Uploaded: 13th February 2005
Thanks to cartoonhottie200 for pointing out the Clay getting changed thing (although I had noticed it already, I just couldn't be arsed to change it).
This chapter's more light-hearted than recent chapters have been, probably because evil jing-stealing Wuya's not in it. I made up Omi's last name, because he doesn't seem to have one. And the Dragon's Mask Shen Gong Wu belongs to Cybertoy00.
Chapter 12: Ping-jing – arrival
A beautiful, rural village situated in the heart of the high Chinese mountains in the north, Ping-jing was nonetheless different to what Kimiko was expecting. Hidden in a secluded valley, it looked so normal that it was hard to believe that this was one of the few places of Earth unaffected by the disruption. Indeed, Kimiko's equipment had started to work as soon as they had exited Bai Hu's portal and entered the sacred mountain range, something she was keen to take advantage of. Nothing like a game of Minecreeper to take your mind off things. Of course, when Jack offered to join in, Kimiko instantly turned it off.
Jack had landed his plane by an octagon-shaped pavilion on the rocky outskirts of the village, while Dojo had returned to his regular size, climbing onto Clay's shoulders as the group, led by Bai Hu, walked through a spectacular golden arch at the entrance to the village. Ashley had gotten changed back into her black top and blue skirt, and was still carrying the lone kitten.
"So this is it, huh?" said Jack, looking around at the wooden roofed houses, and folding his arms, not looking too impressed.
Bai Hu nodded. "Yes … this is Ping-jing."
They came to the middle of the village, where there was a huge blue-bearded giant sleeping by a large steel-barred cage, which was big enough to hold an elephant inside.
Bai Hu stopped walking, and the humans stopped behind him.
The cage door was open.
"Uh oh," said Bai Hu apprehensively.
"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Jack demanded.
"WAKE UP, LUMA LUMA!" Bai Hu roared.
The giant woke up, stretched big hairy arms, and yawned. "Oh, Bai Hu," he said dozily, in a slow dopey manner. "Haven't seen you since you went to that conference yesterday. Great, you found the Chosen Ones. What's wrong?" he added, when he saw Bai Hu's annoyed expression.
"Raicho's escaped again, you lunkhead."
"Sorry," he yawned. "But I was on guard duty all night last night … Long was afraid DarkClaw would come here. 'Course, DarkClaw tried to attack the Dwarves' prison today."
"Again? That's three times now … Hmm … He obviously wants to attack while the sleep drug is still in effect," Bai Hu said.
After stretching again, Luma Luma stood up to his full eight foot height. He reached inside his long beard and pulled out a golden watch, on a chain. "Goodness gracious, is that the time? Dear me, what took you so long? You should have been here with the Chosen Ones a long time ago."
"I got a little caught up. The griffin clans are at it again."
"Don't tell me they're still arguing over airspace? I thought you'd sorted them out?"
"Yes, but Wuya's resurrection has only made things worse between them. They're totally spooked. It was bedlam at the peace talks today. One minute they were arguing over territory, and then suddenly they sensed Wuya's return to power … and all hell broke loose. The Chief of the Winter Clan came back with us here. He wanted Befana to look after his son, because he was afraid Wuya would kidnap him."
Luma Luma let out a long sigh. The griffins could be a high-strung group; they were always so protective and territorial, usually resulting in abnormal paranoia. "Why would she kidnap little Cloudstorm for?"
"Don't know. But Cloudstorm's a bit, well, strange. The way he looks at you … it's as if the kid knows everything. Anyway, before I could look for the Chosen Ones, I had to find and bring the little tyke here. It was a nightmare trying to get him to sleep, so I left Befana to do that.
"And then by the time I arrived at the Xiaolin temple, Master Fung told me that they'd already left. I sensed the Horn of Qilin, but I wasn't sure if Wuya had managed to get it … and then I finally decided to check."
"Is everyone at the temple okay?" Kimiko asked.
"They're all fine," said Bai Hu. "I don't think Wuya will attack the Xiaolin temple. I think by now she's realised that you'll have taken all the Shen Gong Wu with you. Still, they'd probably be better off here."
"Raicho's still around, is she?" Dojo asked.
