Oh my God! Is this an update…from me? You bet. While I sincerely apologize for the incredibly long amount of time it has been since I last updated, please allow me to explain. Right now, between college (university) applications, schoolwork, and musical rehearsals, I have hardly any time to myself. Also, during last summer, I started writing a Harry Potter fanfiction, and I considered abandoning this story to focus all my efforts into it. However, after realizing what random and unsubstantiated crap the plot was, I turned back towards Xiaolin Showdown and this story.
So without further ado, here's Chapter 9! It probably wasn't worth the wait… This chapter was a little difficult to put together, deciding which events needed to happen when, without making it boring. By the end of this, you may have some questions about a certain new character, but mostly everything will be answered in the next couple of chapters.
As of now, I have no idea how long it will be until the next update, although I have started Chapter 10 and have a better idea of its succession of events. Possibly sometime next month, though I won't guarantee it. I have a vacation week coming up!
(-)
Chapter 9: Searching
Flap, flap! "Okay, all done!"
Rai, Kimiko, Clay, and Omi stared down with wide eyes at the beaming little boy in front of them, holding a long red towel. "…That's it?" Rai asked, blinking in exasperation.
"Well, that's the first three anyway," Yang Jack admitted, his smile drooping a bit. "There are still twenty-one left… Here's your towel back, Kimiko…"
"My towel?" Kimiko asked. She reached down and took the red towel from his little hands. "Hey, yeah! Look at that!" When she turned it around, she noticed that there was actually a large yin-yang symbol emblazoned on the front.
"I found the other two on some pieces of wood," the little Jack told them. "One used to be a tabletop and the other was on one side of the building."
"How do you know that?" Rai asked, skeptically raising one bushy eyebrow.
"I can visualize them!" Yang Jack protested. He rose up on his tiptoes to make himself feel bigger. "I have special powers, alright?"
"Okay, whatever," Rai finally dismissed, rolling his eyes a little.
"So…" Omi purposefully interrupted, stepping past Rai. "…Where do you think the next one is located?"
"Umm…" As the little redheaded boy put one hand to his chin and screwed up his face in thought, Kimiko carefully folded her beach towel and deposited it in an unseen pocket of her robe. "Well…it seems to be close by…" Yang Jack thought aloud. "But it's moving…no, not there…maybe…I think…there!" As he uttered the final word, the little boy broke out of his position and jabbed his index finger towards the location.
"What?" Clay cried out from the end of his small, stubby finger. "Me?"
"No, not you," the boy clarified, "Him."
And then, from underneath Clay's hat, Dojo emerged, slithering over his host's shoulders. Then, suddenly, he froze. "Uh…what's this? Why is everyone staring at me…?"
"Dojo?" Kimiko exclaimed. "He's not a Balance Point! How can anyone be a Balance Point?"
"Maybe it's on 'im," Clay suggested, turning his head to look into Dojo's scales. "Dojo, have you seen any weird markings on you lately?"
"Uh…no…" The miniaturized dragon replied. "Not since my last Shen-Gong-Wu rash…"
"It's not on him!" Yang Jack suddenly realized, still not lowering his accusing finger. "It's in him!"
Now, all four Xiaolin Warriors couldn't help but break into wide-eyed, incredulous stares. "IN him?" they cried in unison. "I remember that one time we went inside of Dojo…when he went evil and insane…" Kimiko recalled. "But I never saw anything that looked like a yin-yang symbol."
"Me neither," Omi agreed, placing his round head into his small hand. "I wouldn't know how to get back in or out of him to get to it."
"Hey, wait, wait, hold on!" Dojo sprang from his perch on Clay's hat and held out his claws, signaling them to stop. "Just how did this thing get inside me? How can you get it out? …I'm scared of having surgery!" By now, he'd retreated, this time hiding behind Clay's large brown boots and quaking in anxiety.
"No, no," Kimiko spoke up, putting on her reassuring tone. "We won't have to operate on you, thank God… we've got the Shen-Gong-Wu!" Already, Omi and Rai had begun to shuffle through the heaping, disorganized pile that they had salvaged from the vault's destruction.
"He could use the Changing Chapsticks along with the Jet Bootsu to fly in through your sinuses…" Omi suggested, holding the respective objects up and turning from the pile. "I have done that before. He is already smaller than me, so he should have no trouble fitting!"
Yang Jack frowned and shuddered a bit. "I'm not looking forward to this…but, well, it could be worse…"
"You could use the Manchurian Musca too, if you wanted," Rai added, wrenching the awkward, fly-shaped object from the Shen-Gong-Wu pile. "That is, if you don't mind being a fly."
"That would be making it worse," Yang Jack dismissed with a small, grim smile. At last, he took the Changing Chopsticks and the Jet Bootsu from Omi. "Um, how do these work, anyway?"
The other Xiaolin Warriors looked at each other. They kept forgetting that Yang Jack had none of the present memories or knowledge that normal Jack possessed. "Well, the Changing Chopsticks make you tiny," Kimiko kindly explained, pointing to the chopsticks as she did so. "You just say 'Changing Chopsticks' to activate them, and then say it again when you're ready to return to normal size. The Jet Bootsu allow you to hover or walk up and down vertical surfaces. You just say their name to activate them as well."
Yang Jack fitted the Jet Bootsu over his feet. At first, they were many sizes too big for him, but in a moment, they magically conformed to his shoe size. "Okay…" he said, gathering his courage in a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."
"No!" Dojo cried out in protest. "I'm not! You think it's easy to just let a little boy go inside your body and poke around?" The small dragon continued to hide behind Clay's boots, refusing to cooperate.
"This would be a lot easier if he were unconscious…" Rai spoke up.
"Awful sorry about this, Dojo," Clay said, all of a sudden.
"What?" Dojo asked, in a panicked snap. "What are you sorry…" And that was when Clay hit him over the head with the Fist of Tebigong, and he fell, unconscious, to the ground.
"Okay," Omi announced, in an ironically cheerful voice as he turned towards Yang Jack. "He's all yours."
