Uploaded: 15th March 2005
Chapter 15: A Nose for Trouble
"Deceased end," said Omi, staring at a blank stone wall.
"Dead end," corrected Kimiko.
"The Dog's Nose is right ahead," said Dojo. He looked around at the walls, and they were full of stone bricks … any one of them could have been the trigger that Ember described.
Jack turned to face Bai Hu. "Can't you teleport us through?"
" 'Fraid not," said the tiger. "I need to know where exactly I'm teleporting."
"No problem," Jack said, taking out the Falcon's Eye. He placed it on Bai Hu's face. "Falcon's Eye!"
"Hmm … it's a room full of coffins," Bai Hu said, looking through the eye-piece. He sliced the air, and soon they were inside a chamber filled with lines of standing sarcophaguses along the walls, just as he had described.
"It's definitely in here," said Jack, and Dojo nodded.
"Let's hurry," said Bai Hu. "We still need to find Thoth."
"Wonder where Evil Cackles is?" Jack said, as they started through the room.
"She's tending to something more important right now," a cool voice answered. Raimundo was floating lazily above a sarcophagus right at the end of the room, the Longi Kite on his back. "But don't worry, she'll deal with you soon enough."
"Raimundo!" Clay said.
Kimiko began to approach him, but Omi held her back.
"Wait," he said, his tone flat and serious, his eyes narrowed in distrust. "There is something wrong …"
Something had changed. Omi could see it in Raimundo's eyes. Gone was the uncertainty Omi had seen when they had fought in the Horn of Qilin cave. Raimundo had been putting on a front back then, and Omi had gotten the feeling that he never really wanted to fight; but now … his eyes … though they were forest green, they held a darkness Omi had never seen before.
Omi's qualms were soon validated; a cruel smirk appeared on the older boy's face.
"Raimundo …?" Kimiko said. This was the first time she and Clay had seen him since he had brought Wuya back to life, and, although they were both still angry, Kimiko had decided to give him another chance. They couldn't stay mad at him forever, or he'd never come back …
He pulled out a round black object where everyone could see it. "Looking for this?"
"The Dog's Nose," Dojo confirmed.
Raimundo looked down at Jack. "So it's true," he said, smiling nastily. "You really did join them. How sad …"
"Get down from there," Jack said tersely. He couldn't care less about Raimundo; if he wanted to take orders from a screeching old hag, that was his business. But if he was going to get in their way, he would have to pay the consequences.
"I don't have to do anything you tell me, Spicer."
Bai Hu growled. So this was the lost Dragon of the Wind …
"Oh yeah?" replied Jack, aiming his big gun up at him. "This Ray Cannon says you do. I'm sure you remember it from the last time we met."
"I haven't forgotten," said Raimundo, looking bored. "You are so predictable."
"Rai …" began Kimiko. "We're all really worried about you. We don't have to fight … We want you to come back …"
"Come back? I've got everything I ever dreamed. Can you guys honestly say you've got your elements completely under control? I don't think so."
"Listen to me," said Bai Hu firmly, "Wuya will kill you once she finds the Wind temple. Maybe even before. She's just toying with you."
"If that's what she wants, who am I to stand in her way?"
"Raimundo …" said Omi worriedly. This didn't sound like the Raimundo he knew … Was he really so angry with them that he was willing to risk his life?
"What are you saying?" exclaimed Kimiko. "That you don't care if she kills you just to get what she wants?"
Raimundo scowled. "I don't have to justify myself to you. I'm not a student at your stupid temple any more."
He snapped his fingers, and several dragon-like Huai-Ren appeared through the ground, completely surrounding the group. Unlike the other Huai-Ren they had fought, they were brightly coloured. One half of them were a soft pink, the other half a dark purple. They all had the same basic shape, bat-like wings, huge, curved claws and muscular limbs, long snouts with sharp teeth, and cold reptilian slit-shaped eyes.
"Uh oh," said Dojo. He had seen these ones before.
"Surrender, and I'll go easy on you guys."
Kimiko frowned. "You ought to know us better than that, Rai."
