"...The dragon... can't be reborn..." Bardon said to Raimundo. "You must cut... off the source of his power..."
A swirling amalgamation of Shen Gong Wu in the shape of a dragon bellowed a tortured roar at the destroyed temple grounds. Dojo had taken Raimundo and the other out of the monster's line of sight, but Omi and Jack were still out in the open.
"That's the thing that tried to possess me, isn't it?" Raimundo asked Dojo. A few months ago, the Shen Gong Wu had tried to take control of his body. During that time, he'd fought with this desperate need to collect the other objects, to be whole again. Yet, with each new Wu, it was harder to keep from destroying everything around him.
"But that's a dragon." Kimiko said and rested a hand on Dojo's protective claw. "I don't understand, why was it under the temple?" As shaken as they were, one thing was growing clear. The central temple had been built atop the grave of this dragon. "Why didn't you tell us?" Dojo shuddered; his magic was too weak to maintain his massive form. He shrank in stages and was caught by before he hit the ground. "Dojo!"
"Kids, you need to run." Dojo said. He was too weak to fly them out.
Jeong circled overhead, the glimmer of a silver robe catching his eye. One of the warriors in training was wearing one of the sacred robes. He turned toward the blip on the ground and dove head first.
"Omi!" Jack pushed Omi out of the way as the dragon barreled towards him at the speed of a freight train. It roared as it looped up and back around towards them. Jack ran for cover with Omi in his arms. "What's gotten into him?" Jack hid behind a large panel of rubble as Omi pushed out of his hold. The boy genius was used to his allies turning on him for their own gain, but this seemed different. The Jeong that had worked alongside him had been cold and calculating; not the sort to mindlessly destroy anything in his path. "This wasn't the plan."
"Jack..." Omi didn't know what to say. His home was a war zone, the sacred objects he'd sworn to protect scouring the land in a rain of lightning and fire. In all of the timelines he'd gone down, none of them mentioned the Shen Gong Wu destroying the temple. Somewhere along the lines, things had changed more drastically than he'd first thought. Though once again, it seemed things were worse because of his meddling. "What were you trying to do?"
"I just wanted things to change." Jack flinched as his robots were lifted in the sky and shot back at them like missiles. "Chase, Wuya, Hannibal, even Guan; this is all their fault." Learning about ancient battles and dreaming of world domination, even fighting the Xiaolin warriors had been fun back when it was just them. It wasn't until Wuya regained her full power that everything started to fall apart. "Why should we always get stuck cleaning up after them?" Omi looked up at the ghostly dragon. "I thought this would end it."
"In 1500 years, no one has tried to destroy the Shen Gong Wu." Omi clutched the brand-new silk on his robe. "How are we supposed to do it?" Omi peeked out around the wall of debris and saw his friends bunkering down a few yards off with Dojo in Clay's arms. Kimiko looked up and motioned for Omi to join them just as a flaming chunk of the roof hurtled to the ground between them. "Raimundo might have an idea, let's go." He got up to run, but Jack held him back by the sleeve of his robe.
"Be careful." Jack said. Omi scowled and grabbed him by the wrist.
"We are fixing this Jack." He pulled Jack back out into the line of fire as they ran to where the others were hiding. As soon as Jeong caught sight of them, he laughed.
"Children in costumes," Jeong opened his mouth, a torrent of locusts flooded the grounds, "return what you stole."
Clay handed Dojo to Kimiko and cratered the earth twelve feet deep, sealing up the hole above them. Kimiko fumbled for her phone to give them a light. Clay wordlessly pushed passed the crowd and slowly started to form a tunnel away from the battle. It was difficult to do, having nowhere to shove the excess dirt, he had to compress it.
"Clay, what are you doing?" Kimiko said.
"You buried us alive you idiot!" Jack hated being in closed spaces, hated that the others glared at him with such vitrail. There was nowhere to run.
