Chapter 14: Days Past

Wuya's laughter seemed to surround the terrified Xiaolin Warriors, filling the air and stretching out forever. The Reversing Mirror that had been lying on the ground below where she floated, shattered into tiny fragments. The winds finally died down, and Wuya landed lightly. Her deep red hair fell around her in long curls, and with a flick of her arm she pushed it from her face.

"Hah!" Dojo exclaimed, stopping his cowering. "Joke's on you, Wuya, you broke the Reversing Mirror! That's seven years of bad luck!" he taunted her. Wuya's smirk didn't fade. "In your face!" he laughed, but Wuya gave a quiet chuckle.

"Actually, since it was the Reversing Mirror, it's seven years of good luck," she pointed out. Dojo instantly deflated.

"Oh, hadn't thought of that," he murmured, and immediately darted to hide in Omi's robes.

"Reckon it's up to us to take Wuya down," Clay looked to the other three.

"Guess so," Rory agreed.

"There's only one way to do it," Kimiko gave a confident smile.

"Xiaolin-style!" they lifted the Shen Gong Wu that they'd been practising with. "Orb of Tornami, Ice!" Omi threw a jet of ice at Wuya, who just opened her arms and seemed to embrace it. Raimundo watched from the sidelines as Wuya seemed to be frozen solid. A moment later, her eyes opened, and the ice cracked and shattered.

"Next?" she asked, still smirking.

"Star Hanabi, Fire!" Kimiko stepped up, throwing the Star Hanabi. It spun through the air, leaving a trail of flames that singed Raimundo as it passed him. He was thrown back as the Star Hanabi collided with Wuya and caused a large explosion, but she just laughed as she stepped from the flames unharmed.

"That tickled," she laughed, flicking her hair out.

"Eye of Dashi, Light!" Rory raised the Shen Gong Wu in her hand, and a beam of light shot out, cutting through the rocks around Wuya. However, it just fizzled out when it touched her, and Rory's eyes widened.

"Was that supposed to be an attack?" Wuya asked innocently, and Rory's grip on the Eye of Dashi tightened.

"Third Arm Sash, Earth!" Clay slammed the Sash down where Wuya had been standing, forcing Raimundo to dive aside. For a moment, it seemed as if he'd hit her, only for her to appear behind Clay.

"Shen Gong Wu?" to his disgust, she put her arms around him. "I am beyond them now. Let me show you what real magic can do," Wuya breathed as he grimaced, before she threw him to the ground. He slammed into the others, thrown too fast for them to dodge. Wuya's laughter continued as she started using her magic, and the dried out earth they were lying on began to move. Clay grabbed the other three and hauled them up, running away, only to be forced to stop when a hand made of rocks emerged.

"What the hell?" Rory gasped as massive stone golems emerged from the ground, growling and groaning as they surrounded the four.

"Crush them," Wuya ordered lightly. However, Dojo emerged from Omi's robes with a scream, changing size and carrying them off.

"A retreat might be in order here!" he yelped as he flew off.

"Okay, how do we fight a super powerful Heylin witch?!" Kimiko demanded, panicking.

"Not to mention her new friends," Rory gestured to the rock monsters below.

"We're outclassed, outgunned...and outta luck," Clay listed.

"You must not despair, my friends!" Omi kept an upbeat tone, taking them by surprise. "There is always a path to victory!" he declared. His smile quickly faded, however, when rocks burst from the ground, forming a massive mountain fortress as Wuya's symbol appeared over the remaining light in the sky. "Okay, now you may despair," Omi decided.

"Great, thanks," Rory deadpanned. She then frowned as the stone golems lined up. "Dojo, look out!" she warned, before they started to throw flaming boulders into the sky. Dojo cried out as several slammed into his side, and they dropped from the sky into the dead forest below.

The group groaned in pain, having landed on the hard ground that was covered in dust. With Dojo unconscious and back in his smaller form in Rory's hands, she took a look around, and her heart sank. All the nature that surrounded them was dead, including the now dried up riverbed nearby. Wuya's power seemed to stretch on forever, and she wondered if the rest of the world was the same.

"Kimiko, Clay, Rory, we must hasten our retreat!" Omi got back to his feet quickly. "The forces of darkness are-" before he could get them up, the ground rumbled and the dried out trees were shoved aside by the massive golems that towered over them.

"Already here Omi!" Kimiko groaned.

"Clay, they're made of your element," Rory turned to the Dragon of Earth. "Can you do anything?" she asked hopefully, but he shook his head.

"I don't know how! Besides, even thinking about trying to use my power makes me feel weird. I think whatever Wuya did to the ground is making it impossible to control," he admitted.

