Like always, nothing in this story belongs to me. Just the Soul Scepter thing, and um…the guards!

Yes, finally it's going to get interesting. You'll learn what the different world actually is, and a lot more about the place, and how it works later. I tried to put a few funny lines in here, so laugh at the confused guards! I know in here, I imply that Jack actually lives in China,though I've seen it saidthat he lives in America somewhere. My little theory, which you'll see later, is that he was born in America, but later forced to move to China, because that's what I originally thought. Finally, yeah, I sort of lied when I said the Xiaolin Dragons wouldn't be showing up again…but not really…

Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews!!! (starts crying with happiness) I'm so glad you all like the story…and that was only supposed to be an introduction! Please review this chapter for me, too. I'll have some more updates after the holidays.

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Chapter 2: Welcome to the Hill!

Jack couldn't hold in his screaming as a terribly strong force crackled around and inside of him. He gripped his own body, feeling like he was gong to tear apart. "Stop! STOP!" he shrieked, hoping that lunatic professor could hear him. How could he have been so stupid? This was just a trap…a trap aiming to destroy him! Just when Jack thought his life would be over, the crackling ceased, and he felt a stinging pain as he fell backwards against a ragged, rocky ground.

"Ow!" He sat up and rubbed his backside, glancing around confusedly. As far as the eye could see, there was only land- flat, dry, rocky land. A small windstorm swept by, blowing dust everywhere and making Jack sneeze.

"Now where am I?" he wondered aloud. "Arizona? This is like a desert! Yeah, right…like he would actually send me to my perfect world…" He pressed a button, and the propellers popped out again. "Oh, well," he said, sighing. "Gotta fly back to China again…I hope I don't run out of battery power over the Indian Ocean like I did that other time…"

But, before Jack could lift off into the sky, the rocks around him slowly opened up, revealing their true natures as plastic disguises for surveillance cameras! "Warning! Warning!" a dull, robotic voice blared out. "Unauthorized use of a HeliPack! Unauthorized use of a HeliPack!"

"Hey!" Jack yelled back at the voice, although it couldn't hear him. "This is my helicopter pack! …Or HeliPack…or whatever. I made it myself, so it's the only one in the world! I'm certainly authorized to use it!"

"Unauthorized use of a HeliPack! False claims!"

"False claims?!" Jack retaliated. "Now you don't believe me?!" He opened his mouth to continue yelling back at the computer voice, but at the moment, he noticed an army of tall, muscular men clad in onyx armor, and bearing Heylin crests on their chests come rushing towards him from every direction.

"Arrest!!!" they yelled in unison.

Jack blinked, incredulously. "Uh…I take that back," he said to himself. "I don't think this is Arizona…"

The angry guards quickly surrounded him, all staring down at him like mindless bulldogs. At last, the one in front of him clicked a pair of handcuffs around his wrists, so fast he didn't even see it happen.

"What the…? I wasn't doing anything wrong!" "For once…" he added under his breath. "I was just trying to use my helicopter pack thing to fly home to China!"

The guards absentmindedly scratched their heads in confusion. "Durrr…what's China?"

Jack quickly grew frustrated with them. These big muscle men were so unbelievably stupid! It made him suddenly grateful that he was skinny. "Hello! China! It's a country in Asia! People with slanted eyes, black hair, temples, chow mein, egg fu yung, panda bears…come on, now…"

"People with slanted eyes?!" one guard cried, appalled at the very thought. "I've never seen anyone with slanted eyes…"

"What's a panda bear?" another asked.

"I didn't know bears could pander," his companion replied in astonishment. Jack smacked himself in the head.

"The main chow is young egg!" one guard in the back cried. "That's what he's trying to say!"

"It better be young."

"I know! I know!" another finally summarized. "We need to kill those people with black hair and mutated eyes on their temples, before we can have our main chow- young eggs! But, then we have a pandering bear to deal with…"

They all broke into guffawing laughter. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" the leader cried. "So…this China is some outlandish prophecy?"