(-)
At last, his back slammed against a cold, hard boulder and he had his first moment of repose. Bob panted, clutching his loose, blue sweatshirt away from his sweltering body. Patches of dirt crumbled off as he shook it out and the tears along each side grew a centimeter wider. Bruises and scrapes covered his body, and even some pieces of his bluish-black hair, previously in cornrows, were poking out and covering a little bit more of his scalp. Bob's features scrunched into an odd expression- some sort of cross between disappointment, fear, and rage, as his mousy brown eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. This was pretty bad…but, in truth, he was lucky to walk away from his situation with only this.
Although Shésui had sent him back to his body before the explosion, he'd been unable to get himself out of the gutter of the east temple building and out of the area in time. In fact, Bob had been in the process of returning to the vault, believing that he truly could help Shésui somehow to get her revenge on Wuya. Pathetic. That was the instant that the vault exploded and fell to ruin. Bob had finally relinquished his hopes and hid himself behind a tree on the temple outskirts. And this was what shocked and confused him the most. Shésui had emerged from the vault rubble, along with a red-haired woman who Bob surmised was Wuya…but the two weren't fighting each other. They didn't even seem to be speaking to each other. Together, Wuya and Shésui had formed black concentrations of power in their hands, which they then hurled at the remaining walls. Eventually, the consecutive explosions of their attack were enough to topple Bob's hiding place, as well as injure him with its flying, projectile-like debris. And now, he'd been walking across the eerily dark and scraggly plain, trying to catch up with his love.
So far, he'd seen no human sign of Wuya or Shésui, although he'd been tracking this scorching, dead landscape that they left in their wake. He had no idea if they'd even battled yet, and who had won, but it was the only thing he could do. She doesn't like me…Bob admitted to himself, as he gently slipped to the cracked, dry ground against the rock. She still just thinks of me as frivolous young boy. I don't even know if she's still alive… What was she doing with Wuya anyway? Did she team up with her? Was she lying to me the whole time? At last releasing his soiled shirt and catching his breath, Bob leaned back on the rock and placed his head above it. In this process, the heavy silver medallion around his neck flopped into his lap, its rows of dots shining up at him.
I don't care, he determinedly set his mind. I know she's alive somewhere… He blinked back his fears and focused on the twinkling stars above. It was destiny that we met on that beach…that I should aid her in being her phony spirit partner…and spend so much time with her. I don't want it to end. He pinched his eyelids closed once again, shutting out the world's image so that he could better look into himself. I'm going to find her. Whether she likes me or not, I'm going to find her, and when I do…I'll make her mine!
"Bob?" a small, distant voice called to him from the other end of that pitch-black tunnel. "…Bob?" For a moment, he thought he might be dying, but then stupidly realized that he could still feel the rock against his back. "Bob!" the voice frantically raised itself. "C-Can you hear me?"
When he opened his eyes, a very familiar and comforting crowd stood before him. Gerald was kneeling and staring into his face, eyes wide with concern. The five other gang members remained behind, craning up on their motorcycles to get a good look at what was going on. "M-Master Bob, are you okay?" Gerald cried, practically slamming him against the rock as he grabbed his shoulders and continued to stare.
Bob just gave a weak laugh. "Do I look like I'm okay? You were supposed to be looking after my body."
"I'm sorry!" Gerald yelled, recoiling to lay his head against the ground in a bow. "Shésui said to always stay at a safe distance away from the Xiaolin Temple! If they had seen us lurking around, they might've gotten suspicious…"
Bob managed a wry smile and slowly struggled back to his feet and away from his teammate. "I was just messing with you," he told him. "I don't blame you for what happened; it was entirely my fault." At this, several of the background members gasped, and Gerald's wide-eyed face popped back up again. "I'll be all right," Bob assured him. "I've got much more to do…"
"We've been trying to pick the next target," Gerald reported, standing up at his side. "But searching has proved difficult with no readily available computer service. This is why I suggested a few months ago that we invest in a few PDA's…" He grinded to a halt at the sight of Bob's gently shaking head.
"No. Give it up. There are more important things."
Gerald blinked, the confusion still stuck to his face. "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Bob? You're acting a little…odd. Did you hit your head at all? Maybe all that spirit-body transference messed up your mental structure."
"I am not insane!" Bob barked back at him. "I just think it's time we gave this whole silly thing up. I can never eliminate everyone I want to. Life is much more than that. I don't want to banish anyone else."
"So…" Gerald hesitantly asked. "…You're disbanding the CFPU?" The other members stood almost completely straight on their cycles, and a dread hush fell over them all.
"…Not necessarily," Bob told them. "Anyone who wishes to stay together as a team is welcome to stay together as a team, but I have a new purpose now." And with that, he turned from the congregation, taking solid, full steps out towards the distance. "I'll see you around, Jerry," he called back to his friend. His form grew smaller and smaller against the horizon as the now former CFPU members looked on in stunned silence.
"… 'Jerry'?" Gerald at last said, with slight disgust and puzzlement. "He never calls me 'Jerry'."
(-)
Once again, the Xiaolin Warriors' robes and hairstyles flapped against their bodies with the wind. Omi sat close to Dojo's head, with Clay bringing up the rear, as always, and Rai in front of him. Kimiko, however, had to hold Yang Jack in front of her so he wouldn't be blown straight off the dragon's slippery hide. They flew in a dreadfully familiar direction from the temple's ruins, in accordance with Yang Jack's Balance Point sensor.
The limp, unconscious body of the present Jack Spicer was following behind them, anchored by Clay's rope and held aloft by his puttering HeliPack. They'd had to rub a good amount of sleeping powder into his face to make sure he remained unconscious, and held the Harp of Harmonies at the ready, in case he showed any signs of arousing out of his slumber.
"So you're sure it's this way?" Kimiko asked, looking down at the small boy in front of her. "It looks like we're heading towards your house…well, the present Jack's house."
"I'm sure," Yang Jack affirmed, fingering the Changing Chopsticks in his stubby hands. "Just like I was sure about Dojo."
"…Urk!" the large Chinese dragon choked when he remembered. Miniaturized Yang Jack had had to leave through his mouth after converting the Balance Point on a plank of wood in his stomach cavity. "I think I remember spitting up Jack before…but I don't know what he was doing in there." Everyone on his back frowned, disgustedly at the thought.