"I don't wanna hear any lip from the clown that got us in this mess." Clay pushed another foot deep into the tunnel, panting from the exertion. "I'm getting us out of here alive." Everyone was shouting, everyone was pointing fingers, except for Raimundo and Omi who couldn't take it anymore. He covered both of his ears, daring to shout in the closed space.
"Silence, please!" He sighed with relief that he had everyone's attention. "I believe it is up to our leader to decide our next move. All of us are in danger. It doesn't matter whose fault it is."
"Return what you stole..." Raimundo said as he looked at the Imperial Jade Dragon in Jack's grasp; it had five clear gems on it. The ground shook as Jeong tried to guess where the monks were hiding.
"What else is there to return?" Kimiko said. "It's made of all the Shen Gong Wu!"
"You remember what Master Fung said when we first joined the temple?" Raimundo said. "That if we didn't have to be dragon warriors if we didn't want to." Clay stopped digging. They had been given the choice to give up their powers if they didn't want the burden that came with being a dragon warrior.
"Rai, no..." Kimiko shook her head. "No, it has to be something else. Maybe it's the sword he's talking about or the robes."
"Maybe, but we don't know that for sure." Raimundo said. Omi touched the blade of the jade sword and one of the gems turned blue. "Omi..."
"We don't have time to guess which answer is correct." Omi said. He could feel the absence of his element like an open wound. "We must try all of it at once." Jack put his hand on the sword next, a gem turning pearlescent white.
"This thing gets more powerful with each element, right?" Jack avoided everyone's accusatory looks and gave the sword to Raimundo. "If we hit the Heart of Jong with it, that might stop him." Reluctantly Kimiko followed suit, one of the crystals turning ruby red.
"I swear, if this doesn't work..." She left the rest to their imagination. Clay stepped away from the tunnel. He went to take off his glove when everyone collectively shouted for him to stop. "Unbury us first!"
"Right, sorry." Clay opened up the ground above them and pushes rungs into the wall. "You got a plan to get us out of this, right Rai?" He pulled off his glove and touched the blade, another gem now a brilliant gold.
"I do," Raimundo said as the fifth gem clouded over into the same jade color as the sword, "but you're not going to like it."
Jeong cloaked himself with the Shroud of Shadows and hovered, waiting for the monks to come out of hiding. Sure enough, four children crawled out of the rubble and got into Dragon X Kumei formation. Or at least, what they thought it looked like. Jeong pivoted and charged full force towards the children, still invisible to the naked eye.
"Not yet." Raimundo said. He had his eyes closed, trying to hear or feel how close the enemy was. The other monks fidgeted, struggling to maintain the formation without bolting. The wind tossed dirt and rocks up into the air as Jeong neared the ground. "Not yet." The dragon beelined towards the group flying a foot above the ground. "NOW!"
Something sharp pierced the Heart of Jong through the dragon's underbelly. Magic from the five dragons in training poured into the heart and shattered it. A shard cut Jack's left brow and the kickback sent him flying backwards against the floor of the hole.
Jack's ears were ringing from the impact. He felt like he was standing in a plain white void. In front of him was a small gold dragon, far less intimidating than the monster he later became. He was saying something, but all Jack could hear was the ringing in his ears.
It transformed into its larger size, with gold plate scales and black fur. The dragon took two claws and pushed them into Jack's chest. It hurt for Jack to breathe, his head was pounding. Slowly the dragon faded away.
Shen Gong Wu veered left and right away from the children. The young monks braced themselves as the skeleton soared above them with the last bit of magic Jeong had. The skull dipped into the ground, with the bones piling up behind it. Soil was upturned all around as the remains grinded to a halt.
"Is it over?" Kimiko asked. The monks left formation and tentatively surveyed their surroundings. All around them the Shen Gong Wu fell back to the ground, lifeless and looking much older than they had moments ago. Their robes once again red and black. Raimundo picked one up and held it aloft.
"Sword of the Storm!" He shouted, but nothing happened.