"No!" Jack tried to explain. "It's where I live!"

This only produced more crazy laughter. "I didn't know generators named their dwellings!" the same guard in the back roared.

The leader frowned. "Well, whatever kind of crazy loon you are, you cannot plead insanity for such behavior. Boys- take him to be judged," he commanded his troops.

As the beefy, dim-witted guards surrounded him, Jack finally got a good look at their faces. Every single one of them had powdered paper-white skin, black marks under their eyes, and another one curving down their left cheeks. "What the…" he said to himself before launching an attack on them. "Hey! That's my face paint! You stole my face paint! You're the ones who should be arrested, copycats!"

The leader of the guards turned back around to glare at him. "That's quite enough out of you, little generator," he advised. "Tell us, what is your name?"

"Jack Spicer," he answered proudly, convinced that they would unhand him as soon as they heard his name.

The leader only looked even more enraged. "You real name, please…"

"I told you!" Jack argued back. "Jack Spicer! That is my real name!!!"

The guards handled him more roughly now, practically shoving him forward. "Oh, we'll find out what your real name is…after you're executed!"

Executed?! Jack struggled in the strong arms of the guards. "Let me go!!! I'm telling the truth!!! I'm innocent!!! I don't want to die!!!" He promptly began to bawl and throw a tantrum, but the men easily held him back.

Marching steadily in one direction, they began to chant off his offences, like an army of police officers. "Unauthorized use of a HeliPack, false claims, disrespectful behavior, resisting authority…unauthorized use of a HeliPack, false claims, disrespectful behavior, resisting authority…"

Finally, when Jack ran out of energy to wail, he looked around, noticing the long, flat expanse around them. "Hey…" he asked his captors. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Unauthorized use…"

Jack growled in frustration. "Will you stop saying that? It's getting really annoying."

"…behavior, resisting authority…"

Jack just sighed and hung his head in defeat. If only he could reach the Soul Scepter strapped on his back, he could bash them all over the heads and escape. He struggled again, maneuvering his handcuffed hands over his head and feeling around between his shoulder blades. It was gone! He frantically searched the men surrounding him, assuming that they had taken it from him when he hadn't been looking. There was no trace of the sparkling golden staff.

"That's it!" Jack suddenly cried, not knowing that he was talking out loud. "That crazy scientist man must have taken it from me while I was transporting here! He lured me there because he wanted my Shen-Gong-Wu, the little…"

In the middle of his sentence, the head guard slapped him across the face with no warning. "Ow…" Jack whimpered, eyes tearing up. "What was that for?"

"One more disrespectful word outta you, and we might just execute you on the spot!" For the rest of the journey, he resolved to keep his mouth shut, although it was very hard for him. It was better to be quiet and get out alive.

At last, something began to appear in the distance. A large, dark castle jutted up into the sky, its jagged, pointed towers scraping the heavens. The sky above swirled with different brownish tones. It looked like it would start pouring any second. With the world in this perpetual stormy state, it created a gloomy, dull atmosphere.

"Cool…" Jack commented, his resolution of silence not lasting very long. "Where is that?"

"The Hill, you idiot," the head guard replied, quite obviously ticked off. "Where else?"

The Hill? Which hill? …I don't see any hill; the land is completely flat! He almost began to laugh at their stupidity, but noticing the peeved looks on the dangerous imposter guards, decided against it. As they grew closer and closer to the castle, he noticed that there was actually a town in front of it, stretching for miles on end. From far away it looked so small, but it was really huge.

Jack shivered as he glanced up at the entrance to the town. He wanted to turn around right there and run for his life, but the army of guards pushed him through the town barrier. A swinging, battered wooden sign above read, in fading letters- Welcome to Hilltown. Two lanterns attached to the side of the posts illuminated the letters in an eerie glow.

