Chapter 17: The Crystal Glasses
Music played loudly in Jack's basement lair, almost too loud to think. By now, Wuya would have been screaming at him to turn it off as he ignored her and added to his robot army. Every encounter with the Xiaolin Warriors left him with less and less robots, so Jack was stuck working on them a lot more than he had before he'd unleashed Wuya into the world.
Apparently the music didn't bother Rory, who was sitting across the couch that he'd had his robots drag down when he'd first taken over the basement - he didn't think his parents had even noticed the theft. Rory seemed to either be oblivious to the music, or didn't care about its volume as she read some dusty tome that she'd brought with her.
"Are all you Xiaolin losers, nerds?" Rory looked up from her book, arching an eyebrow at Jack's comment. He smirked. "Always training and studying. Don't you know how to do anything fun?" he taunted. Rory set her book down beside her and crossed her legs to rest her hands on her ankles.
"I could always break some more of your robots. That's always fun," she offered with a friendly smile.
"Uh uh, not here you won't," Jack called her bluff, confident that she wouldn't do anything of the sort.
"Well, I like reading, so-"
"Nerd."
"So unless you want me bugging you while you're muttering all your declarations of world domination while fixing robots," Rory continued, ignoring the insult. "Let me read," she told him.
"I don't mutter all my declarations," Jack defended weakly. Rory looked sceptical. "Well I can't talk about any of my plans when you're around. Let me have this," he complained, folding his arms and sulking.
"Yeah yeah," Rory shook her head, and went back to her book. As she heard him get back to work, she glanced up, watching him work curiously.
It wasn't very long after Wuya had been imprisoned by Raimundo and the world had returned to normal, as if she hadn't briefly taken over.
Jack had been perfecting his tracker, which would alert him and lead him straight to newly activated Shen Gong Wu, figuring out how to stop the glitches where it picked up older Shen Gong Wu when they were used. So focused on what he was doing with music blasting, he hadn't even registered that he was no longer alone until someone tapped him on the shoulder.
He'd screamed and leapt into the air, clinging to the light over his workstation, before hearing a laugh. Cracking his eyes open, he'd seen Rory standing there. Or who he assumed was Rory, considering her surprisingly short hair, and that she'd traded her usual yellow hoodie for an oversized beige cardigan and white t-shirt over her shorts.
"Sorry," she apologised, accent proving that it was her.
"Jackbots!" immediately launching into a defensive, Jack called on his robots, who immediately surrounded Rory.
"Hey! I'm not here to fight!" Rory protested, raising her hands in a placating manner. "I swear," she insisted, and Jack scowled suspiciously, not getting down from the light. The robots seemed to hesitate as well, as if expecting her to start smashing through them.
"Then why are you here? Trying to steal the few Shen Gong Wu I have left?" Jack accused.
"If I was doing that, would I have come alone?" Rory asked, exasperated. "I just…" she trailed off, and Jack watched her, his suspicion not lessening as she shrugged. "I dunno. Needed to get my head showered of the temple for a bit," Rory shrugged.
"You what?" Jack asked, before his grip finally slipped and he landed on the table with a cry.
"I needed away from the temple for a bit," Rory rolled her eyes, not moving as Jack groaned. "One day someone will understand what I'm saying," she grumbled.
"Unlikely," he replied, sitting up. She shot him an irritated glare. "So why here?" Jack asked, still confused. They weren't friends; they've barely tolerated each other even when allied. Their last encounter had even ended with Rory taunting him for not realising she held the Golden Tiger Claws.
"No clue," Rory admitted honestly. "It was just the first place that came to mind. I'm not here to spy on whatever you have planned," Rory felt herself blush in embarrassment as she berated herself. Why had she gone to Jack's lair, of all places?
"Just...don't break anything," to her surprise, Jack shrugged and turned back to check for any damage done to his tracker after falling on it. Rory tilted her head, watching him as the robots dispersed, no longer ready to fight her. He then jumped when she suddenly stood beside him. "Can you not do that?" Jack frowned. Rory was surprised by how jumpy he was, before a thought came to her.