The Xiaolin Warriors then fell to silence, and the only sounds that could be heard were the whirling of Jack's helicopter rotors, hair, clothes, and mustaches slapping against each other, and the mournful, foreboding howl of the rushing winds. Rai, who was naturally the most connected with them, sat up straight and settled into a grim expression. The wind was different now. It carried the tickling, pricking small of something that had been recently burned…or blown up. Omi slowly looked down off the edge of Dojo's back, and the others hesitantly but gradually followed him. The earth below seemed blackened and dead…the ground cracked and bare, and the trees shriveled and leafless.
"It looks like Wuya and Shésui have been by here already," Omi gravely declared.
"It looks just like the last time Wuya became human," Rai ashamedly admitted. "All they need is a big, evil-looking castle…"
Clay shook his blond head and extended an arm out to point into the distance. "One step ahead of you." Indeed, the jagged, rocky brown Heylin palace stuck up against the purplish, bruised sky, like a giant thorn or the tip of a primitive spear. The glowing orb containing the curling symbol of Wuya's empire hung in the air above it like a sinister moon.
Rai's shoulders immediately slumped, as if all the hope in his being had just drained out. "Just great," he muttered, darkly to himself. "I don't think it can get any worse…and if it can, I don't want to see it."
"We're almost there!" Yang Jack excitedly announced, strangely oblivious to the depressing and wicked atmosphere all around him. Well, when you were the embodiment of pure Yang essence, negativity was almost impossible.
"And we're almost at your house too," Kimiko informed him, removing one of her arms for a moment to point down at the red-roofed manor just below them.
"Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your seat belts," Dojo announced, putting on his pseudo-pilot voice. "We are now arriving at the Spicer House. Please keep your hands, arms, heads, and everything else on the dragon at all times." And with that, he plunged into a steep dive, aiming straight for the Spicers' front lawn.
"Aaaaaugh!" Yang Jack screamed as the perfectly-trimmed, green lawn zoomed up to meet him.
"Wheee!" Omi exclaimed just in front of him, from his front-seat view on Dojo's head.
Finally, just at the last moment, Dojo pulled his long body up to land safely and softly in the squishy bed of grass. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the Spicer House. Have a nice day, and thank you for flying Dojo Airlines!"
CRASH! The Xiaolin Warriors' heads shot up at the frightening sound. Something had just fallen into a tree a few yards away, and they all had a sinking suspicion of what it could be.
"Jack!" Kimiko cried out, abandoning her boyfriend's yang essence to tend to his battered body.
"Well," Raimundo optimistically stated. "If that didn't wake him up, nothing will."
Kimiko deftly leaped up the tree's branches to find Jack in the middle of the leaves, dangling by his HeliPack, which was still whirring and goring a hole in the foliage. Even though he now had a few fresh bruises, he was still snoring away. Kimiko maneuvered her arm so she could flip the switch of the HeliPack, and then untangle him from the branches. Frowning, she descended from the tree and shot a reproachful look at the former temple guardian. "Dojo! You have to be more careful! If you hurt him again, I'll…I'll…I'll sell you to Chase Young!"
"Okay, okay!" Dojo submitted as he shrank again and detached Clay's lasso from his tail. "I was caught up in the moment. I promise it won't happen again."
"S'okay," Clay added, rolling his rope back up and reattaching it to his belt. "We got bigger steaks to grill. Oooh…steak…"
"So, Yang…" Rai interrupted, using a short name for Yang Jack. "Where is this next Balance Point?"
"Uh…well the first one's right here…"
The Xiaolin Warriors (except for Clay, who had sunken into Steak Mesmerism) watched interestingly as the small, freckled boy ran over towards that very same tree that his body had gotten stuck in. He placed his small, stubby hand in the middle of the yin-yang symbol carved into its bark…and then, something remarkable happened.
Although they'd sent him off to convert four other Balance Points before, the others had yet to witness the conversion. A small, nebulous cloud of lighted particles burst from the symbol's edges, framing it in a kind of otherworldly confetti. The small pieces solidified into a yellow, shining glow, and the symbol seemed as if someone were shining a flashlight through it from inside the tree. At last, it shifted, from its original color of dull, mixed brown to the solid black-and-white that it often took on in illustrated representations. Yang Jack closed his unusually large red eyes, and rows of dots making up a square, much like those that periodically adorned Omi's brow, appeared on the boy's forehead. The activated Balance Point began to rotate, until its white Yang side was facing upwards, whereas the black Yin side had been facing up before.
Then, everything settled back down to normality. The dots on Yang Jack's forehead vanished, and the symbol became a simple tree carving again, although its position remained tilted to the Yang side. "Okay!" Yang Jack chirped, oblivious again to the strange and confused expressions of the other Xiaolin Warriors. "That one's done! The others are inside."
"Okay…" Omi agreed, slowly turning around towards the very familiar old mansion behind them.
"We'll have to sneak in again," Kimiko said. "I believe Jack's father is still living there."
The others nodded faintly, although they were still in a fog over this new experience. Why would Yang Jack have the same Xiaolin dots as Omi? Nevertheless, they decided to let it remain a mystery for now, and turned to begin their hundred thousandth attack on Spicer Manor.
"Hey, wait for me!" Dojo protested, scuttling along after the Xiaolin Warriors as they began their ascent to the roof.
"Oh, no," Kimiko told him, wagging a scolding finger near his snout. "You're staying right here. Someone's got to protect Jack's body while we're gone."
Dojo sighed, but accepted his punishment and curled up on the ground next to the bruised, sleeping Jack as the Xiaolin Warriors and Yang Jack reached the roof's windows. Ah, well, he thought, at least this will give me a chance to get some shut-eye too… However, the moment his eyes had closed, and the group of good-guys had disappeared through the open window, three very recognizable figures appeared just at the manor's main entrance gate…
(-)
"…Fung? Exactly how long has it been?" Marylyn Orre sat in a lotus position on the torn-up temple ground, although her agitated state prevented her from reaching any level of meditation.
"Well, I couldn't say exactly," Master Fung admitted, stepping up beside her. "But I could estimate about five hours."
"Don't you think that's a little long to be simply recovering the Shen-Gong-Wu? I know the vault's destruction must be a vast, strewn area, but with their powers, I don't think it would take this long." Marylyn sighed, and turned her deep, green-tinted eyes towards the darkening sky above her. "I have a very bad feeling about this…"
Master Fung gazed, stonily sideways at his former pupil. "Feelings" weren't just random impulses for the Xiaolin Dragons. There was always some meaning for even the slightest feeling of dread, and apparently, Marylyn was feeling it pretty badly.
