The only things in this story I own are the Soul Scepter, Julie, and um…the Meltdown attack!

The meaning of "Meltdown" will be revealed later, as well as the Facists, who will be explained next chapter. Also, the school flashback is a little strange, but I thought it was a nice touch. In addition, I have errors, I know, because in this chapter it is said that Jack's father was pushing for him to release Wuya, and he knew about it beforehand. I know it's wrong now, but when I wrote this, all I knew about was that he released her from a puzzle box. I decided not to change it because it was original. Think of it as kind of an alternate universe… Yes, I made up a full name for him- John H. Spicer, which is why his father calls him "Johnny Boy" in this chapter.

Yay, more reviews! Oh, and don't worry, this isn't going to be some freaky Jack x his future daughter romance. …That would be creepy… Last chapter I wanted to give the impression that they quickly became good friends. And good friends is all they'll be.

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Chapter 4: Mysterious Power

At last, he had discovered a loophole- a hidden exception to the scientific law…and it was known to be true that Julie did talk! The only problem was, she only said one word.

That morning, Jack had been rigorously questioning the chilling silent girl, and actually had been getting some answers. "It's strange…" he reasoned, laying down his half-eaten breakfast wafer for the moment. "If you're the daughter of the Ultimate Master, that should make you like a princess… Why aren't you living in big, fancy chambers, with thousands of dresses, and servants, and jewelry…wouldn't you like that?"

"…No," Julie replied, her usually quiet, whispering voice much more firm today.

"That's it!" Jack cried, finally coming to his own conclusion about her condition. "He's not giving you what you really deserve as a princess! That's taking away your rights! I bet he's…er, I'm trying to keep you "under control" or something, aren't I?"

"No."

"Come on, don't you feel used? Restricted? Violated?"

"No."

"Can't you say anything else?" Jack suddenly snapped in frustration.

Julie paused for a moment. "……….No…"

Jack smacked himself on the forehead, but only ended up hurting his hand as it banged against his goggles. "Fine, fine," he at last compromised. "I won't ask you any more questions. I just wish you'd say something…other then 'no', that is." He relinquished all hope of hearing a sentence out of her and returned to attacking his plain, bland wafer.

In the morning, one of the palace workers traveled the corridors, handing out these "breakfast wafers" to everyone in the palace. It looked like the residents all had set mealtimes, along with set meals. Although the taste was terribly sickening, Jack had no choice in the matter and just forced himself to finish the wafer.

Julienne had already finished hers and was staring into the distance, flipping her bluish swirl necklace over in her fingers. Did she ever take that necklace off? Jack couldn't ever remember seeing her take it off, even when she went to bed last night. Shrugging indifferently, he got up from his seat and announced that he was going out again, though he had no idea where he was going. Julienne stood up with him.

"Now what?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips. After two days with this ice princess, he was getting a little sick of having to decipher her actions. "I'm just going out for a while. You don't have to do anything…" He turned and began to head for the door, and soon noticed that she was following him. "…You want to come with me?"

Julie stared absentmindedly at him, and finally nodded in response. Did she even know how to say yes?

"Well, okay," Jack assented, with a small, snickering smile. "Just don't make so much noise; it really gets on my nerves!" He chuckled a bit at his own sarcastic joke, but Julie's scowling response clearly said, "Wow, what an idiot." They then exited the familiar chambers, and she blew out the candle near the doorway as they left.

---

Four hours. Four long, long hours. I would never want to live here, Jack thought as he trudged through the gray, stone halls. There's nothing to do in this castle… Julie seems to like eavesdropping on the servants, but then again, she's a girl… They can't be saying anything that interesting; they're just servants… He glanced over his shoulder, just to make sure the familiar, gothic princess was still following him.

