All together now…big sigh of relief! AHHHHH! Anyway, aside from the explanation section at the beginning, this chapter is just pure fun. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Jack's finally decided to join the Xiaolin Temple, but he still needs to officially join, and then, to get used to life at the temple. This chapter's a little treat for making it all the way through the freaky, dismal chapters 5-8. Enjoy! I already addressed this, but I decided that the Dragon of Metal powers, since they are such a powerful force, were the only powers meant to be passed down, and stay in the Orre family (more about that in that story). It's different from the original four, so…and I really wanted to keep this little thing I made up about Jack's parents… Oh, and sorry for the referance to S2 Shen-Gong-Wu...

Thanks for all the reviews, and thanks to ChibiChaos, who I haven't officially thanked yet. Jadebell…I don't know about doing The House That Jack Built…I can't remember how the whole thing went…but I thought of something else…

EF: Little Jack Spicer sat in the…er…

Omi: …slicer!

(Jack appears, bound and gagged, hanging above a slicing blade)

Jack: Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Rai: No, dicer!

(the chopping blade turns into a several, crisscrossing chopping blades)

Jack: MMMMMMMMMMMM! (wiggling around like caterpillar)

EF: Gee, you guys are worse than me! (waves the blades away, and unties Jack)

Jack: (grovels at her feet) Oh, thank you, all great and powerful authoress! I'll never complain about your…

EF: I'll put you in the icer instead! (shoves him into a large icebox)

Jack: No! Wait! Not the icer! (slowly freezes into an ice block)

Rai: Ha ha! Hey, look, it's Jack Frost!

Everyone else: (eye roll)

EF: Now where was I? Oh, yes, little Jack Spicer sat in the icer, eating his Christmas pie…

(a pie appears in front of Jack, and he sticks his whole face in it, since his arms are frozen)

EF: …he stuck in his thumb, and pulled out a plum…

(suddenly, Jack's right arm melts, and he starts jabbing the pie with his thumb)

Jack: Uh…this is an apple pie… How am I supposed to find a plum in an apple pie! …Aw, forget it. Why am I doing all this anyway?

EF: …and said…

Jack: (throws the rest of the pie into Omi's face and starts cackling) What an evil boy genius am I!

Omi: …….You should've just stopped after the icer part…

EF: (closes the icer door, amidst Jack's complains) Okay, time for the chapter!

-

Chapter 9: Adoptions and Adaptations

It was nighttime at the Xiaolin Temple. Aged monks were returning from their meditating sessions, and everyone inside the papery walls was lighting candles to fill the rooms with a gentle glow. Crickets chirped outside in the cool spring air.

Meanwhile, at the very center of the large temple community, the revered old temple master was pacing back and forth in front of a small altar. "They should have been back by now…" he said to himself. "It was only the Vase of Viscous Visions- that Shen-Gong-Wu has no power to harm…"

He stopped for a moment and looked up at the strained glass depiction of a young woman with dark orange-colored hair. "And the other day, when I called for Marylyn's powers…I almost felt like they were going to emerge, but I have seen nothing yet. The Soul Scepter still remains in the clutches of evil… I must find Marylyn's heir, so that he or she can take the object back…" Master Fung at last stopped his musing when he heard a faintly familiar voice calling to him.

"Master Fung! Master Fun-ung! Where is that old crackpot?" It was Dojo. Apparently, the Xiaolin Warriors had returned and were waiting for him in the main room.

He boldly stepped out into the normal, red-carpeted room where he always met with his apprentices to tell them important things or give advice. "Here I am," he told the now minimized lizard. "And did I just hear you call me a crackpot?"

"Oh, no, no," Dojo sheepishly lied, slithering to his partner's feet. "I was saying we hit the jackpot! Literally, I guess."

That was when Master Fung noticed for the first time- there was Kimiko, tending to her hair after the wind had frazzled it, Omi, babbling on and on about a tree, and Clay, warming up for his next rodeo. But there was someone else with them. The more he looked at this new boy, he faintly recognized him as Wuya's helper, and the one that was always competing with them for Shen-Gong-Wu… Yes, Jack Spicer was his name. What was he doing with them?

"I have no idea how it happened, or how it's even possible," Dojo was explaining in his ear, "But that evil kid is the Dragon of Metal! Really, we saw him make the spike attack you told me about…and the Silver Shield… He used the Soul Scepter to capture Wuya; isn't that brilliant?"

"Master Fung," Omi addressed him, stepping up with the Soul Scepter clutched in his hands. "I have recovered the Soul Scepter. Wuya's ghost is trapped within it. We must keep it safely locked away."

"Yes," Master Fung consented, taking the object from him. "I'll find a special vault for it. It's too dangerous to go in with the other Shen-Gong-Wu."

When the old master returned, it was time for the initial matter at hand. At their little "party", the other Xiaolin Warriors had told Jack that he needed to first ask for Master Fung's permission to stay at the temple, and they had showed him the things to do in order to make a good impression.

When Master Fung stepped back into the room, Jack boldly stepped up and kneeled in front of him. "Err…I've changed my mind…I'd like to join your temple, sir." It hurt to act so falsely polite, but since he'd been doing it for years with his father and their visitors, he was a pro at it by now.

Master Fung raised his eyebrows, searching for any traces of a trick. "So, boy, you believe you are the legendary Dragon of Metal?"

"L-Legendary?" Jack nervously stuttered. "Well, sometimes I just say 'Metal' and a bunch of spikes come out of the ground, but I don't even know I'm doing it. It's…not that special, really…" He glanced up at Master Fung. Was this some sort of crazy test? If it was, he hoped that that was a good answer.