"Your call," he said. He threw a careless laugh into the air. "Attack them!"
"Ting!" said the Huai-Ren.
Everyone ducked and dodged, except Jack, who activated his blue force-field around himself. Several silvery white ting beams ricocheted off his shield and bounced throughout the room, and everyone scattered; even Raimundo was forced to dive out of the way.
"Hold your fire!" he ordered.
"What the – " said Bai Hu.
"Don't do that!" scolded Clay, once the beams had fizzled out.
"You idiot!" growled Dojo, staring at Bai Hu, who'd tried to avoid one and been hit by another two at once. "You hit Bai Hu! Our ride home's GONE!"
"It's not my fault!" Jack insisted. He hadn't used the shield to protect against the Stop blasts before, so he hadn't been sure what would happen. "It's supposed to absorb energy, not repel it!"
"Just don't do it any more," Kimiko sighed. This was just another example of Jack being presumptuous and eagerly trying things out without thinking. But Jack wasn't finished.
"Fortunately, I, Jack Spicer, evil boy genius, possess Movement potion!" he said, holding the bottle up dramatically. "I managed to get off Cloudstorm before we went inside. Pretty neat, huh?"
"But … you are not evil," said a confused Omi. "You are helping us …"
"Quiet, Baldy, you're ruining my moment. Anyhoo, you can shoot all ya like," he said, sticking out his tongue at the nearest Huai-Ren, "but you're not gonna get me!"
The Huai-Ren growled at Jack. "Ting!" – the bottle vibrated – smash! – the bottle shattered in Jack's hands, spilling potion all over the floor – and Jack was completely flabbergasted.
"What? They ting-ed the anti-ting thing! That just ain't right …"
"Do you always have to announce your name with everything you do before you do it?" Omi asked irritably. Maybe they would have been better off with Jack being on Wuya's side, since he seemed to bungle things on a regular basis.
"Yeah," said Kimiko grumpily, "that's like, a major villain weakness, giving away plans before carrying them out."
"You'd think that stupid witch would have put it in a more durable bottle," grumbled Jack.
"What witch?" Raimundo interjected.
"None ya business, Raymond!" Jack snapped.
"They are looking at us strangely," Omi said worriedly. The Huai-Ren were all giving the group quizzical stares, as if unsure whether these humans actually posed a threat.
"Don't just stand there! Attack them!" Raimundo repeated, sounding extremely angry this time. "And this time, try not to hit ME!"
The Huai-Ren ran towards them, deciding to get closer this time before attacking.
"They look different," remarked Jack, flying up to avoid another ting blast.
"They're elemental ones," frowned Dojo, slithering around on the floor in the most evasive way he could. "The purple ones are Lightning and the pink ones are Wood. Eye of Dashi won't work very well on the Lightning-based ones."
"Then we'll just have to take them out the old-fashioned way!" yelled Kimiko, adding a glass-piercing battle cry. "It's payback time, you freaks! FIRE!" She leapt through the air and did a flying-kick on one of the Wood dragon's faces, successfully knocking it out and down to the ground.
Jack blinked. "Is she always this incensed? I mean, even at the temple?"
"Yep," replied Clay, calmly watching as Kimiko single-handedly knocked down three others in the same fashion. "I guess she's still mad at Raimundo for leavin' us. Don't blame 'er; I'm still riled maself."
"Mad at me?" Raimundo snapped. "You jerks never liked me. I'm the one who should be mad at you!"
"That's not true," said Clay. Kimiko continued to attack the oncoming aggressors. "We may not 'ave always seen eye ta eye, but we were always there for each other."
"That's not the way I remember it." Raimundo landed on the ground, and the Huai-Ren temporarily ceased advancing once more. "Everyone's always sticking up for Omi." Sarcasm filled his voice. "Oh, he's the great expert, so he's automatically right in everything and perfect in every way. And he's absolutely adorable … Yeurgh, it's enough to make me puke."
Guess I'm not the only one who's jealous of cue ball, Jack thought. Still, that's no reason to suck up to hag-face.
