Uploaded: 21st September 2004


Chapter 7: ... the mice run ...

"So they are workin' for Wuya," Clay said, after Dojo had explained a bit about the Huai-Ren. He looked at Omi sadly. He was still holding the Monkey Staff, a sad expression on his face, his mouth still open in mid sentence. "What's gonna happen to Omi?"

"There's a way to reverse it ... but I can't remember how, or who could do it ..."

"Dojo!"

"It's been fifteen hundred years! But I know someone who can help ... We were on our way there anyway, before the Horn of Qilin became active."

"We need ta find Kimiko," said Clay, sounding worried.

"What?" Jack blurted, clearly surprised. "Kimiko's ... here?"

"Yeah ..." Clay frowned. What if the Huai-Ren had captured her, and were taking her to Wuya right now?

"What are you doing at my house, anyway?"

"We'll explain later," said Dojo, his voice having a mixture of impatience and anxiety, and there was also a sense of urgency too. "There's no time now ... There might be more Huai-Ren around."

"Hmm ..."

Jack was beginning to realise why Wuya had been stalling him so much. She had sent her monsters after his Shen Gong Wu. He turned around, away from Clay and Dojo, and stubbornly headed towards his house. That woman had crossed him for the last time.

Clay started to follow him, but to his surprise, Jack ordered a new batch of his robots to pick up Omi, the Shen Gong Wu Chest, and their bags and belongings.

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

"I'm taking your stuff to my lab. And before you get alarmed – no, it's not a capture. It'll be safer in my lab because there's a force-field around it. I installed it before I left. You guys can stay there for the moment."

"Why're ya helping us?"

"This is my house. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Wuya take all my Shen Gong Wu. And since you guys are against her too, I don't see how I can gain anything from fighting you right now."

"Good," said Dojo, "then let's get going."

"But ... I'll be keeping this," Jack said, grinning again as he held up the Orb of Tornami. Clay looked around – he must have somehow missed the Orb when he'd been picking up the other Shen Gong Wu.

How the hell could Jack dare to do this? "Give that back, ya dirty snake!"

"Just call it payback for helping you out."

"WHAT?" Clay roared, startling Jack. Wasn't this guy usually calm? "HAND IT BACK, JACK! NOW!"

Clay's worry over Kimiko was making him feel angrier than he would normally be. That plus the fact that he was worried about Omi, too, as well as Master Fung and the other monks – that made Clay seem very intimidating.

"No way, cowboy," said Jack, although he did look as if he thought Clay was gonna feed him a knuckle sandwich.

"Quit arguing!" Dojo snapped, and they both blinked, both of them looking startled now. "Let's just get to safety!"

Because Jack had the Horn of Qilin, Dojo knew. And with Wuya able to sense it ... they could be attacked at any time.


Ashley walked through the extravagantly decorated corridor of the Spicer house, wondering what she had done to deserve this ... boredom. After sitting through another of Jack's dad's long talks about his collection of rarities, she had politely excused herself, and left her dad with him. She hated coming to Jack's house for one of the Spicers' dinner parties, because it was so ... boring, listening to the adults talk about their jobs and their life achievements ... Like she cared. No wonder Jack spent so much time in his lab. Still, she wouldn't be bored for long. There was always Jack to tease.

Jack had lost another showdown, according to Wuya. That hadn't surprised Ashley, really – Jack was always losing his showdowns. It was a shame, too; the Star Hanabi sounded like it packed some real fire-power. Not that Wuya or Jack would let her keep it after what had happened with the Golden Tiger Claws. Both of them had yelled at her for losing them, and now they were stuck in the Earth's core.

But she didn't care about that, either. Since then, she'd just visited occasionally as Jack and Wuya had continued trying to collect more Shen Gong Wu, and every time, Ashley was 'cordially invited to attend' one of the Spicers' big dos, she just slipped away to hang around with Jack, just to annoy him. It made Jack's parents happy, thinking that he had finally found a friend other than his robots (although Jack's mum had her suspicions that there might be something more between them), but Ashley and Jack were NOT friends ... More, annoying aquaintances. She had last been to the Spicers' house two weeks ago; she couldn't wait to hear about what Jack had messed up this time.

