The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
In today's training lesson, the monks were permitted to use the Shen-Gong-Wu they managed to collect. They were going to enhance their tiger instincts; a method known for anticipating your enemy's moves and being prepared to evade or counter them. In simpler terms, knowing what will happen before it will happen and being prepared to face it.
Omi and Clay were the first combatants. They bowed before each other and took their places. Clay chose the Eye of Dashi and unleashed an electric attack. Omi dodged it using his monkey reflexes and agility from the Monkey Staff. The electric surge struck in many different directions, even through Clay's ten-gallon hat.
Omi advanced to the next round with Kimiko as his next opponent. Kimiko used the Third Arm Sash to try and strike Omi from afar, but he evaded her using the power of the Mantis Flip Coin. Kimiko accidentally struck Raimundo, pushing him into the pond.
Raimundo thought he would have a chance against Omi with his street-wise skills. He chose the Fist of Tebigong, but Omi defended himself using the Two-Ton Tunic. Raimundo thought that this was unfair and wanted another chance. "I want to try again!"
It was Emily's turn, but knowing Raimundo, she decided to let him have his way. "By all means."
Raimundo chose the Tangle Web Comb, but Omi stood still, calm and collected. Sensing Raimundo's anger, the power of the Comb turned on him and ensnared him. Omi knew his rage would do him in.
Emily helped Raimundo by dispelling the effect of the Tangle Web Comb. "I think that's enough for this session."
"Maybe I'm missing the point of this," Raimundo was saying. "We're never gonna go against each other and Jack and Max only have one Shen-Gong-Wu."
Emily nodded. "Jack may be dimwitted, but Max is a more formidable foe. Against her, we have to be ready for anything."
It was true that Max and Jack had less Shen-Gong-Wu than their enemies, but they had other resourses. Jack was working on modifying a robot from the inside. He was small enough to do it thanks to the power of the Changing Chopsticks.
Max was occupied with her own pasttimes, but she was having a hard time concentrating while Jack was working. Having had enough, she shouted, "Hey, Jack, turn off that racket! Can't you see I'm trying to read?"
Jack used the Changing Chopsticks to return to his original size. "Max, you got no taste when it comes to music. This is my theme music. I'm programming it to play whenever I do something evil."
"It's noise," Max argued. Wuya agreed.
Jack turned it down anyway. "You girls just don't recognize evil genius."
"If you were a genius, you wouldn't need my help to stand against the monks," Max reminded him.
"You haven't really helped out much, you know," Jack countered. He began demonstrating his new robot. It had the programming to take on the shape of anyone Jack had installed in its programming. Jack thought it was clever, but the next figure it took the shape on was his favorite: Kimiko.
Wuya began to see the brilliance of Jack's scientific invention. With this Kimiko copy taking the place of the real Kimiko, the Chameleo-bot could acquire many Shen-Gong-Wu for Jack, Max, and Wuya.
Back in the Xiaolin Temple, Omi and Kimiko were looking at the pictures they took together on her PDA. It was fun until Kimiko detected a virus installed by Raimundo. Suddenly, she got an email from an anonymous sender claiming to be a secret admirer asking to meet. Kimiko thought it was another prank set up by Raimundo and went to the meditation temple looking for him.
But it wasn't Raimundo at all. It was Jack Spicer. Kimiko wasn't in the mood to fight, but she warned him she wouldn't go easy on him. But Jack wasn't going to fight her. The Chameleo-bot was going to fight on his behalf as a Kimiko doppelganger. The robot's metal was hard to break. Kimiko was exhausted from fighting; she collapsed after one attack. Max picked her up and carried her away.
The next day, Clay was helping Omi train with some lasso tricks. It was a great way for him to increase his agility, timing, and balance.
Raimundo still didn't believe that Omi had tiger instincts, so he decided to play a petty game. He placed three cups face down on the table. One of them concealed a piece of candy. If Omi could guess correctly which cup the candy was under, he could keep it. But if he guessed wrong, he had to give Raimundo candy. The Brazillian shuffled the cups. Omi chose the cup on his right, which was correct. Raimundo put another piece of candy under the cups and shuffled them again. Omi chose the cup on his left. He was right again. Raimundo tried one more time. This time, it was the cup in the middle. Raimundo decided to call it quits for now.
The Chameleo-bot, still disguised as Kimiko, unbeknownst to Emily and the boys, eagerly greeted them. The robot, speaking with Kimiko's voice, wanted to gather Shen-Gong-Wu and start training. Emily reminded 'Kimiko' that when the monks could use Shen-Gong-Wu was for the master do decide. 'Kimiko' agreed and left, saying it wasn't a big deal. Something about their friend seemed odd to the monks and they were going to find out what it was.
Back in the basement of the Spicer residence, Jack was looking through the Chameleo-bot's eyes through his surveillance system.
The real Kimiko was imprisoned in an electric bird cage. "You're wasting your time," she told Jack. "Only Master Fung can open the vault."
"Surely you must be impressed with me," Jack was saying. "As perfect as the Chameleo-bot may seem, I'd rather have the real you around every day."
