Just to save time and prevent a repeat of the day prior, this trip to the Spicer mansion Omi took, he took with the Golden Tiger Claws, a shen gong wu that allowed the user to transport anywhere they wished through a magic wormhole slashed with them.

Landing on the familiar stretch of grass outside the perimeter walls, Omi beamed to see that the crowd from yesterday was nowhere in sight. Taking that as a cue, he trotted down the small hill he'd exited onto and headed for the front gate.

"Auuh!"

Unexpectedly, a sharp pain struck him in the face as he bounced off of something hard. Rubbing his nose, he stepped back and took a second look, not finding anything in his way. Carefully, he reached out and tested the air with his palm.

Solid.

Brow raising, Omi was curious. Was this some new device Jack had whipped up to defend his home? Magic? An illusion?

Whatever it was, Omi felt his wu of choice today was an excellent selection. He thanked his tiger instincts and scoffed. "Today is not your lucky day, mysterious force field. You stand no chance against the mighty power of...the Golden Tiger Claws~!"

With a smarmy grin, he made one more slash as he 'defeated' the invisible force blocking him and took a shortcut directly into Jack's backyard.

It was surprisingly active. Cyclops was standing and holding a target as he watched the goings on below, a makeshift shooting range set up as Jack stood in front of a Jackbot and was saying, "Yes, yes, but can you make them invisible?" The other party he addressed was...

"Le Mime?!"

Five eyeballs and two ocular sensors snapped Omi's way as he exclaimed. Indeed, the new addition to Jack's yard was an old foe, clad in stripes, pancake makeup and a miniature pork pie hat.

"Cheddar Head?!" Jack exclaimed back, "How'd you get in here!"

Lifting the shen gong wu on his right hand, Omi pointed, suddenly blushing in embarrassment for the awkward entrance. "Golden Tiger Claws..?"

"Oh...right. You got most of the good wu," Jack sulked, but then stood alert. "Well what are you doing here?"

Omi startled. "I was invited!"

"Huh? Oh." Jack hunched. "You weren't supposed to show up!"

"What are you talking about? I was told you wanted to ease my worries by showing me how you can protect yourself!"

"Wait...you were actually worried about me?" Perhaps a tiny bit of falter there.

"Of course! Chase Young has all but declared you his top enemy!"

"Well...yeah, but like...you sounded so condescending."

"I may be condensed, but I still do not wish to see you deceased, my sexual friend!"

The others watched this back and forth like a highly engaging ping pong match. At this last line, their eyes inflated. Jack's as well.

"What did you just say?!" the goth recoiled, taking half a step back and posing exaggeratedly.

Thinking he'd gotten a foot in the door, Omi lifted his arms in reception and stepped forward in turn. "Yes! Instead of death, I still would prefer if we could become allies, and there is no time to be lost. To prove I am most sincere, I have even come prepared. I have taken a look into your hobbies, and have attempted to take an interest in this 'sexuality' you enjoy." As a friendly gesture, he reached forward to grab the retreating boy's hips, which were as high as Omi could reach on the other.

Jack's eyes bulged and he screamed. "Ahhh! Bad touch! Bad touch!"

Reacting to the distressed cry of his caretaker, Cyclops gasped and reached down to pinch Omi by the scruff and lift him away from Jack. He glowered at the boy blinking in confusion.

Jack regained his composure with an exhale of relief and gestured to Cyclops to lower the yellow boy back to his level. With Omi dangling at face height, Jack barked, swishing his hands wildly, "Not cool, Omi! Not cool! Even I wouldn't stoop to that!"

Still confused, Omi puzzled, "But...I was of the understanding that it was a good thing to express interest in the things your intended friend enjoys..! My friends were quite kind enough to show me the many...maaany, often disturbing forms of pansexualizing the world wide internets have to offer. Perhaps Master Fung was alerted to my distress as I discovered these things..." Here he blushed in a spot of shame as he recalled the night prior, an endless scream pouring from his lips as he stumbled onto a website that was most certainly evil. "And perhaps Kimiko tells me that 'frying' her electronic device is a bad thing..." Here he was a little more clueless as he gave a helpless shrug. Kimiko had taken her PDA back between forefinger and thumb, declaring the thing soaked in 'malware' and in need of a complete reset, though she couldn't really be mad at Omi and could only truly blame herself for leaving him alone with it. "But I assure you that I am most sincere in my attempts! Not like the horrible women I encountered on the interwebbing! I warn you, Jack Spicer, if you are approached by a kind stranger sending you requests of friendship while you are using such a device, it is most likely a trap! The heated women in my area do not require Water Dragon services to cool their villages! They only wish to crunch your electronic doodie-bads!"

