Author: loosedefense

Pairing: Jack Spicer/Raimundo Pedrosa

Disclaimer: Xiaolin Showdown is the property of Warner Brothers – or whatever they're called now – and this story implies nothing about the characters on the show. The situation in this story is made up by me, and is not intended for any sort of profit (but reviews will do :p)

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In the time they had spent together, Jack Spicer had grown to detest Chase Young.

This may not have sounded like much, as relationships between people were known to go sour all the time. But for those who knew Jack Spicer, no matter how vaguely, one thing would have been obvious from the start: he worshipped the ground Chase walked on. Or rather, he had.

It had been a number of things that had supplied his growing resentment for the ageless Heylin monk over the years: Chase's barely disguised apathy towards him, the way he made Jack feel as though he would never amount to anything other than a lackey who cost more than he was worth, the way he always bested any plan and any move Jack had up his sleeve as if it had hardly taken any effort; but it had been this last incident that broke the camel's back.

It had been yet another encounter with the Xiaolin monks and as usual Jack had faced the full force of all four of them and their newly-acquired Wudai weapons – and man, did it hurt. Hannibal Roy Bean, the newest villain to join the ranks, after having been imprisoned in the Yin-Yang world, had been off watching in the sidelines somewhere, no doubt bored by the show.

Wuya had been there too, but they paid her no mind. In her restored body, she was quite the formidable foe, but in true fashion, was often beaten one way or another; as far as the monks were concerned, Wuya paled in comparison to the devious Hannibal.

But it had been Chase who had stepped up next, and Jack had seen it: even with Hannibal and Wuya off by the sides, and Jack slumped on the ground with his head spinning, it had been Chase to take their breath away just by standing before them imperiously. They had not only hesitated – they had completely frozen, staring at him in awe.

Jack knew that Chase was an impressive being: had he been anything less, he probably wouldn't have gotten Jack's admiration and devotion. But with Hannibal now on the loose, a creature who had time and again been described as a far more dangerous villain than even Chase, the former Xiaolin monk was considered old news. Still, it hadn't been Hannibal who managed to inspire such fear in the Dragons.

What was it about Chase, Jack wondered. He was obviously a force to be reckoned with, but throughout the year Hannibal have proved himself to be more cunning, have better foresight – but he did not cause the monks to stand rigid with fear. Jack, if he had ever caused such a reaction, had lost it a long time ago.

It was for that very reason that he, Jack Spicer, had decided to swallow his pride and make his way to Chase's lair to ask him a favor.

The tigers, lions and whatever various felines Chase had acquired over his years stared at him as he passed, making absolutely no movements other than trailing him with their eyes. Jack gulped nervously, but pushed forward, finally reaching the place in which Chase sat bored on his throne, Wuya standing at the bottom. She bristled as he entered, but he made no acknowledgement aside from blinking once when Jack stood before him.

There was a long moment of silence in the room, broken with Chase finally asking him, "What is it that you want?"

"I – I came to ask a favor," Jack told him.

Chase did not shift, and Jack presumed that he was waiting for him to continue.

"Er …" he eyed Wuya, standing a little away from him with her hands on her hips. He didn't really want anyone around to hear what he had to ask, especially if he was going to be reduced to groveling like he had done so many times before.

Chase must have picked up on this, because without breaking eye-contact with Jack, he demanded, "Leave," to the witch.

Wuya sputtered. She wanted to hear what Jack was going to say. However, one look at Chase's face, still like marble, and she knew better than to disobey. Swearing under her breath, she stalked out of the room to wait outside with the cats.

Chase gave a barely noticeable nod of his head to tell Jack to continue.

Jack floundered, but finally got it out. "How do you make the monks so afraid of you?"

Chase raised an eyebrow lazily. "What?"

"I said," Jack's voice faltered, "how do you make the monks afraid of you?"

"I believe I am quite fearsome," Jack got the feeling that Chase knew exactly what he was alluding to, but was going to make him work for the answer.

He sighed. "Today when we were fighting for that Shen Gong Wu, Hannibal and Wuya were there, but those losers didn't pay them any attention. They just stopped and stared when you came up to them. You could feel their fear. It was almost like it could be touched, you know?" he paused. "How do you do it?"