The interior of the town perfectly matched the dreary sky hanging above. Everything seemed to be drenched in the same sepia monotony, from the wooden buildings, to the dirt roads, and the blank, ripped clothing of the mulling citizens. The people rushed about, mindlessly, probably not even needing to do these daily rounds, but performing them according to routine.

As the guards continued to chant, "Unauthorized use of a HeliPack, false claims, disrespectful action, resisting authority," these dull, blending people began to congregate around them, sticking their powdered noses down to get a look at this hideous criminal. Jack felt as if he were on display, for their entertainment. Yes, come look at the criminal boy in the weird black robe!

Closely observing these people, he realized that they also were copycats with the same white and black face paint as he had. Everyone in the entire town seemed to have the Jack face and white skin- from the old ladies to the newborn babies in the arms of their white-faced mothers. White-faced men shouted at his disgraceful person, while white-faced women threw frying pans, and white-faced teenagers began protesting behind them.

"Alright, break it up!" the guards yelled back at the mob. "Or we'll arrest you too, ya troublemakers!"

Jack took a deep breath, looking down the long, twisting alleyways of Hilltown. It would be a long time until they got to…wherever they were going. Exactly where were they taking him anyway? Well, one thing was for sure- wherever that was, that was where they would kill him! Struggling once again, the guards easily held him back, forcing an emphasis on the resisting authority accusation. The white-faced crowd looked after them as they trooped out of the gates of Hilltown to the base of the gigantic, ragged castle.

"Whoa…" Jack commented again. "That castle is so…big! Who lives there? …Are you going to kill me there?"

Finally, the head guard, unable to stand his constant yammering, slapped a strip of duct tape over his mouth.

"Mmmmey!" Jack yelled through the tape, struggling in the guards' arms as they held him just above the ground. He swung his legs back and forth, since they had also tied those up when they had captured him.

"Quiet. If you just kept that mouth shut, you'd be in a lot less trouble, you know. We'd only have to try you for unauthorized use of a HeliPack…and you probably could've gotten off with lifetime servitude…but no… That's the problem with most generators…"

Jack swung his legs more forcefully, hoping that if he swung hard enough he could try to kick the guards down. Why did they always call him a "generator", he found himself wondering. It was as if he were a battery or a power plant instead of a person. His resistance proved futile, as the guard to the left grabbed his feet when he tried to kick him in the butt.

The head guard pushed a button on the wall next to the twisted, metal gate in front of the castle, connecting to some entity inside. "Hello. This is General 3 reporting. We've captured a wayward generator accused of unauthorized use of a HeliPack, false claims, disrespectful behavior, and resisting authority."

"Or so I've heard," a garbled, computerized voice answered from the other side. "Well, what are you waiting for? Bring him up."

The guard seemed shocked and pulled a little away from the speaker. "Why, my Master, surely you couldn't be bothered with such…"

"Bring him up," the voice insisted. "And never again question my word. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes, yes, of course, my Master," the humble guard replied. "We'll bring him up right away." The connection screeched out of existence, and the surly guard shoved Jack through the iron gates as they opened automatically. "You're really lucky, punk," he growled. "Meeting Him without so much as a trial… Consider yourself honored, arrogant jerk, though I have no idea why he's choosing to do this for a criminal like you…"

Jack wanted to ask who "he" was, but the duct tape over his mouth prevented him from saying anything at all. He could've sworn he heard crows cawing as the twisted metal gates came to a stop. The giant black castle reminded him of a lot of castles of evil wizards or sorceresses he'd seen in fiction. That was it! Jack suddenly realized. In this world, Wuya had risen again, taking over this "Hilltown" place, and making it into a city for her slaves, that all looked like him. Jack frowned as he realized this. Well, that sure depicted how she thought of him.

At last, they entered through the large, intimidating entrance, past the glaring gargoyle statues, perched watchfully above the doorway. The interior was surprisingly bright, lit by overhanging chandeliers, lamps set on various tables, and the standard flaming torch or two.

