It's my last day of school! Wooo! (Even though I have summer work…grumble…) So, to celebrate, I'm putting out another chapter. Sorry this one's pretty boring. Well, what do you expect; it's the Omi one. (Dodges knives thrown by Omi-lovers.) Actually, I kind of like Omi, he just gets sickening because there's so much focus on him. I seriously just made up the Element Orb level attacks as I was going along, so sorry if they seem kind of weird…and I actually wrote out combined attacks for every combination of the five characters, but it would take forever to put all of them in the story. I think I might list the abilities later. Oh, and I really can't make Showdowns. Sorry about the weird garden-cleanup thing…and just watering a tree will not recover it from bring burnt, I know, but it's magical, anything can happen.
I now also own the Instance Eraser, and yes, I know the Instance Eraser has a very similar ability to a Shen-Gong-Wu later in Season 2 (Season 2.5), but I had created it long before the official Shen-Gong-Wu with the same ability appeared on the show.
Thank you everybody! You know who you are. Oh, and Tamer, I've actually never heard that saying before…oh well, cool, I used something without even knowing I was using it. Unfortunately, this chapter's not exactly like that… I don't know why someone asked, but Julie's not in this story. She was from the future. She doesn't exist right now, and if Jack and Kimiko never have a baby, she never will. Besides, even if they do, they could end up with a boy instead, or a different girl with red hair and blue eyes. It's up to me. Whoa…I'm starting to freak myself out…
(-)
Chapter 5: Title Wave
Key Tactic #2- Always give the customer the kind of personal attention he deserves.
(-)
It felt peacefully silent aboard Dojo Airlines, aside from the low blowing breath of the wind over his back. Clay has even curled up and fallen asleep, and Jack and Kimiko were too busy snuggling to notice anything around them. Omi was sitting around the dragon's neck, holding his long head scales, with an intense expression twisting his young face. Rai was bored, so he just glanced around at the other Xiaolin Warriors. Wait a second…something wasn't right here.
"Hey," he finally spoke up, shattering their serene fantasy. "…Where's Shelly?"
Omi's face relaxed and he glanced around them. Clay sat up and searched the area. Kimiko and Jack broke away, also looking for any sign of the brown-haired girl.
"Yeah…" Omi commented, "What happened to her, anyway?"
"She was here when we arrived," Jack told them. "I remember fitting her for her new equipment. …She didn't seem too happy about it…"
"Jack, none of us are too happy about it," Rai bluntly told him.
"Dojo, do you remember seeing Shelly during the Showdown?" Omi asked, looking down at the head below him.
"Uh…hmm…well…now that I think about it…"
"So she was here when we arrived, but she's now here now…" Rai said, partly to himself. "Dojo…you make a horrible babysitter!"
"Well, there are six of you now. It's getting kind of hard to keep track of everyone all the time. And why am I supposed to be watching you every minute of the day? You should be able to take care of yourselves by now."
The Warriors rolled their eyes. "C'mon, let's go get her," Rai said, and Dojo twirled back around in the sky and headed back towards Tokyo.
"No, wait!" Jack suddenly cried, and everyone swiveled around to stare at him like he was insane. "This is an excellent opportunity to use the communicator devices! I'm sure she must have hers on…she better have it on…but, anyway, we could just call her and find out where she is!"
Everyone remained silent after this, not wanting to admit that his gadgets had actually been useful for once.
Jack flipped down his microphone and reached up to adjust the knob on the side of the headphones, obviously setting it on the airwave for "Shelly". "…Hello? Shelly? This is Jack Spicer. Do you copy?"
"…Jack?" a surprised and obviously very rattled Shelly slowly answered. "Uh…yeah, I copy."
"We're so sorry we left you behind," Jack continued, trying to speak for everyone else. "Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I fell off the tower soon after we'd landed," Shelly began. "But I'm okay, thanks to that helicopter thing you gave me…"
"Alright!" Jack suddenly cried, punching the air with a fist and interrupting her. "It's Jack Spicer to the rescue! Woohoo!"
Everyone rolled their eyes and emitted sighs of various sizes. "Just find out where she is," Rai said, in a deliberate drawl.
"Oh, right," Jack said, shaking himself. "…My name sounds kind of weird with 'to the rescue' after it, anyway. …So where are you? We're coming back to get you."
"Don't bother," was Shelly's immediately reply. "I, uh…hitched a ride with some friends. We're headed back towards the temple right now."
The others, who had tuned into the conversation using their communicators, sighed once again. "You can turn back around, Dojo!" Kimiko called up to the dragon's far-away ears. "She got a ride with some friends! …Whoever they are…"
"What?" Dojo cried. "All this flying back towards Tokyo…and I didn't even have to go back? Uh…now, I gotta turn around…" He made a sharp swoop to the right, until he was flying in the opposite direction. "Geez, I should start charging you kids airfare. I'd be rich by now."
"Uh…well…we were just worried…" Jack struggled to figure out what to say next.
"Why didn't you call us to say you'd gotten a ride?" Kimiko suddenly exploded into her communicator, now that she had it switched on and properly tuned.
"I'm sorry; I just kind of forgot," Shelly casually responded.
"Forgot? Forgot? How could you just forget about us! What other, more important things could you have had on your mind!"
"Well, I was kind of occupied trying to find a way to get back to the temple…I was panicking! How was I supposed to remember that I had a communicator thingy on my head, and especially on only the first day I've had it!"
"Well, you should have been paying closer attention! You remembered about the HeliPack didn't you? Why didn't you remember the headset! And I should think you'd be frantically searching for a way to contact us!"
"How was I supposed to know…?"
Omi, Clay, and Jack had already switched their headsets off, not wanting to hear anymore as the two girls continued to bicker over the airwaves.
