Episode 23: It Could've Been Great
About a few hours after Steven was back to normal from his shapeshifing shenanigans yesterday, the sun was slowly setting, Connie was packing up and ready to head back home. Steven did apologize for what he did to the Monks and Gems but they pretty much have forgiven him. As for Connie, she and Steven have never been closer thank to how much Connie helped out with Steven being reverted to an infant. "Again, thanks for everything, Connie." Steven said to Connie. "No problem, Steven." Connie said, giving Steven a quick hug goodbye. "I hope you, the Gems and the Monks deal with the cluster before it activates." "Well, considering how our pace is going, we might be able to finish before it activate." Steven said. Connie nods as she hops into Greg's van and Greg drives off with Connie back towards Beach City. Steven walks back to the Monks, who were helping out with the Gems and Peridot working on the drill.
Clay was doing some heavy lifting to get the drill into place. Kimiko was on her laptop, trying to compute the escape pod to do manual transmission. Raimundo and Omi were with Peridot, trying to plan out how to set the coordinates to get to the cluster. "Alright, Peridot. We need to find the coordinate to get to the Cluster. Do you know where we can get it?" Raimundo said. "Well, I don't exactly know where it might be, if I may speak the truth." Peridot said. "It makes me wonder if the Gems would know a location?" Omi asked. "What, I doubt it." Peridot said. "Well, why don't we ask them then." Raimundo said.
Just then, the Gems arrive. "What do you guys need?" Garnet said. "We were talking about Coordinate and how Peridot don't know the exact coordinate. Do you guys know?" Raimundo said. "We don't, but I do know that there is a Diamond Base that may hold that info…however, it maybe difficult to get there." Pearl said. "Wait, really? Where?" Raimundo said. Pearl chuckles. "Well, it's on a particular close planet to Earth." Pearl said as she points to...the Moon! "Wait, it's on the Moon?!" Raimundo said. "Yes, Raimundo. It is indeed on the moon." Pearl said. Raimundo ponders something. "Wait, how did you know that?" Raimundo said. Pearl remained quiet a bit. "Mmm...I guess we should go get it and discuss that later." Raimundo said. "But how do we get on the moon?" Omi asked. Steven then thought of something. "Maybe Lion could help us out." Steven said. "Alright then. Gems and Peridot, go use lion to get to the moon...somehow. We'll hang back to keep the wus and the Drill secure." Omi said. The Gems nods and Peridot reluctantly partakes the trip.
It Could've Been Great on Steven's side would happen off-screen
Back at the Heylin, Jack was on the radar again and just saw the 9 go down to 4 in a near instant. "What the heck?" Jack said. "How is that possible? It went from 9 to 4 in a heartbeat. That is the final red flag that I needed. Time to tell Wuya and Chase that I am sending the Spybot to see what the heck is going on at that location." Jack then began to march over to Chase and Wuya, who were at the meeting room. Jack began to think it a bit as he walks. 'What on earth are they planning?' Jack thought. 'Something must be up at that specific location. It's either a wu or it's a very important hiding spot that they have'
At the Meeting Room, Chase and Wuya were discussing something. Just then, Jack open the door to break up the meeting for a bit. "Jack, What are you doing here?" Chase asked. "Yea, we kinda were in the middle of discussing something." Wuya said. "Sorry, but there was something more important that I just discovered. 5 of the 9 just went off the radar instantly." Jack said. "Do I have permission to send in my Spybot to see what on earth it's going on there? It'll take about an hour to get there." Chase sighs and thinks a bit. "You did mention that there is something going down at that location. They have been there for a week or two now. You know what, fine, go for it. However, if there is something that is indeed going down, please report back as soon as you can." Chase said. Jack did a double take. "Wait, really? Thanks, Chase." Jack said. He began to walk out of the meeting room. Chase sits back down and thinks a bit. "What do you think Jack would find?" Chase said. "I doubt it's anything important, but if it is, we should drop by and surprise them." Wuya said. Chase smirks a bit. "If it's indeed important, why not let Jack handle it?" Chase said. "You sure that is wise? After Peridot's poofi-oooohh. I get where you are coming from." Wuya said. Chase smirks some more and nods.
Back at Jack, he was making his way to the radar and began think some more. 'What are the Monks and Gems are planning?' Jack thought 'Is it something important for Steven, the Gems, or the Monks? If I know they are planning something fishy, then we will put an end to them. Once done, I'll try to rescue Peridot and things will go back to normal...but what to do with the Cluster?' This causes Jack to stop. He began to think more. He then began to run to the radar again. He looks to see it still saying 4. "Alright, they haven't arrive back yet." Jack said. He presses a few button and gets a beep. It signals that the Spybot is fully charged and ready to be used. "Alright, Chop, go to the coordination and stay out of sight." Jack said on the communicator. "10-4, Jack." Chop reports. Chop began to fly towards the coordination.
