Now and Then
Mainly talking in this chapter, and I know there are mixed feelings on that, but it'll be okay, I promise.
Chapter 5
"Cake?" Jack offered, stepping into his room with a big piece of it.
"I wish I could, it looks great!"
"I know," Jack replied with a smirk. "More for me this way!"
"Ooh, low blow," Dashi complained with a laugh.
"That's me, heartless and terrible," Jack agreed happily. He plunked down on his bed and hunched over the plate so as not to spill crumbs as he ate.
"So… What's with the four of you you were talking about?" the boy genius asked cautiously, as if expecting Dashi to change his mind and not say anything after all. He had to admit, he was pretty curious.
"The first four Xiaolin dragons," the Grand Master explained. "I was the dragon of the wind, and the leader. Master Monk Guan was fire, Chase Young was water, and Wuya was earth."
"No way!" Jack rocked back and almost lost his cake. "Wuya was good, back in the day?"
"Oh no," Dashi said. "Remember, I mentioned that the Xiaolin dragons are supposed to uphold balance, not just Good? Wuya was where evil entered into that."
"Wait, wait." Jack shook his head, frowning. "How would that even work? She's-"
"Evil?" Dashi supplied helpfully. "Yeah, it did kinda put a strain on our relationship. And obviously we weren't as close with her as today's dragons all are. But we did have kind of an understanding. She lived nearby rather than with us, and she'd come over to spar, or sometimes to share a meal or just to talk. We had to be careful, of course, and so did she. She's always been treacherous, but to be honest, I felt kinda bad for her. She was one of us, but at the same time she knew she could never be a trusted friend as the rest of us were. I think that's how things went bad."
Jack nodded slowly, munching on his chocolate cake. Dark icing was smeared across one cheek.
"She stopped coming over to talk. When I went to find her, she drove me away. She hung around Hannibal Bean more and more, and that's bad news for Good or Evil. She started attacking us more, not just to try to steal scrolls or the Shen Gong Wu I was making, but real attacks for the sake of destruction. Chase and Guan decided it was time we go after her, that things were getting out of hand. And they were right, so I made a puzzle box that would bind Wuya forever. Obviously, I got it a little wrong," Dashi said with a slightly embarrassed shrug. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure I really wanted to trap her for long."
"Why?" Jack asked, mystified.
"She was evil, but she was a Xiaolin dragon. And my friend." Dashi sighed. "But as a Xiaolin dragon, and especially as the leader, I couldn't let my personal feelings get in the way of what had to be done. But… I did warn her. I snuck out one night, found her camp, and told her we were going to have to defeat her, but that I hoped we wouldn't have to hurt her. Of course she laughed at me and called me a fool. Said she had every intention of defeating and hurting us. Hannibal was there too, said she should kill me right then, but she threw me out instead. I like to think she was honoring our friendship rather than being stupid and cocky."
"You always think the best of people, don't you?" asked Jack with a vague frown.
"Not always. Just most of the time," the ghost replied. "It tends to bring out the best in them."
"Hm," Jack muttered noncommittally, licking the crumbs off his plate and fork.
"So we made our plans, but something was a little off. You know how Dojo can sense Shen Gong Wu revealing themselves?" Jack nodded. "Well that grew out of his ability to sense the balance of Good and Evil shifting. We figured he'd be sensing a big shift to good if we succeeded."
"Hey, yeah!" Jack exclaimed suddenly. "If you were so worried about this balance, why'd you try to mess with it?"
"…Her evil really was out of control," Dashi said, though he looked mildly concerned about this. "We did it for the good of the world. Who knows if it was the right choice? But anyway, we all watched Dojo like hawks, figuring we'd see some strange reactions. And we did. Itching, tickling, rashes, boils, and periods where nothing seemed wrong at all. We didn't know what to make of it, and neither did he. But we went ahead with the plan, and captured Wuya. Things shifted in favor of Good for a while. But before too long, Hannibal caught Chase by himself, offered him eternal youth and superhuman strength. Said it was his destiny, you know the deal. And for one reason or another he accepted. He'd always been aching to prove himself, maybe he thought he could resist the evil part of it and just get the power. No one but the two of them knows if Hannibal actually mentioned it would turn him into an evil were-lizard."
"So did you know?" Jack asked softly, settling his dishes on the floor. Dashi shifted uncomfortably in the air.
"All day, Dojo had been in excruciating pain. Guan and I figured there would be a new surge in Evil, to replace Wuya. We knew it was inevitable, even knew it should happen. He mentioned that the new evil would have to have great strength, and we discussed all manner of demons while we tried to sooth Dojo's pain. Then Guan said, what if it were a person turning evil? I said they would have to be incredibly strong to replace Wuya and get this reaction out of Dojo, and most people weren't that strong. Just myself, him, and Chase. And of course then we both knew we had to find him. He was off meditating somewhere. So we crashed around through the woods trying to reassure each other that Chase Young was the definition of good, that he wouldn't let himself be corrupted… But when we ran out of comforting possibilities, all I could think was that the balance would have to be restored one way or another."
Jack nodded slowly.