"Yeah, but she's … changed a lot," Bai Hu said, and his face dropped, suddenly. "Sorry, but would you mind if we looked for her first? She can be very volatile, and it's best we keep her locked up for the moment."
"Sure," said Kimiko.
"Whatever," said Jack.
It wasn't long before they found her. Perched on the roof of a village house some fifty metres away, she was yelling and screeching at anyone that would listen. Unfortunately, there was no one there …
"I WARNED YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN! EVEN WHEN THE MOSHU-REN WERE PRETENDING TO BE ON OUR SIDE, I SAW RIGHT THROUGH THEM!"
"Uh … who's she talking to?" Ashley asked. Bai Hu frowned sadly.
Raicho turned her head slightly to the left, and gave the group a shifty stare. She was an enormous bird, covered in drab grey and black feathers. There were bald spots in her plumage; she looked a bit diseased, and her left eye didn't quite move together with the right.
She flapped her misshapen wings and landed clumsily on the ground, screeching in alarm.
"INTRUDERS! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!"
Luma Luma approached her slowly, raising his arms in an attempt to placate the bird. "Calm down," he said in his dopey, lazy voice. "It's just Bai Hu with the Xiaolin Dragons."
"Xiaolin … Dragons? Good, good, good," she muttered to herself. "Good, good, good, good, good …"
"Ignore her," Bai Hu told the humans, who were all showing various degrees of uneasiness. "She's just gone a bit loony. It's not really her fault though. She's the former guardian of the Lightning temple."
"Former?" asked Kimiko.
"Wuya attacked her and absorbed the Lightning essence from the temple. Raicho's powers have never returned, and since that time she's been a bit … loopy. She was always saying that Wuya would return one day. But we could never tell if whether she could genuinely sense Wuya's return, or whether she was being overly crazy, and over the years … well, we've just learned to ignore her."
"IGNORE ME, WILL YOU?" she boomed suddenly, her left eye blinking and twitching. "YOU'VE DISREGARDED MY WARNINGS FOR FIFTEEN CENTURIES, RIDICULING MY SENSE OF JUDGEMENT! BUT WHO'S GOT THE LAST LAUGH NOW? AHKLUT WON'T STAY ON OUR SIDE FOR MUCH LONGER, YOU'LL SEE!"
Bai Hu growled gently. "Always with Ahklut … Ahklut this, Ahklut that … Don't you have anything better to do than bad-mouth someone you've never even met?"
"Oh, don't you go talking to her; you'll only provoke her," Luma Luma warned.
"NO! I SHALL BE IGNORED NO LONGER! MY VOICE SHALL BE HEARD, FROM THE BOTTOMLESS DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN TO THE OUTER REACHES OF SPACE, IT SHALL BE HEARD! I WILL – "
She had been hopping on the spot vigorously, but she stopped abruptly when her eyes met Jack's. Jack blinked in horror, not wanting this crazy bird's stare on him, but she gazed at him for a thoughtful moment. And then she snapped.
"YOU! You're Fengqu's apprentice! The reason I look like this!"
"Uh, I think you've got me confused with someone else," Jack said, looking freaked. She squinted her eyes together, and her feathers all stood on end.
"What's she doing?" whispered Ashley.
"Tryin' to summon a thunderbolt," Luma Luma said sleepily, rubbing the end of his long blue beard. "I keep telling her that she can't do it any more because Wuya stole the essence, but it just doesn't register."
Raicho did seem to be under the impression she had power over lightning, but it was quite clear she didn't, because when she tried to summon a thunderbolt, nothing happened. She looked like she was trying to lay an egg.
At this, Jack snorted loudly, and he said, "Loser."
"No, don't insult – " Luma Luma started, but it was too late. Raicho charged like a rhino at Jack, who was ready to activate his heli-pack. But before she could reach him, Luma Luma took out a grey bag from inside his beard, and took a great stride forward, standing in front of Jack. The giant reached into the bag, took out some pink sparkling dust, and blew it into Raicho's face. The grey bird immediately fell asleep.
"Pixie dust," said Luma Luma, putting the bag back inside his blue beard. "Gotta love it."
"It's a shame, really," said Bai Hu sadly. "Raicho was a good guardian."
