Divided, we Fall
Having only one Shen-Gong-Wu was no cause for depression or giving up. The monks were still able to attend to their favorite pasttimes as well as continue training. Raimundo was teaching Omi how to play soccer. After scoring a goal, Omi decided to play one of Kimiko's new video games. After getting past level one, he decided to take lasso lessons from Clay. After getting the hang of his lessons, he could get back to his practice duel with Emily.
Multitasking may seem convenient, but the truth is, it's not really all that practical. Omi was trying to do too many things at once, making it hard to keep up with his activities. In both hands, he had Kimiko's game and Clay's extra lasso while he was running to block the goal from Raimundo.
"It's best to do one thing at a time," Emily tells him, picking up her cards. "You have all the time in the world to do many different activities. I know it can be hard to choose, but there's no need to fret."
"But I want to master all of the recreational activities you have shown me," said Omi. "But then there is also combat practice and chores and-"
"And not enough hours in the day," Kimiko finished.
Dojo came by and alerted the monks that a new Shen-Gong-Wu had activated. It was the Ring of the Nine Dragons. This treasure allowed its wielder to divide itself in up to nine figures. The Ring was hidden in the middle of one of the Olmec Pyramids. The monks noticed that Jack's jet car was parked near one of them, meaning he and his partners were already here.
Inside the pyramid, it was dark and humid. Wuya was trying to guide her two subjects to the Ring of the Nine Dragons. She and Max fade fun of Jack for being afraid of the dark. Being a mistress in the powers of darkness, Max didn't have a problem with the dark. In fact, she could see in the dark thanks to her powers from the Cobalt Star shards around her neck. It was faint, but she could also sense the Millennium Star, meaning Emily and the others were here.
The monks came to a dead end. Dojo tried to recall what happened when he came here to hide the Ring of the Nine Dragons. His master, the Grand Master Dashi, pushed a stone in the wall in front of them, opening a trap door below their feet. At the bottom of the pit were sharp spikes. Omi looked around and found a crawlspace. Clay used his lasso and tossed it to Omi. He caught it and used his strength to hold the rope while his friends would use it to climb into the narrow corridor.
The monks managed to find the Ring of the Nine Dragons before Jack and Max could. They grabbed it and hurried back outside. When they returned to the temple, Omi wanted to demonstrate the power of the Ring, but Master Fung took it from him. He warned his student that this Shen-Gong-Wu was a very dangerous one to use and he didn't want to take the risk of letting him find out how until he was ready.
"Trust me," Emily pleaded to her friends. "It's best to do as Master Fung says. I've seen what the Ring can do and its power is dangerous."
"Cautious and patient as ever," Omi told her.
"We can't all be like you," Raimundo added. He asked Omi if he wanted to play soccer. Clay offered to teach him new lasso tricks. Kimiko wanted to play against Omi in her new game. Emily wondered if he wanted her to teach him about Pokémon. Omi sighed. There were so many things to choose from, but not enough time.
In the middle of the night, Omi snuck into the shrine and took the Ring of the Nine Dragons without his master's permission. He would never have the patience to wait to know what the Ring could do and he wanted to find out for himself. Then maybe he could use it for his benefit at multitasking. "I do not wish to be overwhelmed by the Ring's power," he thought out loud. "Nine Omis may be too many. I'll start with three." So he did as planned and split into three figures. The original Omi decided to practice his Viper Strike technique. The Omi on the left went to play on Kimiko's PDA and the Omi on the right went to go fill his hunger.
By daybreak, the Omis saw how much was done. The original wasn't making much progress in practicing his Viper Strike, the second Omi never made it past level one, and the last Omi stuffed himself with cookie dough. When they saw their master coming, the Omis became one again and hid the Ring.
A new Shen-Gong-Wu had revealed itself. It was the Falcon's Eye and it allowed its wielder to see from great distances and even through solid objects. On their way to the Himalayas, the monks were ambushed by Jack's robots. They managed to fight a few of them off, but one of the Jack-bots crashed into Dojo. He couldn't recover his flight fast enough to get back into the air and slid down the slope like a roller coaster.
No one was injured, but Dojo hit his head when he crashed, making him lose his sense of direction. Since he couldn't lead the monks to the Falcon's Eye, everyone decided to split up.
When Omi distanced himself from his friends, he used the Ring of the Nine Dragons to divide himself into five figures. The problem was, the more he divided himself, the more of himself he lost. None of the Omis could remember what they were looking for, but they decided to expand their search.
