A Little Learning

Emily opened her eyes and looked around. Already she could see that she was nowhere in Domino City. This meant that she and Max were in another world. The question is, which world? Emily also noticed that her clothes had changed once again. Her white dress had long sleeves and her shoes were low-heeled and closed-toed. Another concern was that Max was no longer present. As concerned as Emily was about what was going on and where she was, she knew she wasn't going to get any answers by just standing around.

She eventually came to a temple and figured if she stopped inside, she could get some answers. Inside, she met four other young children. One was Raimundo, a Brazilian boy with brown hair and green eyes. Another was Kimiko, a techie sort of girl with many fashions who originated from Tokyo. Next was Clay, a blonde haired blue-eyed cowboy from Texas, and Omi, who lived in the temple all his life learning the many ways of martial arts.

Their teacher, Master Fung, took notice of Emily's presence. "Welcome, my dear. You are just in time," he greeted.

Emily didn't know what this was about, but she invited herself to join the others. "What am I in time for?"

"You are going to become a student here," Master Fung explained.

Omi eagerly welcomed her and the others. "Yes, welcome to you and the rest of the strangely attired ones."

Master Fung decided to take his leave. "I must be going, young ones. I can see there is much teaching to be done here."

Apparently, Omi was under the impression that he would be teaching his fellow classmates. He lead them into the courtyard and was walking with his fingers. Emily wondered how he could hold his weight on his fingers without injuring himself. Even Clay wondered the same thing. Raimundo didn't seem to care. Kimiko was too occupied with her techs such as talking to her friends over the phone and accessing her email account.

This time, Omi was curious and wondered what Kimiko was doing. Irritated, she explained that she was messaging her friends that she met a boy who was annoying and had no knowledge of personal space issues. Omi had no idea she was referring to him. Nonetheless, he decided it was time to proceed. He began demonstrating his martial arts techniques, but Clay rounded him up with his lasso.

Omi was becoming fed up with this. "I am the teacher! You are the students! You will give me the respect I deserve!"

Raimundo got an amusing idea. "Respect this." He approached Omi and pulled down his pants, exposing his underwear. Kimiko laughed and told her friend what happened over the phone. Emily placed her hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh at the embarrassment.

Far away on another part of the country, Max found herself standing in front of a fancy house. Without much courtesy, she invited herself inside. The house seemed empty, but she heard a noise coming from the basement. Downstairs, she saw a young man with red hair, dark clothes, and yellow goggles with red swirls. "I want to rule the whole world," he announced to himself. "Not just some of it, not just Iceland or Fiji, the whole world!"

One of his robots presented him with a package. It was a puzzle box and inside was a strange figure. The boy, Jack, thought it was a petty mask, but he was wrong. As he tossed the puzzle box aside, the mask came to life as a ghostly figure. She appeared before Jack, horrifying him. He ordered his robots, the Jack-bots, to attack, but their missiles and bullets went through the ghost.

Her name was Wuya. And as she heard Jack's rant for wanting to rule the world, she got an idea. "Plans for world conquest? My dear boy, we have much in common. What's your name?"

Jack introduced himself. "I'm Jack Spicer. Who are you? What are you?!"

"I'm your new best friend," Wuya answered. And she began offering Jack a proposal.

After calming down and trying his best to take in her explanations, Jack began trying to make sense of everything. Being a spirit, Wuya had no physical form. So she needed an ally. Rather, a servant. She explained that to achieve world domination, Wuya and her comrade had to acquire sacred treasures known as Shen-Gong-Wu.

Keeping to the shadows, Max grinned and thought to herself, Interesting. Very interesting. She made herself known and said out loud, "Hello."

Jack gasped of fright. "How'd you get in here?"

"I just found myself standing in front of a house and invited myself inside," she answered. "Pardon me for being intrusive, but I couldn't help but overhear your goal of wanting to rule the world. In that case, you and your new friend here are going to need help."

Jack scoffed. "Why would I, Jack Spicer, evil boy genius, need help from a girl I just met?"

Wuya noticed the Cobalt Star shards hanging from Max's neck. "I see you are a servant to the Dark Lord. I can also sense you have knowledge of the Shen-Gong-Wu."

Max did know. In ancient times, they were simply known as treasures people thought to contain the powers of the Gods all over the world. These objects existed during the age of the Shadow Games and Max had seen them in the memories of the spirit who once controlled her. So she was aware of their powers. "With my expertise, I can prove to be a useful ally."

Jack was finally convinced and agreed to welcome Max as a friend.

Apparently, Wuya's awakening was sensed by Master Fung and his fellow monks. He explained the situation to his new students and told them to find the Shen-Gong-Wu before Wuya. If she were to acquire these treasures, the world would be plunged into a thousand years of darkness.

As Emily listened to Master Fung, she wondered if this was her mission in this world; to prevent the Shen-Gong-Wu from falling into the wrong hands. She also wondered if Wuya had the Cobalt Star shard of this world.

In the temple was a scroll that contained records of every known Shen-Gong-Wu in existence. One was revealed to be the Mantis Flip Coin. This treasure allowed its wielder to use its power to flip at great distances.

"Our grand quest begins," said Omi eagerly. "Follow me to victory!" And he began running. A second later, he returned to the room. "I have no idea where I'm going."

"How can we find these treasures if we don't know where to look for them?" Emily asked.