His arms flailed in frustration before he ended the tirade in an arms-folded sulk.

Jack absorbed this meandering rant with an increasingly blank face and silent blinks.

The others did similar.

In the stretching silence, something finally clicked for Jack.

"You...heard the word 'pansexual' yesterday, didn't you?"

Once more thinking he was getting somewhere with his convincing, Omi perked brightly. "Yes!"

Jack shook his head loosely. "And you...have no idea what it means, do you?"

"I did not!" Omi confirmed, thrusting an index finger into the air. "But now I am almost certain it does not involve cookwear of any type."

Jack let tented fingers cover his eyes as he groaned, finally understanding to some degree what was going on here. "Poor, deluded cheese ball..." Sighing and figuring it was up to him to prevent Omi from becoming a deranged sexual lunatic on accident, he swished his hands and rolled his eyes. "Look, it's not a hobby. It just means there's not really a limit on the type of person I'm attracted to, okay? Simple."

Omi blinked. Then his eyes widened. "It is about courtship? So there is more than one kind?!" He hadn't meant to suggest to Jack that he was approaching with a courtship invitation. That would have been quite embarrassingly forward! A short gasp. "And you do like the dating of boys!"

Gesturing to Cyclops to let Omi back on the ground, Jack sighed. "Plenty more. And yes. Lean towards 'em, in fact. Jeez, how sheltered and backwards are you?" He crossed his arms stiffly.

Though not appreciating the insult, Omi only let the wave of shame pass over his face before granting, "Well. I...thank you for correcting me. My friends were not nearly so direct." It may have been a bit sharply toned, but he appreciated the open blunt honesty in lieu of fleeing when explaining something he was unfamiliar with came up. He wasn't against educating himself to the outside world. It just felt like no one really wanted to teach him.

Hackles lowering a bit to hear himself thanked, Jack snarked, "Yeah, well...your friends stink if they can't explain something that simple."

Omi rubbed the back of his head, wanting to defend his friends but unable to really argue the point in this case. "Perhaps they too could use a helpful lesson in this matter."

"Whatever," Jack brushed off, "If we're done discussing my personal interests and how ignorant you are, can we maybe move on to something a little less completely boring? What's the real reason you're here? Here to spy on my grand evil scheme so you can take it out before Chase does? Or...tries? 'cause he won't! And neither will you!" There was no way Omi just came to check up on him and keep pitching this 'allies' plot.

"I would be a most terrible spy if I were attempting to do so," Omi noted, "You are not that unaware when I have done the spying that I could approach you directly."

Here Jack tensed defensively again. "Like you guys expect spying any better!"

Omi paused, having to admit that was rather correct. Brushing it to the side, he pushed forward. "No matter. My point remains that I am not here for any purpose but to in fact discuss your interests. Or anything else that you would enjoy during the hangings. Though I was also under the impression that I was the only one asked to return today." A lean to the side to shoot a suspicious squint at Le Mime. For some reason, it felt a lot less...special? Was that the word? To discover someone else already here with Jack.

A bit perplexed by this doubling down on extending friendship, Jack then had his attention caught at the other's tone. "Pff. Jealous much?"

Omi's fists went swiftly groundward as he hunched, blushing. "It is Le Mime! I am much worthier an opponent and friend of the hangings! His powers have already been proven of no use to you as well! He can be beaten simply by imagining around his imaginings!"

Jack's brow went up. "I wondered how you got out of that box way back when." Over his shoulder, he shot to Le Mime, "So can you imagine that your powers can't be reimagined, or what?"

Le Mime let a gloved hand hover in front of his lips as they formed a surprised O, and then an expression of clear guilt slid to replace it, signifying he'd never even thought of that.

Jack let out a note of annoyance. "Mimes..." Back to Omi he tossed, "Well, that's that fixed. Thanks for the tip, loser." He relished in the sallow grimace crossing Omi's face as he realized he'd said too much.

"Still, I was of the impression that you did not even enjoy his company," the yellow monk insisted lowly.

A skeptical head tilt and a snort from Jack. "And you think I like yours?"

