Chapter 44: Trekkies and Wayward Wu

A late holiday gift to you all! XD

So, I'm really excited for the next chapter, because we finally, FINALLY, start getting answers for Valerie's powers and what they could eventually become. I mean, we won't fully get answers until the chapter after that, but still, it's the beginning.

Anyway, on with the chapter!

Having finished their chores for the time being, Kimiko and Valerie decided to relax and enjoy some downtime in the courtyard. Kimiko was on her PDA, typing away- probably messaging her friend in Japan or something. Valerie was enjoying yet another book. After finally, finally finishing the latest book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, she could finally start on a new book series, this one about Greek demigods in New York City.

"Hey, Val," Kimiko suddenly piped up. "Can I ask you a question?"

Her eyes flicking over the top of the page, Valerie said, "You just did."

"Jerk."

"And yet you love me anyway."

Kimiko rolled her eyes and failed to suppress a smile. "Seriously though, you know how much you love reading?"

"What of it?"

"You ever considered writing your own books?"

Valerie gently set the book in her lap, staring at Kimiko. "The thought has crossed my mind a few times. Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Yes, actually, I am." Kimiko smirked and help up her PDA. Eyeing the screen, Valerie thought it was an IM chat or a text message, but in reality it was a log book, with links and files of Shen Gong Wu and all the Xiaolin monks' adventures.

"How long have you been keeping this?" Valerie asked curiously.

"Since the beginning," she answered proudly. "I wanted to make a blog about it, but I never had the time. And let's face it, while these adventures are awesome, they're kind of…" Kimiko searched for the right word.

"Fantastical?" Valerie offered, amused.

"Yeah, fantastical," Kimiko agreed, nodding her head. "So, would you write about it?"

"I don't know," she admitted, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, I have tried writing before, but I never thought about actually making a career out of it. I always figured that I would become a translator or something."

"Considering you know, like, twenty languages, that's a pretty good job for you," Kimiko said, nodding her head in agreement.

Valerie rolled her eyes. "I know, like, eight."

"What about Chinese?"

She pursed her lips. "Chinese is difficult, and I'm barely improving. You know that."

"Okay, but weren't you speaking another language earlier? I thought I heard you practicing it."

Valerie cursed under her breath. That was supposed to be a secret. She had woken up early in the mornings for the past several weeks in order to learn Portuguese. It was a much easier tongue than Chinese, since it was a Romance language, and it would be another notch on the belt of her language arsenal.

"I'm not proficient in it yet," Valerie admitted. "I'm still learning both the European and Brazilian versions."

A sly smile overtook Kimiko's pretty features. "Brazil…?"

"I thought we were discussing the possibility of our Xiaolin adventures becoming a book series," she said flatly.

"Fine, fine," she said dismissively, but it was clear that Kimiko was going to make her talk about it later, whether Valerie wanted to or not. "So, would you write a book about all this?"

Valerie mulled it over a bit before answering. "Well, it's no lie that the Xiaolin experience is pretty out of this world and would make a great show and-or book series. Probably one with a decent-sized fandom. But I don't have a lot of confidence with my current writing skills… I'll think about it, okay?"

"Sure thing," Kimiko said, nodding. "And I got all the files if you need 'em."

Valerie gave her a fond smile. "Don't I know it."

Heavy footsteps suddenly bounded to them. Both girls looked up to see the guys, panting and slightly sweaty. "Finished up for the day?" Kimiko asked, eyeing them.

Raimundo and Clay collapsed to the ground. "Man, I am dog tired," the cowboy complained as he flapped his hat.

"Were your chores that bad?" the Asian girl asked anxiously.

"No, we just had to clean the obstacle course and parts of the training grounds," Raimundo reassured her. "The problem is, Omi accidentally set them all off in the middle of it."

"I said I was sorry!"

"I'm sure you are," Clay said, trying to placate a fuming Omi. "But next time, don't let the axes swing near my hat." Kimiko and Valerie had to laugh at Omi's indignant expression.

"So, what were you guys doing?" Raimundo asked amiably.

"Oh, just talking about the new book Valerie was reading," Kimiko said smoothly. Valerie shot her a grateful look.

"Oh yeah?" He eyed the cover curiously. "What's it about?"

She held it up. "Greek demigods in New York City. Total fantasy set in a real life location."

"I'm more a sci-fi guy myself," Clay said glibly.

Kimiko perked up at that. "Really? What kind?"

"The original Star Trek."

"Yeeeeesssss," Kim, Rai, and Val all said at the same time. The three looked at each other, confused.