"No!" The monks flinched at the sound of Wuya shouting at the edge of the temple grounds. She picked up as many Wu as she could, but all of them were just as useless. Chase was behind her, looking worse for wares, but not terribly surprised. "You! How could you do this!? You've destroyed everything!" She could feel her power weakening, almost as if merely existing took a great effort. "When I get my hands on you-" Dojo transformed into his fearsome form, shielding the children from the angry witch.
"Oh no you don't!" Dojo said and breathed fire. "You leave these kids alone." Having seen enough, Chase put a hand on Wuya's shoulder and motioned for them to leave. He ended up having to drag her away as she swore revenge.
"Dojo, you're okay!" Clay hugged him.
"Yeah well," Dojo looked at them with a sad smile, "now that the next dragon warrior's revealed themselves, I'm feeling much better." Omi left the group to check on Jack, ready to congratulate his frenemy, but the pit was empty. All that was left behind was the shards of the Imperial Jade Dragon. The one of the gems laying in the dirt was clear, the rest still held their elements hostage. "I'm glad you're all safe, but we got to get you back to Master Fung as soon as possible."
The monks were greeted by a fleet of police cars parked around the safe house. Raimundo pushed through the crowd of monks hovering outside. Some were talking to officers, others moving boxes into the street. Master Fung caught sight of them weaving through the crowd, the robe for the Dragon of Wood folded over his arm. Immediately Raimundo's heart sank.
"Master Fung..." Raimundo began.
"Grand Master Fung." One of the monks corrected, before getting shooed away by Dojo.
"I'm sorry." Raimundo said. The grandmaster had passed before they could prove to him that Master Fung was a good teacher. While the temple was in shambles, they had managed to prevent the chaos from leaving the temple grounds. Master Fung tossed aside the things he was holding and hugged Raimundo. The other monks came around them and held each other tight. "The temple, it's gone, I'm so sorry." They explained in bits and pieces about Jeong and the Shen Gong Wu. How Hannibal was nowhere to be found. Omi took off the silver robe and gave it to Master Fung.
"I'm not the dragon of water anymore." Omi said. After the sword broken, none of their elements had returned to them. They were gone. Omi tried to be brave, sniffling as the realization settled in. Only dragons in training were allowed to stay at the temple. Without their elements, there was nothing to train. "I can't- If, if I'm not-" He tried to explain further, but his tears made it hard for him to be understood.
"Omi gave up his element to defeat Jeong," Kimiko said, "we all did." She showed the gems to Master Fung.
"Master Fung, what do we do?" Clay asked. Omi clung to Master Fung's pant leg as his fellow monks looked to their teacher for guidance. All apprehensive for what would come next.
"There will be time to discuss what changes will be made in the morning. The next dragon of wood will need to be located in the next few days, and he will need good mentors to guide him." Master Fung said. Raimundo relaxed a little. Grand Master Bardon had mentioned training the next dragon of wood as part of their path to succession. If that was still in the cards, all might not be lost as it seemed. "For now young minds should rest. It has been a long day."
Omi stayed with Master Fung while the others got ready for bed. He had been given hot tea to help him calm down, but it was still hard for him to say much of anything. They sat at a square table in a kitchen with no windows. The safe house was unfamiliar, far more westernized than the temple had been. Raimundo cheered down the hall about having real beds, even if many of them would have to share.
"I owe you an apology young monk." Master Fung said. Omi perked up a little out of curiosity, even with the previous battle weighing on his mind. "I purposefully delayed your training. First, so you wouldn't have to train alone." By his seventh birthday Omi had already mastered all of the beginning forms, but training him then would have had Omi at least two belts above the other students by the time they arrived. "And again when Hannibal started to amass power. I thought it unwise to send you someplace by yourself during the conflict. I should have been more honest with you from the beginning instead of saying you weren't ready."
He had seen how his vague explanations had instilled an unquenchable quest for perfectionism in the young monk. Something that now weighed on him anytime he was less than an exceptional student. Even though Omi no longer held his peers to that unreachable standard, he'd yet to give himself the same permissions.