Omi himself remained silent. Anything he said now would probably aggravate matters, since Raimundo was angriest with him. He had tried to apologise before, and even that hadn't helped. But, he also knew that there would be no persuading Raimundo now … That darkness didn't seem to want to let him go. He could see the darkness was making Raimundo bubble with irrational anger … But what could he do about it?
"You're the one who's the jerk." This was from Kimiko. "We were your friends, Rai. I don't know why you would think otherwise. We helped each other, with chores, and training, and we all learned together. And you … stabbed us in the back … You threw it all away. I'm not going to pretend I understand your reasons, but …" She sighed. "It's not too late, Raimundo."
Raimundo sneered. "I don't need you any more. I'm more powerful now. Wuya helped me discover my true talents."
Jack had to jump in with a taunt. "Oh-ho-ho! Really? And what would those be? Playing Fetch, and being a lapdog to a screaming banshee? Because I've been there and bought the T-shirt. And I've got news for you – that's not something to be proud of."
"Fool," Raimundo spat. "I could kill you right now, if I wanted. But I was told not to use my powers outside of the palace … at least not yet."
Kimiko and Clay both frowned at him. Surely he was bluffing?
Jack wasn't impressed in the slightest. "Yeah, right. You're so full of hot air, Wind-boy."
Raimundo finally snapped. "Grr! Get them, NOW!"
"Time to rock 'n' roll," said Kimiko.
Jack nodded. "Let's boogie." He pushed a button on his wrist-watch, and several tiny Jack-shaped robots came out of compartments within the larger bronze Jack-bots.
"What are those?" Kimiko asked flatly. Once again, the Huai-Ren were baffled by this weird show of technology. Raimundo frowned, waiting for Jack to explain his latest creation.
"They're my mini-Jacks," Jack told them with a wide smile. "Just a little something I thought of last night." They all looked like a younger version of Jack, had blue fuzzy pom-poms, and they were all dancing and chanting in his voice:
"Go Jack-Jack, go Jack-Jack, GO! Go Jack-Jack, go Jack-Jack, GO!"
"Figures …" sighed Clay.
Kimiko made an annoyed sound of disgust. "You are so conceited. Did you have to bring those things?"
Jack looked insulted. "You guys obviously know nothing about psychological warfare. It's all about psyching the enemy out."
"They're emotionless monsters," Kimiko reminded him. "They don't care about your stupid robots."
"Hey – you have your way of fighting, and I have mine," he told her. He ordered his larger robots to fire their laser beams, while firing flames with his Ray Cannon at the Wood Huai-Ren. Omi used the Jet Bootsu and weaved in and out, through and between the creatures to confuse them and divert their attention; while Clay used the Third-Arm Sash together with Earth like he had before to strike them down, Kimiko used the Monkey Staff with Fire for a make-shift flamethrower of her own all while the monsters were being distracted by Omi.
But the Huai-Ren didn't stop coming. For every one that was knocked down or destroyed, two more appeared. Raimundo called for reinforcements, and more appeared, behind the first line of creatures.
"There's too many of them!" Jack yelled. "We need to finish this quickly!"
"And I believe I know how …" declared Omi. "Water!"
He flew up high with his Jet Bootsu, dodging several blasts, and, looking a little like Superman, dived diagonally downwards and rammed his head into Raimundo's stomach, knocking them both to the ground.
"Why you …!"
They rolled around on the floor, and Raimundo dropped the Dog's Nose.
"Yoink!" said Jack, swooping down to pick it up.
"NO!" yelled Raimundo, kicking Omi off him and flying up to a higher spot again. "Get him, now!"
"We should leave now!" said Jack in a panicked voice, as he ducked one Huai-Ren after another.
"Yaargh!" With a furious charging yell, Raimundo swooped down and re-entered the fray, neatly intercepting Jack's flight path and snatching the Dog's Nose out of his hands – only to have it taken away by Clay's Third-Arm Sash. One of Jack's robots snatched it back from Clay and handed it to Jack again, and Raimundo was fuming, being forced to chase after a Shen Gong Wu that should, by all rights, have been his.
