Author's Notes:
1. I do not own Xiaolin Showdown but I do love both of the series. I do own Gloria/Gizmo who is Jack's daughter in fanfiction; she'll be a character throughout the story and I hope you will all like her
2. This fanfiction is an updated version of a story that I had started writing in 2014 and stopped working on in 2016 due to a lack of time and inspiration. Unfortunately I lost the original files and thus have no other choice but to post an entirely new version of the story that was copied and pasted from the original and then edited. Hopefully this version will be grammatically correct and have less errors overall.
3. I suppose this could be considered a filler chapter but I would personally say that it was important given what happens in it. Regardless, I hope my readers will enjoy it.
Jack had no idea where he was as he wandered along the hallways of Chase's lair and was starting to get a little annoyed by this, he was tired of wandering around aimlessly and he was also starting to get hungry.
"God I've never wanted one on Chase's minions to show up more than I do now." Jack said out loud to himself hoping that maybe one of Chase's cats would pop out of nowhere like they sometimes did.
Of course this didn't happen and that didn't really surprise Jack that much, still he wished someone would show up soon because he had no idea where he was going and didn't want to have to wander around aimlessly for too much longer.
"I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm the one who wandered off when Chase said he needed time to think about what we did together and what it means; and seeing as I needed to think as well I guess it's kinda good that I went off by myself." Jack said, trying to make himself feel better.
"Still it would be nice if I knew..." Jack started to add out loud when suddenly a strange noise stopped him mid sentence.
It was an eerie moaning noise and Jack also thought he heard sniffling as well, not knowing what else to do Jack decided to investigate to find out who or what was making the noise. At first it took a moment to figure out where the noise was coming from, once Jack had figured out where the noise was coming from Jack followed until he reached a very foreboding looking iron door.
"Well damn, I can hear the noise coming from inside this room, but how do I get in; I don't have to try to open the door to know that it's locked." Jack said to himself with a sigh.
Unable to help but still feeling curious about what was behind the door Jack tried to think of how to get the door open, feeling determined Jack looked over the door carefully in hopes of finding some way to open it.
"Wait a minute there might be a way I can get this door open without a key, I'll have to be careful though; the last thing I want to do is piss Chase off because I broke the door." Jack said to himself as an idea popped into his head.
Of course actually doing what he was hoping wasn't going to be easy, it would take a lot of concentration to open the door the way he was planning to and Jack was a bit nervous that he'd end up breaking the door.
"Just take a deep breath and concentrate Jack, you can do this, you just need to focus." Jack said out loud to himself before taking a breath and closing his eyes so he could concentrate better.
Once his eyes were fully closed Jack did his best to concentrate, carefully he focused on moving the tumblers inside the lock so that he could get the door open without need of a key.
"Come on open, just a little bit more and I'll have gotten this door open." Jack thought to himself as he tried harder to focus on just the tumblers in the lock.
Finally to Jack's great relief he started to feel something moving and when he heard a click he knew that he'd opened the door, despite feeling rather proud of himself however Jack quickly opened his eyes and pulled opened the iron door so he could go in and see what was in the room before someone showed up and he go in trouble.
"God it's dark in here, if only there was a way I could..." Jack started to grumble to himself grumpily before suddenly he was interrupted by torches lighting up the room he was in.
Almost immediately Jack found himself wishing that the torches hadn't lit because the sight in front of him was shocking, sitting in the room was Chase's other apprentice Shadow who looked horrible. Around her neck was a chain that was keeping her attached to the wall, her clothes were torn and she'd very clearly been punished somehow because Jack could see injuries on the parts of her skin that were no longer covered by clothing.
"Shadow are you alright?" Jack asked knowing the answer but hoping that his question would trigger a response from the young woman.
"Hey can you hear me, Shadow it's me Jack." Jack added in a slightly worried way as he reached toward the young woman carefully.
"No please stop, don't touch me!" Shadow screeched and flinched away as far as she could with her neck chain as Jack tried to touch her.
"Shadow calm down, it's me Jack... you know, Jack Spicer." Jack said, feeling shocked at the reaction he'd gotten from Shadow.
"Spicer? What are you...how did you know I? How did you get in here?' Shadow said, stuttering in a confused and scared way.