She had gone upstairs instead of going straight to his underground lab. She was curious ... She knew where his room was, but she had never been inside it, and, since Jack wouldn't know ... She opened the door, took one look inside and soon shut it again. All she had seen was him. Him, him, him. There was something seriously wrong with that boy ...

She changed direction and headed for the basement, deciding to go for Jack's lab after all, when she heard her mum screaming in the bathroom.

Probably saw her own reflection, Ashley thought.

She entered Jack's lab, walking down the stairs. It was a typical evil genius lair. The tables and shelves were full of gadgets and gizmos and doohickeys and thingamabobs and tools and wires and thingamajigs and beakers and robot parts ... But the lab was still missing one main component – the evil genius.

And Wuya was missing, too. Stupid robo-freak. Only a saddo would have a ghost as his only friend.

She was about to leave, because she was feeling hungry now, when she noticed a spiralling staircase in the ground, right at the back of the lab, leading down towards an even lower level. Ashley had never seen this here before ... She walked down the stairs, and continued along a short corridor. At the end was a large door, surrounded by a strange glowing field. She frowned, stopping roughly ten metres from the strange glow. What was this all about?

"I wouldn't go near that if I were you ..." a voice said from behind her.

"Oh," she said, turning round to see Jack's old biddy-buddy. "Bossy-much. I was wondering where you'd got to. Where's Jack?"

"He's inside that force-field, working on something top secret."

Top secret? Ashley almost laughed. There were no prizes for guessing what it would look like ...

"Is that so?" she said, walking back up the stairs.

Wuya nodded as she followed. "He's MOST secretive about it too ... He's not letting anyone see it."

" 'S not like anyone else comes down here," said Ashley, fiddling around with a glowing green ball of goo she had found on one of Jack's tables. God, she was bored.

"True, but ... even I do not know what he's doing."

Maybe he's fed up of you hovering over him all the time.

"I'm sure he'll tell us what it is in his own time. You know Jack – always likes to brag about his inventions."

She put the ball down, and noticed the fridge. That was a new addition to his lab, too.

"I'm hungry. What's in the fridge?" She opened it, and could see bread, milk, some ready to eat chicken ... She pulled out a pudding cup.

"Don't eat that! Jack will throw a fit."

Who cares about him? "Whatever ... I'll take it, so he knows I was here."

"He may not be out for a while ..."

"Tell Jack I'm gonna mess up his room if he doesn't hurry."

Wuya seemed shocked at this statement. "You shouldn't go in there. It's full of his stuff. And when I say his stuff, I mean HIS stuff." She paused. "It's ... disturbing."

This, coming from a floating mask.

"Just tell him."

"Fine ..." Wuya replied, sounding bored. And tired. Very tired.

"What's the buzz, then?"

"Huh?" Wuya looked like she hadn't been paying attention. "Oh, there hasn't been another Shen Gong Wu yet, child."

"What? That really stinks."

"Tell me about it."

"Well I'm outty. I'm gonna grab a proper bite to eat."

"You do that."

Ashley sighed as she walked up the stairs. She should have guessed Jack would have been just as dull as everyone else in this house. No wonder Wuya looked so bored. Maybe they were more alike than she thought.

Maybe I should join them again ... that would liven things up. I'd love the chance to show up Jack again ...


Click, click, click ...

Hmm ... what were they doing?

Katnappe and Kimiko hid behind a bookcase, in the Spicers' small library, watching as two different Huai-Ren, a bull-headed lizard and a dragon-like dog, knocked over a wooden cabinet, and clawed at the items inside.

"Shouldn't we be running away?" Kimiko whispered, wondering why she'd listened to Katnappe when she'd suggested they follow these monsters to find out what they doing.

Katnappe tsked. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"This is STUPID."

"Oh I get it. You're scared of the little boogie monsters, are you?"

"Scared? I'm not scared!"