"I can't believe you…!"
"I don't know why I even bother to…!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rai tried to play peacemaker, holding an arm above Kimiko as if Shelly were really there yelling at her. "Can you just stop fighting for two seconds? Just be grateful that she's okay and that we can go back to the temple now…"
"Butt out of this, Rai!" Kimiko and Shelly suddenly cried in unison and the startled Brazilian jumped backwards at the sound of the stereo. "Well…" he admitted, shaking off the shock, his voice a little wavy. "…At least I got you two to agree on something!"
At last, Kimiko sighed. "Yeah…I suppose you're right, Rai. Fighting like this is just silly. Er…glad you're okay, Shelly. We'll meet you back at the temple."
The low female voice on the opposite end seemed a bit disbelieving, but answered in a steady tone all the same. "Oh. Okay. Well, yeah, sorry to argue like that. See ya." A second later, the crackle of static roared back at her, and she knew that the careless brunette girl had switched her headset off once again.
Kimiko gritted her teeth in frustration, but made no further comments. In her mind, she was suspicious of that girl. She'd always seemed a bit odd, but now, there was something definitely wrong about her. It would take a while to find out what that really was.
(-)
The dark, dingy walls of the underground hideaway seemed strangely comforting. Perhaps this was because Kimiko was getting more used to this place. It felt distantly familiar…almost like that bittersweet day when they'd first gotten together. A surprising calm after the nerve-wracking storm… But, now, that nerve-wracking storm had been the loss of the Star Hanabi…and another victory for Bob Sanderson.
Kimiko was sitting, exhaustedly on the end of a gray stone platform while a shining, upgraded Jack-bot was doing her hair. These taller, smarter versions were milling around, performing various tasks, from checking on the defense perimeter of the Shen-Gong-Wu vault to doing the laundry. Kimiko was a bit apprehensive as the metallic hands of this one pulled her hair up into a braid. As soon as she'd decided to dye it purple, the robot had dispensed a deep dye spray that instantly transformed it into a lovely shade of violet.
In the background, various men were softly screaming, and Jack was moping around the computer desk, searching for J-pop downloads to please her. At first, Kimiko felt insensitive about forcing her tastes on him, but one could only listen to so much punk, metal, and techno before going completely insane.
"Well, here we go," Jack at last announced, pointing at the screen. "Puffy AmiYumi. You must like them."
"I really don't care," Kimiko admitted, as the Jack-bot swiveled to the left to braid the rest of her hair. "Anything's better than this…this…freakish yelling."
As if on cue, the music machine bellowed "BLOOD!" and Jack switched it off. "Errr…well, how about the radio instead?" he suggested, but when he switched it on, the only songs on were being sung in Chinese.
"Never mind," Kimiko said, as the robot braided her braids together. "You can just turn it off." The Jack-bot finally finished her new hairdo, and flew backwards, giving a thumbs-up sign.
"Am I freaking you out again?" Jack asked, slumping his shoulders a bit in disappointment.
"No, no," Kimiko immediately answered, hopping down from the bench and hugging him. "I'm just…worried, and a little sensitive…I get angry very easily, you know. I blew up at Shelly, and…you know." She sighed for a moment and took another deep breath. "I just still feel mad about losing…I can't believe I lost to that jerk!"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. I understand." He glanced over at the digital clock on the computer desk and then at a rack of CD's in the corner. "Well…let's just forget about that, now. We have to celebrate! I have a few rock CD's; you don't mind some rock, right?"
Kimiko nodded and looked up at him with a slight, hesitant smile on her face.
"And I know I don't have a cake or anything. I tried to have my chef-bots cook one, but they ended up making some weird rubber goop instead… but we could just, uh, share my pudding cups or something…"
Kimiko smiled a little wider and almost broke into a laugh. She squeezed Jack a bit tighter. "Aw, you really are a sweet guy, Jack," she told him.
"Uh…is that a good thing?" he asked, struggling for breath.
"Yes," Kimiko confirmed. "Well, I think it is."
At last, she let up on him a little, and he took the opportunity to call, "Hey, Fifty-Eight, get out here! You're late!"
"Sorry, Master Jack," a hovering Jack-bot apologized as it flew up in front of them. Then, it held out a confetti ball, and cracked it open, the little multicolored paper dots raining down on Kimiko. A banner popped out after the confetti, reading "Congratulations, Kimiko!" On cue, a swarm of eleven other Jack-bots zoomed up in formation behind Number Fifty-Eight, and in four-part harmony, they all began to sing, "For She's a Jolly Good Dragon."
Kimiko laughed and broke away for a moment to stare in wonderment at them.
"Another new upgrade," Jack explained. "They actually have pitches now, and they can sing."
Kimiko, surprised with his sudden expression, leaped back over and gave him a quick kiss. Jack struggled in surprise, but eventually got a hold of himself and ordered the other robots to load the music machine and get out the pudding cups. This was going to be the best congratulatory party yet.
(-)
Ah…what a wonderful, ethereal evening… It was so great that it almost seemed like it hadn't happened. After a rigorous, yet satisfying hour partying with Kimiko, Jack was content just to rest his head against a workbench and let his robots clean up the confetti, streamers, and empty plastic containers. For awhile, he'd been getting a slight suspicion that Kimiko was starting to turn away from him again, but now he wondered why he'd ever thought that. It was a comforting reassurance, and its presence soothed Jack's nerves. Slowly, he began to drift off into an imaginary dream world, and the concrete reality of the basement room was gradually melting away.
Slam! At the unusual sound, Jack sat bolt upright and swiveled around, trying to find the source of the noise. It had better not been one of the robots, or else they'd get a good fixing-up for disturbing his sweet slumber.
"Oh," a low, icy, female voice suddenly spoke up from near the entrance. "Was I interrupting something?"