"Metal, the fifth element to some cultures, is not always represented within the Xiaolin order. It is an optional power, yet a very strong addition to the original four. In fact, some argue that it shouldn't be a real power; it should be under the element Earth, since Metal comes from the Earth… Now," he finally changed the subject. "What brought you to repent your evil ways?"

"Well…" Jack prepared to explain, but this would be a long, difficult explanation. "I went into the future…wanting to see a world where I ruled everything. It was terrible, and I hated it so much, I never want it to happen. If this is what I have to do to stop that from happening, then I'm willing to do it." He looked down at his lap, again wondering if he'd gotten that question right.

"Ah," Master Fung said in understanding. "A wise choice."

"Huh?" Kimiko asked from down below. "How'd you go into the future? I thought you needed a power source to make your time machine work, and we took the Sands of Time into another time and place."

"Well, in Paris, there was a scientist guy, and I volunteered to test out his new dimension portal. I made him take me to a place where I ruled the world…and it turned out that place wasn't in an alternate reality, or another universe, it was only thirty years into the future. And the people were all like zombies, and then I killed them…" He cut himself off at that point. They didn't need to know all the gory details…especially Kimiko. They were all still gaping behind him, probably terrified of him now.

Master Fung smiled, finally beginning to see the connections. "Well, it's very good that you want to change that, Jack. I think you'll make an excellent Dragon of Metal."

Jack looked fully back up at him. "Does that mean I passed?"

Master Fung chuckled. "It was never a test; I just wanted a bit of information. That was all." He really had wanted to make sure Jack wasn't lying, and from the actions and expressions he'd just seen on him, he was completely honest. "Now…could you just show me your attack for a moment; I want to evaluate your power."

Jack stood up again and took a deep breath. "Well…I don't know. This wasn't working a while ago, but I'll try it out…" He closed his eyes and tried to position himself correctly. At first it wasn't working. Then, when he forced himself to remember the pain of the future and Kimiko's screams, he instinctively yelled, "Metal!" and snapped into the right pose.

Master Fung smiled and nodded to himself as the familiar glittering triangles popped out of the floor of the temple room. He noticed the dark grayish background surrounding Jack, and the yin-yang symbol etching into the backdrop and nodded again.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened before!" Dojo cried from his shoulder. "And he did the Silver Shield too, when Wuya was charging at him."

"Well, let's not force him to do the Silver Shield now," Master Fung decided. "He probably doesn't even know how he did it." At last, Jack came out of the attack and sat down on the floor again. "Well, that settles it. Those are definitely unique Dragon of Metal powers," Master Fung concluded.

At this point, Omi, Kimiko, and Clay carefully sat on the floor near Jack, since they had some questions to ask. "But I don't get it," Kimiko spoke up in confusion. "How in the world did Jack Spicer ever get to be one of the Chosen Ones?"

"It's a bit complicated," Master Fung admitted. "You better listen too, Jack," he said, turning his head to the goth boy. "Because I doubt you know the real truth about your family."

Jack sat up in interest. He had always wondered about his family. He only knew his father and a few uncles, aunts, and cousins on his side, and he barely remembered his mother at all.

"Well, you see, Jack is a unique case. Never before has it happened in the history of the Xiaolin legacy…"

Jack blushed a bit. He shouldn't be special when he had just joined.

"Well," Master Fung continued to tell the story. "His father, Mr. Henry Spicer is a direct descendant of the mighty Spicer family, who received dark powers in order to help Wuya take over the world. They became her adopted Heylin following…"

"Yeah, so Jack's a direct descendant of the Heylin order," Omi spoke up, interrupting the story. "So why in the world was he chosen to be the Dragon of Metal?"

"Ah, you see, I'm not finished yet," Master Fung replied with a mysterious smile. He pointed up to the stained-glass painting above their heads.

"It's that one with the lady…" Kimiko whispered to herself. For months, the Xiaolin Apprentices had been walking through this room, looking up and wondering who this powerful woman was, but not one of them had the heart to ask.

"That," Master Fung continued, "Is Marylyn Orre. She was one of my best students ever: very strong, yet kind…and creative. Why, she even saved the temple one day with her amazing defensive powers. Marylyn was the old Dragon of Metal."

"You mean there were Xiaolin Warriors before us?" Kimiko asked in amazement.

"Oh, yes," Master Fung replied. "There have been ones for every generation. Although they never chased Shen-Gong-Wu, like you kids have, I have always trained them to be ready, just in case." He paused to take a breath. "Well, Marylyn wouldn't be known as Marylyn Orre anymore…she became Mrs. Marylyn Spicer."

A terribly long pause filled the room.

"Yes. That's right," Fung affirmed again. "Jack's mother. Which makes him half Heylin and half Xiaolin. When it came time for his powers to develop, he became the new Dragon of Metal, showing that he isn't truly evil. If he were, he would have developed the dark powers of the Heylin clan."

Dark powers of the Heylin clan…Jack thought. He suddenly saw his future self hurtling a dark energy ball at him. That's what I had in the future! He stared up at Master Fung, his mouth agape. "Wait a minute," he spoke up again. "If I've always had these powers, how come I never could use them before?"

"You see, the Heylin and Xiaolin powers are highly contradictive, and their clashing inside of you kept you in a fairly neutral position. Though, as we realize now, small bits of each power have been surfacing. Your Heylin power was what naturally drew you to Wuya… While your Xiaolin Warrior powers enabled you to open the puzzle box for the first time, and almost came out naturally…on "those days"."

Jack's eyes widened, wondering how Master Fung could know about his secret "dismal" sessions.

"That is why the yin-yang symbol appears in the background whenever Jack attacks. He has the Xiaolin powers, or yin, and the Heylin powers, or yang." The wise old temple master unexpectedly stepped forward, placing his hands gently on the sides of Jack's head, as if blessing him. "You're very lucky that you did not, as we formerly believed, develop split personalities."