Max scoffed. "Evil and creepy. I guess that's one thing that suits you."
Wuya called for their attention, saying that a new Shen-Gong-Wu had revealed itself. This time, it was the Helmet of Jong.
"Enjoy getting you bot kicked," Kimiko told Jack as he was about to leave.
"Never happenin', not with robo-you on my side," Jack told her. "And don't bother sending a message to your friends. No transmission can escape the force field around my evil lair."
"Just gonna play a game," Kimiko lied. "Maybe update my address book." Jack finally left, but Kimiko noticed that Max was still around. "Aren't you going to bail that loser out like you always do?"
"I know what you're trying to do," Max told her. "It's not worth the trouble. I can break you out of here."
Kimiko didn't understand why Max was siding with Jack since she didn't seem to like him so much either. But Kimiko still didn't think she could trust Max. She began working to free herself. Max scoffed and decided to let her have her way. She left and hurried to catch up with Jack and Wuya.
The Helmet of Jong was resting on the head of an old statue in an abandoned shack. Jack made his entrance, but he couldn't let his enemies know that one among them was his friend. So he spoke to the Chameleo-bot as he would speak to the real Kimiko. They both touched the Helmet of Jong, only to call for a Xiaolin Showdown. Jack wagered his Changing Chopsticks against the robot's Third Arm Sash.
They had to keep the spectators convinced that they were enemies racing to get the Shen-Gong-Wu first, so Jack cautiously commanded the Chameleo-bot to attack. They continued jumping from statue to statue. Just when it looked like the Chameleo-bot was about to win, the robot pushed itself away, trying to make the others think it slipped and fell. Omi and Emily weren't buying this charade. They knew Kimiko wouldn't allow herself to fall into defeat that easily.
That night when everyone returned to the temple, Raimundo continued to test Omi with playing cards. The Brazillian would shuffle the cards and Omi had to guess which of them was the ace of hearts. In the first two rounds, the card was revealed on the table. In the last round, Omi saw that Raimundo hid the card in his sleeve.
"Has anyone else noticed that Kimiko hasn't been acting like herself lately?" Emily wondered out loud.
Omi did. "Yes, I do not think that the one who calls herself Kimiko is really Kimiko." So they decided to go and take a look around and find out what was going on. They saw 'Kimiko' and followed with stealth. But the Chameleo-bot knew it was being followed, so it walked back into the shrine.
Omi thought he cornered Kimiko at the meditation temple, but it turned out to be Master Fung. Omi apologized for disturbing his master and explained how concerned he was about his doubts about Kimiko, but his master told him to retire to rest. Omi left to do as he was told, but as he was on his way to his chamber, he saw Master Fung having tea.
What Omi thought to be Master Fung in the temple turned out to be the Chameleo-bot. Emily saw the robot transform and was making its way below the shrine to steal the Shen-Gong-Wu. She had to alert the others.
Looking through the eyes of his robot, Jack saw that they had hit the mother lode. He hurried to go to the Xiaolin Temple and gather the Shen-Gong-Wu. Max decided that Kimiko had wasted enough time and set her free. "You need my help," she said honestly. "I can take you back there before Jack and Wuya make it."
"Why should I trust you?" Kimiko asked angrily.
"There is more to me," Max told her. "I'm sure Emily tells you that all the time. She knows me better than you do. And if you can trust her, then you can trust me too." And she forced a kind smile. Kimiko decided to accept Max's help this once.
Just as the Chameleo-bot was about to leave the shrine, the monks came to put a stop to it. The robot extended its arm to trip up Raimundo and Clay, but Omi and Emily dodged and counter attacked.
While the Chameleo-bot was keeping them busy, Jack used the Changing Chopsticks to make himself scarce and finish the job by stealing all the Shen-Gong-Wu.
The Chameleo-bot used the Eye of Dashi to send sparks flying all over the temple. Clay's new hat got zapped, making him mad. He and Raimundo joined the fight and took the Shen-Gong-Wu from the robot's hands. The monks thought they were putting them back where they belonged, unaware that they were giving them to Jack.
Just when it looked like the Chameleo-bot was going to win, Max and the real Kimiko charged in to the rescue by riding on one of Jack's jets. The crash didn't destroy the robot, but now it was Kimiko versus Kimiko. But it was hard to tell which was their friend and which was their foe. Omi decided to take his chances and attack. To his surprise, he attacked the robot. But he confessed he wasn't relying on his instincts alone. This time, he guessed which was the enemy.
There was no time to celebrate though. As the monks inspected the shrine, they noticed that all the Shen-Gong-Wu was stolen. Nothing remained except the Mantis Flip Coin. Everyone knew that Jack was responsible for this. The boys also wanted to blame Max, but Emily begged her friends to be reasonable. She was with Kimiko the whole time they were fighting the robot. Kimiko agreed and said Max couldn't have had any part of this. But regarding Max, with her being who she is, can she be trusted or can't she? Right now, that was the least of their concerns. They had to recover the Shen-Gong-Wu they lost, but they didn't know how or at what cost.