Jack quickly turned back towards the door, to see, to his surprise, Shelly standing just in front of the doorway. She leaned a thin, elegant hand against the door casing and shifted, posing herself there. "Uh…no!" Jack finally managed a reply. "No, you weren't interrupting anything! My robots and I were just…cleaning up!" He scampered off the platform and grabbed the handle of a broom, suggestively.
"Oh, that's good," Shelly replied, stepping daintily away from the door and sliding towards him. "I'd hate to think I was hindering your progress."
"No, of course you weren't!" Jack nervously replied. "In fact, I wasn't even making any progress!"
This was very unusual…what could their mysterious Dragon of Ice want with him, anyway? Not that he didn't want anything to do with her. He actually thought she was quite pretty and she'd been very kind to him. Still, there was just something strange about her…and her spirit partner. The little white blob named Bobby twirled around Shelly's waist, and then over and across her shoulders. It was almost like he was purposely accenting her figure…and perhaps he was. "So…what did you want?" Jack asked, setting the broom down for a moment and staring into her suspiciously sparkling eyes. For a moment, he felt like he was being sucked into a twinkling vortex.
"I don't want anything," Shelly replied, and her eyes seemed to deepen. The vortex grew wider, and Jack shuddered, stepping back and trying to pull himself out of the endless blue. "I just wanted to thank you," Shelly continued. "You know, that helicopter thing of yours saved my life."
"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Jack said. He had to turn away from her for a moment to break the entrancing spell of her eyes. "You know I supply everyone with HeliPacks. It's just a generous offer on my part…"
"Well, I just wanted to show my appreciation." The icy girl had reached the bench by now, and she carelessly flopped on top of it, looking out at the room's contents. The Jack-bots were finishing up the cleaning, and floating or walking back towards their cupboards. "Hey…" Shelly observed, swinging her legs, absentmindedly. "Did you make all of those robots, and those machines as well? …Gee, that's amazing…"
"It is?" Jack spoke up, surprised. "Well, of course it is! I used to be an evil genius, you know."
"So now you're a good genius?" Shelly said with a mysterious smile.
"Well, I prefer to call myself a 'non-evil boy genius'. 'Good boy genius' just sounds weird. And it sounds like I'm calling myself a dog."
Shelly chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that would be awkward." The little spirit Bobby flew up behind her and seemed to land on her shoulder and nuzzle against her cheek. "The others have told me about a time before this when you fought against them. It was a struggle for the Shen-Gong-Wu…I'm surprised you were able to do that all by yourself."
"Well, not all by myself," Jack admitted. "I had the robots. …And some other guys I hired. …And Wuya, of course…"
"Wow," Shelly said, and Bobby continued to nuzzle her cheek, lovingly. "That's a lot of help. I'm surprised you lost."
Jack turned towards her, but immediately averted his gaze to avoid looking in her eyes. "…Well, I don't think I lost," he stated, although his voice faltered a little. What was this girl trying to get at? He still couldn't figure it out…which only made Shelly all the more intriguing.
The brown-haired girl slipped back off the platform, and her dress fell elegantly around her mature figure. For a moment, Jack wondered how old she was. From her height and figure, she looked at least seventeen. "You're right. I don't think you lost either. I mean, you got to come here! And you still got to keep your robots, too. What about those other people you mentioned?"
"Other people?" Jack asked, blankly staring at her hips and chest. "Uh…what other people?"
"The other people you say helped you out back then. I don't see anyone else here…"
"…Oh! Them! …Well, of course not. Tubbimura was this big fat ninja, and he was just in it for the money. Vlad went back to Russia, and besides, they've already had him here. Of course Wuya wouldn't; even though she was a ghost, she was the former leader of the evil Heylin sorceresses…"
"A ghost?" Shelly asked, her eyes widening interestingly. "You mean she was like your spirit partner? I didn't know there were evil spirit partners out there." Bobby perched on her shoulder, and his eyes grew into brown circles as if to say "What?"
"Well, I guess so," Jack simply answered. "And the rest of them either betrayed me or didn't want anything to do with me."
Shelly smiled and slid, suspiciously around him to slide her arms over his shoulders and squeeze him into a tight hug. His cheeks flushed pink from the sudden contact, and especially when he noticed that she was even taller than him. "But all that's over now. I'm really happy you're here, Spicy! And now you know no one will betray you and do those horrible things to you anymore!"
Jack looked questioningly out, and saw the blue-capped white wisp flying towards him. Strangely enough, a flicker of excitement flashed through his body, but quickly wore off when Shelly released him and Bobby turned to follow her.
The Dragon of Ice was beaming as she swept towards the entrance. "Well, I'll see you again really soon! And thanks again for saving my life!" She disappeared into the shadows of the hallways just as quickly as she had come.
Bobby followed after her, but took a moment to swivel around and throw a wink over at Jack before darting out the concrete door.
Jack blinked his wide red eyes. "Okay…" he asked himself after he was sure they had left. "What was that all about? …And did she just call me Spicy?" Shelly had always been a bit odd…but, somehow, he couldn't help feeling like he wanted to see her again. It had been nice having her over…and from her actions and words, it even looked like she liked him!
Hold it, Jack told himself, turning away from the door. I have a girlfriend- Kimiko! Even if she does like me, I can't think about her like that. But…she does have a better figure…and she actually really likes me. Kimiko just likes me because she feels bad for me…
Jack held his head and tried to shake those thoughts from his mind. "Stop it!" he muttered to himself. "I don't like Shelly! I don't even know anything about her! And she didn't even make sense. Besides, that ghost of hers…"
He stopped right after that sentence and stood straight up again. He'd been about to say "that ghost of hers really freaks me out", but the truth was, it always felt alright when Bobby was around. Something…something just was there again that hadn't been there for a long time. That little ghost was always with her…a constant companion.