"Sp-Split personalities?" Jack nervously replied.

"Yes," Master Fung explained. "We had never experienced anything like this; it had never occurred, but we always believed the Xiaolin powers, the "yin side" and the Heylin powers, or "yang side" would become completely separate entities, and initiate different personalities that came out at various times…"

Again, the vision of his evil, twisted future self popped back into Jack's mind. …So that was my "yang" side?

"Wait a minute," Clay spoke up in a confused tone. "If Jack's mama knew that his father was an evil Heylin descendant, why did she marry him?"

"Well, she didn't know," Master Fung explained. "If she had known, she wouldn't have married him, now would she? In fact, after she found out about Henry's Heylin heritage, she ran away from the house in a panic, leaving them behind. She gave me a call, out of energy, very shaken and afraid. Believe me, Jack, she didn't want to leave. The first words out of her mouth were actually, "I hope my son will forgive me."

Jack was staring up at Master Fung, his small red eyes growing a bit bigger in shock. The other Xiaolin Warriors glanced over, because they'd never seen him look so stunned.

"Uh…we're sorry, Jack, we never knew your mother had walked out on you…" Kimiko tried to solace him, but when she looked harder, she noticed that he was actually smiling.

"No, this is great news! She's alive and she actually cares about me!"

"Well, I'm not sure about that first part," Master Fung hated to disappoint him, but it had to be said. "I haven't seen or heard from Marylyn since." Jack's face fell a bit. A cold silence fell over the carpeted area.

"Well…" Omi at last spoke up. "Shall we find Jack a room?"

"Hold your horses," Dojo said from the master's shoulder, holding up a small, green hand. "He needs to okay it with his father first."

Omi looked puzzled, as always. "Dojo, I don't believe I own any horses, and if I did, I don't think I would have the arm capacity to hold them…"

"It's an expression, Omi," Clay explained. "It means 'hold on a minute'."

Omi scratched his smooth head, and then shook it in utter confusion. "That makes no sense at all."

Jack crossed his arms again and pouted at them. "Do I really have to? I know I have to go home to get my stuff, but…"

"Yes, you have to," Master Fung insisted. "I couldn't just take you away from your legal guardian. That would be kidnapping."

Jack just frowned some more. "Okay, okay…" he grumbled.

"Need a lift…ooof!" Dojo said, as he grew about 40 feet and slammed into the door on the other side of the room.

Master Fung shook his head, despairingly. "How many times have I told him not to enlarge inside the temple?" Kimiko opened the door and let Dojo spill onto the lawn.

"Yeah, thanks," Jack said as he climbed back onto the dragon's scaly hide. He was still a bit disgruntled by the task ahead of him. "See ya tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!" Omi called as he and the others waved to him.

"And don't you run off and get evil on us again!" Kimiko scolded. "I don't ever want to face you in a showdown again!"

"Don't worry," Jack called from the dragon's back. "I won't take my evil pills tonight."

Omi, Kimiko, and Clay all exchanged puzzled, worried expressions. "It's a joke!" Jack yelled at them. "She just made it sound like a drug or something…"

They still didn't get it, but smiled and nodded to satisfy him. Then, Dojo lifted off, and became nothing more than a green line among the stars.

-

That night, Jack waited until it was pretty late and his father was fairly intoxicated before he slipped in to ask the question. "Dad…I need to ask you something…"

"Whaddaya want now?" Mr. Spicer mumbled, flipping the channels of his flat-screen, high definition TV.

"DadIwannaleavandjointheXiaolinTemple!" Jack rushed through the explanation. "Is that okay?"

It was a few minutes before Mr. Spicer managed a reply, but it was well worth the wait for his drawl of, "Yeah…surrrrrrre…"

Jack smiled. It was always fun to manipulate him while he was like this, and for a moment he considered asking for a few new supplies as well, but decided not to push it.

That night was probably the weirdest night of Jack's life. He spent the rest of the night packing up his clothes, CDs, and other paraphernalia. He shoved all of his robots, tools, blueprints, computers, wires, and other technical supplies into a giant cart with a hook on one end. He'd attach it to the hover car before he left tomorrow morning.

It still felt strange all night when he decided to just sleep in the lab, and not even bother going back up to his room. His father might get angry at the sight of him, anyway. So, he stared up at the ceiling and tried to imagine a better life with the Xiaolin Warriors. It seemed impossible, but maybe…just maybe it could happen… Everything had gone fine today, right? Finally, two hours later, when he finished writing the letter that he had forgotten to write, he fell asleep slightly disturbed and nervous.

-

At last, the day had arrived. Jack looked around his dreary, blank evil lair. Now it was like a cave hidden deep below the ancient Spicer house. He triple-checked the cart just to make sure he had everything and threw out some old junk- like a dispenser gone wrong, a twirling mechanical bow tie, and a few heads from the "Cheer-bots" that suddenly looked like female Facists. Then, just before he left the house, he walked by his old bedroom door to stick his letter there with an "instatack."

Later, as he was gently guiding his new towing hover car into the sky, he subconsciously began to sing one of those corny old songs he remembered the guests playing- "Hit the road, Jack, and doncha come back; no more no more no more no more- hit the road, Jack…" That was when he fished one of his biggest and heaviest hammers out of the back cart to hit himself in the head with.

-

"John!" the angry voice of Mr. Spicer echoed through the stone house. "Johnny Boy!" He stomped through the house, looking for his good-for-nothing son, and at last decided to check his bedroom, since he didn't seem to be getting any response from anywhere else. "John Henry Spicer, get out here right now! The Burgundy's will be here any moment!"

