"The Shroud of Shadows"

"What does it do?"

"Makes you invisible"

"Cool. Hey, Rai?"

"Yeah?"

"You see all this? All of this is gonna be mine after we take over the world!"

Reimundo looked over the dead landscape. The fossilised skeletons that had once been trees stood shock still in a lifeless forest, the petrified forms of land-mammals becoming eroded by the acid rain that fell every few days. They seemed to be frozen in time, not space – There was even a hawk that had been brought to a halt in mid-air, not falling, not flying, just sitting in a permanent swoop. Not even spiders were alive to make cobwebs that would have symbolised times passage. Further in the distance an old volcano smoked, the only movement in this dead land. The humans stayed in their houses after dark.

"Hopefully it'll go back to normal when Wuya is gone."

"What do you mean? This is normal!"

"No it isn't..."

"Come on Rai. What colour is the sky in your world?"

"Blue"

"Well actually the sky is black with red and green clouds, so that proves that you are nuts!"

"It used to be blue. Ask Wuya."

&&&

"A suit of Armour is wearing it?"

"Yup"

"Guys"

"Why is a suit of armour wearing it?"

"Because... The suit of armour wishes to be invisible?"

"Guys"

"Not a great answer, Omi."

"Guys?"

"What, Clay!"

"It's wearing the Shroud of Shadows to hide the double whammy"

"Wha? Double whammy?"

"Yeah, see. There's the Shroud of Shadows, and..." He tapped the suit's head. "The Helmet of Jong."

"And as it's double winnings already, what do you say to a Shen-Yi-Bu Dare?" Reimundo had clawed to right beside the armour, and Mandy jumped through the Tiger rift after him.

"Shen-Yi-Bu dare?" asked Mandy, frowning.

"It's a kind of double-dare. We each bet two Shen-Gong-Wu. What do you say, Omi? My Sword of the Storm and..." He looked at his arms, realising that neither would come off, and that he couldn't win if he was semi-solid. He hid the Serpents Tail arm behind his back, preparing to cheat. "My Sword of the Storm and Golden Tiger Claws against your Mantis Flip-Coin and Eye of Dashi." After all, if Jack Spicer could use his stupid robots in the Showdown over the Eye of Dashi, then he could smuggle in the Serpents Tail, right? "And let's swap Shen-Gong-Wu every so often, just to make it really dicey."

"With six Shen-Gong-Wu at risk, I have no choice but to accept your challenge. But what is the challenge?"

Reimundo looked around, his eyes finally resting on the two Shen-Gong-Wu. "The suit of armour. It hides, first one to find it and take a Shen-Gong-Wu wins."

"Okay, but how will it- I see." The statue had vanished half way through his sentence, the corridor they were in shifting to the Showdown Dimension.

"Um, Rai? You sure this is a good idea? Mandy said, and then thought. He'd better not lose my Shen-Gong-Wu... Making things dicey, huh? He's got a lot of nerve.

"Course it is." He winked at her before turning back to the Showdown. Mandy blushed.

"Gong-Yi-Tempai!"

Reimundo clawed away through the different rooms, looking around then moving on, while Omi frowned for a moment, then wandered off down the hall, opening random doors. The other two dragons and Mandy followed him, eventually splitting up to help their friends search, ready to yell if they found it.

This continued until Reimundo clawed into a hallway, and found someone else there.

"Hey Mandy, you seen it?"

"No, sorry Reimundo! I have not discovered the whereabouts of the suit of armour!"

"Okay..." She seemed very different, but it was the middle of a Showdown – no time to stand around chatting. "Keep looking!" He yelled before clawing away again. When he was gone, the Chameleon-Bots face opened, changing into the Dragon of Fire, and the second combatant turned the corner.

"Kimiko! Have you found the Shen-Gong-Wu?"

"No, I haven't, sorry Omi."

"Continue to search then. Goodbye!"

The face turned back to the suit of armour as the young monk ran away.

&&&

AN: Okay, just so you know, this is no ordinary building, and that we are approaching the final battle.

Time to answer some reviews, I guess. A couple people were confused earlier.

On island mystics 'Why is it Ten Thousand years in the future?', it's because Master Fung said 'Ten Thousand years of Darkness', and now it's been Dark for Ten Thousand years, so... you get the idea, right?

And please R&R, so as I know what parts of the fic you like...

Aw, man, I just read some more reviews, and Jadebell, that is my fave quote ever! That is the line that this fic is based on! I love you!

Thanks for the rest of the reviews as well, guys.