First, a disclaimer. Xiaolin Showdown is owned by Christy Hui and Warner Bros entertainment.
Vamp: Thanks to a few key people: Light Ebony Dark Ivory (a.k.a The Living Contridiction) for pointing out the error I made at the end of the chapter. Tsuki Yosuke and GothicGoddess- 13 for the encouragement that got me to write said chapter. And ThablueGRRL for your very lovely comments, I had wanted to let you know last time, but I hadn't gotten a chance to. If your name wasn't mentioned, it's not that I didn't appreciate the comment, I just had an aggenda this time and haven't mentioned you yet.
Chapter 3: Jack settles in, and the Monks brood
Morning brought no answers for Jack, who laid in the large bed that very nearly swallowed him whole. He wasn't sure, but he doubted he'd ever been this comfortable in his whole life. He curled his fingers in the silky sheets, smiling tiredly, to weak for anything more. His headache was down to a barely noticeable pang, but he feel drawn out. He forced himself to sit up with a groan, sliding out of bed and straight to the floor.
Maybe satin sheets were a little too slick.
"Ow." He muttered, rubbing his head a bit. He then blinked in surprise, patting the cotton at his temple again. "Who-?" he began as the door opened. He yelped and jumped back under the sheets to hide his boxer-clad form, blushing. He needn't have bothered, however.
Jack didn't feel like he should have been as surprised as he was. The first robot should have been a clue, but even so, his mouth fell open in shock.
It kept to the onyx finish the first one had, but appeared that someone had attempted to go for a more human look. It had the appearance of a blonde, large-built man. His face had a large frozen smile on it with slightly crocked teeth and bulbous eyes, with evening wear and a large red bowtie.
Jack blinked and slowly shifted out of the covers, feeling less embarrassed.
Gotta give it to whoever lives here, this is the life. Wonder where he buys the robots, though…
GOOD MORNING, YOUR WONDERFULNESS THAT IS MASTER JACK.
The robot crooned as it flew over to him. Jack frowned, raising a red eyebrow at the display.
Well that was…a bit much for a wakeup call, wasn't it? Jack thought, lifting himself out of bed. He threw the covers back a bit haphazard. This 'Master' of theirs must be a total ham, or a freak if he needs that much primping.
"Uh, yeah, look, I really need to get cleaned up. And maybe get some new clothes. C-can you show me to the bathroom, please?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. He frowned as his fingers ran over what much be dried blood, scratching at it a bit. What had he done to himself? He tried to remember, but it was a blur.
Jack's eyes widened slightly. Actually, the more he thought about it, he really couldn't remember anything. Anything at all. He…he sort of remembered when he knocked on the door and saw the robots. But how had he actually gotten there? He rubbed a bit harder at the back of his neck until it hurt and forced himself to stop thinking on it.
OF COURSE MASTER JACK. ANYTHING FOR YOU, MASTER JACK.
The robot took his arm gently and led him down the hall. Jack frowned at the smiling thing from the corner of his eye. This one was getting on his nerves. He liked the one at the door better. A man of few words…or, well, a robot of few words. Whatever.
As the floating butler opened the door, Jack felt his jaw hang open. It was like a personal spa! Black and white marble and gold inlay everywhere with a large 12-man Jacuzzi tub in the center. Jack felt himself go weak-kneed and grabbed onto the bot for support.
"Holy Moly, Mother of God." He breathed.
WILL YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE, OH GREAT MASTER JACK?
Jack's eyes twitched as he pulled himself up better and glared hatefully at the robot, or as least as much as he could muster. He felt the need to intimidate the creation, though for the life of him he wasn't sure why. He could tell it was a lost cause anyway, and he gave a sigh.
"No, this is great. Thanks, um…I-I'm sorry, what's your name?" he asked, feeling embarrassed. He could feel a painful headache building just behind his eyes. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. God it had to be because of this stupid robot. It was such a damn Yes Ma- He blinked. Yes-Bot. He just knew it. It was called Yes-Bot and the stupid parts had cost so much I had to get a fucking loan from Panda Budda, that loan sharking bastard, and then he screwed me over! One of these days, I'm gonna take my soldering iron and just
Jack blinked, feeling stunned. Where had that come from? That…it…that wasn't the kind of thing he thought of, was it? Who was Panda Bubba? He opened his mouth to ask, but then realized that Yes-Bot was gone. Well, at least he had drawn a bath for him.
