Now and Then
Notes: This is mainly a transition chapter. Not the most exciting ever. Sorry! More action next time, I promise!
Christy Hui owns Xiaolin Showdown and all its characters. I don't.
Chapter 2
"Okay, there'd better be nobody down here," Jack said threateningly. He looked around his Evil Lair. Nothing stirred.
"No one!" He checked under the stairs.
"Don't even think about hiding." In the cabinets.
"I mean it!" Under some heavy boxes.
The evil genius looked over his lab once more, and nodded in satisfaction. The creepy old monk had taken the hint. Good! At least some people could. He stalked up to his bedroom, muttering resentfully about Wuya, Hannibal Bean, the monks, and just about everyone else he'd ever met. He shut his door behind him. And he screamed when he saw the yellowish ghost stretched out on his bed, reading a robotics magazine he'd left open. He'd gained some kind of black Chinese-style shirt (and Wuya was right about him being a sharp dresser), but it was the same ghost who looked up at his scream and flashed him a lazy grin.
"Hey, kid. This's some interesting stuff you're reading. Think of the Wu I could make with this!"
"What are you doing here!? I told you to hit the road!" the indignant boy genius snapped.
"No, you told me to get out of your lab," Dashi said patiently, grinning. "So I did what you said. Nice room, by the way. Love all the scroll-things."
"They're called posters, now get off my bed," Jack said with a frown. "Why don't you go bug those annoying Xiaolin losers, or somebody else who's good?"
"Why would I want to be around annoying people?" Dashi asked with a smirk. "Besides, you're pretty good company."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked in confused irritation. Dashi blinked.
"Um… just what I said. I figured a genius, evil or not, could-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not dumb, ya know," the red head muttered resentfully. "Now get off my bed."
Dashi complied silently, and watched intently as the teen flopped down in his place.
"You're in an awfully bad mood…" Dashi commented after a moment. "Get sent to bed without dessert or something?"
"No," Jack replied hotly, glaring at the ghost, then at the ceiling. "I just don't appreciate people invading my Evil Lair or my room uninvited, and it seems like it happens an awful lot!"
"Hm, fair enough," Dashi conceded. He retreated to the door. "Mind if I come in?"
"You're already in," Jack pointed out irritably, turning over to face the wall and holding the magazine up to his face upside down.
Dashi stuck his head out into the hallway and made sure no one was around before leaving the room, and sticking just his face back in through the door. "Can I come in now?"
"If I say no, will it matter?" Jack grumbled.
"Sure," Dashi said reasonably. "If you say no, I'll go away. Leave you alone forever. You won't hear from me again. Promise."
Jack sat up, his face in the middle of a series of expressions. He stared at the spirit for a moment. "What do you want from me?" he finally asked.
"Not much. Company. It gets boring, being alone. I want to know about your machines, and go through some more of your reading material. Oh, and I may try to turn you away from evil now and then, to give fair warning. But of course, that's a choice that's entirely up to you."
Jack frowned, but not very strongly. "Well you can give up on that right now, because I'll never go good!"
"Oh no, I wouldn't expect that," Dashi assured him with a grin. "I just think it's pretty clear that you're more neutral than good or evil. Just my opinion, though."
"Hmph, what a load of crap," Jack muttered, tossing his magazine on the floor with some others. Then he looked up. "Well, are you gonna get your ghost butt in here, or leave it out there to scare my parents?"
The Grand Master grinned delightedly as he entered the room again. Maybe he'd been wrong about flattery being the quick and easy way to get to Jack, but it was still going to be painfully simple.
"Hey, you never answered my question," the evil boy genius said, watching the ancient master closely. "Why aren't you haunting the Xiaolin losers?"
"Eh, I don't know that it'd be worth it," Dashi said with a shrug. "I've been to talk to Dojo a few times – we're good friends – but I don't know that I'd want to let the others know I'm around just yet."
"Why?" Jack asked, wide-eyed. Dashi shook his head a little. "I never cared much for being worshipped. I know perfectly well how great I am, I don't need to be mobbed with other people telling me. Besides, I've gotten used to being pretty much alone. Don't get me wrong, I love having a few people around, going out and partying for a while, having some fun, but not a whole clingy swarm of followers. Ya know?"
