It was dawn. Navigating the lighted darkness was simple for a shadow demon like Jack. He dodged monks and dragons alike, none noticed him as he entered the meditation room. Jack walked across the room to the large cauldron in the center. Jack rested his hands on the brim and began thinking about how he was going to summon the spirit of the Great Dashi. He thought, but nothing came to him. Despair filled him. He felt weak and pathetic. He felt less than insignificant. He felt like nothing. Another tear came from his eye. It dribbled down his cheek and dripped off his chin onto the brim of the cauldron. It slid down into the weakly glowing embers.
"Jack!" he heard a familiar voice shout at him.
He was caught and it was over. Jack's legs let out and he slid to the ground, still clutching to rim of the cauldron.
"Jack, what are you doing here?" it was Kimiko.
"I give up," he sighed pathetically, "I want to be good. Every bit of my black heart wants to be good… But I've sealed my fate," Jack stood up, "Good bye, Kimiko. I'm sorry I let you and the others down."
Jack was walking out of the chamber when another voice called to him.
"I wouldn't be leaving so soon."
Jack spun around to find a puff of smoke rising from the cauldron.
"Oh my…" Kimiko was silenced as the smoke took the form of the greatest man who ever lived.
"M-Master Dashi," Jack walked over slowly before collapsing to his knees, "it's such an honor…"
"It's Grandmaster, and yeah, it's an honor."
"Oh my God, I can't believe that you've come here just for me…"
"This is beyond you, Jack. I have been watching you, however. You are a worthy opponent/ally when you have the motivation. I have heard your plea for normality, and this I will give you."
Jack's eyes lightened. This deity seemed far greater than even Hannibal Bean. Jack felt embarrassed that he had ever held that wretched fruit in any form of regard.
"But listen to me. It will not be easy. The balance of good and evil is disrupted by your presence; therefore, you must be sure that the side you chose is the one you shall remain loyal to for the rest of your days."
"I choose good!"
"Are you very sure that that is what you want?"
Jack looked back at the doorway. Now it was occupied by the other dragons as well.
"I want to be where I can have friends. I want to know that I have people who care about me. The only place I ever found that, was here. Grandmaster Dashi, I want to abandon to powers of the lao mang lon soup."
"Very well," the ghost nodded, "I will take away your evil, but only you can banish it."
"Banish it?"
"You must send it away from this realm. It will always exist, but as long as it doesn't exist here, the balance will be restored."
Jack sighed, "How do I banish it?"
"I will give it form. You must fight its powers and vanquish it. In doing so, you prove to all laws of balance that you have rejected your evils."
"But… I just want to be normal…"
"You will, in time. But now you must destroy your evil."
Jack swallowed hard.
"Are you ready?"
Jack looked back at the doorway again. Now there were several old monks behind the Dragons. Jack found Master Fung and smiled to him.
"I am," he said to Dashi.
"Then here is your one weapon against it," from the ether, Dashi pulled a white dagger, "Use this for the final blow."
"I… Okay…"
Dashi nodded and closed his eyes. He clasped his hands together and slowly pulled them apart. As he did, Jack felt a part of himself being torn away. It was a terrible feeling. At one point, Jack felt sorry for every piece of paper he had ever torn in half. Suddenly, Dashi's hands jerked apart and Jack collapsed to the floor. As he struggled back to his feet, he was looking into the eyes of his demonic form.
"Vanquish it," Dashi commanded.
The terrible thing just smiled at him. Jagged teeth lined its large mouth. Jack saw himself for the first time. It was hideous; he couldn't wait to be rid of it…
"B-be gone!" he shouted.
It cocked its head to one side.
"Leave this place."
The wicked smile grew.
"I banish you…" Jack was losing.
"No," the voice echoed, "I banish you."
With its mouth opened wide, it charged jack. Stumbling out of the way, jack turned to find it directly in front of him again.
"G-go away!"
"No, you go away," it tried to bite his head, but Jack got away.
Landing next to the cauldron, Jack looked helplessly up at Dashi.
"There is nothing I can do. You must defeat it yourself."
Jack jumped to his feet only to find that it was gone. The room was empty except for the crowd in the doorway which had gathered one Chase Young.
"Is it…"
Something wrapped around Jack's leg and pulled it out from beneath him. Jack fell to the ground letting the dagger slip from his fingers. He crawled after it, but a heavy force held him down. Jack looked over his shoulder at his demon. It licked its lips as it gazed at him with its beady eyes.
"It's over now," it hissed, "You lose."
Jack struggled to grab the blade as the beast pulled him closer to itself.
"No," he wept as he tried to pull away again.
It was no use, the creature had him. Jack went limp as he looked into the pain in the others eyes. Chase himself had fear written across his face.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as darkness consumed him.
Dashi looked away sadly as Jack's evil devoured him. It was over fairly quickly, but it had taken nearly forever for those who had to watch as the last of Jack got sucked down by the serpentine demon. Pure evil had triumphed over innocence. It was a bad sign for the balance of all things.
The demon stood a moment in silence before breaking out into terrible laughter.
"I win," its voice echoed as it turned to Dashi, "Your world of perfect Ying and Yang is gone, Dashi. I am evil. My reign of darkness has already begun!"
As it laughed, it turned to its human form.
"What's this?" it said as it approached the fallen weapon, "A dagger? What good would that have been? If you ask me, Dashi," it sighed contently, "You set him up for failure and I have to thank you for that. Because now that I'm free, consider the world mine."
Kimiko turned away to face Chase.
"We're doomed, aren't we?" she murmured.