Clay wasn't too pleased himself. "Watch it, ya dirty snake!" he complained, as Jack received the Shen Gong Wu from his robot. "Whose side are ya on?"
"Oops, sorry. Force of habit."
Raimundo hovered in mid-air, and snarled in frustration. He had the Star Hanabi, but it was too risky to use it underground. He could cause the entire place to come down on them. And Wuya wanted them alive … So he would have to rely on the Huai-Ren. "Get Jack! NOW!"
Five Huai-Ren began a charge towards Jack, from different directions.
"Uh oh …" Jack hastily chucked the Nose in an over-arm throw towards Kimiko, who was busy destroying a Huai-Ren with flames. "Kimiko! Think fast!"
"What?" Kimiko turned around – and was hit in the eye by the Nose. She staggered backwards slightly, holding her eye. "Ouch! SPICER! What the hell kind of throw was that?"
"I said, 'Think fast' …"
The Nose rolled slowly along the floor, and there was a tiny break in the action, where everyone's heads moved as one, watching it move towards a gap in the floor, where the stone slab was broken. Everyone, human and monster alike, made a mad scramble for the Shen Gong Wu, but in the end it was Kimiko and Raimundo who managed to get a hold of it.
"Kimiko, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! Your Monkey Staff versus my Golden Tiger Claws. First one to reach the Dog's Nose wins."
"Nuh-huh. That's cheating. No Tiger Claws, Rai."
"Cheating? It's not cheating! I can use 'em in a showdown if I want! And there's nothing you can do about it. Now do you accept the challenge or not?"
Dojo and Omi both waited anxiously. While it was usually up to the challenger to set the rules for the showdown, there could only be a showdown if both participants agreed to the terms. But Raimundo was adamant about using the Tiger Claws, and the challenger always had the initial advantage. If Kimiko refused to accept the challenge set by Raimundo, he would automatically win the Dog's Nose. But if she did accept the challenge, Raimundo would have an even bigger advantage.
Jack came to the rescue. "Aw, what's the matter?" he jeered, yet again purposely playing with Raimundo's pride. " Afraid you can't win without your precious claws? Who's the sad one now?"
Kimiko couldn't help smiling triumphantly at Raimundo's flash of anger, glad in this instance that Jack was on their side. It's your own fault, she thought. You wanted to fight …
"Fine," snapped Raimundo, "I'll use the Longi Kite, if only to prove to you how much stronger I've become. You'll regret goading me, Spicer."
"Yeah, yeah," Jack waved off carelessly. "Do the showdown already. We haven't got all day."
The surroundings changed as Kimiko and Raimundo signalled the start of the showdown. The ground shook tremulously; they were brought upwards, outside into the hot sands of the desert, where thick blue stone slabs shot out of the ground. Once it had finished, it became clear that, in order to claim the Dog's Nose, they would have to negotiate through a maze.
Kimiko's clothes had changed, from her outfit for the day (black jeans, white and red top, hair split into two where one side was red, the other black) to her regular red and white Xiaolin robes.
Raimundo's clothes also changed, but this time his robes were different. They looked very much like his old Xiaolin robes, except they were a deep, dark midnight blue instead of red, and black, with a vertical yellow line, where it would have been white.
The two warriors set off through the maze, taking different paths.
"Hey," said Jack, "how come he's wearing blue?" His mini-Jacks were clapping and cheering in the background. "Ki-mi-ko!" (Clap-clap-clap!) "Ki-mi-ko!" (Clap-clap-clap!)
Omi's expression was exceptionally grim. "Raimundo truly is on the Heylin side now."
"But I never got any robes."
"Wuya's probably been training him," said Dojo. "She couldn't train you, could she?"
"But that guy," Jack persisted. "You know, Omi's friend. The dork from New York –"
"Jermaine," Clay cut in helpfully.
"Yeah, him. He'd never trained before, and he got robes."
"Well," said Dojo, "it's also probably because, deep down, you were never really working for Wuya, were you? You were working with her. You had your own plans."
