Chapter 6: Together Again Part 2

Kimiko sighed with delight as she walked through the streets and took in her surroundings. It wasn't the temple but she was defiantly in China again. Now all she had to do was trek through miles and miles of jungle and mountains until she reached the temple. And, honestly, she had no idea which direction to go. It actually sounded just as bad in her head as it actually was. "All right, where to begin?" Kim asked herself. "I don't suppose the Sins have made maps illegal too…" Then she remembered, "Not that it matters, 'cause I'm broke."

So Kim had no choice but to wander aimlessly through the streets of this city (which she didn't even know the name of). She eventually came across a stand where she lifted a couple apples and a map from. As far as she knew no one noticed or cared.

"Ok, let's see here." She mumbled through a mouth full of apple as she unfolded the map. "It looks like the temple should be northwest of here a few… hundred miles… this is going to suck more than actually fighting the Sins."

"I couldn't agree more." Kim started glancing around, trying to find who had spoken, but she saw no one who she recognized. She knew she recognized the voice though. It sounded a lot like… "Oh, come on! I know I'm short but I find it hard to believe that you can't see me when I'm right in front of you." Kim looked down in front of herself to find…

"Omi!" the Japanese girl dropped to her knees and pulled the little monk into a hug. "I can't tell you how good it is to see a familiar face! Where've you been? Do you know where the others are? Do you have any idea how we can get to the temple from here?"

"In this order." Omi said, pulling himself away from Kim. "I was in South America until I was knocked out and then I woke up here, no, and no."

"Perfect." Kim sighed. "Well… we're alive, and that's all that matters. I hope I can still say the same for the others though." It was all Omi could do to nod in agreement.

The hours passed by and Omi and Kim spent their time catching up, listening to what had happened to each other while they'd been separated. Omi was surprised to hear that Clay's sister had actually helped her out and they both were surprised to learn that the armored man had attacked them both… and at relatively close times no less. They were so focused on their conversation. The first being that people were screaming and running through the streets in other parts of town because a blaze of fire was jetting through the streets and the other being a large shadow jumping over head.

"So, all we can do is walk back to the temple and hope the others are there then?" Omi asked.

"I guess." Kim grumbled. "I wish Dojo were here though. He could just fly us back there in a… few…" That's when she noticed the fire shooting through the streets "I think we have a problem."

"And what's…"

"Get down!" Kim shouted as she dove to the ground, pulling Omi with her, as the fire went by. But this seemed to be what gave them away. As soon as they hit the ground the fire came to a stop and spun around, revealing the fiery skeleton with the flaming motorcycle. "Oh crap. It's seen us."

The skeletal man jumped off of his bike and just glared down to them, the flames surrounding its head quietly crackling like a camp fire. Kim and Omi waited for it to attack or something like that but they didn't expect what it did. It raised its hand and waved at them. Confused out of their minds, the two monks just gawked at it with their heads tilted to one side. The skeleton looked at them questioningly for a moment, but then nodded and reached behind its back. It brought its arms back with the two halves of the Moby Morpher and slammed them together. When taken apart Clay stood in place of the flaming skeleton. "Sorry for the scare." Clay called to them. "Forgot what I looked like for a second there."

"Clay!"

"Not just Clay." Then a small rodent standing on its hind legs and wearing tiny Xiaolin robes jumped onto the Texan's shoulder.

"Hamster?"

"Yes, yes, it's been quite a while since we've last seen each other. But we have no time for formalities right now. You three must return to the temple as quickly as possible." Hamster explained. "With any luck the others are already there."

"Small problem." Kim said. "I doubt that that turbo charged bike of yours can fit us all."

"Ya know, she's got a point." Clay agreed.

"Patience, young monks. Time hold all answers." Hamster reassured them. As it turned out the rodent had impeccable timing, as at that very moment a huge cat-like machine crashed down in the streets near by. "See?"

"Is that the Crouching Cougar?" Omi questioned.

"I'll be a buried treasure chest full of bacon if it's not." Clay said.

The three monks, with Hamster still sitting on Clay's shoulder, ran over to the cougar just as the hatch to the cockpit opened up. Inside sat the petite snappish girl with short brown hair that they all recognized as their good friend Elena. "I thought that was you guys down there." she called to them.

"How'd you get the cougar, Elena?" Omi asked as he and the others climbed into it. "I thought we left this Wu at the temple with Dojo and the rest."

"I've been at the temple for a couple days now." Elena explained. "But now that you mention him I haven't seen Dojo once since I got there."

"Knowing that dragon he's probably hiding in the vault." Kim said. "So what're you doing here of all places anyway, Elena?"

Elena just pointed her thumb to the back seat of the cougar where about ten bags of groceries sat. "The temple ran out of food. I, um, got kinda hungry after living off fist and squirrels for a week."

"Well you don't have nearly enough." Clay said. "The rest of us are starving too. I say we pick up about a hundred more bags."