Jack shivered again, glancing around this enormous central room. The marble floor flying by below his feet was decorated with all kinds of curving designs. At the epicenter of these merging designs was a giant purple spiral, right below the twenty-foot ceiling, and the tallest tower in the entire castle. Yup, Jack decided right then and there. Definitely Wuya.

A huge clock, larger than even the tall guards around him, sat mounted on the wall where the ceiling curved downwards. It was behind a twisting, web-like metal frame, ticking away towards a red section between 1 and 6. It was 9 o' clock, PM at the moment.

"This way," the head guard directed his troops, turning to a winding staircase, barred off by an infrared scanning beam. The guard leader stepped into the beam and waited for it to beep and show an "Accepted" sign above the entrance to the stairway. "Okay, men," he motioned for the other guards to drag Jack up behind him. They also passed through the beam and waited for the "Accepted" sign.

Jack produced various, muffled cries as his legs thumped against the stairs. The guards were literally dragging him up the winding staircase. As if being condemned to death weren't bad enough, they had to batter him as much as possible before his execution, didn't they? He tried desperately to slip further downwards, hoping to be flung out of their grasps, but, as he should have learned by now, the guards had incredibly strong grip.

At last, the leader emerged from the head of the staircase, into an even larger and grander room than the one on ground level. An ornately carved ceiling decorated with different, breathtaking paintings spread above them. Lush, red carpeting rolled down under their feet. Marble pillars on the side almost seemed to point to the golden dais on which an intricate golden throne stood. There were people there, a small group, and someone sitting on the throne, but Jack was so far away, he couldn't get a good look at any of them.

Before he could squint to get a better understanding of their appearances, the guards finally released him, shoving him to the carpeted floor. Jack was shoved so far into the floor he felt his lips press against the duct tape, touching the ground. Ugh, what are they trying to do? Make me kiss the floor? Glancing back, he also noticed the guards bending into hunched-over positions, kissing the floor too. Jack almost laughed at this ridiculous ritual, but the tape over his mouth reminded him to keep quiet.

"We've brought the prisoner, just as you asked, Great Master," the head guard announced, lifting his face a tiny bit from the carpet.

"Excellent," a deep, cold voice floated from the other side of the room. "General 3, you have done very well. Untie him."

Surprised and hopeful, Jack looked up from the carpet to the voice that was willing to spare him. An elbow slammed into the back of his skull, forcing his head back to the floor.

"I don't mean to question your judgment, Great Master, but are you sure about this? He has committed serious offenses against this very planet and your own persona…"

"He is harmless," the chilling voice declared. "Untie him, then leave my sight. I have a few words for your little friend."

The general grumbled, but removed the handcuffs from around Jack's wrists, and the rope from around his ankles. Then, he and the rest of the guard crew turned and mindlessly trooped down the winding steps.

Jack, filled with relief and gratitude, stood up again and ripped the duct tape from his lips. "Oh, thank you, mister! I thought they were going to execute me for all kinds of crazy crimes that I didn't even commit. You saved my life!" He began to run down the red carpet towards his savior on the other end, but was soon stopped dead in his tracks by the unknown person's next statement.

"Oh, don't thank me just yet…"

Jack stared up to the golden throne, a sheer purple sheet covering its occupant. He squinted and tried to peer through the sheet, but unfortunately, his X-ray vision didn't seem to be working today. "If…you don't mind me asking…who are you?" A cold silence echoed around him.

"Oh…" the same wavering, hardened voice replied. "You know who I am, Jack Spicer."

His red, thickly outlined eyes widened. "You…know my name?"

"Of course I do," the man replied with a chuckle bubbling up in his throat. "You go around screaming your name to the world and then expect everyone not to know it? You'll realize things like this, in time…"

Jack slowly turned away from the mysterious, logical, cloaked figure and looked to the figures at the base of the dais. There were four of them, ranging greatly in height, all staring up in reverence at the honorable master. The strange thing was, they all looked sort of familiar…

"Oh," the voice continued to explain. "Don't mind those bodies. My jesters were in the middle of a performance when you decided to poke your sorry head back into my world."