The revered former Dragon of Metal lowered her head again, grayish red waves sliding over her shoulders. "I think…I think something has happened. Something seemed wrong with my son when I last spoke with him, but I couldn't put a finger on it…I think…something might have happened to him."
"It's possible," Master Fung nonchalantly replied. "Jack's powers are so unique and unpredictable that anything could happen. We're still unsure of what sort of Element Orb powers he'll receive…and what those powers could actually do. I would imagine his magical essence doesn't know what to do and is in some sort of chaos."
"There's more to it than that…" Marylyn related. "I can feel something…pulling at my soul…it's like something inside of me is telling me to help…but I don't know how."
A slightly puzzled scowl formed beneath Master Fung's mustache. Even being the Xiaolin temple master and having scoured the ancient scrolls, there were still some things he didn't know. The Dragon of Metal Element Orb powers, for instance. There were several aspects of the Dragon of Metal powers that remained shrouded in mystery. In fact, in some of the writings, it had seemed that the Metal element had been purposely omitted. Master Fung had no clue as to why this was so, but he also had no way of finding out…until Jack obtained his Element Orb level, that was.
Marylyn silently rose to her padded feet again, staring into the dark sky. Sinister clouds spread their shadowy arms far overhead, and the smog blanketing the remaining portion of the sky resembled a pool of soiled water. It was Wuya. Her return to body had once again triggered this catastrophe of nature, and together with Shésui, there seemed to be no limit to what they were capable of.
"I'm going after them," Marylyn resolutely decided, her voice cold. "I can feel it. Jack's in danger, and so is the entire world. I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"Marylyn…" Master Fung sagely advised. "You are not as powerful as you once were…"
"It doesn't matter," Marylyn insisted, shaking her fiery red head. "I have to do something."
Master Fung remained tacit, staring towards her with an unreadable expression.
"…Farewell, Fung," she finally spoke up, and strode off, breaking into a run.
Master Fung remained rooted in place, looking after her, his face unchanged. Just let her go… he told himself, as he watched Marylyn's form grow smaller and smaller against the brackish backdrop. His blue temple robe blew around him in the slight, wicked wind that remained. He just didn't have the heart to tell her…he knew better than to try to stop her now. No, Master Fung didn't know everything…but at almost the same time, he'd been having a few feelings of his own…
(-)
The flat bottoms of the temple uniforms' thin-bottomed shoes echoed alarmingly against the shiny, polished stone floor of the Spicer House. Yang Jack's small white sneakers hit it with no noise, but that was partially due to his small size and relative weight. "The next one is very nearby," he whispered to the others as they huddled around him.
"Is it in this hallway?" Kimiko replied, in an equally hushed tone. "Or should we search the next one over right now?"
"Let's check this one first," Yang Jack whispered. "I don't want you to split up."
"Why are we whispering?" Omi whispered in return.
"Because Jack's father is in the house somewhere!" Rai replied, raising his voice just a hair in agitation. "We can't let him hear us and think we're burglars."
"I have never met the father of Jack Spicer…" Omi whispered, thoughtfully.
"Yeah, well, from what I've heard, you wouldn't want to," Kimiko told them. "Now, c'mon, we've got a Balance Point to find."
The five of them once again began to creep down the hall, trying to make as little noise as possible. This hallway seemed familiar…they'd come down that very same window before, when they'd raided Jack's house for the stolen Shen-Gong-Wu. This was where they'd first run into Megan. Several decorative artifacts lined the walls on pedestals, and as they crept further and further along, they remembered that the Vase of Viscous Visions had once been on display here as well. Perhaps there were other inactive Shen-Gong-Wu among the exhibits…but they didn't have time for that now.
"Here," Yang Jack hissed when he reached a specific set of double doors. "It's right here."
"Is it in that room?" Clay asked, reaching the young boy's side first.
"Nope," he simply replied, and pointed towards the door. The other Xiaolin Dragons noticed right away, now that they could see it up close. One the left door, where a second handle should be, was a clearly painted symbol of a yin-yang. The little childlike Yang embodiment performed his suspicious conversion ritual once again, and the other Xiaolin Warriors made close observations. Still, they were unable to discern the reason for the boy's Xiaolin monk dots.
Yang Jack blinked confusedly as the white circles vanished from his forehead again…and remained rooted in place, staring intensely at the double doors in front of him.
"…Yang?" Kimiko asked, stepping a bit towards the boy. Normally, this was the time when he would swing back around, smile broadly at them, and announce that they had "another one down"…but something had distracted him.
Yang Jack was standing up very straight, his large red eyes fixated on the doors. Slowly, those eyes were starting to narrow, and his small mouth was opened a sliver. His breath was coming heavier, as if the memory, or whatever it was that he was experiencing was snatching the breath straight out of his mouth.
"Yang!" Rai chanced a louder call. "Hey! Are you okay?"
"Ah…" At last, the small boy was breaking out of his cold trance. His body relaxed and when he blinked again, his eyes returned to normal. "I just…had a bit of a chill. But I'm okay. C'mon, let's go!"
The others took off in a sprint down the hallway after the energetic little boy, but stole befuddled and disturbed looks at each other as they did so. What had suddenly brought that on? Was there something behind that door…?
(-)
The thick, piercing black darkness swept over the small enclosed room. Pieces of stone and painted scraps of metal lied in deathly silence against the gray stone floor…although everything in this area seemed pitch black. Even these rejected artifacts sat blanketed in the sinister dark, as if it would swallow them and entirely delete them from existence at any moment.
Amidst the strewn, dissolving wreckage of some unknown prospect, a large lump sat, outlined only slightly by the flickering, snapping flames at its fore. A round mask hung from a beam above, turning its long red nose up and laughing its insanely swirled eyes out at all who dared approach it. The demonic sight of the licking flames bounced off it, creating an even spookier enhancement to sharpen its already razor edges.
At last, for the first time in almost 12 hours, the creature stirred. The darkened lump turned his head, and the equally sharp outline of his long face became silhouetted as well. His narrow red eyes tightened themselves even more, and his slick, dark brown hair shone against the firelight.
