It was a beautiful day and two of the monks had sneaked off for a private picnic on Mt. Hong. Jack had taken every precaution to make sure that his date with Kimiko wasn't disturbed. He had two of his robots posing as them back at the temple while the rest of his Jackbots set up a perfect picnic lunch which included, a red checkered table cloth, candles, and all of Kimiko's favorite foods ranging from sushi to calamari. He had even procured some wine although it was a small glass because they were underage. "What do you think? Did I out do myself or what?"
"Jack this is to perfect! The food, the candles, your Jackbots serenading us with music. Even the new outfit my mom sent me makes this seem like a dream come true," Kimiko exclaimed as she smoothed out her sky blue dress with a red sailor collar. Her black boots with red heels complimented her perfectly. Giggling with delight she sampled some of the calamari. "Hmm this is scrumptious! How did you get fresh squid?"
"That's my little secrete. Would it surprise you if I made the whole lunch by myself? Well except for the desert, that I had Callie bake. Her culinary skills are more advanced then mine," he told her bringing out a scrumptious strawberry shortcake.
"You don't give yourself enough credit Jack. I know that you still think you have to prove yourself to me, but you don't. I love you for you isn't that enough?" Kimiko asked sipping some of her wine.
"Considering my track record I think I do. Look at my past Kimiko. We met when I tried to take the Mantis Flip Coin from you guys. I kidnapped you for crying out loud! How am I ever supposed to make up for doing that? I love you so much Kimiko, but until I prove to myself I've made up for past deeds I'm going to keep showering you with gifts okay?"
"Personally I wouldn't waste my time with picnic lunches, I would just take what's mine," a voice said from behind them. The two monks turned around quickly to see who was intruding on their private lunch.
Heylin Jack and Heylin Kimiko were casually sitting on top of a boulder studying them as if they were lab specimens. They were holding hands and laughing at some joke between them. "What? Did you really think you could keep your location from us? All we had to was access the link and we found you!" Heylin Kimiko told them seductively.
"What do you two want? Because if you decided to crash our date your in for a serious butt kicking!" Kimiko snapped readying herself for battle.
"Oh you'll see soon enough what we want. Until then, why don't we dance?" Heylin Kimiko said smiling evilly. Snapping her fingers the flames on the candles erupted showering sparks everywhere. The Xiaolin Warriors barely managed to roll out of the way as their picnic lunch was consumed in flames.
"Do you have any idea how long I worked on making that lunch perfect? You're going to pay. Jackbots attack!" Jack ordered sending his robots in for a frontal assault. Heylin Jack just grinned and snapped his fingers. The two Jackbots crumpled to pieces as their metal frames blew apart. "Grr. I forgot you could control natural sources of metal."
"Some genius you are, is it any wonder you can't beat anyone in combat training? Let's see how you handle weapons fight. Shadow Shield!"
"Shadow Arrows!"
"Magnetic Grip! Olaf Shield Metal!"
"Cat's Eye Draco! Arrow Sparrow Fire!"
The four attacks met in midair causing an explosion big enough to be seen from the Temple. The monks down below looked up to see what was causing such a racket and took notice that Mt. Hong seemed to be splitting in half!
Back on the mountain the four warriors were battling in hand-to-hand combat. Kimiko seemed to be handling her double pretty well. She managed to land a few hits and tossed her oppunent into Heylin Jack who'd been using his invulnerability to defeat Jack. "I think you two better leave and go back to your Empress and your Master before we really put a hurt on you," she taunted.
"We're not the ones that are going to be hurting. Observe!" Heylin Kimiko told them. The evil Dragon transformed herself into pure fire and soared into the air and attacked Kimiko forcing her into a corner. Jack yelled and ran after her, but the flames were too intense.
"Now watch as we take down the most precious thing in your world!" Heylin Jack told him counterpart as he shifted into a ball of steel. With Heylin Kimiko using her telekinesis she aimed the projectile right at her counterpart's head striking her with such force and velocity she went down hard.
The two Heylin Dragons returned to the normal shapes laughing hard. "Hmm. Doesn't look like the Dragon of Fire has much of a spark in her! To bad her wimpy Dragon of Metal couldn't protect her from harm. Oh well maybe he'll do better next time," Heylin Kimiko chuckled. Her eyes flashed bright red for a second before both of them disappeared into the shadows.
"KIMIKO! MY GOD KIMIKO! Speak to me Kimiko, come on wake up please," Jack begged as he cradled his girlfriend in his arms. She didn't stir at all and big bruise was starting to form on her head. Activating his heliopack he flew as fast as he could to the Xiaolin Temple.