Jack tried to make sense out of this statement, but it wasn't working. All of the reasoning he put into dissecting and rearranging the sentence was completely irrelevant when the "jesters" turned around. …They were the Xiaolin Warriors!!! They looked much older, of course, Clay had grown a beard and long hair, Raimundo looked like an old homeless man, Kimiko had grown and amazingly remained skinny and elegant, and Omi's head had even grown, so that he resembled Master Dashi. The thing that truly shocked him was that each and every one displayed the standard black-and-white Jack mask, and their eyes…were so…blank. It was almost as if they were looking straight through him. They were dead…zombies. At least that was how it appeared. "What…? How…? Who…?" Jack stuttered, uneasily.

"Shocked? Amazed?" the voice from the veiled throne spoke up, icing his already chilled body. "You shouldn't be. Want to know why?"

"Wh…What did you do to them?" Jack slowly asked. "Are they even alive? …Kimiko?" Desperately, he tried to speak to the lifeless Japanese girl in front of him. She remained as lifeless as always, her dull blue eyes shooting straight through his body.

"Don't try to speak to the jesters," the cold, taunting voice at the head of the room continued. "They can't hear you. They can't hear anyone except me. They only obey me, and do everything I say. Definitely can't say the same for you."

"Stop that!" Jack shot back at him. "What have you done with Kimiko and those other guys?"

"Aww, what's the matter? You miss your little friends?" the man teased in a fake concerned voice. "You should be happy. In fact, you are."

"What do you mean by that?" Jack started to ask, but an answer wasn't necessary. He stood frozen in place, staring up at the person leering back down at him. It was impossible…how could…but then again, if this really was…

"To answer your question earlier, I am, of course, Ultimate Master Jack Spicer, ruler of the land, sea, and air. In short, I rule this planet. Welcome to my palace. I like to call it the Hill. So know, you'll know what to call it, won't you?"

Jack blinked in disbelief. This was…what he'd look like in the future? He was the one that had imprisoned the Xiaolin Warriors and turned them into zombie-like people? His future self looked so…different. He had the face paint, of course, which explained why everyone he'd seen so far had the same mask. He wore a completely different outfit, resembling that of an old king of England, in long robes, and laden with heavy jewelry. His long, velvet cape draped over the back of the golden throne. Special notches in the sides looked like they had been created specifically for that purpose. Every element of his clothing was very dark, if not black, navy blue, and covered with various symbols and tattoos. His red hair was slicked back under a chrome crown matching that of the guards' armor. The future version also had a mustache and a small Chinese-style goatee to make him look wise. Looking up into his future self, Jack quickly touched his own face and head to make sure everything was still the same. "Ugh…I don't even like beards…"

"Oh, believe me," his future self replied. "You'll start to like it. Or should I say, it'll grow on you."

"You know, your puns really stink."

"Careful, now," the "ultimate master" replied. "You just insulted yourself."

Jack looked down, and at last noticed something glimmering in his future self's hand. It was the Soul Scepter! No doubt about it, he'd recognize that heavy, dangerous gold rod with the clouded reddish orb at its tip anywhere. "Hey!" Jack yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the future man. "That's the Soul Scepter! You stole it from me! I won that fair and square against Omi…"

"…In a maze Xiaolin Showdown in Paris, France," Ultimate Master Jack finished. He snickered a bit to himself. "Come on, now. How can you steal something from yourself? Really, I've forgotten how utterly dim-witted I used to be!"

Wow, I'm so frustrating! Jack suddenly realized. Well, at least I'm really frustrating in the future. So…this is the future, and I still have the Soul Scepter. So I'm guessing he has my Jet Bootsu as well… "But…" Jack literally asked himself. "How did you…er, how did I manage to take over the planet?"

