirked before sticking both limbs in his mouth and letting out a loud, shrill whistle.

In just a couple of seconds, the female warrior found herself surrounded by a horde of Jack-Bots that flew down from the sky.

"I see you've been reaching out to old friends, Hannibal." Juno remarked calmly as Jack came down on his Heli-Bot. "And unsightly ones, too." she added when she saw Wuya appear from behind a tree. "I thought you were done teaming up with him, Wuya. You really have no self-respect, do you?"

"Well, when he said he had a plan that could finally get you out of my hair, I couldn't help but jump aboard."

"Figures." the female warrior scoffed before looking at the demon. "You know, Hannibal, you're more predictable than you think. I knew you had a trap for me the second I read your note."

"And, yet, you came here all on your own." he retorted. "You might be losing a few braincells, sweetheart." he snickered.

"Now, Hannibal..." Juno gave a small smile. "I didn't say I was alone." she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

"Shimo Staff!"

"Blade of the Nebula!"

"Arrow Sparrow!"

"Big Bang Meteorang!"

One by one, the Xiaolin monks all jumped out from the top of the nearby trees and used their Wudai Weapons to destroy the Jack-Bots.

"When it comes to you, Hannibal, I'm never taking any chances." Juno told the demon as her husband appeared out of thin air next to her, Kwan-Dao Sword in his hand. "Now, do you want leave, or do you want me to make your face even more horrible to look at?"

"Jack, do you have anything that could be of actual use?" Wuya asked the younger villain.

"Uh, let me see..." he started rifling through the pockets of his coat. "Harmonica, trail mix, picture of mom, oh there's that gum I lost."

"Ugh, forget it." the Heylin witch face-palmed. "I'll deal with her myself."

"Bring it." Juno took a stance before charging at the other redhead.

"Moby Morpher!" Hannibal Bean used the Shen Gong Wu on his limbs to grow to human size, soon using it to block the blade of Raimundo's Blade of the Nebula. "Hmm, nice costume, boy. Juno finally letting you play Shoku Warrior for a while?"

"Trust me, no one's playing here." the Brazilian said before he jumped back to dodge the limb that tried to hit him with. Then he grabbed Chase's hand, got spun off the ground, and was released towards the demon, kicking him and sending him flying back a few feet.

Hannibal Bean had just recovered when Omi came tried to hit him with his elongated Shimo Staff. He wrapped one of his limbs around it and flung it and the short monk away. "You expect to stop me when you're still just a pitiful Wudai Warrior?"

Omi regained himself in midair and landed on his feet. "I may not be a Shoku Warrior yet, but that does not mean I never will be. I will prove myself worthy, the right way this time and never again listen to your lies."

"If you want to be stuck in last place, then fine. But Hannibal Roy Bean always comes out on top!" the demon flung his limbs at the short monk.

However, Clay got in front of his friend and grabbed both limbs in his hands. "Kimiko, now!" he called, struggling to keep his hold.

The female monk flipped over the cowboy's head and shot out her foot towards the villain. She kicked him in the face, soon sending out a barrage of them in rapid session. When she landed one more, she jumped back and landed on the ground. Clay released his limbs and quickly punched him, making him fly back a few feet.

"Not bad for a couple of pitiful Wudai Warriors, huh?" Kimiko said, high-fiving the cowboy.

Hannibal Bean growled as he got up, glaring at the Xiaolin Warriors and Heylin warrior. "You lot are just as annoying as the Xiaolin Dragon King herself."

"Thanks, she really taught us the art of pissing off evil." Raimundo said with a smirk.

As for Juno, she dodged a kicked that Wuya tried to hit her with. "When are you going to learn, Wuya?" she blocked a punch next. "One way or another, I always prove that I'm superior to you in terms of power..." she deflected the next punch and shot her own into the other redhead's stomach. "Skills..." she landed an elbow to the side. "Looks and brains..." she flipped over her head to dodge the spin kick aimed at her, landing behind her. "And..." her foot shot up and hit the villainess right in the face when she turned around, making her fall to the ground. "Just about everything else." she put leg down. "Maybe you should get a different career since your plans for world domination won't work out with me and my monks around."

"We'll see about that." the Heylin witch glared at her, getting up on one knee. "I am going to destroy your damn, smug one day, even if it kills me!"

