CHAPTER FIVE: JACK

Barely believing what he was about to do, Chase braced himself and snapped his fingers, vanishing into green smoke. Before he had time to blink, his home disappeared and he was now standing in dark basement of a sixteen-year-old boy. Inside, was a large black table, which glowed white from the overhead lamp, with complicated drawings of different pieces of machinery. Chase sighed, Wuya was right; when he had fallen from ruling the world, he had fallen hard. If he had seen himself as he was now back then, he would never have believed it.

A door slammed above his head and he heard the annoying whining of the little boy who never failed to irritate him.

"-stupid robot! WHY DON'T YOU WORK?" The door to the basement opened and a scrawny teenager dropped what he was carrying, sending a pile of metal pieces crashing down the stairs loudly.

"Ch-Chase Young!" He gasped and began to run down the stairs, smiling in disbelief. He slipped and fell down the last two steps. Typical Jack Spicer. After a few moments of moaning, Jack got up and pulled his hands up to his face, like a teenage girl would do upon meeting her favourite celebrity. Chase was surprised he had not screamed yet.

"W-what are you doing here… in my basement? In my house!" He gibbered excitedly, almost tripping over his own feet in his rush to greet the man he had worshipped for so many years.

"I want to make you a deal, Spicer." Chase said simply. He did not want to stay any longer than he had to. The boy irritated him in every aspect. Jack Spicer almost fell over for shock.

"You want to make a deal? With me?" Jack trembled.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He cried and flung his scrawny arms over Chase's shoulders. Through clenched teeth, Chase growled.

"Get. Off. Me. Now." He spat and Jack recoiled sheepishly.

"Sorry!" Jack Spicer said. "So… uh… wow… now that you're here, how can I help you, Chase?" His voice was unusually high pitched. How pathetic, Chase thought.

"I want you to build something for me." Chase said and Jack was swept his arms across the table, shifting old blueprints and pieces of paper out of the way. He pulled out a piece of paper and looked up,

"What do you want me to make?" Jack asked, his hand was shaking. Chase gritted his teeth.

"An army of Robot Warriors." As soon as Chase started talking, Jack began scribbling furiously on his piece of paper. After jotting down a few notes, Jack looked up.

"What do you want them to do?" He asked, still smiling like a child on Christmas morning.

"I want them to be skilled enough to preoccupy the Xiaolin Warriors whilst I take care of other matters." Chase said, staring at the boy.

"Wow. So evil!" Jack almost squealed. Jack wondered what someone like Chase would want with an army of robots, but whatever Chase wanted them for, Jack was thrilled to help.

"Do we have a deal, Spicer?" Chase asked simply.

"Yes, I'll do it Chase!" Jack scribbled down a few more things.

"Good. I want them built fast. The time is almost upon us." Chase said and he prepared himself to leave.

"Wait!" Jack called to him. "I have a question!"

Chase looked at the pale boy and sighed. "Yes?"

"Why don't you just send in the jungle cats to fight them? The Xiaolin losers would never win against an army of them."

Chase smiled. He had not expected Jack to be smart enough to ask this question.

"I have my reasons, Spicer." Chase replied. Jack nodded and began to scribble down more notes.

Chase raised his hand and prepared to snap his fingers.

"One more thing! When do you want it by, Chase?" Jack said, not looking up from his paper. He was so close to the paper, his nose was touching it. Jack Spicer looked up to see Chase gone. Jack could no believe his luck, he was building something for his hero. Chase Young needed his help. It was like a dream come true for Jack.

With a joyous laugh, he set to work.