Chapter 16. The Sixth Element
"Okay, so looking for Dr. Patience isn't going to help us if we can't find her," Kimiko admitted. "What else can we do?"
"We should ask Master Fung," said Omi, somewhat despairingly.
"Oh, yeah, that'll look good," Raimundo snapped. "The Xiaolin Dragons have to go back to their old teacher for help again!"
"Okay, then we should ask Master Monk Guan!" Omi retorted.
"Why would he know anything about Patience?" Raimundo just about screamed. The aggravation, clearly, was getting to them.
The four were on their way back to the Xiaolin Temple, but Omi decided to redirect them to the Temple over the sea, where they had trained with Master Monk Guan.
"There's more'n one way to skin a cat!" Clay told them all. "Master Monk Guan is bound to know a thing or two about how to fight those SMART bots."
The Temple was built at the end of a precarious-looking stone arch, on tall rock base that reached up out of the ocean. It had a more rustic color to it, and but certain parts of it had a design that looked remarkably like that of their old Temple.
The four monks found Master Guan meditating in the main hall, but he got to his feet immediately to greet them.
"Master Monk Guan! Master Monk Guan!" Omi called out, running up to him and waving his arms. "We need your help! We must defeat Jack Spicer's new robots!"
The others put their hands to their forehead or pinched the bridge of their nose; they all felt Omi was acting very un-Dragonly.
"Yes, Omi," Master Guan replied. "I was hoping you four would arrive: I, too, have been trying to devise a plan to battle the SMART bots."
"We tried to find Dr. Patience," Kimiko explained, "because she's the one who made all the bots, and see if we could make her an offer better than Jack's, but…"
"She's gone," Raimundo finished frankly.
Something about this new information seemed to bother Master Guan.
"Hmm. So, Patience is a part of this, too?" he thought out loud.
"You know Miss Patience?" Omi asked.
Master Guan shook his head slowly, not in denial, but rather trying to push a thought aside.
"I knew her, but that was a long time ago and it's a long story. All that matters now is that you stop Jack Spicer. Follow me."
He led the four Dragons down a hall to another room, the Temple's library. Like any good library, it was a vast collation of scrolls and mysterious books, most covered in a fine, gray dust. Master Guan took down a scroll from a shelf and spread it out on the table for them to see. The scroll had symbols of all the elements, and depictions of which element was dominant over which, and descriptions of how each one worked.
"Last time you battled Jack Spicer, he used your powers against you. The old lore is that Water extinguishes Fire, Fire burns the Earth, Earth withstands the Wind, and Wind evaporates Water. That, however, is not complete. If you recall, during that last showdown there were six pillars surrounding the battlefield, each one representing an element. The first five you know. The four of you, and Nutmeg Kake- who, regrettably, has lost her way, are the first five. The sixth element is Metal. The remainder of the legend is this: Metal defeats Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, but the four combined defeat Metal. Light can defeat none, and none can defeat Light. It makes sense, when you examine the elements. Metal dams back water, becomes stronger in fire, is unaffected by wind, and is always stronger than rock. However, if you combine the four elements, and they fight as one, nature always prevails over the vain constructions of Man. And, while Light can evade all attacks, it cannot return any harm of its own- it's neutral."
"Well, that's good," Omi muttered.
"So, how is this going to help up beat Jack?" Raimundo asked abruptly.
Master Guan closed the scroll and returned it to its place.
"The Dragon of Metal is the key," he said. "He has willpower over metal, just as you do over your elements. Kake could control the light around her, but she is too young and has none of the required training. If you can find the Dragon of Metal, he will be able to destroy or control all of the SMART bots."
All the young monks brightened considerably.
"Well, woo wee!" Clay exclaimed. "We've got this one on the barrel head!"
"There's no way we can lose with that plan!" Kimiko cried out, pulling a fist back in excitement.
Master Guan held up his hand to silence them.
"There is a problem. To begin with, I have no idea where the Dragon of Metal is. No one has seen him for some time. And, if you do find him, you must remember that his element is Metal. Like you, his personality reflects his title. Unfortunately, that is all I can offer you. The rest, you will need to discover for yourselves."
They all returned to the main hall and the Dragons prepared to leave.
"I wish you the best of luck," said Guan, "for I must stay here and protect the Temple. If I learn any more about the Dragon of Metal, I'll try to get it to you."
"Thank you very much for your help, Master Monk Guan," Omi said with a respectful bow.
"Yeah, we never would have figured that one out," Rai said with a double thumbs-up.
