HAHA! I'M BACK! AT LONG LAST!
okay, getting on with it. I have a few notes... As you may already know, this is the final chapter of Gusts of Wind (TT)
I really hope i can put another story on FFN sometime soon. I mean, i have this Pokemon one, but i'm not really sure about putting it on... It's filled with angst and/or drama of course, since i specialize in that kind of stuff now a'days. if you think you'd want this Pokemon one to be put up, or if you want to learn more about it (if you're interested, which i bet you're not.) just e-mail, PM, or IM me...
okay. and i want to thank each and every one of my reviewers, because you guys are the freakin bomb. (hands out cake, cookies, and whatever you want)
But before i get in the final chapter, here's a little song for the holidays, featuring Jack Spicer (off the Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer song)
You know Omi and Clay and Kimiko and Raimundo
Fung and Dojo and Wuya and Chase
But do you recall
The most famous Evil Boy Genius of all?
Jack Spicer, the red-haired kid
Had a very shiny Jack-Bot
And if you ever saw him
You'd say he looked evil
All of the Xiaolin Warriors
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Jack
Join in any Shen Gong Wu games
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
"Jack Spicer with your hair so bright
Won't you help me conquer the world tonight?"
Then how Jack loved himself
And he shouted out with glee
"Jack Spicer the red haired kid,
You'll go down in evil history!"
Onward!
The cave instantly grew darker and more secluded, shrinking until there was no way to get out. The stalagmites and stalactites grew at least three times bigger, if not more—and they were already big in the first place.
Raimundo instantly thought that the Rainbow Cascade might be hidden behind one…
"GONG YI TAN PAI!" Jack and Raimundo called out, their yells echoing throughout the big chamber.
Jack instantly flew up, thinking that he could find the Wu easier if he was in the air.
Raimundo decided that a bird's eye view was better, so he drifted up himself, looking for the golden item that could only be the Rainbow Cascade…
"What the hell!" Jack cried from behind Raimundo, and when Raimundo turned around, Jack looked like he had gotten a shock of a lifetime. "How the… You can fly!" he squeaked. Not waiting for an answer, Jack pulled out his Shen Gong Wu, deciding to take advantage of his enemy right in front of him. "Hisachu View Screen!"
Raimundo's eyes widened, and he shot up like a bullet. Thankfully, he wasn't bombarded by the awful memories, and he didn't intend to let Jack have the chance to do try and do that. "Tangle Web Comb!" he called out. Strings sprang from the teeth of the comb and wrapped around the Hisachu View Screen. Pulling the comb, Raimundo yanked the View Screen from Jack's hands. The View Screen fell to the ground with a loud clatter.
Jack growled in frustration. Knowing that if Raimundo managed to tangle him in the strings, the rest of the Showdown would be easy-cheesy for Raimundo. But Jack also knew that you had to have complete focus to use the Tangle Web Comb, or it'd tangle you. That could be useful. All Jack needed to do was get Raimundo upset.
Raimundo landed on the ground, going in for a closer look when he heard Jack call out to him.
"Is that all you got, wind boy!"
Raimundo scowled at Jack's tone of voice. He chose to ignore the 'evil boy genius' and kept searching.
"It makes sense that you got the wind element!" Jack went on. "Since you're apparently the weakest member of the team, of course you would get the weakest element!" Jack smiled to himself. That would do it. He figured that now Raimundo would get angry enough to foolishly use the Tangle Web Comb, and then get tangled himself…
"What is it that you're trying to do, Jack?" Raimundo asked, looking behind a pile of rocks.
"I'm just commenting…," Jack replied innocently. "I mean, if wind hits my finger, it's nothing. Now if rocks hit my finger, that…wouldn't be nothing. If water hit my finger, at least it would be wet. If fire hit my finger… I'd be burned of course. See what I mean? Wind is weak."
"Wind isn't weak," Raimundo protested. "Have you ever seen a tornado? Or the winds of a hurricane?"
Jack snorted. "Oh, yeah. Look out, everyone! It's hurricane Raimundo!" He rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean that. I meant your wind, bucko."
"My wind may not be as powerful as a hurricane's, but it's pretty good nonetheless," Raimundo replied offhandedly.
"Right," Jack scoffed. "I've seen what you can do. It's nothing compared to the others. Which brings me up to the subject that you're still weak."
It was Raimundo's turn to roll his eyes. But with every word Jack said, he remembered all those times he felt inferior to the three apprentices… Heck, he still did.
Looking up to where Omi, Clay, Kimiko, and Dojo sat, he decided to show them what he could really do.
Floating up and facing Jack, Raimundo thought, I'm going to make you pay for making me relive all those bad memories.
