Chapter 7. In the Shadows of the Trees

The dust gradually settled and it became evident that the Green Thoughts was in evil hands.

"I can't believe he got away!" Raimundo exclaimed.

"And he left quite a burrow, too," Clay remarked, stepping up to the edge of the robot's tunnel and tipping the brim of his hat back a bit.

Dojo popped out to inspect the situation.

"Well the Green Thoughts is gone that's too bad let's get the heck out of here!"

He morphed back to his traveling size and urged the monks to jump on board. Meg appeared from the shadows wearing a quizzical expression.

"You guys lost?" she asked, seeing how seriously bruised and singed the Dragons were. "Quite a first lesson…" she added, quietly.

"Yeah…" Kimiko said, realizing the fact for the first time. "We…did? How did Jack win? Jack hasn't done anything right since…since…"

"Who cares!" Dojo nearly shouted. "Let's get OUT of here!"

"Okay, okay, don't blow a fuse," Kimiko muttered.

Once all five were up on Dojo's back, the dragon flew out of Kashmir faster than they're ever known him to fly. Meg actually began to slide towards his tail under the force of the momentum.

"Wait, I don't get it," Meg said as she scooted herself back into place behind Kimiko. "You said Jack Spicer was no problem, but he took off on you!"

"Like a greased pig!" Clay added.

"It was that new robot he was in," Rai started to explain.

"Jack Spicer has never used machine guns on us before," Omi added.

This new information puzzled Meg.

"He's never used guns? Why not? I thought you said he was evil?"

"Well, he is," said Kimiko, "but he's not that kind of evil."

Meg shook her headful of cord-like dreads.

"Wait! I missed something! There are different kinds of evil? Like, lesser evils?

"Yeah," said Dojo. "Jack Spicer is a lesser evil."

"But, villains like Chase Young and Wuya are greater evils!" said Omi.

"So, if Jack is a lesser evil, then you four don't stand a chance against Wuya or this Chase Young guy," Meg pointed out.

"No!" Omi exclaimed, exasperated. "Jack is nothing! He is just the point of the snow block of evil-doers!"

"Tip of the iceberg," Clay corrected him.

"Whatever! It…doesn't make sense!" Omi cried, stressed at the thought of being outwitted by Jack.

"It is weird," Kimiko agreed. "We're Dragons- it just doesn't make sense for Jack to beat us."

The conversation continued on in similar fashion all the way over China until they returned to the temple. After Dojo shrunk back down and he and Omi scooted off to ponder where Jack got his new robot, Kimiko apologized to Meg.

"Sorry that your first time out had to be to Kashmir, Meg," she said sincerely. "Don't worry- next time, Jack won't be such a problem. Good always wins in the end. Trust me: we know!"

The others wandered off towards the kitchen.

"I think better on a full stomach," Clay commented.

For the next few weeks, they made literally zero progress on the mystery of Jack's robot. No website contained any data on the design of the bot, nor who might have made it. A website profiling all the major evil-doers had more information on Osama Bin Laden's favorite type of soup than it did on Jack's robots.

"This stupid orthopedic cookie keeps popping up!" Kimiko cried out eventually. "Floss when you can, kids!" she said sarcastically.

The monks did, however, make excellent progress as teachers and student.

"I don't want to do all these chores!" Meg snapped back at Raimundo. "There's no point! It isn't exactly the "Wax on, wax off" kind of deal, you know! It's just plain old scrubbing!"

"We had to do these chores when we were just starting off," Rai reminded her.

"Yeah, and Jack Spicer still kicked your butt!" She shoved the bucket back to him.

"That was a once in a lifetime win for Spicer! And he technically didn't even win! He just escaped!"

He shoved the bucket back.

"I am not getting down on my hands and knees to scrub this WHOLE FLOOR!" Meg screamed. "This is a waste of time! People are just going to walk on it anyway!"

"Don't raise your voice to me, girly!"

"What- as though you didn't want to do chores when you were my age!" Meg dropped the bucket on the floor and marched off in a huff.

"Hey! You can't walk away from me! I'm the Master here! Get back here!" Rai threw his hands up in the air and dropped down on the floor in defeat.

"Having trouble with the little lightnin' bolt?" Clay asked as he approached from another room.

"How did Master Fung ever get all four of us to behave! How did he get us to clean floors! That girl has no respect for authority whatsoever!"

"If that isn't the pot callin' the kettle black, I don't know whut is," said Clay. "You weren't exactly teacher's pet either, as I recall."

"Oh, please," Rai snapped, jumping back to his feet. "Let's not back up that tree again! I'm never am going to live that down, am I? Oh, Raimundo joined the Heylin side," he recalled in a mocking voice. "Oh, Raimundo was the last to be apprentice just because he only tried to save Master Fung's life! Yeah, I messed up a few times! But so didn't, gee, all of us!"

"No need to get edgy on me, Rai! I'm just sayin'…"

"You're always just sayin'" Rai imitated. "Well, I've more than made up for my mistakes, and I deserve a little more respect around here!" Raimundo stomped off in a fury, leaving Clay to himself, and to notice Meg watching from behind a sliding door.

"Raimundo joined the Heylin side?" Meg asked tentatively.

Clay gave a short laugh.

"Yeah, for like, two days! Wuya took over the world for a while because of it, but he fixed it in the end."

Meg nodded slowly and eventually retreated back through the door and went outside.

The sun was low in the sky, but she still had quite a few hours until dinner. Once she was outside, though, Meg found no relief.

"Hey," Dojo noticed her. "I thought you were supposed to be in there doing chores."

Meg sat down on the steps to the temple entrance and rested her head in her hands.

"Apparently, I am supposed to be. But I don't see the point the chores they have me do. And the training is even weaker! I've gotten along just fine with my own style!"