An hour later he and the rest of the monks were waiting outside the infirmary for any news on Kimiko. Nobody had said anything about Jack's indiscretion or mentioned anything about the Heylin Dragons. Although all of them wondered what the attack had been about.
Everyone looked up as Master Fung and Dojo exited the room. Jack looked up from where he had been crying waiting for the shoe to drop. "Well how is she?"
"She suffered some minor burns, which I was able to treat. However the blow to the head was another matter. She suffered a serious concussion. It will take a few days for the swelling to go down and until then her conscience mind will remain suppressed. The best thing we can do for her right now is allow her to rest undisturbed," Master Fung explained.
"So in other words no loud noises, no sneaking in to see the patient, and we try to keep the battling to a minimum. We don't want her to get worse and then end up in a hospital. I'll be keeping an eye on Kimiko so I don't expect any interruptions from you. Now if you excuse me, Dr. Dojo has a patient he needs to tend to," Dojo told them before slinking back into the infirmary.
"This is all my fault! If I had been stronger or faster I could have helped her! If she dies it's going to be my fault!" Jack moaned.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Jack. You could hardly be blamed for what happened. It's not like you asked to attacked while on a secret date," Lu pointed out.
"Yeah stuff like this is bound to happen. The important thing is both of you got back here with your lives. Isn't that what's important?" Raimundo asked.
"I still wonder why Heylin Jack and Kimiko attacked you. I mean what was their motive? It couldn't be to kill you two because they need us alive in order to become truly alive," Auara rationalized.
"Who cares? I need to find those two and make them pay for what they did to Kimiko. No one attacks my girlfriend and makes a fool out of me!" Jack growled. He started heading outside when Stacey stopped him.
"Where do you think your going? Do you really think going to the Nilyeh City and beating the living daylights out of your Heylin half will help Kimiko? Right now the best thing to do is stay calm and try to figure out the reason behind their attack."
"Reason? What reason do they need they're evil! They don't care about who they harm as long as they do! I can't let this go, I need to make them suffer like Kimiko's suffering!"
"Jack that is enough! A Xiaolin Warrior must never strike back in anger or revenge. If you do you and everyone you care about will suffer, not just your intend victim. I know that you feel responsible for what happened, but you are not," Master Fung told him sternly.
"Of course if he hadn't decide to take the afternoon off for a romantic getaway this might not have happened. I know I would never put Crystal in danger by leaving the Temple for a secret date. Only you would have been dumb enough to do that," Omi pointed out.
"Omi! That was way over the line! Say your sorry this instant!" Crystal shouted and smacking him upside the head.
"Forget it! I'm out of here! If no one wants me around I'll just leave!" Jack shouted trying to hold back tears. He started to run off when Master Fung grabbed his hand and whispered something in his ear. After he finished he let the boy go. A few minutes later they heard Jack's air car flying away.
"Yo, what was that all about? Why'd you let him jet off like that?" Jermaine asked confused.
"Yeah Master Fung, he's more angry then a three ton bull charging a rival after going after his mate," Clay said.
"It would seem unwise to let Jack go off on his on in light of the recent attack unless you did so for a reason," Dagwood pointed out.
"Like maybe telling him to on a quest? We certainly haven't had enough of those lately," Callie said
"I did send Jack on a quest, but no one of personal discovery. Before the disturbance Dojo sensed a Shen Gong Wu activating. It is the Babel Stone. It allows the user to read, write, and speak any language or dialect. Pretty useful in traveling."
"Yeah, but with our gift of tongues why would we need it?" Omi asked. He then looked up at everyone seeing his or her confusion. It was then he realized he was speaking his native Mandarin and not English.
"Yo homme, what's with the mes'd slang. The Grav Drag can't get a word of knowledge out of your mouth. What! Why I'm speaking my tongue?" Jermaine asked confused. Every other word out of his mouth was slang. He couldn't speak plain English.
Everyone soon discovered they were unable to hold a conversation in anything, but their native tongue. Those who shared the same language found other difficulties. Clay could only speak in metaphors, Jermaine in slang, and while Dagwood was a native English speaker his speech was mixed with words from Cherokee. They tried to read and write in other languages, but it was gibberish to everyone else. Even Crystal, who was the most talented when it came to languages, couldn't understand them. However she did know what was going on.
Whistling loudly she had everyone look at her. Knowing it would be hard for them to understand her she drew a diagram on the floor and made some gestures. Finally after fifteen minutes of struggling they got it. They were suffering from aphasia, a medical condition when a blow to the brain temporally causes a person unable to communicate in anything, but gibberish. Somehow the Heylin Side must have done something to them to cause this, but for what reason?