She was a few paces behind, but seemed to be thinking deeply on something, occasionally looking at the ceiling. Maybe she has something mentally wrong with her… Jack finally realized. The way she doesn't talk, and only expresses herself with strange motions. I think she can understand me, though…

At last, he turned away from his mysterious partner and ducked his head further into his collar. I'd kill for something exciting to happen… he thought, maybe one of those showdown thingies. I wonder what happened to all the Shen-Gong-Wu anyway…I know I have the Soul Scepter and the Jet Bootsu, but who has all the others? Maybe I stored them somewhere… Wow, hundreds of ancient, magical items, all belonging to me! I bet the Ultimate Master has lots of fun playing around with them all… I mean, I bet I have fun… But, I'm not having fun. "Augh!" Jack suddenly cried aloud, holding his head for dramatic effect. "Space-time oxymoron!!!"

Julie stopped staring at the ceiling to stare at Jack instead, a bland look on her face. During this whole expedition, he had been making various jokes, trying to get some kind of interesting reaction out of Julie. Once she had rolled her eyes, but that was about as responsive as she got.

Jack stopped to look back at her and sigh in defeat. "I give up. I just can't make you laugh, can I? …Whoa!" As he tried to walk further down the hall, he stepped on the ends of his coat and went flailing and screaming to the floor. At last, a wry smile appeared on the edges of Julie's mouth in amusement. "Correction," Jack added, looking disgustedly back up at her. "I can't make you laugh unless I fall on my face and make a fool of myself."

Julie's smile became more pronounced, and perhaps she would have broken into giggles, if not for the impending series of events. The lifeless forms of the older Raimundo and Clay came sprinting out of nowhere, holding a long, silky curtain between them. They burst past Julie, and nearly trampled Jack, on the floor.

"Hey!" he yelled after them. "What's your problem? Do you not see the future ruler of the planet on his butt in the middle of the hallway?!" Wow, it sounds so great when I put it that way… 'future ruler of the planet'… He stopped these thoughts immediately when he got a look at Julie's face.

She looked unusually worried, frantic…even terrified. Then, she suddenly bolted down the hallway after the Xiaolin Jesters.

"Wait, where are you going? Don't leave me!" Jack pleaded as she whizzed past. He instinctively scrambled to his feet and followed after her. She was pretty fast for a delicate young princess. The stone walls and decorations flew by as the four of them raced through the castle. Where are we going? Jack wondered. Oh well, at least I got what I wanted. This is exciting! It was nice to feel the spark of excitement again, as he sprinted after his future daughter.

At last, the group burst into the central room of the palace, where the Jack-monks were once again gathered. Throwing a quick glance to the side, Jack noticed that they were performing a different sort of ritual, gathering at the very center of the spiral and chanting spells. This time, it seemed that they were actually managing to summon a kind of magical beam over the center of the room. If he weren't in such a rush to catch up with Julie and the Xiaolin Jesters, Jack would have very much liked to stay and watch.

They were heading straight for the winding staircase that he remembered the guards had dragged him up when he had first arrived. If he remembered correctly, it led up to the Ultimate Master's…um, his throne room.

Up ahead, Raimundo and Clay had passed through the scanning beam with the see-through curtain and were already about halfway up the stairs. Julie stopped right in front of the glaring red laser beam.

Jack forced himself to a halt behind her. "You're going up to the throne room?" he asked, confused again, but immediately fell silent when he got a look at his future daughter's face. It was contorted in anger, fear, and determination. Never before had she shown so much expression as she had then.

Instead of going through the red scanning beam, she whipped out a card and thrust it into a space in the frame of the detection device. It produced a horrible screeching noise, and then broke down completely, the red barrier blinking off. As soon as it was out of the way, Julie scrambled up the spiraling staircase, dragging her dress up so she wouldn't step on it.

Jack was about to follow, but then realized, he wasn't about to climb stairs when he had a helicopter rotor on his back. The raging princess paid no attention when her roommate came calmly floating up beside her. What's the matter with her? He wondered. Does she have a problem with those Xiaolin guys? Or did she hear what I was saying at breakfast and is storming up to demand her royal rights? Maybe she just hates curtains… Jack chuckled a bit when he thought about this, but abruptly stopped again when Julie reached the height of the stairs.

The young princess rushed forward towards the glittering golden throne where something seemed to be taking place. Jack lightly lowered himself to the soft red carpet, just behind her, and observed the scene with wide eyes. Then, finally, he heard an actual sentence from the teenage girl's mouth. "STOPPPPP!!!" Jack was frozen in place, dumbfounded. She knew words other than "no"!

