Frenemies
Chase Young was mysterious, but he was also honorable. While it seemed like he was trying to poison the minds of his enemies, his words carried some truth. He was right when he warned Omi and Emily to be careful of whom they trust. Another piece of wisdom was that to defeat one's own enemy, they had to become their own enemy. Sometimes a tactic like that can take a foe by surprise.
Psychology is part of the game. It takes strategy, cunning, and craft. Deception has its advantages, but it's still wrong to tell a lie because it affects a person's trust. You're not just losing the trust in your friends, but you also begin to doubt yourself. That was what the girls were discussing last night. But they weren't going to use these tactics to bring shame upon themselves or disgrace their friends. They were going to use it to their advantage against their foes.
That was what today's challenge was about; using deception to one's advantage. It's one thing to think of someone as being simply naïve, but people fail to see that as being clever. Unfortunately, Omi was not one of those people. He gave in to his friendss deceit throughout the race to the top of the pile of rocks. Emily was too soft to deceive anyone as well. While she didn't give in to her friends false kindness, she was honest when she was losing her grip. She often slipped and scraped herself. Kimiko won the match by convincing Omi that she was injured. He came down to help her, but she tossed him towards the boys.
Jack was modifying his robotic counterpart. The programming he installed was supposed to make it virtuous in servitude. But instead of displaying obedience, the robot wanted to be its own master.
Chase contacted Jack through the computer system. He had a new proposition for Jack. He was giving him the chance to become his apprentice. Jack felt honored, but before he could be given the privilege of becoming an apprentice, he had to prove his worth. If Jack could stop Katnappe and claim the next Shen-Gong-Wu before she could, then he would become Chase Young's apprentice.
The Shen-Gong-Wu was the Woozy Shooter. It looked like a noisemaker and had the power to unleash a purple fume. Whoever would inhale the fume would be dazed like a drunken lunatic. On their way to find the Shen-Gong-Wu, the monks saw Jack scuffling with his robotic counterpart. Rather than watch the embarrassment, they decided to continue their search. When they found the Woozy Shooter, the heroes met up with their U-bots they got from Kimiko's father. However, to their surprise, the robots started attacking them.
It turned out that Katnappe had broken into the storage units of Tohomiko Industries and reprogrammed the U-bots with battle techniques, making them see everyone as their enemy. She came down and swiped the Woozy Shooter. Chase was a man of his word. He gave her the title of his apprentice.
The monks returned to the temple, feeling ashamed not just for their loss, but for the way their miniature robotic counterparts turned on them. Even Jack was in shame and told them how he felt.
"It's so painful how those you trust are quick to turn on you," said Jack.
"Let me guess, your Robo-Jack switched the locks to your lair, locking you out, and now your mother is baking him cookies," said Max.
"You know everything," Jack barked. "How is it that you know everything?"
"I have my ways," said Max.
Jack sighed and said, "But it's true. Why don't you just put me out of my misery by making me suffer a humiliating defeat?"
The benefit of looking inside a person's heart is knowing when they're telling the truth. Emily could see that Jack was just as humiliated and wasn't looking for a fight. "You're serious."
He was. "My dream in life was to become the most evil jerk and I failed at that."
Max helped him up and said, "If it's any consolation, Jack, I'll always think of you as a jerk." She grinned and said softly, "And a jackass." Her friends heard her and snickered.
Jack wept and hugged the monks. "Thanks, guys. It's good to have enemies you can count on."
"I think the appropriate word would be 'frenemy,'" said Emily.
Omi got an idea. "Jack Spicer, have you ever thought to consider that maybe you were meant to fight in the name of good?"
His friends still thought of that as wishful thinking. Although Jack did help the heroes get out of tough situations, it didn't change the fact that he was a persistent villain who would continue to cause trouble. But Jack figured it wouldn't be a bad idea. He confessed he was desperate.
Omi was confident. He figured if Max could start out as an enemy, then join the monks on the path of good, then Jack Spicer could too. But his friends reminded him that Jack was a completely different person. But Max remembered a piece of wisdom she shared with her friends: 'A foe turned into a friend is a most powerful ally.' After some consideration, everyone agreed to give Jack the chance to redeem himself. They even consulted with Master Fung. At first, he was against it, but he couldn't neglect the wisdom he had always passed to his students, including the piece Max recalled.
At dawn, Omi woke Jack by ringing the gong. Jack said he wouldn't be energized without the full length of sleep, but that didn't stop Omi from trying to reform Jack. He got him out of bed and washed up with the Orb of Tornami. He also donned Jack with one of his old uniforms.
The first task was to do everyone's laundry. Jack was under the impression that everyone simply just wanted him to do their chores, but Omi said that working hard in the process of doing good deeds is one of the many small steps on the road to virtue. Bluntly speaking, Omi was teaching Jack to build character.
After washing all the clothes and setting them to dry, Jack's next task was to hand-scrub all the dishes in the kitchen. Jack was reluctant, but he knew he couldn't refuse. This was why he tried to remodify his robotic counterpart; so he could get out of doing chores. So much for that, and look where it got him, into doing the same chores by tenfold as much.
Dojo thought it was fun putting Jack into manual labor and he even made the tasks difficult for him by commanding him to do the chores extensively and making bigger messes to clean.
At first, the rest of the heroes were against it, but after all that had been going on today, they changed their minds about having Jack around at the temple. They agreed that it was fun to push him around and make him do all of their chores. Emily even wondered if all that hard work was reforming him little by little.