"This is most troubling. With none of us able to communicate with one another there is no unity between us. We will be vulnerable to attack and the emergency chi bubble will be weakened. It draws strength from those with Elemental abilities, but only if they can unite. Still partial protection is better then none," Master Fung said in Greek. Clutching the Xiaowei Dragon Star he activated its power. The monks watched in confusion as the Chi Bubble surrounded them, but it seemed weaker then before.
Watching from Mt. Hong were all of the Heylin Dragons, the Royal Heylin Family, and Chase Young with his cats. "The plan is working perfectly. The Chi Bubble is weak because it can't draw strength from the monks. Even their emergency crystals will only help for so long. Once we bring the bubble down the Temple is ours for the taking," Valonia said.
"We owe a great deal of thanks to Chase. If he hadn't come up with this plan we would still be twiddling our thumbs trying to figure out what to do," Wuya purred.
"It was simple really. Once you realize the key to the Xiaolin Side victory is ensured. Without Kimiko's brilliant mind abilities we would have no way to cause the aphasia. It was a stroke of genius for her to use her counterparts life less body to act like an amplifier for her telepathic gifts," Chase remarked stroking his cat's head.
"Yeah, once Kimiko was out like a light all I had to do was use her brain to amplify my powers enough for me to go inside each of the monks brain and mentally insert the aphasia virus. Its so effective that I doubt they'll ever be able to access their gift of languages again!" Heylin Kimiko remarked.
"Shall we begin the attack now or do we have to wait here like holes in the street?" Heylin Omi demanded. No one bother to correct them as they made their way down the hill to begin the attack.
Arriving on site the Heylin forces looked at the protective barrier with amusement. No longer did it glow with a brilliant bluish-white light ready to defend its contents from anyone foolish enough to attack it. The glow was a muted gray and it was thinner then ever. The Heylin forces could peer inside and see the monks watching them with trepidation. Valonia confidently laid a hand on the barrier and pushed forward. Immediately the barrier pushed back sending her back at least five feet, but it didn't burn her. "The barrier is only at half strength! It can only hold out for two hours before it collapses. Let's see if we can't help quicken the pace,"
"Gladly Grandmother, let's see how it handles double the trouble," Heylin Raimundo said creating a duplicate. Both boys grinned savagely and raised their hands before sending a massive energy blast at the barrier. The barrier absorbed the energy, but it didn't send it back.
"All Heylin Dragons, attack on my command with your special gifts! Let's tear this thing to shreds!" Heylin Lu ordered. On the count of three she unleashed a full blown warped attack trying to blow up the barrier.
When that didn't work it Heylin Omi tried to phase through disrupting the power flow while at the same time Heylin Kimiko tried to tear it apart with telekinesis. Heylin Clay possessed his girlfriend so they could assault the barrier together with their Heylin attacks. Heylin Jack, Jermaine, and Crystal used their weapons to try and create a hole in the bubble, but it didn't work. It continued to put up a fight even when Heylin Stacey, Auara, and Dagwood came at it from different sides with their special gifts. The barrier shook and crackled, but did not fall.
"Perhaps my students need a helping hand. Jungle Cats claw that chi bubble up!" Chase ordered. With a mighty roar the jungle cats pounced on the barrier swiping their claws again and again at the chi bubble. It shook and sparked, but it refused to fall.
Inside the barrier the monks could only watch in horror as their only protection faltered once more from another attack. "Those no good scoundrels are trying to burn the barn down and cause the horses to run scared!" Clay exclaimed.
"I don't know what you just said dude, but I have to agree with it. We need to do something otherwise were all going to be pledging our allegiance to Chase and Valonia!" Raimundo spat.
"Master Fung will the Shen Gong Wu still work for us? I mean they usually only work if were speaking in English," Dagwood asked urgently as he eyed Chase using his own dark powers causing the entire Temple to shake.
Master Fung looked at him completely confused. He understood his name, and Shen Gong Wu, but that was all. He let out a growl of frustration. He couldn't protect his students, and the most powerful magical devises as well as the most powerful force in the universe was about to fall into evil hands. This was not his day.
Dojo came slithering in the Main Hall with a wild look in his eyes. He was screaming loudly and the bandages he was carrying went flying all over the place. "What the heck is going on here? Can't you guys see I'm tending to a critical patient? What? Why am I talking in dragon? Oh no don't tell me the Heylin Forces gave us aphasia and now were under attack!"