"I thought you were a Doctor Who fan," Kimiko stated, confused.

"I can be both," Valerie pointed out. "And I would've pegged you as more a Tron kind of girl."

"Good guess," Kimiko nodded approvingly. Both girls turned to Rai.

"What?" Raimundo blushed. "That show had the best actors."

"Very true," both girls agreed amiably.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Omi snapped, still angry from earlier.

"We really need to catch you up on pop culture," Valerie groaned.

"Oh, like you're one to talk," Kimiko teased good-naturedly.

"Hey, I at least know enough to get by in the modern world."

"True."

"Seriously, what is Star Trek?" Omi interjected again, this time with slightly less bite.

"Space, the final frontier," Clay began, his voice low and melodramatic.

"These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise," the four of them recited to Omi in their most serious tones. "Its five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." And then the four of them warbled the rest of the opening in the most exaggerated, off-tune way possible, right before dissolving into laughter.

"Who would have thought we'd all be Trekkies?" Clay said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Hey, you learn something new every day," Valerie said, grinning.

And then they heard it cutting through the wind, the sound of Dojo screaming. "Well, what do you know, you're right," Raimundo said as the five of them ran towards the Temple.

"Dojo, what's the matter?" Kimiko asked the lizard once they arrived. The poor reptile was hyperventilating and shaking like a leaf.

"Either I got a hold of some bad sushi, or something's happening to the Shen Gong Wu." Dojo pointed to the building on top of the Shen Gong Wu vault. A green tractor beam was shooting out of the ceiling window, picking up Shen Gong Wu and sending them into the sky.

"That's pretty weird," Raimundo commented. "Even for Wu."

Suddenly the Sword of the Storm and the Ruby of Ramses glowed yellow, and they flew into the air to join the rest of their brethren. "Why were those Wu just lying around anyway?" Valerie had to ask. "They could've been stolen or something."

And then Omi screamed, the Star Hanabi in his hand suddenly lifting him off the ground. Clay ran after him, saying, "Hold on, partner!" and grabbing his legs. "I gotcha!" Clay said as he was lifted off the ground.

"And I got you, big guy!" Raimundo cried out, grabbing onto the cowboy's ankles. And then his pants flew into Rai's face as he too was lifted into the air.

At that point Kimiko had joined the link. Valerie made a grab for Kimiko and tried to tether them all to the ground, but it was to no avail. Whatever was possessing the Shen Gong Wu was simply too powerful for mere mortals to stop.

"Omi, let go!" Valerie shouted as she too was sent floating into the air. Dojo grabbed at her feet and soon joined them, slowly soaring higher and higher into the open sky.

And then they suddenly all fell to the ground, landing in a great big heap. Valerie got up on her knees and shook her head, stars circling around her eyes.

"Dojo, dude," Raimundo said flatly. "How come you didn't just fly?"

"Good idea. Just a little late!" Dojo snapped. Clay just took his pants from off his head.

Inside the Shen Gong Wu Vault

A holographic picture was hovering over the giant incense pot. It showed a yellow solar system, with all the planets aligning in a perfectly straight line. It was almost like an eerie web broadcast NASA would have sent out.

"The planets have aligned themselves as they do once every thousand years," Master Fung said in his sage-like voice.

Raimundo put a finger under his nose and slicked his hair back old man style. "Once every thousand years," he parroted back. His hair quickly returned to normal. "That can only mean bad news."

The Wu the Xiaolin side had collected so far replaced the holographic solar system. "The Shen Gong Wu will act on their own and will travel the Earth until they find each other. Once they have, they will form Mala Mala Jong."

"I knew it! Bad news!" Rai crowed.

"And this just has to happen when we're the Xiaolin Dragons," Valerie griped.

Omi thrust his head into the hologram, disrupting it and turning it back into incense. "HA! I am not afraid! I defeated Mala Mala Jong before!"

Master Fung gently sent Omi's head back with his pointer finger. "This time Mala Mala Jong will be far more powerful."

"And I'm guessing he has the Tiger Claws, so we can't use the original plan," Valerie said dryly.

"Not only the Golden Tiger Claws, but it will be made of many more Shen Gong Wu," the master agreed. "He will not rest until he has found them all and realized its destiny to become…the Fearsome Four."

At that point, the hologram was working again. And this time it showed four Mala Mala Jongs terrorizing world-renown cities and burning people alive. "Mala Mala must not be allowed to form," Master Fung warned ominously. "You must work together to wisely use your individual elements."