"Then we prepare for battle," Omi said, grim, and they moved into fighting stances. The golem in the front roared, only to flinch backwards as a tear appeared in the air in front of it.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Raimundo flipped out of the tear, landing in front of the surprised warriors. "Back up boys," he gestured to the golems, who grumbled and backed away, looking irritated.

"Raimundo, what are you doing?" Kimiko asked, suspicious.

"Have you at last seen the error of your evil ways?" Omi glared at him. Raimundo just smirked.

"Dude, my evil ways are gonna kick your butt, rule the world, and drop me straight into the lap of luxury," he bragged, looking proud of himself.

"Your evil ways? So far that sounds like Wuya's doing all the work," Rory folded her arms.

"You got a point here, Raimundo?" Kimiko asked, irritated.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Raimundo's smirk had faded slightly at Rory's words, but he still stood arrogantly in front of them. "I thought I'd let you mighty Xiaolin Apprentices, beg for mercy," he offered, and their eyes widened. Rory couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

"Are you for real?" she asked, barely able to believe what he had said.

"Think again, Rai," Clay growled, insulted by his offer.

"Yes, and then think a third time!" Omi yelled, just as offended. "Because this begging will not happen!" he declared. The others nodded, agreeing with him. Raimundo just laughed.

"Maybe you guys don't get it. I'm the only one who can save you," he pointed out, leaning against the leg of one of the golems.

"Wrong!" a voice called out, right before a blast of red light slammed into the golem and blew it up. Raimundo gave a yell, covering his head as he was showered with rubble. More explosions rang out as the golems were blown up, and when Raimundo looked up, the others were gone.

"Where is everybody?" he called, voice echoing through the emptiness.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure we hit our heads during that fall," Rory commented as the group stared at the person who had come to their rescue.

"Jack Spicer?" Kimiko was in equal disbelief.

"What are you up to, you two-faced varmint?" Clay demanded, glaring from where he was squashed in the back with Rory and Kimiko.

"Rescuing you?" Jack rolled his eyes as he piloted his ship away from the golems. "You four dweebs are my only hope of defeating Wuya," he grumbled, unhappy with the situation.

"Yup, definitely hit our heads," Rory confirmed with a nod. Dojo laughed.

"It sounded like he said Wuya," he giggled.

"He did," Kimiko confirmed, and Dojo's eyes widened.

"Why would Jack: Evil Boy Genius, want Wuya: Evil Witch Hag, defeated?" Clay asked, not understanding Jack's logic. Omi, however, seemed to come to his own conclusion.

"Because, Jack has finally rejected the ways of evil!" Omi threw his arms around Jack, whose face scrunched up in disgust. He shoved Omi away.

"I'm still evil right down to my greedy black heart," Jack told him. Omi blinked rapidly.

"Okay...then count me among the confused!" he declared brightly. Jack groaned.

"I want to rule the world! Which I can't do if-"

"Wuya's already ruling it," Rory realised, and gave a short laugh. "Oddly sound logic," she commented.

"Thank you," Jack rolled his eyes, glad that someone understood.

"Mighty twisted thinking. But I'll be darned if it don't make sense," even Clay couldn't argue as they continued to fly.

"So, Cueball, what's the plan?" Jack asked, glancing to the boy who sat beside him.

"We don't have one," Omi shrugged.

"We rarely do," Kimiko admitted.

"We're more of a 'fly by the seat of your pants' kinda team," Rory shrugged.

"Really?" Jack sounded oddly excited by that. "You've got nothing? All this time I thought you were these amazing Xiaolin geniuses. But you're just as lame as I am!" he started laughing, before pausing. "Wait, that didn't come out right," he realised.

"No shit," Rory muttered under her breath.

"We might not have a plan, but Master Fung sure will," Clay said confidently. Grumbling under his breath, Jack veered in another direction and headed straight for the temple.


The oddball group were mostly quiet as they flew back, with Dojo making the most of not having to be the one flying. Rory shifted, feeling like something was off, and couldn't relax even when the Xiaolin Temple came into view.

"Flee, my Xiaolin Apprentices!" Master Fung's voice reached them as they approached. To their horror, they found him and the other monks locked in cage-like rock formations, surrounded by golems.

"Uh oh," Kimiko gulped as golems rose from the ground, having been sent there to ambush the warriors. They spat out flaming rocks, and one hit the back of the ship. An alarm beeped loudly as the ship tilted forwards, starting to plummet towards the ground. "Get us out of here Dojo!" Kimiko yelled.

"Roger that!" Dojo instantly changed size, growing large enough to burst out of the crashing ship right before another boulder hit it and blew it up.

