The moment the chores were done the next day, Omi took his chance to slip away. Kimiko was chasing Raimundo in a rage while the Brazilian cackled madly about his latest prank involving changing all of her phone contacts, meaning she'd been happily gossiping about her friend Keiko...to Keiko for a good handful of minutes before realizing. It seemed that promotion to leadership did not do much for one's maturity.
As much as Omi was always entertained by Raimundo's antics and fascinated by 'girl issues', today his friends were merely the cover for his departure over the temple roof. Today he was sprinting his way out across the countryside with a determined and hopeful smile. But when Jack Spicer's home came into view, it was not the sight Omi would normally expect.
The isolated, elegant modern Chinese mansion was walled by a concrete fence topped with barbed wire, usually closed to all. But today that fence was open, large cartoonish signs advertising the presence of Jack Spicer within. And most oddly, there was a line leading inside the property.
A fat exclamation mark may well have popped its way out of Omi's forehead as he beheld the sight. He'd expected to have to sneak in, but as he scanned over the rogues gallery, he realized it was going to have to be for entirely different reasons, and his approach was going to have to be abnormal. Sitting high in a tree, he looked over the walls to see what was happening beyond, and found that Jack was sitting coatless at a table out in the open, kicked back and currently hearing out whatever the rotund and tall ninja Tubbimura was saying to him.
Taking from his sash the shen gong wu he'd brought along for the purpose of infiltration, Omi looked into the branches overhead. A robin was getting ready to fly. Perfect. With precision timing, Omi clicked a pair of ornate chopsticks and declared, "Changing Chopsticks!"
The magical artifact promptly glowed, shrinking the already minute monk down to the size of a rice grain as he leapt, hitching a ride on the bird soaring towards the Spicer household.
Tubbimura was just walking away from the meet and greet table Jack had set up, the Russian henchman-for-hire Vlad next in line as he approached with a hopeful air. The next second, a microscopic voice called out "Changing Chopsticks" once more, and a small yellow boy dropped heavily onto the table in a leisurely cross-legged sit.
Jack, Vlad, and everyone in the immediate proximity jumped with a startled noise, a small flurry of stacked headshots shooting into the air as Omi exposed his teeth in a wide grin.
"He-llooooo~!" he greeted the now-standing Jack in a chipper tone.
"Ahhh! Assassin!" Jack accused shrilly with a sharply-gestured index finger.
In reaction, the nearest villains now bristled and loomed nearer, Vlad's muscular frame casting a shadow over Omi as he coiled in preparation to snatch.
Placing his hands in a peaceful palms out position, Omi corrected, "While that would be a possibility if I so chose, I am afraid it is most incorrect. I have not come for your head, Jack Spicer, but for your hand!"
"Huh..?" Jack blinked for a moment, then gripped his left hand possessively close to the rough-edged sleeveless tank top he wore in a fresh round of panic. "Ahhh! Freaky hand-chopping maniac!"
Blinking back as he wondered what he said wrong, Omi backflipped to dodge Vlad's dive and bounced off his head to send him collapsing, then doing the same as Tubbimura took a try, landing on both men as they formed a pile, followed by a pair of famed mob boss Panda Bubba's bodyguards.
"I do not wish to collect your hand, Jack Spicer," Omi elaborated conversationally, "I am merely asking for your hand in friendship..! I have come to insist that we do the hanging!" He grinned broadly atop the pile of bodies he perched on.
Jack took another moment blinking as he processed what he was hearing. Then he visibly relaxed. "Oh. You're just here for the Prince of Darkness Promenade? In that case, get in line, Shorty!" In a flash, Jack had become stern, thrusting an index finger for the trail of people leading out the front gate.
Omi's head turned between the ordering finger and the waiting group now sending him impatient gazes, feeling as though a set of triple question marks was blinking overhead. "Theeee what now?"