Jack looked over at a pile of broken robot parts, and saw some familiar, snaky wires sticking out of it. He approached the junk pile, and grabbed a hold of the wire. When he pulled the cord, another robot broke away from the pile. It was one of his old, deactivated Wuya-bots that hadn't been destroyed. Maybe it was the prototype. Jack held the solid, robot form of the ghostly witch and studied it, poking at its ink holes and dangling it by its "hair".
"…A constant companion…" he mused for a moment, but then broke out of his trance and shoved the stupid old thing into a drawer. Who needed one?
(-)
"Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Rai called, slapping his hands together and jumping into position.
"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi added, twisting around and landing on top of Rai.
"Judallet Flip, Fire!" Kimiko called, twirling around and landing perfectly positioned in a handstand on Omi's head.
"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay said, next, stomping the ground and jumping to the right side of the formation.
"Explosion Crash, Metal!" Jack finished, throwing his power at the ground and popping up on the left side.
"Dragon X Penté Formation!" the five of them called in unison. Then, on cue, they each started to glow in their respective element colors- red around Kimiko, blue around Omi, green around Clay, white around Rai, and silver around Jack. They each jumped out of position, now with increased magic strength. However, something was different this time.
"What the…?" Kimiko asked, and looked down to discover that she was in her red Element Orb costume. Clay noticed that he too was dressed in his princely green tunic with its collar, Earth symbol pin, and cape.
"Cool," Rai commented. "So whenever we do the X Penté Formation, whoever has found their Element Orbs will instantly transform? I can't wait to find mine now!"
"Yes," the worried voice of Marylyn Orre spoke up from behind him. She was supervising the Dragons' training session today, since Master Fung had said they needed "some serious improvement." "Well, it's going to be a long time until you can successfully attain yours without being corrupted. So, let's all get to training!"
Mistress Marylyn…" Omi asked, approaching the legendary red-haired woman. "The last time we were fighting Bob Sanderson, Jack and Kimiko combined their elements to damage him. I wonder if you could perhaps teach me to do this with some of my other teammates?"
Marylyn lit up when she heard this. "Oh, you two discovered how to execute your combined attacks?" she asked, looking over at Jack and Kimiko. "Oh, you make such a good team! I'm proud of you, Jackie!"
"Hide me," Jack grumbled as he trudged out of formation.
"Of course I can teach you. It's as easy as normal attacking. You just have to figure out when to call out and what part of your phrase you should say. Now, Omi, Clay, Rai, come here, boys."
Clay and Rai stepped up beside Omi. "…Like I would ever combine powers with Omi…" Rai complained. Omi looked back at him with a sad look on his round face. "Oh, alright," he told him. "I will if I really have to sometime…"
"Okay, Omi, you try to combine powers with Clay," Marylyn announced. "So, Clay, you start off first…"
"Okay, ma'am," Clay replied. He took a deep breath and raised his leg to hit the ground with it. "Seismic…" a wall of earth appeared as he struck the ground.
"…Strike!" Omi chimed in, blasting water at the soil that Clay had created.
"…Growth!" the both called, and instantly, a deadly plant emerged from the soil. It almost ate Marylyn, but she jumped out of the way just in time.
"Excellent," she praised as the two of them came back down from their attack poses. "You almost got me!"
"We're sorry," Omi admitted. "We didn't mean to aim for you."
"It's okay," Marylyn said, giggling and holding out a hand. "The attack just went for the nearest living object, and that happened to be me. So, Rai, did you want to try a combined attack, too?"
"Yeah, alright. I guess I could use some practice," the Brazilian replied. "Hey, Clay, want to try it with me?"
"Sure, why not?" the cowboy agreed. Once again, somehow he knew that he was supposed to begin the attack. "Seismic…" Again, he quickly stomped the ground, but this time it just created a fissure, like the whole attack normally did.
"…Boom!" Rai finished, creating a dangerous gust with his hands. The blast of air slammed into the rock fissure and it created a fast-spreading earthquake of an enormous proportion.
"…Ripple!" they called together. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop the spreading attack and it upturned a tree near the central pool of water.
"Uh…sorry about that," Clay apologized as he looked at the tree in the distance, its thin, ragged roots sticking up in the air like the limbs of a dead spider.
"Oh…it's okay…" Marylyn hesitantly told him. Fung might be a bit angry, but it was all in good training, right? "We can just plant a new tree. In fact, why don't you fill in that hole and go get a new seed?"
Clay obediently began to stride off towards the Xiaolin Temple greenhouse room, but Rai lingered behind, rolling his eyes. "Do we really have to?" Marylyn gave him a look, and he slouched after Clay in defeat. "Gee…you're no better than Master Fung…"
"Now," Marylyn continued, smiling sweetly at the remaining Xiaolin Warriors. "Shall we move on to your Shen-Gong-Wu synchronization training?"
Kimiko, Jack, and Omi blinked at each other, and then at Marylyn.
"Okay, now, those of you who have them, take out your signature Shen-Gong-Wu."
Kimiko frowned and turned her pockets inside out. Omi pulled out the Orb of Tornami and rolled it around on his arms, haughtily.
Jack looked at her like she was asking him to destroy the world. "Erm…bit of a problem here…" he spoke up.
"Oh…" Marylyn said for the third time that day. "Yes. I see. Just wait here a minute, Jack, honey."
Jack grumbled again and crossed his arms as his mother disappeared into a supplies shack to look for something. "I wish she wouldn't call me baby names like that," he complained. "I'm going to have to talk to her about that. It's really getting on my nerves."