His future, stately self rose from what appeared to be a golden platform, to glare, despicably down at his child. "Julienne Spicer!!!" he yelled, his voice lined with complete abhorrence. "Get back to your chambers this instant!" It was an order. An order from the ruler of the planet. Who would dare to resist an order like that?

Julienne's body trembled, as she mustered the power and courage to proceed. "…NOOOO!!!" she screamed, tears suddenly breaking from her eyes. "I won't…I won't let you hurt her!!!"

Her? Who was her? That was when Jack noticed the figure lying deadly still on the same golden platform that his future self had risen from. Its long, peasant-like gown and silky black hair could only identify it as one person…Kimiko! Kimiko What's she doing on that platform? The Clay and Raimundo zombies had been in the middle of hanging the rich lavender curtain around the area when Julie had burst in and interrupted them.

The future Jack growled and thrust his swirling Soul Scepter out in front of him. "This is your fault you know, girlie, so don't even try to stop me. I always will get what I want! You have no value to me, do you understand?!"

Julie's body shook even more violently. In just one blink of an eye, he could capture her in that swirling little red ball forever…yet she had to try to resist! If she didn't, this would just go on forever!

Jack gaped at the scene before him. She…has no value to me? Does that mean…I'm going to kill her?! I just don't understand…I don't want to kill her…

A strange, reddish-orange glow was gathering densely around Julie's hunched-over body. Jack blinked, incredulously as something began fading into existence below her feet. A giant blue swirl, almost completely matching the one on the floor of the center chamber solidified, spiraling from the spot where Julie stood. She threw her arms out, diagonally, as a flaming reddish backdrop sprang up around her. A burning hunk of material also materialized at the center of her body. Then, finally, with the tears running down, and smudging her makeup, Julienne called out, with such driving force, "COMET BLAZE, MELTDOWN!!!"

The chunk of burning substance went hurling towards Ultimate Master Jack. The dictator dodged to the side, but the flames ignited his long, elaborate cape, and he was distracted for a few minutes, trying to stamp the fire out.

What the… Jack thought, …she attacked him? It almost looked like when those Xiaolin guys attack… But, what she said… "Comet blaze, meltdown"? Meltdown isn't an element of any sort…

Then, finally, the truth came out. Jack flew up a little closer as Julie lowered her arms and rushed up the stairs to the base of the golden, glittering platform.

Ultimate Master Jack finally extinguished his flaming cape, but just stood back as his disgraceful daughter ruined everything. But it was already too late, anyway.

Julie kneeled next to the platform and rubbed her tears from her face, forming a powdered white streak across her long black sleeve. She then returned to the matter at hand, and grasped adult Kimiko's hands, worriedly. The woman didn't notice, of course, and continued to stare straight up at the ceiling, in a daze. A few fresh tears replaced the old ones on Julie's cheeks. "…Mom?" she whispered. "Mom, are you okay?!"

Jack froze again. He lost control of his HeliPack and went tumbling to the floor with a splat. …MOM?!?!?! His entire face turned red, even through the makeup. Yes, Julie was his daughter…but she was his and Kimiko's?! Now Jack felt like his facewas a flaming comet like the one this girl had just thrown at his future self. Now, he thought he'd never be able to view the teenage Xiaolin Dragon the same way. She wasn't just a girl he had a crush on anymore…she was his future wife!!!

Julie pressed herself against the platform. "It's okay…" she started to say to the blank Kimiko. "I know, it doesn't matter to you, but…I know that if you were really here, you wouldn't want any of this."

What is she talking about? Jack wondered, at last starting to get over the fact. Come to think of it…if I'm married to Kimiko, wouldn't that make her Ultimate Mistress or something? Yeah, she should be like the queen of the planet… But she's not, she's only one of the Xiaolin Jesters…

"That's quite enough," Ultimate Master Jack cut in, stepping up on the dais stairs and tearing the curtain from Clay and Raimundo's hands. "You've done your damage. You know, I could have you reported to the Facists at this instant…" Julie jerked her head up from her mother's unaware body, a look of sheer terror crossing her white streaked face and rooting her body in place. "…But I'll spare you this once. I wouldn't want them barging in while my past self is here… But, the next time you try anything like that, I will show you no mercy. You are certainly not indispensable."

