Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything of Xiaolin Showdown. Yada. Yada. Yada.

Chapter 5: Combat and Confusion

"WHAT?"

Did I hear her right? Was this woman crazy or was it just me? Had she just stated that she was Kimiko. Kimiko Tomohiko! One of my sworn, archenemies? The same girl who was standing a few feet away from us in stunned silence!

Great. Could my day get any worse? First, I got mixed into a fight between Kimiko and her would-be boyfriend Raimundo. Then she almost mauls me! Finally, something goes right in my life! Now, I happen to have one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen sitting in my lap, BUT she happens to be a lunatic!

Not anymore. I yelled so loud it caused her to jump off of me. She cringed at my reaction and seemed to be a loss for words. She took a glance around at the disbelieving and suspicious faces that were staring at her. The three warriors from the top of the highest plateau were puzzled because they still thought that they had heard the proclamation wrong. They were still ready to fight this mystery woman nonetheless. The real Kimiko had regained her senses and was marching towards the two of us.

"Who do you think you are, huh!" accused the now murderous Kimiko, "I'll give you to the count of three to get off the ground and explain yourself!"

The mystery woman looked at the commanding girl from her sitting position. She was on the ground yet she could still meet eye to eye with the standing Kimiko. You could tell that she was about a foot higher than her. How could she claim that she was the real Kimiko when she was extremely taller than her -and Clay for that matter-?

Now that I was comparing the two, I did see a lot of similarities. The familiar eyes and hair that left me baffled did look like Kimiko's. Not exactly though. The woman's pigtails were longer and smoother than the thick bouncy ones she was trying to copy. Also, Kimiko's curled strands of hair at the side of her face weren't so long as to frame her eyes like this woman's.

The eyes looked the same though. Each of theirs was slanted due to their Japanese heritage, but both defied that same heritage by having blue eyes instead of the common brown color. Not only did the eyes look the same, but the nose, chin, ears, EVERYTHING! The features were alike. Not the same because the fake looked much older and her features were less childish and more bold yet feminine. This was how I would imagine Kimiko's older sister would look like if she existed.

"ONE!" loudly counted Kimiko, "TWO!"

The stranger stood up, but a smile played upon her features. She was smiling at her counterpart as if she was seeing an old friend. Her eyes sparkled as she started walking towards Kimiko.

"STAY BACK!" Kimiko commanded while pointing the Orb of Tornami at the approaching clone.

The woman looked surprised to see the orb. Maybe she isn't familiar with the object or the Shen-Gong-Wu in general. That would definitely prove that she wasn't the real deal. Then the fake did seem to understand what it was because she took a step back. It was only till a second later that I realized that she wasn't stepping back because of the orb, but because of the airborne attack.

The other three Xiaolin warriors had jumped down in front of Kimiko to try to protect her from the maybe obsessed villian. If she hadn't stepped back the three of them would have attacked her from the air. They now stood strong as a wall of unyielding flesh.

"Okay, Miss!" shouted Raimundo, "We don't want any trouble so could you just leave? If you want a Kimiko autograph we can send ya' one in the mail!"

The warriors repeated their fighting stances from before. Their attention had altogether left me and had focused on the more treacherous problem. I didn't feel insulted because I had the chance to leave unscratched without them knowing. Sure, I wouldn't get my Shen-Gong-Wu, but it was better than being beaten by all four of the Xiaolin dragons.

I couldn't seem to move though. Did I really want to see what happened next? This woman was surely going to get the beating of her life. Just one against four didn't seem fair, but no one was objecting. Something just wasn't right other than the fact that this look-alike woman had just appeared out of nowhere. The female stranger didn't seem dangerous to me.

What would I know though? Maybe I was only thinking good of her because she had smiled at me. Yes, I had figured that the smile from earlier was towards me. She had been beaming at Kimiko so she must have been smiling at me when we were both on the ground. The same smile had returned at the sight of the three warrior boys. Now, it disappeared and her face grew cautious.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just out of sorts at the moment since I didn't remember this place right away."

Everyone was exchanging confused faces. What was she saying? Was she familiar with the Xiaolin showdowns?

"It's true about who I say I am," she continued, "I know this might be farfetched, but I am Kimiko from the future."

Now she had truly lost us all. The future? Did she really think that we would believe her to be the older Kimiko? Raimundo and Clay looked surprised while Omi looked more confused than he had ever looked before. I wouldn't really mind if she was who she said she was because then Kimiko in the future would be what I thought to be an attractive woman (except for the loony part). She wouldn't be loony though if what she was saying was true. She'd be as sane as the rest of us (most of us).

"If you really are Kimiko from the future –which I most doubt- then explain how you are here!" demanded the still confused monk.

"Yeah, if you was really the future Kimiko then you would have the Sands of Time or somethin'," added the surprisingly thinking Clay.

"No, I do not have the Sands of Time," she answered, "Instead of by Shen-Gong-Wu, I traveled here by using Jack Spicer's time machine."

I jolted to a standing position when my name was mentioned. All of the attention that had left me before had returned in full bloom. Everyone was now glaring at me because it appeared that I was this crazy woman's accomplice. Raimundo walked towards me and looked like he was about to throw a punch at me. I was already shielding myself when the "future" Kimiko placed herself between Raimundo and me before he could unleash his attack.

