There are hopefully no real issues with this chapter, aside from one little Chase Young reference. I know that the thing with Marylyn and Jack goes kind of quick, but I didn't want to linger on it too long. By the way, the yin-yang tree from last chapter appears in S2- the episode "Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil" I believe. It's just a brief background addition, like all the yin-yangs…
Wow! Reviews! Yay! Thanks everybody! Yup, from last chapter, "Jinshu" means "Metal", but she won't appear for a very, very long time. That's a little thing we like to call "foreshadowing". Reviews make uphalf of my motivation…so keep reviewing!
(-)
Chapter 2: New Elements
Blackness. Everything was dark and pitch black. Unfortunately, with his new rank came new responsibilities…and more difficult training sessions. So on this day, everyone was a bit nervous. This was Jack's first day with a blindfold, and everyone knew how much he freaked out when he couldn't see anything. He was still trying to do a pretty good job, and so far they'd been no fatal accidents.
Kimiko was sliding beneath a series of chopping blades, while Omi was slipping easily past a closing wall challenge, and Clay and Rai were making their way across a long path of skinny logs over a painful spike floor. Jack was slowly struggling through his test, dodging flaming torches as they came swinging down at him.
"Ah!" Not for long. Suddenly, a surprise torch flew down from the top, immediately igniting Jack's already flaming hair. He instinctively began to run around and straight out of the obstacle course in a panic.
"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi called, sensing the disturbance. The columns of water twisted around him, and shot forward. Then, a second later, Jack was drenched in magical water, and frustratingly ripping the mask from his eyes.
"Darn it!" he exclaimed. "I just can't do this blindfold thing. It's impossible."
"Don't say that," Kimiko comforted him, while continuing to run the gauntlet. "You'll be able to do it eventually… I mean, look at how far you've come already. You're a Xiaolin Apprentice now!"
"Yes, you must have some faith in yourself!" Omi cried, bobbing up next to him, zipping through the rest of his challenge and taking his blindfold off.
Jack just sighed when he witnessed the little monk's lightning-fast reflexes. "Yeah, don't worry. I had too much on my mind. That's always my problem. I'll have to start over." He pulled his hood up to hide his singed hair, and turned back to the obstacle course.
There he goes again, Rai thought behind his blindfold. Spicer, getting all the attention again. It almost makes me want to… "Augh!" His mind distracted, Rai's foot slipped on the last log and his whole body flew forward to the grassy ground in front of it.
Master Fung just stood in the distance, putting on his best fed-up bulldog face. This was hopeless, especially with the slacker twins, as he'd soon nicknamed Rai and Jack. Clay and Kimiko finished up their blindfold obstacle courses and came flipping gracefully to the ground right in front of Master Fung. "Omi, Kimiko, Clay, good job," he complimented. "And…you two…"
Rai got to his feet and grinned sheepishly, along with Jack. "I…I'm just not used to the blindfold. When I can't see anything, my mind starts to wander…" Jack tried to explain.
"Of course," Master Fung advised. "Imagination is your greatest power, but it can also be your greatest enemy if you let it be."
"And his catching on fire distracted me," Rai accused. "I started thinking about…other things."
Master Fung sighed, for the umpteenth time that day, placing his bald head in his hand. "I'm afraid if you two don't improve soon, I'll have to start with the private lessons again."
"Private lessons?" Rai cried. "I don't need private lessons! I've been here a lot longer than Jack has!"
Jack turned to glare at him, but Master Fung spoke next preventing an impending argument. "There is no exception," he explained. "You all must be at your very best. In fact, Kimiko, Omi, Clay, I may already begin the search with you."
The three best Xiaolin Warriors looked to each other in confusion. "Search?" Omi asked. "What search? What are we searching for?"
Master Fung and Dojo once again looked at each other. "Should we tell them now?" Dojo wondered aloud.
"Yes. I suppose they have to find out soon anyway."
The five Xiaolin Dragons looked around at each other. Once again, they were about to learn something new about their powers, or about the ancient legacy of the Xiaolin Temple, and from the sound of things, it had to be something important. "Now what…?" Clay softly said to himself.
"Like I said earlier, we've been studying the ancient writings…" Dojo began, slipping from Master Fung's shoulders and reappearing on the ground in front of them a few seconds later. "Because of this weird feeling I've been having lately… It's not a Shen-Gong-Wu, and it's not anything pertaining to Wuya…we think it may be some other force we overlooked."
"Chase Young?" Omi immediately guessed, but the little dragon was already shaking his long, scaly head.
"No, I wouldn't be able to sense anything about him, since he's still in the realm of the living…why do you think I allowed myself to be captured?"