Determined, Omi vowed, "I promise you, we will defeat this evil together, even if I have to do it by myself!" He stood on the rim of the pot and punched the holographic demon apart. Unfortunately, with the force of his attack, he then lost his balance and fell into the incense pot.

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "'Even if I have to do it by myself'? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of defeating evil together?"

"Oh, you know how the little guy is," Clay said dismissively. "He means well in the end."

"And how many times has his 'mean wells' bit him on the ass?"

"Dude, he's a kid," Raimundo told her. "Cut him some slack."

"I will once he starts learning from his mistakes," Valerie sighed, crossing her arms.

In an abandoned fortress, on an island in Europe

The island had been abandoned for a long, long time. The soil was darker than night, with a layer of gray dust over the top. The trees were bare of any foliage, their limbs curling inwards like claws. A heavy fog permeated the air; Valerie couldn't see ten feet in front of her for the life of her.

Not only that, but it was kind of cold too. Wearing nothing but khaki shorts, sneakers, and her short-sleeved purple polo shirt with a thick green stripe across her chest, she could feel the hairs on her arms standing up. At least her loose waist-length brown hair offered a little in the way of warmth. Valerie eyed Kimiko in her sleeveless, frilly blue and black dress. How was she not cold? Was it her dark blue tights and knee high boots? Did that offer protection?

"This place is creepier than Auntie May giving herself a sponge bath," Clay suddenly said as he eyed the foreboding mountain on the island.

"Ewwww," said Kimiko, wincing.

Valerie wrinkled her nose. "Didn't need the mental image, Clay."

"I say we spread out," Omi declared. "We will cover more dirt." He then coughed and waved his arms, trying to dispel some of the growing fog.

"First to find anything will call out for the others," Raimundo added.

"Dojo, what do you think?" Kimiko asked the reptile.

"I dunno," he admitted. "I'm still thinking about Auntie May's sponge bath." Everyone decided to split up anyways.

Unfortunately, splitting up had proved fruitless, so a couple hours later showed the young Dragons climbing up the mountain. Omi was the first to get up there, and Valerie quickly lost sight of his bulbous yellow head.

Once she set foot at the top, Valerie went to searching for the wayward Shen Gong Wu. She and the others quickly surveyed the nearby crevices hidden in the mountain, along with any caves and cracks in the ground.

"Hey, has anyone seen Omi?" Raimundo piped up in the middle of the search.

"Yeah, he's been gone a while," Kimiko agreed.

"Normally he'd jump at the chance to find the Shen Gong Wu." Clay scratched his head in thought.

"Maybe he did and went on ahead," Valerie said, her eyes scanning another crevice.

"But Master Fung said we had to work as a team!" Kimiko said incredulously.

"He also said he could do it on his own."

"…He's gone after Mala Mala Jong himself, hasn't he." Dojo stated.

"Goddamn it!" Raimundo swore as Clay face palmed.

And then they heard the sounds of footsteps echoing through one of the nearby caves. All of them prepared for an attack, muscles tense and feet spread out and waiting to pounce. However, it wasn't an enemy that appeared out of the darkness; it was Omi, rubbing his aching head and sporting new bruises.

And then they heard the sounds of something flying overhead. It was too small and too close to be an airplane. Valerie turned her head to see the fiery green trail in the sky Mala Mala Jong left behind as the demon left the island.

"Omi, what happened?" Kimiko demanded to know.

"I am afraid…uh… Mala Mala Jong has come to life," Omi stammered out nervously.

"Yeah, that's kind of obvious, seeing as he just flew away," Valerie snapped, frustrated.

"I can't believe we got here too late," Raimundo said despondently. He stared at the ground as his shoulders sagged.

"Aw, man, I feel more embarrassed than a mule at the Kentucky derby," Clay whimpered, sounding like he was about to cry.

Valerie took a deep, calming breath and said, "No use crying about it now. Let's go back to the Temple and ask Master Fung what to do next."

Back at the Temple

"According to the Scroll, the rise of Mala Mala Jong will allow a new Shen Gong Wu to be revealed." Master Fung laid down the Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu and the moving picture revealed the newest talisman. "It is called the Emperor Scorpion. Whoever possesses it will have control over all Shen Gong Wu. If we can find it, we can use it to break Mala Mala Jong apart before it turns into the Fearsome Four."

Raimundo threw his hands up into the air. "Excellent! Great ending, and not too long. Dragged a little in the middle though."