At last, Julie began to shakily lift herself from the platform, glaring back up at her father.

"Go," Ultimate Master Jack commanded, swiftly pointing to the entrance. "Now. You may take her with you."

Julie bent down, to force the adult Kimiko into a standing position, and grabbed her wrists. "Let's go, Mom," she said, even though she knew she couldn't hear her. She carefully led Kimiko down the golden steps, and Jack nervously jumped to his feet again as they approached. "Let's go," Julie repeated, throwing a glance over to him.

Jack's heart began pounding. Finally…she'd said something to him other than "no"! He nervously, yet gratefully followed his future family back out of the throne room and down the spiraling steps.

When they had reached the ground level, the concentration of Jack-monks in the central chamber had broken up, the mysterious magical glow dispersed. Jack felt slightly disappointed, but walked a little bit faster next to his future daughter, his curiosity overcoming any bored or disappointed feelings.

"So…" he at last tried to speak with the teenage girl again. "What exactly was going on just then? See I was right…he was going to kill you or something…" Suddenly recalling everything that he'd gone through with his own father, Jack took a deep breath before adding, "that's no way to treat your child."

Julie looked over at him as she pulled Kimiko along behind her. "It's because I'm a girl," she explained. "He wants a son…without a son, the Spicer name can't continue into the next generation. I'm of no value to him…well…you. Which sounds weird when I say it, because you're not really the same person. You're nothing like him."

"Thanks," Jack replied. "I didn't want to be."

Julie smiled a little bit, and then turned her head back in front of him. The blank-minded adult Kimiko tripped along down the stone path.

I was wrong, Jack finally concluded, this place is full of robots, human robots.

Julie noticed him observing her absentminded mother, and took a deep breath to further explain the principles of her family. "You might be wondering why if she's my mother, why she isn't the ultimate mistress or anything… He made sure that these people were inferior to him and lets no one know that she is my mother. Surprisingly, no one's ever wondered who my mother is before, but then again, no one has any minds…" She shook her head disgustedly.

"So…what made you suddenly decide to talk to me?" Jack asked, looking suspiciously back over at her.

Julie's forehead creased a little in concern. "I wasn't sure if communicating with you would somehow screw up history or something like that… I don't completely understand time travel mechanics, but… I don't know how you got here…" At last, they had arrived at the entrance to her chambers. "Um…I've got to take her back to her own room," the young princess explained, and no further clarification was needed. "You just stay here, um…Dad? That's just weird…"

"Just call me Jack," Jack told her with a small smile.

"Yeah," Julie replied, returning his expression. "I thought it was really cool when you told me that…I always wondered what your name was."

"You never even knew my first name?"

"No…he never tells me anything." She took a deep breath again and turned away from the scene to head down the hall to deposit her mother. Jack stayed and watched as she grew smaller and smaller until she finally disappeared into the monochrome hallways.

"This is too weird," he said to himself. "It's just… I know it's possible, but…this?" He stepped back into the room for a moment, but immediately noticed that the candles were still extinguished, and stepped back out again.

---FLASHBACK

The hard, solid reality of the playground seemed to scratch at his soul. The boring old swing set was full of boring old children, laughing and chatting with each other. The boring old plastic slide was full of daredevil children trying to climb up the slippery slope backwards. …What was the point of it all? Why not just create a slide elevator, or an automatic swing pusher? Stupid inferior children, always having to do things the hard way. At least that was what he tried to tell himself.

The 8-year-old Jack Spicer sat alone under the protective shade of the nearby maple tree, hugging his knees and observing his peers as he always did. I hate recess…it's so pointless. This is all pointless… Jack laid his head down on top of his knees. Maybe he could catch a few Z's while he waited for recess to be over. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because his father had taken the night light out of his room in another attempt to "toughen him up". Just as he was beginning to fall into a sleepy, limbo state, the all-too-familiar voices started up again, jerking him out of his peace.