"Because you wanted to stay there," Rai stated.
"Never mind," Dojo quickly brushed it off. "What's important is that there's something else out there besides Wuya…and it's coming…and it's big and powerful…even more powerful than Wuya…and it may already be here!" By now, the nervous little dragon was running around in a circle and pulling at his long, curved head scales.
The Xiaolin Warriors stared at him in exasperation. Something more powerful than Wuya? That just seemed impossible. Besides, sometimes Dojo overreacted to stressful situations. They didn't believe a word of what came out of his snout at first, until Master Fung picked up where he'd left off.
"So, needless to say, we need you to focus and become stronger to fight against this force. In my research, I discovered a few ancient facts buried deep in the writings. It appeared that Grand Master Dashi never wanted us to find them."
"How come Dojo didn't know about them from when he worked alongside Dashi?" Rai asked, shooting a critical glare down at the panicked dragon.
"Raimundo, it's been over a thousand years. There is no way Dojo can remember everything from that time."
"We could go back in time," Jack told them, with a grin. "I've still got my machine, and you've got the Eye of Dashi…"
"And what about the return trip?" Kimiko added, crossing her arms. She had to be extra cautious of his crazy schemes, especially now that he was at the temple.
"Oh…uh, I'll work on that," Jack sheepishly replied. He'd once again forgotten that itsy bitsy detail.
"Well, there's no way of knowing everything," Master Fung explained. "But from the hidden recordings, we were able to at least figure out a bit about this new enemy and how to defeat it… It is another one of the Heylin clan. It was said this force desired too much power within the ranks, so Wuya banished it with her strongest black magic…"
"But wait a minute," Rai interrupted again. "If Wuya banned that thing with her own magic, how can it be stronger than her?"
Master Fung was silent for an uncomfortable moment. "…Its power had been growing over the years," he at last answered. "The only hope I saw for you is if you obtain your true, full powers and find the Element Orbs."
"Element Orbs?" Omi asked, holding up his favorite, round, blue Shen-Gong-Wu. "…Like the Orb of Tornami is linked to my water element…?"
"No," Master Fung told him. "These are much different orbs. Even if you advance to the highest level that you can reach and become full-fledged Xiaolin Dragons, you will not have power to match those of the original five. The original five Xiaolin Dragons were Master Dashi's disciples, and who helped him build the Shen-Gong-Wu in the battle against Wuya, the other Heylin witches, and the Spicer family. Unfortunately, in possession of all the power they had, some of the original five turned over to the dark side and tried to overthrow Dashi. This is why the Element Orbs exist. Dashi and the other remaining disciples created five orbs, one for each of the elements, in which to place their extra, unneeded power, since Dashi now recognized that having too much power would only corrupt the hearts of future Xiaolin Dragons. These Element Orbs were specially hidden throughout the world, where he hoped they would never be found. You must each find your corresponding Element Orb to release your true, full powers. That is the only way to defeat this enemy. Shen-Gong-Wu alone will never do the trick."
"But…what if some of us get corrupted by the power?" Omi asked, shooting a deliberate glance over at the slacker twins.
"That is what I am here for," Master Fung assured him. "To make you pure enough to be unaffected."
Kimiko, Omi, and Clay continued to stare, and eventually Rai and Jack got the hint and rushed off to take a dip in the cleansing fountain.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a very important phone call to make," Master Fung said, turning away from the three of them.
They stood clumped together on the lawn for a few moments, staring in wonder and nervousness at the task looming before them.
(-)
"So this is your headquarters?"
The CFPU meeting was finally over, and now Bob Sanderson was left sweeping up the mess on the floor from magic spells gone wrong, and too many cups of punch. Perhaps he shouldn't serve refreshments at their next meeting. Why did he anyway? This was serious business; this wasn't some after-school club. The teenage boy looked up and ran a hand over his dark bluish bunches of hair, tied down in cornrows. This was the first sentence the elegant brown-haired witch had spoken to him since their arrival, and he was slightly nervous, since he had wanted to impress her.
"Yeah…I know, it's not too fancy, but in my opinion it's better to have a plain headquarters, so it'll look inconspicuous, you know?"
At last, Shésui smiled a bit, a twisted, wicked kind of smile that made Bob shiver when he stared into it for too long. "So…do you know about our entire legacy?" she continued. "About out founders and our history as sorceresses, our followers, and their origins…about out struggle against that fool of a master, Dashi?"
