Chapter 4
"I-It's mine!" cried Jack soaring down to the ground reaching his hand out for Rai's medallion.
"Oh no you don't!"
Clay leapt in the air and thrusted his arm forward.
Jack and Clay both grabbed the medallion at the same time!
Rai stood helplessly like a statue as Jack said the infamous words.
"Clay, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!"
Clay looked up at his nemesis, only one eye showing through his straw colored hair.
"Name your game, ya' yellow-bellied thumb sucker."
Jack tore Rai's medallion off his neck and threw it into the rainforest.
"Whoever finds the medallion in the forest wins. My Third Arm Sash for your Falcon's Eye!"
"I accept!"
Then Jack and Clay said the final line in unison.
"Let's go! XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!"
With a burst of white light and a crashing boom, the trees turned 30 feet taller and the branches became larger, longer and stretching out across the landscape.
Clay and Rai were now in their navy blue ninja uniforms and the screen split between Clay and Jack as they shouted: "GONG YI TAN PAI!"
Jack flew through the tree tops on his helipack while Clay hopped from one gigantic branch to another.
"You can do it Clay!" Rai yelled from one of the side trees.
Clay gave him a thumbs up and disappeared to another branch.
Rai smiled, he couldn't stop the wave of thoughts that washed up in his head.
Man…he is so cool…wait…WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING! CLAY'S IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHOWDOWN AND I STILL CAN'T STOP STARING AT HIM! GOD, I'M SUCH A FREAK!
But then something caught his eye…in a little puddle at the forest floor.
"CLAY! I see it! It's right there! Second tree over!"
Clay nodded and ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the direction where Rai pointed. High up in the tree top, he activated his wu to see it clearly.
"Falcon's Eye!"
The telescope-like wu made him able to see the shining medallion in crystal vision.
"I see it!"
Clay jumped down from the tree branch to the forest floor and ran to the small puddle. Jack flew next to him, appearing out of nowhere. Pushing Clay out of the way, Jack activated his wu.
"Third Arm Sash!" Jack's wu was merely seconds away from grabbing the wu.
Clay had to act now. After all, it wasn't just a Sheng Gong Wu…it was Rai's medallion.
Pushing himself off the ground, Clay violently pounded his fists into the floor with great force.
"EARTH!"
Instantly, a huge wall of earth blocked the path of the Third Arm Sash and sent it flying back to Jack. Jack fell to the ground as Clay ran to the other side of the clearing to get the wu. Jack recovered quickly and smirked as he scrambled to his feet.
"Heh. Too slow!"
The Third Arm Sash grabbed Clay's leg and tripped him, while Jack snatched the Spiral of Demons.
"No!" cried Clay desperately.
But it was too late.
Another blinding flash of light declared the end of the showdown and set the landscape back to its original form.
"Hahaha! Score! So long Losers!" cackled the red-headed goth as he flew away with three Sheng Gong Wu cradled in his arms.
Clay was back on his feet and Rai was a short distance away, eyeing Clay clenching both his fists and his teeth, shaking with livid anger.
Rai was almost cowering in fear of Clay's fury. He had never really seen negative open emotions of Clay before. In fact, he wasn't used to seeing Clay showing any emotion at all. His face was either blank or unreadable…at least before this week. It scared Rai when he thought about what Clay might do with his anger…if any actions at all. He could deal with Kimiko channeling her rage into something physical, but she did that practically every day; unlike Clay who was always so calm and controlled…
Dojo appeared from under Clay's hat and transformed into his larger size.
"Don't worry Clay. There's always next time."
Clay ignored Dojo's words of encouragement, but his anger subsided slightly; Rai could tell by the lack of tenseness in his shoulders and the unclenched fists but he didn't dare look at his face.
As Clay swung on to Dojo, Rai was still deciding where to sit. His mind told him to keep his distance from the Dragon of Earth, but his heart told him to move closer.
Rai decided to listen to his heart and move only one spike away from Clay.
Flying through the sky usually gave Rai an exhilarating and delightful feeling, but not this time. He was lost in thought. One side of his mind was thinking about how to approach Clay when the time was right and the other side was wandering in sorrow about his missing medallion. He traced his finger around his neck; disheartening feelings consumed him when he didn't feel a golden chain or a weight on his neck.
Suddenly, Rai thought he heard a sound coming from Clay. He couldn't make out what the word was though.
"W-What was that, Clay?"
"Sorry. I lost the showdown. I lost your medallion. I wasn't fast enough to beat Jack. Sorry."
Rai was shocked. Clay's voice wasn't carrying any trace of anger or aggravation. It was the tone of voice that he used with Rai last night…a soft, sweet, gentle voice.
Rai let his emotions take over; relieving the feelings he had to deal with for more than a day as he threw his arms around Clay's neck and pulled him into a warm, tight hug.
Rai could feel Clay's rapid heart beat in the palm of his hand. Clay was blushing a deep shade of red as he turned around in sheer disbelief.
"R-Rai?"
The Dragon of Wind smiled. Now it was his turn to be unpredictable.
"It's ok. We'll get it back! It wasn't your fault, Clay."
After a moment of great silence, Clay reached over and held onto Rai's arm.
"Thank you."