Thinking that he should start small, Raimundo sent a small but powerful gust of wind at Jack—a gust that Jack easily dodged.
"See what I mean?" Jack asked. "That was nothing!"
"Ignore him, Rai!" Kimiko called out.
"You're right, Jack," Raimundo stated. "That was nothing compared to what I can do."
"Oooooooh, I'm so scared!" And Jack hid behind a stalactite, pretending to be scared out of his skin. That was when Jack caught sight of a certain golden Shen Gong Wu wedged between two stalagmites just a few feet away.
Raimundo saw the I-see-the-Shen-Gong-Wu expression flash all over Jack's face and spotted the Rainbow Cascade. Unfortunately, Jack was zooming to it already, and even if Raimundo used his wind to speed himself up, Jack would still make it there first.
Unless…
Calling up a power wind, Raimundo used it to blow Jack away from the Shen Gong Wu, slamming the 'evil boy genius' into the cave wall.
Jack groaned but got back up, making his way towards the Rainbow Cascade once more.
"Oh, no you don't." Raimundo used his wind to blow the Rainbow Cascade to the other side of the cave. Landing back on the ground lightly, Raimundo spotted the Hisachu View Screen and called it to his hands with his wind element.
Raimundo stepped in front of the Rainbow Cascade. "If you want this Wu, you have to get through me first, Spicer."
"What, you think you're threatening me with that?" Jack indicated the View Screen. "Unlike you, I don't have a lot of bad memories."
Raimundo's eyebrows creased. "What you made me relive… That was just wrong."
Jack shrugged. "I'm an evil boy genius. That's just what I do."
Raimundo scowled and held up the Hisachu View Screen. "I'm doing this only because you piss me off, Spicer. Hisachu View Screen!"
Jack instantly froze in his steps, looking like he was under some sort of trance, just staring blankly ahead.
Raimundo turned his back on him and picked up the golden bracelet Shen Gong Wu, abruptly ending the showdown that he could have ended several minutes ago.
"Good job, Rai," Kimiko congratulated when the cave returned to its original form.
They suddenly heard a whirring noise, but didn't even take notice as Jack fled the scene.
Raimundo was briefly surprised at how quickly the View Screen had done its work. Maybe Jack really didn't have that many bad memories…
"Raimundo, my friend," Omi started quietly, thinking now was the time to say what he had on his mind. "I apologize. Since you have come back, I have not trusted you."
Raimundo looked at him. He's capable of apologizing? asked a little voice in the back of his mind.
"I now realize…I should have trusted you all along. I just did not realize it until we destroyed the Shadow-Bot. I must have drilled down."
"I think you mean 'screwed up'," Kimiko stated.
Raimundo didn't say anything for a long time. Even though it looked like the others trusted him again, it still didn't change what he did. He was the one who screwed up… He was the one who lost their trust in the first place… He looked down. "That's my fault, Omi. I was the one who lost your trust. It just took a while to get it regained…I guess."
"I still should have trusted you ever since you first came back," Omi protested.
"Maybe." Raimundo shrugged. "I guess I'm just glad you trust me now. Because, honestly, I probably would have left if you didn't. I mean, who needs an untrustworthy dragon?"
Omi looked down, still feeling a little bad about it all. Through his eyes, he was the one who was supposed to keep the team together, and he had failed to do even that.
Raimundo seemed to sense what he was feeling. "C'mon, Omi. It's fine now. I completely forgive you. Just don't let it happen again." He added the last part very seriously. "And yah know, it'd really help if you cut the 'I'm-a-Xiaolin-Apprentice-and-you're-not' routine, because…" He let his sentence trail off as he glared slightly. "Well, because I really don't appreciate it."
Omi nodded. "Thank you, my friend, for accepting my apology. I am sorry for not realizing my mistake earlier."
Kimiko smiled brightly. "Looks like the team is all together again. It's great to see you guys getting along again."
Raimundo gave her a look that said, 'I don't know, he still annoys the hell out of me sometimes', but didn't say anything out loud.
Clay took up the Rainbow Cascade. "Let's get goin' then."
Dojo, who was on Clay's shoulder, nodded and grew to his larger size. Kimiko was right, he realized. It was good to see everyone getting along again. At least, for the time being. Waiting until all four teens were on, Dojo then flew out of the cave and began to fly back to the Xiaolin Temple.
Raimundo looked around, finally feeling more at peace with everyone. He had a sense that his friends were actually his friends now, and it made him feel that much more comfortable. He knew he was now ready to wear his medallion again, because after he had talked about it with Kimiko, he knew that he'd be able to wear the keepsake again.
Raimundo felt like he could actually accomplish something now. And, he thought, that's how it should be.
Fin
I really hope you were 'satisfied' with the ending... TT
Happy holidays everyone...