Ah, the old stand-by returns yet again. It goes for a nap or two every so often, but it always comes back. Gotta love a passion project.
Shame a lot of that passion got stymied by the fact I had to find my old notes about possible shit I had planned and my literally dreaming about writing this and more chapters in full, only to wake up and find out none of it happened. It's weird, but that's life.
Speaking of which, on with the competition!
Bold Beginnings Part 6
Jack wanted to feel nervous, had every reason to be such, but all he felt was a small spark of determination burning in his chest, and a feeling of his body moving forward.
The latter was because he had already started skating, which was mildly surprising. Not because it was something he had never done before, far from it, but because of how...normal it felt. Yeah, there were massive figures covering the skyline, and a literal magical item on the line, but those were easy to ignore in the moment for some reason. It just felt, easy, to go out onto this flat stretch of ice going in every direction, and just start moving and grooving.
It seemed Ki had a similar idea going for her too, following just behind him, if slightly less steady.
Then Jack stopped paying attention to her, and simply enjoyed the familiar motions and cold. Set to pirouette and low rides, spins and twirls leaving spirals in his wake and tip taps on blades sent small marks into the ice as he changed directions.
After what seemed like both hours and far too few minutes, he looked behind himself with a small grin of satisfaction, at the large Jack-bot figure he had sketched into the ice through his wake. It was a trick he was so proud to make when he was a kid, and even after having to shake off some rust, the movements had been all but ingrained into his body.
Then he looked over at Ki and lost his breath to something else other than exhaustion.
The girl was barely touching the ice, only coming down now and again to gain momentum before twirling and flipping through the air in graceful arcs and strides, made all the more otherworldly by the streams of sparks and embers she left in her wake. It reflected off the icy mirror and made shadows dance against her fleeting form in a way that Jack would remember for a lot of reasons.
But...it wasn't really skating. Sure, she was on the ice, but barely so. If anything, it was fancy gymnastics that happened to be happening on ice. Still incredibly impressive, but not what was happening.
Just as the thought came to mind, it seemed to for the Judges as well, suddenly filling the air with their presences again.
The beings stared them down, the lights that acted as their eyes shining a myriad of colors as they glanced between the two of them. After minutes of this, the three nodded in unison, and looked towards Jack.
Then things went weird again as they fired lasers from their eyes that combined together into the Third-Arm Sash, which seemed to give a little wave as it fell into Jack's startled hands.
The second it touched skin, the world disappeared as quickly as it came, like mist gone in the blink of an eye, or something else equally mystical sounding.
Everyone was left staring semi-shocked at how quickly things had de-escalated, except for Dojo who was now sitting comfortably curled up on what you think was Omi's massive head.
"Nice job kid, that was a fine display of ability." Dojo congratulated the boy genius, making everyone remember he was there.
"Wah, I thought there was some massive guilt trip for losing the Showdown? Isn't this, like, embarrassing?" Ki voiced the thoughts Jack himself had been wondering, outside of the sudden euphoria of victory he was feeling.
Dojo shifted a bit, tiny arms moving in a shrug.
"Eh, if this was a more serious Wu like the Eye of Dashi or Sapphire Dragon, there'd definitely be a lot more pressure, no matter how you cut it. But this is also all your first Showdown's, the Third-Arm isn't that bad at all in the means of things, and the kid doesn't seem like the type who'll blab to the world anything he shouldn't. Isn't that right?" He explained as he rose his three fingers in time with his points, before shooting Jack a look that reminded him that, regardless of the size, this was definitely a dragon.
"Ah, yes, I mean no, I ah...I'm just gonna stand here for a minute and hope you exposit something else useful but possibly world-altering." Jack stammered slightly as he took a step backwards, sash clenched in his hands.
Dojo nodded.
"So we're good on the worst of the issues. These things happen, and it's part of learning. Every failure is a something something, I don't know, I'm not nearly as good at remembering moral-based metaphors as Master Fung." The lizard rolled his hand as he spoke, completely nonchalant, until he stopped the hand into a small talon pointed at Jack.
"You even get your wish before we head out. Now that you got your hands on one of the Wu, more'll find you. Whether it's cause you know what to look for now, or cause other's'll come after you now. Just...be careful." Dojo explained with an almost soft look in his eyes, before he turned his body around and began pulling Omi head-first.
"Alright, we out! Things to do, future losses to prevent, move it people, I refuse to fly after dark in this country!" The lizard huffed as the group, looking more contemplative and annoyed at the cajoling, shot you an apologetic look as they retreated into the same hole they came through, the Texan even picking up the steel wall they had knocked down and putting it back into its place, where it precariously stood.
The Lab was silent, the only sound from his Jackbots moving from their hiding places to see if they're Master was alright, alongside resecuring the wall.
Jack...sat down in a chair that was wheeled over to him. Well, collapsed was more accurate, but it was a lesser concern at the moment, as he stared at the ceiling and considered his life.
Magic was real, Monks continued to be a broken class even in reality, and by winning he might have just consigned himself to a life of danger and continued mystical hijinks.
He started shaking, though not for the reasons he was initially expecting.
He couldn't hold back the massive grin growing on his face.
This...was everything he'd ever wanted, ever DREAMED of. Action, adventure, chance and reason to travel the world and broaden horizons, testing his and his creations abilities, items probably worthy of legend straight for the taking, just waiting to be his...
It was maddening that he was just now learning of this, exhilarating the possibilities before him, and he felt like he was about to have a heart attack if he didn't do something with this new reason to live.
Jack jumped from his chair, uncaring that it was sent spinning off into a corner. For the first time in years, Jack was a lesser force in the equation, which meant he had to level the field.