"That was closer than I cared for," Rory commented as her hair was whipped out of her face and she took a breath. Oddly, she vastly preferred travelling on Dojo's back.

"Stop the undulating, please!" Jack pleaded, clinging to Dojo's back.

"But Jack, the undulating is the best part!" Clay smirked, all of them unaffected. They were used to travelling on Dojo's back to get anywhere. "Ain't you ever rode a dragon before?" he taunted, but his smile was quickly wiped from his face when Jack snatched his hat and proceeded to throw up into it. "Hey now, come on!" as he was distracted, the other three sat at the front.

"I got a bad feeling," Kimiko admitted. "If Wuya controls the temple...what's next?" she wondered.

"I don't think anywhere in the world is gonna be safe for long. She's gonna keep hunting us until she gets us. And who knows if Raimundo will keep offering us 'mercy'," Rory rolled her eyes, still disgusted at his attempt at an offer.

"I believe Rory is right," Omi said gravely.

"And without Master Fung...who knows how we'll defeat Wuya," Kimiko mumbled.

"We'll think of something," Rory tried to encourage her, putting a hand on her shoulder and forcing herself to smile. "We always do," she said, trying to believe the words as much as she wanted Kimiko to.


The group finally stopped to let Dojo rest as night fell, and they took shelter in a thick forest. Mercifully there was still running water, showing that Wuya's decay hadn't reached that far yet, and Clay took to washing his hat and cursing Jack as the others rested.

"I'm starving," Kimiko complained as Rory arranged sticks in front of her.

"You sound like Clay," she teased, and earned a half-hearted glare from Kimiko, who rubbed her hands together and managed to will enough flames to light a small fire. She then shivered, and the flames vanished from her fingers. "You okay?" Rory asked, noticing her discomfort.

"It's like what Clay said. Trying to use my power feels weird and harder to control," Kimiko admitted, rubbing her hands together again.

"Wuya's a powerful Heylin Witch. It stands to reason that her magic is interfering with your control, since you're only starting to learn your Dragon elements," Dojo suggested. Rory pulled her legs in close as she sat down, and her blue eyes focused on Jack. With Dojo's words in mind, she thought about the events of the day. She then tensed when his eyes met hers, and his scowl grew.

"What?" he asked, defensive. He still remembered her headbutt. Rory's eyes narrowed, and she looked away, not saying anything.

"Rory? Is it affecting you too?" Kimiko asked quietly, casting Jack a careful look.

"I didn't realise it, but yeah," Rory confessed as she looked back at the other Apprentices and Dojo. "Wuya's presence is constantly around, like she's everywhere," the feeling had left Rory on edge, ready to either fight or run. "But it's blocking out any other presence now. I couldn't sense Rai, and I can't sense Spicer," she warned, just quietly enough for them to hear.

"Oh boy," Clay muttered. "I was hoping you could stop her from getting the jump on us," he said, and Rory shook her head, offering a wry smile.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"This is most troubling," Omi sighed, before looking down as he heard a snore. Dojo was fast asleep in his lap, making him smile slightly. While their home was lost and Master Fung was imprisoned, at least he still had Dojo with him.

"We should get some rest. We haven't slept in a few days," Rory pointed out. "I'll keep watch," she volunteered.

"You sure?" Kimiko asked, and she nodded.

"I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to right now," Rory told her honestly. Wuya's heavy presence was too much for her to want to relax for even a second. She gave a comforting smile. "Get some rest, we'll think of a plan in the morning," she said, and others nodded, all weary.


Rory had never thought that she could stand keeping watch. She wasn't one to choose to sacrifice sleep, and she would admit that she could get very cranky when tired or if her sleep was interrupted.

But now, at the end of the world, sleep was the last thing on her mind. She sat by the river, watching the water go by, and wondered how long it would last before it dried up too.

Rory shivered, pulling her hoody closer to her. They'd put the fire out, just in case it alerted Wuya's forces to their location, and a cold wind would blow by as if enforcing the dark times they were in. But, Rory couldn't help but find grim amusement when she still felt it was warmer than where she'd grown up.

'I hope they're okay,' she thought of her parents, and the corner of her mouth tugged up. 'Of course, they'd beat down anything that came at them,' she thought to herself. Rory wasn't even sure if it was just a childish thought, that her parents were untouchable, but she had grown up learning how to fight from them.

Shuffling behind her made Rory look around quickly, ready to call out a warning, but she stopped and sighed when she saw Jack walking over, yawning widely.

"Figured you'd be dead to the world till we kicked you awake," she said, returning her attention to the water in front of her.