"How long was I daydreaming?" he muttered and he headed for the soapy water.
Meanwhile, in the hall of Justi- Whoops, wrong story. Sorry.
At the Xiaolin Temple, four monks were doing what they always did after a search of Shen Gong Wu: Hiding from Master Fund to get out of chores. Of course, today, said monks had a great deal more on their minds as they hunkered down in their secret hideaway at the bottom of the Shen Gong Wu vault.
Raimundo, the Dragon of Wind, was flipping through a book on football lazily, and would every now and then look at his other team members. Since yesterday, he had found himself drifting back to the thoughts on Jack, which was not something that usually on the latin's mind.
Usually it was how to get a picture of Kimiko undressing without her murdering him and hiding his body in the koi pond, but that wasn't the point.
Besides the fact that his pride had been severely damaged by the ugly comment from Jack –well, it had been a bit more colorful than that– he was also worrying about how out-of-sorts Jack had been acting. He hadn't even remembered his own name. His. Own. Name. Something he tended to scream out at people as he arrived. Or as he left. Or just for any reason ever. And he had dismissed it.
It was unnerving, to say the least.
At the other end of the small room, the Dragon of Earth was patiently whittling a new wooden statue of a steer for his growing collection. It was hard to tell with Clay with the blank look that was often on his face, but he was as troubled as his friend Rai. For one, that Brokeback quip had almost made him throttle the albino. His hand moved a little too quickly in irritation and he cut off one of the steer's horns.
"Dang it." He muttered under his breath.
Kimiko, the hot-headed little Dragon of Fire, was doing what she usually did when she had nothing else to do; playing with her palmpilot. She was wearing a pink Mohawk today with a neon blue Lolita outfit and lavender Mary Janes. She laid on her stomach, her feet swinging behind her as she surfed the web. She was secretly on MayoClinic.
Jack had been so off. And there had been so much blood. Until Chase had said he was breathing, Kimiko had thought…sh-she had thought…She swallowed thickly and began working harder on her search, occasionally tapping the end of her stylus against painted lips.
It was Omi, though, meditating upside-down in the corner, that was the most upset. The Dragon of Water hadn't spoken since they came home, and had spent every moment meditating. His mind was a whirlwind, but there was only three things he knew for sure that kept him centered:
Jack Spicer had gotten hurt.
Jack Spicer could not remember who he was.
Jack Spicer had gotten hurt saving Omi's life.
It had been an accident. The avalanche hadn't been expected by anyone, but Jack and Omi had been still standing under it, both holding the Wu and…and the Jack had just pushed him out of the way. And then he had disappeared under the rocks. And it took so much work to get him out, and Clay had said that if he'd tried to manipulate the rocks he might have hurt Jack more, and...
Omi's eyes opened, tears welling in them. Jack Spicer could have died and he hadn't even thought about himself. That was proof there was some good in the Goth boy. He wiped his eyes quickly so no one would notice. Jack had to be his friend. Only friends were so selfless. He had to go see the other and made sure he was okay.
Omi glanced at his friends quickly. Yes…yes. It was his duty as a Xiaolin Warrior to help the hurt. And if he managed to talk Jack into changing to the Xiaolin Side for good…well, all the better. Omi nodded, please with himself, and continued his meditation, a weight lifted off his shoulders.
Jack scratched at his ears for the fourth time as he lounged in the tub, careful to keep his head from getting wet. His ears were burning like hell.
"Who keeps thinking about me?" He muttered, then shrugged and blew some bubbles off his hand.
Cinnamon bubble bath. How wonderful.
Vamp: As I said last time, hate hate hate Yes-Bot. Though, to General Maraxus, I get that you like him. To each their own. I just, personally, don't like yes men, ya know?
I decided I wanted to expand more on the Monk's interpretation of the events. I wanted to show how bad it was, and how life threatening. Just to add to the drama, I suppose.