As Raimundo searched for the Falcon's Eye, he saw that Omi was acting strange. He was stopping to admire the flowers every time he reminded himself to find the Shen-Gong-Wu. At another part of the mountain, Clay saw Omi playing on a brigde. He knew if he continued to shift his weight on the brigde playfully like that, it would come apart and Omi would fall to his doom. As Clay warned his friend, the ground below his feet came apart. At the same time, the bridge did too, but Omi saved Clay. The cowboy was grateful for the help, but saw his friend making snow angels.
Kimiko saw Omi with his hands over his head, groaning in pain. He got a headache from eating the snow at a quick pace. As Emily looked around, she saw that Omi was occupied with Kimiko's game set. She took it from him and told him to focus on the mission.
The last Omi managed to find the Falcon's Eye without even realizing he was looking for it. Max saw it too and touched it the same time he did.
When Kimiko, Raimundo, Clay, and Emily regrouped with each other, they all began talking about how they noticed how strange Omi was acting. Then everyone started seeing double – no, triple – no, quadruple.
When Dojo found his friends and told them that Omi had found the Falcon's Eye, he was just as shocked as they were.
"Oh, no," Emily groaned, placed her palm against her face. "Master Fung warned us this would happen. And I knew it too."
"What do you mean?" Kimiko asked.
"The Ring divdes the user," Emily explained. "Your abilities, your maturity, your intelligence, everything that makes you… you."
"So how many Omis are there?" Raimundo asked.
"We have four with us and Dojo said there was another Omi about to engage in a Xiaolin Showdown for the Falcon's Eye," said Emily. "We've got to hurry." Everyone agreed and began looking for the last Omi.
"Omi, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Max declared. When she didn't receive a response, she asked impatiently, "Well, do you accept?" As if in answer, Omi reached and pinched her nose. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'" Max cleared her throat. "My Third Arm Sash against your Ring of the Nine Dragons. We race to the far mountain on snowboards."
Omi giggled. "You are a funny lady."
"Okaaayy," Max said slowly, seeing how awkward this was getting. "Let's go! Xiaolin Showdown!" Max announced. She and Omi were transported to the top of the mountain. To begin the race, Max cried out, "Gong Yi Tampai!" She got on her snowboard and began going down the slope. Omi followed, riding on the snowboard with his belly.
By the time the others arrived, they were too late. The race had begun. Omi managed to get in the lead, but Max was a brilliant athlete. She was strong and agile and quick on her feet. She managed to get back in the lead after coming out of a tunnel, but now there was a glacier. She used it to build up her speed and she also used her Third Arm Sash to keep herself on the path before she could slip off.
As she got back on the path, Omi stopped in front of her with open arms, welcoming her into a hug. Max shrieked at this. "You're nuts! Get off me!"
"Okay," Omi said. He let her go and pinched her nose again. He got back on his snowboard and began sliding down the slope again. Max got back in the race too. Omi managed to make it to the end of the path, where the Falcon's Eye was waiting. His friends encouraged him to grab it and end the game, but he didn't listen to them. He slid down the slope again. The other Omis saw this and thought it looked like fun. Everyone else tried to keep them together, but the Omis began having a tantrum. The snowy ground beneath their feet came apart and they all fell. When they came together, they were one again as one Omi emerged from the snow. "Max, I am taking this Xiaolin Showdown to the next level!"
"No way," gasped Max. She had to hurry. Now that Omi was whole again, he was a better opponent than he was before. But she wasn't going to let that change the game. Just in time, she managed to catch the prize before Omi could. "How many Omis does it take to lose the Falcon's Eye?" Max asked. "Just one." And she hitched a ride with Jack and Wuya in the jet car. "Later, losers."
The monks just couldn't bring themselves to be mad at Omi for trying to help. They were just glad to have him back in one piece as one being.
Omi groaned. "Master Fung will be most angry with me."
And Master Fung was angry. After reprimanding his student, he gave him the chore of scrubbing the dishes spotless and all of the dishes were dirty.
But Omi knew he deserved this punishment. "I acted most shamefully. Because of my disobedience, we still have only one Shen-Gong-Wu."
Emily cleared her throat. "You know what they say: 'United we stand, divided we fall.'"
"That's the moral of this chapter," said Kimiko.
"Maybe it's better this way," Raimundo figured. "You weren't ready to use the Ring of the Nine Dragons. Now it belongs to Jack and Max."
Talk about the benefit of the doubt. And Raimundo was right. It was better for the monks now that the Ring was in Jack's possession. And knowing him, he was going to cause Max and Wuya a lot of trouble; more than he already gave them.