Xiaolin Showdown and all its characters belong to Warner Brothers. Bob, Shésui, Jerry, Henry, and any attacks/other Shen-Gong-Wu I make up all belong to me.
I'm back. With a vengeance. Anyway, this is a series continuation of "Break His Crown", meaning that it's a separate series of events, but using the situations in BHC. Think of BHC as a kind of "movie" and this is the "TV series" that follows. Or something. I said I would try to stray away from so much Jack focus, but…I can't help it. I end up writing about him even when I try not to. So…this is going to be an "everyone-but-mostly-Jack" fic. WARNING: this fic may contain references and/or spoilers for those of you who haven't seen Season 2 of Xiaolin Showdown… I don't think there's anything big in this chapter, though. And it's finally going to be coming out in the UK soon, so I won't have to worry about it! Yay!
Oh, and I finally found a good Chinese-English dictionary, so I can start giving my characters and Shen-Gong-Wu Chinese names. It's probably incorrect naming, because I don't know how the language works, but Shésui is supposed to mean "evil snake spirit" or something like that. Shé means snake and sui means evil spirit. Originally, she was named Hebi, which is snake in Japanese, because I only had a good Japanese-English dictionary.
(-)
Chapter 1: Prelude to Enhancements
The five scattered to the corners of the planet, lying in waiting for the emergency in which they would again be required. It seemed the several security barriers were now in place. The world was now set for a long, almost illusionary period of peace and stability. But, before this giant barrier, something else had to come into existence…
(-)
"Do you think these capsules will do the trick, master?" a lady with gray hair up in a bun asked behind the shadows of a screen.
"Ah, yes, perfect everyone. Keep it up," a tall, relaxed figure complimented the other unknown people in attendance.
"But what of that other one?" another male asked in the distance.
"Aw, if she was bested by her own kind, we shouldn't worry about her."
"Well, appearances can be deceiving and you can't underestimate the enemy's potential."
"But the important thing is that she's locked away," the relaxed male voice spoke up again.
"But we don't know how long their containment devices will hold up for," a third male voice argued. "She could be back in the next century!"
"So could Wuya," the original voice said, firmly. "There's no use in worrying…" Suddenly, his voice took on a more serious tone. "…Hey! Jinshu! Jinshu, what are you doing?"
"I can't…help it…" an exhausted female voice panted in the distance.
"No! Don't put that in there!" But before anyone could do anything, the crackle of lightning could be heard across the landscape of China. It was too late. It had been done. And there was nothing any of them could do about it now.
The casual master murmured a few prayers over the grotesque sight, and the blue, red, green, white, black, and silver aura twinkled off into the twilight to wait. Wait for their masters. Please, Master Dashi prayed. Let no one ever find that one… I shall guide it to its safe place, where no one will ever think to look for it…
And, with the omnipotent magician's prayer, marks began to appear on objects all across China…and out into the galaxy. Yes…no one would ever find it, and unlock this dreadful curse… Jinshu's folly has assured a connection…but it was impossible for there to be one of both, even in the unpredictable future. …Right?
(-)
A gentle golden glow burned amongst the individual grains of the beach. It was an unusual sight, especially that something like this would happen on the smog-covered streets of Chicago. But today was the perfect setup…the one that would lead directly to the horrible events that would require their extensions.
The screech of a rubber tire grinding against tar interrupted the gentle, peaceful waves of the ocean. A fourteen-year-old boy jumped off his bouncing, high motorcycle and stepped down into the warm, soft sand. But, he definitely wasn't here to see the ocean, enjoy himself, or even to pick up chicks. Today, Bob Sanderson was here on a personal mission.
Bob took a step towards the waves and glanced, suspiciously around. He'd heard from his Organization buddies that another of their targets would be hanging around here. It was time to eradicate him, and being the founder and original leader of CFPU (Children For Pure Unity), he took it upon himself to execute these missions. Just another step towards the perfect unity that he and his troupe all craved- a world without mutations, without bothersome distractions.
However, this one didn't seem to be showing up for his execution. It was a stereotype surfer boy, and shouldn't be allowed to breathe the same oxygen as the members of CFPU. And he shouldn't feel at all guilty, because it wasn't murder.