Jack snorted softly. The way she fussed and moaned all the time, it had always seemed like she was in charge. But Dojo was right; at the time, there had been nothing Wuya could do to him, really, and the majority of the time he'd been collecting Shen Gong Wu at his own pace, not hers. I guess he really does wanna do whatever Wuya wants. What a loser …
"Why do you care, Jack?" chuckled Dojo. "You want a robe too, or something?"
"Oh NO. You've gotta be kidding. I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those. I was just asking. Hey, you know what?" he noticed suddenly. "We can't really see who's winning from here." It was true; from their vantage point, they could sections of the maze, but they couldn't see either Kimiko or Raimundo.
"I guess it's so we can't cheat and help Kimiko find the Nose," Clay said.
"Forget that," said Jack. He hovered upwards, and flew over the top of the roofless maze, so he could get a better view.
"Wait, Jack!" said Omi, using the Jet Bootsu to follow.
"Oh boy," said Dojo. Didn't these kids ever keep still?
While Jack continued to fly ahead, Omi spotted Kimiko out of the corner of his eye, turning around a corner, and he landed at the top of the wall.
There was a deep hole in this section of the maze, and in order to cross it, Kimiko had to use the Monkey Staff to balance across a thin wooden beam. When she reached the other side, the side nearest to Omi, he called out to her. She looked up and around before locating him on top of the maze wall.
"Omi! You're not supposed to be here!"
"I am merely here to offer moral support."
Kimiko kept on moving through the maze, turning left at a junction. Omi flew over the wall to keep up. "Stupid Raimundo," she said to him while running. "Once I beat him, he'll realise he's not so great and almighty."
"I am not sure defeating him will help …" said Omi sadly.
"Why?"
"I believe Wuya has done something to him, to make him act this way …"
Kimiko wasn't sure what Omi was getting at, but he was usually spot-on with these kinds of things; he had seen right through the Chameleon-bot's disguise when it had been impersonating her. If Omi thought there was something out-of-place about Raimundo's behaviour, then there probably was something more sinister at work.
"Maybe, but I'd still better win this showdown. You leave things to me; I can get through this without you watching."
"Very well," said Omi. He didn't follow her. "Good luck."
Meanwhile Jack had managed to find Raimundo. He flew along the maze's edge, careful not to get too close, and hovered into the section of maze Raimundo was in. He cupped his hands and yelled at Raimundo. "Hey, doormat! Don't forget to lose!"
Raimundo's growl could be heard all over the maze.
Jack chuckled in response. He watched Raimundo accidentally set off a booby trap by stepping on a trigger stone. With the Longi Kite, Raimundo flew upwards to go over the gap in the floor that had appeared. He then flew up vertically, hoping to fly over the walls like Jack, but he ended up banging his head on what must have been an invisible barrier in the air.
"OUCH, MAN! Ay, guess this means I can't cheat …"
Jack snickered.
"Shut up! Go and bother Kimiko, you saddo!"
"But it's much more fun to stay here and get on your nerves."
"I'll get you for this, Spicer," Raimundo snarled.
"Ooh, I'm so scared."
Raimundo ignored him at this point, and headed off deeper into the maze, where he hoped Jack wouldn't follow. Jack returned to the others; hopefully that had bought Kimiko some time. He hadn't exactly meant to interfere in the showdown directly, but today he was finding it really easy to wind up Raimundo. The slightest thing seemed to make him angry.
He landed back with the others, and Omi had already returned. "Is Kimiko winning?" he asked.
"Don't know," Jack replied. "Didn't see her."
Suddenly, a flash of light, and a return to the underground chamber signified the end of the showdown. Both Kimiko and Raimundo were back in their normal clothes again. The Huai-Ren had disappeared.
"Who won?" asked Jack. It was difficult to tell; the Longi Kite and Monkey Staff were in between the two.
"Who else?" replied Kimiko, holding out the Dog's Nose.
"Well done, Kimiko!" Omi congratulated, taking the Monkey Staff and Longi Kite. "I knew you would win!"
