The sun had barely risen before Raimundo sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. He pushed himself off the floor, wobbling a bit as the rest of his body finished waking up. He'd barely slept the night before, but now he could at least get up and move again. The older monks would be awake, which meant he could be awake and could start getting together the few wu he knew they'd need. He stretched his arms as he walked, letting out a long yawn and making his way to the vault.

He mentally checked off what he'd planned to bring. Danger sneakers were the main ones he wanted to make sure he had, just in case things did have a chance of getting hairy. They'd let him know before anything could happen. He grabbed a few others, sword of the storm, star of hanabi- wu that complimented their powers. He hoped they wouldn't need any of these, but better safe than sorry.

Leaving the vault, he wasn't surprised to see Omi already up and about, starting his own morning routine. He looked as alert as ever. Raimundo wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one who slept soundly that night. He had the different type of confidence in all of them, unwavering in many ways. Omi believed in himself and his friends, and while it may have at first been difficult to take, over the last two years he had grown to believe in Raimundo as their leader.

Omi's eyes met his, a silent smile in greeting as he continued his exercise. Raimundo nodded at him, walking past and back inside the temple. He put the wu out on the table in front of him, despite already doing three checks to make sure he had everything he was planning to bring. Not too much wu, nothing more than what they needed to defend themselves and get away. That was the plan. Look, see, leave.

He sat down, tapping his fingers impatiently. Not that he wanted to leave right then, but time seemed to be come to a standstill as he awaited his fellow monks. His face was twisted into an annoyed glare until Kimiko came in, stretching her arms and yawning loudly.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He leaned on the table, one hand holding up his head as Kimiko glared at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, not all of us can wake up fifteen minutes early to pretend we woke up fully ready for the world." She padded past him, her robes cradled in one arm and lips pursed together in frustration. It was far too early in the morning to deal with Raimundo's snark. He just gave her a smirk as she left before turning his head back, facing the wall again and his face falling back to frustration and impatience.

Kimiko was up. He knew that must mean Clay won't be far behind, and Omi shouldn't be much longer either. They'd eat a quick breakfast and head out. Raimundo's hand roughly slid up his face and through his hair. He huffed and continued to glare forward. Why was he so anxious about this now, they had a plan, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The squirming feeling in his stomach only got worse as he thought that. It shouldn't be a big deal, but he was terrified of what they'd find.

Would they find Hannibal, some new power at his tendrils? Wuya, with her own power back, ready to once again destroy the world? Chase with some new scheme, maybe even a new henchman? Jack in the midst of a new invention, those robots from the bad future- Raimundo shuddered. His memories of that weren't nearly as clear as they'd learned Omi's were, but the complete mix of timelines had given all of them some small bit of that world. He didn't like it.

The worst thought hit him, and his nose twitched as the nauseous feeling doubled. What if they found nothing? What if he just looked like a fool, taking them out for the day to just go and find out Wuya and Chase are still bickering, Jack could still barely build a bot that didn't fall apart all on its own, and Hannibal was still an inch tall and relied on birds and witches to help him? If he was worrying for nothing, wasting their time while they should be training or hunting for wu or something else…

He took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose. No. He couldn't have those thoughts swimming in his head again. It'd taken him too long to truly accept and find his own place as leader among them all. Even if they didn't find anything, checking wasn't a mistake. It wasn't a wrong move. It'd be one that'd help all of them be at ease, at least for a little longer.

"Raimundo, you doin alright?" Clay stood in the doorway pajamas ruffled. His half lidded eyes mad it obvious he was still tired, but had finally pushed himself out of bed and through the temple to bathe and change before breakfast. Raimundo looked at him for a second, his ruffled hair and the nonchalant aura about him. He ignored the light heat in his cheeks and cleared his throat.

"Yeah just. Jittery." He patted his hands on the table. Clay gave him a lopsided and sleepy grin, one that Raimundo rather liked. He hoped the growing heat in his face wasn't too obvious, or that Clay was still too tired to notice.

"It'll be alright, partner. We find something we can stop, or we know no one's up to no good. Either way, we're gonna be doin better after." The casual way Clay basically repeated Raimundo's own thoughts lifted an unbelievable amount of tension off his shoulders. He knew it's what his friends thought, but actually hearing it from one of them did a lot more to help than he'd really expected.

"Right. Thanks, man." Raimundo sent him a more confident grin. While his fingers still tapped and the uncomfortable squirming didn't stop, he definitely felt better about the whole situation.

A quick breakfast later and they were on their way, each monk having one of the first wu they'd found of their elements. Just enough to stay safe. They'd agreed on using the golden tiger claws for travel. It was the fastest along with being the least obvious when arriving, compared to a flying dragon, manta ray, or any other metallic animal.

Raimundo had decided that the first would be the one that'd be the most dangerous: Chase's citadel. He didn't want them to be stressing over the known location of at least one major Heylin, so might as well get it out of the way first.

The portal opened in the entrance. The soft blue and calming fountains were ironic as no one in the group felt relaxed. No jungle cats, no Heylin warrior. So far, so safe. They stood in a tight group; they didn't have to go far in- if Chase was there, he'd probably greet them with a warm welcome and some angry cats.