Jack nodded slowly, eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I guess… I figured you'd be more like Omi, but I guess you're not, really."
"Heh, I like Omi. Good kid. He'll be great some day."
"Yeah, maybe if he could get over himself," Jack snorted.
"Not necessarily," Dashi said, grinning. "My teachers used to tell me things like that when I was growing up, but I've gone fifteen hundred years without getting over myself, so I see no reason to try now."
Jack stared at him for a moment. "All you Xiaolin losers are just plain weird," he said decisively.
Dashi laughed. "Oh, and the Heylin side's normal? You see a lot of demonic beans, immortal lizard warriors, squid-looking ghost-witches, and who knows what else these days?"
"…And evil robots, fat ninjas, cat-girls, random forces of darkness, weird foreign guys… then there's me," said Jack with a rueful grin.
"Makes the Xiaolin dragons sound positively boring," remarked Dashi dryly.
"You've got that right," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Now I've got things to do. Homework, calculations, planning! Go… read my magazines or something." He waved vaguely at the pile on his desk. "And I'm not turning pages for you, so don't even ask."
"No problem," said Dashi. He floated over to the cluttered desk and called up a tiny breeze to flip the top magazine open.
"H-how'd you do that?" Jack asked in nervous fascination.
"Hey, I might be a fifteen hundred year-old ghost, but I'm still Grand Master Dashi," the spirit said smugly. "Not to mention the first dragon of the wind and the creator of the Shen Gong Wu. I can do these kinds of things. Where do you think I got most of the Wus' powers from, anyway?"
"You…?" Jack asked incredulously.
"Got it! A few things, like being pretty much intangible and a little shape-shifting, come with being a ghost, and if anything, I've become better with the wind than I was in life. But I could use various powers you'd recognize from Shen Gong Wu when I was alive, too," Dashi replied with a grin, sending a light breeze to blow around the boy genius and ruffle his hair.
Jack let out a muffled yelp, then gave Dashi a hard, appraising look that quickly became an eager grin. "You know, I could really use things like that in my plans."
"I'll bet you could," Dashi agreed, going back to the magazine.
"Er, I don't suppose you'd want to… maybe… join forces with me?" Jack asked hopefully. "Or, well, maybe not that, but at least help out a little with a thing or two? Sometimes?"
"Sure," said Dashi, looking up with a pleased grin. "And hey, you're a lot quicker on the uptake than Omi, tiger instincts or not. Took him almost an entire Showdown to figure out he could ask for what he wanted instead of trying to take it."
Jack blinked, and slowly a triumphant grin came over his face. "Ha! Of course I'm quicker than Cheeseball! I am an evil genius!"
"Right, right," said Dashi with a laugh. "Just one thing. Whatever you've got planned, I really don't want anyone else to know I'm around if we can avoid it. Especially Wuya and the monks. Hannibal Bean's a little hard to food, and Chase Young would be too much to ask for. He already at least suspects that I'm around."
"Okay," Jack said with a shrug. He turned to the notebook on his lap and spent a good fifteen minutes scribbling and pausing before slapping it down and staring at Dashi.
"You don't want to turn me good, you're trying to join the side of Evil!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the Grand Master.
Dashi burst out laughing. "What? I'm doing nothing of the sort!"
"Then why'd you agree to help the Heylin side?" Jack asked warily.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Dashi asked with a chuckle. "I agreed to help you. Jack Spicer; the lone wolf, remember? No one else, and not the Heylin side in general. They do just fine without my help, I think."
"Just me…?" Realization dawned on Jack like a mushroom cloud on a bright spring morning. "Perfect…"
The scene in Chase Young's viewing orb darkened. The warrior had seen quite enough. No need to watch Spicer's happy dance. One of the tigers beside him rumbled questioningly.
"For now, we will only watch," the evil mastermind said, leading the defeated warriors back to his outer sanctum. "Dashi is a most skilled and… slippery foe. He's a puzzle, which makes him all the more dangerous. Why he would team up with Spicer is beyond me." He fingered a panther's ear thoughtfully. "But then, he always did enjoy being mysterious. Knowing him, he may be doing this simply to confuse someone… or more likely, to annoy Wuya."
After a moment, Chase Young let out an amused laugh. "Most interesting. Dashi's no fool, despite what the witch may think. This bears further observation…"