Chase turned his head to his side, tired of having to look at Spicer. "There are many ways," he told him. "For one, the warriors know that I possess powers and control they could only dream of."

"Hannibal's powerful," Jack countered. "They aren't afraid of him nearly as much as they're afraid of you."

Chase said nothing.

Jack began to pace. "He's way more powerful than you. Just look how he managed to escape the Yin-Yang world. Those Xiaolin punks stopped caring so much about Wuya when you came along; by all means, you should be yesterday's news too now that Hannibal is here. But you're not."

"Hmm, yes," Chase breathed. "But Hannibal has never looked at them as anything more than sheep to be slaughtered."

Jack stopped pacing.

"The reason they fear me above all others is because they consider me deadlier than all others," Chase told him. "Wuya has never thought of them as anything more than annoyances protecting the Shen Gong Wu she so desires. Hannibal considers them as targets to deceive in order to gain his own means. I am all of that and beyond – and I­," he glared at Jack, "respect them enough to call them by their proper names rather than any derogatory terms a nine-year-old would come up with."

Jack's mouth formed an o, and Chase went on. "I stay true to my words, and am not above offering my services whenever I feel it is needed. I show an interest in them none of you have bothered with, and know them intimately in a way you do not. You see how I stroll into their defenses and let them know that my eyes shall always be kept on them – you cannot say the same for yourself; and that is why they fear me most, for I have followed them closely."

"So, what you're saying is …" the message was becoming clearer, but Jack felt that it was just out of his reach.

"Dig closer to the heart," Chase leaned forward, "and the viper you strike with shall be all the more poisonous."

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And so it was with that that Jack left Chase's lair, elated. He hadn't truly expected Chase to tell him anything, so the surprise had been his. Chase's words reverberated in his skull, and a plan that wasn't fully formed bounced about in his head.

For now, he bided his time, building more Jack-bots in the basement of his mansion and developing the plan in his head. He didn't get beyond the first few steps of it though before his wristwatch started the buzz again, indicating the activation of a new Shen Gong Wu.

Taking off in his craft, he wasn't surprised to see that he was once again the last one there. The location was the Amazon forest, and the four Xiaolin losers – 'Xiaolin warriors,' he corrected himself – were already racing against Wuya and Hannibal for the device, lying peacefully on the stump of a tree that recently been cut down. Hovering over them, Jack quickly pressed a button to open the trap door, jumping through the opening just in time to land his finger on the weapon with Raimundo.

"Jack Spicer, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Raimundo declared in his Brazilian accent.

"Name your game," Jack said. 'Nasal voice.'

"The game is 'Obstacle Course'," Raimundo decided. "First one to reach the Shen Gong Wu wins. My Lotus Twister against your Monkey Staff."

"Let's go!" Jack said, and they both cried, "Xiaolin Showdown!"

With those words, there was a great flash of light, and it seemed that the forest broke into pieces and reformed itself. Behind the two, a group of giant trees sprouted from the ground in a row, taller than even the oldest redwood. The Shen Gong Wu floated into the air as the tree stump elongated itself to join it until it rose almost as high as the trees that had formed behind it, which mirrored the ones behind the two competitors. Even more trees began to shoot up along the sides of the perimeter until they met those already formed, caging everyone inside until the showdown was over.

On the branches of the trees on either side of the rectangular ring in which the obstacle course was to take place in sat the spectators: Wuya, Chase, and Hannibal to the right; Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Dojo to the left.

From starting point to the end were various challenges Raimundo and Jack were meant to get through; the ground opened up in the middle revealing overtly large bear traps; towards the end, two gigantic logs tethered by vines swung side to side seemingly capable in knocking a person unconscious and down to the ground.

"Gong Yi Tampai!" Raimundo and Jack cried out.

Immediately, they examined their surroundings, and Jack, noticing vines hanging from the trees behind him, and extending all the way into the middle thanks to the large branches, shouted, "Monkey Staff!", activating the Wu. Fur sprouted from his body, as his face became more ape-like. A tail jutted out, and kicking off his shoes, he watched as his feet turned into that of a monkey's.