"More than his! I am a magnificent companion!" Omi thrust his own hand to his chest in a haughty pose. Not only did his ego not allow him to consider himself second best in any department, but he knew for a fact that in a casual setting, Jack and the monks got along fine. Le Mime irritated Jack at best from what he could tell.

Wilting a bit and letting his eyes drop to the side, Jack perhaps had to admit to himself that he didn't exactly hate Omi...on a personal level, anyway. And he was as much for side-crossing relationships as anyone, but come on! Friends with Omi? Of all the monks, out of everyone he knew, he had the most tension with the short one, a lot of it stemming from pushes to swap sides and clashing ideological standpoints. And targeted quips. And invasion of personal space. And hugs. Lots of hugs.

Feeling a weird squirm in his stomach over how Omi's persistence to become allies was the only thing matching his dedication to the rivalry, the goth boy squashed down the appeal of such sincerity as ever and chose to focus on the meaner potential: how hilarious it was that Omi actually seemed to be jealous of Le Mime of all people.

"Eh, what can I say?" he shrugged, "He's grown on me." Behind him, Le Mime perked with a smile, then mimicked the action of suavely snapping out an invisible lawn chair, onto which Jack gladly fell back to lounge with his hands behind his head. Le Mime then bowed to kiss one cheek, then the other, and stood back up to fan the boy genius with a giant unseen fan. The breeze blowing Jack's hair was all that was evidence that the imagined item existed.

Smugly, Jack breezed, "Such a way without words~..."

Unexpectedly, a sting came to Omi's gut as he witnessed this display, unsure why and not wanting to admit it felt very much like a stronger hint of jealousy. He was too proud to be jealous.

Reveling in the expression Omi wore upon seeing how much chummier he was with the painted party, Jack decided some gloating wouldn't be the worst thing right now. "Y'see, sweet pea," he began with his favorite ironic pet name for the yellow boy, "I'm a guy who likes loyal underlings. Cyclops, for instance? Not enough brain to think about backstabbing."

Hearing himself mentioned, Cyclops clapped in agreement, dropping the target he'd been holding in the process, and looking down when the thud caused the ground to jump, putting a finger to his lips with a vague 'oops' noise.

In a tense pose after the target had nearly landed on him, Jack then shot Cyclops a swift glower before turning back the Omi and gesturing to the behemoth. "Case in point...but anyway, like I was saying. Le Mime? He's one of the ones who's scared of me now." A smirk towards the man fanning him, to which Le Mime straightened even more to attention and fanned faster with a compliant beam.

Leaning back to rest once more in his invisible lounge chair, Jack explained, "And with good reason. My policy on vaporizing all mimes didn't really agree with him. He was a real favorite snack for the robot lions." Jack had spared Le Mime the emperor's thumb down in the gladiatorial pit time and again, just because he'd loved sending the silent man back in.

Omi glanced up at Le Mime, who gulped at the memory. The stout monk almost felt bad for him.

Carrying on, Jack yarned carelessly, "So since I obviously can't rule the world again with the same plan, since everyone would be expecting it, I gotta tweak some things. I figure Mime Face has got probably the lowest chance of turning on me out of everyone I've bounced between in the last year. He's got powers I can use. And hey, no one'll see this team comin'. Call us Team Underestimated!"

It was true. Jack's new team was comprised of three highly underestimated villains. A brain-dead behemoth only kept under Chase Young's watch because he was an element of unpredictable chaos. A magic mime who had only joined the hunt for the shen gong wu once, but still had a black heart. And a boy genius with no physical strength who couldn't hold up to the rising number of local superhumans in martial arts combat.

Omi supposed that 'genius' part was where things must elevate them.

Confirming this, Jack concluded, "With my brilliant guidance, I'll take all that data I gathered from spending time with those no-good jerks who dissed me, and dish out some sweet, sweet vengeance all over again. The doors have always been open to evil allies, but it's their loss they'd rather treat me like an idiot instead. Same goes for you, Shorty." A sharp flick of Jack's gaze towards Omi.

Once again Omi had to let guilt eat at his insides. Most certainly, he and his friends had been increasingly dismissive of Jack as an opponent, and somewhat cruel towards him. "I...apologize if any lines have been crossed with the trash talkery and beatings," he offered, "But then, you have not been as incompetent as you have appeared..?"