"Uh…no," Bob admitted. "We only studied your banishment techniques for our own benefit. Some of us, like me, have started to practice some of your other teachings as well, but…"
"Ah, yes. Banishment." Shésui casually changed the subject. "I'm quite familiar with that. In fact, I was banished. It was that imbecile, Wuya. Both Wuya and I were next in power to becoming the leader of the Heylin force, but she was jealous of my strength and good looks, and banished me from the world, trapping me in that Wheel of Quan Lao. …I'll get her back someday…" When she smiled the next time, her tongue darted out, and Bob could've sworn that she had a forked tongue.
"Well, I know about Wuya. She wrote the method books we study out of…but I've never seen you in any of the writings."
"Of course not!" Shésui roared, rising from her perch on the tire in the corner. "Because Wuya made sure I wouldn't be meddling in what she thought were "her" territories! Ohhhhh, I can't wait to get my hands on her! She's still here in this world; I can feel her presence. I…"
The powerful young lady suddenly froze, with one fist in the air. Bob stared at her for a moment. She was so beautiful in that slinky blue dress…she really was out of place in an old garage like this. The dingy plastic walls, piles of broken junk, and broken concrete floor helped to extenuate her magical aura of power. For a serene moment, she closed her eyes and turned her head back, as if reminiscing about happy times past. Bob blinked in awe of her beauty as her waving brown hair danced in the wind behind her.
"Oh…yes, I'm sure of it now." Her peaceful image was shattered as soon as that low, hissing voice slipped from her mouth and her snakelike tongue flickered out. "Wuya is in this world. In fact, she is being held prisoner inside of an object of our making…at the Xiaolin Temple!"
"The where?" Bob skeptically asked, turning to continue his cleanup.
"Xiaolin Temple!" Shésui yelled. "It's the place where our enemies reside! It's where they train to defeat us!"
"So it's out enemies' headquarters," Bob clarified, finally finishing his sweeping and dumping the pile of dust out of the dustpan into a nearby trash can. "So the great Wuya is being held hostage by the enemy! We have to bust her out of there!" He jumped back up, trying to look tough and confident as he said it.
"Hold on there, squirt," Shésui replied, putting up a thin, yet powerful hand. "You'd think I'd want to just set that little traitor free? Oh, no. I'm going to the Xiaolin Temple to get my revenge! My senses tell me that wherever she's being held hostage, only her spirit remains. Hah. Never realized how dense she really was. By using the Wheel of Quan Lao on me, she also preserved my individual body. You saw me as a ghost earlier, but I have the power to switch between both at my command."
Bob blinked again and looked his strange companion straight in the face. If he looked close enough, he could actually see traces of the ghostly entity she'd been when he'd first released her from that golden ring he now knew was the Wheel of Quan Lao. There were actually dots deep beneath her glowing blue eyes…the same dots that had covered her bulbous eyes earlier, in plus signs. Bob slowly looked down to the silver, sparkling medallion that he always wore around his neck to signify his authority as CFPU leader. It had the exact same dot symbol engraved in its shiny surface. Chills traveled down his back as he stared into its depths. Did this mean…that they were destined to find each other?
Shésui didn't seem to be having the same feelings, however. She closed her eyes again and concentrated on the vision that she was once again receiving from some unknown power. "But first…I need to devise a good strategy. You'll help me with this, won't you, squirt?"
"Yes, of course!" Bob eagerly agreed. "I can't believe it…getting to contact the real Heylin sorceresses… I'll help you get your revenge on Wuya, and take over the rest of the world!" Though it was grating on his nerves, Bob continued to ignore being called a "squirt" and just concentrated on trying to be a worthy partner.
Shésui, however, wasn't listening, or even looking at him, obviously concentrating on her vision and trying to make up a plan of action. "Do you know anyone named…J…Jake? Jake Splicer? No, it has to be a Spicer descendant or something…"
"Spicy Pizza Head?" Bob suddenly remembered, his eyes lighting up.
"…So you know this obscure relative of the Spicer family?" Shésui asked, at last opening her dotted eyes again.
"Well, not really," Bob admitted. "He was just some freaky nerd kid who was in my class in second grade. I used to pick on him every day to make my friends laugh. …If I knew where he was, I probably would have already banished him by now, but he just sort of disappeared off the face of the planet by himself."
"He's at the Xiaolin Temple," Shésui informed him. "And I sense his former connections with Wuya…" Slowly, that same, twisted smug grin spread onto her face again, and her serpentine tongue flickered out in anticipation. It was a plan now.
"Bobby," she addressed her new partner, and he was surprised that she even remembered his name. "I'm going to need some…special assistance for this." She looked into the entranced gangster boy's wide brown eyes and bared her teeth in a grin for a second, displaying her fangs. "…But you won't mind being my little "companion" for a while, now will you?"