"Gee, thanks," Jack muttered, sitting down heavily. "How can anyone sleep outside anyway? This ground's harder than a rock," he complained. Rory didn't reply, but she agreed with him. While it wasn't as decayed as the ground near to where Wuya had erected her fortress, it was still dying, and the grass had been the first victim.

"I know you only saved us because you need us to help beat Wuya, but...thanks," Rory spoke quietly, not looking up.

"I don't need thanks," Jack scoffed, looking a little disgusted. "I did it all for my own selfish reasons," he reminded her. Rory arched an eyebrow, and looked up at him. Even while sitting slouched, he was at least a full head taller than her.

"You're real defensive about that," she accused, and he glared at her.

"Don't tell me you believe the Cueball that I'm good, Rapunzel," he was still offended at Omi's immediate response.

"You want me to headbutt you again?" Rory warned. His pale features turned even whiter at the threat, and he wisely chose to stay quiet. "Of course I don't believe Omi's idea that you're good. But, you still saved us back there. So, y'know. Just saying thanks," she muttered. Jack just snickered.

"You're more awkward than me," he taunted, and Rory groaned.

"You're infuriating," she told him, and he smirked. Sighing, Rory gave up, shaking her head.


When the weak sunlight of morning finally reached them, Rory blinked awake, not having realised she'd dozed off. So much for keeping watch. Her body was stiff from sitting with her legs pulled in. Groaning, she stretched her legs out, and looked up at the sky. It was grey in colour, and the markings of Wuya's mask remained in the sky where the sun was.

Hearing a snore, she looked down and raised an eyebrow at Jack snoring on the ground beside her. Shaking her head, Rory stood and stretched, turning to check on her friends.

"Hey," she shook Kimiko awake, making the girl moan and open her eyes.

"Please tell me the world didn't really end last night," she asked, sitting up.

"Sorry, can't do that," Rory said as she went over to Clay, who was snoring on his back. "Rise and shine cowboy," she nudged him awake before going to wake Omi.

"Okay, I'm stumped," once the Apprentices were awake, they turned their thoughts to a way that would stop Wuya. "How are we supposed to beat Wuya, when the Shen Gong Wu no longer work against her?" Kimiko asked.

"Well, okay, I know this is a bit of a stretch…" Dojo started, sitting on Omi's head while the boy meditated. "But what if we dumped a bucket of glue over her?" he suggested.

"Glue?" Kimiko repeated, unsure if she'd heard him correctly. "That's going to stop her global reign of evil?" she asked, turning to him.

"I'm talking a really big bucket of glue!" Dojo declared, enthusiastic about his idea. However, none of them could smile at his suggestion.

"I hate to say it…" Clay walked over after checking his hat, which had finally dried out. "But without Master Fung to show us how, we'll never be able to defeat Wuya," he said, putting his hat on as he spoke his thoughts on the matter. Rory was quiet, agreeing with Clay. They'd gotten lucky in defeating Mala Mala Jong, and Wuya had shrugged off everything they'd thrown at her with ease.

"The only person who ever defeated Wuya was Grand Master Dashi," Omi spoke up from where he was meditating.

"Yeah, well you missed him by about 1500 years kid," Dojo pointed out. "So good luck trying to ask him," he shrugged. Omi opened his eyes to glare at the dragon wrapped around his head.

"At least not without a time machine," Kimiko shrugged.

"Did somebody say time machine?" they looked around as Jack spoke suddenly, not having realised he was awake. They frowned when they saw his grin, wondering just what he was thinking.


"Behold!" Jack's shout echoed through his basement lair as he pulled the sheet off a large machine stored near the back. The four Apprentices and Dojo stood in front of it, wondering why he was so excited. "Jack Spicer's evil time machine!" he announced.

"You are so overusing the word evil," Kimiko rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm trying to build a brand here," Jack defended, glaring at her.

"You seriously built a time machine?" Rory folded her arms, not sure if she should be impressed.

"We can really use this strange device to go back in time?" Omi asked, eyes wide as he gazed up at the machine with awe.

"Well...sorta," Jack looked uncertain, not meeting their gazes. "You can travel back in time, but it's kinda lame," he shrugged.

"Lame, how?" Rory asked, tilting her head. The machine suddenly lit up, and Jack glanced at it.

"Watch this," he sighed as electricity bounced between the coils. A swirling red portal appeared, and a moment later, another Jack stepped out.

"I bring you greetings from the future!" he exclaimed. Jack then went over to the machine beside it and hit a button.

"Here, let me show you," he then moved past his double and stepped into the portal, vanishing. "You see what I mean? Lame. I can only generate enough power to travel back two seconds," Jack complained.