But even upon entering his throne room, there was nothing and no one. Not Chase or Wuya, no cats in sight, just empty halls and an eerie silence.

"So he could be out planning something," Kimiko said, eyes scanning the room for even a slight hint.

"He is the only one with a home address, might be best to opt outta plannin anything here if they're grouped together," Clay added. He was right; if there was some sort of evil nightmare team happening, grouping at the first place any of them would look was a bad idea, and one even they'd recognize as foolish.

"So we can't rule him out, but not much we can do if he's not here." Raimundo stood up straight, doing his own final check of the throne room. Something still felt off to him. Even if Chase was off canoodling elsewhere with a bag of baddies, where were the cats? No way he'd just leave everything so unguarded. They could be deeper in the citadel, but he wasn't willing to find out. They hadn't come to stop them at the sign of intrusion; Chase hadn't either. It just all felt off.

Shrugging it away for now, he opened up the next portal. The next stop was everyone's favorite evil boy genius. They landed in front of his door, and an awkward silence over took them for a moment. What exactly were you supposed to do when the villain, while evil, did still have an assumedly normal family and home life?

Omi went with knocking on the door, met with odd remarks from the others until it opened. Jack stood in the doorway, loose clothes on and counting out cash without looking at them.

"Here's a twenty, enough the pizza and you can keep the- what the Heck are you four doing here?" He stood back, shoving the money back into his pocket and taking a defensive stance. No one answered and instead just took in how awkward of a moment it was before Raimundo stepped forward.

"Well. You haven't been at many of the wu hunts lately." He spoke with the confidence of someone who knew where he was going with his statement, despite not actually having any.

"Aw, so you missed me?" Jack gave a cheesy grin and fluttered his eyelashes before his face reverted back to a mild glare. "I just started senior year, losers, as much as I'd love to kick your butts, I need Jackbots, and to have Jackbots I need time to build Jackbots, and right now I'm fresh out of time. So no time, no Jackbots, no making you Xiaolin Losers regret ever messing with me." He leaned against the door frame while each monk stared at him wondering just how serious he actually was.

"How do we know you're not pulling the cloth over our faces?" Omi asked. His incorrect slang got a side glance from Raimundo, though he'd stopped correcting him at this point. Raimundo was almost positive these days he was messing it up on purpose.

"Aw Omi, would I ever lie to you?" Jack placed a hand to his chest, feigning hurt.

"Consistently, yes."

"Okay, fair enough- but this time I'm honest as can be." Jack shrugged and went back to his casual lean, slouching as he waited for whatever the monks would do. He doubted violence; they weren't usually ones to throw the first punch unless provoked, and Jack wasn't in the mood for cleaning up his living room. Plus, he was still out of Jackbots.

Raimundo leered at him, scanning his face and body language for any sign that he was lying. While Jack had grown up, matured a bit and calmed down as well, he was still Jack. He looked him in the eyes and let out a deep breath. They really were a stunning color, he wasn't sure if they were contacts or not but either way, they were amazing. He turned his head, gulping and blinking as he brought himself back to the topic at hand.

"I don't think he's lying. So here's another question: any idea where Wuya is?" Raimundo shoved his hands in his pockets, keeping his expression as neutral as he could. Jack raised an eyebrow and put one hand to his face.

"Mmm. Nah, haven't seen her for a while either. It's harder for her to burst in here without permission when she's all flesh, and I have extra security measures against the Heylin." Jack tapped the door frame, glancing upward at the ceiling where the site of thin compartment doors were just barely visible.

"Wait- Why them? Aren't you guys ya know, sorta same side?" Raimundo asked, giving a skeptical look.

"I mean technically we're all on the 'evil is rad' side, but also, Wuya's double crossed me, Chase tried to kill me a few times, Hannibal is just a plain old jerk, Ashley annoys me, I mean the only one I really like is Vlad and he's on the allowed in list. Plus we aren't like you guys, we're not exactly into the whole sharing, teams, feel good dreams nonsense." Jack shrugged. The monks glanced at each other before looking back to Jack. It felt like it'd taken a while for Jack to fully realize this. Especially the admittance of his own evil hero trying to kill him, more than once.

"So, no Wuya, and can we assume no Hannibal or Chase?" Raimundo followed up, and Jack nodded in response.

"Yup. My abode has been wrinkly, old villain free." Jack spread his arms out, standing in the middle of the doorway before putting his hands back in his pockets and giving a dull look to the monks. "Now, not that I haven't totally enjoyed this little interrogation, but are we done here?"

"Uh- yeah, sorry for bugging you, dude." It was a halfhearted apology, since Jack had more than once visited the monks unannounced and given a very loud interruption to whatever they'd been doing.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I know it must be hard going so long without seeing my gorgeous face, witnessing my stunning intellect, hearing my amazing voice-" Jack stood up straight as the monks turned to walk away, rolling their eyes at him. "You know it's rude to walk away while someone is talking!"

"Well, please do forgive us. Later, Jack." Raimundo opened the portal, giving Jack a final, cocky smirk and a two finger wave as he jumped through last and the portal closed behind him.

