"What's with taking my Reversing Mirror, you jerks!?" He pointed at them, leaving each one of them a mix of confused and annoyed at the accusation. He puffed out his chest in an attempt to seem threatening.

Raimundo blinked, staring at Jack in slight bewilderment before asking, "What are you talking about, Jack?"

"My Reversing Mirror, safely tucked away in my lab, is now gone. Everyone else who knows Wu exist is a threat by my security system," Jack paused, "okay, except Ashley, but only to the first floor! Everywhere else she's barred from entry." He'd had to change that after an almost very unfortunate incident at one of his parents boring cocktail parties. Although, that one wasn't so boring.

Kimiko raised an eyebrow. "Jack, why would we steal your Wu? We'd just win it during some future showdown." She examined her nails in disinterest.

"Plus, if we stole a Wu from ya, wouldn't it make sense for us to take 'em all and not just one?" Clay pointed out. Jack kept glaring before slumping his shoulders.

"Yeah. Okay, that does make way more sense." He stood up straight again, crossing his arms with a sneer. "But then who did take it?"

Kimiko gave him a deadpan stare. "Don't you have security cameras?"

Jack tilted his head to the side, looking miffed. "Yeah, but something messed it up. All my footage since yesterday was blocked or fuzzy." His bottom lip jutted out into a pout. "Some stupid spider or something…" He trailed off.

Raimundo's brows furrowed in thought. First the Wu they'd hunted for went missing, now someone stealing one from Jack. The Wu weren't even well-linked either. They were just ones that affected others; what use would they be together? Raimundo ran his hand through his hair, tucking some behind his ear and exhaling slowly. He looked at Jack. "Look, we have no idea what happened or who took it, but if we find out. We'll give you a call."

Jack sneered at him, snorting and rolling his eyes. "Oh yeah, totally! I'll just sit back while you guys find and keep my hard-earned Wu. That sounds like a lovely and totally-going-to-happen idea." Jack hunched over, looking Raimundo right in the eyes. "Thanks for that offer, but no way. I'll be looking for it too."

Raimundo paused, blinking as Jack stared harder. "Well. You can stick around then?" Raimundo cleared his throat, ignoring Jack's own confused and slightly pink cheeks. "Might as well make sure you don't get in the way, ya know."

Jack huffed, crossing his arms. He bit the inside of his cheek, finally answering in a stutter. "F-Fine! I'll hang around and make sure you don't pull a fast one on me, and that you Xiaolin Losers don't screw it up." Jack stuck up his nose in strong, false bravado. Kimiko looked between Raimundo and Jack, shaking her head gently she continued walking to the temple gardens. Omi followed her, smiling at Jack as he passed him. Jack huffed again, turning and following them both as Raimundo and Clay stayed behind.

Clay looked at Raimundo, stoic as he'd been since Jack had accused them. "Why would you want him to stick around?"

Raimundo shrugged. "I mean, he's going to look anyway. At least this way we can make sure he doesn't mess us up, and that we get the Rooster Booster. I'm just taking the wild guess the same person nabbed both."

"I get that partner, but also, it's Jack. He's… Jack." Clay tipped his hat back and Raimundo tilted his head side to side.

"Yeah, but he's gotten better, right?" Raimundo looked to Clay who just stared deadpan at him.
"Rai, buddy, he flooded my home. He left us for dead to giant spiders and lava. He made our worst fears come to life. There's a long list of stuff he's pulled."

Raimundo hummed and began walking to the others. "Yeah, well, it's only temporary, right? Besides, this way we keep an eye on him, too." This didn't stop him from wondering though, what reason did he actually have to let Jack stay? Maybe, it was that he wasn't really a threat anyway. Even if he'd gotten better the last few years he still wasn't really, much. Maybe it was just because of how quiet the last few months were? Or, maybe Omi and his "Everyone has good in them" shtick was rubbing off on him. Maybe he wanted to give Jack a chance. Though he wasn't exactly sure what the chance was for.