"No! Not that Jack! The future Jack Spicer!" she explained while protecting me, "In the future, Jack still has the same time machine he used to help you send Omi to the past."

This took everyone by surprise. How did she know that I had helped them pacifically with my time machine? Everyone knew I had helped them, but no one knew I had helped them by using a time machine. I guess any could have come to that conclusion, but I had told no one that I hadn't destroyed it. It was still in the lab collecting dust because I didn't want to break something that had partly been a success of mine.

"I'm speaking the truth! There's a lot of turmoil in the future! That's why I have come to this period of time to find the solution to the conflict that we all share a decade from now!"

A decade from now? This meant that the older Kimiko here was older by ten years. Making her age to be twenty-four. No wonder she had made my nose almost bleed. She definitely had the body of a full-grown woman. It was hard to imagine that this curvy woman was the same hotheaded girl that was stomping towards her right now.

"Alright! This might sound true, but I'm not convinced! The only way I'll believe you is if you tell me something only I would know! Something I would never tell a soul or speak out loud about!"

Older Kimiko must have accepted the terms because she looked up into the rust/blood colored sky as if pondering an answer that would serve as proof to her being genuine. She walked towards her younger self and bent down to whisper something in her ear.

Young Kimiko listened warily because the secret was being gently whispered. The rest of us were leaning a great deal forward to hear what was being said. Kimiko didn't notice our rudeness because what she was hearing must have been surprisingly true and private. She looked paralyzed and then a second later a burning red started to grow on her cheeks. Whatever was being said was definitely not for our ears. When they were both finished they stood back. Each taking in the other in silence… The youngest was the one to break the hush.

"Yes… I believe you now," Kimiko said, "I'm sooo sorry that I didn't believe you before!"

"No problem, me. I know I'm a little hotheaded." She answered herself.

The two grinned and giggled like aged old friends at their poor joke. This caused the thick tension in the air from before to completely evaporate. The boys now looked at the older warrior without suspicion, but with honor and… Probably the same unacceptable thoughts I had while lying on the ground with her. Well, not the pipsqueak. He wouldn't have those kinds of thoughts. He probably doesn't even know what a bra is.

"Well, judging by the terrain, you guys were in the middle of a Xiaolin showdown." observed the older Kimiko.

Oh crap. I totally forgot about the showdown! We still had to finish the challenge because we had shouted the words to start it! No worries. I may not be pumped like before, but I could still take on Kimiko. She definitely had forgotten her sour mood because of this recent discovery of herself. Better for me to take her on relaxed than a killing machine.

"Yes! Let's finish this, Kimiko!" I shouted, "Reversing Mirro-"

A… Wait a minute. Where'd that Shen-Gong-Wu go? I had it in my hand when the fight started. Did I drop it when I fell? Did I leave it on the ground when I stood up? I started searching the ground hoping to uncover the mirror.

"Jack? Are you looking for this?" Kimiko asked.

When I turned around it was older Kimiko who had asked the question. She had in her hand the Reversing Mirror that I thought had disappeared in the dirt.

"How'd you get it?" I blurted out.

"I don't know. It just appeared in my hand when I had found myself lying on you."

Everyone started gazing at the mirror in her hand. Then at the orb that was already in the younger Kimiko's possession and the sash that was apprehensively near her. At last, everyone pieced the pieces together that led to one conclusion.

"AH SHIT!" I swore, "YOU MEAN I LOST!"

"Yeah, Spicer!" Raimundo laughed hysterically, "You lost when future Kimiko fell on top of you!"

"NO WAY! THAT DIDN'T COUNT!" I protested.

"DUDE! She took you down fair and square!" Raimundo burst into tears from his laughter, "OH GOD! That must have been like the record time for the shortest showdown EVER!"

"BUT THAT WAS THE WRONG KIMIKO!"

"Sorry, Jack," said the country bumpkin, "You did challenge Kimiko and well… That was Kimiko."

"Yes, this is most true," agreed Cue ball, "They are one and the same."

"BUT the sky! It's Still-"

I was going to point out that the skies color had not returned to its normal color. This would mean that the game was still on and that I hadn't lost. The sky though had returned to its bluish wonder and the ground beneath was grassy again. The hostile showdown environment had returned to the peaceful walls of the Xiaolin Temple.

"Whah…?" I wittingly said.

"Jack, it all changed back when we all came to the same conclusion," Raimundo informed, "-that you lost, Man!"

This wasn't fair at all! It was like a huge joke that everyone was playing on me. Even my surroundings had tricked me into a false belief! The Reversing Mirror was one of the last Shen-Gong-Wu I had! Now what was I going to do! If I returned back to my lab without the Reversing Mirror then Wuya would know I had snuck out. Even worse is that she would know that I had lost it!In record time nonetheless!

Having a beautiful woman falling on top of me didn't seem so lucky anymore.

A/N: Yay. This update was slightly quicker. I had fun writing this chapter along with chapter three probably because of the humor. This story is still probably more action/adventure. The romance will creep in sooner or later. Trust me. Thanks for the reviews! Keep em' coming! I am enjoying them.