Jack sits down on the chair and began to wait. "It's going to take upwards an hour before we start seeing what they are doing." Jack said to himself. He began to pull out his laptop and began to surf the web. He began to do a bit of research on the Gems a bit more. He wants to know if they have more weakness to exploit. "Mmm...if there is some more weakness they have that I could know, I might be able to exploit it and force them to retreat more often. Hopefully that would force them to adapt to my level." Jack said to himself some more. He then continues to research.
About half an hour later, he was coming up empty. "Shoot, nothing. Well, I should have guess it as the Gems are mysterious in multiple ways." Jack said to himself. He then hears a ding. It came from Chop, his Spybot. "Alright, let's see what they are doing." Jack said. He pulls up a live video feed to discover that the Monks are at the Barn, playing a bit of soccer. There was a bag there as well. "Okay, nothing too fishy…but why are they at the barn?" Jack said. The Spybot then flies over and soon they discover…THE DRILL! Jack was at a lost for words. He slowly clutches his fist but then unclutches it a bit. "So…Peridot is freed…only to sing like a bird and spill the beans on the Cluster." Jack bemoans to himself. Jack couldn't believe what he is witnessing. He then decided on something, stands up, closes his laptop and heads back to Chase and Wuya.
"WHAT?!" Chase and Wuya said in unison. "That's correct, Peridot is freed and is helping the Gems and Monks on the Cluster issue." Jack reports. "See, Chase, we should have kept her and we would be golden." Wuya said. "I did what I have to do." Chase retorts back. This continues to anger Jack a bit. "Why did you vote against Peridot exactly, Chase? Why didn't you make me happy? The partnership of Peridot and me, it could've been great!" Jack said. "You'll learn all of it in due time, Jack." Chase said. "I have my exact reasons." Jack was perplexed by it and was still unhappy from Chase's decision on voting against Peridot. He began to think Chase is hiding something. "Whatever, I'm going to do something I've been thinking for some time." Jack said. "And that would be?" Chase said. "Rescuing Peridot!" Jack said.
"No, it's too risky!" Chase said. "Why? I know the risk of the Gems and Monks. I think I can rescue Peridot quickly and get her back to the Heylin side in a good amount of time." Jack said. Chase began to ponder something. "Mhm…if you are so confident, how about a deal?" Chase said. "What would be the deal?" Jack said. "If I let you rescue Peridot, you must sit out the next Xiaolin Showdown." Chase offered. This stung Jack a bit. Part of him wants to rescue Peridot as he cares for her like no other but on the other hand, he wants to pile drive the Monks and Gems to the ground and rule the world with ease. "You are making this a bit tough, Chase." Jack said. Chase chuckles and nods. A bit of thinking later, Jack came to a decision. "It's more important to rescue Peridot than to win a Shen Gong Wu battle." Jack states. "So, you are going to rescue Peridot and sit the next Showdown outright?" Chase said. "I have no other choices. If I want to rescue Peridot, the time is now, even it means sitting out a Xiaolin Showdown." Jack said. "Besides, Peridot and I are similar." "You do seem to care Peridot more and more each time we mention her." Wuya said. "Hey, sometimes times away make the heart grow fonder." Jack quips.
Jack then began to walk to his Jet and began working on it to make it both up to spec and able to fly with ease. "Alright, Jack, remember, you are attempting, and I can't stress this enough, attempting to rescue Peridot. Successful or not, you will be sitting out the next Xiaolin Showdown." Chase reminded Jack. "I know, I want us to have strength by number and what not." Jack said. He then pulls up a tablets. He then sees the Gems arriving back, talking to the Monks, while Peridot was making her way to the barn with a diamond-shaped object. "I knew it, Peridot is back and she did sing like a bird. Well, she'll sing no more." Jack said as he jumps to the cockpit. The hatchet closes and the jet began to prepare for take off. "Last chance to back down, Jack." Chase said. "You'll regret voting against Peridot when she gets rescued and would become a valuable asset to our team." Jack retorts back. He then turns the thrusts at full power and flies out the hanger. Chase just shakes his head and chuckles. "Well, I will say this, Jack…it's going as according to plan." Chase said to himself. According to plan, eh? Something is indeed up with Chase Young as he does have a plan in action. Something tells me that Jack doesn't know what Chase is planning as he is now flying to rescue his ally, Peridot.
End of Episode 23