"It's really very simple," future Jack answered. He lifted the shining Soul Scepter from his throne. "As soon as you unlock the true potential of this…then, you can easily take over the planet… By capturing the souls of people to create followers, threatening and murdering millions, and then capturing the worthless souls of these "Xiaolin Warriors" here, world domination is easily attainable."

"What?!" Jack cried, confusedly turning his head back to the blank faces of the older Xiaolin Jesters. "You have their souls? So…these are just their bodies."

"Exactly," the ultimate master affirmed. "Without souls, without emotions of their own, they have no free will. They are my slaves forever. Or at least until I die. So is everyone else on this planet, including the townspeople you no doubt encountered on your way here, and the guards that falsely accused you. Quite loyal, aren't they? See, I eventually realized the unimportance of emotion in the world. There is no need for fear, sadness, joy, or love. It took a very long time to figure it out…"

"But…but you…you might not realize it…but inside, you really like Kimiko! Secretly, you even want to marry her! How can you enslave her like this?" He shook with fear from such blatant exposure. Thank goodness that that future Kimiko in front of him couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Love is separate from marriage," the future Jack replied, abruptly standing up from his throne.

Wow, I'm tall, Jack thought, staring up at him. I'm taller than that Clay guy. Well, maybe I used something to make myself look bigger…

He slowly took a few steps down the dais to the ground level, which was actually very unusual, since he was the owner of the entire planet. Answering his past self's question in an action, he stepped right next to the zombie Kimiko and wrapped his arms possessively around her. "Love isn't necessary to get the girl you want…"

Jack's jaw dropped open in shock and disgust. Normally, if anything like this actually happened in normal life, Clay, Raimundo, and Omi would be right there to smack him upside the head and yell at him to get away from her, but in this brainwashed state, simply stared into the distance like human statues.

The ultimate master progressed to kissing the spiritless girl, who didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, she leaned her head backwards in compliance, though she had no expression of happiness, but none of pain either. Jack continued to gape, confused and even a little afraid at these actions.

"Okay, okay," the ultimate master at last concluded, pulling her a little bit away and back to her zombie friends. "Now, not in front of our guest…" He stepped a bit back up onto the dais and, noticing the stunned look on his past self's face, explained, just as haughtily as ever. "See, when you're the ruler of the planet, you can have anything…or anyone you want."

"Th…that's sick!" Jack suddenly objected. "And it's not even what you want! She doesn't really like you, she's just letting you do things to her because you took away her soul!"

"True, true," the ultimate master scoffed. "But, then again, that's the best thing you can get. She'd never love you."

Jack sighed, realizing that for once, he was telling the truth. "But, still…who takes away the souls of everyone on the planet just so that they can rule?"

"Oh, I didn't take away the souls of everyone," the future Jack corrected him. "Just the ones I wanted to keep around, to supply me with products, and these jesters. The rest I just killed."

Jack's body suddenly felt cold to the bone. This really couldn't be true…that he was a…murderer? "You're…you're…" he wanted to make some kind of accusation, but struggled to find the right word.

"Go on," the ultimate master prodded, a sinister smile twisting onto his face. "What am I?"

Jack closed his mouth, realizing the word that came after 'you're'. He was about to say 'you're evil!' but that was what he always prided himself on being.

"Yes," the future version said, as haughtily as his actions. "Think about it. You always say you're 'evil'. You're not evil. I'm evil. And if you really want to be evil, you'll have no problem doing whatever you can to rule the world…and this is the only way. These are all things you'll realize in time, so don't worry about it." The ultimate master snapped his fingers as he turned to return to his throne. "You are dismissed. Please show our little time-traveling guest to the guest rooms."

"No-wait!" Jack cried. He was about to ask his future self if he knew how he could get back to his own world, but never got the chance. A brainwashed Clay grabbed him from one side, while a brainwashed Rai grabbed him from the other, carting him back down the winding staircase. Full of frustration, confusion, and apprehension, he watched as the shiny golden, royal room disappeared in a misty fog as this new world- this world he had chosen truly became a reality around him.