'Without Wuya, I guess it's just him and the robots. Maybe he's…lonely?' Rory shook her head, dismissing the thought.
"Sorry," she apologised, and he snorted.
"So easy to get you to apologise, Rapunzel," Jack said, and looked up. He seemed to scrutinise her new appearance, and smirked when Rory frowned back. The nickname still annoyed her, and she didn't like how judgemental he looked. "Yup. You're still Rapunzel. Even with that hair-hey!" he cried out, diving out of the way when she grabbed a piece of metal and threw it at him.
"My name is Rory. It's four letters!" she threw a screwdriver at him as he hid behind a table. Once she ran out of things to throw, Rory took a breath and Jack peeked out.
"You have a worse temper than Wuya," he complained, looking at the parts now scattered around.
"Then stop calling me that stupid name," Rory replied, starting to pick up the things she'd thrown. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Urgh, you do-gooders," he shook his head and returned to his workstation to continue fixing his tracker. "Even cleaning up your own messes," Jack scoffed. To his surprise, Rory chuckled a little, and tugged on the white strands of her hair.
"I guess that's the Xiaolin side for you," she shrugged, and looked around. "I meant to ask last time. Did you seriously build all this stuff?" Rory asked, seeing various machines of all shapes and sizes scattered around. Jack's chest puffed out proudly.
"Damn right I did," he confirmed, launching into a speech about his genius.
After a few months of random visits, Rory was pretty sure she was starting to understand why he put up with her. Wuya had been an almost constant presence for him before she'd turned on him and taken Mala Mala Jong to try and take over the world. Katnappe treated him like she treated everyone else - with contempt that reminded Rory of the creatures she was so obsessed with. Jack had even built a duplicate of himself as a new partner, although that was short-lived before the robot had betrayed him, and Rory had destroyed him.
A shiver ran down Rory's spine, and she looked around quickly. Wuya's presence. She was on her way. And Rory had no intention of letting her know that she was hanging around.
"I better head back," she stood, slipping on the Golden Tiger Claws.
"Yeah yeah," Jack didn't look up from his robot. "More training and all that boring stuff," he waved a hand dismissively.
"Sure," Rory laughed lightly. "Golden Tiger Claws!" she jumped through the tear she cut, and vanished.
Humming to herself as she drew in the notebook that her dad had given her for her birthday, Rory couldn't remember where she'd heard the song that was in her head, but it was helping her come up with a new dance. She wondered what her old teacher would say about what she had come up with more recently.
"Hey Rory," she looked up as Kimiko peeked in through the curtains.
"Hey," Rory smiled back. Kimiko stepped into the small room that Rory claimed as her own, and took a seat. "Uh oh, I know that look. What's Rai done now?" Rory guessed when she saw the poorly concealed anger.
"Being a jerk as always," Kimiko grumbled, reaching out and taking the book from Rory.
"I thought you guys were playing the new game your dad sent you," Rory let her flip through the pages, used to Kimiko being nosy about what she did.
"We were," Kimiko nodded. "But he got all moody when I beat him again," she complained, irritated with the Dragon of Wind who she had been hanging out with. "Will you play with me? He took off to annoy Omi," Kimiko asked her hopefully.
"Sure," Rory nodded. They had a rare free day, and she was happy to spend some time with Kimiko.
Especially since the Dragon of Fire didn't ask where she kept disappearing off to.
Kimiko wasn't stupid, and Rory knew it. She knew that Kimiko, at the very least, was aware that Rory would leave the temple for a few hours at a time. But Kimiko also knew that since she'd started doing it, Rory had been a lot more relaxed and open with them. It was a relief to everyone, knowing that Rory had seemed to accept what Master Fung had said about her role as the Dragon of Light. When she'd vanished the day she'd learned about it, Kimiko had worried that she wouldn't return.
"Come on," Kimiko handed back the notebook, and Rory put it away before they left her room to go to the main room in their quarters. As they stepped in, they heard Master Fung call out.
"Ah, Aurora," she looked around at their teacher, wondering what he wanted. "I have someone here to meet you," Master Fung told her. Rory looked at Kimiko, who shrugged, and the two followed the man.