"Finally," the deep, smooth voice of Henry Y. Spicer resounded in the horrific silence. "The time has come." And with that, he rose from his perch on the purple embroidered cushion to grab the black cloak hanging on a nearby wooden hook and drape it over his shoulders. Then, he reached forward and pushed open the set of double doors right next to it.
(-)
Kimiko took in a breath and looked around the long and strangely empty basement. It was just another normal basement after all. For some reason, she had a strange feeling as she gazed at the bare concrete walls. It wasn't sadness; she was considerably happy to see the "evil" lair vanish into thin air, but it just felt strange…as if it had been a regular meeting hall for the Xiaolin Warriors, and now suddenly it was gone.
"Oh, great…" Yang Jack muttered to himself in a childish pouting voice. "Just great. I though there'd at least be something for me to climb on…"
"Climb on?" Omi asked, scouring the empty walls for anything resembling a yin-yang symbol. There didn't seem to be any Balance Points in this room…so why had Yang Jack led them down here? Maybe he just felt a connection to it, although at his age, Jack hadn't moved into the basement or decided to become an evil boy genius yet.
The little boy just pointed upwards, and when the Xiaolin Warriors all simultaneously looked up, they also uttered a unanimous murmur of "ohhhhhh"… A giant symbol of a yin-yang was painted onto the ceiling, filling the center section of the design that made it up.
"But…it's so…big!" Omi cried, spreading his little arms wide. "How are you supposed to convert something of that size?"
"Balance Points come in all shapes and sizes," Yang Jack informed them. "It doesn't matter how big it is; if I can reach it, I can reorient it to the Yang side."
Rai nodded to himself in understanding. "So the only problem is getting you up to the ceiling to reach it? Well, no sweat." He reached into a pocket on his uniform and pulled out the previously used pair of black-and-gold boots. "Just use the Jet Bootsu to fly up there."
Yang Jack's little face lit up at the realization. He'd forgotten about the Shen-Gong-Wu, even though he'd just used them inside of Dojo. He caught the two boots when Rai tossed them towards him, but before he could even yell "Jet Bootsu" or fit the resizing footwear onto his feet, a terrible splintering crash broke out.
Yang Jack jerked his red head towards the sound, but by that time, it was too late. "Aaaaugh!" He suddenly found himself against the cold concrete wall, trapped in the grip of a golden, enhanced Jack-bot.
"Yang!" Kimiko cried out, hurrying to the boy's aid, but the remaining Xiaolin Warriors remained in place, taking on fighting stances and glaring up at the familiar faces that appeared at the bottom of the steps.
"Wuya!" Omi cried, jabbing a yellow finger at the figure of the powerful Heylin witch. "Shésui!" he added, pointing this time to the other powerful Heylin witch to his left. "And you!" He pointed again, at the male figure between them. "You must be Yin Jack!"
"And you must be Omi," Yin Jack replied, a nasty smile spreading over his blanched face. "It's a pleasure."
"This is bad," Clay whispered down to his overconfident partner. "This is real bad. Wuya and Shésui nearly destroyed us before with just one blast…how will we defend against them now! An' we have no idea what Yin Jack can do…"
"Well, then," Omi easily replied. "It's best not to find out! Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"
As soon as the familiar, large columns of water appeared, and before he even had the time to add the Orb of Tornami to his attack, Shésui stepped forward and held out one hand. Instantly, the water around him froze into a constricting snare of hard ice, and Omi screamed as he crashed to the basement floor in its grip. "Don't mess with a fake Dragon of Ice," she teased with a mocking smile. "I still can't believe you fell for that."
"…Hyaaah!" With one powerful kick, Omi burst through the ice again, and Clay and Rai prepared their Shen-Gong-Wu in the background. "Well, we know about you now, and that's all that matters! Tornado Dragon Strike, Water!"
"Seismic Dragon Kick, Earth!" Clay echoed at the same time that Rai called, "Typhoon Dragon Boom, Wind!" They hoped that their combined attacks would be too much for Shésui and Wuya to handle at once.
"Judallet Dragon Kick, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, aiming for the gold upgraded Jack-bot holding Yang Jack prisoner. The flames simply died against its armored exterior. Unfortunately, it seemed that, in the future, Jack had finally figured out how to make his Jack-bots fireproof.
"Don't worry about me!" little Yang Jack screeched from underneath the claw. "Just stop him!" When he pointed, Kimiko quickly whirled around, and noticed Yin Jack advancing on them. Apparently, he'd slipped away unnoticed during Clay, Omi, and Rai's combined attacks and was now aiming his jet-enhanced HeliPack towards the Balance Point on the ceiling.
"Stop right there!"
"Oh, and you're going to make me?" Yin taunted, his finger centimeters away from the "On" switch.
"Yes I am!" Kimiko insisted. "Judallet Dragon Kick, Fire!" She flew upwards, one muscled leg out straight, but Yin's jetpack was too fast for her moves, and he slipped just above her. "Star Hanabi, Fire!" At least this time, Kimiko's flaming throwing star hit its mark; it jammed itself in the evil teenager's jetpack and he fell back to the concrete ground.
Meanwhile, Wuya and Shésui were calmly absorbing attack after attack from the three Xiaolin males. Although none of the attacks ever did any damage to them, they served to distract them from attacking back.
Clay panted as he stepped out of yet another attempt. "It just ain't no good," he relinquished. "We've tried everythin'!"
"You must not loose heart!" Omi exclaimed, although he was panting too as he landed just in front of his Texas comrade. "Hopefully, we can stall them long enough for Yang to reach the Balance Point…"
"But how can he do that when he's trapped up against the wall?" Rai cried, from just behind them. "And Yin is trying to get there first!"
"Aaaaugh!" Omi suddenly screamed. Rai and Clay turned around just in time to see a black ball of energy laced with icy blue electricity slam full-force into the little monk. His body hit with such force that a few cracked pieces of concrete were beginning to crumble off the wall at his point of impact.
"Omi!" Clay cried out in alarm.
"We can't worry about him now!" Rai determinedly exclaimed. "Here comes round two!" Indeed, several additional energy balls were now headed straight towards the two Xiaolin Dragons. Rai dodged quickly to the side, narrowly missing the whitish globule of power from Shésui's hands, and one atomic green blast from Wuya singed the top of Clay's cowboy hat as he ducked.