(-)
"Meet me at the central chamber at 3:00," he'd said with an unusually secretive smile. The image of the old Master Fung, looking over at them with that expression was ever present in the minds of the five Xiaolin Dragons. Usually, the stony man never kept secrets from them, and he'd never had any surprises for them. He wasn't that interesting a guy.
Everyone was gathered in a small, unoccupied room a little ways down the right hall. Omi was mindlessly practicing his moves while he was waiting, Kimiko and Jack were fiddling with various gadgets at the same time, and Clay was creating a sort of melancholy atmosphere by slowly playing a harmonica.
Rai, however, was leaning against the door, with his head back, impatiently. "What the heck would he possibly have to hide from us?" he suspiciously stated. "I think that's a little strange."
"Maybe it's got something to do with the Element Orbs," Kimiko suggested, glancing up from her cell phone for a second. "If he's found one of them, he can't let us know, right? We have to find them by ourselves. Maybe he'll tell four of us, and we have to help the other one find his Orb."
"I highly doubt it," Omi entered the conversation, landing on his black slipper-covered feet. "The Orbs were never meant to be found. I don't believe Master Fung would be so excited about uncovering them…"
Fortunately, before there could be any further deliberation, the old temple leader in question stepped back into the room, still smiling at their confusion. "There's someone here whom I would like you to meet."
Rai immediately jumped up, but the others were a bit more hesitant as they fell into a clump, walking behind him. At last, Master Fung halted when they reached the main, red-carpeted hall, and the chatting behind him stopped as well. "Mary…" he called. "They're here."
Standing on the steps at the end of the wall, was a tall, trim woman in a long red temple uniform just like theirs, except she had a small jacket like Master Fung. She rose to greet them, and as the master led them closer, they could all get a better look at her face. It looked sharp and powerful, yet her warm, friendly green eyes still washed over them. Her most striking feature, was obviously her waist-length, orange-red, wavy hair, which had just a hint of gray mixed in it.
Those dazzling green eyes were washing over them now, scanning the five Xiaolin Dragons as if searching for something. They all looked up at her with strange, silent respect. Though they were sure they'd never seen her before in their lives, she looked uncannily familiar.
"My young Dragons…" Master Fung began, addressing them again. "…I'd like you to meet my good friend and former pupil…Marylyn Orre."
Marylyn Orre… the first four Dragons thought. They looked up at the stained glass painting of this very same person above their heads. Wasn't she…
"…Mom?" Jack gently whispered in disbelief. She'd left him when he was only three, so he scarcely remembered her, but this was definitely her. Why would she suddenly reappear out of nowhere like this?
At last, Marylyn recognized her son, and broke into a run down the stairs to greet him. While all this confusion and skepticism was running through Jack's head, his mother swooped down and pulled him into a tight hug. "So it is you! My son!" she cried, her eyes nearly tearing up from the emotional moment. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again… Gosh, you look so different! My little Jackie's all grown up!"
"Maybe on the outside," Rai teased, and Jack shot him death glares from over Marylyn's shoulder.
Meanwhile, the emotional woman continued squeezing him and talking in a fast, overwhelmed voice. "Wow, you really look more like Henry now. Except for your hair. Why'd you dye it? I always thought you had such cute orange curls… And what's with the clothes? Oh, no. This is all my fault. My absence has turned you into one of those 'gothic' kids, hasn't it? Please, tell me you haven't tried to kill yourself!"
"No, of course not, geez, Mom!" Jack finally managed to rip himself out of Marylyn's grasp. "Will you please not embarrass me in front of my friends?" Not like I haven't already been embarrassed in front of them ten million other times, his mind argued.
"Oh…" the former Dragon of Metal replied, her brilliant green eyes settling on Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Rai. "I'm sorry, honey. I was just so excited to finally meet you…"
"And why do you suddenly appear now?" Jack continued, his anger welling up at the sound of her casual, innocent-sounding voice. "You abandoned me for eleven years, suddenly pop back into existence now and expect me to be perfectly fine with that? Where were you before, when I needed you? I know you were afraid of Dad's ancient evil magic, but why couldn't you have taken me with you when you left? You could have at least called me…or sent a letter of an e-mail." He crossed his arms and turned away, to emphasize his point.
The other Xiaolin Warriors, and even Master Fung were staring at the scene with a bit of apprehension. They'd always figured that Jack would be happy to be reunited with his mother. He'd certainly seemed happy when he'd first learned about her.
Marylyn looked over, her robust face scrunched into a worried, regretful one. "…Jack, honey…" she softly spoke again, taking a cautious step towards him. "I'm very sorry. When I was leaving, Henry ripped me away from you. As soon as I'd learned of his connection with the Heylin witches, he'd also learned that I was the Dragon of Metal. And I knew afterwards that if I'd even tried to contact you, he would have destroyed anything before it could reach you…even e-mails. I couldn't attempt to return to the house to visit you, because I would've been destroyed on the spot. I'm here now because of your move here. And this way I knew that Henry hadn't made you into some wicked replica of himself…although it seems that he was working on it."