Stepping into the main hall, Rory stopped, eyes going wide as she stared at the woman waiting. She was tall, with silvery-grey hair, and wore a pink and black tunic over black trousers.
"Ah, Aurora," she greeted. "It's good to see you again," she smiled as Rory blinked rapidly, stunned to see her.
"Who…" Rory followed her, eyes wide as they left the boy groaning on the ground. "Who are you?" she asked as the woman walked out of the alleyway and out into the street.
"No time for that now, Aurora," Rory stiffened at the use of her name. "I believe you have a quest that requires your attention," the woman told her gently.
"How do you know my name?" she demanded, staring at the woman. She smiled back patiently at her.
"In time, dear girl. We will meet again soon," the woman told her.
"You're the one I met in New York. When I was looking for Omi," Rory remembered her. She'd never gotten an answer about who the mysterious woman was, only that she would see her again.
"Indeed," Master Fung nodded as he stood beside her. "This is Master Hua. She teaches the Xiaolin ways in another temple," he introduced her. Master Hua bowed, and Rory and Kimiko bowed back.
"I also have a little experience in dealing with you Dragons," Master Hua added, smiling. "Though not for a very long time," she admitted with a laugh, seeming nostalgic, but her smile was a little sad.
"Master Hua has offered to train you, Aurora. Only for a short time," he stopped Rory before she could protest. Panic had immediately set into the girl, thinking she was being sent away "It will only be for a few days," Master Fung explained, and both Rory and Kimiko took a breath, relieved.
"This time, anyway," Master Hua added cheerfully.
"Why just Rory?" Kimiko asked, thinking the same as the girl beside her.
"Master Fung tells me that the rest of you have already begun to master your Dragon element," Master Hua said, and Rory went red. She already felt behind, and now it was being made apparent. "And I have had experience with a Dragon of Light in the past. Even a few days of training can make a world of difference," she said. Rory looked at Kimiko, and shrugged.
"Well, what's the worst that could happen?" she asked with a faint smile.
The temple that Master Hua ran was much different to the one that Rory was used to. It was smaller, located in the Mountains, and there were only a few who lived there.
Rory hadn't been given much time to settle in before she had been pulled into training with Master Hua. And by training, what she meant was meditation. Rory had been meditating for a few hours with her new teacher. Cracking an eye open, Rory looked to the woman sitting cross-legged beside her.
"Bored already?" she jolted when Master Hua spoke, amused.
"S-sorry," Rory blushed, and the woman laughed, opening her eyes.
"It's quite okay. I hated meditation at your age too, a very long time ago," she said, twisting one of the beads in her hair. "Okay, I suppose that's enough meditation. Now," Master Hua stood and stretched, taking a few steps away from Rory. "I'd take stock of how far along you are. Spar with me," she requested.
"With you?" Rory's voice instantly took on a wary tone.
"Don't worry, it's just sparring," Master Hua smiled, but Rory didn't exactly trust it. She'd seen how the woman had easily taken out the boys who had been trying to harass Rory. She was fast, and strong. Rory then shook her head, and got to her feet. She wouldn't get anywhere if she was scared.
Master Hua's smile widened very slightly as Rory faced her, moving into her preferred fighting stance. She gave the girl a few seconds to brace herself, before rushing in and throwing a kick higher than she seemed capable of. Rory raised her hand quickly, managing to block it while planting her feet, before throwing a punch of her own. Master Hua dodged, jumping backwards, but Rory followed, moving around the woman to kick at the back of her legs. However, Master Hua caught her leg and shoved her backwards. As Rory tried to catch herself, the woman reached out and pushed her just hard enough to make her overbalance and fall.
Rory landed heavily, wincing, and looked up as her teacher offered her hand.
"Very nice," she praised, and Rory tilted her head.
"I didn't even land a hit," she pointed out. Master Hua just laughed, pulling her up.