XIAOLIN TEMPLE

"Well, at least the four of us are back." Clay said as he walked down the hall to the kitchen with the last few backs of groceries in his hands. "Can't believe that no one else is back though." He rounded the corner into the kitchen and set the bags down on the table. As he started putting the food away he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. He thought he saw a strange figure standing in the doorway leading outside but when he turned to investigate no one was there. "Yer just paranoid, Clay." He reassured himself.

But when he turned back he felt an arm snake around his neck and a hand secure his arms behind his back. "Don't move, cowboy."

"I suggest ya let go before I hurt ya." Clay threatened.

"Oh…" the person let go of his and moved to his front, remaining extremely close to him. The person wore a brown cloak and hood which hid its face, but the figure quickly reached up to remove the hood and reveal the Chinese girl with a mane of golden blond hair underneath. "I seriously doubt you'd do that, handsome." Saya chuckled.

"Saya!" Clay said excitedly, pulling her into a tight hug. Saya hugged him back and gave him a loving kiss. They remained hugging each other for a bit, just being thankful to be together again. They kissed once more before breaking the silence. "Where've you been all this time?"

"Kenya. I ran into an old… acquaintance there and he helped me get to Cairo where Mimi picked me up in the Silver Manta Ray." Saya explained.

"Mimi's here too?"

Saya nodded. "So are Rai and Julia… and a couple of stowaways that Rai picked up in Rome." Clay gave her a questioning look. "Jet and Jess are friends of Rai's, and they've actually been a big help."

"Meaning?"

"Rai's lost his memory and he probably wouldn't have trusted us if it weren't for them."

"Well… that's a bummer."

MEDITATION HALL

"As glad as I am to be home I have no time to relax." Omi said to himself as he opened the Shen Gong Wu vault and started down the stairs. "I must prepare for the worst… especially that strange man in armor… and listen to me talking to myself, I sound crazy! Then again who wouldn't be crazy after spending a week in a jungle all alone…? I'm still talking to myself, aren't I?" He made his way to the bottom of the vault where the most dangerous Wu were kept. He needed to build an arsenal for the up coming battles, and it need be he needed something that could end it quickly. The Sapphire Dragon or Sleeping Boar would be too bulky to hide and not easily controlled without the Emperor Scorpion. He needed something small but powerful. "I need the Kazusu Atom." But when he opened the drawer it was already gone. "What?"

"I thought I heard you down here."

Omi easily recognized the voice and turned around to find Mimi standing on the step just behind him. Overjoyed, he forgot about what he was doing, jumped into the red heads arms and kissed her. "Mimi! I'm so glad you're all right!"

"It's good to see you too, Shorty." Mimi sighed, hugging him tightly. "But what're you doing down here? You should be upstairs with everyone else."

"The other's are here too?"

"I've at least caught a glimpse of everyone but Rush and Dojo. But back to my question, what're you doing down here?"

Omi just nodded and jumped out of her arms. "We're in the middle of a War, Mimi. If we don't defeat the Sins and any other psychopath that gets in our way of doing so who knows what could happen to the world. We need weaponry, and what better weapons are there than the Shen Gong Wu?"

"Well, good luck with that." Mimi said. "I checked a lot of the drawers on the way down here and a lot of them are missing. And most of them are the good ones too."

"Well that's just great!" Omi said angrily, throwing his hands in the air and leaning back against the wall at the very back of the vault. But as his body hit the bricks the wall crumbled away and Omi fell back into a dark chamber.

"Omi! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My oversized head broke my… fall." He paused and stood up as a few torches inside of the chamber lit up instantly, revealing a secret about the temple that no one had seen in over fifteen hundred years. "Mimi, come take a look at this."

"What is it, Omi?" Mimi asked as she walked up behind him. "What did you… oh my god, it's beautiful."

BED CHAMBERS

"Ugh, I need a nap." Julia sighed as she fell down onto her bed. "Who would've figured that running through the snow in the streets of Moscow would be such a work out?" She got as comfortable as possible and pulled the blankets over herself, intent on getting some rest. As few minutes later she wasn't quite a sleep but she was drowsy enough not to notice Elena groggily stagger into the chamber herself.

"Why am I so tired all of the sudden?" she yawned. "Controlling the Crouching Cougar must be harder than it seemed." With her eyes half closed she made her way to bed. It wasn't until she was already in bed and ready to fall asleep that she realized that somebody else was already there. She opened her eyes to find the Australian girl with long raven black hair lying half asleep next to her. "Jewel? When'd you get here?" Elena asked groggily, but more awake now than she was a few seconds ago.

Jewel's eyes snapped open at the sound of Elena's voice. "Elena, is that you, babe?" she asked sleepily.

Elena just chuckled as she sat up. "Yeah, it's me." she answered. "I'm glad to see you're ok."