She lunged at the other redhead. Juno stepped to the side and avoided it. She grabbed the villainess's wrists, spun her around a few times, and threw her to the side.

"Hey, I found something!" Jack pulled a device from his pocket. It was black and round and had a red button on top of it. "I don't remember what it does, though."

Then Wuya flew into him, making him fall to the ground and sent the device sailing out of his hand. It landed on the ground, the red button being the first to make contact with it. As it rolled across the grass, a loud beeping sound emitted from it and drew everyone's attention.

"We should get out of here." Juno told her husband and monks. "Now and fast."

Just as she said that, the device stilled on the ground and the beeping stopped. Not one second later, an intense, bright light exploded from it, covering the entire clearing.

"Oh, yeah, now I remember!" Jack pulled his goggles over his eyes. "It's a high-powered flash bomb used for escape purposes."

"You idiot." Wuya told him, holding her hands over her face as she laying across his stomach while they were on the ground.

Everyone tried to shield their eyes from the bright light, which seemed to go on forever. Eventually, the device began to power down and the light began to dim.

"This isn't how I imagined it to go, but now's my chance." Hannibal Bean said to himself. He let out a whistle and the Ying-Ying Bird came flying out of a nearby tree, something in its feet that it dropped into the limb the demon wasn't used to shield his squinting eyes.

"What's he doing?" Kimiko asked.

"I don't know, I still can't see!" Clay replied, still covering his eyes from the brightness leftover.

Finally, the light went out completely. Everyone slowly opened their eyes, blinking to get the spots and blurriness out of their vision.

"Jack, if I go blind, I'm going to kill you." Juno said, rubbing her eyes. When she put her hands down, she blinked a few times and things began to clear up. The next time she blinked, though, she found herself staring into the face of a certain demon. "What?"

Before she could do anything, she felt something cold and hard press against her chest.

"Heh, heh, so long, Xiaolin Dragon King." Hannibal Bean grinned evilly.

Juno could do nothing as she felt something being pulled from her body. Then a pure white mist flowed out of her mouth and travel into whatever it was the villain was holding. When all of it was in, he pulled back and she just stood there. A second later, she fell to her knees and collapsed on her side.

"Juno!" the monks yelled when they saw what happened to their leader.

"Juno!" Chase rushed over to her and knelt down beside her, taking her into his arms.

"Is she okay?" Kimiko asked as she and the others came over.

"What did he do to her?" Raimundo questioned, looking at the redhead's face. "She looks so... so empty."

That was the only way to describe it. Juno's face was completely blank, no emotion to be seen anywhere. And her eyes. The shine in them was gone and there was nothing but dullness left behind.

"Why, I just took her soul, is all."

The group looked at an extremely smug Hannibal Bean, who was showing them what was in his limb. Hanging from it, there was a piece of brown leather string that had a small, round jewel attached to it, which was glowing a bright white.

"Her... soul?" Kimiko blinked.

"This little baby is what they call a Soul Pearl. With this, you can trap the soul of anyone you want in it and their bodies become nothing but an empty shell. I figured this would be a great thing to use against the Xiaolin Dragon King. I mean, I could kill her like I did before, but there's a chance she would be reborn and I didn't want that happening again. So, I used this." he twirled the pearl around his limb for a moment. "A person can't be reborn without their soul, now can they?" he chuckled for a moment before he began full on laughing.

The Xiaolin Warriors and Heylin warrior were too stunned to say anything, trying to register what he just said. Juno's soul was trapped inside a pearl, being held by the demon. If he got away now, they could lose her forever.

"You bastard..." Chase said dangerously low, gently setting his wife's body down and picking up his Kwan-Dao Sword. "I am going to-"

Omi was the first one to charge, slashing his Shimo Staff, which had taken the form of a long sword, down on the villain. However, he jumped to the side and dodged it.

"Give her back..." the short monk said, clutching his Weapon tightly. He glared up at the demon with tears in his eyes. "Give Master Juno back!"

"If you want her, little cheeseball, then come and get her." Hannibal Bean smirked, putting the string attached to the Soul Pearl around his neck.

With a shout, Omi swung his transformed Shimo Staff, but he missed his target. He kept swinging and swinging, but he couldn't hit the villain, he was too angry and his tears were obstructing his vision. But he didn't let up, not until he took the Peal from the demon and returned Juno's soul to where it belonged.

"What do we do?" Clay asked.