A little fly buzzed near them, and quietly transformed into the Chameleon-bot.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but ... two of the anomalous creatures are phasing this way. You'll need to move, or else they will discover our location."

They moved to stand behind a different bookcase, just as the Huai-Ren appeared through the wall. It was the same two Huai-Ren that Kimiko had seen before. But they continued on towards them, as if they knew their location anyway and were going to phase through the bookcase they were hiding behind.

"They're still coming!" Kimiko whispered, looking round the edge.

"What's going on? How do they know we're here?"

"I dunno, but get ready for a fight."


Wait, wait, wait ... that's all she ever did. That boy was always so lax when it came to the Shen Gong Wu. He really needed to take things more seriously. Jack didn't know the first thing about being evil.

After all, they had had the Star Hanabi in their possession, and were it not for the fact that he had stayed to gloat – again – they would have gotten away with it, too. On top of it all, he had lost another Xiaolin Showdown, forfeiting the Sword of the Storm as well. It was a miracle he hadn't lost the Orb of Tornami ...

But that had been over two weeks ago, and the waiting was killing them both. No new Shen Gong Wu had become active since that time, and they were both starting to grate on each others' nerves more than usual. For Wuya, it was most degrading and very frustrating, being nothing more than a ghost, unable to take part in anything, having to rely on such an incompetent ... child. That was normally the reason why she yelled at him all the time, although sometimes it was just because she felt like it.

She floated through a wall, leaving behind a study room to enter a small library that she had been drawn to, for some reason. Jack had always told her not to wandering through the walls of his house, because his parents (or his mum, at least) would go mad if they saw a ghost. And she had to agree – she did NOT want to be found by that fool of a father. She'd only been through the house a few times, but usually she stayed within the confines of Jack's lab. But today – today had been it for Wuya.

Jack had gone and tested his stupid force-field on her. What had surprised her was that it had actually worked. Then, he'd revealed a new section to his lab and locked himself in, declaring that he would finish his greatest invention yet. And Wuya had had enough of waiting, and of doing nothing, so she had left the lab.

There was some kind of dinner party going on in the next room, which wasn't unusual. The Spicers liked pretending they were normal. But Wuya was keen to avoid all these people. She didn't want to cause a scene, because that might lead to awkward questions about Jack's lab ...

So she went down through the floor instead, finding herself in a bathroom of sorts, where an auburn-haired woman she didn't recognise was powdering her face up in front of a mirror, by a sink.

The words were out before Wuya could stop herself.

"You'll need more than make-up to smooth that face over, honey."

"What? Who said – "

Wuya appeared in the mirror just as the lady looked back in it.

"Boo."

Not very original, but it did the trick.

The woman started screaming and pointing, before quickly unlocking the door and screeching throughout the corridors. So much for not causing a scene ... Although, Wuya couldn't stop herself from chuckling, either.

She hastily returned to Jack's lab, watching Ashley just as she went down the stairs. She followed her, waiting to see how close she would get to touching the force-field. As fun as it would be to watch Ashley get zapped ...

"I wouldn't go near that if I were you ..."

Ashley turned around. "Oh ... Bossy-much. I was wondering where you'd got to. Where's Jack?"

Wuya gestured to the force-field. Currently, it only worked down here, and only around stationary objects, but she had no doubt that he'd soon figure out a way to put one around the lab itself, too. "He's inside that force-field, working on something top secret."

Ashley looked like she was about to laugh. She started to walk back up the spiralling stairs. "Is that so?"

"He's MOST secretive about it too. He's not letting anyone see it."

Ashley picked up Jack's glowing ball, which was actually an expanding mass thing he had been working on. At least, that's what he'd told Wuya. It was probably closer to an exploding mass. How long would it take for Ashley to find that one out the hard way?

" 'S not like anyone else comes down here," Ashley said.

"True, but ..." Wuya paused thoughtfully. "Even I do not know what he's doing."

"I'm sure he'll tell us what it is in his own time," Ashley said, and to Wuya's disappointment, she put the green ball back on the table. There wouldn't be an explosion this time. But then again, those sorts of things were always funnier when they happened to Jack, anyway. "You know Jack – always likes to brag about his inventions."