"Aw, why not?" Kimiko said. "She's just showing her love for you. I think it's really cute!" She stepped up and threw her arms around his neck (even though she had to reach up) "Jackie, honey!" she cried.
"Now don't you start with that!" he snapped back at her.
Omi stopped twirling the Orb of Tornami around on his fingers for a moment to stare at them. For a moment, he remembered the time before when Jack would've much rather been stealing Shen-Gong-Wu than having a kung-fu lesson, and Kimiko would've much rather been kicking him in the head than hugging him around the neck.
A few minutes later, Marylyn returned and tossed a long wooden staff with a wound handle in the middle towards Jack. "Here," she said. "You can practice with this bo staff for now. When you receive your powers, you won't be using the Soul Scepter most of the time, anyway."
"How will you know it's safe? Don't you still have to keep it locked up?" Jack nervously asked as he tried to position his hands on the handle portion. "You know, Wuya's still inside that thing…"
"Well, if you receive your Element Orb powers and aren't corrupted by the power, than you should have no problem with the Soul Scepter," Marylyn explained. "The Element Orb's power is the ultimate test of a spirit's strength."
"Really?" Omi commented, turning to look at Jack. "Then you really have to concentrate and improve! Eight months…"
"Yeah, yeah," the Dragon of Metal replied, turning away from the little pipsqueak. "It's important that I train, so I'm not affected, I know…" Omi always did this to remind him that he'd only been at the temple for eight months, while the rest of them had been there for almost two years.
By now, Rai and Clay had finished replanting the tree they'd destroyed and wandered back over to them "We're doing Shen-Gong-Wu synchronization training," Omi informed them, twirling his Orb of Tornami for emphasis.
"Really?" Rai said. "All right! Finally we're going to do something interesting!" He whipped out his Sword of the Storm and stood ready to blow anything away.
Clay sighed over the loss of his Fist of Tebigong and went to stand next to Kimiko so he could sympathize with her.
"Okay, Omi, you can start," Marylyn Orre announced. "First, start off by performing your normal attack, except adding "dragon" between the first and last word."
Omi blinked, confusedly. "Okay…so…Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!" Of course, nothing happened because this was actually the attack he'd receive at full dragon level.
"Now, your Shen-Gong-Wu…" Marylyn urged.
"Orb of Tornami, Water!" Omi called. This time, the orb overflowed with water and sprayed a stream through the garden.
"And at this time, you'd normally say "Ultimate Tsunami" to channel both your own power and the Shen-Gong-Wu's power into one devastating attack. The water from the Orb of Tornami began to flood the center pool, so Omi quickly shut it off. "You next Rai," Marylyn told him. "And Omi, you keep practicing with combining your moves. Okay?"
"Typhoon Dragon Boom, Wind!" Rai cried, eager to see what his attack would be like. He waited a few seconds, assuming that his attack would be running its course now. "Sword of the Storm, Wind!" A large, swirling gust of wind spiraled out from the tip of the sword and swept, powerfully across the garden. This time, the miniature tornado veered to the right and took out another tree. "Oh brother…" Rai grumbled, looking at the damage. "I just replanted the other one…"
"Uh…" Marylyn spoke up, trying to break the stunned silence. "Well, right about now, you'd be finishing it with "Ultimate Tornado."
"Darn…I have to go get another seed…" Rai complained as he trudged off back towards the greenhouse.
"Okay, my turn!" Jack eagerly called, jumping into the center.
"Show-off," Omi murmured underneath a cough.
"I heard that!" Jack cried, looking over his shoulder at him. "And you're one to talk, big head."
"Just get on with it," Kimiko told him, trying to prevent another fight.
"Explosion Dragon Crash, Metal!" Jack cried, performing his normal attack movements and looking rather silly and awkward, since it obviously did nothing. "Soul Scepter, Metal!" he added, holding the bo staff out, dramatically. "And, um…what comes after that?" He looked, questioningly to his mother, who was holding her head in her hands on the sidelines.
"Hmm…I really don't know," she admitted, looking up into the sky, as if searching for the answer there.
"You don't know?" Jack cried, aghast. "But…you were a Dragon of Metal! You were the greatest Dragon of Metal there ever was! You should remember your own attacks!"
Marylyn shook her head. "I may have been a Dragon of Metal, but none of us ever had our Element Orb attacks. This is the first time they've ever been unleashed, since they were first created. I only knew the others' finishing attack phrases because Fung told me about them. He forgot to tell me the Metal Orb's finishing phrase. …I don't think he knows it either."
Jack stared at her for a moment, before breaking out in complaint. "…It's not fair!" he cried, making a show of throwing his substitute scepter to the ground. "I can't have a useful Shen-Gong-Wu…and now I can't have an Element Orb attack either!"
"I'm sure there's a good reason…" Marylyn tried to reassure him, but Jack still didn't look too reassured. "Clay, Kimiko, would you like to try yours too?" the temple leader partner asked. "I know you don't have your signature Shen-Gong-Wu, but just pretending would be good enough, just to get a feel for how the attack flows."
"Okay," Kimiko slowly agreed. "I'll give it a shot. Judallet Dragon Flip, Fire!" Since she was already in her flashy, warrior-like Element Orb outfit, the plumes of flame circled around her body with much greater magnitude. She was engulfed in a ball of flames as she flipped head-over-heels several times in midair. " Star Hanabi, Fire!" Since she obviously didn't have the Star Hanabi, the attack came to a grinding halt, and she dropped from the sky.
The other Xiaolin Dragons screamed as the dancing flames touched the ground and ignited the entire garden's lawn. At that moment, Rai was returning from the greenhouse with his tree seed, and his mouth fell open at the sight of the temple garden ablaze. The blazing treetops licked the sky, and even the pool of water seemed to be on fire.