"You gave up something you held dearly to help other people." Master Fung continued. "It would seem silly to keep this from you any longer." He handed Omi a black and blue Shoku uniform.
"But Master Fung, I'm not-"
"Were you thinking of quitting?" Master Fung raised an eyebrow. "I can not stop you from leaving the temple if that's what you want, but there's no rule that says a dragon in training must have an element to stay at the temple and train."
"Yes there is." Omi said. His teacher held up the amulet of the Grand Master. As the leader of the temple, he could change any rules as he saw fit. "Can I really stay?"
"For as long as you want." Omi rushed around that table and hugged his teacher.
"Since I had to wait so long..." Omi said with a mischievous grin. "May I make one request?"
The courtyard of the Guan's temple was packed with food trucks and game stalls. Families from all over had come to the first dragon festival that marked the temples being open to the public once more. Children ran screaming through the crowds with balloons and other treats.
"Omi, you little scamp." Clay picked Omi off the ground and gave him a noogie. "Using your promotion to trick Master Fung into throwing you a party."
"It was no trick." Omi laughed. "All I did was ask if my friends could see my promotion." Dojo skittered out of the way of a few dozen feet to catch up to him.
"Yes, well, I think he may have forgotten how many friends you all have around the world." Dojo said. "Master Guan is not going to be happy when he sees what you guys have done to the temple."
"Ah let Guano sweat about it later." Raimundo said as he walked up with Kimiko hand in hand. The two had just gotten back from checking on the stalls. "What's the point of traditions if you're just going to ignore them?" He had been the real mastermind behind throwing the party, but he was happy to use Omi as a scapegoat.
"Guess who we found?" Kimiko said. Omi peered over Clay's shoulder and fought to get free. He ran to Jermaine, nearly knocking him to the ground.
"I thought you couldn't come!" Omi said.
"Well," Jermaine said, "something came up." Omi pulled back and noticed the two suitcases behind him. "Does Master Fung have an instructional book on how to talk parents into things? My mom was not going to let me drop out of Dalton to come here two days ago."
"You're the dragon of wood?" Omi asked, he could barely contain his excitement. "You're the dragon of wood!" Jermaine had to pry Omi's arms from his neck so he could breathe.
"Yeah dog, no more settling for phone calls." Jermaine said. He was immediately dragged away from his luggage by Omi, who had to show him all the stalls Raimundo had set up for the festival. Clay picked up the bags and the young monks followed behind them eagerly chatting amongst themselves. All the while, unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a woman with long black hair.
"Enjoying the festival Ms Sasumei?" The fortuneteller startled at the sound of Master Fung's voice. She quickly bowed to him and to Dojo sitting on his shoulder.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure if I should come." She went back to watching Omi talking to his friends. "I couldn't say no after getting invited." After years of working on restoring the water robe, she had run out of excuses not to set foot on Xiaolin soil. "Thank you for keeping him safe." She hesitated. "Does he ask about me?"
"He is curious, just as any child in his position would be." Master Fung nodded. "The longer you wait to tell him, the harder it will be."
"His happiness is what's important." She said. "I do not wish to jeopardize that by inserting myself into his life. We're strangers after all." At least they had been, the last thing she expected to receive was an invitation to the dragon festival from her estranged son. Even if it was just a courtesy.
"You could always try a letter if you're afraid of his reaction." Master Fung started down the hill towards the celebration. "He's always hoped for a letter."
After the stands had shut down and the visitors had gone home, Omi lay in the grass to watch the stars. His friends had gone to bed, exhausted from running the event and Jermaine's orientation. A packaged popsicle blocked his view of the sky.
"Congratulations." Jack said. Omi snatched the frozen treat from him with a smile. "It's about time. If they put it off any longer, I would have promoted you. Only if you switched sides, of course." He plopped down in the grass next to Omi, only to get playfully shoved.
