Author's Note: Here's Chapter Two, in which Chase Young appears, the monks split up into couples, and Dojo goes home. HOPE THAT DIDN'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR YOU. :D
Chapter Two: The Reunion
While the Xiaolin warriors took the long way back to the temple on foot, Jack Spicer was flying towards the monstrous lair of Chase Young. The immortal warlord was sitting with his back turned to Jack as the evil boy genius crawled into his presence.
"Er…Chase...Young…sir…" Jack stammered. "…how's it hanging?"
"Did you retrieve what I wanted?" Chase said evenly.
"Yeah…yes!" Jack held up the Lunarcanum triumphantly. "It's all yours, Chase Young, sir!" He skittered forward, placed the glass sphere at the foot of his throne and ran back a few paces in order to get a head start in case he had messed up somewhere along the line and incurred Chase's wrath.
Chase snapped his fingers, and one of his jungle cats stepped forward and picked up the disk. The cat carried it over to him and dropped it in his hands. "You have done well, Jack Spicer." He said after examining it for a few agonizingly slow. "This Shen Gong Wu is one-half of the key to my latest plan."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know you have a plan!"
"I always have a plan." Chase said slowly. "In case you didn't realize, the Lunarcanum is of no assistance to the Heylin side. But when combined with its sister, the Terrarcanum, during the Dragoncircle Ceremonies, it will make us – well, me – invincible."
"Dragoncircle Ceremonies?" Jack murmured.
"You don't need to know about that right now." Chase Young said. "All you need to know is that you are going on an evil field trip to…the Mountains of Everywhere." He paused. "That's south of the Jungles of Here nor There and west of the Valley of Somewhere. Or is that, west of the Jungles of Somewhere and north of the Hillocks of Yonder Glen. No matter; my Heylin Eyeball will guide you."
Jack nodded and extended the whirling blades on his heli-bot. He was doing a lot of legwork on this plot, and Chase wasn't doing anything other than sitting around and giving him orders. It was as bad as the time when he was working with Wuya. Well, not quite as bad, but really, really close.
Master Fung was upset when he heard the news about Dojo's flight. "Is this true?" He asked. "Well, this is a very serious situation. Dojo has only run off once before, and in that instance he had been betrayed to Chase Young."
"Oh, I remember that." Raimundo said. "Do you think something like this is happening right now?"
The old monk shook his head. "I do not know. I believe that he is not in any immediate danger, but I shall have to do research in order to be certain." He turned away from the Xiaolin dragons and began looking through the dusty scrolls. "In the meantime, I would advise you to focus your energies on preparing yourselves to retrieve the Terrarcanum. It will reveal itself within a short time of its sister, and it is imperative that the Shen Gong Wu not fall into evil hands."
The warriors hung their heads. They had been hoping that he wouldn't notice that they hadn't returned with the Wu.
"I think we should raid Spicer and get back our Wu." Raimundo said.
"You always think that." Kimiko replied.
"Besides," Clay said. "If we go after Jack, then who's going to go after Dojo?"
"I recommend--," Omi began.
"I recommend that we split up!" Raimundo interrupted loudly. "Kimiko and I will go to Jack Spicer's mansion--,"
Kimiko raised a hand. "No, that's not going to work. I put a GPS tracker in Dojo's mouth after he was kidnapped again a while ago. I have to be on the couple—er, team that goes after Dojo."
Raimundo rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kimiko, you and Clay go after Dojo. Omi and I will go to Jack Spicer's mansion. Everyone agreed?"
No one had any objections, so the four monks made their way to the vault next to the temple. Raimundo pulled it open and divvyed up the Shen Gong Wu within. Kimiko and Clay received the Star Hanabi and the Third Arm Sash, while Omi and Raimundo got the Orb of Tornami and the Eye of Dashi. The first team would go after Dojo in the Silver Manta Ray and the second team would head to Jack Spicer's manor through the underground 'entrance' via the Tunnel Armadillo.
"Man," Raimundo said as the Silver Manta Ray rocketed away from the temple. "I am such an awesome Shoku warrior."
"As you say, Peerless Leader." Omi said, in a way that was bordering on sarcasm. Raimundo glanced at him, his eyes wide, before shrugging and turning to activate the Tunnel Armadillo.