In offense, Jack shot up and snapped a finger at the smaller one. "See that? That right there! That's what I can't stand! I knew you didn't wanna be friends! You are just like everyone else! Now that you know I'm capable of world domination, you just want to make sure I can't do it again!"

Omi jolted. "No..! I mean...of course I do not wish for you to rule the world, but I have wanted to be on your good side since the beginning! It is only because I have seen how dark your path gets that I now see how much harder I must work to correct it! I still have faith in you, Jack Spicer! I simply do not understand why your performance as of recent has been so...poor?" He faltered as he failed to think of a kind way to describe how easy defeating Jack had become. A meek sweat-filled smile was offered to appease the other.

Insides churning, Jack was torn between trusting Omi's supportive words and simply remaining offended at what still seemed just as much an obvious ruse.

Standing from his seat, he opted to just ball his fists and spit, "I was just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. I used to just be fighting you Dragon Dorks. I was the first to fight you. Now I'm up against a whole new class of magical warriors and whatnot jumping on the bandwagon. What else am I supposed to do? In the meantime, I find out who I can trust, learn how people tick from right beside them, play a little dumb so they don't pick up on it, and come up with ways to defeat the ones who refuse to team up in secret. Maybe I haven't been my best, either, but doing all that's been exhausting. I'd like to see you hold up while constantly working your tail off."

Finally, a smirk. "Once I saw that future where it all pays off, though? Oh, baby, has that been a rush that carried over. Why wouldn't I want it all over again? Now I get to put you on my list too~!"

The more Jack said, the more Omi's brow pinched. He felt nothing but sorrow for how the albino's heart had been consumed by thoughts of vengeance. He heard only words seeking to prove himself to others. The intensity of Jack's evil potential had most certainly increased with his trip through time. It was such a shame that those desires would lead him to commit such travesties if Omi could not show him a better path.

"Did it truly make you happy, Jack Spicer..?" he asked mournfully, "Did it lighten your heart to do the things you did when you ruled the world..?" If it had, Omi would regretfully have to relent and give up his mission. But he would do it if he must instead turn to eliminating the other.

Jack's head went back, caught extremely off guard by the question. His eyes darted about wildly. "What do you mean? Of course!" Deep down, he knew what Omi meant, though. Of course he hadn't felt complete. Showing off what he could do and becoming the most evil jerk in the world had been exactly what he'd wanted. He'd accomplished that. He'd gotten to rub it in everyone's face, which was extremely satisfying...but had it made him happy? He'd claim so, but he was a bit too aware of a buried part of his soul that lacked fulfillment for his liking.

Knowingly, Omi did not answer Jack's question, merely narrowing his eyes as his gaze held steady. Seeing Jack understood more than well what Omi was challenging was easy. And it was enough to make Omi smile. There was still hope in that heart. Jack did not gain pleasure purely from committing evil acts the way Chase Young or Wuya did. As he'd learned during that showdown when Jack had sampled turning good, the redhead sought validation above all else. Omi couldn't be more glad that hadn't changed, or for the truth of Chase Young's statement that he and Jack were nothing alike.

Fists tightening, Jack grimaced. Over his shoulder, he threw, "Okay, I don't know what Shorty's playing at, but he's ruining the evil mood. Let's pick this up later. Go home." After ordering Le Mime to leave, who merely blinked in confusion as he watched Jack turn curtly to head inside, Jack gestured to Cyclops, who had taken to vacantly gnawing the top of a nearby tree and watering the grass under him with his drool. "Cyclops, keep doing what you're doing."

Le Mime and Omi's eyes met, and the young man in the striped shirt simply offered the short one a shrug, tipped his hat, and pretended to sit inside a small one-person car. Hovering atop the ground, he slid off towards the gate, preferring not to argue or fight.

This suited Omi well, for he was not done with Jack. Not wanting to allow the other boy to write his offer off again, he gave chase. "Waaaiit! Jack Spicer, we have yet to do the hangouts!"

Scurrying to catch up with the goth who'd gone around to the front door, Omi found the door slamming just as he reached the top of the mansion's steps. A firm click dismissively announced that just like last night, Jack was not interested in hearing anything else Omi had to say.

However, today Omi was not taking 'no' for an answer.

"Golden Tiger Claws!"

A familiar high-pitched startle sounded as Omi dropped out of the grey swirling vortex and landed in front of Jack in the grand ornate entryway of his house. The next second, however, Jack, in the middle of taking his coat off, finished doing so and threw the thing over Omi's face.