"Tornado Strike, Water!" Omi commanded, and in combination with the Orb of Tornami doused Kimiko's inferno. It took a while, but at last every fire was out. With a sickening creak, every tree in the garden began to fall over, and in a unanimous thump, they all fell, dead.
Rai almost fell with them. "You've got to be kidding me!" he cried. "This time it wasn't my fault!" he yelled as he ran up to their side. For a moment, even Marylyn's eyes were wide as she stared at the destruction.
"Can I try my Element Orb attack now?" Clay asked, looking questioningly over at her.
"Um…" she finally managed to speak, and turned back to them with a funny smile that suddenly reminded them of Jack. "I think that's enough training for today…" she finished.
(-)
Blue…ah, the comforting blue. The blue of her dress…the blue of her eyes…the blue of his own matching sweatshirt. Unbeknownst to the preoccupied residents, Bob Sanderson was sitting perched on the edge of the Xiaolin Temple's blue roof. Blue…this was a different shade of blue, and he didn't like it one bit.
Why…? Why did this have to happen? Well, he guessed, it was all for the sake of the plan. Still…it made him feel uncomfortable…almost disappointed and angry. That Raimundo incident had been enough…and now, that stupid Jack Spicer… Bob clutched the medallion hanging over his blue sweatshirt. One day he'd get them…he'd get them all. Remembering today's experience, he realized that at least he got to do fun things to help the plan along, but…it still wasn't the same.
Bob looked, forlornly down at the squished, half-melted medallion in his hand and swung his legs off the edge of the building a bit. We were destined to meet, he remembered thinking when he'd first noticed Shésui's plus-sign dot eyes. But Kimiko had destroyed the medallion during the last Showdown. Slowly, the Xiaolin Warriors were destroying his cherished relationship, and he couldn't stand for it any longer!
Just at that opportune moment, the magical energy detector around Bob's wrist broke into shrill blaring, and he knew then that another Shen-Gong-Wu had activated. Those Xiaolin Warriors would be going for it. Just like Shésui would have said…it was time for revenge.
(-)
"Shen-Gong-Wu Alert! Shen-Gong-…what happened to this place?" Dojo came slithering out the back door of the temple and stopped abruptly when he got a look at the garden.
"Oh…just a bit of trouble with the training," Marylyn told him. "Didn't realize exactly how powerful the Element Orb attacks would be…and that Clay and Kimiko actually can perform the first step."
Dojo shook his head for a moment, trying to clear out all thoughts and identify the new Shen-Gong-Wu he was feeling. "It's…it's…the Instance Eraser!" he finally announced, and pulled the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll out of nowhere to explain. When he unrolled the magical item, the blue circle in the middle swirled around and settled on a picture of what looked like a blackboard eraser with a long chute at the end. "The Instance Eraser," Dojo read, "Is a device, which, when used properly, can erase preset memories from a person's mind. The eraser must be finely tuned to prevent loss of additional memories or total amnesia."
The Xiaolin Warriors stared, worriedly at each other. "We've really got to make sure Bob Sanderson doesn't get a hold of that," Kimiko stated. "He could make us forget everything!"
"Yeah, that's true," Jack replied. "But couldn't we just use the Vase of Viscous Visions to bring the memories back?"
"Yes," Dojo explained. "The Instance Eraser and the Vase of Viscous Visions are what we call "contradictory Shen-Gong-Wu". One combats the other."
"So what would happen if we used the Reversing Mirror on one of them?" Rai asked.
"Stop asking such complicated questions!" Dojo snapped back at him. "Augh! My brain's going to explode!"
"So it is not such a threat then," Omi decided, brightening, and ready for a battle. "Where is the Instance Eraser?"
"Uh…" Dojo tried to reply, pulling himself together. "I forgot." The Xiaolin Warriors rolled their eyes. "Okay, okay, it's right…there!" Dojo finally pointed out. He jumped up and pointed straight towards the end of the garden's small pool of water.
"There?" Kimiko doubtfully asked. "Right in our own backyard? How come we hadn't found it earlier?"
"The Sands of Time was right in our backyard too," Rai recalled, "But we didn't find that for a long time either."
"So what are we waiting for?" Omi interrupted their arguing. "Let's go get it!" At the sound of his statement, the five of them eagerly ran towards the other side of the garden pool. Indeed, a little chalkboard eraser was leaning inconspicuously against the stone border of the pool. They were only a few yards away from it.
Then, at that moment, a familiar evil boy with cornrows in a blue sweatshirt and baggy jeans crashed down just on the other side.
"Bob Sanderson!" Omi cried, coming to a startled halt at the sight of him.
"No kidding," Bob quickly replied. "And this time I'm going to get you for good!" His chestnut eyes were narrowing as he glared at them, along with his forehead creasing. He looked exceptionally angry this time. What had happened to anger him this much? It was no use wondering, since in a few minutes, the Instance Eraser would be his if they didn't do something.
Bob dashed towards the edge of the pool, and Omi flung himself through the air, heading straight for it. Naturally, the instant Bob grabbed a hold of one end of the eraser, Omi's hand flew down on the other. "Bob Sanderson, I challenge you to Xiaolin Showdown!" the little yellow monk cried.
"Do you always call people by their full names?" Bob asked, in annoyance.
"Only my enemies," Omi quickly snapped back. "My Orb of Tornami against your Star Hanabi."
"Okay…" Bob replied. "But you know by wagering that, you have a greater chance of losing it and never obtaining your full powers. Thanks for helping me out, little guy."
Omi set his round face into a determined scowl. "I won't lose," he said. "And I call for a Shen Yi Bu Dare. My Third Arm Sash against your Fist of Tebigong. The challenge is…first one to clean his side of the garden wins!"
