Wow, I never expected this to be such a hit! All these reviews, in just a week...thanks majorly for all the reviews and support! Love you all! You guys keep me going!
Anyways,this may seem a little shorter than usual, and more dramatic than the show might ever be...sorry. But I hope you like it none the less. (And yes,I inserted more Raimundo/Kim jealousy, some of you seemed to like it,heh) Enjoy!
It was late at night when the monks finally decided to go to bed. Everyone was now snuggled warmly in their stalls…save for Kimiko. She was outside, on the shrine steps, holding a small electronic console in her hands. She seemed to be writing on it with a metal pen, and paused, to check for spelling mistakes.
"What're you doing?" a familiar male voice asked. Startled, Kimiko turned around to find Jack behind her, tilting his head in curiosity.
"Oh, hey Jack." Kimiko greeted, and then went back to her console. "I'm sending an e-mail to my dad. He wants me to do it at least once a week, so he knows how I'm doing."
Jack sat next to her, scratching his head. "So you guys don't live here with your family?"
Kimiko raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "What gave you that idea?"
He shrugged. "Seemed logical, I guess. So you all came here, alone, willingly, to do this monk thing?"
She nodded. "We all had our own different ways of finding out about this place. For my family and me, I located it on the Internet…a shrine that was taking in new students, for them to learn fighting skills and obtain enlightenment. I thought it would be something cool to do…and I was bored, anyway." When Jack didn't say anything, she continued…he seemed rather interested, although it was probably due to the Arrow, or so she told herself. "My dad creates toys, and a lot of the time he was too busy working to spend quality time with me. My mom died when I was really little, so dad was worried I wasn't going to be feminine, so he objected to this whole monk thing at first. But eventually I convinced him I could use the fighting skills, if I'm ever faced in a really tough situation. So this way, I meet new friends, find something better to do with my life-"
"And give your daddy payback for not paying attention to you!" Jack finished, grinning.
Kimiko stared at him as if he had three heads. "No! I love my dad! Sheesh, Jack, why does everything has to be so morbid with you?"
He shrugged again. "Made sense to me. At least in your case anyway. After this is all over, your dad's going to never leave you alone again, and then you'll be happy and all that mushy stuff."
Kimiko's face pinched in thought, and she rested her head on a hand, using an elbow for support. "Jack…do you have problems with your parents?"
Jack blinked several times, quiet for a moment. Finally, he looked up at the night sky. "I wouldn't say it's a problem…" He stretched the word. "But I guess we're kind in the same boat. My dad's an investor, so he's mega rich. It's the only way I'm able to build all of my robots…he never notices how much is gone in his account, because in a second, he can earn it all back. He and mom go to all these fancy-shmancy parties, and just forget about me for a while. Not like I care or anything." He added the last sentence quickly, eyes darting away. "They don't know about my robots, or my evil lair, or that I am, in fact, an evil boy genius!"
"So is that why you became evil?" Kimiko asked softly. "As a rebellion against them?"
"No way!" Jack barked, but was grinning. "It's because evil is COOL! All the high-tech weapons, tons of little henchmen groveling at your feet, respect from your fellow villains, and then world domination!" He inserted a classic cliché evil laugh, until he noticed Kimiko crossing her arms, glaring at him. "Okay, okay, maybe a LITTLE is because of my folks. But everything else is really cool!"
Kimiko put the console aside for now. "And just what are you going to do when you have world domination?" She snapped, expecting the worst…innocent people tortured, slaves everywhere, sheer misery for the entire planet.
Jack blinked, again, for a few moments, as if he had never really considered this. He finally thought of an answer. "Well, first, like any villain, I'm going to have this…this Legion of Doom serving under me! And, uh, then unite all the countries into one big mass, and it'll be called Jack-Land! Or…Jack-opolis! Or Jack-Planet! And I want a really big statue of me, too…my giant robots can build that, so everyone can come and watch their great leader. So when they go through their dull, ordinary lives, they know what an awesome leader they have!"