A scoff from Jack. "Promenade. You know, like a public showcasing? Like the signs say?" His finger now went to one of the many giant decorative posters, to which Omi's gaze followed as he realized yes, this is what this gathering seemed to be labeled. Jack went on, adopting a series of showy self-serving poses. "Meet with Jack Spicer, proven Soon-to-Be Conqueror of the Universe! Grovel at his feet! Prove to him why you should not be fed to his onslaught of future robot lions in the fighting pit! Beg his forgiveness for causing him endless ridicule and torment, show him you have come to now wisely revere him, and hey, pick up a signed souvenir headshot while you're here!"
He lifted one of the glossy photographs on the table that depicted a close-up of Jack fanning his hands under his chin and winking with a cheesy grin, mimicking the pose beside it.
A little unsettled by this egotistical display, Omi had no words, barely able to furrow his brow and "uhhh" at how into his assured future Jack was settling before the taller boy spoke further, waving his hand in dainty dismissal.
"I knew all you people were going to wanna come see me after that excitement yesterday, have an opinion, yadda yadda. I just figured I'd make it easy and set up a shindig for it." Here he once more sat himself down and leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs up and crossing them at the ankles on top of the table. "And you're no different. You just wanna get your hooks into me first like everyone else who underestimated me. Well nobody likes a line cutter, sweet pea. Wait your turn to plead."
Raising a finger from the bottom of the grunt pile, Vlad made the muffled argument, "Technically, it was Vlad's turn to curry the future Dark Prince's favor..."
Flustering now, Omi began sweating as he professed, "But..! I am not here to feed Jack curry..! I am here on a most sincere mission! I have been offing and onning with the attempts to change destiny since the beginning! I do wish for the hanging of Jack Spicer!"
A very still moment's pause there across the courtyard, Jack especially not convinced as his lips tugged doubtfully. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and guess that was your worst attempt using slang yet," he broke the awkward silence, "But that should give you more than enough reason to choose your words more carefully while waiting. Security bots!"
A pair of extra bulky bronze and black hovering robots of Jack's own design swooped up at the summon, following Jack's finger and coming to grab Omi's arms, dragging him away. As he was carted backwards, Omi continued to insist, "I do not know how to make my words any more sincere! Please, Jackbots, you have known me the longest too! Surely you realize that I am the most worthy to be taking of Jack's time!"
The robots paused in their hovering, turning their turret-like heads for the small monk. Omi almost thought he'd made a case for himself when one said in a monotonous, heavily computerized tone, "All we know is punching. Hurting. Explosions. Rebuilding. You will wait your turn, sir."
The line of villains shook their heads shamefully as Omi was paraded in an embarrassed slump past them, as though he were a crazed fan in Hollywood. The young monk then found himself tossed outside the gate, tumbling to a rest at the very end of the line behind Chameleonbot, an old sentient project of Jack's that had gone rogue. As Omi landed behind it, it morphed itself into Jack's likeness and blew a raspberry at him. On Omi's other side, a robot butler with a creepy over-eager smile and a tight blonde haircut came forward, opening its chest cavity to offer forward a conveyor belt sporting a pair of cookies and a glass of juice.
"Snack and a beverage~?" it chirped in a much more animated voice than the regular Jackbots, "Complimentary for all of our benevolent Lord Jack's patient visitors~!"
Sitting in the dirt, Omi sagged with a sulky sigh. It looked like if he really wanted to prove himself sincere, he would have to wait.
Meanwhile at the front of the line, a blonde teenage girl who took the term 'catsuit' far too seriously when it came to her wardrobe stepped forward around the pile of bulky men on the ground. "Okay, so like...now that Opi's out of the way, can I just have my say already? I don't think Vlad's his most articulate at the moment, not that he ever is, and Katnappe's got things to do today..."
Jack's nose wrinkled. "Alright, fine, Ashley...make it quick while Vlad gets over his head trauma."
The pointed ears on the girl's cowl laid flat as she gave a displeased hiss and hunched, but fought down her venom at the mocking use of her real name Jack liked taunting her with.
