"Master Fung!" shouted Omi, running in the grand hall.
"What is it young monk?" asked Master Fung.
"Kimiko is gone!" said Omi, "and all that was left was this!"
Master Fung took the note from Omi and read it aloud so Clay and Dojo could hear it.
"Dear Omi, Clay, Dojo and Master Fung,
I've gone to find Raimundo. I can't just sit back and let every good part of him be destroyed by Wuya. I've taken the mantas flip coin, tangle web comb and the serpent's tail. I'll bring them back when I find him and I'll drop them of if I don't. I'll see you all later, but it is important that Raimundo is stopped before he does anything too stupid.
Luv Kimiko."
-------x-------
"I don't believe the amount of Shen-gong-wu we've lost through this! First Raimundo and now Kimiko! This is going to need a lot of work to patch up!" said Dojo.
"This getting messier than a mad bull in a paint store!" said Clay.
"Not only that, but now we're down from four members to two! It's going to take all our effort to get the Shen-gong-wu now!" said Omi.
Master Fung stood up. He looked strange, like he was trying to suppress anger. They had never really seen him that angry. He turned and walked away.
"Kimiko?" asked Raimundo.
Kimiko didn't look up. She put the mantas flip coin in her pocket and the serpent's tail in her bag.
"We've got to get going, it won't take them long to find us." She said.
"They won't come after us now; they just wanted the Golden Tiger claws." Said Raimundo.
"You lost the claws?" said Kimiko, looking at him for the first time.
"I didn't lose them so much as Wuya took them right off my hand!" said Raimundo, rubbing the back of his head guiltily.
Kimiko opened her mouth to yell at him, but then she remembered why she was there.
"We've got to go! The others will be waiting, not that they'll be happy to see either of us now. I'll probably lose my sash for this!" said Kimiko.
"What? I'm not going back to the temple! You've got to be kidding me! No way!" said Raimundo.
"Look! I've put my butt on the line to get you to come back, now come on!" said Kimiko.
"No! I'm a Shen-gong-wu thief! If Jack Spicer, Wuya or Katnappe don't kill me Omi will! It's not going to happen!" said Raimundo.
"Well then I'm going to get killed too!" said Kimiko.
"What?" asked Raimundo.
"You think I was told to come and find you? After you came to the temple last night I was told that I wasn't to come near you, not even if you came to the temple, but I wasn't standing for that so I stole some Shen-gong-wu and ran for it!" said Kimiko, pulling the Shen-gong-wu out to show Raimundo.
Raimundo looked from the Shen-gong-wu to Kimiko to the Shen-gong-wu again and back to Kimiko. Then he started laughing.
"What's so funny?" she snapped.
"They're the only ones you brought! You think we're going to make it back to the temple with just those?" laughed Raimundo.
"Well I didn't think we were going to need anymore, it didn't occur to me that you would let Wuya take the Tiger claws!" said Kimiko, angrily.
Raimundo stopped laughing.
"I didn't let her have them! She took them!" he yelled.
Kimiko listened for a second then grabbed Raimundo and pulled him down under the roots of a tree. A green serpent was circling the area. It was Clay, Omi and Dojo.
"What Shen-gong-wu is it?" asked Omi.
"The golden lasso!" said Clay, reading the scroll, "An unbreakable lasso made of gold! Anyone caught in it will have to stay there till someone lets them out!"
"We need to find it before Wuya does! With all the recent thefts we need to stock up on Shen-gong-wu quickly! Master Fung also needs something to be happy about! He looked most angry! If Kimiko does return it would not surprise me if she was sent away from the temple!" said Omi.
Kimiko's jaw dropped. She was going to be sent away from the temple? Raimundo put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he signalled her to follow. They got to a clearing and stood up.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked Raimundo.
Kimiko shook her head slightly. Then her head snapped up. A golden rope was hanging in a tree.
"The golden Lasso!" she said.
She ran forward and began climbing the tree. She placed her hand on the lasso at the same time as someone else. She looked up at Omi.
"Omi I…" she began.
"Hands of Omi! This is ours!" said Raimundo.
"So, you have turned against us! You will pay most dearly!" said Omi.
"No I…" began Kimiko again.
"Kimiko I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" said Omi.
Kimiko looked around helplessly, and then down at Raimundo. He nodded.
"Omi…name your challenge!" said Kimiko.
"We must each climb up a side of this tree and the first to reach the lasso wins! My third arm sash against your tangle web comb!" said Omi.
"Bring it on!" said Kimiko.
There was a flash of light and they were both at the bottom of the tree, which had grown a lot taller.
They both yelled "GONG YE TEMPAI!"
Omi started first climbing with the help of the third arm sash.
"Come on Kimiko! You can't win like that!" said Raimundo.
Kimiko nodded and started climbing. Omi was far above her, but she couldn't give up and she had to remain focused. The tangle web comb wouldn't work if she wasn't focused. Omi was nearly at the top now. There was only one thing she could do. She pulled the comb out of her hair.
"TANGLE WEB COMB!" she shouted and the ropes flew from the comb and wrapped themselves around Omi.