"But you didn't hesitate. Even though I'm your teacher, and you have no Shen Gong Wu to help, you fought with heart," she said, which didn't help clarify things for the girl. "I wanted to see how confident you were in your own skills. Without having to rely on Shen Gong Wu. As useful in battle they can be, they are no substitution for your own skills," Master Hua explained to her as Rory fixed her training robes.
"Master Fung made sure we knew that," she said honestly, looking up at the woman.
"I would expect nothing less. But I just like to see for myself," Master Hua told her, and turned, leading her out of the hall. Rory looked up at the sky, which was already growing dark. Still unused to her new surroundings, it felt almost surreal, and Rory increased her pace to keep up with her taller teacher. "For the record, I did disagree with the decision to keep you in the dark about the downsides of being the Dragon of Light," Rory jolted at the sudden topic change. Master Hua watched her out of the corner of her eye. "But it does seem like you're adjusting well to the news. In your own way," she watched as Rory looked away, trying to hide her nervous look.
"It was a lot to process," the girl admitted, hoping that Master Hua wouldn't pry too much.
"No-one would blame you if you were struggling," the gentle words made Rory stop, surprised. Master Hua turned to her. "Especially with your upbringing," she coaxed. The anger that was still simmering under the surface bubbled, and Rory's fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into the palms of her hands. Rory met the woman's brown eyes.
"I spent my whole life trying to be who my parents pushed me to be and getting frustrated if I couldn't meet those expectations. This quiet, well-mannered person, like they were afraid that if I was myself, I'd be on the Heylin side," Rory's voice shook. "I spent so long trying to be who they want me to be, that I don't even know who I am," she gave a helpless shrug, her gaze dropping to the ground. She jumped when a hand rested softly on her head, and she looked up.
"I believe one of Master Fung's favourite sayings is 'the journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step'," Master Hua still had her soft smile. There was no pity in her expression. Only a strange fondness. "You will figure that out as you go, Rory. That is what you prefer to be called, right?" she asked, and a laugh escaped Rory even as tears stung her eyes.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"If anything, trust in my belief. I may not truly know you yet, but I have a very hard time believing that you'd be swayed to the Heylin side," Master Hua told her. The words had a huge effect on Rory, who smiled fully at her.
"Thanks, Master Hua," she said, suddenly feeling a lot better.
Time flew for Rory as she spent the next few days in Master Hua's care. While she missed her friends, it was a brand new experience for her, and she was making the most of it.
However, that didn't stop her from feeling sad when she was messaging Kimiko, who was telling her all about the latest Shen Gong Wu that they'd found, and with it, a potential new student, Vlad. She didn't like that she was missing out on a Shen Gong Wu adventure.
'Typical that it's another guy, but the more the merrier when kicking Jack's butt, right? Please tell me you're coming back soon!' Kimiko's latest message read, making Rory laugh a little. She sent a reply, looking forward to meeting the newbie, before looking up as someone took a seat beside her.
"How's life at the other temple?" Huxian asked with his easy smile. Much like Omi, Huxian was an orphan who had found a home at the temple, studying under Master Hua. He was older than Rory - almost 18 - and his black hair was kept out of his face as usual, as he continued to refuse to shave it like the rest of the monks. His bright green eyes remained focused on Rory for a moment, before he started to eat his breakfast.
"Same as ever, it seems," Rory replied, slipping her phone away. "Good morning, by the way," she added.
"Mornin'," Huxian replied with a mouthful of rice.
"It's like I'm back home," Rory said dryly. When he looked up, rice clung around his mouth. "You eat as gracefully as the lads I live with," she told him, and Huxian huffed.
"It's a sign of appreciation," he told her loftily.
"You'd appreciate it more if it went into your mouth instead of around it," Rory shot back.
"Ah, good morning," Master Hua's call made Huxian quickly wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. Rory snorted, and he shot her a glare.
"Good morning, Master Hua," he then turned a smile on their teacher as she approached. Rory greeted her as well as they turned to her.
"Ready to go, Rory?" Master Hua asked, and Rory got to her feet.
"Always," she nodded. She was covered in bruises from their training sessions, and she knew she'd be coming away with more afterwards.
