The next morning could find the four Xiaolin monks sitting around the breakfast table in the mess hall. Since yesterday all of them had become interested in the mystery of the blood drained victim. However, no new developments had come out by the time they had they had all decided to go to bed.

As soon as she had finished eating Kimiko was on her PDA checking to see if they had caught the guy. The others waited for her to tell them if anything had happened but as her expression changed and she stayed silent the other dragons were starting to wonder until Riamundo just decided to ask.

Kim had been shocked by all the new developments that had come out since early this morning. She was so engrossed she almost forgot the others were curious too.

"They found another body," informed the Dragon of Fire, a grim undertone to her voice, "police are starting to suspect a serial killer is lose."

Solemn expressions crossed their faces, with the exception of Omi, who was wondering who would want to destroy a breakfast food.

"Like the last one?" questioned Rai.

"Yep, drained of blood. Found not far away from the last one; anyone who claims to have seen anything all have the same story about seeing a humanoid monster-thing. "

"Monster er no monster dat jest ain't right." Stated Clay sadly.

"Why do the police believe it to be the work of a person who hates breakfast? Should they not be looking for this monster?" Asked Omi.

"Serial as in 'in a series' Omi, not cereal as in breakfast," corrected Rai, "and police don't believe in monsters, at least not the ones you mean."

"But monsters do exist!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah but that's secret, that's why we're here. They handle people; we handle the monsters."

"Then should iwe/i not be doing something?"

Raimundo went silent at his question, after all, he did have a point. Thing was, they couldn't be one hundred percent sure this iwasn't/i a human. There were some pretty crazy-dangerous people in the world. Kimiko picked up on what their leader was thinking and explained to Omi for him.

"I still do not understand; why would a person harm another without reason?"

"It don't have to make sense dude," answered Rai, "some people are just messed up like that."

It was obvious from the look on his face that the Dragon of Water still didn't get it. After all the battles they've been through together sometimes they forgot how much younger than them Omi actually was. He wasn't even a teenager, yet it was only moments like this when he looked up with large innocent eyes that the others truly remembered.

"They found a dog too." Kimiko said suddenly.

"They found a dog?" Raimundo parroted stupidly.

"Listen, i'Police aren't sure what to make of it yet but a stray dog was found drained of its blood as well. So far police has not determined whether this incident is related to the two murders as the animal was found in a different area and appears to have been killed in a different manner.'/i" Kim sounded anxious, "That dog wasn't found that far from here…"

"Don't worry 'bout it too much Kim; ain't nothin' we can do. An' if whatever it is comes here it'll have to deal with us." Assured Clay.

Before anything else could be said about the subject Dojo suddenly burst into the room and made his way to the top of the breakfast table.

"Hate to break of the conversation kids, but we've got a live one!"

The tone of the room took a dramatic shift. The grim undertone form their conversation melted away as they all switched to Shen-gong-wu retrieval mode.

"Which 'wu is it Dojo?" asked the Dragon of Earth.

"It's called the Golden Orb."

O8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8O

Jack Spicer was having a rough morning. Well, another rough morning, however, this time was because he could feel his body turning into a vampire. He could feel as slowly his teeth were growing into fangs and his ears were extending into points. His vision was changing too; the world suddenly looked sharper, clearer, and more colorful than before. Unfortunately this was not a painless change, like a teething baby he felt a strong urge to bite down on something to ease the pain in his mouth; he was still achy all over and really wanted some more blood.

The blood had made him feel so much better last night, but he'd been told not to drink too much, his body was still adjusting to this new diet. Oh, but how he wanted more.

Wuya had left an hour ago, she said she had to do some things; he wasn't sure what that meant exactly but he wished she had at least given him more than comforting words for the pain. She had stayed all of last night answering his questions with a surprising amount of patience.

It helped that he already knew a lot about vampires already, all she really had to tell him was what was real and what had been invented by humans. For starters, the whole 'can't stand the sight of the cross' thing; that was just a myth. The only crucifixes that could hurt him were ones made of silver and only because the silver was the danger. Garlic too, she'd told him, could interfere with his powers. Luckily though both could hurt him neither could kill him.

The witch had told him what could kill him, made a point if it point even that he should know. Wooden stakes through the heart and beheading; those were false, he could survive that. Fire and sunlight however, were quite deadly, but, she told him much to his surprise, that didn't mean he could never go outside on a sunny day. As long as he could keep the sun off his skin he could go wherever he wanted. He wouldn't have to sleep in a coffin either, though it was recommended he find a secure place to rest as vampires were most vulnerable while sleeping and there were always people looking to kill one.

So far everything had been easy to remember. Jack could only drink human blood when he was a full vampire, and he shouldn't eat anyone with a disease because it would make him sick. Hunting for victims would be an easy task when he had his full powers. Vampires can't really hypnotize people but if their victim looks in their eyes a vampire can render them unable to move. No to mention the extra speed and strength that comes with being a creature of the night. The idea of killing a person though…Wuya had talked about it like one might talk about buying a steak from the grocery store. He'd never so much as seen a dead body and the idea made him squeamish. He'd smiled and nodded while she had been there but he didn't know if he could do it; then again, he'd have to do it.

After that discussion Wuya began telling him about the powers vampires possessed. Jack had been especially excited to find out he could turn into a bat. His excitement only grew when Wuya told him vampire could turn into any animal; it just took practice. He decided the first thing he was going to teach himself was how to turn into a monkey. The witch had face-palmed at this suggestion but to Jack it was perfect; who on earth would be expecting a monkey to be a vampire?

So far being a vampire sounded like the perfect way to live, if you consider a vampire to be alive. Well, almost perfect, there was just one thing that bugged him more than anything, even more than the killing-thing: he'd never wanted to be an immortal. Sure, immortals had powers and it would make sense that if a person was going to take over the world he should acquire immortality as well, but…living forever just seemed sad. Maybe it didn't have to be sad. Dojo was immortal right? He always seemed pretty happy, supposed Jack, well, when he wasn't acting like a total princess. And Chase was immortal; he didn't seem to have any complaints.

Chase! He'd almost forgotten about his idol! He couldn't wait to tell him, the dragon lord was definitely going to be impressed when he demonstrated his new powers. Jack couldn't wait to show him; after all, with immortal powers maybe Chase would even let Jack be his apprentice, for real this time. He could see it now…And with these thoughts distracting him Jack began to feel much better.

He was startled out of his dreaming suddenly when his Shen-gong-wu detector went off. One iwould/i have to activate now of all times. He decided to ignore it; he was sick and tired and probably didn't look his best at the moment. Besides, if it was an important 'wu he could just steal it later. Jack turned it off and went to sleep hoping when Wuya came back she would have another flask of animal blood. He REALLY wanted more…