As his mother continued to try to explain things to him, a foggy, yet strangely detailed memory wandered back into Jack's mind. He could remember feeling a pair of tight arms around him…his father's arms, he recognized. Useless tears spilled down his cheeks as he cried out at the red-haired figure growing smaller and smaller in the distance. It was Marylyn, but in his three-year-old mind, this figure only registered as "Mommy."
"MOMMEEEEEEEE!" he shrieked and tried to wriggle his way out of his father's arms. The man kept him firmly pressed against his arms and the silence around him only enhanced the fear and confusion in his small brain.
Jack blinked a few times and thought about this for a while. Sure, it had been frustrating knowing that he had a mother somewhere out there, but never knowing about her, but… "Well, at least you're here now," he realized, glancing back over at her. "It's better to know you now, instead of never knowing you at all."
"That's right," Marylyn replied with a smile. "And now we can get to know each other all over again. So…why did you dye your hair?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "I just like it like this, okay? And don't start on my clothes again."
"Oh…okay," Marylyn uneasily replied. "So you like all that punk rock and heavy metal stuff? Er…you don't have any body peircings do you!"
"No!" Jack cried. "Will you just stop asking so many questions?"
"I'm just concerned," the woman casually answered, stepping up and putting an arm around him. "Those things are very bad for your health. They're disgusting, anyway; I can't see why anyone would want a metal bar sticking through their tongue, or up their nose…" As the mother and son continued to argue, Master Fung and the other Xiaolin Warriors shared a few smiles. It looked like everything would work out fine after all.
(-)
"Hyyaaaaaaaaaa!" Well, there was one thing certain about Marylyn Orre's reappearance- she was somehow motivating the Dragons to work to their full extent. Omi relentlessly pulverized a dummy with flying kicks, hoping to impress the legendary former temple savior, while Kimiko was performing flips in another corner, looking to display herself as the next formidable female Xiaolin Dragon. Raimundo was doing crazy handsprings and splits right in front of "Mistress Marylyn". She seemed to be trying to ignore him. Meanwhile, Jack tried to hide himself in the shadows of the furthest corner, since he didn't want his famous kung-fu mother to see how bad at kung-fu he was. The only one that didn't seem affected by her presence was Clay, dutifully performing his tasks in the center.
Marylyn was supervising their training session today instead of Master Fung. Since she would be staying here from now on, she'd volunteered to give the Xiaolin Dragons some pointers for him. Today, however, she hadn't even said anything yet, standing there with a slightly similar smirk curling her lips.
"Aren't you going to help us or something?" Rai at last asked when he grew tired of flipping around and trying to get a good view of her legs.
"Are you done showing off yet?" Marylyn asked, intelligently.
"Uh…yeah, I'm done now," Rai admitted
Omi and Kimiko paused for a moment also to see what was going on, both out of breath. "We're done too," the simultaneously relinquished.
"Okay, everyone," Marylun at last took charge. "You come too, um…was is Clay? And Jackie, honey, stop hiding in the corner. You should have more confidence than that."
"You're not helping," Jack muttered as he trudged into the light, ashamed with being called "Jackie honey". Soon, they were all gathered around the embodiment of the stained glass image, staring in wonder up at her.
"Now," Marylyn simply stated. "Let me demonstrate the actions of a real Xiaolin Dragon." Then, she flipped into a series of swift, flowing movements. She moved so gracefully and quickly, it was almost hard to see her. In a moment, their test dummy was flying across the room with one powerful, lightning-fast kick. The Xiaolin Dragons watched, as if in a daze. Rai seemed especially taken with her elegance.
"…Hey, Jack…" he whispered to his embarrassed companion. "…Did I ever tell you that your Mom is hot?"
"Er…thanks?" Jack replied, not even believing that this flying woman before him was really his mother.
Finally, Marylyn landed softly back in front of them, smiling. Rai nearly melted into the red carpeting. "In the next two weeks, I hope to have you all performing up to the level at which I have just performed. Fung tells me that you are all on the verge of finding your Element Orbs. So it seems I came in the perfect time to shape you all up for the event!"
Four of the Warriors glanced, nervously at each other, while Rai continued to stare, googly-eyed. "I'm in love with Jack Spicer's mom," he began to sing, to the tune of "Stacey's Mom". "Jack Spicer's mom has got it goin' on. She's all I want, and I've waited for so long- ooofff!"