Time passed slowly. Omi attempted meditation to hurry it, but found concentration exceedingly difficult as his impatience got the better of him. He tried playing tic-tac-toe with himself in the dirt, since Chameleonbot wasn't interested. He ate cookies. He tried practicing his Mantis Strike. He tried enticing Chameleonbot again with I Spy. At this point Chameleonbot tapped the person in front of them, a tall figure in a concealing black cloak, and pleaded to switch spots. Silently, the robed figure gestured to let the metal morpher ahead of them. Omi looked up at the figure now in front of him, but got the sense they weren't going to be up for any chatter. He sighed. It was no use. His eyes kept wandering to Jack Spicer sitting at that table, seemingly taking ages to speak with every villain in China before Omi. The impatient monk simply bobbed in place and stared with increasing strain as the gap between himself and that table gradually shrank.
At long last, it was Chameleonbot's turn. Without hesitation, the walking endoskeleton bearing Jack's form scurried forth, clearly having high hopes that its mimicry was flattering. Its fingers laced in a meek plea, but as it opened its mouth to speak, the real Jack cut it off.
"Ah. Right. You. I think I already know what my first mistake was with you. Jackbots, get my Star Hanabi and melt this treacherous piece of junk into scrap, will ya?" A snap of his fingers, and three standard issue Jackbots went to locate the shen gong wu requested.
Chameleonbot startled hearing this immediate verdict and quickly waved its hands negatively. "W-Wait! I'm sorry I ran away and changed my code without permission! I won't do it again! I can be useful!" The hands came together in another beg. "I've never even gotten to do anything majorly evil; let me join you! Jack? Buddy? Master?"
A small savoring smile came to Jack's lips at the last attempt to play to his ego. Some today had threatened him, some had tried to butter him up, but his favorites had been the ones who were now clearly afraid.
"I do always like hearing 'Master'..." he mused, and a hopeful perk came from his metal doppelganger. Then Jack's face darkened. "But you know that's not what I'm talking about."
Chameleonbot's face turned to stun, a thought then seeming to come to it as it looked at its form of choice. In a flash, it transformed itself back into its default blank humanoid self.
"W-Wait, no! Of course I wouldn't do that again! We both remember it, right? Who would try something exactly the same when they know how it turns out?"
"Eeeexactly," Jack agreed with a loose, amiable nod, "Which is exactly why I'm not going to do everything the same either. For instance, I know I've said before that when I ruled the world, my first order of business would be to vaporize all mimes, but when given a do-over, nearly successful traitors kinda seem like a bigger priority."
As well as Chameleonbot's, Omi's eyes inflated hearing that. He'd been absent in the eighty years he'd frozen himself, only awaking to find the future already having been in Jack's possession for a lifetime. He knew nothing of any rebellion, and was shocked to hear there had been others trying to rise to take Jack down. Meanwhile behind the albino boy, his robots had returned with the requested item.
Chameleonbot continued to make its case. "But-But that's exactly why you should know I wouldn't do it again!" Here it rearranged itself into the form of a sad, wide-eyed little girl. "I already know the consequences. I wouldn't risk my life when I know I lose it trying to fight you! It would be such a waste to get rid of me, too! I'm your most detailed project ever! I'm sentient for Pete's sake!"
Jack seemed unimpressed. "Yeah, well..." he breezed, "Call me bitter, but I juuust don't think I want to risk someone pretending to be Omi returning to draw me out, and then pretending to be me so they can take out my forces from the inside again." Calmly, he picked the Star Hanabi up from his Jackbot's claw.
Everyone's posture tensed. Chameleonbot turned desperate. "But it didn't even work! I want to live! I'll do anything you want! I'll be anything you want! A pet? A homework machine? Personal transport? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?" With each suggestion, the robot turned itself into that form.
A stoic blink from Jack for a couple seconds, and then his head tipped as he gave a small smirk to the fabricated cute goth boy now openly spreading his hands and delivering a wide, stressed grin.
"Wow, you'd really go that far, huh?" he challenged, "Because that sounds about right. The only way I might believe you is if you swear your loyalty to me in the here and now, and prove you're really willing to become anything I want to serve me and my evil needs." His gaze scanned the current attractive form the robot was wearing while maintaining his smirk.