"We need to get that Soul Pearl." Raimundo told him. "We have to get it before he get away, you knows where he'll put Juno's soul."

"Raimundo is right." Chase spoke up, looking at his wife's eyes. It was terrible to see her like this, they were as dull as the day she died. He took a breath and tried to steel himself. "Omi is too emotional to fight properly." he looked up, seeing the short monk still swinging his Wudai Weapon around wildly.

However, he missed the slightest twitch of Juno's fingers. Her dragon mark pulsed once and a light, red glow emitted from it.

"We need to pull Omi back and get him to calm down enough to get his head on straight." Raimundo said. "Then we can all charge at Hannibal Bean at once and we just might have a shot of getting the Pearl."

When they heard the short monk yell, they turned their heads and saw that he had jumped into the air and was going to slash his Wudai Weapon down on the villain. But, before he could, the demon smacked him in the face and sent him flying to the side. He landed on the ground and tumbled for a moment, his hold on his Shimo Staff gone. He pushed himself up to his knees and reached for his now small, cylinder Staff. Before he could grab it, though, a limb wrapped around his neck and pulled him into the air.

"Omi!" the others yelled.

Omi struggled to get out of the hold Hannibal Bean had on him, but it was too tight.

"I would tell you to say hi to the Xiaolin Dragon King for me in the afterlife..." the demon started to say, holding up his other limb. "But I know she won't be there to meet you." he smirked.

The villain shot his limb out, aiming for the short monk's eye. Omi could do nothing but wait for what was to come, the others gaping. What came next happened so fast, one could have missed it if they blinked.

A foot connected with Hannibal Bean's face. He was sent flying back, his limb unwrapping from Omi's neck. The person who kicked the demon did a backflip in the air and landed gracefully on the ground. They held out their arm and caught the short monk, soon holding him close to their body.

"Are you alright, little monk?"

Omi blinked his eyes at the gentle voice that spoke. He turned his head up and immediately saw the head of brilliant crimson red hair. "M... Master Juno?"

"Juno..." Chase could hardly believe it himself. One second, his wife was laying motionless on the ground, then next she was up and kicking Hannibal Bean in the face.

"But... her soul..." Kimiko didn't know what else to say, shocked along with the other monks.

"It's not possible..." Clay said.

"Since it's Juno, we probably shouldn't be that surprised." Raimundo remarked.

"Master Juno, h-how..." Omi stammered, beginning to smile from seeing that his leader was okay. "I-I thought that... oh, I am most happy to see that you are alright. But how, your soul was taken."

The redhead didn't say anything at first. Then she looked at the short monk and smiled kindly. That's when he saw it. Her eyes, they were different. They weren't a dull gold like earlier, instead, they were-

"This can't be..." Hannibal Bean spoke up, getting up after he was kicked out of no where. "You shouldn't be moving, you should practically be a dead body!" he pointed at the female warrior. "What is it going to take to finally get rid of you?!"

Juno didn't reply, her and Omi still staring at each other.

"Moby Morpher!" the demon used the Shen Gong Wu to grow two more limbs on either side of his body.

With a shout, he charged at the redhead. She just stayed in place as he slashed all of his limbs at her. Then, just as it seemed he would hit her, she held up her free arm and blocked every single one of them like it was nothing. And she did it while keeping her eyes on the short monk.

"Hannibal Roy Bean..." Juno spoke in a calm, clear voice. "How lovely to see that you are still has vile as ever. You truly have not changed."

"What are you..." Hannibal Bean began to say, but trailed off when the female warrior finally looked at him. When he saw her face, his eyes went impossibly wide. "N-No..." his face paled and he back away from her as quickly as possible. "I-It can't be, you can't be here..."

"Bean-dude looks like he's just seen a ghost or something." Raimundo said to the others.

"Why? How? You're suppose to be dead!" the demon was still looking at Juno in shock and, if one looked closely, terror. "How are you here?! How are you here, Xiaolin?!"

The Xiaolin Dragon King simply smiled, her crystal blue eyes glowing in the moonlight.

To be continued...

---

Longest. Chapter. Ever. Sorry if you guys thought it was too long, but I still hope you enjoyed. What did you think of the ending, pretty big twist, huh? Please let me know what you thought about it in your reviews. With this, I am officially done doing episodes for the original Xiaolin Showdown series. I hope to see you all for the next chapter. Until then, take everyone!