"It's complicated, look what are you doing in here... why are you locked up like this." Jack asked, trying to keep a calm tone so Shadow would remain calm.
"I... I made him angry, he forgave me for leaving but then I made him angry right before you got here. I'm so stupid, I deserved to be punished." Shadow said with a shiver.
Jack wasn't sure what to say when he heard this, making Chase angry was not a good idea especially not in Shadow's case, still one look at her and Jack couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"Shadow listen I can't heal your injuries but maybe there's something I can do to help." Jack said feeling bad for Shadow and wanted to do something about it.
"No don't, if you help me you'll..." Shadow started to say before Jack interrupted.
"I'm not worried about getting in trouble Shadow, look just let me help you a little bit okay." Jack said wanting to help Shadow somehow.
"Well I suppose if you're not worried about getting in trouble then you can help me, but why would you want to? Surely you agree that making Chase angry was dumb of me." Shadow said shakily
"I can't deny that it wasn't very bright, but Chase can't just leave you like this; now hold still for a minute." Jack said with a sigh
Though clearly nervous Shadow did as she was told and was surprised when Jack broke the metal chain that had been placed around her neck, Jack watched as she touched her neck cautiously but was a bit surprised when she didn't immediately try to escape the room.
"Thank you Jack, I appreciate you doing that for me." Shadow said in a surprisingly soft and oddly grateful way.
"You're welcome Shadow but aren't you going to try..." Jack started to say in a confused way when suddenly he was interrupted.
"Of course she's not going to try to escape Jack, she knows better than to try that; just like she should have known better than to have angered me after the kindness I showed her." Chases said from behind Jack which caused him to turn around and caused Shadow to back into the corner of the room in fear.
"I'm pretty sure she's learned her lesson Chase, let her out already. You can't leave her in here like this." Jack said unable to help the fact that his tone was rude.
"Ah but I can Jack, you forget I'm her Master and I'm also an evil...Chase started to say when Jack interrupted.
"No Chase, I didn't forget that you're an evil overlord; I know who I agreed to be an apprentice to and I know that Shadow has had multiple chances, but what could she possibly have done to deserve being forced to stay in a cell with open wounds?" Jack asked, trying to watch his tone but unable to help himself.
"There's more than one reason she's in here Jack but one reason is that she dared to imply that you were not the person I should choose to love. Now tell Jack do you think she is in the position to say things like that." Chase said, sounding unhappy; which was not good at all.
"Well no of course not, but do you actually..." Jack started to say in a shocked and a slightly nervous way when he was interrupted.
"Jack did what happened earlier do nothing to convince you of how I now feel about you, do you still think I will betray you after what happened. Yes I am evil, and yes I know that I used you in the past; but do you really think that I'm evil enough to use you in that way." Chase added before Jack could respond.
"No of course not, I know that you wouldn't do that; what happened earlier meant something I know it did but..." Jack started to say getting more nervous and confused before getting interrupted but this time not Chase.
"Oh Jack you're so naive, I don't know anything about what happened between you and Chase earlier today but I can guess by the implication; and if you really think Chase won't..." Shadow started to say in a surprisingly smug way when she was harshly interrupted.
"Do you see now Jack, can you not understand why I left her like this; silence Shadow you have no idea..." Chase started to say in a very angry way when Shadow boldly interrupted.
"Oh I know exactly what I'm talking about, you've used Jack before and the only reason you've taken interest in him now is because of his powers and he's clearly become more handsome over the years, but I know you Chase. He'll say he cares about you Jack, but he's only using you so he can get what he wants and once he gets bored of you..." Shadow said foolishly taunting Chase on purpose but stopping and looking shocked as Jack grabbed the torn collar of her shirt.
"What the hell are you doing Shadow, are you trying to get yourself killed after I was trying to help you." Jack said, unable to help but to feel as furious as he knew Chase was.
"I'm just telling you the truth Jack, this is Chase Young we're talking about. It may seem like it, but he doesn't love you; he's going to use you and then throw you away like he did with me." Shadow said in a taunting but oddly sad way.
"You always were a fool Shadow, from the moment I created you I could sense that what I'd made was useless. So yes I did use you and throw you away, but this is different; you have no idea..." Chase started to say in a clearly furious tone but somehow managed to keep from letting his anger out when he was interrupted.