"Ah, I see what the little guy's tryin' ta do," Clay commented, with a smile.
"Omi's always such a risk-taker though…" Kimiko worriedly said. "If he wins, he'll get our Shen-Gong-Wu back, but if he loses, he'll lose his own Shen-Gong-Wu, plus the Third Arm Sash… And Bob hasn't lost a Showdown yet…"
"Well, there's nothin' we can do about it now…" Clay said back to her. "He's already made the challenge… And Bob's accepted it too." He observed this as he looked back at the two of them.
"Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" they said in unison. At those magical words, the temple garden suddenly grew a lot larger, and a blue line separated Omi's portion from Bob's portion. It also became a lot dirtier. Not only were the trees and grass burnt to a crisp, but pieces of trash and globs of mud had been randomly placed in hard-to-reach spaces. Kimiko, Jack, Clay, Rai, Dojo, and Marylyn all sat on a puffy cloud, floating above and looking down on the Showdown. When everything stopped morphing and changing, Bob and Omi glared at each other and called, "Gong Yi Tan Pai!" together.
"Orb of Tornami, Water!" Omi called, immediately getting started on clearing away the muddy gunk strewn over the trees, the ground, and on his side of the water.
Bob looked down at the Shen-Gong-Wu in his hands, realizing with stupidity that there wasn't much cleaning he could do with the Fist of Tebigong and the Star Hanabi. "Err…Fist of Tebigong!" Bob called, pounding the ground and trying to compact the burnt grass into the ground.
"Third Arm Sash!" Omi called, using the sash, along with his own hands, to pick up the trash on the ground. The sash automatically chucked the trash onto Bob's side of the garden, creating more for him to clean up.
The vengeful gangster boy simply used his Fist of Tebigong to either pound his trash into oblivion, or bump the rest onto Omi's field. At last, he found a way to clean up the gunk. "Star Hanabi!" he called. Without the fire element aiding it, the Star Hanabi just acted as a regular throwing star. With a little bit of magical assistance, Bob got it to spin continuously around his pool of water. Eventually it was spinning so fast, that the mud flew out of it, and it created a water cyclone, which, in turn, sprayed the pieces of mud clean. The Xiaolin temple crew gasped from up above, realizing that for the moment, Bob was ahead.
Omi desperately called, "Tornado Strike, Water!" and used the swirling pieces of water to push his pieces of trash up on top of the burnt trees on Bob's side. Now, he'd have to get them down, as well as remove them from his side.
Bob quickly used the Fist of Tebigong to punch the side of the tree and knock the trash down, before pounding these two to oblivion. He knew this was actually getting rid of Omi's trash, but if he didn't, the persistent little monk would've just flung it back on his side.
Omi then progressed to consistently watering the grass and the trees, until they turned green and began to grow again. It naturally took a long time to finish re-growing plants, so while he was still watering, Bob was redirecting the water from his pool towards the ground. New grass was growing much quicker, because he'd already gotten rid of the burnt grass before it. While the ground was being watered, he called, "Fist of Tebigong!" and smacked the trees Omi was watering, causing them to capsize. Now, he was ahead again.
From the audience cloud, Rai and Jack gaped, while Dojo stared, Kimiko bit her nails, and Clay covered his face with his cowboy hat. Marylyn, however, remained silent and stoic, looking down at the competition with level focus.
One of the falling trees smacked into little Omi, and he went flying backwards, straight into his pool of water. By now, it had finally registered in his egotistical head that he was actually losing. There was no way he could win at the rate he was going now.
I can't lose! Omi thought desperately. If Bob Sanderson gets a hold of the Instance Eraser, he'll make us forget everything! I can't let that happen!
With this Shen-Gong-Wu at his disposal, the evil boy could make him forget his friends…He'd forget Clay…he'd forget Jack…he'd forget Raimundo…he'd forget Kimiko…and they'd all forget about him too. But, worst of all, he'd forget the Xiaolin Temple…he'd forget Dojo…and Master Fung…and they'd forget about him. Omi already knew what it was like to not know who his father was…but if Bob got a hold of the Instance Eraser, he wouldn't have a father or any friends at all. He'd be all alone. True, the Vase of Viscous Visions could be used to bring his memories back…but how could it, when no one remembered what it was or how to use it?
No…Omi thought, hopelessly in the deep, inner caves of his mind. I've lived here all my life. Master Fung is like a father to me. And when I met my friends, they only made life better for me…I don't want to forget. I can't let him just take them from me. He won't just take everything away from me like that! As much as I always think I'm above the rest of the Xiaolin Dragons…I need them. I can't let everyone just disappear like that!
By now, salty, invisible tears were forming underneath Omi's thin, closed eyelids as he lay at the bottom of the pool, underwater. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He should be drowning by now…he realized Or Bob should have won already. But everything stayed the same, and some transparent object was moving towards him, sinking in the small garden pool.
The Orb of Tornami?Omi wondered, but something about this round object seemed different. Unlike the Shen-Gong-Wu, this globe had an actual bluish-black sea sloshing inside of it. The waves flowed in and then receded, like an actual ocean. The globe settled down into the water, and straight into Omi's hands. The little monk pressed his body against the globe, and he felt as something inside the globe began to shine and slip through his body.
A second later, the water around him flew up and formed into a cocoon around him. Jet streams of water surrounded the little monk, and covered his body, dissolving his clothes away and hardening to create new ones over him. From inside the globe, Omi opened his eyes. This must be…my Element Orb! He realized. My powers! I can do this now!
At last, the spurts of water receded and dropped back into the pool, filling it with water again. Omi flew up, landing on top of the pool. He could stand on top of the pool now. Water could always stay on top of more water. He felt certain that he could even walk across the water if he tried. Omi's Element Orb outfit was similar to Clay's except much smaller in proportion. It was entirely dark blue, and his tunic jacket had a collar like Clay's, boots, a blue cape, and a pin in the shape of his water symbol.