The answer was in front of them. Dojo, a green dragon, had the power to sense Shen-Gong-Wu. He even helped hide them in secret locations many centuries ago and that was another key in how he knew how to find them.

Raimundo didn't take him seriously. "Like we're gonna take direction from a gecko."

Offended, Dojo altered his size, growing forty feet in length and seven feet tall. "Don't ever call me a gecko!" he barked. He ordered everyone to climb aboard and began taking the young monks to the location of the Mantis Flip Coin. Apparently, Emily couldn't use her wings in this world, so she climbed on Dojo's back. While riding, Kimiko was teaching Omi how to play one of her games. Emily was too shy to speak to Raimundo and Clay. She didn't warm up to boys quickly or easily. But that would have to change if she was going to be working with them to save this world from evil.

Raimundo, being the sneaky prankster he was, tormented Omi once again by turning off the game. Omi began to mourn for the game hero, thinking he was lost to the darkness. Emily grunted and slapped Raimundo. "Learn some manners," she scolded.

Raimundo rubbed his cheek. "Girl, you hit hard," he complained.

Kimiko turned the game back on, assuring Omi that it was all okay. Delighted, Omi knew he was going to like technology. With a little learning, of course.

The group came to Chinatown in San Francisco. The Flip Coin was hidden in this city. But the young monks weren't the only ones looking for it. "Bow before me, citizens of Earth! I now rule you with the Mantis Flip Coin!" And a young boy flipped down before them. It was Jack Spicer and next to him was Wuya and Max. She reminded Jack that he had only one Shen-Gong-Wu and there were dozens more to collect. The more they would acquire, the sooner their plans of supreme conquest would be fulfilled.

Emily couldn't believe that Max was in league with the enemy. But she was also concerned. She sensed the Cobalt Star shards her friend carried, but she didn't sense one from Wuya or Jack. Why would Max join forces with these guys? Max smiled and winked at Emily, letting her know she could trust her. Emily didn't always understand, but she trusted her friend.

Omi tries asking Jack politely to hand over the Mantis Flip Coin, but Jack refuses. He summons his Jack-bots to attack the monks. Emily growled. It would be easier to fight with her magic, but she couldn't use it in this world. But she still had her acrobatic skills, and they managed to help her dismantle the robots. The others helped out too with their own fighting skills. But it was all just a decoy to buy Jack time to escape on his custom-made heli-pack. Max escaped with him riding on the robots.

Omi blamed his comrades for Jack's escape. "Because of you four, we lost our first Shen-Gong-Wu!"

Raimundo still didn't appreciate the reality of the situation. "It was a coin."

"It wasn't just a coin," Emily argued. "It has powers. And it's not the only one we have to worry about. If our enemies gather more Shen-Gong-Wu, they'll become unstoppable." She approaches Omi and apologizes. "We'll do better next time," she promised.

That time was now. Dojo was sensing another Shen-Gong-Wu. This time, it was the Two-Ton Tunic. Jack was the first to find it, but Clay and Raimundo ran him down and swiped it from him. Omi wanted to demonstrate the power of the Tunic, but it turned into a heavy armor that destroyed the dock everyone was standing on, causing them to fall in the river.

The monks didn't care about the disappointment their success resulted in. The next Shen-Gong-Wu was revealed to be the Eye of Dashi, a pendant that unleashed powerful lightning. It was revealed in a mountainous area. To their delight, it was in a tree. Omi, hasty as ever, raced to claim it. At the same time, Jack appeared and was ready to take it too. Their struggle for the Shen-Gong-Wu meant one thing: a Xiaolin Showdown.

The challenge was to cross the stone path to the end. The first to reach the finish line would win not only the Eye of Dashi, but also the Shen-Gong-Wu wagered in the match. Jack took Wuya's advice and accepted the challenge. The arena was set and the stone path was made up of pillars. Jack was scared at first, but he used the Mantis Flip Coin to flip his way across the path. Omi tried to use the power of the Two-Ton Tunic, but it didn't work in his favor. The extra weight made it hard to move around.

Jack never liked to play fair. He summoned his robots and commanded them to remove Omi from the path. Omi saw them coming, but he learned a lesson Clay taught him the last time they fought the robots. It's not your weight. It's how you throw it around. Omi was able to take advantage of the Two-Ton Tunic's effect and use it to his benefit after all.

Omi managed to catch up to Jack, but the so-called boy genius laughed. "Now that I've defeated you, perhaps you'll respect the genius of Jack Spicer!"

But Omi remembered Raimundo's prank and decided to humiliate Jack in the same way. "Respect this." He pulled down his pants, revealing pink boxer shorts with smiling faces. The spectators laughed at the humiliation. Embarrassed and off guard, Jack let Omi take the lead and covet the Eye of Dashi. The Showdown was over.

After a great achievement, the monks returned to the Xiaolin Temple. Master Fung congratulated them for their victory and donned them with red robes and black sashes. "You have all done exceptionally well," he said proudly. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. There are so many Shen-Gong-Wu to be found, but you will all do well to teach and learn from one another. For you see, one day, you will all become Dragon Warriors." And so it was that today, their titles would be known. Kimiko was the Dragon of fire, Omi was the Dragon of water, Clay was the Dragon of earth, Raymundo was the Dragon of wind, and Emily was the Dragon of light.