"Master, could I get some advice on my techniques? I feel as if I'm hitting a wall with them," Huxian asked, and Master Hua smiled at him.
"Of course. Once Rory and I are done for the day, we can go over what you've got so far," she told him, putting a hand on Rory's shoulder to guide her away.
It didn't take long for Rory to be on the ground, breathing heavily as she willed her heavy limbs to move and let her stand again. Hua watched from a small distance away, arms folded, with a sharp look to her. She watched without comment as Rory trained, and would speak up now and again if she felt something needed corrected.
Rory then stopped, surprised, when her phone buzzed for a longer beat than usual. Someone was calling her.
"Sorry, Master Hua," she apologised as she lifted her phone, intending on leaving it with her water, and paused when she saw it was Kimiko calling her. Her gaze darted to Master Hua, who nodded.
"Go ahead," she allowed. Rory nodded, and answered, putting the phone to her ear.
"Rory!" she flinched at Kimiko's raised voice, pulling her phone away quickly. "We need you! Please, we-" there was scuffling on the other end.
"The newbie is evil and Omi thinks he's gonna turn evil!" Raimundo's voice took over with Kimiko yelling at him in the background. As Rory tried to process this, there was more scuffling before Clay's voice echoed down the phone.
"We need you, partner. There's a heapin' of Shen Gong Wu just gone active, Vlad's evil, and Omi's as useful as a chocolate fireguard right now," Clay rambled, and Rory put a hand to her head as she processed the shoutings of the three Dragons.
"Rory!" all three chorused.
"Good lord," Rory couldn't stop laughing. "Lads, okay, I get it. Master Hua?" she looked up.
"Go. We're about finished with your training here anyway," Master Hua nodded, entertained by the yelling coming from Rory's phone.
"Come pick me up," Rory spoke into her phone.
Excused by Hua, Rory had returned to her temporary quarters and changed from her training robes into her jeans and oversized pink hoodie, pushing the sleeves up as she stepped back outside.
"It's been a pleasure," Master Hua said as Rory returned to her.
"Thanks for everything, Master Hua," Rory bowed to her. "It's been an...interesting few days," she told the woman, who bowed back to her.
"Indeed it has, Rory. Good luck with your hunt, and if you ever need anything, I'm here," Master Hua told her, a glimmer of a serious look in her eyes despite her usual smile. "And don't fear, I'm sure I'll come up with more training, for you and your friends," she added, looking up as a gust of wind blew Rory's hair around her face.
"Rory!" Dojo hadn't even landed when Kimiko leapt off and threw herself into Rory's arms. "You're never allowed to leave us again," she told the taller girl seriously.
"Apparently not if you're recruiting bad guys as Xiaolin warriors," Rory teased.
"And hey, maybe you can talk some sense into Omi," Raimundo huffed, frustrated at the boy who was shivering on Dojo's back. He was staring at nothing in particular, looking dejected.
"Or maybe you can explain what happened to Dojo?" Rory's nose wrinkled as Kimiko dragged her over. The dragon's scales were shedding, leaving exposed parts of his skin that were covered in nasty rashes.
"I'll explain, but only if you scratch while we fly," Dojo groaned.
"I'm so glad I had a light breakfast," Rory muttered, climbing up onto his back. As Dojo took off, Rory waved to Master Hua as Huxian ran over to the teacher, looking up with wide eyes. Dojo then flew off, still whimpering about his rash.
"Come on Omi," Rory sighed once again, trying to talk some sense into the boy. "You can't really think that you're going to turn evil in the future," she shook her head at the thought.
"The Crystal Glasses show the future. And it showed me on the side of evil, turning on you, my friends. It is not a matter of turning evil, I clearly am evil," Omi sighed. The vision that he'd seen when he'd used their latest Shen Gong Wu to see the future was burned into his mind.
"So you're just going to accept that?" Rory asked him, baffled that he'd just give up.
"Leave me be," he shook his head, refusing to look at any of them. "I'm evil. I will corrupt your quest," Omi told them, hugging his legs into his chest.
