Things were finally looking up for Jack. Upon leaving the ice cream parlor, the monks had entrusted him with his favorite Wu. Out in the back yard of his mid-home, Jack hung from a tree by his tail. It felt good to be a carefree monkey again. Nothing but bananas and tire swings occupying his mind.
"Jack!" the shrill voice carried across the yard.
Jack looked up at his red-haired 'mother.'
"Yeah?" he groaned.
"What are you doing! People can see you out there! It's bad enough that the neighbors know you exist! Get in here this instant!"
It was lucky for Jack that she had failed to notice his extra appendage.
"Or what?" he questioned as he dropped from the tree.
"Or there'll be no food for the rest of the week!"
Jack laughed, "Don't you mean dinner?"
"I said what I meant, Jack. Now get in here!"
Jack sneered as she went back into the house.
"Evil witch," he snarled. At that instant, he actually missed Wuya. With a growl, he shook the idea of Shen Gong Wu from his mind.
Jack apparently hadn't moved fast enough, for there was no lunch, nor any dinner for him.
"Freak," he growled up in his room as he listened to the party down stairs, "She'll forget about it in the morning."
But she didn't.
"You know, Jack, it's all your fault that they're dead."
Jack looked across the breakfast table.
"That whole 'leak-behind-the-stove' thing was my mild alteration of the truth. You and I know what really happened. You were in with the wrong crowd and your parents paid for it. Now you get to go on with your miserable, useless life, while they rot in their graves."
"Who are you?" Jack whimpered.
"The only person who cared enough about you to take you in."
"What about my grandmother?"
"Oh, didn't you hear?" she said matter-of-factly, "Your grammy's dead too."
Jack's eyes widened.
"Don't know how you missed that one. She died in a house fire, just like your parents."
"No…"
"Guess you were too lost in self-pity to realize how great of a loss you've truly suffered."
The woman finished her breakfast and shoved the empty plate at Jack, "You can have what's left."
Jack stared at the empty plate. Yeah, he knew it was his fault. Chase had said something about making him pay for his insolence. He figured that this was it. He was crushed. But… The Xiaolin warriors had been there for him. How strange? He never really thought that they had ever given a damn about him. Now he wanted to go with them and make them proud to have him as a friend. Jack contemplated the word 'friend' a few moments before questioning the intent of the young monks.
They think I'm vulnerable, he thought, they think that I'll go bad for real… What if they're just looking out for themselves... Or maybe they just want to get rid of me in their own fashion. I'm too tired to be evil… or good. I just want to be Jack.
He figured that at the temple, he'd at least free of these psychological barrages. His mind was already set to fall apart. He wanted to tell them how much he appreciated their friendship, how far he'd go to make sure that he still had his only four friends.
But what if they aren't really my friends… What if they're just humoring me…"I hope not," he sighed as he stood up and took the plate into the kitchen.