"Yeah, he's so stuck up…never talks to anyone…"

"Oh, the crazy kid! The one that tried to build a weird teleport machine over the monkey bars! I still can't believe it! There's got to be something wrong with that kid…"

"I thought it would help…" Jack mumbled to himself in response.

"Yeah, the weird one with the red hair and freckles… Bob called him Pizza Head the other day! It was so funny!"

"I remember that! And when he ripped up that freaky elevator thing he made…" The group of gossiping students broke into laughter as they recalled the incidents.

Finally, Jack had had enough. He stood up underneath the tree. They were going to get it now! But…as he looked over at the realistic situation in front of him, his body began to shake. He sat back down again, and curled up where he was, those horrible voices echoing in his head. Unfortunately, standing up had attracted the attention of the nearby group, and they trooped over to continue the torment.

Jack sat very still and tried to pretend he was invisible, but as much as he tried, he couldn't drive away the fun-seeking children. He fought a difficult battle with his own throat, trying desperately not to cry, but he also couldn't stop one of the tears from escaping his left eyelid.

"Aw…" one of the boys at the head of the group taunted. "Lookit. The little baby is crying because we were talking about him."

"I'm…not…crying…" Jack insisted, trying to mask his wavering voice.

"Oh, yeah," the lead boy said, trying to sound smart. "Then what's that big wet spot on your spotty face?"

"I…I just…have something in my eye!"

"Yeah…" the boy in the lead continued. "A bad case of redeye." The other students broke into laughter at this statement. "Ooh, careful, we better get away from here!" he continued to the giggling group. "We might catch the Jack Disease and end up as freaky nerds for the rest of our lives!!!"

"L-Leave me alone…" Jack stuttered in his defense, but a fearful plea wasn't the best way to demand privacy.

"Yeah, yeah, alright," the boy at last agreed.

"We've got to get away from him anyway!" another kid added from inside the crowd.

"See you around, Spicy," the lead boy called as he turned to walk away. "Or, should I say, Spicy Pizza Head!" His chuckle-headed followers began to laugh again, on cue as they followed him back to the playground area.

Now that they were out of sight, Jack could relax and just let his wounded spirit do its thing. Just to be safe, he moved to the other side of the maple tree, and even when the teacher called everyone back in from recess, didn't move from his spot. He suddenly didn't feel like doing anything, even mathematics.

---

"Pauline Norman?" the third grade teacher called, looking over her attendance record.

"Here!" a small blonde girl replied.

"Tara Pickles?"

"Here."

"Bobby Santos?"

"Here."

"Amanda Sparkler?"

"Here."

"Jack Spicer?"

Dead silence filled the normally tumultuous classroom.

"Jack Spicer?" the teacher repeated his name again. "Has anyone seen Jack?"

The students were beginning to break into chatter again, shocked over the disappearance of the boy.

"Aw, Spicy's probably still crying under his little tree," the same boy named Bob that had led the group before called out.

Frantic and frazzled, the teacher didn't even have the time to reprimand him. She hurried to the next-door classroom, and got her friend to watch her class before running out the back to the playground.

Sure enough, just as the little brat had said, Jack was still huddled under the maple tree, sniffling and trying to rub the tears off his face with his sleeve. "Jack…" the teacher said, gently kneeling next to him. "You need to come back inside. We're all waiting for you…"

"I don't want to go," he croaked in reply. He knew the teacher was there, but didn't lift his head to look at her. He was sure hiding out here was breaking some kind of rule, and didn't feel like being lectured.

"Were they bothering you out here?" the teacher continued, trying to comfort him. She received her answer in a violent head nod. "Well, it's over now, you can come back inside. If they bother you again, you come tell me, okay?"

"I don't want to go!" Jack repeated, his voice a little stronger now. "Go away! Leave me alone! I don't need your help!" Now he was sure he'd broken every rule there was to break, yelling at a teacher like that, and promptly jumped to his feet and began running.

"Jack!" the teacher yelled after the rebellious young boy, getting to her feet. "Jack, get back here this instant! You're in serious trouble now!"

But he couldn't stop once he had begun. His small legs just continued to propel him forward, out the playground, and down the sidewalk. Perhaps if he kept going, he could reach his house and sneak inside.