Shésui let loose a sinister laugh. "Although my initial intensions were crushing you for my own ends, I find working together for the greater evil to be almost as enjoyable, wouldn't you say?"
"Definitely," Wuya replied, gazing with relish at Omi's small, mangled body.
In the corner of the basement, held three feet above the ground, little Yang Jack struggled to glimpse the destruction around him. He'd seen Omi's hit, and Rai and Clay continuing to attack against the two Heylin witches. Just in front of him, Kimiko was also battling Yin Jack…but she didn't seem to be having any better luck.
No! his mind screamed, I can't let them get hurt. They're going through all this trouble just for me…
He glanced back down, towards the shiny, advanced Jack-bot that held him in its grasp. A second pincer hand was pressing against his cheek, preventing him from speaking, ever since he's issued that warning to Kimiko. His narrowed red eyes connected with the digital, artificial ones of his captor. How ironic…that he'd be captured and held back by the very objects he strived to create. The Jack-bots had been his best friends…his close companions, who he could always count on to be by his side forever. This was one of those same robots…wasn't it?
Distressed and confused, Yang Jack simply continued to stare into the robot's metal, digital visor. Though it couldn't actually see, it had been installed with a scanner, programmed to recognize friend from foe, and any unidentifiable agents were automatically defined as "foe". But…there was something in this particular entity's makeup…
As Yang stared, intensely, something strange began to happen. The Jack-bot's clamp arm began to shake. Then, all at once, it mechanically dropped. Yang, suddenly released from the bind, dropped to the concrete floor, and surprisingly, when he did, the Jack-bot reached out one mechanical arm to help him up. "Thanks…" he smiled at his future creation and took on a challenging stance. Thankfully, Yin, Wuya, and Shésui were too busy battling Kimiko, Clay, and Rai to notice his escape. It was the perfect opportunity.
"Jet Bootsu!" the little boy cried, and the Shen-Gong-Wu footwear immediately replaced his small sneakers.
"What?" Yin Jack cried, glancing up from his one-on-one duel with Kimiko.
It seemed the two Heylin witches had also noticed. "I told you to stay focused, Al!" Wuya cried, dodging to avoid a sudden blast of wind from Raimundo. "Stop that little brat before he gets to the Balance Point!"
Yin instantly snapped to attention and slammed his metal pole weapon into the side of a distracted Kimiko. Before she had a chance to react, he wrenched his crumbling advanced HeliPack from her grasp, and pulling a string on its side, jump-started its rocket-booster feature.
Yang gritted his baby teeth and kicked as hard as he could against the ground. His light little body took off with astounding speed, and he was almost level with his evil counterpart, who was gripping tightly to the mini-rocket HeliPack.
"Star Hanabi, Fire!" Kimiko yelled, again throwing her Shen-Gong-Wu towards their enemy.
"…Ultimate Tornado!" Rai was finishing up his Dragon level attack and aiming it at Yin Jack.
In a millisecond's flash, Shésui and Wuya appeared in front of them. Holding out their hands, they calmly subdued the giant twister that had materialized from Rai's body.
Yin Jack easily jerked the HeliPack in his arms to the right, avoiding the fiery, rotating Shen-Gong-Wu. It was a race to the finish now…just like a Xiaolin Showdown…Jack versus himself.
Kimiko lowered her arms and held her breath in despair. Rai fell back to the ground with his mouth open. Clay stood frozen as if he had merged with the concrete below him. Wuya clenched her talon-like hands in anticipation. Even Omi looked up a bit from his paralyzed position against the ground. Both Yin and Yang Jacks were approaching the enormous Balance Point on the ceiling at the exact same speed. Desperately, Yang reached out one stubby arm towards the symbol, and Yin, noticing him, did the same.
Kimiko covered her eyes and looked away. There's no way, she realized. Yang's arms are too short to reach it first. It's hopeless.
Then, at last, the entire basement flooded with warm light. The mystic particles and inward light were glowing from the activating Balance Point. Yin Jack looked up towards his large hand and long fingers crawling across the design's center…but for some reason, he wasn't feeling the same reorienting sensation that he'd had upon his awakening.
Then, that abominable little boy's round freckled face turned toward him. A freakishly wide grin spread over his hideous face…and a square formation of nine white dots had glowed onto his forehead.
How…? Suspiciously, Yin Jack lifted his hand from the ceiling, to find a tiny, chubby hand hiding underneath it. Oh, geez…
Wuya smacked her head into her hand, while Shésui simply rolled her dotted eyes. In a few more minutes, the yin-yang symbol had lit up, turned itself around, and settled back down again, and the two Jacks were lowering themselves back to the ground.
"Hmph!" Yin scoffed. "You got a lucky break. Don't expect the same next time we meet."
"Oh, yeah?" Yang scolded, continuing to smile. "I'm not just a helpless little kid, you know."
At this point, a mysterious and wry smirk appeared across Yin's face as well. "Neither am I just a diabolical teenager."
"Come on," Wuya burst out, seizing Yin's arm and dragging him towards the entry stairs. "We've got no time to stand around and exchange cryptic threats! The rest of the world is out there just waiting to be conquered!"
Kimiko, Clay, and Rai gave each other confused expressions, until they realized that one of them was missing. "Omi!" they cried, rushing to the injured monk's side.
"Urrrgh…" Omi groaned from his blackened pile of concrete. "…I do not feel well…"
"No kidding," Kimiko obviously stated. "We need to get you back to the temple ruins, so we can use the Rag of Resurrection on you."
Clay effortlessly bent down to scoop the little monk into his strong arms, but they still couldn't leave just yet. Just as well, Wuya, Shésui, and Yin had stopped dead in their tracks just before reaching the concrete stairs.
A tall cloaked figure stood at the top, outlined by the glowing light from the hallway behind him. Silently, he descended to their level, gazing at each of the basement's visitors and trying to identify them. "Well…at last…" he murmured to himself. "Wuya…it is a great honor." With that, the man swept into a low bow at Wuya's bare feet.
"Henry…" Wuya replied with a malignant smile of recognition. "I thank you for your acts in preserving my ghostly form. As you can see, the second war is already under construction."
