Jack Spicer woke up in his lair for the third night in a row, alone except for a row of half-finished robots and a bunch of empty pudding cups that had somehow missed the trash can. He groaned as he fished a wrench out of the collar of his shirt and sat up. Boy, what happened last night?

Suddenly, it all came back to him. Hannibal Bean had invaded his lair the night before with one of his new creepy skeletons and had taken all of his Shen Gong Wu for himself. The vault door that had been torn off its hinges and thrown onto the ground confirmed that story.

"Anyone called when I was out?" Jack asked groggily.

His permanently-grinning Yes-bot zoomed around him in a mad circle, its head rotating dangerously. "Seven missed calls, my master! Seven missed calls!" The robot made a noise that sounded like it was clearing its throat, then began to speak in a perfect imitation in Katnappe's voice.

"Hello, freak-boy! In case you wondering why I called, I was looking for an evil partner to go on a crime spree with. Call back if you're coming with... unless you're too chicken."

BEEP!

This was Tubbimura's voice. "I am Tubbimura, of the Ninja! I have acquired a cold iron sword, a hand-and-a-half long with a fine edge. If you are interested, return this call... if you dare!"

BEEP!

Wuya this time. "Spicer! Bring me the Reversing Mirror and the Serpent's Tail and I will make you rich!"

BEEP!

"Enough!" Jack yelled. "I'm sick of these calls. Yes-bot, if anyone on my address book calls me or e-mails me, delete it. I've had enough! And bring me some coffee!"

"As you wish, my master!" The Yes-bot said.

Jack shoved the grinning ghoul away from him and surveyed his domain with increasing dismay. No Shen Gong Wu, no Jack-bots, and not a SINGLE person that I can trust anymore. How am I going to take over the world like this?

He knew now that he needed to make a change. He couldn't keep on signing deals with the forces of the Heylin without getting something in return. But there was no way he could strong-arm people like Chase Young or Hannibal Bean or even the recently re-ghosted Wuya. Not without some kind of edge...

"I won't lose so easily!" Jack said, peering into the creamless coffee with red, red eyes. "I am bad! I am evil! I will find a way, or my name isn't Jack Spicer, EVIL BOY GENIUS!"

Ripples began forming in his coffee, spreading out from the center to the edges of the rim. But Jack wasn't moving it with his hand.

Bright purple eyes stared back unblinkingly at him.

'There is a way, young master' said a voice that seemed to emanate from nowhere. 'The only question is... are you willing to take it?'

"Hannibal Bean, you are accused of tampering with the sacred elemental forces, turning Chase Young to the side of evil, and attempting to facilitate the destruction of Earth by a bunch of blind worms. Really creepy blind worms. How do you plead?"

Bean was in chains, staring blearily up at the stone faces of the four monks who were sitting in judgment at his trial. Each one was an Elder Monk from the various temples throughout the world, representing the four elements of Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire. Master Fung had called them as soon as he had heard that Bean was captured and had invited them to judge Bean for all of the evil he had done in service to the Heylin side.

"I didn't do any of that." He said finally.

"Yes you did, we saw you!" Kimiko shouted.

"He... tricked me most shamefully into absorbing all of the elemental powers for my own." Omi said solemnly.

"Hannibal Bean also stole Chase Young's soul with the Lau Mang Long Soup." Master Guan added.

"It is true. He helped to steal the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum and almost used them to destroy the world." Dojo piped up. "But I stopped him. He and Tiamat, and Echidna. Did you that? It was me! But when I asked for a little 'thank-you' gift to show their appreciation for saving their lives and all, you know what they said? No!"

"You wanted three Ferraris and a supermodel for a girlfriend! We can't get you all that!" Raimundo said. "Well, I could get the supermodels, but not for you."

"Silence!" The Fire judge said, raising a hand. "Hannibal Bean, what say you to these accusations?"

"They're making it all up. L'il Omi absorbed the elements on his own, Chase Young drank the Lau Mang Long Soup on his own, and if I recall correctly, that there little green varmint Dojowas the one who melted the Shen Gong Wu and created a portal into our world. I had nothin' to do with any of it." Bean said. "Heylin honor."

"Are his statements correct?" asked the Water judge.

"Well, technically yes, but--," Raimundo began, but the judges cut him off.

"We have heard enough. By your own testimony and his own, we have no choice but to find Hannibal Roy Bean not guilty of the aforementioned crimes." The Wind judge banged his gavel on the podium and with that same stroke smashed the chains binding Hannibal Bean.

"What? They just can't let him go for that!" Raimundo demanded. As the judges were climbing down from their bench, he turned to Master Fung. "I thought that you said that these were the wisest monks in the world. If they really were, then they'd have him stuffed in a puzzle box or something!"

"Raimundo, please--," Master Fung began.

"They're idiots! I hope they're happy when Bean tries to destroy the world again." Rai snapped.

"Young monk!" said a cold, reedy voice. Raimundo turned around only to find himself standing face-to-face with the Wind judge.

"Hmm?" Rai said, gritting his teeth.