Ashley noticed the fridge. Jack had put that in two days ago, when he had first revealed hints about his top secret invention. Wuya had no idea how he had managed to get his hands on a fridge without his parents finding out, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

"I'm hungry. What's in the fridge?" Ashley rummaged through the food, and picked up one of Jack's pudding cups.

"Don't eat that! Jack will throw a fit." And it was true. He couldn't work without pudding. Though he would never admit it to anyone else, he did have a sweet tooth.

"Whatever ... I'll take it, so he knows I was here."

"He may not be out for a while ..." Which was good. Because the minute he realised his pudding was gone, he was going to yell. And Wuya would yell back.

"Tell Jack I'm gonna mess up his room if he doesn't hurry."

Jack's ... room? "You shouldn't go in there. It's full of his stuff. And when I say his stuff, I mean HIS stuff." Wuya had seen the mind-boggling horror that was Jack's bedroom. The child was obsessed with himself. "It's ... disturbing."

"Just tell him."

"Fine ..." Wuya replied, feeling bored. And tired. Very tired. Ashley had probably come down to tease Jack, which Wuya usually encouraged. But today there was nothing new to tell her.

She just about heard Ashley ask, "What's the buzz, then?"

"Huh? Oh, there hasn't been another Shen Gong Wu yet, child."

"What? That really stinks."

"Tell me about it."

"Well I'm outty. I'm gonna grab a proper bite to eat."

"You do that."

Ashley sighed as she walked up the stairs, and Wuya watched her leave. Maybe I should ask her to join us again ... Katnappe would be a better choice than Jack anyway ...

There was a noise, and a yell.

A tiny voice squealed. "What is this place?"

Wuya stared. Now there was something you didn't see every day. A goblin.


Shit.

The dinosaur Huai-Ren had gone and smashed Jack's lightning gun, not about to fall for the same thing twice. Kimiko and the Chameleon-bot had succeeded in knocking the crocodile-headed one to the floor, but now they would have to run away, because the noise had attracted the other Huai-Ren. One of them, the dragon-like dog, large as a rhino, but lean and quick as a greyhound, jumped and grabbed Kimiko's arm in its mouth. The bull headed lizard held a strange paw-like object in its talons. It ran head-down at the Chameleon-bot, which changed into a huge gorilla to absorb the blow with its metal body.

Meanwhile the dinosaur ran away from them and towards the fallen shelf, and picked up a strange medallion; the crocodile-headed one soon joined in, picking up a strange woolen jacket in its scythe-like claws, and Katnappe finally realised what it was that they had ...

But then she gasped as the dog-monster hurled Kimiko into a bookcase. She looked unconscious at first, but then she stirred, her limbs moving slightly. Katnappe could only watch as the Huai-Ren opened its mouth to paralyse her.

"No!"


Moan, moan, moan. That's all she ever did. That ghost was always so stressed when it came to the Shen Gong Wu. She really needed to relax and take things easily. What was the point of being evil if you weren't going to have fun doing it?

Jack wasn't really concerned about the loss of the Star Hanabi, or the Sword of the Storm – but, unfortunately, Wuya was, and he'd gotten an earful of infuriated tirades when he'd got back home. He had ignored her, as he usually did – at least he had managed to keep the Orb of Tornami.

But now Wuya wasn't coughing up any new Shen Gong Wu. It had been more than two weeks and still nothing, and the friction between them had steadily grown, until Jack couldn't stand it any more. For Jack, it was quite irritating, and very annoying, having some ghost woman constantly watching his back telling him what to do – and what NOT to do – yelling and ranting and raving at him all the time. He got the feeling that sometimes she yelled at him just for the hell of it.

And so, he'd started working on his force-field, designed to keep everything out. He'd finally finished it today, and he'd tested on Wuya for two reasons. One: as sad as it seemed, he really didn't have anyone else he could ask. Two: she was ghostly, so if the force-field could keep her out, it could keep anything out.