Kimiko promptly elbowed him in the chest, cutting the song off. "Shut up, Rai! You have a girlfriend, you know." Marylyn only smirked, amusedly to herself. She got this sort of thing a lot.
"Sorry to interrupt the training session!" a loud, familiar voice cried, and Dojo came scurrying into the room. He froze when he got a look at them. "Or…sorry to interrupt the not training session, but…a new Shen-Gong-Wu has activated!"
"Cool," Kimiko commented. "What's this one?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Dojo replied, scratching the back of his head with his claw.
"But…you always know the identity of the Shen-Gong-Wu you are sensing!" Omi objected. "Well…most of the time."
"I can't figure it out; it's a weird sensation," Dojo told them. "I don't know everything, you know."
"Yeah, we learned that a long time ago," Rai said, breaking out of his Marylyn Orre trance.
"So, get going," Marylyn urged them. "I've never gone after Shen-Gong-Wu like you kids, so I know what an important job it is."
"So you've never done a Xiaolin Showdown?" Omi asked, with a little gasp.
Marylyn shook her head. "Nope. In fact, the next time you find one, I'd like to come along as an observer. Right now you need to hurry up and go get this one."
"Do you at least know where it's located?" Rai demanded, staring down at Dojo.
"Er…it's in the US," the little dragon tried to describe. "…Central region…kinda Northish…"
"Sure, that tells us a lot. So we'll just have to scour the whole North region of the Central USA to find it?"
"No…wait…" Dojo concentrated and tried to get an exact city. "Chi…Chi…Chicago?"
"Chicago!" Jack and Marylyn said at the same time. It was a rare moment when they were in perfect agreement, and the shocked, reluctant expressions on their faces were almost identical. "Well, have fun, honey," Marylyn continued, patting Jack on the head and pushing him over towards the other Xiaolin Warriors. He growled in agitation, but turned around to face them.
They didn't know, but the Spicers had once lived in the Chicago vicinity, and Jack had actually spent the first eight years of his life there. It was a place he hoped he'd never return to.
Dojo enlarged himself, making sure to aim his head for a door this time, while his future passengers scurried through the back corridors of the temple, grabbing Shen-Gong-Wu and supplies from the vault and their rooms. It was always a good idea to have more than one Shen-Gong-Wu with you so you could choose which one to wager if there was a Showdown. Dojo was s bit surprised with the large sacks the Xiaolin Dragons hopped onto his back with. It looked like he'd have a bit of extra weight to lug to Chicago.
"Hold on tight," he warned, preparing to take off with more force than usual. They clung to the dragon's smooth scales, but Rai glanced up to wave down to Marylyn right before they shot off. Kimiko frustratingly reached over and grabbed him so he wouldn't fall off.
A few hours later, they were bobbing along over the Pacific Ocean, and everyone looked regretfully back at the coast of California as it appeared on the horizon. Too bad they weren't going there…
For a moment, Jack considered just jumping off and flying back to China. He'd have to stay with his mother for a while until they got back, but it was still better than going anywhere in Illinois. Unfortunately, the dragon underneath him was too fast, and soon they were landing behind a giant building in the city.
Dojo quickly shrunk when everyone was off, since there were people everywhere in the city, and it would be very easy to be spotted.
"So where exactly in Chicago is this Wu?" Rai at last asked, looking around in annoyance.
"Well, I'm not sure…" Dojo said, sitting up straight and trying to receive a locating sense. "Wait…it's…this way!" he suddenly cried, pointing a claw-like finger down a road to the left. "…I think."
Kimiko stepped in that direction, scooping up their confused little guide and hiding him in an outside pocket of her new pink purse. Omi, Rai, and Clay began to follow her, but they hadn't made more than two steps when Jack commanded them to halt.
"Now what?" Clay's Southern accent rumbled out. Even his calm, unaffected demeanor had begun to be rattled by Jack's constant whining.
"What is it, Jack?" Kimiko asked, in a slightly softer, concerned voice as she turned around. "You don't think this is the right way?"
"No, no," he quickly informed them, with a mysterious smile. "I just can't let you go off hunting for Shen-Gong-Wu without introducing you to my new Shen-Gong-Wu-finding gear!"
Rai, Omi, and Clay all rolled their eyes as Jack reached into the sack he'd brought with him and began pulling out a stack of machinery. "First off…" he proudly announced. "…I've got HeliPacks for everyone!"
An instant later, he was rushing madly around, clipping the devices onto the backs of his teammates, remembering to save the smallest one for Omi. Rai growled to himself as he felt his arms suddenly being forced into arm slots. It looked like he had no choice in this matter, because he would have much rather not wear one of these branded evil devices.