"Boundaries, Cheddar Head?!" he groused as Omi let out his own cry and began fighting with the drape of cloth much larger than he. By the time he crawled out from under the coat, he just managed to catch a glimpse of Jack turning left down another hallway in a huff. Leaping to his feet, Omi pursued.

He caught up to find Jack taking a pudding cup out of the refrigerator on the opposite side of a large black and green-streaked marble kitchen island.

"Aha!" Immediately, a dance of skirting began, Omi's face determined while Jack's was annoyed. It became extra irritated when Omi opted to end the dance by springing himself up onto the island.

"Get lost..!" Jack whined half-heartedly, "And no shoes on the counter! If Dad finds you left marks, I am so not taking the blame for it!"

"Then take me to a place where the hangings may commence!" Omi retorted boldly.

Jack let out a frustrated growl. Cue Ball was seriously going to cling to him like this?

Then, suddenly, a nasty idea came to mind and an inspired smirk came to Jack's lips.

"Okay," he granted, "You want to see where I hang?"

Merrily, Omi replied, "Yes, please!"

"Sure. I'll take you." A dark sneer. "Let me see the Tiger Claws a sec, will ya~?"

With a happy gasp, Omi offered the hand bearing the claws forward in trust. "But of course, Jack Spicer..! A shortcut would be most-auuh!"

He fell back and landed to sit in one half of a sink as the wu he held was harshly snatched. "Golden Tiger Claws!" Jack yelled instantly upon shoving the item onto his own hand, and slashing the air just as swiftly.

Omi gasped in alarm, and struggled in reaction to push himself out of the sink. As Jack leapt up to enter the magic wormhole, Omi declared his element and summoned a stream of water to propel him out of the basin he was stuck in. With a pop he was free and launched a bit more clumsily through the lip of the vortex. He managed to swipe his arms in time to hug around one of Jack's ankles, however, and was tugged along behind the boy as he was pulled through time and space for his destination.

The two boys were deposited downward onto a busy cobbled street with a joint 'oof', and quickly began squabbling, Omi reaching for the Tiger Claws and Jack holding them at arm's length to prevent him from getting near.

"That was a most dirty of tricks, Jack Spicer!" Omi accused, "I was only trying to show you trust!"

"Yeah, well don't you know by now you can't trust me?" Jack countered.

"That is my entire point in doing this!" Omi shot back as the pair tumbled, "I want you to know you can be trusted, if you only try!"

"When is it going to sink through your gigantic round head? Evil. Boy. Genius!"

"That is not what your heart said when you joined the temple!"

An icy sting shot through Jack's chest as he remembered all too well the Xiaolin Showdown that knew he'd lied when saying he was planning to betray the monks all along. His heart had in fact been saying something different. His mind raced to come up with a justifiable argument, but instead as his eyes flicked anywhere but at Omi, he realized that some of the people in the street had paused in their walking to stare curiously at the commotion of the haphazard scuffle.

Jumping on that excuse to not think about magically revealed inner truths, Jack sat up and sharply pushed Omi off him, letting his demeanor turn casual in a split second.

"Alright, fine..! This is actually near somewhere I like to go, so we can go there already. I'm sure it'll be a hoot." He stood up promptly and started walking, only to find his arm tugged.

Glancing down, he found Omi with a painful death grip on his hand and the most scrunched-up sour expression Jack had ever seen.

Now squirming a little due to pain, Jack hurried to insist, "I won't use the Claws again, I swear..! Please let go..!"

Omi's face and hand both tightened in doubt.

"Okay, okay!" Jack simpered as he danced in further agony, "Here! You can have 'em back! Just please stop crushing my bones..!" He thrust his other hand towards Omi, and the small monk instantly relinquished Jack's hand in favor of reclaiming the shen gong wu. Meanwhile Jack cradled his mangled hand and blew cooling air over it to ease the burning sensation.

Back to happy in an instant, Omi grinned, "Now then! You were saying this is a place you enjoy..?" He actually sounded interested. As someone who was raised in the middle of nowhere, big cities always fascinated him. And this one looked modern, but curiously only had foot traffic, at least on this narrow, bustling street.

Still nursing his hand bitterly, Jack thought of another point that might give him some catharsis. "Oh, sure. I bet you're gonna love it."