"Not yet," Chase growled, "There is still hope."
"How?" Raimundo turned around, "Jack got eaten by his own evil."
"Yeah, this don' look so good," Clay added.
"But he is still alive. Just trapped."
"Yeah, he's trapped alright…" Rai folded his arms.
"Watch this trick," the demon laughed, "Now you see it," it pushed the dagger down its throat, "Now you don't. See? Cool huh? Anyway, I'm off to take over the world," it laughed, "I'll be back to kill the rest of you freaks later."
The demon was about to leave when a sharp pain shot through its middle. It looked down to find the white blade sticking out of its gut.
"Shit," it gasped.
The blade had not only penetrated its flesh, but its armor as well.
"Ah," it tried to force the blade back in, but instead, it sliced through its hands.
A terrible roar filled the chamber.
"No," it screeched, "I won't let you go…"
The blade ran down its abdomen.
It looked to Dashi in terror.
"Consider yourself vanquished," the ancient spirit laughed.
"No… NO! AHHH!"
The demon dematerialized before the onlookers' eyes. It melted away to nothing until all that was left, was Jack's body on the floor.
"Congratulations, Dragon of Shadows, you've vanquished your evil," Dashi smiled.
"Ugh," Jack struggled to his feet, "it hurts so much…"
Jack was covered in a pure white robe that was cinched in the middle with a black sash that hung down his leg.
"What's this?" he tugged at the robe.
"It's part of rebirth. It's one of the many reflections of Ying and Yang," Dashi explained, "That is your uniform here at the temple. Instead of the standard, you will wear this."
Jack smiled, "That's nice, but what's the point?"
He could feel the disappointment from the others at his lack of respect for the Grandmaster.
"The point? Jack, listen, here's the deal. You left off as a Wudai Warrior, no?"
"Yeah…"
"And a Wudai Warrior is required to go on a Wudai Quest. Do you think this lesson should count as your quest?"
Jack chuckled, "It would be nice, but Wudai is the end of the road for me…"
"Is that so? Well, I am the Grandmaster Dashi and as I recall, I created this temple and its rules. So how 'bout it? Wanna be a Master?"
"Wait, what? So wait, you can just give out ranks?"
"you've earned it. But you're training is not over yet. Master is not the end. I will tell you this Jack, the line must be drawn somewhere. I will not permit you to ever reach the stage of Grandmaster. I'm afraid I must let that remain a sacred aspect of the Chosen Ones. However, you can still become a Master Monk. I think you can do it. It'll take years, but I'm sure you can handle it, the others'll help you. Right guys?" Dashi looked to the four Xiaolin Dragons; they all nodded, "Jack, this is a sanctuary, a place of learning. You have learned much thus far, but there is still so much more out there. You'll do fine," Dashi put a ghostly hand on Jack's shoulder, "I have faith in you, Dragon of Shadows."
Jack looked up at Dashi with a smile on his lips and tears in his eyes.
"Thanks," he murmured.
"And what about you, Chase?"
"Hm?"
"Wanna be good again?"
Chase glared at the spirit of his old comrade, "Please, Dashi," he said sarcastically.
"Seriously though, I know you've considered it."
Chase's eyes bulged, "Not in front of the monks, if you don't mind."
"It's okay, Chase. You're evil, no doubt about that, but you wouldn't be human if you didn't have some good in you too," Dashi smiled.
Chase growled.
"If you change your mind, Master Monk Chase Young, you know where to find me," Dashi looked to Jack once more, "Evil will always exist. As a Dragon of the Xiaolin Temple, it is your duty to stop it. Good luck, Jack Spicer. The same to the rest of you: Good luck. Not you, Chase," Chase snarled, "Looks like my work here is done, later."
With a smile, the spirit of Grandmaster Dashi pinched its nose and shrank back into the cauldron. Jack scrambled to look in, but found nothing more than smoldering embers.
"I'm out of here," Chase announced.
"Oooookay, Master Monk Chase Young," Omi mocked.
Chase hissed as he vanished from the temple.
The dragons assembled around Jack.
"It's good to have you back," Kimiko smiled as she patter him on the back.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, now we'll have less chores," Kimiko glared at him, "What? With a fifth person, we'll all have to do less," Kimiko still glared, "It's a good thing!" Kimiko shook her head and looked away.
"Welcome back, Jack," Clay thumped him on the back
"I too am most excited that you have returned to us, Jack Spicer," Omi grinned.
"Yeah, I'm happy to be back too. Things feel right now," he smiled.
"Alright, young monks," Master Fung approached them, "Now that the morning's festivities have concluded, there is much training to be done…"
"Oh man!" Rai moaned, "Come on!"
"Raimundo…" Master Fung sighed.
"Yeah, come on Master Fung! We should get today off!" Kimiko chirped.
"Kimiko…"
"We should be allowed to celebrate Jack's goodness," Clay added.
"Clay…"
"Dojo?" Omi called.
"Yeah? What?" the dragon slithered before him.
"To the beach! We must celebrate this day that Ying and Yang have been balanced!""
Dojo looked back at Master Fung who was pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Fine, but you must work tomorrow," Master Fung announced.
"No problem," Rai smirked.
"Sure thing, Master Fung," Kimiko chuckled.
"You got it, Master Fung," Clay nodded.
"Oh yes, we will work most efficiently tomorrow," Omi proclaimed.
"Yeah, thanks," Jack smiled.
With that, Dojo took off with the five Xiaolin Dragons on his back: The Dragon of Wind, the Dragon of Fire, the Dragon of Water, the Dragon of Earth, and the Dragon of Shadows.