For three years, Bob had been studying the principles of olden witchcraft, and if he tried hard enough, he could even send people straight to the spirit world without even bothering to physically kill them. Actually, that was where they belonged anyway. They should have never been born, and Bob's philosophy was that if you didn't appreciate this world enough, than you shouldn't be allowed to be in it. It was time to send this surfer dude to the dark side…the problem was, this surfer dude hadn't shown up!
Bob kicked the peaceful, soft sand of the Chicago beach frustratingly. Will you show up already? He yelled at the boy in his mind. I want to test out our new strategy. It was the perfect opportunity, and the ocean, he'd learned, was an effective connector to the spiritual world. The water was a critical magical substance that would lead to the banishment of these people. In fact, Bob could almost feel the power at this moment, humming warmly at his feet.
He reached down to feel this beneficial power, but his long fingers pressed against some oddly warm, metallic object. Closing his hand, greedily around it, he realized with happy excitement. Yes! I found some money! And it must have only been recently lost, since it was still warm from the person's palm. He eagerly extricated the object from the mountain of sand on the shore.
Bob looked up into his hand and noticed that, to his disappointment, he wasn't holding a golden coin or a piece of sparkling buried treasure; in his hand was a gold hoop, with gossamer strands crisscrossing in the middle. "What the heck is this piece of junk?" Bob said aloud. "Who would want a giant gold ring? Well, maybe that's why they threw it away at the beach!"
Then, as he stared into the metallic gold bars, they began to blur into one portal. The splotchy yellow clouds began to turn blue, like robin's eggshells underneath a sunny sky. And finally, the blue shape solidified. The hoop shot out of Bob's hand, burying itself back beneath the beach, and the world at last settled. Bob blinked, incredulously at the shape before him. He couldn't have really…
A small, snakelike creature was floating in the air in front of him. She stretched her shapeless arms and flicked her forked tongue. Her skin was entirely blue and transparent, horns protruded from the sides of her head, and her eyes were made up of a series of red dots, arranged in a plus sign. She rolled the dots in her head for a few moments, before settling them on Bob. "Ah…free at last!" she cried, in a surprisingly light voice. "Are you the one who freed me?"
Bob blinked again, amazed that this bizarre creature could speak at all.
"Tell me, boy," the creature insisted, flying closer to stare into his brown eyes. "Do you know of the divine order?"
"Divine order?" Bob repeated. Well, the type of banishing witchcraft he had been studying was associated with a hierarchical society of dark sorceresses… "Are you…" Bob slowly asked, in fascination. "…One of the Heylin?"
"Ah, so you know about the ancient, divine order of the Heylin?" the creature responded. "Then, yes, I guess I am."
"I've been studying your banishment theory. It's come in most useful."
At last, the creature broke into what appeared to be a sinister smile. She held out a blobby, nonexistent hand. "My name is Shésui, high Heylin apprentice. Pleased to meet you, um…"
"Bob Sanderson," Bob introduced himself, holding out his hand. However, he soon realized that his hand would just go straight through it.
Shésui smiled. "So…you know of our teleportation technique. What could possibly drive you to study our techniques?"
Bon grinned when she asked him. "Why, I'm the leader of CFPU!" he cried, matter-of-factly. "Our chief purpose is to eradicate the undeserving individuals of the world. We've been using your banishment to send these people to another dimension where they truly belong. We're just a group of teens for universal unity."
"Excellent," Shésui cooed, and moved a bit closer. "I sense the darkness tainted in your heart. You shall introduce me to your lifestyle, and then I'll decide whether to honor you with my allegiance."
Bob raised his thin, suspicious eyebrows. "My…lifestyle?"
Precisely at that moment, the ten-minute mission timer went off, and the other members of CFPU came crashing through the beach barrier on their Harleys. "Yo! Robert!" The closest to the entrance called over to him. "What's the problem here? Did you dispatch the undeserving?"
When they looked in their direction Shésui immediately transformed into a pretty young lady with wavy brown hair and a blue dress. Bob gaped back at her, but quickly turned back to his rough teammates. "Nah," he replied, trying to look disappointed. "The stupid specimen never showed up!"
"Hey, hey," another one behind the first speaker announced. "Perhaps it wasn't a case of not showing up…it was that little Bobby got side-tracked!"
Bob crossed his arms in frustration. "Oh, please. I will always carry out my mission, no matter how many hot girls show up."