"You could have come during the day." Omi said. "You would have liked it. Raimundo made sure there were no clowns."
"While I appreciate the invite, I don't think your friends would like me being there." Jack shook his head. He had been too afraid to stick around once he realized the sword with their elements in it broke on his watch. Technically, it wasn't his fault, but he'd doubt the others would understand. Especially since he'd revived an ancient evil that wrecked their home.
"You were fulfilling a quest from a temple guardian, they will understand…" Omi unsheathed his popsicle. While his friends were forgiving, there was a lot of hurt from both sides to sort through. "...eventually." The more Omi thought about it, the more it seemed like preventing the Shen Gong Wu from ever being used was the best course of action. No more Sabini, or Heylin Seed to rise from the ashes, no more threat of Jeong looming over the temple. It would just take a while for his friends to see it like that.
Even after the incident with Jeong and destroying the Shen Gong Wu, Omi still thought Jack had the potential to do good. Or at the very least, that he wasn't as evil as he claimed to be. There was no way he'd join the side of 'good' when it was composed of the anti-Jack club.
Besides, Jack got what he wanted. Beating Hannibal and Jeong had earned him enough of a reputation to scare most villains into line. As far as other villains were concerned, Jack was in charge of the Heylin side now. The only people who didn't agree were Wuya and Chase. Two voices in a crowd were easy to ignore though.
"Check this out." Jack leaned forward and held up a screw. It took a lot of concentration, but he was able to make it levitate in the air for a few seconds before it fell into the grass.
"...Magnet gloves?" Omi tilted his head.
"No cue ball." Jack took off his gloves and made the screw levitate again. "I think Jeong gave me my element back." Omi's eyes widened. Of course, dragon warriors were chosen by dragons in the past, why couldn't it work again. "Maybe if you talk to the other temple guardians, you could get yours back too." He caught the screw in the palm of his hand. "You didn't hear this from me though. Blame it on your tiger instincts."
"You make fun of the thing that tells me to trust you." Omi said. Jack fell back into the grass to look up at the stars.
"Remind me to do it more often." Omi laid down next to him. They were quiet for a moment, as fireflies danced through the sky. "Do you think there's other dragons trapped like that?" Jack couldn't shake the sound of Jeong's roar. It had almost sounded mournful to him. "There are Shen Gong Wu that weren't made by Dashi, do you think they were all made the same way?"
"The Orb of Tornomi was a gift from the guardian of the Shui Temple in the 13th century." Omi said. He was ready to launch into a full lecture, but he could see Jack was thinking of something else. "As for the others, I don't know."
"Then that settles it." Jack sat back up. "What?" It had taken a moment for Omi to realize that Jack having his element back meant Hannibal was gone, permanently gone. A great evil that tormented the world for generations passed quietly in obscurity.
"Who's going to be your next teacher?"
"I… I don't know yet. Now that I know that 'Heylin' is just anyone not affiliated with the temple, the sky's the limit. Maybe I'll have a bunch of teachers, learn a bit from everyone." The thought was sort of exciting. "It's worked for me so far. Kind of." Jack shrugged. "You're my go to for Xiaolin stuff though." Omi smiled at that, happy that even if Jack wasn't on the side of good, he was on his side.
AN: Oh man, I'm so glad I was finally able to finish it. I tried to make these last few chapters flow kind of like the season finales. Of all the things I struggled with the most, it was episodic writing and Chase Young. When I first started writing, I intended to try and redeem him somewhat (I dislike him and what he did to the show), however that just didn't end up shaking out. I really just wanted to explore how Jack went from being a Chase Young stan to thinking he was a coward.
There will be an epilogue next week. No sequel though, while I have ideas of what comes next, I don't have enough to flesh out an overarching narrative. I will be posting little follow-up doodles on my tumblr. As well as WIP pics of binding this into a hardcover book!
Thank you so much to everyone who's read this story over the years. It's really meant the world to me.