Jack finished and fastened the last one over himself. "So how do you like them?" he expectantly urged. "I redesigned the clasp based on your symbol thingy. You know, the one with the coiled dragon trying to eat a star?"
"It's not a star," Omi took offense. "And the dragon's not eating it."
"Well, whatever," Jack brushed it off. "It's some kind of Xiaolin Temple symbol, right?"
Kimiko studied her HeliPack with mild interest, while Clay shrugged his shoulders in his, uncomfortably.
"…And now for the headsets!" Jack cried, brandishing a rack of wireless headphones. He did the same with these, shoving them over his teammates' ears, whether they wanted him to or not. Well…Rai thought as Jack shoved a pair on him. At least these could be useful. It was strange that Omi, who'd needed the smallest HeliPack, needed the largest headset. "These are the new patented Jack Spicer Insta-Communication Anywhere Headsets! …Or JSICAH for short."
"Do you have to put your name into everything you build?" Rai asked in annoyance.
"Uh…no," Jack answered, as if he'd never noticed it before. "HeliPack' doesn't have my name in it, does it?"
Rai groaned. "That's because its original name was probably "the Jack Spicer Human Transport Helicopter Pack"," he added under his breath.
"These will allow us to communicate with each other at any time or any distance on Earth," Jack continued to explain as he fitted one over his own head and pulled the microphone down. "As an added bonus, they also play music too! …So we can also ignore each other at long distances." He smiled at his own joke.
"Yup," Rai agreed. "I'm going to be doing a lot of that."
"Okay," Dojo added, popping out of Kimiko's purse. "Can we get on with the Shen-Gong-Wu recovering yet? Or do you have some other contraptions to weigh us down with?"
"Relax, Dojo," Kimiko said, poking him back into the pouch. "I think this will help us a lot. She pressed a button and hovered a little above the ground for a moment, testing out her HeliPack.
"So now that you're his girlfriend, you're going to start defending him all the time?" Rai argued. "The cake thing was bad enough!"
"By golly!" Clay cried, finally getting a look at himself in the reflecting surface of a nearby building. "I've been Spiced!"
"Whoa!" Omi tried to activate his mini-HeliPack and went flying through the air, unable to control it.
Jack just stepped back and watched the chaos in satisfaction. He'd have to give them a little while to adjust…
(-)
At last, the Xiaolin Warriors were actually making progress. After Jack had instructed them on how to properly use their new equipment, they'd sped off down the street. Surprisingly enough, Dojo was actually getting clear readings, and he would point right or left whenever they needed to turn.
Chicago was a very big city, and the Warriors came to appreciate their new HeliPacks, because if they hovered close enough to the ground amidst a crowd of people, no one would notice. Though it was pretty hard not to notice a group of five young teens, four of which in Chinese robes, and all wearing strange backpacks and headsets. How could anyone not notice a Japanese rich girl wearing eye shadow, a Brazilian acrobat with a medallion, a blond Texan in a cowboy hat, a bald young monk, and a former evil genius in swirling goggles? At this moment, they were all slightly hovering to rest their feet above a street corner.
"It's here!" Dojo suddenly cried, jumping excitedly out of Kimiko's purse. Kimiko quickly shoved him back in, so people wouldn't see. When the few heads that had turned around fell back into position, she yanked him out again.
"What, is it around here?" Omi asked, hovering a bit closer.
"It's straight up ahead, I'm sure of it," Dojo whispered as they gathered around him. "It's not here exactly, but it's very, very close… Ooooh…and it's very, very weird… It's kind of strange to say this, but…I don't think it's a Shen-Gong-Wu after all…"
"Then what is it?" Kimiko asked, in wonder.
"Dojo," Rai skeptically criticized. "Please don't tell me we came all the way here just because you got into out ice cream freezer again."
"You have an ice cream freezer?" Jack cried in amazement, and made a mental note to raid it the next time the others were out.
"No!" Dojo hissed. "It's not just a stomachache, I'm sure. There's some sort of energy here…"
(-)
High above the little corner, a couple of shadowy figures sat perched near the edge of a tall building. One seemed feminine, its long wavy hair dancing in the slight breeze, while the other was tall, with one hand on the hulking machine beside him. It was a wonder he'd been able to get the thing up here.
Such cute little ants, the lady thought, gazing down at the crowd of people huddled on the corner. She clearly made out the shining bald head, cowboy hat, and crayon red hair among them. There were three. She'd have to find her target afterwards. It's a pity we have to exterminate them. "It's time to let loose the hounds," she spoke up. "Everything in position, Gerald?"