He had activated it to go around his secret workshop (inside his secret lab) after telling Wuya to keep herself out of his way, and now he was continuing work on what he felt would be one of his greatest works yet. Not even Wuya knew about this, although keeping it from her all this time had required a miracle.

It was something he had been working on even before he had met Wuya, but he had lost interest, because it took up too much of his time, and he had really wanted to focus on upgrading his robots. Now that he had made the upgrades, though, this project was much easier to work on, as they were better equipped to do some of the more complex things that his human hands couldn't. The Changing Chopsticks had been very useful, too. It was now in its final stages, and needed maybe one week to complete. And once ready, the Xiaolin warriors wouldn't know what hit them.

It would make a nice change from some of his other ... disasters. Over the past weeks, he had invented some Expanding Mass, based along the same lines as his Glob Shooter, which was supposed to surround his enemies and disable them, but somewhere along the line he'd mangled up the formula, and the green substance had exploded in his face. Wuya, completely unaffected due to her ghostly status, had found it funny. He, on the other hand, hadn't.

He had also made a Transmogrifying Ray, which was supposed to transform opponents into ordinary household objects. But instead of transforming things into stationary objects, it actually turned them into groteque living creatures. Wuya had been excited at the prospect of a monster making machine, wanting to create an army of monsters to attack the Xiaolin temple, until they realised that the monsters exploded upon immediate contact with anything else. Including the floor.

His Mega Ray Cannon was looking promising, though. Lightning, fire and laser beams all in one. He hadn't shown Wuya that one, either, because by now she had learned not to rely on his inventions as a means to get at the Xiaolin temple, and she would only moan at him for building another "ridiculous contraption". But for now – his greatest invention would be what he would concentrating on in between Shen Gong Wu hunting and avoiding his parents social dos.

Robots were everywhere around him, helping him in the construction. He was sure he could hear Katnappe's voice. Wuya had probably warned her about the force-field, which was disappointing – it would have been fun to have Ashley get zapped.

Uh oh ... He was down to his last pudding cup ... Good thing he had one more in his fridge. He'd have to wait until Ashley left, though ...

Some time later, Jack chanced an appearance. He could hear voices upstairs, but he didn't recognise them ... maybe Ashley had brought – he shuddered – her friends?

But when he reached the top, there was no one there. Weird ... he could have sworn he'd heard voices. Still, there was always his pudding to take his mind off things.

He opened the fridge.

"WHO ATE THE LAST PUDDING CUP?"


"No! Leave her alone!"

Through blurred vision, Kimiko saw Clay and Jack ram into the dog-monster with all their might, shoving it against the wall. She sighed. The boys had come to the rescue ... But what had surprised her most ... it had been Jack that had yelled. Jack quickly used a stag's horn to shoot at the fallen creature.

And then the dog disappeared in a flash of bluish smoke. The other three hissed. Dojo's eyes widened at the sight of the things in their hands – Shen Gong Wu!

"Those are Shen Gong Wu!" he yelled. "The Magic Magnet, the False Fleece ... the Wolf's Fang – "

"Jack!" Clay yelled. "Quick! Fire the Horn of Qilin, before they get away!"

But Jack looked shocked. He'd never known he had other Shen Gong Wu in his own house ...

"JACK!"

"Er ...! Horn of Qilin!"

The dinosaur Huai Ren was destroyed, its Shen Gong Wu falling, but the other two got away with what looked like two or three Shen Gong Wu between them; Dojo wasn't sure.

Clay helped Kimiko sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think ..." The back of her head hurt, her Xiaolin robes were torn and her right arm was bleeding and had several teeth marks; and she was feeling a bit dizzy, but ... she would survive.

"Is that all of them?" Katnappe asked the Chameleon-bot. "Are they all gone?"

"Yes. All the creatures have either been destroyed or have left."

"Okay," Jack said, beginning to lose patience. "For the last time – WHAT'S GOING ON? What the hell are you all doing in my house?"


Jack's Glob Shooter was in "Night of the Sapphire Dragon" (although I'm not too sure about the spelling).