As this man conversed with the ancient Heylin witch, Kimiko observed his appearance. It's Jack's evil father, Henry, she realized. Just what is he up to? Not like we didn't have enough evil people to contend with as of now.
At the appearance of this influential man in Jack's life, both of his Yin and Yang essences reacted, though in vastly differing ways. Little Yang Jack shuddered fearfully and stepped backwards. His hands instinctually flew towards his back, as if to hide something there. Yin, however, stepped forward, an utterly disgusted and furious expression twisting his features. "Out of my way, old man," he coldly commanded, holding one arm at the ready.
"Ah," Henry replied, smiling up at his age-enhanced son. "John. How very nice to see you again."
"I said get out of my way," Yin Jack repeated, snapping his fingers and calling his army of destructive Jack-bots to instant attention. "Or I'll have to make you move."
Henry shrugged indifferently and stood back up. "Have it your way," he conceded, stepping up one level on the basement stairs. "You'll come out eventually. I'm glad to see that all my hard work has paid off." On his way up, he glanced past the enraged teenager and laid eyes on his childish counterpart. "Don't try to fight against it," he advised, staring into the young boy's frightened red orbs. "You'll only fall to it again. See you in the final Showdown." And with that, he disappeared again into the house's dark depths.
With one quick flick of Wuya's long-nailed fingers, the villains vanished, probably back to their castle for world-conquering discussion.
The Xiaolin Dragons confusedly stared for a few more minutes, while Yang tried to shake off his spell of shock and fright. "Omi!" Clay remembered with a start, and the five of them promptly broke into a sprint back towards the mansion's lawn.
(-)
"Zzzzzzzzz…hmm-hmm-hmmm…zzzzzzzz…"
"Dojo!"
"Eh? What?"
Jolted from his peaceful dragon-nap, Dojo jumped up, his long body almost completely vertical. "What'd you have to do that for?" he complained. "You could've just lightly tapped me…"
"You call that guarding?" Rai scolded, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well…ya see…watching other people sleep tends to make you a bit tired, so I though I'd just close my eyes for a few seconds…"
"We have no time for this!" Kimiko cut in. "Dojo, you need to fly us back to the temple; Omi's been really hurt and we need to use the Rag of Resurrection on him!"
"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Dojo cried, in the middle of transforming. "C'mon, hop on!"
(-)
"Thank you very much, my friend." Clay breathed a sigh of relief and let the silvery scrap of fabric flutter back towards the scorched terrain as a lively, unscathed Omi hopped energetically out of his arms. "I will not underestimate my enemies' potential again. And Yang! I must heartily congratulate you on your swift victory!" The round-headed monk flashed a smile and a thumbs-up at the little boy.
He blushed and tried to hide his face behind the detached Jet Bootsu in his arms. "It was nothing, really," he replied. "Besides, we've still got seventeen more Balance Points left!"
"Okay, who thought that battle was a little weird?" Kimiko finally felt comfortable enough to bring up the subject.
"Yeah, I thought Shésui wanted to destroy Wuya and get her revenge on her. Why would they ever team up?" Omi brought one small finger to the side of his mouth in thought.
"They said it was for 'the greater evil' or something like that," Rai mused. "I wonder what that is."
"Probably the destruction of the world," Clay guessed, from several past experiences.
"And was I just hearing things, or did Wuya yell at Yin Jack and call him 'Al'?" Rai spoke up, frowning with puzzlement.
"…Yeah, I heard her say 'Al' too…" Kimiko muttered to herself.
"It could just be her nickname for him," Omi added.
"What kind of nickname is 'Al' for Yin Jack?"
"A really bad one."
"Well, Wuya never did have good taste."
During his partners' brainstorming session, Yang Jack had been having some meditation of his own. When he opened his eyes again, the Xiaolin Dragons were still deliberating with each other…but he smiled with satisfaction. "I know where the next Balance Point is," he announced, and the conversation grinded to a halt.
(-)
The pointy, jagged edges of the castle's rock and ice formations ringed the stone throne room as the Heylin group entered. Wuya strode in front of her partners, holding the Biao Lu Basin within her long talon reach. She glided easily and familiarly to the base of the glistening dais, just like the detested black bird for which she had been named.
Shésui stopped suddenly as she noticed this action. She'd been expecting her to make a grab at the solitary throne which sat at the top of the short stairway. Essentially, this particular castle belonged to the two of them, since it was not only made from Wuya's control over the rocky fiber of this world, but also from Shésui's control over the deep cold presiding in everyone's hearts. While she stared on in shaken surprise, she barely even noticed the tall figure move from behind her.
Yin Jack stepped forward, hard-bottomed boots clicking stonily against the ice-glossed ground. His golden Jack-bot army stayed behind, sensing some kind of disturbance in their master. Steadily, he made his way towards the dais, and then began to climb its steps.
"Wha…?" Shésui began to protest, but closed her mouth again to continue watching in appall.
Finally, Yin turned around and, carefully placing his cape underneath, took a revered seat in the castle's jagged throne.
Now, the serpentine witch couldn't keep it in any longer. "What? How come he gets the throne? Clearly, it should go to one of us! He's only a foolish human boy! Surely he can't be expected to rule over the new, divine order of the Heylin!"
At this, a sly, secretive smile twisted onto Wuya's painted lips. "You'll see in a little while. Why don't you just relax for a bit, Shé? It's been quite a while since you've been here, hasn't it?"
Shésui narrowed her dotted eyes and glared back. "No thanks to you. Don't think I've forgotten your treachery…and I hate it when you call me that."
Wuya's smile only widened. "But it appears there are a few things that you have forgotten."
Frustratingly, Shésui seated herself on a rock shelf in the nearby wall. "Why did we come back here, anyway! We should be out looking for those Balance Points. If the rest go to the Yang side, imagine how powerful those Xiaolin nuisances will become! We should just crush them now while we have the upper hand!"
"Patience, patience, Shé," Wuya teased as she leaned against the basin's lip at her feet. "All in due time. The Balance Points will not even matter…" At last, she turned and nodded towards Yin Jack in the throne. He silently nodded back towards her, offering a small, equally sly smirk.