"Who's Ahklut?" asked Clay.
"He guards SilverClaw's Map, in the frozen north. I don't really know much else about him, except that he was alive when Wuya tried to take over the world fifteen hundred years ago."
"Ahklut's not his real name," said Luma Luma, this time taking a rope from inside his beard and bending down to tie up Raicho. "That's just the name the humans gave him because of his ability to shape-shift like the Shoka. Since you're here to stay this time, Bai Hu, why not stay with me for dinner?" He turned his head to face the others. "I'm sure you guys must be hungry."
"Are we ever!" said Clay, rubbing his stomach.
Jack wasn't so enthusiastic. What did giants have for dinner? Boiled humans?
"Just what's on the menu?"
"Braised steak, roast potatoes, carrots and peas … If only I hadn't fallen asleep," he yawned. "Would have been ready already."
"We're got to get a move on," said Bai Hu, and Clay looked so disappointed that he had to add: "Don't worry, we'll come back later."
"Yeah, we should get Omi healed first," Kimiko agreed.
"Omi?" said Luma Luma enquiringly, a little concern creeping into his voice. "Wait a minute, where is he? What's happened to him?"
"He's been frozen, but Befana should be able to heal him," Bai Hu replied.
"Assuming she managed to get Stormy to sleep. Well, good luck, Dragons."
The group bid farewell to Luma Luma, and continued through the village.
"I don't get it," said Dojo after a short while, looking around at the empty paths, and houses. Apart from Raicho and Luma Luma, they had seen no one around, and he'd been expecting someone in particular. They came to a stop when they reached a slight fork in the path. The path to the right was on a slight incline. "Where is everybody?"
Bai Hu was a little concerned himself, but it wasn't his way to show it. "They're probably at the Jing Spring … Your father mentioned a big meeting of his own, Dojo."
Uh oh, thought Dojo. He blinked nervously, hiding underneath Clay's hat. "You mean … he's here?"
Bai Hu chuckled heartily, as Clay raised an eyebrow and Kimiko snickered slightly. "Oh YES. He's here. But he can't still be mad at you; not at a time like this."
Dojo came out from Clay's hat, and slivered down to the floor in protest. "How would you know? You don't know him like I do. He'll probably yell at me as soon as he sees me …"
"Nonetheless, you need to go to the Jing Fountain right away … he wanted to have a talk with you."
"I … can't see him …!" spluttered Dojo incredulously.
" 'Course you can!" Bai Hu roared cheerfully. "In fact, he told me to make sure you go."
"Oh, goodness," said a quiet voice, and everyone turned around, to see a Chinese man and woman staring back at them. "We have visitors."
"Ah, Bai Hu!" said the man, beaming. He looked in his mid-thirties, had short scruffy black hair, and wore simple clothes, a beige robe and brown sandals. He held a large grey sack. The woman was dressed similarly, and looked about the same age, but had long black hair to her waist. She held a blue dragon's mask in one hand, and a dark blue orb that looked like the Orb of Tornami in the other, and she looked a little worried. Kimiko and Clay both recognised them from the photo Omi had in his possession – they were his parents.
"You've arrived safely with the Chosen Ones, I see …" The man cast a glance at Ashley and Jack. "And a couple of guests, too …"
Bai Hu nodded, and gently put his left paw on Dojo's tail to prevent him from escaping.
"Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Chow," Kimiko said, bowing in greeting.
"We have heard many good things about you," Mr Chow replied.
Mrs Chow was still looking concerned. "But … where is Omi?"
"One of Wuya's Huai-Ren froze 'im with a Stop spell," Clay said.
"Yes, we know … Befana told us he had been frozen. But is he here? Is he safe?"
"He's in my plane, over there," said Jack, pointing all the way back towards the pavilion.
The relief on both parents' faces was tangible. "Oh, thank goodness," said Mrs Chow.
"Come now, Dojo, you're only delaying the inevitable," Bai Hu said. The little dragon had escaped, and was slithering all around Bai Hu's body in order to avoid being sent through a portal.
"Oh, you must be Long's son," said Mr Chow, chuckling. "He really wanted to speak to you …"
"Fine," said Dojo finally. He followed Bai Hu down the left-hand path. "But if I get torched, I'm blaming you."