The shapeshifter clasped its hands again and declared, "Yes! Of course! You got it! Anything!" Its palms slapped the table as it leaned forward with an eager beam.
"Good~!" Jack breezed as he stood. Then he reached forward and touched the robot's nose with the Star Hanabi. "I want you to be scrap."
Chameleonbot's face had hardly gotten to fall before the wu's name was called, and a spiral of superheated flame burst forth from the ruby in the bronze star's center. The air filled with a raw shriek as the robot the magical fire encircled began melting instantly, its voice garbling and fading off as it slowly turned into a puddle of silvery liquid and exposed wires.
It was over in a mere handful of seconds, and Jack lifted the smoking star to his lips to blow a cooling stream of air across its gem. The wu was tossed back to the nearest Jackbot and he ordered, "Now scrape that mess up and get it out of my sight. It smells." A hand wafted in front of his nose with disgust. The Jackbot fumbled to catch the Star Hanabi, but did secure it, then hurrying to put it away while another pair of Jackbots moved to chisel the fast cooling lump of metal off the pavement.
Omi couldn't help but gawp. He hadn't expected Jack to go through with that. So cruelly, much less! He was so much more used to seeing the redhead wheedle for companionship. It was a robot he had eliminated, but one that was as alive as it could have been. It had been begging to redeem some mistake it hadn't even made yet in this timeline. Recalling once again how callously Jack had ended his friends' lives in the first future, Omi felt his stomach tighten as he realized Jack was still very much capable of such atrocities. Perhaps even moreso now that he had a lifetime of ruling under his belt and was brimming with confidence. And any one of the villains who'd been here today could sway his greedy heart. Even more reason for Omi to act quickly and somehow prove to Jack that he was making the wrong choice.
The tall figure in black glided forward. "Oh, Jack...I'm impressed~...considering what a little slut you've been, I was sure you'd go for a companion who could be all of them."
Jack bristled, wagging a finger towards the stranger. "Hey..! Heeey..! Pansexual doesn't mean easy!"
"Oh of course not~," the figure crooned, "But you are easy." With that, the mysterious person raised their hands and pulled the hood down. It revealed a sharp-toothed woman with voluminous crimson hair that was swept back, her plump lips forming a nasty smile underneath piercing green eyes painted heavily with flaring black makeup. "Believe me, I've seen how desperate you get," she chided.
"Wuya!" Jack bristled even more, fists clenching. The hag that had started it all.
With a grand gesture, the six foot witch swept the cloak off and tossed it aside, posing with a sultry hand on her hip, now only wearing a form-fitting bell-sleeved dress with a suggestively short hem. "Oh, I do so love when I get to say this...in the flesh~!" She gave an impish squeeze shut of her eyes there.
Behind this woman, Omi startled and stumbled back onto his rear. Wuya?! She might not have her powers at the moment, but she was still a fifteen-hundred year old threat of great impose, and extremely dangerous should a fight break out. Far more dangerous than she'd been as a mere ghost at the very least.
Looking over her shoulder at the small monk, Wuya greeted, "Hello, Omi...perhaps I can convince you to rejoin my team as well, hmm~?"
It was Omi's turn to form twin fists as he shot back up to his feet. "Never! My chi is back where it belongs, and so. Am. I!"
A careless shrug in return. "Hm. Worth a try."
Jack slapped his hands to the table's surface, brow down-turned. "Woah, woah, woah. Hang on, woman! You think you're gonna come crawling back to me now?! After all those times you dumped me, after stealing Chase away from me, after giving me my own name as the answer for 'idiot' in a crossword puzzle?!"
His eyes bulged and he bit his lips with indignation.
Wuya daintily laced her fingers and innocently faced her palms towards the ground. "Oh, but it's like you said yourself, Jack...I was just keeping my options open~..!"