"No …" breathed Raimundo, slumping to his knees on the ground. "I lost … How could I have lost … again?" For the first time, fear had a solid, firm grip on his entire body. His eyes were wide in horrified disbelief, and he shuddered. "Wuya will be furious …"
Kimiko extended her arm, holding out a friendly hand. "You don't have to go back to her, Rai. You've got the Golden Tiger Claws, remember?"
"That's right," Raimundo said softly, still looking down at the floor. "I do, don't I?"
He took Kimiko's hand, and she smiled as he got up.
"Does this mean you're rejoining us, Rai?"
"Mmm …"
Suddenly, fast as lightning, he cut a huge purple hole in the air; and before anyone could react, he pushed Kimiko inside.
"Holy guacamole!" exclaimed Dojo. "Unfair misuse of trust! Disgraceful behaviour! Cheap shot, and whatnot!"
"Yeah, talk about a sore loser," said Jack, while Clay growled. Only Omi remained unsurprised. (The mini-Jack's were booing and hissing. "BOO!")
Raimundo glared at the three boys. "I may have lost, but at least I'll be able to deliver the Dragon of Fire to the Empress!" He jumped into the hole.
"Empress?" repeated Jack, before realising that if they were going to have any chance of getting Kimiko back, they'd have to follow him in. "Hold on, you little weasel!" he yelled, flying inside.
"Heads up, Omi," said Clay, picking the little monk up like a basketball and running towards the shrinking hole.
"Wait!" shouted Dojo. "You don't know where –"
"Banzai!" yelled Clay, leaping inside.
" – it leads," Dojo finished lamely, as the hole vanished. "So I guess it's just me … Jack's mini-hims … and the frozen tiger. Great, I've lost all the Dragons now … These kids are too much … I definitely should've stuck to guarding the Shen Gong Wu scroll …"
Kimiko found herself in the middle of a beautiful, vast garden. It seemed so peaceful. The smells of different flowers blended together to make a sweet scent, like honey; and even the sun was shining brightly, lighting up every type of vegetation. And there were so many different kinds of plants. There were apple trees, elms, oaks, orange trees, lemon trees; roses, germaniums, chrysanthemums, daffodils … The list went on …
What was this place? Was it another place like Ping-jing, that was unaffected by any disruption?
Raimundo fell out of the portal, and Kimiko growled, instinctively falling into a defensive stance. No time to stand and smell the flowers …
"You tricked me, you jerk!"
"Not my fault you were dumb enough to fall for it."
Kimiko growled again, but then Jack came out of the portal, soon followed by Clay and Omi. Raimundo blinked; all three of them lunged at him and held him down firmly on the grass.
"Give it up, Raimundo," said Jack. "There's no way you can get out of this, especially with Clay's great fat weight bearing you down."
"My WHAT?"
"Uh, never mind. Point is, you've been beaten."
"Wanna bet?" smirked Raimundo.
"Eh?"
"What is this?" said Omi. The plants around them suddenly went wild, overgrowing and entangling anyone who wasn't Raimundo.
"What the hell? These plants are alive!" exclaimed Jack, finding himself in a mess of vines.
All four humans tried to fight back, but the plants grew too quickly, and soon they were trapped. They all looked a little like they had been mummified with plants instead of bandages.
Raimundo had the widest smile on his face. He had his hand in his pocket, clutching his lucky Rabbit's Foot.
"How did you do that?" Kimiko asked, her voice low and angry.
He paused in mock thought, taking his time on purpose. "Hmm … How …? Now that would be telling …"
"Let us go, you super-freak!" snarled Jack.
"You shouldn't have followed me," he replied slowly. "But I had a feeling you would …"
"Son of a … why didn't I pick the Flora Flute?" bemoaned Jack. "Would have been a helluva lot more useful than that stupid Down thing …"
But then another voice made them all look to their left; and suddenly they realised that this wasn't Raimundo's doing at all.
"It would appear I have guests. How delightful …"
It was Wuya. And she was grinning.