Mr Chow approached Jack, who gave him a suspicious look, and put a hand on his shoulder. Jack said, "What do you think you're doing? Do you know who I am?" but Mr Chow locked eyes with his pleadingly, and Jack sighed.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"I know who you are … and I know you are not on the best terms with my son. But, I don't suppose you would be good enough to bring your plane here, so that he can be healed …"
Jack shrugged again. "Yeah, whatever. Our parents were frozen too, that's why we're here." He pushed a button on his watch, and, from its position, the plane automatically flew, landing in the centre of the path behind them after a couple of minutes.
"How did you know about Omi, Mrs Chow?" Kimiko asked. Because Luma Luma hadn't, and he'd been the only one they'd seen. Then again, he had been sleeping. "And about Jack?"
"Come, we'll take you to Befana's hut, and she'll explain everything," said Mrs Chow. She and Mr Chow proceeded up the right path, and Clay and Kimiko immediately followed.
"Befana?" queried Jack.
"Less talking, more walking," Ashley told him, to which he mumbled: "Loser."
Befana's cottage looked a little out of place in Ping-jing. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was made entirely out of sweets. Coca cola bottles and twizzlers and mars bars and fruit gums and chocolate and ice cream and jelly and lollipops ... Jack, Ashley, Clay and Kimiko stood just outside the candy-made door, wondering just what kind of a person lived here.
"Enter, children, don't be afraid," said Mr Chow. "We have to take these Shen Gong Wu to the Jing Fountain, otherwise we'd come in too."
"Oh, I'm not afraid," said Jack, licking his lips. "They're bound to have pudding here."
"You might make the house collapse, Jack," muttered Ashley.
"Please tell Befana to come to the Jing Fountain when she's finished," said Mrs Chow.
Kimiko and Clay nodded, and the group entered the sweet cottage.
Inside it looked a bit like a doctor's surgery. There were pink and white marshmallow chairs around the outside of the room, where a few individuals were seated. An old, withered man sat in a pink chair, next to what looked like a sleeping Dwarf (its red pointy hat was covering most of its face), and next to the Dwarf was a see-through blue spirit. There was a main chocolate desk, behind which were shelves with different coloured bottles and flasks. In the middle of the room was a large mint-sweet mat, a silver, cuddly animal curled up on top of it. Next to a window was a white chocolate table with a bowl of strange glowing fruit in it. They looked like peaches, except they were completely white in colour.
There was a tiny elf behind the main desk. None of the group would have noticed him if he had not been sitting on a tall, red and white candy stool. He wore green clothes and a pointy green hat, looking for all the world like a Christmas elf.
"Good evening," the elf greeted quietly. His voice was strange, sounding very nasal, as if his nose was being pinched. "My name's Soldor. How can I help you?"
"Oh, um … we're the Xiaolin Dragons," said Kimiko. "We were brought here by Bai Hu."
"Ah, say no more," said Soldor. "We've been expecting you. Where are the people in need of healing?"
"They're still outside," Jack said. "We weren't sure whether to bring them in or not …"
"Oh, yes, bring them in, bring them in. Befana's in the back, she'll be with you shortly," Soldor told them, gesturing to a door behind the desk that led to another room. "Make yourselves at home in the meantime. And please, try to keep the noise down. It was murder trying to get the griffin cub to sleep."
Jack's robots brought in the five human and two kitten statues, and placed them on the mint-sweet mat in the centre of the room, next to the silver toy; meanwhile Kimiko and Clay decided to sit round a honey-comb table, in two white rounded gobstopper chairs. Jack and Ashley sat opposite them, facing the window.
"What about me?" said the old man grumpily from his seat on the side on the room, banging a gnarled root-shaped stick on the floor. "I get no respect, I tell ya! No respect! I travelled for two hours by foot to get here and these outsiders get treated first?"
Soldor groaned in annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you, Do-Dum? There's nothing we can do about your forest. Not at the moment, anyway."
"I demand justice!" said the old man, still tapping his stick. "Why, back in the olden days we wouldn't have taken no crap off of no witch. You youngsters have gotten soft. Soft, I say!"