"Dojo! You have to go back and protect Kimiko! If the Chi Bubble fails she'll be completely defenseless! At least with you guarding her she'll have the essence of Dashi offering her some protection," Crystal pleaded to the little dragon. When he didn't immediately head back to the Infirmary she picked up that little dragon and hurled him back the way he came. Sight she added, "At least Kimiko will be okay."
"I get that your talking about Kimiko, but right now we have bigger problems. Unless Jack finds that Babel Stone and get back here soon we won't ever be able to understand one another. Not that we have much time left as it is!" Lu shouted at the top of her lungs. While they couldn't understand everything one another was saying names and proper names of Shen Gong Wu could break the barrier.
"Even if we call him up on the Xiaolin Phone he won't be able to understand us at all! I doubt the Heylin Forces would have let him leave if they didn't think he was as useless as we are," Stacey pointed out angrily.
"The Chi Bubble is coming down! We don't have time to find a way to communicate with Jack. We're on our own. This is our last stand," Auara replied in Arabic.
"If we aren't counting on Jack to help us then we best hope our weapons, elemental guards, and Shen Gong Wu will. At least we were smart enough to hide the three conduits to protect our powers. Let's go greet our guest shall we?" Callie suggested putting on her Mystic Ward and clutching her Shiva Lance in one hand while her other held the Shroud of Shadows. The other were also armed similarly. Together they all bravely marched out to the courtyard to await their faith as they Royal Heylin Family poured all their power into the barrier.
The second the barrier went down they were ready for any attack. The monks didn't wait for the Heylin Dragons to make a move. With an angry cry they all launched themselves into battle not realizing someone was watching them from the inside of the Temple. This person quickly realized what was going on and went to find the one person who could help them.
Meanwhile with Jack, instead of heading to Ireland to pick up the Babel Stone he had gone shopping for heavy-duty robot parts. He had assembled an entire fleet of super Jackbots. He was flying towards the Nilyeh City ready to destroy them for harming Kimiko. "No one messes with my girlfriend and gets away with it! Those evil dragons will pay for hurting her so badly!"
Suddenly his air car shook violently as something impacted it. Another impact to the engine blew it to bits. Smoke started to fill the cabin as the car nose-dived towards the ground. A small squadron of Jackbots tried to fix the engine in mid-flight, but were also destroyed by what looked like fireballs. Jack closed his eyes fearing the end when a cushion of heat brought the wrecked craft safely to the ground. Coughing up a storm Jack pulled himself free from the wreckage, he brandished his weapons ready for another attack. "Whoever you are come out right now!"
He heard footsteps approaching. He looked around furiously, but the smoke was hiding the person in the darkness. Squinting he could make out the outline of someone approaching and this person had a definite feminine outline. Thinking it was a Heylin witch he let out an attack, "Wudai Asteroid Metal!" The scrap pieces of metal from his air car arched into the air and dive-bombed his attacker.
There was a bright reddish orange flash of light and his metal pieces fell to the ground smoldering. Jack looked at them at disbelief as his attacker stepped into the light. It was Chakra! "I've been looking for you Jack. We need to talk, now" She told him her hands on her tainto.
"You attack me? How did you bring my air car down? Never mind that why did you attack me! I thought we were allies! Your workings with those Heylin bastards aren't you! If I can't take my revenge on them for hitting Kimiko then you'll suffice! Magnetic Grip, Olaf Shield Metal!" he shouted flinging his discus shaped shield at her. The magical weapon gained an extra metallic protection as it neared its target.
Chakra ducked out of the way and used her own weapon. "Star of Fate!" The mystical blade soared through the air striking the center of the shield and pinning it the ground. Holding out her hand the blade flew back to her hands as the shield went back to Jack. "Are you so filled with a desire of revenge you would attack a fellow warrior blindly? I am your friend Jack not your enemy!"
"All those who get in my way of taking my revenge are my enemies! Get out of my way or so help me I'll force you!" Jack cried. With tears streaming down his face he rushed her intending to pummel her.
Chakra waited until he was an arm length away before snatching his arm and twisting it behind him. He let out a yelp of pain before trying to punch her with his other hand. She blocked and swept his feet out from under him. She waited for him to recover and the next time he attack she use a series of quick jabs to render him helpless. "Don't you see what's become of you? Your letting anger control your movements allowing me to easily break through your defenses! As long as you attack in blind rage, you will lose! You need to give up this quest for revenge now or all will be lost!"
"Why?! You know nothing about revenge! My entire body is screaming out for those of who wronged me to feel the pain I feel! The anger, resentment, the failure for protecting my love! How can I ever prove I'm good and not evil unless I take my revenge!"