The male figure nodded. It was unusual that Gerald, the same obsessive, Harley-riding CFPU member was suddenly so serious and cold. He pulled out a small cage containing one special, enlarging creature the organization had summoned yesterday. This had been part of their plan all along, but as Gerald held it over the edge of the building, he looked suspiciously around, wondering what had happened to Bob. Bob was usually at every one of these extermination sessions… Well, being here with their new partner was nice, too. On her signal, he let go of the cage's golden handle and it plummeted towards the ground.
"Excellent," Shésui hissed from his side. "I bid you a fond farewell, Gerald."
"…Farewell!" the boy cried, surprised and disappointed. He stared in immobilizing shock as she leaped down after the cage. …Just what was going on here!
(-)
"What's that?" someone in the Chicago crowd finally noticed the shiny cage as it came whooshing down from the sky. Mostly everyone ignored him, but as soon as it hit the floor, everyone immediately pulled their heads up, since it had erupted in a puff of smoke. A moment later, a gigantic dragon-like demon came rumbling out, its putrid green skin and blank, blazing eyes leering down at them all.
"What is that thing?" Kimiko questioned Dojo, pulling him out of her purse.
"All I know is that that is one ugly dragon," Dojo replied. "…Almost makes me ashamed to be one."
"That's no help!" Rai yelled. "What if it attacks us?"
"Should we attack is back?" Omi anxiously asked. "The people…"
The threatening creature opened its mouth and shot a blast of fire at the crowd. Everyone screamed and those pedestrians that had caught on fire were rolling or dowsing themselves with water, frantically.
"Why that…" Kimiko began, rolling up her sleeves, angrily. "How dare that monster try to destroy the city with fire? I'll show that beast some real fire power!"
Clay casually caught her arm before she stormed out from the crowd. "Calm yourself, Kimiko. Everyone will see you if you just rush out there and attack it."
"I don't care!" she yelled back at him. "This is a desperate situation, and…"
The monster prepared to shoot another blast, but before it could let it loose, and before Kimiko could attempt to stop it, a hard, low female voice called from the distance, so loud it almost seemed to echo around them. "Ice!"
In an instant, the monster was encased in a giant block of solid ice, and one short blow later, it shattered into a million pieces and disappeared once again.
The five Xiaolin Warriors and Dojo were obviously impressed by this showing, but when they finally tore their eyes away from the spectacle, they noticed that amazingly enough, every person around them also seemed to be frozen. They were frozen in time, stuck in one position, some even in mid-air, or with water suspended above their heads.
And standing in the middle of all this, exactly where the dragon monster had been earlier, was a young lady, smiling warmly over at them. "Why, hello there," she called. "Don't be afraid, you guys. I'm not going to hurt you."
The Xiaolin Warriors lowered themselves to the ground and cautiously approached this surprising stranger. "Who are you?" Omi chanced to ask when he drew close enough.
The girl's light brown, wavy hair gently blew in the breeze. At least the wind, it seemed, hadn't been frozen by her power. She was wearing a long blue, elaborate dress which clung to her figure, but her most striking feature was her sparkling blue eyes. Looking into those eyes always made you shiver. An odd white wisp was encircling her head, too fast for anyone to make out what it was. "My name is Shelly," the girl finally spoke up, and for a moment, a sort of joking smile flashed across her lips. "…I've been searching for you for a very long time. I'd heard of the Xiaolin Temple, but China is so far away, and I could never afford an airline ticket there. So, finally, you came to me! As you know now, I'm the Dragon of Ice."
"Dragon of Ice?" Rai cried. "There are even more Xiaolin Dragons?"
"So that was what that feeling was," Dojo said to himself. "The essence of a Xiaolin Dragon!"
"Well, I am pleased to meet you, Shelly," Omi said, sticking out his pointy hand. "I assume you will come back with us to the Xiaolin Temple."
"Of course," Shelly said, shaking the little monk's hand. "I can't wait to see the place! I'll bet it's really cool! …Oh," she suddenly looked back at the ball of light spinning around her and smiled. "I've forgotten one little detail. I'd like you also to meet my spirit partner, Bobby. Bobby, say hello."
The orb came to an abrupt halt, and now it could be clearly defined as a shining white, anomalous ghost. Its head was a bit pointed at one end for a nose, and the rest remained featureless, except for a pair of beady brown eyes and a strange blue splotch on the back of its head.
"Oh, how cute!" Kimiko commented. "Hello there, Bobby."
And while the Xiaolin Warriors stared at the little ghost, Shelly stepped back and studied them. This would be easier than she'd thought, especially with the way they were all acting now. Yes, she thought, in the secret recess of her mind. I'll get what I want. And as she smiled, secretly to herself, a forked tongue flickered its way out, swiping her lips in anticipation.