Soldor rolled his eyes. Befana had warned him about this particular Warder. Do-Dum the Cranky. "Keep quiet, Do-dum."
"I'll show you 'keep quiet' …" Do-Dum muttered under his breath.
The elf seemed to temporarily lose his temper. "Are you crazy? Or just senile? Wuya's no ordinary witch. We've already reactivated around five Shen Gong Wu in the Jing Fountain; but unless we have the Horn of Qilin – " Jack's head whirled round "– which became active today, we won't be able to restore the forest."
"Does that mean we can use the Horn to fix all the trees?" Kimiko whispered, while the old man grumbled, "Sod Wuya! I want my forest back!" (Soldor responded, "Be quiet – please.")
"Yeah, I think so," said Clay.
"But it'll take awfully long if all the world's forests are dead," Ashley pointed out.
"That's the spirit," said Clay sarcastically.
"There's no way I'm helping that guy," Jack declared, nodding his head in the direction of the old man.
"Humph, that's why you're the bad guys," Kimiko remarked.
"I only came here to get my kittens and parents healed," Ashley insisted, with a high-and-mighty attitude. "Once I've done that, I'm out of here."
"Don't be an idiot," Kimiko said. "The world won't get back to normal until we defeat Wuya. You and your parents would be better off staying here."
"Maybe it's better this way," said Ashley.
"What are you talking about?" Kimiko snapped.
"Think about it. Every day, people get up in the morning, they go to some tedious job, they come back home, they go to sleep … Day in, day out, the same routine … And for what? Pieces of paper and metal …"
"Is that why you think you're above the law?" Jack snickered. "Because of some crazy crusade against the normality of everyday life?"
"You're one to talk, Mr I-want-to-take-over-the-world," Ashley shot back angrily.
"Quiet, please!" Soldor shushed.
Ashley sighed. "Never mind," she said, quickly getting up off the table. Clay let out a sigh of his own.
Ashley walked slowly around the room, seeing if there was anything worth looking at. She reached out to touch one of the peaches in the fruit bowl.
"Non toccare!" shrieked a female voice from the other room.
"W-what?" spluttered Ashley, completely startled as she pulled her hand away.
"Don't touch anything!" said the same voice. "I can see what you're doing from here, so don't try anything."
"Whippersnappers … have no respect for other people's property …" Do-Dum mumbled to himself grouchily.
"Please be patient, she'll be with you in a mo-ment," said Soldor gently, deliberately ignoring him. "She's just fixing one of the Selkies. He got stuck inside his seal skin while trying to come onto land for the big meeting at the Jing Fountain."
"Right," said Jack, looking like he thought he'd entered the Twilight Zone.
"How can she see what we're doing?" said Ashley quietly, checking the room for security cameras. "I don't see any cameras …"
Kimiko shrugged, also looking around the room. "Probably some kind of magic."
At that moment, a young handsome man with long, golden hair and sparkling blue eyes entered from the back room. He was followed by a young lady with dark brown hair. The lady was young, probably in her early twenties. She wore long dangling earrings, and a dark red dress that flowed to the floor. The man was wearing nothing but a pair of grey and white shorts. Everyone stared.
"Thanks, Befana," the man was saying, "I don't know where I'd be without you."
"Still stuck on the beach, I'd imagine," Befana said, looking distracted as she folded a large piece of grey skin in her hands. "And if it were up to me, you'd have stayed stuck, but … well … Just hold on a sec while I get the Mesoba oil …" Befana went behind the reception desk and turned her back to everyone else in the room, looking across the shelves and bending down, looking through the bottles.
Suddenly, Kimiko found herself getting up and greeting the strange man without even thinking about the action.
"Hi," she said dreamily, entranced by his beautiful sky eyes, and his buff body.
"Hello," he said in a friendly way, grinning at her. His grin exposed shiny, perfect teeth.
"I'm Kimiko …"
"One of the Xiaolin Dragons, right? Befana tells me you're quite the fighter."
"Ha," said Ashley, shoving Kimiko to one side. "I'm way better than her. I could beat her any day of the week."