"Your wrong about that, I know plenty about revenge. My entire life has been about revenge!" Chakra yelled at him startling him. He looked at her wide eyed as she continued, "For centuries now, the only thing that has kept me going is my desire for revenge, revenge against the person who destroyed my family and ruined my life! This desire has nearly become an obsession! My entire life has been consumed by this obsession until I realized what it had cost me: My friends, my love, and my self-respect. This mission of revenge was one of the main reasons I had to give up the most important person in my life! The only reason I have not given up this mad quest is because of the curse placed on me! I can never be free of it unless I finish this quest."
"I take no pleasure in my lot in life. Revenge ruined my life and killing the person responsible for it may free me of the curse, but I won't take any joy in doing it! I may have killed people who were pure evil for the Order of Concordia, but I took no satisfaction in it at all. Revenge is never the answer Jack. It only leads to an endless cycle of pain and regret. The true solution to your problem is life. Right now your friends need your help to preserve their life."
"What are you talking about? My friends are okay aren't they?"
"Why don't you ask her and learn for yourself what has been happening while you've been trying to fill your thirst for revenge," Chakra said pointing over his shoulder. The albino boy turned and smiled happily as he saw Kimiko racing towards him.
"KIMIKO! Oh Kimiko I'm so glad that you're okay! I was so worried about you when Master Fung said you had a concussion," Jack said hugging her tightly.
"It's nice to see you to Jack, but I'm not Kimiko. I'm Holo-Kimiko. Remember you were finishing my upgrades for a portable emitter for my holo matrix before you left for that picnic? Well I finished it for you and was coming to tell you when I saw the rest of the monks being attacked by the Heylin Forces! That evil clone of me used her mental powers to give everyone aphasia! Now they can't fight together because they don't understand a word anyone's saying. It was thanks to my advance language program that I was able to deduce what they were saying and find you! The only way to win this battle is the Babel Stone! You did get the stone didn't you?"
"I ugh actually HK I didn't..'"
"Yes, he did. It's right here," Chakra said placing a large gray stone in his hand. There were stripes of gold with little lettering on them going around the stone. He mouthed a thank you to her. "Now come with me you two. I got my own mode of transportation to get us to the Xiaolin Temple at Warp 9!"
Back at the Temple the monks were struggling against their magical bonds while Master Fung was being interrogated about the location of the Xiaowei Dragon Star. The other two conduits had been found and now the most important one was nowhere to be found. "Tell me where the Dragon Star is old man and I'll spare your life. I let you become the servant to the Heylin Dragons after I make them whole," Meribor threatened trying to break him with her mental powers.
"No matter what you do to me you will never find the Xiaowei Dragon Star. I have faith that my students and I will still be rescued."
"Ha! If you believe that an idiot like Jack Spicer can be the hero of the day your loony then I thought! Jack's so blinded by his desire for revenge he'll destroy himself!" Wuya laughed.
"Not anymore I'm not!" A voice shouted followed by a whizzing sound in the air. The Heylin Forces had only enough time to look up as the Olaf Shield knocked against their hands. They were still rubbing the sore spots when a helicopter landed in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone starred in disbelief as Jack, Holo-Kimiko, and Chakra disembarked. "I no longer have any desire for revenge Wuya. Someone very important taught me that revenge is never the answer that life is! So I'm fighting for the life of my friends!"
"So Spicer how do you plan to save the lives of your fellow monks? By yourself," Chase challenged mentally ordering his cats not to attack Chakra should a battle break out.
"Nah, I got help right here. Holo-Kimiko! Program 12A!" Jack ordered as he slipped her the Babel Stone.
She grinned widely. "I hope you enjoy singing! I call this number 'The Call of the Dragons!' La, La, Xiaolin Dragons I free you of your curse! Babel Stone!" Holo-Kimiko shouted in every language at super speed. The stone glowed bright yellow. The gold stripes soared off the stone and into the mouths of the other monks curing them at the same time freeing them.
The Heylin Forces took a step back as the monks joined together in their combo attacks. They were already fleeing for the lives as the monks unleashed their attacks. "Wudai Orion Constellation Galaxy Formation!" The attack sent the intruders all the way back to their homes sorry they ever messed with the monks.
The monks were still cheering as Master Fung, who retrieved the Xiaowei Dragon Star from its hiding place in the Xiaolin Symbol in the Main Hall, thanked Chakra for her help. She nodded and got back in her helicopter knowing that Jack was okay and from the way they were celebrating so was Kimiko. "Never forget revenge is never a desirable quest," she whispered as she flew off back to her own quest for freedom.