The teacher watched the boy's small form with shock and terror. She'd never had a student just run off on her like this… "I…I've got to place a call to Mr. Spicer!" she decided, and rushed back into the building to do just that.

---

"So…" Mr. Spicer, unusually dressed in his formal suit, and wearing the familiar crest around his collar. "Acting up in school?" Strangely enough, he seemed almost excited about his son misbehaving that day at school. "No worries. I was quite the troublemaker when I was your age, too."

Jack tried to explain that he wasn't trying to make trouble, but never got the chance.

Mr. Spicer turned around in eagerness, thinking that maybe the power was starting to grow. "So, how about trying that box again, huh?"

Jack frowned, thinking about it. For several days, his father had locked him up in a room with a strange, stone box, telling him to open it. But no matter how hard he tried, he never could. "No, Dad," he replied, in a worried tone.

"Aw, c'mon," Mr. Spicer pleaded. "Just one more time… You could get it this time!" Jack just walked straight past him down the hall.

The man growled in aggravation. "Why you little…" What was the use of having a son with special powers if he couldn't release the ancient spirit and help the family rule the planet? Mr. Spicer clenched his fist and looked down the hall after him. Whatever he had to do, he'd make use of that boy…even if it meant taking a few drastic measures.

Meanwhile, Jack was washing his hands in the Spicers' gold-plated bathroom sink and thinking about what had just happened. Somehow, he's managed to run the two blocks from his school back to his large house. By that time, Mr. Spicer had already received the call from his teacher about his departure and was waiting, expectantly on the front balcony. Why was everyone always angry with him? It seemed like no one ever appreciated the work he put into trying to improve the school playground for the others, his intelligence in school, his courage to find his way home, or even his consent to stay out of everybody's way. It seemed like no one ever really cared about him.

Looking up from the sink, Jack stared into him own, worried face from a mirror just in front of him. I hate looking like this…he thought. I look like such a loser… No wonder no one ever takes me seriously. If only I didn't have these stupid freckles…

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through his mind, and he flung open a small cabinet on the wall to the right of the sink. Sure enough, a large store of different makeup and beauty products sat at the bottom.

His mother had abandoned these when she had left. One day, Mrs. Spicer just walked out on the family, leaving a lot of her belongings behind. Mr. Spicer had sold most of them, but thankfully he hadn't managed to get into this cabinet yet.

Jack searched around the bottom, and at last found what he was looking for- face paint. The container, spread out like an artist's palette. Since they didn't have a peach color, he figured that since he was white, the closest color he could get was white. Jack took a bit of white face paint on his fingers and spread it over his freckles, under his eyes and a bit onto his cheeks. He looked like he was impersonating a football player.

This won't do any good…he thought, sadly. But, wait! What if…

Jack eagerly dipped into the white paint again as a new idea hit him. He closed his eyes and smeared it across his entire face, spreading it around with his fingers. He continued to apply the paint, until his entire face and neck were painted white. As Jack stared at himself in the mirror again, he thought it looked a little weird. Well…there were guys with white faces out there…like those punk rockers he'd seen on TV.

Remembering those strange, tough-looking men, he resolved to try to mimic them, and now dipped a special face paint pencil into the black section of the palette. Unsure of exactly what to do with it, he decided to put an extra layer of paint over his cursed freckles, and swiped black lines under his eyes. He decided to add a little line at the bottom of his left eye- the same one that seemed to have a problem with keeping its tears in. Jack returned to the mirror on the other side of the sink to admire his work. Well…it was pretty good.

Now if only he could do something to his boring, bright red hair… He stared down at the various hair products at the bottom of the cabinet. He had no idea what to do with these unknown devices, but in his frenzy of determination, just grabbed a bottle of hair gel, squeezed out half the bottle, spread it on his hair as he pulled it up, and used another half a bottle of hairspray on it. Now his hair was literally standing on end, straight upwards, like flames licking the sky.