Jack's posture sagged and he let out an unimpressed snort at having some very old words of his thrown back at him; words from when he'd tried joining up with the witch again, after helping the monks try and defeat her and getting caught the first time. It was also the philosophy he'd been living by as he hopped between evil partners for the last year.
Wuya carried on. "Besides, I told you after you beat Chase and Hannibal that I liked what I saw...now I've seen what else you can cook up, and I'm very interested. I think we could make much better allies in world domination than enemies. And just think, if you do agree, not only do I have the power to grant you anything you want when my true abilities are restored, but you won't have to try and think of a new way to entrap me~. Very clever, by the way, restoring the old puzzle box your father sent you...I never knew you kept it. Sentimental, were we~?" She stepped forward and tipped his chin up with her knuckle.
Jack's eyes only narrowed further and he swatted the witch away. "Maybe I just think ahead more than you realize." He could recall more than one instance Wuya had nagged him to get a move on when he'd been trying to do something she didn't see the value in, such as constructing a spreadsheet to keep track of where all the shen gong wu were. You'd think with how into them she was, she'd care. But no, everything he did was just wrong no matter what. That had always been their dynamic.
Omi felt his mouth dangle open. He'd seen the other villains trapped in Jack's prison in the future, but he hadn't even considered how they'd gotten there. Jack had found a way to make the original puzzle box Wuya was trapped in work again?! He couldn't help but be impressed at the tactical thinking Jack had apparently used to defeat such a foe all on his own. Where had he been hiding this?
"Indeed..." Wuya granted, "I'm beginning to think there's a lot we haven't realized about you, Jack. Which is why I come asking for you to return to us."
"Well you can forget it!" Jack burst, "I've got more plans where that came from, and if there's one person I'd put lowest on my list to work with again it's-" All of a sudden he stopped and blinked. "Wait. Us?"
Wuya's sneer widened as Jack registered her wording. Silently, she placed her left arm straight out to the side. One of Jack's eyebrows ticked, and within the next moment a large crow came from parts unknown and landed to perch. Now Jack gasped.
"That's right~," Wuya purred, "You wouldn't consider it even if Chase Young was asking..? He's very keen to talk to you~." Turning to look at the crow, which served as the eyes in the field for the man she spoke of, she addressed, "What do you think, Chase? He's still the same weenie as ever, but with a little more...oomph. Perhaps a taste of confidence was all he really needed to find his potential."
There was no snide remark this time. Rather, Jack's knuckles had all tucked under his chin and his eyes may as well have been throbbing valentines as he began drooling over what he'd heard.
"Chase Young..? Wants me in his evil corner?!"
"Uck." Wuya scoffed flatly to herself over how easy that had been. Perhaps Jack was just as much of a simpering fool as ever after all. But no, underestimating him had been her downfall once already. "I take it you're coming, then."
Jack was trotting around in circles, starstruck and hardly able to contain himself. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm hearing this..! It's just like a fairy tale~! I need my coat! Where's my helibot! Forget closing up shop! Jackbots! How's my makeup?!"
He violently grabbed a Jackbot attempting to present him with an extending mirror and stared at himself intently.
Alarmed, Omi felt a need to cut in. He was alone, but it was his duty to stop evil from growing. "Um, helloooo..! I am still here, remember? I did not get my turn to speak with you, Jack Spicer! And I have waited veeeery patiently!"
Primping his hair with one hand, Jack turned to scowl at the minute monk. "Can it, Chrome Dome. Too bad. You were probably just gonna give me some lame-o speech like yesterday. Yadda yadda, power of friendship, honing your heart or whatever, heard it all before!"
Omi quirked a brow. "Honing your heart..?" That just sounded weird.
"Yeah! And it ain't happenin', so don't even try me with that! You wasted your time coming here, but you're not gonna waste mine. Not when I've got a date with..." A very immature giggle as he blushed over the word choice. "Chase Young~..!"
Wuya let her face fall into an open palm as she gave a groan of disgust, meanwhile Omi tipped his head like a curious puppy as Jack pranced around swooning in his own little fantasy land. It was an odd display. And between this and Chameleonbot's offer to become a boyfriend, Omi had to note something he'd never even considered before. Did Jack date boys? Boys could date boys? Omi barely knew what dating was to begin with.