Luckily for him, Quantity was always a quality of its own, when it comes to robots. Within minutes, he was arms deep into a another Bot-builder, something he never truly needed beyond once in a blue moon when a Jackbot took on more duties than it could handle or started to go a little weird, but if they were going to be effective for anything, Jack saw no reason why more SHOULDN'T be made.
With the fervor of a man with a mission, the build-bay was finished within the night, new Bots being formed from the funneled materials to be fit with chips and selected purpose software upon being needed, all of which Jack looked over satisfied as he stroked the Third-Arm Sash the same way one would a cat.
Then he realized what he was holding, and stopped, and really got a look at it.
The name seemed a bit obvious, but...
Jack hesitantly put on the garment, the color clashing completely with his all black ensemble, and he stood there for a good few minutes trying to will the limp extra piece of material to move.
"Uh...alakazam? Open Sesame? By our powers combined? Activate! Crap, I should have asked how to actually USE this stupid Third-Arm Sash-!" As the last words were spoken, the sash temporarily lit up in an amber glow, as Jack felt a small tugging sensation from the bottom of his gut. The feeling was immediately forgotten though, in favor of focusing on the cloth that was moving back and forth in swaying motions, as if stretching out after falling asleep.
Jack stared at it for a moment, then thought about it moving right. It did. Left, up, down, fist to the side, grab that mug, all of this was done with the same ease he'd use his regular arm, if with the last one if they were three feet longer.
The grin was back.
This...was awesome! Sure, Jack could have probably made something similar with enough time and effort, but he both didn't have quite the right biological understanding to make something this seamless, that, or feel a need to get sued by Marvel.
The name said it all, and it didn't disappoint. It was really like he had three arms at the moment.
Jack wondered if this would increase his typing speed by 33%, or if he'd finally live the dream of playing a competitive game while simultaneous chugging energy drinks. Both things to rigorously test in the coming time.
But that was then, right now was time to dedicate towards the puzzle box his Uncle had mailed to him. He said it had some kind of 'heavy, mystical presence' to it, like he did with most of the gifts he sent you, but with the sudden reveal of 'Magic being real', that just gave it a whole lot more reason to actually check it out.
In fact, now Jack also kind of regretted throwing out that lava lamp he got for his 12th birthday. Maybe it would have spewed actual lava?
In any case, the puzzle box in his hand.
The box itself was...oddly simple, but undoubtedly old.
It consisted of three different puzzles, each leading into each other. The first was a simple sliding puzzle, leading a pin through a maze that as simple enough to navigate, though it seemed to want to sway to the left more than straight. After it reached the 'end', the pin was pushed into the other side of the box, where is was pulled flat and revealed to be segmented, where it then could be raised or lowered like dials on a stereo into a certain pattern. This one took a bit of trial and error, before it was settled out in a pattern of 1 high, 2 low one mid 1 high, where the pieces all slid into the right to unlock the latch at the top.
The last puzzle was a strange circle set made of 6 individual 'petals' that he was supposed to rotate or match together along a circle to form a symmetrical end. This one took the longest, the pieces almost refusing to slide into place and the details so worn with age and lack of care, but Jack was persistent. The pieces were clicked into place, sliding across and over until he could just barely make out a completed spiral through the faded wood grains.
With a nervous gulp, for some reason feeling strangely drained, Jack spun the spiral all the way right, until he heard a soft click. He carefully lifted the two sides, slightly surprised he didn't see any kind of lock, and saw...
A simple Hanya mask, grinning up at him.
Jack let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, for some reason relieved even as he was mildly disappointing.
Then he heard a faint laughter echoing in his ears.
"Heh. Heheh. Heeeeehhhahahahahaha! Ahhhh, at last! I'm free! Free! Oh, the wonder, the sights! My...hmm. My form is not what it once was. No matter, a trifling matter." The Ghost cackled to itself as it rushed out of the box, mask held in the air by a purple cloud that held the shape of tendrils before leading into a darker smoke.
Jack was just trying to decide whether to throw away the now empty box or start screaming first.
The choice was sadly taken away from him as the Ghost locked its eyes to his own, red spirals staring directly into his own as it was suddenly directly in his face, freezing Jack in place before he could even try to flinch.
"This is thanks to you. Yess, I can see it in your eyes, feel it in your Chi. The thrill, the Want, the Desire for Conquest and Greatness. We will do Great, Terrible things together." The Ghost...promised?
Jack was suddenly much less excited about Magic being a thing, and much angrier at his Uncle for sending him what was obviously a Cursed box.
"Wh-what does THAT mean! Who are you!? A-are you going to haunt me?" Jack stuttered out, unwilling to let the Ghost out of his sight if he could help it.
The mask, which should have been static and unchangable, smiled with suddenly sharp teeth.
"It means EVERYTHING. I am the Great Witch Wuya, Heylin Grandmistress and in exchange for my freedom, I shall take you as my apprentice. Welcome to the Heylin side." Wuya cackled as if that explained anything.
Jack was not prepared for today.
END OF CHAPTER
I was originally trying to make an epically involved showdown, then I realized; Wait, these aren't very high stakes, there isn't actually much supernatural fuckery outside the scenery and judges, and this doesn't have to be a massive event. Like, this is the equivalent to winning a tutorial fight to explain the rules of combat. It tells you what to do for the real stuff later. So it gets a smaller section while the rest goes towards the aftermath, which has MUCH more lasting consequences.
As for the 13 misfits picture to you reading on SB, imagine Jack's smile closest to Leid's. I fucking love Iruma-Kun.
This is also one of the myriad chapters I'll be releasing for the holidays!
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year.