"So who's your little friend?" the first Harley-riding speaker asked. "Perhaps you could, uh…introduce us?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure who she is either."
Shésui finally smiled an ironically warm, welcoming expression. "My name is Shésui," she blatantly stated. "And I was about to form an alliance with your leader, if that's okay with you."
"So…what about that lifestyle thing?" Bob asked, giving his new companion suspicious glances.
Shésui threw her ironically grateful expression over at him. "You've already shown me your lifestyle," she explained, nodding towards the hog-riding CFPU members, still standing next to them. "And, lucky for you, I approve. This company only enhances the darkness in your heart." At last, Shésui stuck out her now solid hand. Bob wrapped his hand around hers, and they shook.
The other CFPU members raised their eyebrows at each other. "So, boss…is she comin' along with us?"
Bob's face broke into a grimace. "Oh, yes. Give her a seat of honor on your hog, Gerald." Shésui finally let her new tool lead her towards the group of his followers and his life. The prejudiced teen had suddenly become a gentleman, lifting the beautiful witch onto her seat on the back of Gerald's motorcycle. He then got back onto his own motorcycle, though throwing glances back over at his operative every now and then. He couldn't allow the lusty Jerry to hurt her in any way. He had brought her back into the world, and now he responsible for looking out for her, especially in this magnificent human form.
So, throwing a glance over at his friends and co-workers, Bob thrust an arm out to the distance, powerfully commanding them all at once. "To headquarters!" he cried, and with a roar of flames and smoke, the motorcycles zoomed off into the inner city of Chicago in a cloud of smog, getting lost in the atmosphere of the area.
Yet another chapter of Bob's life had begun, but this time it wasn't just the same old thing again. This was the beginning of the Shésui ages…the beginning of the second great Showdown War…
(-)
Third grade. Third grade was always a struggle, but this third grade was entirely…nonexistent. Yup, the little boy on the lawn of the red-rimmed mansion knew better. He didn't need third grade. In fact, that online IQ test he'd taken yesterday had actually said he belonged in high school instead of the third grade he was missing. Besides, he needed to use his talents to produce new projects to help humankind. In fact, today, he was test-running the newly completed Propeller Lifter.
The sprawling, gardened field spread right in front of the modern, ancient building. He quickly glanced around to make sure none of the snoopy workers were watching.
"Propeller Lifter-Experiment #002!" He took a big running jump and pressed a button around his waist. Propellers shot out of tubes around his shoulders. The devices sputtered for a few moments, but quit a few seconds later.
Little Jack Spicer screamed as he plummeted back to the flat grass. Oh well…it looked like the device would need a bit more tweaking before it would work like it was supposed to. This particular model was the second in the line, but it still couldn't keep him aloft like a jetpack. It was dangerous standing so close to the chopping blades, but Jack knew how to handle them, and none of the family members or workers seemed to mind if he accidentally chopped his fingers off.
As the shoulder propellers malfunctioned and sputtered out, they suddenly burst forward, and Jack's body went careening across the wide yard. At last, he shoved his legs out in an attempt to brake himself. He felt as his small, rubbery boots slammed against something hard and brown, in a vertical position. He sprang back off of this wall and went crashing to the ground.
"Ugh…"little Jack groaned, quickly switching off the machine before it bent too far in and chopped off his hair. He dazedly struggled around to his knees, and looked up at the object he'd crashed into.
It was a tree. A simple, green-leaved tree stood before him, although, strangely enough, there was some sort of symbol carved into its trunk. "Weird," he commented to himself. "Why is there a yin-yang on that tree? Sheesh, even the trees in China are weird."
There hadn't been too many trees where he used to live, except in the family garden. Before this move to China, the Spicer family had lived in a mansion on the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois. This was because of his father's prodigious job in the city. He even owned a skyscraper there. By now, he'd earned enough steady income to live the rest of his life in the lap of luxury, and had dragged Jack here in order to help him "focus his powers" or something ridiculous like that. Anyway, little Jack was still getting used to the brand new landscape and atmosphere. This tree was probably yet another aspect of China he'd have to get used to. He got to his feet and stared up at the chipped symbol in interest.