Max looked out the window and alerted her friends that the Shen-Gong-Wu was being stolen by the little robots. This meant that Katnappe was here too. From the roof of the vault, she used the Woozy Shooter, releasing its fumes and putting the heroes in a daze. This gave the robots the chance they needed to fight back. But their attacks managed to snap the heroes back into their senses.
Jack woke up from the commotion, wondering what was going on. Katnappe was about to use the Woozy Shooter on him as well, but Jack used the Reversing Mirror to send the fumes back at her. Katnappe came into contact with the fumes and lost her sense of direction – as well as her senses in general – causing her to slip and fall from the roof. Given her condition, one would think she would die laughing any minute.
Omi was impressed with Jack's assistance. Now it was time to stop the robots. Omi used his Tornado Strike to hose down his Omi-bot. Kimiko used her Judolette Flip to trap her robotic counterpart in a ring of fire and attack it. Clay-bot was about to use his lasso on his human counterpart, but the cowboy caught the rope and played with his robot like a yo-yo. Raimundo used his Typhoon Boom to lift his robot from the ground and kick it around like a soccer ball. Emily used her Luminous Wave to short-circuit the robot with the overload of power. Max attacked with her Shadow Blitz, dismantling her robotic counterpart.
While no one was looking, Jack picked up the Shen-Gong-Wu. But instead of returning it to the vault, he took it with him as he left the temple grounds. He came to Chase's palace and presented him with the Shen-Gong-Wu. It wasn't the Shen-Gong-Wu that interested the warrior. Chase learned of Katnappe's mishap and was impressed with Jack's display. He decided to cut her out and take Jack as his new apprentice.
It came to no surprise to the monks that Jack would take their Shen-Gong-Wu and leave. What they hated most of all was being reduced to looking after Katnappe. Most of them claimed that she got what she deserved, but Omi insisted that they should help her until her injuries from the battle had healed. The robots had even been remodified back into their previous state, before they were programmed as fighting machines.
Katnappe wasn't as badly injured as she convinced the monks. She could walk without much pain. She approached the vault, only to see that the door had been secured with a lock. Then she got an idea and convinced Omi that she could help get back the Shen-Gong-Wu Jack stole as a way of expressing thanks for taking care of her. At first, Omi didn't want to trust Katnappe after what happened with Jack, but she couldn't say 'no' to her charms. If there's anything Omi can't resist, it's a girl's charm and being called cute.
As promised, Katnappe brought Omi to Jack's house. It wasn't as heavily guarded with robots as usual, but there were some Robo-Jacks. Katnappe removed a painting of a safe, revealing a real safe. She knew Jack very well and knew how to crack the code. She turned the knob the way Jack would and opened the door with ease. This time, the robots followed Jack's command and attacked the intruders, but Omi and Katnappe took them down. Katnappe was about to run off with the Shen-Gong-Wu, but Jack took one of the heads of his robots and bowled her over, making her lose her grip and drop them across the floor.
Jack proceeded to pick them up, but as he reached for the Monsoon Sandals, Omi touched them as well, challenging him to a Xiaolin Showdown. It was going to be a game of Truth or Lie and the last one standing would be declared the winner. Omi wagered his Silk Spitter and Jack wagered his Lotus Twister.
Both players stood on balloons floating to the sky. Omi made the first move. "Jack Spicer, telling the truth is definitely not your enemy."
"Yeah, but sneaky is." Jack used his heli-pack to pop the balloon Omi was standing on.
Omi retaliated by jumping from one balloon to another and popping Jack's balloon. "Jack Spicer, truth or lie? Do you seek world domination because you feel small and worthless?"
"Lie," Jack scoffed. Actually, it was the truth. Like most amateur villains, Jack was petty and insecure and he wanted to achieve power so he wouldn't feel that way. It was Jack's turn. "Truth or lie? Do you work so hard at the Xiaolin Temple because you're an oddball geek with a big head?"
Omi laughed. "That is most ridiculous!" He was right. It wasn't true.
Jack went further into detail. "But you do have a big ego."
"No, my ego is the right size," Omi boasted. But he was wrong and he knew as much. The balloon he was standing on popped. He used the Silk Spitter to attach one end of the web to Jack's balloon and swing to another. "Truth or lie? Did you steal the Shen-Gong-Wu because you thought you would fail at good just as you failed at evil?"
Jack scoffed again. "Jack Spicer, fail? Lie!" It wasn't a lie. It was the truth. As Jack fell, he used the Lotus Twister to reach for another balloon and grab it. "Truth or lie? Did you really believe me when I agreed to turn good or did you just take me in because you wanted to prove your friends wrong?"
"I believed you," Omi answered honestly. "And you disappointed me deeply."
Jack was soft for a moment when he heard Omi's truthful response, but his ego got the better of him when he boasted, "Well, you shouldn't have. I was planning to turn on you all along!" But that was another lie. The balloon he was holding on to popped.
When the game was over, Omi looked around, only to see that Katnappe was gone along with the rest of the Shen-Gong-Wu. But he knew something like this would happen. He came outside and saw the little robots holding her back from escaping.
From the shadows, Chase Young witnessed Omi's display of cunning and was impressed. However, he knew it was still too soon to convince Omi to turn to the dark side. He couldn't ignore that the monks were becoming wiser. Max had always been the most clever of the monks, considering she had been on the path of evil and good, knowing friend from foe and how to be which to whom. He even wondered if Emily would show as much promising cunning. He admitted she was wise, but would she be smart enough to know her place and who she was? Chase had a feeling that one day, Emily would come to accept that she belonged to the Dark Lord.