"You COULD NOT!" yelled Kimiko. Clay and Jack exchanged confused glances. Ashley and Kimiko were in, it seemed, constant competition with each other; but this was a little strange …
"Non urlare," said Befana, without looking up.
"Huh?" said Jack.
"Keep your voices down. The griffin cub is sleeping."
"I beat her in a showdown," Ashley told the handsome man boastingly. "Wanna see my moves?"
Jack snorted as Ashley executed a couple of cartwheels, followed by two back-flips. Honestly, he had never seen her this keen to attract a guy before.
"These rotten kids have no respect!" moaned Do-Dum. "Doin' gynastics in front of me, knowin' how sensitive I am about my diseased leg."
"I thought you walked here, Do-Dum?" Soldor asked.
"Yeah – FROM THE PAVILION! AND IT TOOK TWO HOURS!"
"How many times must I tell you? NO SHOUTING!"
"How 'bout I show you my moves, after we heal my friend?" Kimiko suggested.
"I can give him a much more pleasurable time," Ashley said, licking her lips in a failed attempt to be seductive. At this point Jack was struggling not to laugh.
"Well … I'll be going back to Scotland after this. Maybe you both come with me and show me your stuff."
"Okay," both girls said, grinning happily, and they each grabbed one arm.
"Score!" beamed the man.
"Now wait a minute," said Clay, thirty percent confused, thirty percent angry and forty percent jealous. Who the hell was this guy? "What about our quest to stop Wuya?"
"Who-ya now?" said Kimiko, her blue eyes full of adoration for the man. Jack had switched his grin to a frown. He didn't mind Ashley going all the way to Scotland, but Kimiko deserved better than this jerk.
"Oh – Blueneck!" said Befana finally, coming from around the desk and smacking the man in the back of the head. "SHAME ON YOU! Stop trying to seduce them with your good looks!"
Blueneck grinned sheepishly. "But they'd make great additions to my collection of wives at home …"
"WHAT?" yelled Jack and Clay at the same time, both standing up simultaneously in protest.
"Non urlare!" snapped Befana. "You'll wake the griffin cub up." She pointed to the silver cuddly toy on the mat, which really wasn't a cuddly toy at all. It lay completely still, a rounded ball of fluff.
To Blueneck, she said: "I'm disgusted in you. Completely and utterly disgusted. Picking on these girls like that. You should know better."
"But – "
"NO BUT'S. THEY'RE TOO YOUNG FOR YOU, YOU SICK PERVERT. Now GO AWAY. These humans have better things to do than be your sex toys for the rest of their lifetimes."
Blueneck bowed his head in shame. "Okay … but what about the Mesoba oil?"
"I'll give the oil to you later. Now get out! Go on, get. I've got important patients here."
"Like me?" piped up Do-Dum.
"Yes …" Your Crankiness …
Kimiko and Ashley both seemed to come out of a trance.
"What's … going on?" Ashley asked, as they both sat back down at the table..
"Man, I should have videoed her," Jack chuckled to himself.
"Blasted Selkies and their enchanting powers …" grumbled Befana as Blueneck left through the door.
"Now it's MY turn! I demand justice!" said Do-Dum.
"Oh, shut up," snapped Befana, drawing the Chinese word for silence in the air (chenmo) above his head. Do-Dum continued to talk, but no sound came out.
The four teenagers immediately rose from the table. "Did you see that?" Jack exclaimed. "She put a curse on him!"
"And she should have done it ages ago," Soldor added.
"I know," she said, "but I felt bad for him … I'm surprised Stormy hasn't woken up yet." She then noticed Clay, Ashley and Kimiko's apprehensive stares. Jack once again was totally freaked. What was wrong with this place?
"That was magic," Ashley said sharply.
"What's the matter?" said Befana, blinking innocently. "Haven't you ever seen magic before? I find that hard to believe, you've seen the Shen Gong – "
"Yaargh! Witch!" Jack yelled suddenly, pointing at her while backing away into the sweet-filled wall. This was some kind of Hansel and Gretel nightmare …
"Calm down, Jack," said Ashley.
"NO, I WON'T!" Jack yelled.
"NON URLARE!" Befana yelled back.
It really looked like Jack's brain was going into meltdown. "Tch-ch – what does that MEAN, anyway?"
"No shouting."