"Don't get too excited Raimundo," Kimiko admonished him. "Here comes the bad part." The two of them looked expectantly at Master Fung.

'If the Emperor Scorpion falls into the wrong hands, the Fearsome Four will be unstoppable. This will be our only chance to save the world from certain destruction."

Raimundo put his face in his hands. "Why does there always have to be a bad part?"

"Because we're the good guys hunting magical artifacts that can determine the fate of the world," Valerie pointed out. "There's a certain logic to all this."

"She's got a point," Clay stated.

As the others left to get ready for their next task, Valerie lagged behind. She faced Fung and said quietly, "We need to tell them."

"About your true purpose here?" Fung raised an eyebrow. "Have they begun to question your role among the Xiaolin Dragons?"

"Well, no," she admitted, "but they might figure it out soon enough. I mean, the Fearsome Four fighting against the five Xiaolin Dragons? Come on, anybody with enough genre savviness can see I'm the odd one out."

Master Fung pondered that. "While it is true that a Greek element does not belong among Chinese ones, it would now seem odd for the Dragon of Aether to not be a Dragon Element. The others have long since accepted you."

"I wonder about that," Valerie muttered bitterly. Louder, she asked, "Okay then, how would you explain this?" A purple shield suddenly surrounded her, becoming a dome that covered her body and a few feet of space around her.

For a moment, Master Fung looked taken aback, but then he walked up the sheer violet shield and knocked on it. "It feels like metal," he noted as the dome fizzled apart and Valerie sagged against the table. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said as she stood on shaky legs. "Why is it that I can fight with my powers, but when I use it for defense or something else entirely I suddenly lose energy?"

"Offense and defense require different types of focus," Fung explained gently. "Since you already have a strong enough focus in your fighting style, it may be prudent for you to develop defense skills with your powers. We can begin practice once Mala Mala Jong has been defeated."

"It would have been nice to know all that before I started experimenting with my powers," Valerie muttered as her hand glowed white. It then faded to purple, and the energy spiraled around her arm like vines around a tree branch before she forced it to dissolve.

"To be perfectly honest, I was not sure how your powers would manifest," the master admitted. "There are more notes and logs about how the other Dragons could possibly use their powers. The elder monks have a good idea what to expect of them. But because the Dragon of Aether is so elusive, we cannot say for certain how your powers would act this time around."

"Is there anything you can tell me?" Valerie's voice took on a note of desperation that she hated to hear.

"Aether is light, and therefore energy," Master Fung explained. "It is in everything, from the trees to the air, to the oceans to the very earth itself. It is life energy, and it is the pure essence that the Greek gods breathed. It is the missing fifth element, sought after by medieval alchemists."

Valerie blinked, desperate to latch onto some form of logic and dissect it, to create an argument that she could make sense of. "But… alchemy is a failed science. Everything you said are just theories that may or may not be true at all."

"And what are theories if they are not possibilities?"

"I don't understand."

"Fire, water, earth, and wind have been a part of the world for ages," Master Fung explained. "We know what those elements are capable of. Aether is the elusive fifth element that is only excluded because its existence cannot be perceived. There are so many theories for Aether that we cannot possibly pinpoint how your powers will manifest. Do you not understand, Valerie?" he suddenly insisted with some force. "There are so many possibilities for you that there is no one way to train your powers. We can only wait and see."

"Bloody hell," Valerie said quietly. Everything suddenly seemed too bright, and her legs didn't seem like they could hold her up for much longer. Leaning heavily against the table, she had to ask one more question. "If I'm such a wild card, wouldn't it be extremely important to tell my friends this? What if my powers fully manifest in a way that poses a danger to them? They have the right to know."

"They do," Fung agreed, "but they will fear you in the meantime, possibly distance themselves from you until we know for certain what you are capable of."

"You don't know that," Valerie protested, but her voice faltered.

"I don't, but I do not wish to risk it." Master Fung suddenly looked so sad, his eyes glossing over. "Dashi used to think that Chase would never betray him, but he did. I am not going to risk something like that with you."

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed heavily. "I understand," she said in as strong a voice as she could muster. She started to walk out of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an evil demon to stop."

"We'll talk more about your training after you defeat him," the master said, a soft smile on his face.

The other possibilities and theories Master Fung talks about actually refers to aether theories in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, not just Ancient Greek. I mean, Val's powers are still heavily influenced by Ancient Greece, but there's so much more to it than that. I mean, when you look up aether, the classical element, on Wikipedia, there's a reason why the links at the end of the page include dark matter and light energy. XP

So, thoughts anyone?