Finally, his bleary red eyes noticed a sheet of paper stuck to the door with an oddly shaped tack. "Rrrr, what's this?" he muttered in aggravation, and tore the sheet off the perfectly polished wood. "And he had to go and ruin my beautiful handcrafted wooden door…" He squinted and tried to make out Jack's sketchy, thin handwriting. It was a letter to him. Hmm…was this a suicide note? he wondered, and continued to read in order to find out:

-

Dearest Father,

I believe that day you always dreaded has finally arrived, though why you dread it so much still remains a mystery. You may not believe me if I say this is for your own good, or tell you what could have happened as a result of your insistence, but it is best you never know.

Though it may be hard for you to admit, as it is for me, it is certain that we never had a relationship. You have never truly felt a bond with me, as I have never felt a bond with you. This is why I believe it will be no problem with you or mother, wherever she may be, when I tell you this.

I have permanently left the house, never to return. Do not come looking for me. If you do not harm us, I will not harm you. Those "powers" you warned me about have at last emerged, but there will be no great destruction, and we will make sure of that.

Farewell, father. If we ever cross paths again, do not resent me for my decisions. You may not understand any of what I'm saying, but in thirty years, you will thank me for what I have done. Just try to understand for now.

Sincerely,

Jack

P.S. Thank you for all the gadgets to keep me entertained for the last fourteen years.

-

Mr. Spicer stared at the ink letters dancing before his eyes, and his face grew redder and redder. "What is the meaning of this?" he yelled to himself. "He ran away? Sheesh…I would have rather had him commit suicide. And what's with all this 'we don't have a relationship' and 'this is for your own good' crap? He crumpled the letter and swiftly tossed it into the garbage disposal. "I hate teenagers…" he complained. "Ah, well, maybe now I'll get some peace and quiet."

-

All was quiet on the eastern front. Omi and Clay were sparring out on the lawn, since it was a mild spring day, and they needed to brush up on their skills with a few of the newer Shen-Gong-Wu. "Thorn of the Thunderbolt!" Omi called, gripping the handheld, dagger-like object, and trying to blast Clay with its electric charge.

"Lasso Boa-Boa," Clay easily called, whirling the serpentine rope around his head and catching Omi's thunderbolt.

Omi flipped to another section of the field and decided to use a different Shen-Gong-Wu this time. He pulled out a red, elongated jewel. "Ruby of Ramses!" he said, aiming the item. He used it to move the Lasso Boa-Boa and tie Clay up with it.

Fortunately for him, one of his arms was left loose. "Silk Spinner!" Clay yelled, and in an instant, Omi was all tied up too.

At that moment, Kimiko came walking out, filing her nails, and when she got a look at the two of them, struggling in their bindings, broke into a laugh. "You guys are so pathetic," she joked as she untied them.

Omi immediately jumped back up. "Now, this is my chance to get back at Clay for that unfair trick with the Lasso Boa-Boa!"

"Bring it on, small fry," Clay teased, twirling the Shen-Gong-Wu rope.

"Ruby of Ramses!" Omi called, holding out the jewel.

Vrooooommmmm

Kimiko raised her eyebrows as she looked at them. "Um…does the Ruby of Ramses always make that noise?"

Omi looked up at her, and then down at the object in his hand. "I don't know…it hasn't been acting strange at all, has it?"

Vrooommmmmmmm…putt-putt-putt…

"Okay, that's definitely not the Ruby of Ramses," Clay confirmed. The three of them looked up as a familiar black and orange craft bobbed along in the sky towards them, pulling a large floating crate.

"It's Jack Spicer! He had returned!" Omi exclaimed.

"And he brought his whole house with him," Kimiko added.

The car slowed to a stop and finally dropped from the sky to land a few feet in front of them. "Augh!" the three Xiaolin Warriors screamed.

"What?" Jack complained, stepping out of the driver's side. "I wasn't going to crush you."

"No!" Omi cried, pointing at the grassy patch underneath the vehicle. "You've just destroyed Master Fung's flower bed!"

Jack just put an arm behind his head, casually. "Well, it's been having trouble landing since I hit Dojo with it…but who cares; the girly man can grow some new flowers."

"So you got permission?" Kimiko asked, though she was a bit offended by the way he had called their master a girly man.

"Yup, I got it all on tape!" Jack proudly replied. He whipped out a miniature tape player and pushed the "play" button down. A few seconds later, they heard his voice through the rumble of silence. "Dad…I need to ask you something…" "…Whaddaya want now?" "DadI wannaleaveandjointheXiaolinTemple! Is that okay?" "……………………Yeah….Surrrrrrrre…"

As he clicked the recorder off, the three Xiaolin Warriors gave him suspicious looks. "And how do we know you didn't just use a voice simulator to tape that? You dad sounds a little robotic…"

"He was just tired," Jack brushed it off. "Besides, I had to get him when he was tired in order to trick him into letting me come." Now, they only looked more suspicious. "I…I mean…ask him…ask him to let me come."

"Well, whatever," Kimiko continued. She walked over to the giant crate on the back of the hover car, and Clay and Omi followed. "What'd you bring all this junk here for?"

Jack quickly jumped in front of her and hugged one of the Jack-bots on the top, protectively. "Don't call them junk! They'll hear you and start crying! …Poor number 42…"

"So…why is this all here? You should have gotten rid of it all; you won't be needing these stu…uh, these evil robots anymore."

At last, Jack let go of Number 42 and turned back to his new teammates, clutching his hands together and trying to look innocent and pleading. "Well…you see…I was kind of hoping you guys could set aside a room where I could…you know…do my work?"

Now Omi, Kimiko, and Clay were giving each other very suspicious looks and wondering if this whole thing was just a scheme for him to get in among them for an attack.

"Don't give me those weird looks!" Jack objected, crossing his arms again. "I could help you with my genius mind!"

"Yeah, sure," Kimiko replied, never losing her cocked-eyebrow look.

"We'll talk to Master Fung about it," Omi tried to compromise.