Slowly, an aura of light began glowing around the picture's edges. Jack seemed to lose consciousness, although he remained upright. He lost all his sense of feeling, in a kind of trance, his red eyes turned solid vermillion, and he stared straight into the center of the yin-yang. Slowly, his arms began to levitate, all on their own. They formed upwards into an "L" shape, and the gaseous magic cloud grew larger and expanded outwards.
Just at that moment, Mr. Spicer was going for a stroll in the Chinese-styled yard, which was highly unusual, but it was fortunate for him that he was. His identical red eyes widened immediately when he noticed the telltale explosion of white and black in the distance. "…John?" he yelled in alarm. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he sprinted off towards the tree to catch the magic process before it went any further. "Johnny!" he screamed, running across the field. He nearly body-slammed the little boy in his desperate attempt to get him away from the tree.
As soon as Mr. Spicer slammed into his back, Jack's eyes popped back into normal, watery red and he broke out of his magical trance. An instant later, he could feel his little body hanging in the air, and for a split second, he wondered if he'd finally flown. But, just a second later, he realized that his father was just holding him in a lock over one shoulder.
"Dad?" he cried, looking down at the ground. "What? Why?"
"Don't go near that tree," Mr. Spicer forcefully scolded. "It's very dangerous. Don't you ever go near it again, do you hear me?"
"O-Okay…" Jack nervously responded. He expected his father to let him back to the ground afterwards, but unexpectedly, the cold, stolid man began to walk away back to the front door and up the stone cobble pathway, still carrying Jack over his shoulder.
The gardeners looked up from their watering, shearing, and shoveling at the unusual sight. It was unusual to see Mr. Spicer outside, even more so with his son, and especially even making contact with his son.
At last, the bedecked man let Jack down on the plush carpet, just on the other side of his bedroom door. "Remember…" he warned, wagging an index finger in his face. "…You must never use your powers." He then slammed the hardwood door on his son.
Jack scowled and swiveled around to face his bed. Powers…ha. What "powers"? For years, Mr. Spicer had given him this speech about not using his nonexistent "powers". It wasn't fair. How could he not use his powers if he didn't even have powers to begin with? It made him terribly frustrated whenever his father brought it up. If I really had powers, Jack ironically thought, I would've made that tree fall right on top of him!
He pulled the malfunctioning Propeller Lifter off his back, tossing it into a corner of his room. This room was becoming so cluttered with various, half-assembled piles of robots and other devices. Now he'd have to redesign and recover the Propeller Lifter entirely. If only he had a larger, clearer, more organized place to work…
As Jack struggled towards his dark-draped canopy bed, he stepped on several wiry metal objects. Finally, just when he was about to grab the curtain and swing himself inside, something sticking out of another pile of metal caught on the end of his coat, and he went flying face-first into a piece of old carpet. His father always yelled at him to clean his messy room, but it really wasn't his fault. The room was too small and his plans were too large. At last, his gloved hand reached the edge of the mattress, and he pulled the rest of his body up onto it.
Not knowing what else to do in this awkward situation, Jack pulled out a beat-up old black binder and began to jot down some experiment data on the Propeller Lifter Experiment #002. If only he could get the darned thing to work correctly…then he could just fly off, wherever he wanted to go. For now, he was trapped here for what felt like the rest of eternity.
"Motor failed at (3,8) 2:11PM. More powerful internal mechanism required." Then, the more he stared blankly at the notes record, he decided that he should note down that symbol he'd found on the tree. Jack began to sketch a round yin-yang symbol on the side of his notes. His shaking hands slipped and a pencil line now scratched across yesterday's observations. "Darnit," he muttered to himself, and desperately tried to erase it. It wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he pressed.
The notes remained against the wall in that now abandoned room…which at this present moment, was being converted into a storeroom.
(-)
…While in the present timeframe, an illusionary heaven existed, floating along, gently in a bubble, like a drop from the Vase of Viscous Visions…all light and fluffy…like it wasn't even true. In this shining drop of time, a group of young teens were gathering around a simple, circular, wooden table, talking, laughing, and cracking jokes.
Various multicolored streamers dangled from the ceiling and the edge of the table itself, just in front of the ordinary, wooden counters, and its out-of-place kitchen appliances. Here, these five special teens congregated to celebrate some fortunate event.