Clay took the hat away from his face and gasped, as did everyone else on the cloud, except for Marylyn. "It's his Element Orb! Omi's received his powers!" Dojo cried.
Bob glanced over when he saw this transformation. His final tree was being watered, and in about five minutes, he'd win the Showdown. He sneered, carelessly as he saw Omi in uniform. "Ha! That doesn't impress me at all, kid. I've beaten both your other friends, even though they had their full powers too. You've got no chance. In a few minutes, I'm going to win!"
"Yes," Omi agreed, giving the boy a resentful look. "You did beat both Clay and Kimiko after they had received their full powers…but there's a big difference now. I know how to use them! …Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"
Just as he had been taught, Omi jumped up, while giant, magical jet streams of water flew at lightning speed around him. His highest-level attack… "Orb of Tornami, Water!" he added, after he let it swirl for a few moments. The Shen-Gong-Wu reappeared in his hand the moment he called its name, and a powerful spray joined the enormous spurts, making them larger, and filling in their spaces. Omi had now turned into a large column of water shooting up into the sky. Now, it was finally time.
"…ULTIMATE TSUNAMI!" the boy's little voice screamed from out of nowhere. Instantly, the column shot down, straight towards his section of the field.
The Xiaolin Warriors looked up in a panic as the tons of liquid came shooting down at them. Mere milliseconds later, the waves crashed, and the entire garden section filled to the top with water, even catching the audience cloud. The passengers began to swim towards the surface. Jack choked for a moment, startled by being suddenly submerged, but followed them. Thankfully, last summer, Rai had taught him how to swim. Everyone broke to the surface, but then realized that they were sitting in a pool of water in midair. At last, the water receded, and plopped them back onto the cloud.
When the flood finally disappeared, Omi's garden section had fully grown back, and everything was sparkling clean.
Bob looked to his pitiful, half-grown tree just before the mutated landscape disappeared, and in a flash, they appeared back in the garden where they'd first begun the Showdown.
Omi beamed up at his friends as they rushed to him. For a joyous moment, he didn't even notice the three Shen-Gong-Wu in his arms.
"Omi, you did it!" Kimiko cried, rushing up and giving him a "girl-hug."
"Yeah, partner!" Clay called, running up beside her. "You did great!"
"Careful," Rai told them. "Don't feed his overconfidence too much."
Jack hung back and just stared at them for a moment. Suddenly, he didn't feel like joining in their excited celebration.
Kimiko grabbed her Star Hanabi, and Clay his Fist of Tebigong. They all had their full powers now. They were ready for anything.
Omi held up the Instance Eraser in victory. "What do you have to say now, Bob?" he taunted. "Not so powerless now, are we?"
Bob fell to the floor and panted, but he glared back up at them with a pinched, malicious, infuriated expression. "You haven't seen the last of me," he warned, his voice whispery and constrained, as if trying to keep from screaming. "It doesn't matter if you all have your full powers. We'll get to you. Even if I lost this Showdown, it doesn't matter! You and your evil temple will cease to exist! We'll show you!" And with that, Bob walked towards the wall of the garden, behind a tree, and disappeared.
"That was weird," Kimiko said, breaking away from Omi for a moment.
"Yeah…and what did he mean by 'we'?" Rai asked, suspiciously raising one of his thick eyebrows.
"Probably him and his evil motorcycle gang," Clay explained. "Strange that he hasn't been bringin' them with him anymore."
"Aw, who cares?" Kimiko replied, hugging Omi again. "He got all the Shen-Gong-Wu back for us! Let's have a celebration! …No, wait. We can't."
Marylyn stepped up next to them, smiling in relief. "Impressive," she said. "Perhaps you'll all be ready after all…"
"Thank you, Mistress Marylyn," Omi replied, bowing in respect. When he came back up again, his blue uniform faded out, and he had his temple robes back on. The blue Water Orb appeared again in his hands. "I shall train my hardest to be the best ever Xiaolin Dragon!"
"See what I mean?" Rai said, elbowing Kimiko and staring over at Omi.
"Oh, okay, okay," Omi corrected himself. "I shall be the best ever Dragon of Water! There. Happy?" They began to laugh and joke with each other as they walked away.
"Wait a minute," Jack finally spoke up, and everyone froze and turned to look at him, on edge. What was wrong now? "…Where's Shelly?"
(-)
It was a surprisingly quiet and peaceful day in the Xiaolin Temple, and Master Fung was quite enjoying it. Everything was just how it should be…the Xiaolin Warriors out training in the garden with Marylyn Orre, and the other residents in their separate sections…Dojo out checking the Vault. It was so quiet. It was too quiet.
At last, Master Fung got up from his sitting position at the base of the altar in the central chamber. His serene reflection time would have to wait. There was something wrong here…he could just feel it. He walked, tall and straight down the halls, peeking into the rooms as he went, to make sure nothing was amiss. Then, when he finally came to the hallway where the Xiaolin Warriors resided, he found a certain brown-haired girl still lying in her chamber.
"…Shelly?" he asked, standing in the doorway and staring down at the girl on the mat. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah…" Shelly slowly replied, her voice strangely croaking, and dragging its syllables out. "I'm just a little sick. I don't feel well… I'll be okay, though." She pulled her covers up above her head as she talked, causing her already odd voice to become muffled.
"Well…" Master Fung decided. "Make sure to call me if you need anything, all right? The others should be back soon…"
Shelly just nodded and wiggled closer into the covers, coughing in a high voice.
Master Fung walked back off down the hall. There was something strange about Shelly, and even more so about her sudden illness…and mentally, he noted it down.