"Cool…" Jack commented when he got a look at himself for the third time. He looked a lot tougher and intimidating, which then made him feel a lot tougher and intimidating. He scowled back at himself. "Just leave me alone, you stupid jerk!" he yelled at an imaginary Bob. He smiled in satisfaction after viewing the effect, and happily came back out of the bathroom, determined that tomorrow would be the first day of his new and better life.

Just as he turned the corner to head back to the parlor, Mr. Spicer placed a giant box into his hands, and he couldn't see over the cardboard. "Ugh…what's this for?!" he questioned in alarm.

"To pack your stuff in!" Mr. Spicer called, almost gleefully. "Guess what? We're moving, Johnny Boy!"

Jack stood, dumbstruck, in the middle of the room. The cardboard box slipped out of his arms and softly landed on the carpet below. "Moving?! To where?! How come you never told me?! …And don't call me Johnny Boy! My name is Jack!!!" Boy, this face paint was really a confidence boost. He was ready to take on his own father now! Maybe he could even make him decide to stay here!

"China!" Mr. Spicer answered cheerfully. "I decided you need time away from school and other people to focus your powers and open the box, so we're moving to the place where our great history originated! Now, hand me that suitcase, would you, Johnny Boy?"

Jack grumbled to himself, but picked up the little gold-buckled suitcase for his father. As Mr. Spicer received the package, he glanced over and shrieked at the sight. "What is that you've got all over your face?!"

"It's face paint."

"Well, whatever. Just hurry up and get your stuff. We have to get on out of here by 6:00 to make the plane…"

Jack sighed and dragged his cardboard box down the left hallway to his bedroom. Yup. No appreciation…

---END OF FLASHBACK

Ah, another wonderful, fun-filled day of exploring the Hill Palace's intriguing interior…not. After another pointless stroll through the drab corridors of his future home, Jack found himself wandering back towards the chamber he and Julienne shared. I should probably find something to make a giant robot out of… he thought, aimlessly. Then she and I could bust out of here and demand that he give her princess rights and give Kimiko her soul back… But there's nothing to build a robot out of. Just a bunch of stupid rocks…

Before he could figure something out, he came to the same old wooden door outlined by dark bluish stone. Actually…it looked like every other door in the Hill Palace. The only reason Jack knew it was Julienne's was because of the painting of the Spicer crest mounted on the opposite wall. He opened the door again and stepped inside.

Would she be angry? He wondered. Instead of staying in the creepy, dark bedroom, he'd gone off on another castle trek. Surely, she had to be back from dropping off Kimiko by now.

The room was still terribly pitch black. Perhaps Julienne hadn't returned yet after all. Jack shivered and turned to exit yet again. It's so dark…who knows what could be lurking around in here! Then, suddenly, he stopped to think. That's weird though. I'm evil. I should live and breathe darkness. Why am I so terrified of the darkness? Slowly, he turned back around to peer into the endless black. Alright, that's it. The darkness is my friend...the darkness is my friend… Repeating this sentence over and over in his head, he ventured forth into the unknown depths. He was concentrating so hard on this phrase that he began to say it out loud. "The darkness is my friend…the darkness is my…what?"

At last, there was some kind of light, glowing from a ring of candles on the nightstand next to the bunk beds. The thing that surprised Jack was Julienne, standing in the center of the room, her back turned. As he listened closer to the soft sounds around him, he realized that she was crying. "Now what's the matter?" he asked, slightly annoyed with her constant crying. "You still upset about Kimiko?"

Julie heard him and shook her head in response, but didn't turn around. Her long black hair shifted back and forth. At last, she managed to get a breath and spoke, in a tearful voice. "I'm just…kind of…overwhelmed right now…"

Jack stepped closer to the hunched over girl and circled around to her front side. Julienne instinctively buried her face further into her hands. Obviously, she didn't want him to see her crying. What's the big deal? Jack wondered. Girls cry all the time, they don't have to hide it. He reached forward and gently turned her face towards him.

Julie shook in terror once again, staring up at the boy who would one day be the same tyrannical father she loathed. Her fearful face was streaked with tears, her makeup mask running off and revealing the pure skin underneath. Instantly, she yanked her face out of his hands and turned back around.

"What's your problem?" Jack asked, growing a bit aggravated again. He was getting sick of this constant silence. What in the world could she be so afraid of that she wouldn't say?