"Oh I'm the fool, no I don't think so; the only fool here is Jack who you've played so well. He still can't see that you care nothing about him really and that you're putting..." Shadow started to say when suddenly she stopped suddenly and looked very scared as Jack 's grip on her torn shirt suddenly got tighter and the metal door and chain both started to shake.
"God and to think I actually felt bad for you Shadow! Listen to me very carefully, I want you to shut up right now about how Chase used you and how he's going to do the same to me; my situation is different from yours and you have no idea what you're talking about." Jack said in a tone that should have warned Shadow that he was serious.
"No Jack it's you that has no idea, you just wait and you'll see that I..."Shadow started to say in a smug but oddly sympathetic way when suddenly she gasped and stopped mid sentence.
At first Jack had no idea that it had been him that had finally shut Shadow up but suddenly the smell of blood hit his nose and when he looked to see where the smell was coming from he realized that he'd become so angry that the chain that had been on Shadow's neck that he'd removed had sharpened and and stabbed Shadow straight through her body.
"Oh god what have I done?!" Jack said, unable to help but feel sick to his stomach as he watched Shadow's blood trickle down what was left of her shirt and he let go of her.
"I'm sorry Jack really am but I had to make you angry, it was the only way I knew this would happen; the only way I could think of to finally escape." Shadow said suddenly in an apologetic way, though smiling sadly as she spoke.
"You should know that I was just lying to Jack. He really does care about you more then he ever did with me or anyone else, I can see it in his eyes and could hear it in his tone when he spoke about you just now." Shadow said still in an apologetic way though continuing to smile.
"Shadow why, why would you make him do this?" Chase asked Shadow in an oddly quiet but shocked way as Jack stood in front of Shadow and started to shake.
"Because I can't take it any more, I'll never be able to make you forgive fully for what I did in the past and I'll never get you to feel the way I'd like you to feel about me. Then I saw the way you look at Jack and I realize that for the first time you're truly in love, and I think to myself that there's no way I can live with it when this now handsome genius young man used to be a blubbering preteen idiot." Shadow said in a raspy way.
"You're a selfish fool Shadow, even after what you saw happen in the showdown and what you can clearly see in front of you still doubt Jack. Well I cannot say that I am sorry to see this happen to you, I am only sorry to see what you've taken from Jack ." Chase said with a sigh as he looked over at jack who was shaking even worse now and looked as though he'd be ill.
"Oh please Chase, you can't make me feel guilty about this; you would have made him kill someone eventually." Shadow said even more raspy voice as she rolled her eyes.
"The only person I'd have let Jack kill is the man that took his wife, attempted to take his daughter from him, and his life; but otherwise it's not necessary for him to kill anyone else. I am more than capable of taking life myself, and he can do many other things that are of use; you have stolen his innocence Shadow! That is something he can never have back." Chase said with a sigh as he watched Jack lean against the wall with one hand in an attempt to steady himself.
"Oh how you make me laugh Chase, it hurts but oh it's worth it; talking about how I made Jack loose his innocence when he was on the Heylin side or at least attempted to be and has now come back and joined you...he's far from innocent." Shadow said with a weak chuckle.
"You know damn well what I mean Shadow, but enough of this I have no time to deal with you when you're not going to last much longer...I have more pressing matters to attend to" Chase said going over to Jack right as the young man vomited in the corner he'd retreated to.
"Come Jack it's alright, everything is going to be okay I promise." Chase said pulling Jack close despite the fact that the young man now smelled of vomit.
"Aren't you going to help her, Chase please I..." Jack started to say in a very shaky way as he glanced hesitantly over at where shadow was now leaning against the wall and starting to breath slowly.
"Jack it's too late, I'm sorry I really am." Chase said in an apologetic way, truly feeling bad for the young man.
"Oh god, what am I going to tell Gizmo; she's going to think that I'm...oh god Chase what have I done." Jack said, shaking like crazy and burying his head and burying his head in Chase's shoulder.
"Shh Jack, everything will be okay." Chase said, trying to reassure Jack, but not all feeling surprised when the young man didn't respond.
"Damn you Shadow! Damn you for doing this to Jack." Chase thought to himself as he gently picked up Jack, who made no attempt to protest, and carried the young man out of the cell with no care in the world if Shadow had finally died.