Now Kimiko was the one blinking in surprise. Compared to other villains they had met, like Wuya and Chase Young, his idea of world conquest sounded…pretty tame. He wasn't even going to force people into building the statue for him! She then smirked, teasing him just a little. "That's nice and all, but you do know that's never going to happen, with us monks around?"
"Of course not." Jack replied, surprising Kimiko. "I'm not going to take over the world if you don't want me to, Kimiko."
Like a stab to the heart, Kimiko felt guilt hit dead on. Of course he couldn't answer that truthfully…thanks to that Arrow. In fact, he probably would have never told her about this past and his dreams, if not for that Shen Gong Wu. To Kimiko, this wasn't the real Jack Spicer…and she felt horrible about it.
"Something wrong?" Jack asked, noticing the sadness in her face.
"Huh? Oh, it's…it's nothing, really. I think I'll go to bed." Kimiko stood up, grabbing her console, and began to walk off. She had to get out that Arrow…none of this friendship, these emotions were real for either of them. It was all commanded. As far as she knew, she was holding him hostage, and couldn't reveal his true nature.
"You know…" Jack's voice suddenly cut in again. "I never thought my plans would be ruined by kids my own age."
Kimiko stopped, and turned around. She hadn't asked him what he felt about her team. So why…?
"When I first saw all of you, I thought you were just random guys who wanted the Shen Gong Wu for yourselves. I didn't think you'd be this powerful, or cause so much trouble. Even Wuya was surprised."
Kimiko, slowly, began walking back to her seat, listening. She knew this wasn't the Arrow's work…
"Speaking of the old hag, she, and you guys, made me see how pointless my efforts were before. No matter how hard or tried, or how badly I wanted it, I wasn't going to take over the world. I needed the Shen Gong Wu…without them, I wasn't going anywhere. Then I met all of these new villains, and realized just how much I needed the Wu even more. I couldn't take on these guys, or you monks, without them." Jack looked down at his lap. "This whole Wu thing has really changed me…these fights made me build stronger, better robots than I could have ever imagined before…And you…" He looked at Kimiko, who now sat next to him again. "You monks can be huge pain's in the rear, but you also made me realize what I am without the Wu. There are probably all sorts of heroes out here that could beat me silly, and you're just the ones that happen to cross paths with me."
There seemed to be an endless pause of silence, before Kimiko found her voice. "That's…some speech." She finally commented. "I guess even evil boy geniuses have deep thoughts too."
Jack nodded, then paused, and then dug a finger into his ear. "Oh man, don't you hate that feeling when you can actually feel the ear wax in your ears?"
Kimiko slapped a hand to her face. Most likely that whole 'Wu' speech was the most profound thing he was ever going to say for a while. Judging from the stupid look on his face as he dug harder…most likely a while would be many, many years.
She shook her head, and then just began laughing. Jack stared at her, then, joined in, both laughing endlessly into the night.
"Look at them, laughing." Raimundo sneered, his head, along with two others, poking from around a corner. "Bet they're laughing at us!"
"You woke us up for this?" Clay yawned, rubbing one of his eyes. "They're just having fun."
"Fun my foot!" Raimundo barked, glaring at Clay. "They could be cooking some huge conspiracy against us!"
"I must disagree with you, Raimundo." Omi sleepily replied, leaning against a wall for support. "I do not smell anything cooking. Plus, they are merely enjoying each other's company. We have laughed plenty of times with Kimiko, this does not seem any different. You are acting most envious."
"I am not." Raimundo stressed, pouting. "I am…the opposite of envious! I'm anything BUT envious! I'm…un-envious!"
"And I'm tired." Clay sighed, heading back to his bedroom stall. "See ya'll in the morning."
Omi followed him and, soon, Raimundo did as well. He began to wonder…could Jack really be a good guy? It sounded beyond bizarre.
Master Fung began to blow out the candles in the main shrine, when he noticed something sticking to the door. It was a note. Walking over, he plucked it off, and read it. He stroked his beard in thought. "This does not bode well."
End of Chapter Three.