He fell and Kimiko climbed faster, reached out and grabbed the lasso. The light flashed again and they were back in the clearing.
Kimiko looked over at Omi and Clay.
"I'm so…" began Kimiko, but she couldn't say it.
"Come on!" said Raimundo grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
"You lost them!" said Katnappe.
"No, you lost them!" said Jack.
"It was your ridiculous machines' fault! They can't even follow simple instructions!" said Katnappe.
"Don't blame them!" said Jack.
"No, I'll blame the idiot who made them!" said Katnappe.
Jack opened his mouth to argue and then shut it again.
"This isn't getting us anywhere. The point is we lost them and there's nothing we can do about that right now!" he said.
"But we can track them down!" said Katnappe, pulling a hand held computer out of her pocket.
"Huh?" asked Jack, leaning over.
"Remember a while ago when I took the tiger claws and ran. Well later I met up with the Xiaolin brats in a shopping mall and there I kicked their butts!" she said, tapping the screen.
"And?"
"Well while I was doing that, I attached placed tracer needles in their skin, without them noticing. They were too busy having their butts kicked see! This is how technology should be used!" she said while pointing to the screen, where two dots labelled 'Kimiko' and 'Raimundo' where flashing.
"Raimundo!" said Kimiko, pulling her arm away.
"What?" he asked, "I don't want a confrontation!"
"We need to go back, we need to explain!" said Kimiko, turning.
Raimundo pulled her back.
"They won't listen, not to either of us! And even if they do they'll never really trust you…" began Raimundo.
"You mean like they don't trust you," she said.
Raimundo frowned. He knew what he'd done was wrong, but she didn't have to rub it in his face. He wasn't trying to pull her away just so he'd have someone else to travel with, he didn't want her to be on her own because it was when he was on his own that he had decided to help Wuya. He couldn't let that happen to Kimiko or anyone else!
Kimiko took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going back. They won't kick me out, Omi was just…exaggerating. Besides they didn't even kick you out, you left and Master Fung said that you could come back if you…" said stopped at the look on Raimundo's face.
She knew Master Fung knew that Raimundo wasn't going to return to the temple.
"I…"began Kimiko, "You're right they wouldn't want me back."
A tear ran down her cheek. Raimundo handed her a tissue. She looked at him puzzled.
"We'll be okay. Why don't you come back to Brazil with me for a while? You'll like it there! Lots of shops and beaches, we can just hang out. Y'know like when we were at the temple!" he said, smiling.
"Only…" said Kimiko, "Only if I take the Shen-Gong-Wu back first! I promised!"
Raimundo considered it for a second and then shook his head.
"Too risky," he said, "But what we could do is this; we use the serpent's tail to get to Brazil and then mail it, the sash and the flip coin back to the temple?"
"What about the comb and the lasso?" asked Kimiko.
"You won those fair and square! They're yours to keep and if you really want to explain that bad you can send a letter with them to explain. You never know, they might apologise and let you back!" said Raimundo.
Kimiko sighed and wondered what she should do. She couldn't go back to the temple now, but couldn't keep the coin, sash and tail. They weren't hers.
"Okay," she said, "I'll do it!"
Dojo landed in the temple grounds. Omi and Clay climbed down and Master Fung walked towards them.
"Why are you looking so miserable young Monk?" he asked.
"We have failed our mission to retrieve the Golden Lasso. I lost the showdown." Said Omi, looking at his feet.
"And that ain't even the worst of it!" Said Clay, "It's who he lost it to!"
"Who?" asked Master Fung.
"Kimiko!" said Omi, "She has joined Raimundo!"
Master Fung smiled gently; he could guess what had happened.
"I do not suppose that you tried to hear her side of the story and merely challenged her out of the blue?" he asked.
Omi bit his lip; Master Fung was right. It had looked as though Kimiko wanted to explain, but Omi was so sure that she had turned against him. Perhaps he should try to find her…
"Do not worry young Monk, just try to get some rest and do not worry about Kimiko and Raimundo. They have shown on many occasions that they can take care of themselves." Said Master Fung, turning away.
"We're lost aren't we?" said Jack.
"No, my trackers can't keep a lock on them. They must be using a Shen-Gong-Wu." Said Katnappe, putting the hand held computer in her pocket.
"We're lost." Said Jack, leaning over the edge of his hover car, "Maybe we should ask for directions?"
"We're not lost!" said Katnappe.
"Then where are we?" asked Jack.
Katnappe didn't answer; she was too busy rummaging through her bag.
"What're you looking for?" Jack asked.
"My ear plugs, I'm sure I had them in here somewhere!" said Katnappe.
"Ha ha! So funny!" said Jack.
"I don't know why I paired up with you!" said Katnappe.
"I know the feeling!" said Jack.
"I think I've got another lock on them!" said Katnappe, tapping the screen.
Jack watched as two names appeared on the screen, then vanished again.
"They've moved on!" said Jack.
"Yes, but I think I can tell where they're heading for!" said Katnappe, "This is purrfect!"
"No cat jokes!" shouted Jack, "Where are the heading?"
"Brazil!"