There was Clay Bailey, the embodiment of the element Earth. He was a calm, yet strong American cowboy with moral principles. He had a kind, loving family back on his ranch in Texas. At the moment, Clay was sitting near the back of the table, tipping his ten-gallon cowboy hat and letting his messy golden locks hang free.
Right next to Clay was a small, bald child in a temple robe, standing up on his chair to see. He was Omi, the wise, old-fashioned, self-proclaimed leader of the bunch, and embodiment of the element Water. Though the others picked on him because of his size, he was a strong force of goodness. You'd never guess from his cheerful disposition, but Omi was actually an orphan, who had never known his real parents. He'd grown up right here in the Xiaolin Temple with Master Fung. In fact, right now, he was grinning over the table, leaning against the top with his small hands.
To Omi's left, a stylish Japanese girl was standing, tacking on a few extra decorations. She was Kimiko Toho, the explosive, emotional, rich girl who embodied the element Fire. Today, she was in a special rainbow-striped dress, her shiny black hair clipped back with a butterfly clip. Kimiko came from a prominent family in Tokyo, so she always had the latest gadgets, like her cell phone and PDA. Still, she seemed to be glad to be away from them at the moment, joyfully blowing up balloons.
Right across from Kimiko, a dark-skinned boy with flopping brown hair was talking in an excitedly loud voice to his companion. He was Raimundo Pedrosa- or Rai for short, whose carefree nature perfectly fit his resident element of Wind. Rai came from a performing troupe in Brazil, with a tight family of a mother, father, older brother, and younger sister, who were all acrobats. He was confident, athletic, and playful, often teasing the others and getting on their nerves. Right now, Rai seemed to be practicing his art on the boy sitting at the head of the table.
He was dressed all in black, with floppy, literal red hair, and a smattering of freckles under his matching red eyes. He was their newest addition- Jack Spicer, who for many moths prior had been their mortal enemy. Jack was a real tech-head, which was fitting of his element- Metal, yet even his intelligence couldn't hide his childish, goofy, and awkward nature. Unlike most of the other Xiaolin Warriors, as they called themselves, he came from a broken urban American family. His father was a wealthy and suppressing business owner, while he'd never known his mother, who'd left the family when he was three.
At the moment, though, none of those problems were on Jack's mind. Besides, this was a special day- the day of his promotion! Since he'd discovered his powers much later than the other four, he'd had to work hard to catch up, but after a few months of training with Master Fung, speed-reading a few kung-fu method books, and with a little help from Raimundo, Jack had finally become a Xiaolin Apprentice, and just a few minutes ago, had received his cobalt-colored sash. Since he refused to wear a temple uniform, and had nowhere to put it, it was wrapped around his head ninja-style at this moment, in place of his normal, swirling red goggles.
At last, Kimiko finished inflating the last blue balloon, stretched, and knotted the end, while glancing over at the scene. She shoved the balloon onto a hanging decoration with the others of its kind, and looked back. "Oh," she realized. "I forgot to light the candles!" With one snap of her fingers, Kimiko magically lit the five skinny white candles in the rectangular cake in front of them.
"It's about time!" a familiar, complaining voice cried, and no one was surprised when a small, long green dragon clambered up on top of the circular table. "I was just about to dive into that thing myself if you didn't get on with it soon. C'mon, kid, hurry up and blow out the candles!"
"Blow out the candles?" At last, Jack managed to pull himself away from the conversation with Rai, turning, questioningly to Kimiko on his left. She'd been the one to plan this whole event, after all. "You really expect me to blow out the candles? It's not my birthday!"
"But the cake's got your name on it," Omi observed, pointing in fascination at the center. The little boy had never seen a cake before, and was staring at the frosting in wonder and awe. Could such a pretty thing really be eaten?
Jack looked over at the dessert, and noticed that indeed, someone had written the words "Congratulations, Jack" in red icing…and he was pretty sure he knew who it was. "Kimiko…" he said, sighing, and sneaking another look over at the Japanese girl.
Kimiko and Jack had been together for two months now. He was really happy and felt extremely lucky to have her as his girlfriend, but sometimes she went a little too far and ended up embarrassing him. Of course, by now, he'd gotten used to being embarrassed in front of the others on a daily basis, but acting like it was his birthday… In a few minutes, he almost expected her to give him presents and whip out a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Well…the presents part wouldn't be too bad…
"This is no fair," Raimundo sulked to the side. "You never did anything like this for me when I got promoted."