"Speaking of Master Fung," Clay spoke up. "We ought to go tell him Jack's here." So the four trooped into the main temple room to meet with their wise old leader.

Though Master Fung did frown a bit when he heard the droning on the tape, he accepted it, and after signing a few papers in the back room, he came back out to announce- "Well, Jack, welcome to the Xiaolin Temple."

Clay and Kimiko cheered and clapped, while Omi unexpectedly clamped onto his leg, and he quickly shook him off.

"But, as usual, there's a few things we need to take care of before we officially admit you," Master Fung continued. Now, Jack was the one who looked suspicious. There was always a catch. "First, we need to do something about those clothes…"

Jack looked down at his ragged trench coat, black pants, and plated boots. "What's wrong with them? I think they look fine! It's my style, you see…"

"Jack…" Omi explained to him. "If you're going to join the temple, you're going to have to wear a uniform."

He froze after hearing this. How could he have let something like that slip his mind? This had actually been his main reason for not joining earlier when Omi first asked him. "Um…" he nervously began, turning back to Master Fung. "Could we make a little…exception…of sorts? I kind of forgot about that requirement. I really don't feel like walking around in a bathrobe…"

Master Fung frowned a bit again, but didn't reply.

"I made a mistake then," Jack said, purposely darkening his voice. "Maybe I don't want to be part of this group. If I go back to evil, at least I can wear my own clothes."

The other Xiaolin Dragons, and especially Omi, all chimed in with suggestions. "You don't have to leave. He might make a small exception for you…" "Don't go; we'll let you wear what you want."

Finally, Master Fung spoke after their chatter died down. "I guess its okay. You don't have to wear a uniform. But we do have a few dress code rules you'll have to follow."

Jack immediately lit up again. "Cool!" he cried. "So all I have to do when I want something is threaten that I'll go back to the dark side if I don't get it, and you'll give it to me?"

Omi, Kimiko, and Clay gave him dirty looks, knowing that they and Master Fung had just been tricked.

"…I probably shouldn't have said that out loud…" Jack told himself.

"First thing…you'll have to get rid of that coat," Master Fung insisted.

"No problem," Jack complied, unbuckling his HeliPack. After he got out of that, he slipped off his trench coat to reveal a simple black tee-shirt with a white, pointed design on the front, since he hadn't had enough time this morning to find his red, ripped-sleeve Frankenstein shirt.

"…And those gloves…"

Jack grumbled, but removed his black motorcycle gloves, tucking them safely in the pocket of his trench coat, folded neatly on the floor.

"You'll have to change that shirt, too…"

"What?" Jack cried, looking down at his black tee-shirt. "Really, now, there's nothing wrong with this…"

"Whether you're aware of it or not, that symbol on the front signifies witchcraft."

"Well, how am I supposed to know that?" Jack complained, turning to look through a battered suitcase he'd brought in with him. "It's not like they put a little sign on the hanger at the mall that says "this means black magic." Who would buy it then?" He turned around, holding the baggage, and cocking an eyebrow. "If you won't let me wear all that stuff, what will you let me wear?"

"Just nice, decent clothing," Master Fung answered, holding his arms together and trying to look powerful.

Jack rolled his eyes. "How about this?" he desperately suggested, holding up another coat. "I know it looks similar, but it's not a trench coat, if you just have a problem with trench coats…"

Master Fung promptly shook his head.

Jack muttered to himself again and sifted through the suitcase. "Cutoffs?" he asked with a smile, whipping out a long rack of shirts, all with their sleeves ripped off. "I have all different colors, not just red and black…c'mon, please?" Jack didn't even need an answer then, since he could see the angry bulldog face the temple master was giving him. "Okay, no cutoffs," he decided, throwing the pile of shirts over his shoulder. "Now, what else…"

"Aaaaugh!" Omi cried from behind them just before Jack's pile of shirts fell on top of him, completely burying him.

"How about these flame pants?" Jack continued, oblivious as Clay and Kimiko whipped out shovels and began digging Omi out. Another head shake. "Okay, how about this old sweatshirt and these chain pants? They're old and I don't like them, but maybe…"

"Oh, alright," Master Fung finally assented, although he didn't like the skull symbol on the front of the sweatshirt. He didn't think Jack would have anything completely decent, anyway. "You may go down that hallway; on the left is a room you can change in. Oh, and one more thing…" Jack froze as he headed over towards the hallway. Now what was the matter? "I suggest you get rid of that dreadful face paint."

"Face paint?" Jack tried to object. "Who says it's even face paint? Maybe my skin is just naturally ivory. Yeah, no one has skin this white, but no one has skin as yellow as Omi's either!"

"Hmm?" Omi said, finally managing to poke his head out from inside the shirt pile. "Did someone call me?"

Master Fung raised his eyebrows again. "Jack…remove it."

"All right…" Jack grudgingly assented, trudging off down the hall as if it were the end of the world. They heard a dull slamming in the distance as he closed the door to the empty room.

"Well…meanwhile, we need to find a place for Jack… We don't have any available spaces…"

"He could stay in Rai's old room for now," Kimiko suggested as she pulled Omi from the pile of shirts. "I mean, we'll need to find somewhere else later, since we are going back to find him…" She seemed very insistent on this, and Clay and Omi stared over at her.

"I guess that could be arranged," Master Fung decided.

"He told us to ask you about a lab room, too," Omi blurted out, and the other two gave him exasperated looks.

"You've got to be kiddin' me," Clay commented.

"Yeah, but we could put some sort of monitoring device on the room, and only let him work on things if they would be to our benefit."

"Well…" Kimiko slowly agreed. "We could use some updated technology…"

"I'll see about it," Master Fung simply answered.