"We found an overturned pot with the remains of a Lao Mang Long soup oozing out into the ground, a little blue cloth from his clothing, and the beginning of his path of destruction," Dashi said with a sigh. "I saw all the signs. I practically knew. There were a dozen ways I could've gotten there faster. But it was done. Guan was completely inconsolable for a while. It broke his spirit and his heart. He and Chase were the absolute best of friends. I didn't have time to mope as much, though I was pretty distraught, myself." He offered Jack a wan smile. "…But anyway, after a while we had to get on with life. Guan went off with the Sands of Time. Dojo and I stuck around the area, in between hiding Wu. Your friend Omi traveled back to find me, and I tied my spirit to the new puzzle box I made him. …Not so much to help trap Wuya, it could've done that without me being there. I needed an escape, and I wondered about the future. But then when he froze himself I decided I wasn't getting any younger, so I'd better get going if I wanted Omi to eventually have a temple to train at. Dojo and I wandered around and picked out some likely kids to train, plus a few random monks who happened to stop by. They helped build the temple as they learned. I'm buried around there somewhere, by the way. Just lay down for a nap under a tree one day and never felt like getting up. I've been able to keep tabs on the temple a little, because I put a lot of myself into it."
"So now you're here, in the temple, and…"
"…And just slightly in each Shen Gong Wu," Dashi finished with a nod. "But that's different, those bits of power aren't really part of me anymore."
Jack frowned, trying to stretch his tongue far enough to lick the smear of chocolate icing off his cheek. "Were you in the first puzzle box too?"
"Nah, I was there in the flesh for that one," Dashi said dismissively. "I didn't need to seal myself into anything for that."
"Yeah, that one came right open for me with no trouble, but I couldn't open the second one for the life of me," Jack said, finally wiping the frosting off his face with his finger and sucking on that. Dashi laughed.
"Like I told Omi, my puzzle boxes only open when the person who needs to open them opens them. You must've needed Wuya the first time. The second time I was watching, so I could see who needed to trap her the most." He shrugged. "The wind dragon seems like a good kid. He needed to redeem himself and save face in front of his friends."
"If I somehow needed Wuya back then, I don't see how I don't need her gone now," Jack muttered.
"I knew you did. But Raimundo needed it more." Dashi watched the still chocolate-smeared boy for a moment. "So tell me, why're you so hot on being evil?"
"Huh?" Jack looked up at the sudden change of subject and frowned. " 'Cause I don't want to be a goody two-shoes. Being good's for people who aren't strong enough to be evil."
"You really believe that?" asked Dashi incredulously. "But you've seen how strong good is. It completely beat Wuya twice. It defeats you and the others all the time, I know."
"Hey, we defeat them just as much," Jack pointed out heatedly. "Besides, Evil just keeps coming back!"
"But so does Good," Dashi pointed out. "They're balanced, like I keep saying. You can't have one without the other. If all the evil in the world was defeated, some of the good would end up turning evil to replace it, and vice versa."
"Maybe for the good side," Jack said with a smirk, "But I don't think you know the modern Heylin side very well if you think that!"
"I think you'd be surprised," said Dashi with that penetrating grin of his. "So Good obviously isn't any weaker than Evil. Any other reasons you prefer the Heylin?"
"It's just the obvious choice," Jack replied, spreading his arms. "All those Xiaolin losers are… well, losers!"
"Maybe sometimes," Dashi conceded, laughing. "But I think they still seem pretty impressive. Omi may be too serious sometimes, but it's not that bad. They seem like they have plenty of fun with life. Besides, the other Heylin don't treat you too well, do they?" asked Dashi in a wheedling voice.
"They're evil," Jack said with a shrug. "That's just how they are."
"Not true!" Dashi insisted. "Chase Young is the epitome of courtesy and respect… when he wants to be. Wuya and Hannibal can be the same way. But I have to say, I've seen more of that directed at the Xiaolin dragons than at you."
"That's- they're just trying to corrupt the Xiaolin dorks," Jack said. "I'm already evil, they don't need to trick me."
"No, they don't," Dashi agreed. "But shouldn't that mean that you deserve their respect and civility without needing to prove yourself?"
Jack opened and shut his mouth a few times, momentarily speechless and looking more perturbed by the minute. "That's just how Evil is," he finally said, clearly realizing that this wasn't the greatest argument ever. "They're always plotting against each other too, it's not just me!"
"Ah, but they only plot against each other," Dashi said. And I'm sure they have strong feelings against each other too. That happens with any group working together." Jack nodded, the relief so apparent on his face that Dashi was almost sorry to continue. "…But still, when all's said and done, they have a healthy respect for each other."
"They-they're… huge, ancient, magical forces though!" Jack protested, his voice rising to a whine. "It's not my fault I can't compete with that!"
"No, not at all," said Dashi with a consoling smile. "But hey, you're an Evil Genius, remember? You do amazing things with robots, things your magazines say shouldn't be possible for another hundred years at least. You may not be in the others' league in most ways, but you fight to put yourself there anyway. I think it's admirable. And you're clearly a match for the others in the right situation. I would think you'd deserve a lot better than you're getting on the Heylin side."
Jack's smile had been growing, but it died at that. "Of course I do. But I wouldn't get it on the Xiaolin side either. I've tried it a couple of times. They give me all their chores, they make fun of me just as much, they don't trust me…"
"After how long, a few days?" Dashi cut in sharply. "Of course not, you were fresh from the evil side. The rest sounds more like hazing than actual torture to me. Just a rite of passage. That, too, would pass in time."
Jack glared at the spirit, looking rather hurt. "Well it's too late for that now. I made my choice. I'm evil, get over it. You've done a lot worse evil than I've ever done good, and you know it! If you don't like it, though, you can get out right now! I never wanted you here in the first place! Get out!"
Dashi was stunned. "…All right," he said quietly after a minute, and vanished.
Jack blinked and went over to cautiously wave a hand around where the Grand Master had been a second ago. Nothing.
"Hello?" he said hesitantly, looking around his room that suddenly felt empty. "Are you… still here? Hey, I didn't really mean it. You can stay if you want. I don't mind, really." The only reply was the soft, steady hum of machinery. Jack sighed slowly and went to turn on his night light.