They turned and exited the hall, stepping back out in the ocean air. As the others changed to their traveling Dragon forms, Omi remembered something and asked them to wait just a moment. Scurrying back into the Temple, Omi went back to Master Guan.
"There is something I forgot to ask you!" said Omi. "You mentioned earlier that you knew Miss Patience. Something has happened to her, so maybe you know something about…huh?"
Master Guan just shook his head and turned away.
"When I say that it is a long story, I mean it's practically a saga. Seek's past is too convoluted for me to explain it to you right now. But, now that you mention it, I do recall that…" he turned back to Omi as the thought came to him. "Patience personally knows the Dragon of Metal. If you're that concerned about Patience, you're sure to find one if you find the other. Though, she's hardly worth your time; she's too deeply embedded in the Heylin ways by now. Even if you did learn of why she assisted Jack, there's no offer you could make to convince her to call off the SMART bots."
Omi lowered his head and nodded.
"When this is over, will you tell me the whole story?" he asked.
Master Guan had to smile.
"Optimistic as ever. Of course I will."
Back in the air with the others in his Water Dragon form, Omi told Kimiko, Clay, and Rai what Master Guan had said about Patience. They often passed a patrolling Mini Bot, and they could always see at least one somewhere in the distance, but they never gave them any trouble.
"Great! That figures," Rai whined when Omi finished. "Now we're looking for two people that no one knows anything about!"
They continued through the clouds and over the mountains for a few minutes, until Kimiko said what they were all thinking.
"Who could the Dragon of Metal be?"
Suddenly, Omi waved his arms excitedly.
"Wait! Wait! I know!" he cried out. "It must be Jermaine!"
"Why Jermaine?" Clay asked.
"Well, doesn't that make sense? I mean, who else do we know who could be a Xiaolin monk?"
"Yeah, but I seriously doubt Patience knows Jermaine!" Rai shouted, strangely agitated at the suggestion. "Seriously!"
There was another pause as they aimlessly followed a winding river through the countryside. Clay noticed the shadowy Land of Nowhere out the corner of his eye, so he casually steered the group away.
"Oh, now wait a minute!" Clay burst out suddenly. "You know, this may sound like a bull tryin' to woo a moose, but…maybe it's Chase Young?"
"CHASE?" the others all cried out once
"Think about it. He used to be on the side of good. Being a Dragon would explain his amazing' fightin' skills. And, he knows Patience, too."
Each considered the prospect for a long time. Kimiko, eventually, shook her head.
"No, that can't be right. Chase is too old. Wouldn't the Dragon of Metal be around our age? And, remember how Master Monk Guan said his personality would reflect Metal? What's a Metal personality?"
"It doesn't matter," said Rai. "If he was the Dragon of Metal, we would have seen him use his powers by now."
"That is true," Omi agreed.
"Yeah, Chase would be, like, the Dragon of Soup," Kimiko laughed.
"He is the Dragon of Soup!" Raimundo laughed.
"Okay, so that's ruled out!" Clay said, disliking how easily they'd shot down his idea. "I think better standin' on my feet, anyhow."
"Yeah, we don't even know where we're going," Kim pointed out. "Let's just land somewhere."
As the four descended, they saw that they were near the Spicer Mansion house, guarded by a regular SMART, which appeared to be sleeping. They came to the ground and returned to normal, trotting a few paces to slow down. They were just outside the exterior wall of the mansion, near the tree line.
Kimiko watched a Jack Bot, upgraded by Patience's technology, drift along the wall, stopping every ten feet to look around. The new Jack Bots were actually a little frightening, with better armor, guns in their arms, and infinitely more serious expressions. She watched it for a good minute or two as the others contemplated what kind of personality Metal would be.
"Well, let's think about this," said Clay. "They would have to be very consistent. You know, always set to one goal."
"No, that's not right," Raimundo disagreed. "Metal is like that sometimes, but it's also super malleable. It can bend and flex."
"This would be so much easier if we had knowledge of what kind of metal to look for," Omi muttered, his hands tucked into his sleeves.
"Hey, guys…" Kimiko called to them without looking. "We're looking for someone about our age, right?"
"So we assume," said Omi.
"I think…I think the Metal we're looking for is very constant. That is, he's always set on one goal. But, at the same time, he changes right away under different temperatures and pressures. I think it's highly reactive metal…one insulted easily…"
"Where are you goin' with this?" Clay asked.
Kimiko turned around sharply.
"Don't you see?" she cried out, smiling a little, but concerned at the same time. "We've hit a dead end! He's our age! He knows Patience! He specializes in everything metal! The Dragon of Metal isn't a Dragon at all- it's Jack Spicer!"