A few minutes later, they heard a familiar voice from the corner of the room. "Don't look." And, of course, everyone looked. Jack stood near the head of the room, in the long, wide-bottomed black jeans with red strips around the legs, making X's. Two chains were attached to slits near the bottom, and clinked around his ankles when he walked. His shirt was the black, baggy, hooded sweatshirt with the skull symbol emblazoned on the front. But, the most shocking difference was his normal, light flesh-colored face and freckles.

Omi bit his lip and held his breath.

"Don't you dare laugh!" Jack threatened, pointing an accusing finger at them.

While Omi struggled with his inner chuckling, Kimiko blinked, incredulously at the boy that now stood before her. If it wasn't for the bright red spikes and swirled goggles, she probably wouldn't have been able to recognize him as Jack Spicer. In fact, he looked more like Rai in that sweatshirt. He looked like Rai gone goth…and with freckles. "You have freckles?" she finally managed to ask, in disbelief.

Jack crossed his arms again and turned his head away from them. "Yes, and I hate them! Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing," Kimiko gently replied. "Actually, I think they're kind of cute. You look better without that vampire paste on."

Jack chanced a glance back at her. Was it his imagination, or had she actually just complimented him? He thought he remembered Julie saying something similar to this when he'd taken off his face paint in the future, too. "Well…" he slowly began to admit. "Maybe you're right. I think I'll leave it off for a while. At least it's less work."

Who are you? Kimiko thought of asking next.

"So, now let's show you to your new room!" Omi cried, breaking the awkward silence that followed. He shifted through the pile of clothing on the floor, almost as if he were looking for something.

"Sure," Jack replied, in a deliberately loud voice. "But I need to gather up my stuff first!" With that, he stepped forwards and shoved his pile of clothes back into the suitcase, along with Omi.

"Jack!" Kimiko cried in disgust. "Let him out of there."

"Who?" he said, faking surprise and confusion. "Let who out of where?"

"Omi!" Kimiko insisted. "Let him out of that suitcase!"

"Omi?" Jack continued to insist. "Why would he be in my suitcase?"

"Hyaaa!" Omi yelled, finally managing to karate-chop his way out. The suitcase exploded and Jack's clothes went flying everywhere.

"Aaaugh!" he yelled, scrambling to retrieve his clothes. "Now look what you've done, you pesky little midget!"

Omi simply looked down into the sea of clothes at his feet, reached down, and pulled something up. "I found them!" he called in victory, holding up a pair of red boxers with smiley faces printed on the fabric.

Jack's face turned red, to match. "P-Put that down!" he yelled, running over to trample the little monk.

Omi turned and sprinted away, waving the underwear, teasingly. "Uh-uh, you have to catch me first! And by that time, everyone in the temple will have seen them!"

Kimiko and Clay chuckled near the doors as they watched Jack chase Omi around the room. "This is going to be interesting," Kimiko commented, suppressing her giggles.

"They fight just like a cat 'n mouse," Clay added.

Yes, Kimiko thought, it's going to be awkward for a long while. It's going to be a long time before we get used to Jack living here… Well, maybe when we get Rai back, we can kick him out somehow… Kimiko stopped her thoughts right there. She couldn't believe she'd just seriously though about something like that, but…the thought was strangely comforting to her. She took a deep breath and tried to remain focused on the present. Who even said they would get Rai to come back, anyway? But, still, she hoped that would happen.

-

"Well, here it is," Clay announced as they all stepped into the dormitory hall. It had taken a while to calm Jack and Omi, but somehow, they'd gotten back to their original intention.

"You're going to have to stay in Rai's old room for a while," Kimiko explained. "Until we get Rai back, and then…well, we'll stick you somewhere."

Jack looked around, studying his new surroundings. "Where's my room?" he asked, turning back to question them. "You just said I'd have to stay in Rai's room, so where is it?" Now, he was almost laughing at them. What, were these crazy monks going to make him sleep out in the hallway?

"Right here," Omi clarified, pointing into the cubicle that used to be Rai's. A few scattered posters were still left on the wall, but those could be taken down. The Brazilian boy had left in a hurry and had forgotten to grab those off the wall.

Jack stared at the little space in exasperation. "What? You've got to be kidding me! This is my room? Where's the bed? Where's the closets? Drawers? Shelves? I knew you monk-types liked to live the simple life, but…this is ridiculous! It's almost like a Facist cell! But, inside, and with a floor, that is."

"A what?" Kimiko asked as the three of them gave him confused looks.

"Oh…never mind." Jack realized what he had just said, and backed off, since they didn't know anything about that future world. "I can't sleep there!" he continued to insist. "Besides, there's no room for my stuff! Once I put all of my stuff in that little cubicle, they'll be no room for me to sleep in there!"

"Well, make room!" Kimiko argued. "It's not our fault you're such a pack rat!"

"I couldn't just leave behind all my inventions! They may be evil, but I worked hard to create them! …Alright, I probably could get rid of some of these clothes, but…I still want to wear the cutoffs as pajamas! …And I can't get rid of my coat; I spent a lot of time packaging it up and sending it to myself!" Jack pouted and shoved his suitcase into the cubicle. "Well, I guess I'll have to sleep out in the hallway. Too bad for you; I snore really loud, and I'll keep you awake all night!"

"No, you're not!" the hotheaded Kimiko insisted. "You're sleeping in that room tonight. I don't care if you have to sleep on top of all your junk, but you're not keeping us awake just because you couldn't let go of your evil robots!" Unfortunately, the effects of his image makeover were starting to wear off, and he was still the same old Jack Spicer in her eyes.

"Well, I'm going to ask your Master Fiddle-Faddle for a laboratory," Jack decided, turning to storm back off to the meeting room. "I'll just use my begging skills. I was planning on just letting my robots live in my closet, but since I don't even have a closet…" He threw a dirty glance over his shoulder, only to receive a dirty glare from Kimiko back.