Lifting her hand, Wuya glanced once more to Omi, trying her best to ignore the giddy goth skipping about like a woodland fairy as he got his coat and helipack on, his Jackbots aiding him like critters assisting a princess. "You know, if you want to spend time with Jack that badly, you could always change your mind too~..! It wasn't so bad on the Heylin side, was it~?"
Omi's gaze became steely as his eyes flicked for hers. "Even when I was not myself, I did not truly desire to be evil. I am not a mind you may poison any longer..! You or Chase Young." A short glance towards Jack, who was all smiles and seemingly ready to go. "And I will make sure that Jack Spicer's mind will become such as well!"
A snort. "Touching. Well good luck with that." Wuya became clearly disinterested again at the rather blatant dismissal. The suggestion that Omi could make any argument that could beat out Jack's infatuation with his idol was laughable.
Jack activated his helibot, sending the twin rotary blades shooting overhead to begin whirring. "Alright Wuya, you drive a hard bargain, but let's get this show on the road..!" As he took off, he tossed to Omi, "But since you seem so sad I won't play with you, I'll leave you some of my toys as a parting gift. How about that? Jackbots! Keep Omi company!"
As the pair of evil-doers departed, one flying and one merely taking powerful leaps, the young monk took his gaze from them to meet the several dozen robots now speeding towards him. "Ahh!" With a short cry, Omi turned and ran to get some distance between himself and the attackers. Jackbots weren't usually a real challenge to face, but he had been startled.
The real surprise came when one of the bots chasing him hurled their arm forward like a morning star. Omi let out another surprised noise and barely managed to flip himself over it. That was new. That was the other thing about Jackbots, he supposed: one never knew what kinds of tweaks Jack would make to them.
However, thinking quickly, now that the robot's fist was buried in the ground, Omi leapt onto it. As expected, the Jackbot yanked to bring the fist back, but now found Omi soaring towards it as well. Yelling in glee this time, Omi sent his own fist through the Jackbot's head. It went flying and collapsed into a pile of rubble. The two bots Omi had landed between lunged for him, and all he had to do was merely spring into the air for them to attack one another.
Looking skyward, Omi grimaced, not wanting Jack to escape. He couldn't lose such a dangerous opponent to the dark side so easily! Not when he knew he could prevent it!
Knocking down robot after robot with a flurry of punches, an idea then sparked its way into Omi's head. Rolling onto his back, he kicked one robot away while gripping onto the rim of its disc-like cranium. With the torn piece in hand, he then ran again, guiding the robots into a roughly-calculated position. There he leapt once more, grabbing hold of another morning star arm as it thrashed for him, and flipping. The robot was hurled into several others below, resulting in a huge explosion. Omi threw the disc he held and aimed himself with the blast behind him.
"Changing Chopsticks!" he called, then letting out an 'oof' as the blast pushed him hard. In no time he'd caught up with the disc and grabbed hold of it, though he instantly regretted it as its spinning near instantly made him nauseous. Unable to stop screaming through the velocity, the microscopic monk did his best to aim again.
The metal disc shot by Jack's arm, causing him to wobble and let out a note of surprise. "Hey! What-!" He looked behind him, only to find a distant mess on the ground. "Oh. Cheddar Head did a number on my boys already, huh. Well, hopefully it was mutual!" Making a puss, he turned back the way he was headed.
Unseen to him, Omi was clinging white-knuckled to the back of his high coat collar, breathing in and out deeply as he tried to will his heart into steadying. He'd so very nearly missed! Thank Dashi's ghost he had gotten a grip the second time he grabbed! His other hand went to his head, trying to stop the spinning in his eyes and the churning in his stomach. Vomiting down the back of Jack's neck would quite likely give him away, even if he was tiny.
At least he'd accomplished his goal. Perhaps it was not the wisest, but he was now headed towards the mountain lair of Chase Young alongside the others.