Kimiko looked up at them once they'd arrived. "You two were last. You have to explain to Jack why it couldn't have been Chase." She crossed her arms and leaned back against the tree. She'd already refused to relive the details of their past hour. Raimundo slouched, plopping onto the ground next to Omi.

He leaned forward, putting his head in his hand. "Well for one thing, you said he was on your security system's list."

Jack nodded but clicked his tongue smiling. "Chase is cool, though. If anyone could figure out a way around my system, it's him."

"Ah yes, I too remember how Chase was a total tech wiz, even working a webcam once. Wow." Raimundo replied monotonously and only smirking when Jack angrily huffed at him. "The other reason is that we already checked Chase out for our own mystery; he's cleared."

Jack snorted, placing his hands behind himself and leaning back. "Yeah, I'm so sure he spilled every detail to you losers. He's a master of evil; you think you can trust him?"

"No," Omi said, "But, we can trust Master Monk Guan… who he was with for the last couple of months."

"Big, buff, and bald!?" Jack's eyes widened, he sat up straight and stared at Omi in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me! He's like a million years old! Plus, didn't they hate each other?"

"You know he's only like… a few years older than Chase, right?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow, Jack just waved his hand in response. "And we thought they hated each other, too. Apparently, we were wrong." Kimiko stuck out her tongue in mild disgust.

"What's that mean though? Is he like," Jack's nose crinkled as he looked at all of them, "a good guy?"

Raimundo huffed and shot Jack an annoyed look, "What do we look like, his spokespeople?" he said, swiftly crossing his legs. "He is what he's always been: a pain in our ass."

Jack snorted, pointing at Raimundo "Yeah, you guys so have room to talk."

"Jack," Clay finally spoke, "this ain't the place for you to be runnin' your mouth either."
Jack's hand drooped as he peered around at the four monks, all clearly miffed by his proclamation. "Yeah- well whatever! Days of our Xiaolin Lives aside, who else could have swiped my mirror then?"

Omi hummed, "While many villains would have other objectives for acquiring Shen Gon Wu, perhaps we must still visit them as possibilities?"

"Possibilities or not, unless they can disarm a security system with their brain, they couldn't get in without me at least knowing." Jack boasted, though the edge in his voice remained.

Raimundo rubbed his neck, "Well, what if they sent someone in for them? It wouldn't be the first time evil got hired help."

Kimiko sat up straight in realization. "Pandabubba!" She paused, hunching over again. "But why would he want the Reversing Mirror? He's all about profit."

"Or the Rooster Booster," Clay added. "Doesn't seem like either would have a good benefit to him. Guess it doesn't mean he's ruled out yet, though."

Raimundo tilted his head to the side, eyes shut in thought before speaking. "So, we have two missing Wu, both that just affect other Wu, and have no use without them. We have no leads as to who could be doing this, since Jack's security system is probably decent enough to know if someone at least came in," Raimundo smirked at Jack's pointed, pouty glare, "and anyone who cares about the Wu for the magic had an alibi for the Rooster Booster." Raimundo and Hannibal had been fighting, Kimiko and Wuya were matching fists, and Chase was otherwise preoccupied.

Suddenly, Clay's hat began bumping around, leaping right up into the air and off of his head. In its airborne moment, Dojo slithered from under it and right into Clay's outstretched hand. He twitched, wiggling a bit before looking at the Monks.

"Sorry to interrupt but- wait why is Jack here?" Dojo turned half way, staring back at Jack.
Jack blinked, raising an eyebrow. "I've been here a while; where have you been?"

Dojo huffed, crossing his arms. "I chose to stay out of sight when we went looking for the Dragon Eater. And then uh. I fell asleep." Dojo rubbed the back of his head bashfully before shaking it quickly and turning back to the Monks. "That's not important now- what is is that we have another live one, and we gotta go!"

The monks got to their feet, already running back to the vault. Raimundo took the lead and quickly opened it before anyone, especially Jack, could catch up. "So we have like one Wu a week for two months, but now we have two in one day when we'd actually need to sit back and think?"