"He might actually get it," she said to her friends the moment he disappeared around the corner. "Because of what I said about needing updated technology… Stupid, stupid!"

"Don't feel so bad about it," Omi replied. "I also contributed, with my security camera idea." So, none of them were surprised when twenty minutes later, they were helping lug giant robot parts, and piles of tools into an old abandoned room below ground level.

-

The "new Xiaolin Warriors" had struggled through the day together, and now, it was finally time for training in the middle room where Master Fung met with the young Dragons. "Omi, Kimiko, today you will be focusing on your timing, and Clay, incorporating your lasso into attacks." The three of them instantly launched into their attack sequences, as if it were only natural. Jack glanced around at them and remained rooted in place.

"So…" Master Fung finally addressed him, stepping down to look into the boy's eyes. "I don't suppose you've had any martial arts training?"

"Uh…no…" Jack replied, obviously, hanging his head. But a few minutes later, he lifted it again, with a big cheesy smile. "…But I can fake it pretty good!"

Master Fung took a deep breath. "Oh, boy. This is going to take awhile."

Dojo started chuckling up on his shoulder. "Heh…you really look like Omi with that smile…" Jack forced his mouth down into a droopy frown as soon as he heard this.

Master Fung shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to start this all on the first day, so…why don't we just work on your Silver Shield for now."

"Silver Shield?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow at his new master.

"Yes. It's a special defensive ability that only the Dragon of Metal can use. Dojo tells me you've already used it once against Wuya." While he was talking, the other Xiaolin Warriors slowly stopped in the middle of their training to listen to the conversation. "In fact, your mother developed this technique herself…"

Jack focused and looked up at the stained glass art of his mother gesturing protectively above them. While Master Fung was still babbling on and on about the attack's magical origins, he lifted his arms and tried to replicate her pose. "Silver Shield!" he called, expecting to produce some kind of magic barrier and impress everyone. Nothing happened. "Rrrrrgh… Not this again! The same thing happened when I came back from the future. My powers just stopped working…"

"Well, maybe it would be working if you were paying attention!" Dojo snapped.

"You're one to talk," Jack shot back. "You were falling asleep just a minute ago!"

"Well, maybe I was, but I'm not the one who needs to pay attention!"

"Y'know, I like you a lot better in the future."

"Look, this isn't the future, kid, so wake up!"

While the two of them continued to argue back and forth, Kimiko let her mind wander. Jack had said that he had been to a horrible future world, and the reason he was here was to prevent it from happening. She wondered if she'd been in that world at all, and what she looked like and acted like in the future, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it. It must have really been terrible…

"You three!" Master Fung spoke up again, turning to Omi, Clay, and Kimiko. "I never asked you to stop."

"Oh, right!" all three of them replied, launching back into their training routines again.

"Now, Jack…" the temple master continued, turning back. "As I was attempting to explain to you earlier, the Silver Shield isn't an ability that you can conjure with words. You must feel it in your heart, and then just let it flow out through your fingers."

Jack rolled his eyes. "That sounds like something out of a Hallmark card," he muttered to himself.

"Now, position your hands like this…" He shivered as Master Fung gripped his arms and guided them into the right spots. He wasn't too comfortable with an unfamiliar man touching him like this, but thankfully, he released them a second later. "Now…try to remember what you felt like when you produced it before, and just…let it flow through your body…"

Jack felt like an idiot, standing there with his eyes closed and his hands extended at a right angle. If he remembered correctly, that hadn't been where they were when he'd made that weird barrier that Wuya slammed into. All this talk of "feeling it in his heart" and "letting it flow out" was only making him feel stupider. He tried to remember what he'd been thinking when Wuya charged at him, but it was just impossible. The more he tried, the more awkward he felt.

Eventually, Master Fung even had Dojo morph into a scaly green replica of Wuya and fly towards him. "Ow!" the transformed dragon cried when he slammed into Jack's goggles.

"Did I do it?" he asked, hopefully opening his eyes.

"Do what?" Dojo asked, rubbing his tentacle-covered head as it morphed back into a dragon head. "No, you didn't succeed in making the Silver Shield, but you definitely succeeded in bruising my head…owwww…" Dojo hovered near him for a moment, expecting an angry comeback, but Jack just lowered his arms and sighed.

"…This is useless," he decided, turning to head back to the dormitory hallway.

Kimiko, Omi, and Clay immediately stopped their training routine, and Master Fung at last let them go to follow him. It looked like this was going to take even longer than he'd thought.

-

"Okay, we've got a new schedule list now," Clay announced, handing out sheets of paper to the other three. "...Guess I got statue duty again…"

Jack looked, confusedly down at his sheet. It was a typed calendar. Each day of the week had a time on it, followed by each of their names, with a specific task. For example, today, it read: 5:00- Clay Bailey- dust statues, Kimiko Toho- cook dinner, Omi- clean the upstairs chambers, Jack Spicer- sweep the downstairs meeting hall. "Ch-ch-ch-chores?" he cried in alarm. "I have to go sweep some stupid meeting hall? You never told me about this earlier!"

"Well, of course," Omi replied. "You have to do chores around the temple to earn your keep. It's only fair."

"Depends on who you're asking. I certainly don't think it's fair. I've never had to do any chores at home."

"Because you're a spoiled brat, just like Kimiko!" Omi replied, with a smile.

"What did you say?" Kimiko and Jack said at the same time, looming, threateningly over the little monk.

"Eh heh…nothing, nothing!"

"Actually, you should be grateful, Jack," Kimiko spoke up as she turned away from Omi. "You got the easiest job today. The meeting room is pretty big, but there's hardly any furniture, so it should be no problem to sweep it. …I have to cook…" She frowned at her impending task.