"What are you talking about?" Kimiko objected. "We had a party after Master Fung dismissed us…we had a party when you came back to the temple, too!"
"Yeah, but not with cake, and decorations, and all this. And you used to like me back then, how come you never…"
"You weren't my boyfriend," Kimiko continued, proudly, smiling over at Jack. Jack's cheeks flushed pink and he felt like hiding under the table as Rai turned and glared at him.
"I don't care what she says," the envious Brazilian spoke up. "I think you've used some sort of hypnotizing machine on her. Or maybe you used that Soul Scepter thing and took away her free will…"
"I did not!" Jack cried, aghast. "I would never do something like that to her!" Well, never isn't exactly the right word… he admitted to himself, though he kept his angry face straight.
"Oh, yeah?" Rai argued. "Well, what about that time when…."
"Who cares?" Dojo interrupted the two boys, "Just blow out the darn candles already!" He was staring, wide-eyed at the cake in front of him and licking his chops in anticipation.
"Okay, okay," Jack finally, reluctantly complied. He leaned forward, bringing his head closer to the cake. As Rai watched him, a strange, mischievous grin appeared on his face, and Kimiko worriedly noticed on the sidelines. Just what was he up to now? Jeez…the two of them always seemed to be up to something…
At last, Jack gently blew out the candles, and the instant he did, Rai reached up and shoved the back of his head down. Just as he'd planned, Jack's face went straight into the cake, and when he slowly lifted it again, it was covered in frosting, with small pieces of cake crumbling off.
Omi, Clay, and Dojo burst into laughter on the other side of the table, since they'd got a front-seat view, and even Kimiko was having a hard time keeping in her giggles. Of course, Rai, the jokester himself was cracking up, putting his feet up on his chair and holding his stomach. "Hey, Jack!" he managed to tease between his laughter. "I thought you weren't going to wear your makeup anymore!"
Jack's red eyes flashed dangerously from out of the frosting as he shot death glares at Rai. Then, just when the Brazilian had his eyes closed and seemed most unaware, he jumped up, grabbed him around the neck, and shoved his face into the cake as well. "Ha!" he laughed, holding him in it for a few minutes while he gloated. "How do you like that now? Does it taste good, to have a dose of your own medicine?"
At last, Rai managed to wrench his head away from the cake. His face was now also covered in frosting. "You're going to pay for that!" he cried, grabbing a handful of cake and lobbing it at Jack.
Jack ducked, and it hit Kimiko instead, getting her involved in the impromptu food fight as well. Omi grabbed bits of cake and tossed it around, since he now figured that that was what you were supposed to do with cake, and Clay sat back, staring at them as if they were all idiotic children. Meanwhile, Dojo scuttled between the four of them, trying to eat the remnants of the cake before they used it all up, and avoid being squashed at the same time.
Suddenly, the grave-faced Master Fung burst into the room, and everyone froze in position. It seemed they had been making a little too much noise and attracted his attention. The temple master's narrowing blue eyes seemed to speak for him, and no one had to ask anything.
"Uh…he started it!" Jack finally managed to speak, pointing accusingly at Raimundo.
"Me?" Rai objected. "Hey, it's not my fault if you don't know how to take a little joke!"
"You call shoving someone's face into a cake a little joke?"
Master Fung held up his hand for silence, and the two boys froze once again. Kimiko brushed pieces of cake from her skirt and out of her hair in the background, while Omi did the same with his temple uniform. Disturbingly enough, Dojo jumped up and began licking the frosting off of Rai and Jack's faces.
"I don't remember giving you permission to have a party," the master stonily stated.
"I'm sorry…" Kimiko spoke up, taking the blame. "It was my idea. I should have come and asked you first…"
"No, it's my fault," Rai and Jack both said at the same time. They stopped and looked at each other. "…It's more my fault than your fault," Jack admitted. "I'm the one with the birthday…er, the promotion day."
"But I started the whole food fight," Rai took responsibility. "If I hadn't done that, no one would have ever known…"
Master Fung raised an eyebrow at him. Then, he turned to his newest Xiaolin Apprentice, putting on another disapproving look. "And Jack, I don't think you should be celebrating so soon… I haven't even seen your second level attack yet."