Even though the Xiaolin warriors had only just left the temple in opposite directions in search of their two goals, Dojo Kanojo Cho was arriving at his own destination. He was at ring of volcanoes and ashen ground that floated somewhere in the distant Pacific. It was untouched by human feet, and seemed to be a deserted strip of land. But as he landed and shrunk to his original form, he knew what this place was – home.
"Welcome back," He said to himself, because no one would say to him. The dragon slithered in a crevice between two volcanoes and entered the Ring of Fire.
He could see dragons everywhere. Red dragons, blue dragons, wyverns and worms...all draped over every inch of warm space as they reclined in their familiar positions.
"Hello, everyone!" Dojo called.
The other dragons immediately turned and fixed their eerie yellow eyes on him.
"Who is that?" One of them asked.
"It's me! Dojo Kanojo Cho!" Dojo said, raising his eyebrows.
"Dojo…" Some of them murmured.
"My boy!" boomed a deep and terrible voice. The other dragons turned to see an enormous three-headed black dragon with glittering scales and bright red eyes rising from a canyon just behind them.
"Uncle Tiamat!" Dojo cried, feeling like a young dragon once again. He ran forward, passing many other bewildered dragons as he flew into his uncle's gigantic arms.
After they hugged, the elder dragon looked down at Dojo and said, "Did you receive the Summoning as well?"
Dojo shuddered. "Is that what it was? It was so painful!"
"Well, yes." Uncle Tiamat said, almost apologetically. "The Summoning was put out by the Elders in order to call all of the dragons here for the Dragoncircle Ceremonies." He yawned and stared around at the other dragons. They had gone back to their personal conversations and were paying them no mind. "But enough about that, for now. You ought to go and see your parents."
Dojo's parents lived in the third layer of the main crust of the Ring of Fire Island. Both Tiamat and Dojo had to shrink themselves down in order to fit down the tiny crevices that led into the crust, and even then, they had to squeeze a bit to make it down to their house.
"Mama, I'm back!" Dojo called.
His mother, a squat green dragon named Koryu Kanojo Cho, rushed out to give him a hug that even more bone-crushing than the one from Uncle Tiamat. "My baby boy's back!" She said as Dojo's face gradually went from green to purple to black.
"You might want to let him go." Tiamat said.
Koryu reluctantly let go and took a step back and Dojo flopped onto the ground, sucking in air like someone who had just been strangled.
"Are you married yet?" Mama demanded immediately after Dojo's face went back to its normal color.
"No, mama. I'm a--," Dojo began.
"You really ought to consider finding a nice girl dragon and settling down." Mama said, somewhat reproachfully. "You're my only son, you know, and if you don't lay any eggs then I'll never have any grandchildren!"
Dojo blushed. "Now I remember why I usually skip these reunions," He mumbled, but inaudibly so that his mother would get mad at him.
"What are you up to?" Uncle Tiamat asked.
The dragon puffed out his chest. "I'm a temple guardian!" Dojo said.
"Wait till I tell all the girls!" Mama said loudly. "My son, the temple guardian…" She vanished into a crevice leading to one of the other levels in the crust. Dojo gave Tiamat a strange glance before diving down after his mother. The black dragon shook his head as his nephew vanished, then curled up to go to sleep.
"Ma, come on!" Dojo groaned as he squeezed his way through the narrow interconnecting maze of shafts that led to the underground homes of the dragon clans.
"My son!" Mama repeated as she popped out of a crevice and landed with a soft thud in the middle of a cool, flat partition. Dojo remembered that this was where the female dragons hung out. "Did you know," Mama gushed. "That my son…is a temple guardian! For the Heylin--,"
"Xiaolin," Dojo muttered, turning red.
"Shaolin temple?" Mama said. "And get this – he's single."
The other dragons just looked at them, and Dojo wished that he had brought along the Shroud of Shadows.
"What's wrong with your scales?" A purple dragon asked. "They're so pale and dusty."
"Being a temple guardian is a lame job anyway." The orange dragon said. "My brother Tenebrae works at the center of the Earth, which is much cooler."
The other dragons were on the verge of coming up with their own criticism when a howling sound began ricocheting through the cavern. The dragons perked their ears before whispering amongst themselves.
"The Elders are calling!" The purple dragon whispered. She vanished into a crevice, heading to the deepest layer on the Ring of Fire Island. The other dragons followed suit, and after gulping nervously, Dojo went as well.