With his enhanced abilities, he took off, jumping up one branch to another to get to the vines at the top, pausing once he reached to pound his chest and let out a wail. Chase rolled his eyes and Wuya yelled out, "Stop that infernal racket, Jack, and get to the Shen Gong Wu!"

Raimundo, following his lead, activated his own Lotus Twister, granting him the abilities to twist his arms as though they were made of rubber around a branch and hopped up to where Jack was.

Jack, seeing this, took off, leaping off the end of the branch and using his tail to latch on to a vine, then arching his body so that he could grab on to the next one with one arm, the other still holding on to the Monkey Staff. Raimundo followed close behind him.

Taking a chance, Jack turned around and lashed his sharp teeth out as his competitor. "Whoa!" Raimundo yelped, narrowly avoiding being bitten, one of his legs reaching around Jack's form to wrap around the vine in front of him, and letting go of the one he was holding on to with his hand, allowed the rest of his body to join his leg, effectively placing him in the lead.

Wasting no time, Raimundo surged forward while Jack blinked in shock over what had happened. "Go Rai!" his teammates cheered him on.

"That one isn't the brightest bulb in the box, is he?" Hannibal commented in his thick Southern accent.

"Believe it or not, that was the best idea he's had in a while," Wuya sat back in her seat, arms crossed over her breasts.

With a little growl, Jack hurried to gain a lead over Raimundo again, who was already in the area where the vines tapered off midway over the pit of bear traps. The Wudai warrior paused briefly, wondering what to do, and Jack took this opportunity to lurch his feet out and push the boy off, causing him to fall by the unexpected attack. Wuya surprised even herself when she jumped to her feet with a whoop.

The Xiaolin warrior watched in horror as their comrade fell, but with a bit of quick thinking, Raimundo shot his arm out, extending it far enough to wrap around Jack's leg, causing the redhead to let out a "Hey!", and swung the remaining distance over the pit and reached out to hang off one of the giant logs as it swung. With a grunt, Raimundo heaved up to stand precariously on the swinging log, holding on to the tough vine for security as he eyed the next long, swinging to the alternate side.

"Two can play at that game," Jack said. Gripping the second-to-last vine with his tail, he methodologically gnawed at the last piece until one end hung free from the branches to become a swinging vine. Taking the free end, he pulled it and swung all the way, and grabbed on to the vine attached to the swinging log Raimundo had been holding previously with his feet.

Perching on the log, his mind screamed at him to move. Raimundo had already reached the second log and was very close to the stump bearing the Shen Gong Wu. Not wanting to waste time, he lunged – but sadly, he found, hadn't adequately prepared himself for the distance, falling too short to grab on to the second log. He fell, his body hurtling down to the ground at amazing speed, but sparing one last look up, he found the Brazilian boy leaping off the log and on to the stump. A moment later, and a moment not too soon, it was all over; Raimundo raised the Shen Gong Wu victoriously, effectively ending the Showdown, and Jack was spared the pain of his body hitting the ground from fifty feet above. In a flash, he was sitting down on the mud, but felt no pain. Raimundo stood next to him, a smug little grin adorning his face.

He spotted Wuya shaking her head and walking away, muttering about his incompetence, Hannibal bouncing off behind her. Chase lingered on momentarily; his face was cold, but the way he looked at Jack, although hardly any different from the way he typically looked at him, told the redheaded boy that he expected him to begin his plan now. Then, he turned around and left.

Jack got off the ground, mentally steadying himself for what he was about to do. It was going to be so out-of-character for him that he wouldn't have been surprised if those idiots burst out laughing.

"Congratulations," he said stiffly. He wondered if that was loud enough, because it sure as hell sounded soft to his ears. Apparently not, for the Wudai warriors halted in the middle of their celebrations.

"W – what?" Kimiko sounded stunned.

"You, Jack Spicer, are congratulating us upon our winnings?" Omi repeated, equally astounded.

Jack almost rolled his eyes right then, but caught himself in time. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, a sour look on his face that he couldn't wipe off. Clay scratched his head with his finger. 'Stupid Texan.'

Raimundo was covered behind Clay's huge frame, but Jack could see him peeking out looking surprised all the same.

"What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously.

Jack shrugged. "What, can't a guy congratulate his opponent on a job well done?"

"Uh, yeah," Kimiko replied. "A guy can – you can't."