Dojo slithered onto his shoulders, nodding his head side to side. "Yeah, almost like someone else is making it happen, just so things move along right." Raimundo and Dojo both looked into space for a split second before Raimundo quickly went down the stairs. Omi and Kimiko followed, while Clay stood behind to keep someone with Jack.

Kimiko grabbed the Wu he requested, shutting the drawer with her forearm. "Dojo," She called to him, as Raimundo passed her up the stairs he hoped from his shoulders to hers, "Can you grab the scroll from my bag, so we'll know what to search for?"

Sliding down her arm and wiggling is way into her bag, Dojo popped back out a moment later, opening the scroll as Kimiko continued her way back up the stairs. "The Imo Gazer, point it at your target, and they'll fall straight asleep."

"Guess it won't work on me. I can't do anything straight," Jack muttered as the Monks ran by him. Hearing him, Raimundo snorted and mumbled a "same" on reflex, looking at Jack for a moment who just stared back blinking. Raimundo coughed, looking away and running back to the open area.

Dojo dropped the scroll back into Kimiko's bag and hit the ground, quickly growing to his full size. "All aboard Air Dojo!" He yelled, arms drawn out as the Monks began to climb on. "Let's get a move on, kiddies!"

Omi looked to Dojo, ushering Jack onto his back, "Why are you so energized all of the sudden?" He climbed up himself, sitting behind Jack who with great reluctance had let himself be set between Omi and Clay.

"I don't know! Sometimes Wu make me sleepy, sometimes itchy, sometimes even hairy! Guess this one made me feel five centuries younger and ready for action!" With that, Dojo finally took off in a bit of a quick jerk. Jack immediately put a hand to his mouth, groaning. Clay side-eyed him and held on tighter to his hat, not forgetting the last time Jack had ridden Dojo this way.
Kimiko passed Clay his Wu, noticing Jack's growing green hue she asked, "You fly with that helipack all the time. How do you get this motion sick?"

Jack opened his mouth, but before he could answer Dojo lurched forward a bit, making Jack hunch over, groaning loudly. "The helipack is a smooth ride," Jack moaned, emphasizing smooth. "This guy and his damn undulating, I have no control and I feel like I'm on a boat."

"You get used to it." Raimundo called back from the front of the line of Monks. "Though I can't say I blame you right now." Raimundo barely finished his sentence before Dojo once again shot off in a bit of a different direction, just enough that everyone felt the sudden change.

Dojo's over enthusiastic flying would have been enough to make any of them sick, but once you fly through the Ying Yang world, not much else can really faze you. Only Jack was left, muttering on occasion of his thankfulness for his small breakfast.

Dojo finally landed onto soft, cool grass that was almost blue in color. Sliding off of him, the all immediately noticed the picturesque feeling of the area. It was so peaceful it almost seemed fake. The flowers were blooming, wafting gently in a cool breeze that swept around them. A brook was long and beautiful, water quickly rushing through and down the short waterfall a few yards away. They could see why a Wu designed to send someone into a deep sleep had been hidden there.

Kimiko stretched her arms after landing on the ground, "Which direction, Dojo?"

The second Jack had stumbled off of Dojo and half into Raimundo and Clay's arms, he'd shrunk to his more portable size and was looking around. His head turned with such speed that the Monks were worried he was going to hurt his neck.

"This way- Wait, no- Yes- wait!" Dojo skittered about quickly, changing his mind on direction before zipping off in his final decision. "This way, this way, this way!" He shouted. The Monks booked it, Clay and Raimundo dropping Jack as they followed Dojo.

It was a bit harder to keep up with Dojo, especially since this time around he didn't contrast as well with the landscape, but soon enough the entire group grinded to a halt.

They all stared ahead, but only Dojo had any real idea just who they were seeing. Tucked carefully between rocks, on a small island in the middle of the river, the Imo Gazer dully shone in the afternoon sun. On the other side of the river however, stood someone else. Someone Dojo had never expected to meet.

-

Thank you to my Beta reader Dragonnutt!

This chapter wasn't to action packed, but the next one promises to be.
besides, long fics need character interactions and development just as much as they need action.