"If you were evil, you wouldn't be worried about 'corrupting our quest'," Rory pointed out. Omi didn't reply, not listening to what she had to say. "It's only been a few days, did you really have to break him while I was gone?" Rory huffed, looking over her shoulder at Clay, who shrugged with an apologetic smile. Rory sighed, shooting a weak one back at him before facing forward again, both worried and annoyed with Omi's behaviour.
"We're almost there!" Dojo called a warning as he began his descent towards an abandoned temple deep within the mountains.
"Sense anything?" Raimundo asked, angling his head back to Rory.
"Not Omi, if that's what you mean," Rory folded her arms and closed her eyes as Omi's brow furrowed at the comment. "Hmm...we're still a little far out, I-" she stopped as a myriad of sensations flooded her mind. "Yup, Jack and Wuya. And uh…" she frowned, trying to understand the extra feeling with the two. "There's a third person there. They feel greedy, I think?" Rory guessed.
"If I had to guess, that's probably Vlad," Kimiko scowled.
"I still can't believe you let someone evil join," Rory muttered.
"We can't all be Heylin detectors," Raimundo defended, embarrassed, and Rory stuck her tongue out at him as they landed.
"The Shen Gong Wu are mine! All mine!" Wuya's screech echoed through the caves below as they slid down a steep drop. Her victorious cheers were short-lived as the five Xiaolin warriors slid into view.
"Sorry to bust up your little hoedown," Clay called as they slid in on the block of ice Omi was thawing out of. "But we'll take those off your hands," the cowboy growled.
"What?!" Wuya screeched as all three looked startled to see them. "How can this be?!" she demanded.
"I do not understand," the bulky young man that Rory assumed was Vlad spoke in a thick Russian accent. "How were you so quick in finding him?" he demanded.
"We used a shortcut," Raimundo smirked, holding up the Crystal Glasses.
"Jackbots, attack," sounding bored, Jack activated his robots, who appeared from behind one of the massive stone stalacmites.
"Oh, I haven't missed this," Rory rolled her eyes. She leapt over one of the robots, kicking back and sending it flying into a rock pillar. It exploded on contact, and Rory looked up at the blond man facing her. "You must be Vlad," she straightened up as he glared at her through watery blue eyes.
"And you are?" he sneered, towering over her. She took in the young man, feeling the oppressive energy that radiated from him, and the word gluttony sprang to mind.
"Rory," she answered simply, lunging at him. The young man was faster than his bulky appearance led her to believe, and he knocked Rory backwards with a punch that she barely managed to block.
"Oh yeah, the Dragon of Light. You chose the perfect time to take a holiday," he taunted. Rory blushed at his mocking words, her eyes narrowed. She dove at him again, and as he went to attack her, she stopped.
"Two Ton Tunic!" she yelled, bracing herself. Rory then grunted as the tunic she wore over her uniform transformed from cloth into metal, suddenly weighing much more.
However, Vlad grabbed at her instead of throwing a punch, smirking. The additional weight of the Tunic stopped Rory from being able to move, and he yanked her free of the massive, bulky armour that was too big for her. Released, the Tunic returned to normal, and he tossed her aside with ease.
Rory cried out in pain as she was thrown into one of the robots, which then crashed into Kimiko. "Hey, nobody steals my Shen Gong Wu," she growled, getting to her feet. However, as she did, one of the Jackbots flew by, flinging rope at her. It wrapped around her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides as she fell back down. "That's just rude," Rory complained.
"Snap out of it Omi!" Raimundo pleaded as they found themselves being slowly overwhelmed by the combined forces of the Jackbots and Vlad. "We could use the help!" he told the unresponsive boy. However, the Water Dragon just sighed, not responding.
"Soon you will be my greatest ally!" Wuya cackled, which only made Omi retreat further into himself.
"I'll even write you your own theme music!" Jack declared, singing off-key until he was kicked in the back and fell forwards with a shriek.
"Leave him alone," Rory warned, still struggling with the ropes around her. Jack glanced up at her, and immediately burst out laughing.
"That'd be a lot scarier if you weren't all tied up, Rapunzel!" he taunted her between his loud cackles. Rory's face reddened even more as her anger boiled up inside.