Jack hung his head. "Yeah…I was a little too excited. If I knew Kimiko was planning this, then I would have…stop kissing me, dragon!" Frustrated, he ripped Dojo away from his cheek, holding the little reptile at arm's length, disgustedly.
"I wasn't kissing!" Dojo cried, squirming around in his hand. "I was licking! There's a big difference! C'mon, you've still got a bunch of frosting on your face…let me clean it up for you!"
"I can clean my own face, thanks," Jack shot back, tossing him to the floor in front of Master Fung.
"Dojo…" the angry temple master said, looming threateningly over his reptilian companion.
"Uh…sorry, Master Fung!" Dojo stuttered in his defense. "They were tempting me with cake! You know I have a hard time dealing with my…frosting fetish." He shot a quick glance back at the frosted Rai and Jack before scuttling back onto Master Fung's shoulder.
"Double chores tonight," the temple leader at last issued the punishment. "All of you." This was followed by a resounding chorus of groans.
"What about me?" Clay asked, standing up from his wooden chair and making his way to the front. "I wasn' even a part of this here mudslingin'."
"But you just sat back and watched it all happen, didn't you?"
The cowboy hung his head, disappointedly. "Yeah…I guess so."
"Double chores," Master Fung repeated. "Now I suggest you all clean up this mess and meet me out in the garden."
The five Xiaolin Warriors looked at each other, despairingly. Yup, Kimiko thought as she looked at the two of them. They're always up to something. Rai and Jack always seem to get us all in trouble, too… After Master Fung left, they all set to work scrubbing the table and surrounding area clean, as well as their own skin and clothes.
Jack removed the sash from around his head and was rinsing it clean in the kitchen sink. "This thing's brand new, and already it's getting dirty," he commented.
"Well, I guess you're just a dirty Xiaolin Apprentice," Rai replied, washing off his medallion in the sink next to him.
"Shut up, I don't feel like taking any more of that from you," Jack said as he pulled his swirling goggles back on, and tied the Apprentice sash around his upper arm like an armband.
"Yeah, Rai," Kimiko spoke up, turning her head as she dried the furniture. "Just pipe down for now, okay? We're in enough trouble as it is."
Rai grumbled and hung his gold medallion back around his neck. Just because you're his boyfriend now, you start turning against me? He thought, but resolved to keep silent for the rest of the cleanup.
(-)
It was around 2:00 when the Xiaolin Apprentices finally met Master Fung in the temple's long, grassy yard. Surprisingly enough, he had no difficult obstacle courses, or training gimmicks set up anywhere around. He and Dojo were simply standing beneath a large tree and examining something on a scroll of paper in Master Fung's hands.
"Um…what did you need us to meet you here for, Master Fung?" Omi asked, putting a little finger to his mouth, thoughtfully.
The old, respected elder looked up, and rolled his scroll closed. "Ah," he said with a smile. "I see you've finally decided to join me. I trust the kitchen is all span and spick?" Everyone just nodded, because no one had the heart to correct him (and Omi thought he was correct). "It is once again a time of change for you, young warriors," Master Fung began, in his foreboding voice. "I am now going to teach you your new techniques. Together, with the upgraded powers of the Dragon of Metal, you can do even greater things."
Jack trembled, nervously as the mysterious temple master looked in his direction. "There is no need for you to perform your second level attack alone," Master Fung tried to comfort him. "We will begin the five-element formation, and the words should come to you when it is your turn."
On the contrary, this only made the former evil genius even more nervous. "The words will come to me" yeah right… he thought. I'm going to say the wrong thing and look like an idiot, I just know it.
"Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Rai called, somehow knowing that he had to start this off. As he clapped his hands together, white billowing gusts sprang up around him. Then, he simply jumped to the side, and squatted in an awkward position, with his hands upturned.
Or I'm going to jump in at the wrong time… Jack glanced around, wondering if it was his turn, but Omi seemed to be taking the next turn.
"Tornado Strike, Water!" the little bald monk yelled, and turrets of water began twirling and twisting around his body as he posed. He jumped on top of Rai's hands, and stood there, with his feet apart, and his arms outstretched.
