Cat-tastrophe

Back at the Xiaolin Temple, the monks were taking turns demonstrating the power of the Golden Tiger Claws. Emily tried them out first. If they could transport the user anywhere, she wondered if they could take her back to the Secret Garden. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The Tiger Claws only transported the user to another location of this world, not another.

It was Kimiko's turn. She used the power of the Tiger Claws to transport herself to the nearby mountain. From where she could see the temple, her friends looked like ants. When Kimiko returned to the temple, Omi asked many questions such as where she went, how she enjoyed it, and if she brought back a souvenir. She liked the view, but she came home with nothing.

It was Clay's turn. He used the Golden Tiger Claws to go to a buffet he knew back home and he came back with a dish of a prime rib shaped like Texas. Raimundo used the Golden Tiger Claws to sneak up on Omi in many different directions.

Just when Omi was finally about to get his chance to use the Golden Tiger Claws, Dojo and Master Fung came and told the monks that a new Shen-Gong-Wu was revealed; the Changing Chopsticks. They weren't ordinary eating utensils. This treasure allowed the wielder to shrink to the size of a grain of rice with a simple use.

Wuya and her team were on Easter Island, where the Changing Chopsticks were hidden. Jack taunted Katnappe into using her tacticts to seek them out. He bragged that his robots were superior. But Katnappe had an arsenal of her own: kittens. But these aren't ordinary cute and cuddly kittens everybody loves. These kittens were trained to be violent and destructive fighters.

Katnappe found the Changing Chopsticks, but Omi stopped her and challenged her to a Xiaolin Showdown. This time, it was a game of tag. Omi pitted the Golden Tiger Claws against the Fist of Tebigong Jack let Katnappe use. The players were surrounded by statues, preventing easy access. But right when Omi announced the game to begin, Katnappe used the Fist of Tebigong against the ground at their feet. Omi lost his balance and his grip on the Golden Tiger Claws. Katnappe seized them and used them to tag Omi. And just like that, the game was over. It seemed like the fastest Xiaolin Showdown in history.

Wuya was pleased, but Max still was not impressed. She figured she could have finished it twice as fast. Wuya was confident Katnappe could make a very useful ally. Apparently, Katnappe had ideas of her own. Rather than work with a weirdo like Jack, a bossy witch like Wuya, and a stuck-up brat like Max, Katnappe stole the Tiger Claws and began doing everything she wanted, taking everything she wanted, with no rules and no one to stop her.

Omi wasn't upset that he lost the Xiaolin Showdown. He was mostly upset for losing the Golden Tiger Claws when he didn't even get a chance to use them. This called for another valuable piece of wisdom. There are no lessons learned in victory, but a thousand can be learned from defeat. Emily understood, but her friends didn't. So Master Fung made them a deal. If they can swipe the jade elephant from their master, the monks won't have to do chores for a week. But if they fail in their attempt, they have to get down on their knees and hand scrub the floor. The monks thought it was a piece of cake, but Master Fung knew all of his students' tactics and methods. Not to mention he had been teaching them what they already knew. Omi, Kimiko, and Raimundo tried using their martial arts tactics, but they were too predictable. Clay rounded up the elephant with his lasso, but Master Fung crushed it with a mallet, destroying it.

"This was a game we couldn't win," Emily said, making sense of the situation. "It's like one of those 'if-I-can't-have-it, no-one-can' situations."

"Correct, Emily," said Master Fung. "Your goal was to win while mine was not to lose."

"And it came out that way," said Emily. "But a wager is a wager. We lost and now we have to hold our end of the deal." She takes a bucket and scrubbing brush and begins cleaning the floor.

"Catches on quick, doesn't she?" Raimundo asked.

"Emily has been to many lands and learned many lessons," said Master Fung. "She has come to embrace the wisdom she has gained on her journeys. Now you must follow her and learn as she does." And so the other monks began joining her. They thought they could learn more lessons by taking advantage of the situation. Raimundo attached the brushes to his feet and used them like skates as he cleaned the floor. Kimiko took advantage of Omi's intelligence by putting mud on one of the tiles, telling him he missed a spot. As Emily saw them go about their ways, she saw how much her friends her reminded them of the friends she had back home. Perhaps things here woudn't be so bad. But she would get lonely somethimes thinking about them.

They cleaned the temple floors until daybreak. Their limbs were sore and they were sleepy. As Kimiko was looking on the internet, she saw a report of a dozen stores all around the county being robbed by a girl in a cat costume. They knew right away that the crook was Katnappe. Another alert was announced that she was at the world mall making her next robbery. They hurried there with Dojo's help.

The monks found Katnappe at the mall collecting packages and stolen merchandise. They tried to stop her, but she was too slick to catch thanks to the Golden Tiger Claws. Her genetically altered super kittens weren't making the job easier for them either. But Emily had the power to talk to animals and command them. When she told them to cease, they obeyed and calmed down.

Kimiko was crushed by the weight of the packages and Omi and Raimundo were tied up. On the outside, Clay looked like a rough cowboy, but on the inside, he was a gentleman who was taught not to be violent with girls. But his good manners meant a complete loss against Katnappe. She gathered her stolen goods and used the Golden Tiger Claws to get away.

Rather than think about the lessons they learned from failing, the monks wanted to think of a plan to stop Katnappe. They tried to think of ideas on where a Catwoman-wannabe would go. With all the common teenage girl desires of shopping for clothes, accessories, and merchandise out of the way, Kimiko thought she had an idea. There was a theme park called Catatonia Land. And since it was feline-themed, it seemed like the perfect place to find this cat burglar.

And Katnappe was there. She was stealing all the kids' goodies, cutting in front of them to go on rides, having the time of her life without a care in the world. When she finally got off the roller coaster, she saw the monks standing in front of her ready to fight.

Omi got an idea and decided to use Clay's manners as a weapon. He wouldn't hit a girl, but he would hug one. Katnappe didn't expect that. And being ensnared in Clay's embrace, she didn't have room to move her arms and activate the Golden Tiger Claws. This was Omi's chance to seize them. It seemed like everything was working out until Jack and Max came by.

Omi remembered the wisdom Emily shared. To make sure no one could have the Golden Tiger Claws, he sent them to a place where no one could go: to the Earth's core. With the Golden Tiger Claws gone, no one could use them; not got for good or for evil.

It wasn't a total loss. With all the new lessons everyone learned and gained on this adventure, it was reward enough for the monks. After all, you can't always get what you want; not even whenever you want. There's no accomplishment in that.