"My name is Rory!" she shouted, stomping her foot. As she did, a white aura surrounded her and exploded out, ripping through the rope and releasing her, while throwing Jack back with another shriek. Wuya hissed and cursed, flying away from it before it could touch her. It cracked the ice that still covered Omi's lower body, and she blinked as she looked down at her hands. "Huh, that's new," Rory murmured.
"Slow down!" Raimundo's wail caught their attention, and they looked up just in time to see him crash into one of the stalactites. The Jackbot that he'd been clinging to shattered, and the Dragon of the Wind clung to the rock formation while the Crystal Glasses fell, landing on Omi's head.
"Rai, be careful!" Rory shouted as she saw the rock pillar beginning to crumble, and it broke apart from the ceiling. As it plummeted towards the ground, Rory saw Clay picking up another of the scattered Shen Gong Wu. "Clay!" she sprinted over, ramming him out of the way. The rock landed directly behind her, pinning the pair against the wall.
"Thank you," Jack laughed as he picked up the Shen Gong Wu, and water began to flow from the cracks in the ground, steadily filling up the cavern.
"Uh oh," Rory gulped as the water snapped Kimiko out of her daze, and she managed to swim to the surface. Clay grunted, managing to manipulate the rock to push Rory free of it, and she climbed up onto the top of it with Raimundo.
"Sweet, we get all the Wu, and they're all wet," Jack laughed, flying higher above the water as Rory and Raimundo shivered.
"Oh, with this Shen Gong Wu, our crushing victory over weak-minded little ones is complete!" Vlad laughed as he stood on dry land beside the last of the artifacts. Jack rolled his eyes.
"Okay, hired muscle. Not paid to gloat," Jack shouted down, carrying the bag of Shen Gong Wu.
"But was so easy to trick weak-minded Omi into thinking he would become evil!" Omi's eyes widened, becoming more aware of what was going on. Vlad continued on with a laugh. "He wears the Crystals Glass, has no idea future he sees is Reverse Mirror trick!" Vlad cackled. Rory's eyes widened as the words sunk in for everyone.
"What?!" Omi gasped as Jack groaned.
"This is why gloating should be left to the mastermind!" he complained.
"So all this was caused by that damn Reversing Mirror? What Omi saw was the complete opposite of what he thought," Rory summed up, looking over at the monk. Omi's eyes narrowed.
"Tsunami Strike, Water!" he yelled, raising his arms. Immediately the water lifted him high into the air, slamming the boy against the rocks and shattering the ice that trapped him. Startled as the ice railed down on him, Jack dropped the bag of Shen Gong Wu, which fell and caught on one of the pointed rocks. Omi landed on solid ground in front of Vlad, grabbing the Wushu Helmet and causing it to glow. "It is time for payback, you lying trickster! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi declared loudly. Vlad glared back at him.
"The contest is: be the first to get out before the cave fills with water," Vlad declared. "I wager Two Ton Tunic," he declared.
"He stole that from me," Rory huffed. Clay patted her head sympathetically.
"And I wager the Crystal Glasses," Omi declared. "Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!" his yell was followed up by blinding light.
When the light faded and Rory lowered her hand, she found that the rocks and pillars in the cave had become golden, floating all around them as the water swirled in a whirlpool around them.
"Gong Yi Tanpai!" the two yelled. The Wushu Helmet then flew off, vanishing into the water, and without missing a beat, Vlad kicked Omi out of the way.
"It is no contest, beating one so puny," he cackled as he continued to run.
"This guy is dumber than a bag of rocks," Rory commented, sitting down to watch the Showdown. "I can't believe he tricked all of you into letting him join," she shook her head.
"Oh shut it. You'd have fallen for it too, if you weren't some magical detector," Raimundo grumbled. Rory arched an eyebrow at him.
"You call me a detector one more time, Wind Boy, and you'll be going in that water," she warned him. Raimundo smirked, but kept quiet as they watched. Omi and Vlad continued to run, coming across dead end after dead end, before almost running into each other.