"For all your cleverness and pride, you are no wiser than a newborn. Do not presume to question our wisdom, for once you summoned us you submitted yourself and Bean to our judgment." The monk turned away, and followed his fellow judges out of the Temple.

"I guess I'm free again." Bean said, grinning grotesquely.

"Hey, now, don't think we can't still kick yer butt." Clay said.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin'." Bean called for the Ying-Ying Bird, who swooped down and carried him off in its little talons.

"Well, that was a total ripoff." Rai said as he and his fellow monks were practicing stick-fighting in the courtyard.

"Cheer up, Rai. At least we caught him once, and we still managed to get the Shen Gong Wu away from. Maybe he'll be too scared to come after us again." Kimiko said, dodging a spinning kick from Omi. She watched nervously as Raimundo went after Clay with fierce blow after fierce blow; he was taking the sparring a little more seriously than usual.

"Even you don't believe that," Rai retorted. Kimiko secretly agreed, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Maybe this'll cheer you up!" Dojo said, scuttling between Rai's and Clay's skirmish. "Master Guan just left with 10 of his strongest disciples to find out whatever happened to Chase Young. Pretty soon, they'll be less evil to fight! Isn't that just peachy for you?"

"Whatever." Raimundo said. He brought his own stick sweeping down in a high arc, knocking Clay's ten-gallon hat from his head. The stick then snapped with a loud crack as it fell to the ground, broken. "You guys, I'm going to bed. If you need anything, please hesitate to ask."

He stormed off towards his temple.

"What has gotten up of him?" OMi asked.

"It's 'what's gotten into him'," Kimiko corrected. "And to be honest, I don't know. He's been acting kind of weird lately."

"He is afraid," Master Fung said as he stepped onto the temple grounds.

"Rai? Afraid?" Clay said.

"Yes." Fung continued. "The forces of the Heylin swept down upon the temple, the only home he's known for years. He was left to defend it, and despite all of his titles and advantages he failed to save it from total destruction."

"Omi was there too, and he's not acting all funny!" Kimiko protested.

"But Raimundo is the Shoku Warrior," Omi added. "He has responsibilities far greater than we three, and fears that he may not be worthy of his rank."

They were all silent for a moment. "I should go talk to him," Kimiko said.

"We'll come too." Omi and Clay said in unison.

"That is good. If he knows that is friends still stand by his side, he may become more confident." Master Fung said.

"I'll stay out here," Dojo offered. "To catch you if he decides to shove you out the window." When no-one laughed, he grinned sheepishly and slunk away, muttering something about guarding the vault.

"I sure hope he's not as upset as he was during training," Clay said.

Jack stared numbly at his coffee, trying to digest all that it had told him in the past hour or so.

"So, what you're saying is," He began. "is that I'm not just Jack Spicer, son of a boring businessman and his equally yet uniquely boring realtor wife? Instead, according to you, I'm actually Jack Spicer, son of the King and Queen of the Underworld, and that it's time for me to set aside my title as Evil Boy Genius and take up the much cooler mantle of Dark Prince of the Universe? Do you really think I'll believe that?"

The coffee cup didn't say a word.

"Well, YOU'RE RIGHT! WOOHOO! This is SO AWESOME!" Jack leapt atop his worktable, careful not to knock over the coffee cup, and began gyrating like a madman. He was dancing for a full five minutes before he stopped and clambered back down into his seat. "Let me guess," He said, drawing from experience from a lot of bad deals with his fellow villains. "There's a catch. Something I gotta do before I get my hands on the Dark Prince mojo, right?"

The cup didn't even seem to hear him.

"Answer me, you fragile piece of styrofoam, or you'll regret it."

The purple eyes in the cup narrowed. 'Yes, Your Highness. It is very simple. A new Shen Gong Wu will soon reveal itself. You must seize it for yourself and wield it, and your kingdom will be made manifest here'.

"And that's all?" Jack said.

'Yes, Your Highness.'

"WOOOOOOHOOOOO!" Jack shrieked. "This almost makes up for losing all... my... Shen Gong Wu... oh, boy."

'What is it, Your Highness?'

"I don't have any Wu for a Showdown. I'll never get that new Shen Gong Wu!" Jack complained.

'Hmm... Your Highness, I beg your leave to present to you a gift, worthy of your excellence and grandeur.'

The coffee cup shone, and, as if by magic, a glowing orb of light emanated from the frothy solution within it. It floated towards Jack, then popped like a balloon. Jack looked down, and, lying at his feet, were the Shen Gong Wu that Hannibal had stolen from him -- minus the Shadow Slicer, of course.

"Wow, hey!" Jack cried. "Silk Spitter, Helmet of Jong, Shen Ga Roo, and... ooh, Monkey Staff! I've missed you so!" He kissed the wooden staff sloppily, and if the coffee cup had been alive it would probably been retching in disgust at the sight. As it was, it just sat there, ever patient and totally immobile. . "Now what?" Jack asked.

'Now we wait... Your Highness...'