"Same here." Jewel said, also sitting up and stretching her arms. "So, is there a reason you just randomly came into my room to get some rest, not that I mind." she asked, wrapping her arm around the other girls waist and leaning her head on her shoulder.

Elena laughed. "Well, I've been here for a while now and this room reminded me of you." Jewel just sighed and scooted closer to her girlfriend. It was quiet for a short time, they just enjoyed the moment while they could. Then an idea popped into Elena's head. "Hey Jewel." She said softly.

"Yeah?" Jewel asked, lifting her head off of Elena's shoulder and looking her in the eyes.

"I love you." Elena whispered before leaning in towards Jewel and pressing their lips together. It was only a few seconds before they pulled apart, smiling and blushing. "Now c'mon." Elena said. "I'm suddenly starving."

TEMPLE GROUNDS

"So, this is where you live, eh?" Jet asked as he, Rai and Jess walked randomly around the temple grounds. "Smells funny."

"Yeah, I guess." Rai said. "I just wish I could remember something about it. I mean, it seems familiar, I just don't know why."

"Now that I think about it we haven't seen that girlfriend you were talking about." Jess pointed out. "You sure this is the right place?"

"I… I don't know… Look, guys, I think I need some time alone." Rai said before walking off. Jet and Jess just watched as he walked away until he'd rounded a corner, leaving their line of sight.

"God, why are you punishing him so?" Jess whispered.

Jet just rolled his eyes. "Please. If anything God's taken pity on him." he said. "Think about it. His entire memory he's lived in the world that the Sin's have created. The rest of us have to live with the memory of how things used to be… if anything he's got it better than any of us."

"Jet…"

Meanwhile Rai was still making his way randomly through the temple ground, just trying to clear his head. He saw so many things that seemed familiar to him but he couldn't remember. The fountain, the training obstacle coarse, the multiple buildings, it was like they were all taunting him, keeping his memories just out of reach. "I'm really starting to hate this place." he grumbled.

Then he found what he was looking for. Kimiko was sitting under the shade of a tree talking to Hamster, who was standing next to her. "Why not." Rai figured. "I've got nothing to loose."

"Look, Hamster, you're the closest thing we've got to Master Fung right now. Most of use will probably look to you for guidance. Are you sure you don't know anything about how to defeat the Sins?" Kim asked the rodent standing next to her.

"I'm afraid not, young monk." Hamster answered. "But as I said before, time holds all answers. You'll figure it out eventually."

"K-Kimiko?"

Kim and Hamster looked up to find Rai standing just a few feet away, looking nervous. "Rai?" Kim questioned in shock.

"I'll just leave you two alone." Hamster said before walking away.

Kim quickly stood up and ran over to Rai, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Rai! Thank god you're all right! I was so worried…" Rai was motionless at first, but quickly returned her hug and said he felt the same. But his hesitation had already gotten Kim suspicious as she pulled away and gave him a questioning look. "Rai, is something wrong?" she asked. "You seem different."

Rai sighed and lowered his head. "Actually, there is… I can't remember anything, Kim… nothing but you."

Kim just stood there motionlessly starring at him in shock. She didn't know how to react other than just pulling him into another hug and reassuring him. "It's ok, Rai. We'll get your memory back… I'll get your memory back… I promise."

"Aw… what a sweet moment." Wuya chuckled as she watched Rai and Kim from the branches of a nearby tree. "I should ruin it." Just then she noticed the other six monks along with two kids she didn't recognize and that rodent from Wraths tournament walk up to them. "Oh, this is just too perfect. My love will be very pleased with me this time around." With that the Sin of Lust snapped her fingers and she vanished, taking Rai, Kim, Clay, Saya, Omi, Mimi, Julia, and Elena with her and leaving only Jet, Jess, and Hamster behind.

"What the hell just happened?" Jet demanded after the others had just vanished.

"Watch your language, Jet." Jess said.

"This isn't the time for any of your churchy stuff, Sis." Jet argued.

"I suggest you step out of the way." Hamster said.

Jet and Jess barely had time to jump out of the way before the armored man came running passed them and jam his sword into the ground. A portal suddenly opened up in his path. His sword went flying back to him and he grabbed it just before he passed through the portal and it closed behind him.

(a/n) all right everyones back together (save for Rush who abviously wont be coming back). but it figures that I end that chapter in some kind of disaster. thats just my style, always end with a good cliffhanger. now, a few matters to address. first are the questions: what exactly did Omi and Mimi find in the vault; where did Wuya take the monks; and what is the story with this armored guy? all will be answered soon enough. on another note, if any of you were uncomfortable with Julia and Elenas first kiss, well thats your problem. I waited longer with them than anyone else just so you readers could get used to the idea so theres nothing more I can do. Im going to treat them like everyone else in this story. now that thats out of the way, chapter 7 will be coming soon and it will end part 1. and Im also going to reveal who the armored man is and where Dojo is at the end. Im taking all bets. tell me what you think the answers are to the above questions, but youll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.