"Okay, okay," Jack finally complied. He looked back down at the schedule for the rest of the week. "…But some of this is going to have to change," he added when he noticed that on Thursday, he was the one cooking dinner.

"And one more thing about the chores…" Clay spoke up, slipping a small, circular piece of metal out of his pocket. "…You're allowed to use Shen-Gong-Wu! Mantis Flip Coin!" With that, the blond cowboy went whirling through the air, pulling out a duster, and clearing off the hard-to-reach statues near the ceiling.

After his little demonstration, Kimiko, Omi, and Jack all rushed to the vault, and squabbled over the other useful items. Once Omi and Jack grabbed the same Shen-Gong-Wu, and were so caught up in the moment that they almost challenged each other to showdown, but soon remembered that they were on the same side now.

Finally, Kimiko ended up with the Third Arm Sash, so she could do more things in the kitchen at once. Omi grabbed the Shard of Lightning, so he could get all of his work done in a short amount of time.

Jack got a hold of the Sword of the Storm, which he believed would help him blow away all the dirt in the meeting room. Unfortunately, it also broke the only table in the room into two pieces, and he got a little lecture from Master Fung afterwards. Something would definitely have to be done about this for tomorrow…

-

"Well, partners, it's time to hit the hay," Clay announced as he led everyone towards the dormitory hallway.

"Agreed," Omi replied. "Today was a most tiresome one." He slipped into his cubicle, which was the last in the row.

Jack, however, stopped in his tracks and pulled up his sleeve to look at his digital watch (since he couldn't read real clocks). "It's only 8:30!" he cried in exasperation. "Do you always go to bed this early?"

"Um, yeah…" Kimiko replied, flashing an odd glance over at him. "What time do you usually go to bed?"

"Whenever I get too tired to concentrate anymore."

"That's not good for you," Omi criticized, poking his head out of his thin paper "door casing". "One needs plenty of sleep to be strong and alert for the next day, and especially in our stage of development…"

"He sounds like a doctor," Kimiko commented.

"Well, other brilliant inventors like me only sleep a few minutes all through the day, so I think my sleeping patterns are just a sign of my genius."

Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

"Well, you can go to bed if you want, but I'm going downstairs. …I've got to work on a few devices to better guard the Vault."

"Hey…" Kimiko said, as she slowly began to realize it for the first time. "Now that you're on our side…and Wuya's trapped in that Soul Scepter…just what are we defending the Shen-Gong-Wu vault from?" They looked blankly at each other, wondering the same thing themselves and wondering why they hadn't thought about that before.

"Ehheheheh…" Jack falsely chuckled to himself as he scratched his head, sheepishly. "Good question!" The three Xiaolin Warriors rolled their eyes at him again.

"Well, g'night, Jack," Kimiko mumbled. "Just don't stay up all night. We've got training tomorrow at 7:00."

Jack froze. "AM?" he cried. "Geez…crazy monks. Who gets up at 7:00 if they don't go to school?"

"And then we have our lessons at 8:00…" Kimiko was still talking to herself, half to inform Jack, and half to frighten him. "Darn, I forget to do my homework. Master Sensi will be mad at me…"

"…Lessons? Homework? I can't take it anymore!" With that, Jack finally turned and stormed down a staircase a little ways to the back of the temple. He came to a wooden door, marked with a special sign he'd made himself.

It had gone through a small revision, but it still looked good at this new spot. The sign, which had once read "Jack Spicer's Evil Laboratory" in black, pointed letters, now had the prefix "Non" splashed over "Evil" in red paint to read "Jack Spicer's Non-Evil Laboratory."

Inside, everything was arranged rather sloppily, and at first he set to work reorganizing the steel cabinets, desks, and leftover scrap metal. He had an entire bureau devoted to tools in one end, and in the other was his cabinet full of Jack-bots. Next he cleared off a large, shiny table, where he would actually work, and hooked up his gigantic, lighting-fast research computer. But ironically, after he started it up, it loaded like a snail, and he realized that he had a lot of things to delete out of the memory, like video files of reference "examples", mapmaking programs, and loads of Wuya junk.

"Well, there's my challenge list," he said to himself and took a moment to print that out before deleting everything in the folder.

There was an additional feature that he had usually hooked up to the closet he stored the Shen-Gong-Wu in. It allowed him, for example, to just press the indicated button for "Monkey Staff" and the Monkey Staff would come shooting out of the cabinet at him, if it was in his possession. There was no need for that anymore, since his Shen-Gong-Wu just went into the vault along with the others'. But maybe, Jack slowly realized, I could set up a system like this for the Vault. So at least I really will be doing something for them, besides…

He let his thoughts wander off and watched the items flashing by on the monitor as he held down the "Delete" key. He had to delete practically everything off this computer in order to purge it of its former evil ways. He even deleted his ages old screensaver of the Grim Reaper. After this wiping out of data, it looked almost blank and empty. Well…it was time to begin his new work.

Just then, right as Jack was about to start plotting out the first of his new devices, he glanced up and happened to notice a night vision camera mounted on the wall above. That was right. They had said something about monitoring him so that they could make sure he was only working on things that would be beneficial to them. Oh, well…

There was a power cord dangling out of the back of the camera and tucked up to the room above this one. Obviously, the Xiaolin Warriors hadn't had much time to set up an appropriate security camera. This one didn't even follow his movements.

Jack carefully crept into a blind spot next to the tools bureau and fished out a pair of wire cutters. He tiptoed back over to the camera and with one snip of the large scissors, chopped the power cord in two. "Oooop-sies," he said to himself with a familiar, crafty grin.

Then, finally, while the other Xiaolin Dragons were peacefully snoozing above, Jack picked up a pile of old metal- the embodiment of his powers- and began to design something entirely new out of it.