Shésui got to her feet as Wuya picked up the Biao Lu Basin and began to carry it up the dais steps. What in the name of all that was evil was going on here? She was acting as if she were going to present the Shen-Gong-Wu to the teenage twerp as a token of kingly worship. But suddenly, as she squinted at the long figure of the boy in the throne, something seemed to be changing about him.
Wuya cautiously placed the Biao Lu Basin at the very edge of the platform, and sweeping, humbly backwards, descended back to the base where she stood, straight and alert. Curiously, Shésui stepped up next to her, and from this distance, she could definitely tell that something was different about Yin Jack.
He closed his narrow red eyes, and from underneath his metallic homemade crown, something began to shine. Several red dots glowed onto his forehead arranged in a sideways, diamond formation. The mark of the ancient Heylin forces.
Shésui tried to keep herself from gaping, as Yin then bent down to pick up the mysterious golden Shen-Gong-Wu. For a moment, he gazed down, directly at the two witches, and gave them another small smile, though this one almost seemed to be thanking them for some unknown kindness they had done to him.
Silence reigned through the castle for a moment more, and all at once it shattered with Yin's forceful cry of "Biao Lu Basin!" And with that, he held the large container over himself, and yanked it down, over his body. The magic item transformed into a column of clear water, which enveloped Yin Jack, and rushed over and around his body.
Though neither Shésui nor Wuya could see through the rapidly rotating streams, they had a sense that something was taking place behind them. Unnoticed by the transfixed witches, Yin Jack's army of golden Jack-bots vanished into thin air, as if they had never even existed.
Then, at last, the swirling waterfall subsided, washing into the ground, and someone emerged from behind it- but this someone was not Yin Jack.
Shésui drew in her breath, and uttered a whispery "Oohhhhh…" at this revelation, and Wuya smiled, invitingly towards their new visitor.
He was slightly taller and larger than the teenage boy he had been before, and he wore an elaborately gold-embroidered red robe, fastened with long black buttons. The red dots were permanently in place on his smooth forehead, just below the thick furrowed eyebrows over his red, wide European eyes. There was no hair on his peach-colored head, except for the small graying beard around his mouth, and the single braided pigtail on the back of his head. He had a distinctly Emperor-like look to him, but his eyes made it clear that he was not Chinese.
Placing his hands in his long sleeves, he nodded appreciatively to Wuya and Shésui, and the two Heylin witches returned the humble gesture.
Shésui snuck another look up at him, but still couldn't believe that this man was really here in front of her again. It had been more than fifteen hundred years since she'd last seen him, when he had been the commander of the Heylin forces, and the witches' initial organizational founder.
"Alaric Spicer…" she breathed. "…welcome back, sir."
(-)
"Mmm…mmmuuh-uh…"
Kimiko glanced over at the small form shifting uncomfortably on his fabric mat next to her. Since the next Balance Point was supposedly located in Hong Kong, and it would take too long for Dojo to fly there from here, the Xiaolin Warriors had decided to settle in for the night, right here in the charred plains of what once was a section of China. Since Yang Jack usually slept while Jack was awake, and vice versa, it was awkward to see him actually sleeping while his body remained unconscious as well, but eventually, the embodied essence needed his rest. Apparently, the unusual circumstances were causing him some disturbances.
"What's the matter, Yang?" she asked, since she was the only one left awoke to hear his mumbling.
The little boy turned towards her and blinked his wide innocent eyes. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow," he whined.
Kimiko couldn't help but smile as she tried to hold in her laughter. "You're not going to school tomorrow. You're going to Hong Kong. You don't go to school there, do you?"
"No…" Yang replied, though he still had the same type of dreading look on his face.
"…Why don't you want to go?" Kimiko couldn't help asking as she sat up and pulled her cover off.
Yang shivered and tried to hide himself against the flat stone that he was using for a pillow. "They don't like me. They always break my machines, and blame me for everything, and that old lady hits me!"
Kimiko let out a little gasp. "But teachers aren't allowed to hit students anymore. It's against the law."
Yang shook his head. "Mrs. Cornhaven does. She beats me with a ruler all the time."
Now Kimiko remembered; that insane old lady they'd fought had been Jack's first-grade teacher. She smiled and pulled the little boy into her lap to comfort him. "Well don't worry about that; we're going to kick her butt for you. In fact, we already have."
Yang blinked again in confusion, but finally remembered just where he was again, and broke into a laugh. "Oh…ha ha…thanks, Kimiko!"
"Actually, you might want to thank Omi," Kimiko told him, but he had already settled down against his rock again. Kimiko smiled to herself as she watched him, and reached out to ruffle his fluffy red hair. "If you have any other problems, you can just tell me, okay?"
"Okay, Feng," Yang vaguely mumbled underneath her hand.
Alarmed, she instantly withdrew it, and gave the boy a completely baffled stare. "Um…who are you talking to?" she slowly asked. "…My name's not Feng."
"Oh…Kimiko," Yang corrected himself, gazing up at her with half-opened eyes. "I'm sorry; sleeping out-of-body is really messing with my head. I don't know what I'm talking about…"
"Just relax then, and try to sleep. It'll be morning before you know it." She gave his tiny head one last stroke, and began to settle back down against her own rock.
In the process, her eyes fell upon the form of Jack's real body, lying stiffly against the ground. If it weren't for his rising and falling chest, he would've looked dead. How long would he be able to stay asleep? Even though they could keep using the Harp of Harmonies on him, he was bound to wake up sometime.
Kimiko looked back towards Yang Jack and recalled what the little boy had told her about his school life. She'd never known much about Jack's past life, aside from his parents' separation. Perhaps this situation was the perfect opportunity for her to learn about those things that he didn't want to talk about. But then, she'd feel bad for exploiting the little thing…
Still, there seemed to be something odd about this whole situation. Even though Jack had most likely been very intelligent, even at this age, he seemed a bit too mature sometimes. Admittedly, he was Jack's current Yang energy with only the memories of his childhood, so he wasn't essentially a child, but still…why did he have those same Xiaolin dots as Omi? Why did he call her "Feng"? And, most disturbing of all, why hadn't Wuya, Shésui, and Yin Jack attacked them again?
As Kimiko stared out towards the twisting, deformed shapes of the burnt trees in the distance, she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. They had to be planning something…and whatever it was, she hoped that they would be ready for it.