Omi burst out laughing at that. "It is because you are a sore loser," he pointed, not realizing that it was hurtful to make an observation like that. He paused. "Or I wonder if it means that she is insinuating that you are not a man."

Kimiko smirked at him. Jack glowered.

"I reckon if Spicer's willin' to be gracious we should accept it," Clay said.

'Score one for the barely comprehensible hick,' Jack thought to himself.

"Uh, thanks," he heard Raimundo say. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

Talking amongst themselves as they clambered on to Dojo, now fifty feet long, the four warriors and the dragon left for the Xiaolin temple.

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"That was so not the best way it could have gone," Jack said to himself later that night. It had been an embarrassing ordeal, trying to show his courteous side. The monks hadn't laughed at him, but they might as well have. It was like reaching out to shake someone's hand and not receiving any response. His cheeks burned with embarrassment whenever he thought about it, and unfortunately for him, he couldn't stop replaying the scene in his head. So, he did the same thing he always did whenever he felt embarrassed: he worked.

And so, skipping the nap he usually took after fighting in a Showdown, he tinkered on in his lab until early into the next morning, before finally calling it a day and dragging his tired body into bed.

He woke up later, blinking his eyes sleepily as the sunlight filtered through his light curtains. After a few moments, he noticed the middle button on his wristwatch blinking red, something it had never done before. It only meant one thing.

Panicking, he clicked the button and heard the animated female tone say, "You have missed one Shen Gong Wu."

Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands.

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"Jack Spicer is acting most suspicious."

"I know what you mean, little buddy," Clay groaned, lifting his body up again. At the behest of Master Fung, all four warriors were doing their regular bout of sit-ups.

"Yeah," Kimiko panted, keeping up with the pace. "First there was that weird congratulation he gave us, and then today he didn't show up to pick up the new Shen Gong Wu at all."

"Well, all the better for Wuya to kick our ass again," Raimundo said bitterly. Without Jack to reach them first, the Heylin witch had easily trounced Clay in the Showdown and made off with the new weapon.

They continued on with their sit-ups without anymore conversation, but halted when they heard a familiar sound.

"Spicer!" Kimiko growled. The four of them maintained a defensive posture as the goth boy landed in front of them with his helipak.

"I heard you guys lost the Shen Gong Wu today," he said, not bothering with a greeting.

"And so you have come to gloat that we had our behinds placed in front of us!" Omi bared his teeth.

"He means 'got our butts handed to us'," Raimundo explained in an exasperated tone.

"Right," Jack nodded in understanding. "Well, no. I didn't. I … just came to check up on you."

"Check up on us?" Kimiko snorted. "What is with you?"

"I just thought, you know," Jack ran his hand through his hair, "we've known each other so long, I figured—" he mentally slapped himself. What the hell was he doing? This wasn't how Chase did it.

He straightened up, imagining what Chase would say in this position. "I merely came to offer my condolences," he said, the vision of the immortal in his mind. "All it takes is a little practice to get what you have been unable to so far." Yeah, this was pretty good. He started to really get into the role. "I could teach you things you have never known before."

The four warriors shared bewildered looks between them. Then they threw their heads back and let out long riotous laughter.

"You – you—" Kimiko gasped, hardly able to speak. "You could teach us?"

Omi was on his back on the ground pounding his little fists and heels into the grass as he laughed.

Raimundo was doubled over, hands on his knees to keep himself upright. "What would you show us, how to build robots to take our punches?" he teased.

Clay was holding his stomach, guffawing along with the rest of them, with Dojo hanging limply over his shoulder, banging his fist into the cowboy's body, almost sliding off due to his inability to restrain himself.

Jack blushed angrily. Okay, maybe he got a little too carried away. He made a mental note to avoid lines that only Chase would be able to deliver. Was trying to be intimidating worth all this? Like Omi, the others were almost on the floor now, their legs unable to support them as they continued to laugh.

Yes, Jack decided. If for nothing else, he needed to succeed at being more intimidating just to return to his previous status after this debacle.

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Author's Note: I originally intended for this to be a one-shot, but it was grew longer than I expected it to be. Still, I don't think it will be longer than three chapters or so. Jack/Rai slash to come later on. Please review.