"The Facists…" Julie whispered in pure horror, holding back her tears.

"The Facists?" Jack asked, "Who are the Facists? What are the Facists?" He thought he had heard that name somewhere before.

"You saw me…" she at last spoke up again. "…Without…makeup…"

"So?" Jack really couldn't see what the big deal was. Sure, he didn't want anyone to see him without makeup, but he wouldn't be that horrified if someone did. "Actually, I don't think you really need the makeup…you have a pretty face…" At that, Jack spontaneously produced a swatch of cloth from his jacket pocket and began to wipe away his face makeup.

Julienne looked over and gasped in terror. "No! Jack, don't!" But it was too late.

At last, he had completely removed his white mask and finished his point. "…Unlike me."

Julienne blinked, astonished at his blatant actions. How could he have courage like that… Even through the avalanche of horrible thoughts, the strange fact struck her, and a smile crept its way onto her face. "…You have freckles?"

"Yeah. They're hideous. I hate having freckles…"

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way. I was just surprised. Imagining my heartless, suppressing father with freckles…" She giggled a little bit, and slowly, began to forget her fears. It wouldn't be long before they showed up, especially with two violations like this, but still, it was nice to be relieved for the moment. "Actually, I think they're very cute. How can you say they're hideous?"

"That's exactly it. I don't want to look "cute", I want to look fierce and tough! …But I suppose the freckles more fit my personality, huh? I'm such a wimp…"

"Don't say that…" Julie replied. "You're very brave. In fact, you're being brave right now. Braver than me…"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Jack told her. "But, hey, it's a compliment!"

At last, Julie's face broke into a small smile. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around his body. He moved a bit backward, not used to this kind of stuff, but let her stay there for a while, not wanting to break her happiness. "Yeah…" Julie slowly said, pressing against him. "We shouldn't have to keep in hiding forever…"

It flashed before Jack's eyes…his disgruntled childhood, being teased and shunned, slapping on this makeup in an effort to be accepted. What am I doing? He finally asked himself. I'm doing exactly what they wanted me to do, hide all of my feelings and personality. Why did I listen to them for so long? I'm many miles…many years even, away from those people, and that world. There's no reason why I have to listen to them anymore. "Yeah…there's no reason to keep hiding," he finally agreed, out loud. "I'm not going to hide anymore."

Julienne glanced over at him, her smile beaming. Then, just as soon as it had begun, their happy, together time came to an unfortunate end.

At that exact moment, a terrible crashing noise shattered their serenity. The wooden door went flying across the room as if it were only a twig.

"What the…?!" Jack cried, pulling his head up and glancing around, warily.

"No…" Julienne whispered, hiding her face once again. "This is all my fault. …I'm so sorry, Jack…"

"What?!" Jack exclaimed again. "Sorry for what?!"

Finally, a drove of tall, muscle men appeared in the doorway, instantly lighting the room with the flick of a finger. Jack watched closely, and saw something flat and pointed whirling through the air, lighting all the candles. "Hey!" he noticed, finally getting the answer to one of his many questions. "That's the fire Star Hanabi! Who threw that?!" The only one who can do that is Kimiko…he realized. But it can't be her. She can't even talk in order to say "Star Hanabi, Fire".

The man at the head of the army caught the rotating Shen-Gong-Wu in his fist as it came flying back at him. He, along with all of the other, identical men wore white-and-black robes, with swirling designs of those same colors on their armor. The giant shoulder protectors depicted a white background with a black streak, and another streak extending from it. It almost looked like…his former face paint markings.

More guards?Jack thought, but they're not the palace guards that attacked me in the middle section…and they're not the world guards that captured me when I first arrived. "So…who are you, and how come you have the Shen-Gong-Wu?"

"Oh…" Julienne whispered. "I forgot to tell you. When you became ruler, you also took the Xiaolin Dragons' powers, and gave them away, along with all the Shen-Gong-Wu, aside from the Soul Scepter…"

"But…why would I give them to these guys?" Jack asked, wrinkling his nose.

"They're your most powerful underlings," Julienne explained. "They're the Facists."