Jack's confusion overtook his nervousness. "Er … but didn't you shout?"
"Yes; but I put a spell on him so that he's used to my voice. He won't wake up when I shout, You, on the other hand … well, it took me all of this morning to get him to sleep – pixie dust doesn't work – and that was with using the Mengmei Chime …"
She frowned slightly at their suspicious faces. It was perfectly understandable; they'd just come back from fighting one of the most powerful witches of all time. Still, that was no reason to take it out on her. "Just because Wuya's all dark and evil, doesn't mean the rest of us who use magic are."
Kimiko and Clay seemed to accept this, at least for the moment. If Bai Hu and Omi's parents trusted her … then she couldn't be evil.
Ashley asked: "Can't you undo what Wuya's done to the world?"
Befana shook her head. "That's to do with the xing xing jing, and that's way out of my league. Besides," she said gently, "I'm just a human who can use magic. Wuya's one of the original Moshu-Ren, so she's far more powerful than me."
"I don't quite understand," Kimiko said.
"It's … a long story. But I'm one of a few humans who are descended from the Moshu-Ren. My magic's not as strong because the powers have faded through the generations … And then there's the little point that my strength lies in European magic … I've studied magic from around the world, but I'm only able to do a few Chinese spells, so my reversal spells won't always work on Chinese curses."
"What about Omi?" Kimiko asked.
"Don't worry, I knew about the Dragon of Water. Potions will nearly always do the job if spells won't work. They just take longer to prepare."
"How did you know about Omi?" asked Clay.
"I have my sources," Befana said enigmatically.
"What about me?" Jack asked. He grinned a little, remembering how Omi's parents had known who he was even though they'd never met. "It's brilliant that everyone knows about me – as they should – but I have to ask how you … found out."
"Jack Spicer … Trust me, I know all about you, too."
"Oh? Did everyone tell you what a brilliant genius I am?"
"We've known about you for a while. Your father was given the puzzle-box by an individual we've been investigating, so we've had to keep an eye on you."
Jack face fell, and Ashley laughed. They knew of him only because of someone else they were looking into? That sucked.
"Right," said Befana. "His chi has been frozen. And since chi energy pertains to movement, we'll need a Movement potion. Fortunately, I've got some already prepared …"
She went behind the desk, reaching to take a clear bottle from the shelf. She poured the clear liquid on Omi and then took a step back, and he blinked slowly, his eyes once again full of life. He swung the Monkey Staff around while continuing to speak as if nothing had happened.
" – Do not expect me to … What?"
His sad look turned to one of bewilderment, and he turned his round head around, gazing searchingly at the occupiers in the room, looking for the boy to whom he thought he had been speaking. "What is going on? Raimundo?"
"Omi!" exclaimed Kimiko happily, giving him a massive hug.
"Welcome back, lil' partner," beamed Clay.
"Yeah, yeah …" grumbled Jack.
"Ooh!" Omi said excitedly, a big grin on his face. "Another girl hug! But … what is going on? Where are we?"
"We'll explain everything later, Omi," Kimiko said. "But long story short – Wuya put a freezing spell on you, and Jack … saved you."
"What?"
Jack grinned at Omi's baffled look. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" He couldn't resist a dramatic pose. "Jack Spicer – greatest genius in the universe!"
"Good grief," said Ashley.
"Hey, when I rock, I rock," said Jack. "And when Jack Spicer's happy, the whole world smiles."
"Definitely know about you," Befana remarked with a frown.
Notes:
non toccare: don't touch
urlare: to shout
chenmo: silence
Thank goodness I've got Mala Mala Jong taped, I had to watch it a few times so I could do things right. I don't know where Jack lives, so I'm gonna assume China, since Mala Mala Jong didn't take long to reach the Xiaolin temple. And I was spending forever trying to figure out exactly what it is the Heart of Jong does so I could put that in my prequel … Ugh. Does it bring only MMJ to life or what? Bah. I've got its powers in my plans as "brings inanimate objects to life", and that's what I'm sticking to. Canon be damned.
EDIT: After seeing "the Deep Freeze", I now know that the Heart of Jong does indeed bring inanimate objects to life, and not just MMJ. Hooray!