Dojo shook his head and waved a reprimanding finger at her.

"You kids never learn, do you? Those chores are for your own good! So what if they last for six hours every day? You should learn to respect your elders!"

"They're five years older than me," Meg reminded him flatly.

"That doesn't matter," said Dojo, putting his nose in the air. "You still have to listen to them. They're Dragons- they know what they're doing."

Meg got to her feet and looked out at the woods beyond the river and field.

"Well, they're yet to impress me," she muttered. "I'm going for a walk."

Dojo straightened up and pointed at her accusingly.

"You can't just leave! You're too little: you'll get lost!"

"I won't get lost," Meg snapped over her shoulder, insulted. With a dash and a bound, she went bouncing off in long strides. She jumped right over the river along the temple and reached the forest a minute later.

Meg calmed her bouncing nature and strolled into the calm cool of the Chinese forest. Wandering through the skinny trees and bushy ferns, she couldn't help but hope she would find a panda or perhaps a wild tiger. Instead, meandering through the flora, she heard voices. Becoming both alert and curious, Meg jumped silently into the branches overhead and tiptoed her way towards the sounds.

In a man-made clearing, she discovered none other than Jack Spicer with that terrible black and gold machine. He was talking with someone, a tall, thin woman, who appeared to have arrived on foot.

Remaining perfectly silent, Meg strained to listen in on their conversation.

"I think I have them all covered. It didn't take long to figure out how to beat them- the bitch was in designing something scientifically possible."

"So when will it be ready?" asked Jack, flanked by a couple of Jack Bots.

"I told you, Spicer, it's going to take time. Give me at least three more weeks. I'm a very busy person- if I didn't already have another appointment out here, I never would have come to meet you. Just let the monks drop their guard for a while- that way you know they'll accept the challenge with the new bot. Don't forget, Jack: you'll be a joke in the eyes of everyone until you prove yourself to be a threat."

"Who's everyone?" asked Jack.

"The armies of the world," the woman replied flatly, beginning to take her leave.

"Hey, wait a second," Jack stopped her. "Here's what I want to know: How come you're doing all this for me? What's the catch? When are ya gonna drop the bill on my head?"

She tilted her head back and put her weight on one hip, but only for a moment.

"Primarily, it's out of vengeance. I have something of a respect-loathe relationship going on, and I just want to see this certain individual writhe in incredulity when, in due time, you crush him under the massive talon of a full-sized SMART bot."

She shrugged simply and disappeared into the shadows.

Jack, totally lost by her statement, shook his head and jumped into the cockpit of the SMART bot with the two Jack Bots. The black blast shield snapped shut and, once the engine fired up and the wings extended, Jack launched off with a running start and disappeared into the distant skies so quickly that Meg couldn't see him within moments.

Immediately, she jumped up and balanced along the branches and followed after the strange women- who looked immensely familiar for some reason. The woman wasn't too hard to find in her pinstripe suit, and Meg caught up to her after a few minutes. But, by the time she reached her, she was already involved in a conversation with her other appointment.

"Even you can't handle killer robots with footprints four city blocks wide," the woman scoffed to a figure in the shadows.

"Patience, you don't seriously think Spicer has a chance," the man partly asked, partly told her.

"He doesn't have a chance. But, as long as he beats you, I'll be happy. Or, as long as you find yourself trying to defeat him for the sake of saving the world. That would be too good to be true."

"Don't count on it…"

The conversation stopped suddenly and Patience looked to the side sharply. The man whispered something that Meg couldn't hear.

Suddenly, someone or something smashed into Meg and knocked her to the ground. She landed- and possibly bounced a little- right at Patience's feet. She was, however, not phased in the least.

"I know you!" she exclaimed happily, sitting up on the ground. "You're my dentist from back home! What are you doing here, Miss Seek?"

Dr. Patience clasped her head in her hands when she saw Meg.

"Nutmeg Kake," she said. "I can't believe it. Is there no place of sanctuary? What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"You know her?" the voice in the shadows asked.

"I'm a Xiaolin Monk now, Miss Seek! I'm training with Clay, Kimiko, Raimundo, and Omi at the temple!" Meg stopped suddenly and changed her mood sharply. "Well…sort of. It isn't as much fun as I thought it would be."

"You're training with the Xiaolin Monks? How is that possible?"

"I'm the Dragon of Light," Meg said proudly, putting her thumb to her collar. "They're all supposed to be my teachers, but they aren't much fun. Wait, I already said that, didn't I?"

A sort of shocked but pleased sound emitted from Patience.

"Would you excuse me for a split second, Meg?" she asked, suddenly very polite. "I need to have a quick word with my friend here."

The shocked and insulted pronunciation of the word "friend" came from the forest, but beyond that Meg heard nothing. She looked like a rag doll, sitting on the forest floor with her legs out and the backs of her hands on the ground between her legs.

"Who are you talking to?" Meg asked intrusively.

Patience reappeared from the cover of the trees.

"Just an old friend of mine, Meg," she explained. "Now, Meg, I think you really should be getting back to the temple. They're probably wondering what happened to you."

"Naw, I told that annoying little dragon where I was going. They won't miss me."

"Tsk, tsk," Patience actually annunciated the words. "It can be trying, I know. But, if you ever need a break, you just give me a call, all right?"

"Really?" Meg jumped to her feet. "Aw, thanks, Miss Seek! You're the best dentist I ever had!" Meg gave Seek a big bear hug, something that nearly shortened her life-span alarmingly, and promptly bounded back towards the temple.

"Who, aside from immensely annoying, did you say she was?" the man asked.

"Do you know what Bullet-Time is? If Meg is the Dragon of Light, then she can dodge bullets, and in this day and age that is one overwhelmingly helpful power. She's not the sort of crazy kid I need fighting againstme."