The monks all landed on soft sand, the sounds of the ocean quickly surrounding them, seagulls calling and the waves crashing against the shore. The sun was bright and beat down on them, the hot, dry air, veiled with the scent of the ocean.

"We're here because?" Kimiko looked to the water, tucking her hair behind her ear as the wind picked up.

"Ashley's condo. I'm not covering every base, but the ones I can see doing something without tagging along to another villain." Raimundo began trudging to a nearby condo.

"She is a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for," Clay remarked. Ashley was a genius, genetically modified cats and all. He shrugged as Kimiko gave him a look, one eyebrow quirked.

"Her costume has a moving tail, which is equal parts creepy, impressive, and cheesy." Kimiko added, arms crossed. Whether this was a statement that was meant to agree or disagree with Clay's, none of them could be sure.

Making their way to the deck, they quickly spotted a woman on a beach chair, lounging with sunglasses on and a drink in her hand. The second Raimundo's shoes hit the first step of the porch, a small white kitten hopped in front of him, hissing at all of the monks. They all took an initial step back, grimacing at the ferocious and deceitfully small animal.

"What do you kiddies want?" Ashley called over the hissing, not doing any more to acknowledge their presence.

"We want to make sure you're not up to anything ya know, evil, illegal, your hobbies basically." Kimiko called back, a clear edge to her voice.

"I mean have there been reports of a cat dressed super villain running around and stealing stuff again? No. Have I been to any of your little magic thingy hunts? No again. I have been contempt sunbathing, working on my own projects, and making cat videos." Ashley crossed her legs, put her drink down and crossed her arms behind her head. "Trust me, if I wanted to do something like that, you'd know."

The others looked to Raimundo, who was once again thinking whether or not they could just trust the words of someone they, well, didn't trust. He looked to them.

"What do you guys think?" he muttered, keeping his voice low.

"I think she's a cheater, a liar, and a bad person, but she's also self-absorbed, and prefers cat naps to catnapping," Kimiko responded.

"She wouldn't get her hands dirty less she needed to," Clay added.

"And as she already seems to have most material things she desires, I feel it is unlikely she is planning anything at this current time," Omi said, adding his own in. Raimundo nodded, standing up straight.

"Looks like we're agreed then." He gave the cat one last glare before turning back around. They didn't get too far before they stopped again. Raimundo turned back around to face them.

"So, we have three villains who-knows-where, maybe together, maybe not. One stressed high schooler who is probably not lying, but it's Jack so I don't think he can ever truly be ruled out of causing trouble. Lastly Ashley, who is here and too busy tanning to come after wu or anything else that'd cause us trouble." Raimundo counted off their list. The afternoon felt like it had dragged on forever to them all but in reality they'd only been patrolling for maybe two hours.

"It'd be nice if the three missing villains weren't also the absolute worst," Kimiko commented, finally deciding to tie her hair back to keep the wind from whipping her in the face with it again.

"Predators lay low before they strike. If anyone's up to anythin, my money is on them. You think they're all workin together, though? Chase and Wuya, or Wuya and Hannibal maybe, but I can't really see Hannibal an Chase settin aside their uh, differences." Clay crossed his arms.

Omi nodded in agreement before putting a hand to his chin in thought. "We cannot forget that they all may be planning something, but separately," he said, and in response Raimundo cringed at the thought.

"Maybe we'll get lucky, and they'll just end up running into each other and ruining everything for the other." He snorted, turning his hand over and watching the light glint off the tiger claws.

"That may very well be it. After all we've been told before, if one evil rules the world, another cannot." Omi responded, remembering what Jack had said to them as Wuya first regained her body, powers, and control of the world: If someone rules the world, only they can rule it, and anyone not by their side was out of luck.

"Anyone have any ideas just where any of them may be, though?" A long shot, but Raimundo didn't like the idea of just brushing the fact they were all just gone, and not even trying to think of any leads.

"Hannibal could be anywhere, and Wuya is more than likely with him or Chase; she's strong but doesn't have her full powers. She's smart enough to tag along to powerful people until she can fix that," Kimiko said. "The problem remains that any of them could be just about anywhere, though."

"Maybe we should contact Master Monk Guan?" Omi suggested. "I would not be surprised if he kept tabs on Chase Young." They were long rivals after all.

"Maybe. Wouldn't hurt to check." Before Raimundo could swipe the air and get them their one way ticket to Guan's temple, Kimiko's phone let out a short whistle. One they'd all grown to recognize as Dojo's text tone, and that usually meant one thing.

"Wu alert, we have to head back to the temple asap." Kimiko read off her screen before tucking her phone back into her pocket. Raimundo nodded, swiping at the air with a new location in mind. Master Monk Guan's could wait a bit. First they had to get whatever had revealed itself. And who knows, maybe someone would finally show up.

Thank you to my awesome beta reader, Dragonnutt! (If you haven't, I definitely recommend checking out her fics! Great stuff!)

So there's chapter two, finally some stuff is HAPPENING aren't you guys excited? I am. It's gonna get fun real soon.
Next chapter promises to be interesting, at least if you ask me lol.