Or I'll jump into the wrong position and screw the whole thing up… I hope I don't have to stand on top of anyone else…
"Judallet Flip, Fire!" Kimiko cried before the worried Jack could even wonder if he was next. Flames ignited all around the Japanese girl, and she catapulted from the grassy ground, flipping around in midair, and landing, acrobatically in a handstand on top of Omi's head.
Oh, gosh, what am I supposed to do! Jack frantically looked around. If he wasn't up now, he was definitely next.
"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay called, stomping the ground, as brown fissures and craggy rocks popped up. He fell into place on the left side of the Rai-Omi-Kimiko totem pole, holding his arms and legs out to make points of what everyone could now see was some kind of star.
Now Jack knew he needed to copy Clay on the opposite side to complete the shape, but…what was he supposed to say? Complete silence filled the area as he tried to figure it out. Well, it had to be two words, followed by 'Metal'…
"C'mon, Spicer, we ain't got all day!" Clay called, glancing back at him.
"Knees…getting…weak…" Rai grunted under the combined weight of Omi and Kimiko in his hands. Neither of them weighed that much, but together they weighed about as much as someone like Clay.
Now, Master Fung figured he'd have to step in. "Jack…" he called out to the panicked goth boy. "Relax you mind…now, what do you think of when you think of your element?"
Jack took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to follow those instructions. My element…metal…what do I think of when I think of metal… Thinking about metal only made him think of his robot army. The various Jack-bots were flying around, trying to get in the way of the other Xiaolin Warriors. In his mind, he saw Kimiko kicking one, and it crashed to the floor. The four of them were trashing all of the robots, and one of them near the back just exploded all by itself. Yeah…that was it…he could almost express it in words…
"Explosion Crash, Metal!" Jack finally called, and he felt his body being jerked into the right position. He flew up, a silvery metal backdrop appearing behind him. Then, he jumped back down, harnessing the shining power and slamming it against the ground. It erupted in a loud booming noise, and metal spikes and large plates shaped like yin-yangs slammed into the peaceful green grass. Afterwards, he managed to pull himself out of the attack, and the magical energy seemed to draw him right up on the right side of the "totem pole". He instantly popped back up into position, his arms extended and made peace signs, with one leg out, completing the star shape.
Somehow, the same phrase passed through all of the Xiaolin Warriors' minds at once. "Dragon X Penté Formation!" they called in unison.
Master Fung smiled. Sure, it had taken a little prodding on Jack's part, but they had done it…the most powerful attack that Xiaolin Apprentices could ever perform, the Dragon X Penté Formation. "Well done, well done," he complimented, stepping forward to break up the formation, since they didn't know what to do next yet.
"Ooof," Rai grunted, glad to get Omi and Kimiko off his shoulders.
"Jack Spicer, your new attack is really chilly!" Omi cried in excitement.
"Is that a good thing?" Jack asked, raising his bushy eyebrows.
"I think he meant cool," Kimiko clarified. "At least I thought it was cool!"
"Oh, brother," Rai complained under his breath. He knew that they were a couple now, but it got a little annoying when they were being affectionate with each other like that. In fact, the two of them were hugging and snuggling right in the middle of the yard.
Rai had a girlfriend too- another Brazilian girl named Leandra who was a bird handler in his circus troupe. They still talked to each other over the phone once in a while, and chatted on the internet, when either of the techies would let him use a computer. Still, it wasn't the same as if she was right beside him, and that was the real reason Rai was jealous of Jack. Jealous of Jack Spicer! Who'd ever think?
As the Dragons broke up and scurried off to take on their truckload of chores, Dojo and Master Fung looked at each other. One step closer…still, they would have to work quickly in order to be ready for the upcoming challenges. There was a powerful force awakening…and the Xiaolin Dragons would have to be ready to combat it.
The two of them weren't exactly sure what this evil essence was, but it was definitely close, and definitely strong…perhaps even stronger than Wuya. Much training was in order, and from the way things were going, perhaps 2,000 years of darkness couldn't be as terrible as the impending series of events…
"Do you think they'll need the power boost?" Dojo slowly asked his old companion. "I'm afraid to think what might happen if…"
But, Master Fung nodded, gravely, staring out into the distance, even to the very border of the Xiaolin Temple. They would need their extra, forbidden powers, if they hoped to have any chance of defeating this extra, forbidden evil force.