"And...why is that?" Clay asked, scratching his head. Jack scoffed.

"How to explain the intricacies of manufactured temporal distortion to a simpleton cowboy?" he wondered aloud. Clay's brow rose at the insult, and both Kimiko and Rory rolled their eyes. "Ah! Time machine need much power to work!" Jack shouted slowly. "Way more power than Jack can gen-er-ate," he explained in simplistic, loud words. "Did you get that?" he asked.

"Cowboy understand," Clay's voice was flat, but his face betrayed his desire to punch Jack. "So why can't you just use the Eye of Dashi for power?" he asked. Jack's eyes widened, and his arms fell to his sides.

"You know, I must just treasure this moment forever," Rory whispered to the other girl beside her, who giggled.

"Huh?" Jack blinked rapidly, stunned at the suggestion.

"Of course! The Eye of Dashi has a limitless supply of energy!" Omi exclaimed as Rory fished it from her pocket, letting it dangle from her finger.

"Uh, yeah! Which is what I was about to say until you two interrupted me!" Jack insisted, scowling as he refused to look at them. "Way more power than I can generate, unless, I use the Eye of Dashi," he said, and received several sceptical looks from the group.


"Are we sure this is wise?" Rory asked as they watched Jack working on his time machine to get it ready to take the power of the Eye of Dashi. "I know he said he's on our side to stop Wuya, but…" she turned to Omi, who held the Orb of Tornami in his hands.

"Okay Omi, you're good to go!" Jack called over as he started up the machine.

"Rory's right. Are you sure you want to do this, Omi?" Dojo asked, worried about him as well. Omi had volunteered to go alone, just in case anything went wrong, so that they at least still had three to try and stop Wuya. "Time travel is very dangerous! You could wind up as your own grandpa!" he warned ominously.

"I doubt that's high on the list of worries right now," Rory sighed.

"My safety is of small consequence when the world is ruled by evil," Omi declared.

"Yeah, but don't you think you need more Shen Gong Wu than just the Orb of Tornami?" Clay asked, worried about him. Omi shook his head.

"No, you may need the rest for your battle against Wuya's forces," he declined, looking at the Orb in his hands. He was then surprised when Kimiko hugged him tightly.

"Be careful, Omi," she told him.

"I will have a legendary Grand Master to protect me," Omi said confidently as she released him. "But may I have another hug?" he asked hopefully.

"I think he's ready," Kimiko sighed as Rory hugged the small boy as well, making his smile grow.

"You better be okay. You might think your safety isn't a big deal, but we do," she told him. Omi nodded, touched by their concern for him.

"The time machine is set to send you back 1500 years. I won't bore you with the exceedingly complicated calculations involved, but I should be able to land you right at the base of the Xiaolin Temple," Jack told him as Omi approached the machine.

"Goodbye my friends," he turned and bowed to them.

"Oh, and uh...tell Dashi I'm sorry about the shirt," Dojo looked away awkwardly.

"The shirt?" Omi frowned, confused by the message.

"He'll know…" Dojo mumbled, embarrassed.

"Okay Rapunzel, light it up!" Jack shouted over.

"Eye of Dashi!" Rory activated the Shen Gong Wu and dropped it into the machine. "And for the last time, it's Rory," she growled. The machine's whirring noises grew louder, and the swirling portal grew thicker. Omi took a deep breath to centre himself, before stepping into it. There was a bright flash of light, and when they were able to see again, Omi had vanished.

"Omi?" Kimiko breathed.

"He's gone," Clay murmured. The machine powered down, and Rory fished the Eye of Dashi out. "Now what?" he wondered.

"I guess we have to hope Omi gets help from Grand Master Dashi and gets back," Rory sighed, poking the head of one of the Jackbots that lay on a table for repairs.

"Huh," she paused as she heard Jack make a noise, and she turned around. He'd pulled his goggles back up, and looked thoughtful. For a moment, she wondered why, before a thought came to mind.

"Wait," she straightened, approaching him with a suspicious look. "How does Omi get back?" Rory asked slowly, staring at him.

"Well...here's the funny thing," Jack gave a nervous laugh as the other two turned around too.

"Jack," Kimiko's voice screamed danger despite how quiet it was. "How does Omi get back to this time?" she stressed.

"I uh…" he backed away. "I don't know how to get him back," he said in a quiet voice, barely audible. Rory closed her eyes.

"What do you mean, you don't know how to get him back?!" Kimiko exploded.

"Oops?" Jack gulped.


Updates will be a little less frequent over the next week, but I'll be back after that!

Hope you liked it!