"Is impossible!" Vlad wailed as he grabbed Omi, shaking the boy as he began to panic. Omi, however, remained calm and raised a hand.
"Water," his voice almost didn't reach the spectators. The rising waters began to recede, and Vlad laughed before tossing Omi aside. He made for the end, only for Omi to raise his hand again. Commanding the water, he created a torrent that slammed into Vlad, sending him flying into the golden pillars. He crashed down, and they landed around him, pinning him to the ground.
"You are still just little boy!" he snarled as Omi stood in front of him. "You will never find way out!" Vlad's declaration didn't rattle the Dragon Apprentice, who surrounded himself in water and used it to propel himself to the top where his friends were waiting. Carrying them off, they made towards the exit.
"The rest of the Wu!" Kimiko spotted the bag as they hurtled up. Holding onto Clay with one hand, Rory reached out and grabbed it, clutching it close as they burst through the ceiling of the temple.
"Dojo!" they all screamed as the water dropped and they began to fall. The dragon emerged from Clay's hat, growing much larger to fly them off and away.
"Nice work, Omi!" Kimiko threw her arms around the boy in a tight hug, and he blushed from her embrace. His delight faded quickly, however, when Rory's punch caught his shoulder and pain exploded out.
"Ow! Hey, I just won us the Shen Gong Wu!" Omi protested, and Rory almost punched him again.
"You almost cost us all the Wu, you eejit!" she snapped, holding the bag in her arms tightly. "Next time, listen to us instead of shutting down and ignoring us just because of some dumb glasses," Rory snatched the Crystal Glasses from Omi's head and shoved them into the bag.
"She's right, partner," Clay nodded. "We're a team, remember?" he offered a smile, more gentle in his approach than the fuming young woman.
"You are correct," Omi sighed, bowing his head as shame took the place of the pride. "I am sorry, my friends. In future, I will listen to you instead," he told them. Rory huffed, but seemed appeased, and the others patted his shoulders with smiles.
Despite it only having been a few days, Rory couldn't help but sigh happily as she returned to the Xiaolin Temple. She'd made a quick stop back to Hua's temple on their way back, picking up her things and say a proper goodbye to Hua.
"Glad to be back?" Kimiko saw the expression on her friend's face, putting an arm around her.
"Absolutely," Rory nodded, hugging her back. "I missed you. And maybe the guys too," she added as they watched the three running ahead, bickering amongst themselves as they carried the haul of Shen Gong Wu to the vault.
"Maybe," Kimiko nodded, and the two giggled as they followed. Rory sobered, taking a breath.
"Kimi, something weird happened back in that cave," she admitted, and Kimiko turned to look up at her, tilting her head curiously. After taking a hit from behind, she'd barely been aware of what was going on. "I think I unlocked a new power," Rory confessed, and Kimiko smiled widely.
"That's great! Looks like that training with Master Hua paid off," her excitement was infectious, and Rory smiled in response. With the other four having started to learn how to control their new powers, Rory felt like she was falling behind - even if Raimundo was still a Dragon-in-Training.
"Welcome back," they looked up as Master Fung approached, smiling at the pair. "Did I hear you say you had unlocked a new power, Aurora?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah," Rory's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. "I didn't even realise I was doing it, I just got real mad," she started, thinking back to the moment in the cave. "It was this…weird feeling, like a tingling all over me, and it kind of just, exploded out," Rory explained. Their teacher nodded, looking thoughtful.
"The Dragon of Light does indeed have that sort of capability, to emit a burst of light," he considered. "With the correct training, it will only affect those in tune with the darkness. But until then, it is a risky ability. You must always be aware of your surroundings," Master Fung advised Rory. She nodded, wondering just how she was supposed to even start with such a move. Seeing her brow furrow, Master Fung smiled warmly and put a hand on her shoulder. "It is good to have you back with us, Aurora," he said.
"Yeah it is," Kimiko hugged her again, and Rory's smile returned.
"Thanks," she leaned her head against Kimiko's, glad to be back home.
Rory's ability makes it interesting to work in when this team really like adopting bad guys.
I hope you liked it!
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