Chapter 2: Amnesia
"Don't just stand there," Wuya hissed, "scrape that scum off and see what it is!"
"Oh, don't get your panties in a wad." Jack remarked.
Eagerly, he began peeling away layer after layer of plant life, slowly uncovering a large, egg-shaped gem. It was about the size of two regular beanbags stacked on top of each other. "Jackbot, scan this." Jack ordered.
The machine scanned the egg with a red ray and printed an analysis. "It's 33.76% emerald and 67.24% an unknown substance." Jack read.
The jewel was covered in a layer of water vapor from the mist of the rainforest climate it had sat in for generations. Using his sleeve, Jack wiped the mist away, revealing a human kept inside. Jack leaped backwards in shock, knocking the egg off of the table with his left arm and hitting the light switch on the wall with his right.
"Turn the light back on, you fool!" Wuya growled in the darkness.
With his curiosity and fear of the dark energizing him, Jack frantically searched for the switch. Light filled the dim room once more, revealing pieces of the shattered emerald scattered around the body of a girl. Poking out of her long, black hair were two, cat-like ears. That was not nearly as strange as seeing, not one, but the nine tails she had. A shiver ran down Jack's back as her eyes fluttered open. She sat up and looked around the room.
Jack blushed when he realized that she was naked. He couldn't just leave, so he looked up at Wuya, hoping to hear her bark out an order. She was almost as shocked as Jack was. "What is she?" he heard Wuya mumble.
The girl slowly crawled over on her knees and hands to Jack. He looked into her eyes, each one a deep, amber color. Her face was flawless. There were no blemishes or dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was not too pale nor too dark, it was a light, fair color. "Mew?" she lightly spoke, her voice as soft as a bell.
"M-Mew?" Jack repeated, trying to make sense of her ways.
A smile spread across her face. She rested her head on his chest and lightly purred. "Mew…" she said once again.
Wuya levitated down to the girl to take a closer look. "What are you?" the witch asked.
Frightened by Wuya's ghostly appearance, the cat child jumped into Jack's lap and covered her face with his arm. Jack's face grew hot as she trembled in his arms. "Mew!" she cried.
"What is she?" he asked.
"What do you think I've been trying to figure out for the past ten minutes, genius?" Wuya answered.
Jack frowned at the remark and looked back down at the scared little girl he held. Unsure of what to do, he whispered, "Hey, there, it's alright."
She stopped shaking and looked up at him again. "Mew?" she said, almost pleadingly.
Her arms were covered in scratches and sores. Jack inspected the wounds. "Look at this," he said, "Look at the gash on her hip."
"Nice to know where your eyes are." Wuya commented.
Ignoring Wuya, Jack held out the girl's arm and looked the scrapes over. They were long running and deep, obviously from a blade of some sort. He didn't touch them, avoiding the risk of damaging them any further or causing her pain. How could it have happened? Did she fight something? Had she afflicted the wounds herself?
"Is she a Shen Gong Wu?" Jack asked.
Wuya pondered the question. There was never a Shen Gong Wu that was a person itself… was there? Was she a special Shen Gong Wu with a mind of her own? Was she a Xiaolin warrior trapped by a Shen Gong Wu? The possibilities were endless.
Jack followed up with another question. "What do we do with her?" he asked.
"Keep her, of course!" Wuya answered. "Who knows what she is capable of doing? She could be the root of the Heylin side's power!"
Suddenly, she stood straight up. Her eyes grew wide. "W-What's wrong?" Jack asked her.
She sat on the floor with her knees locked together and her face buried in her hands. "Meeeew!" she wailed.
"What's going on?" Jack panicked, looking to Wuya for any possible explanation.
The cat girl cried out as if she were in pain, mewing like a helpless kitten with a thorn in its paw. Her nine tails stood out on end, bristling with fear. But then, she stopped. A relieved sigh escaped her mouth. "Nyaaa…"
"Is that it?" Wuya said, confused.
"I guess so. Maybe it was just-" but Jack was cut short.
Something warm and wet hit his foot. He looked down hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was. Wuya's face twisted into a disgusted expression. "D-Did she…"
"Nope." Jack said with an annoyed fake smile.
"Uggh…" Wuya sighed, "I don't see this going very well…"
"What troubles you, my students?" Master Fung inquired.
"Oh, Master Fung, our hearts are heavy with the color blue." muttered Omi.
"I thought that thing was going to give me a heart attack," Dojo complained, "I've never seen a Shen Gong Wu raise my blood pressure through the roof like that!"
"Cheer up, everyone makes a mistake every now and then," Master Fung encouraged, "perk up and do better next time."
"But, Master Fung," said Kimiko, "we don't even know what Shen Gong Wu we lost!"
"Oh?" he was slightly surprised. "What do you mean?"
"It was stuck in a bush," Raimundo answered, "Spicer struck me out with the Tangleweb Comb and made off with it. No one had a chance to see what it looked like."
"Must've been mighty big," Clay added, "I saw a tad bit o' green on it 'fore Spicer took it away."
Master Fung's eyes widened. "An emerald green?" he asked.
"Sorta." Clay answered.
"You don't think it was-" but Dojo was interrupted.
"I should hope not." Master Fung cut in. "Young Jack Spicer is not ready for something like her."
"Who said I was gonna bath her?" Jack argued.
"Who else is there that can?" Wuya asked. "You're parents would call the police if they found a naked cat girl in their bathroom, and in case you've failed to notice, I am a ghost, I can barely touch the air itself. Face it, Jack, you're the only one left."
Angry to face the truth, Jack pouted and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay…" he reluctantly agreed.
He held her hand and took her to the bathroom in the basement, where his parents wouldn't be around. She marveled at everything they passed, her eyes glittering in amazement. When he stopped at the bathroom door, she observed the doorknob carefully. A surprised look spread across her face. The white tile and porcelain tub was a beauty for her to behold. "Sit there until the bath water is ready." Jack instructed.
"Mew." she said to herself.
Jack adjusted the water temperature and added some bubble bath. The girl ran her finger through the gaps between the tiles, keeping herself entertained. After the water and suds were perfect for bathing, Jack called her over.
She didn't understand the meaning of "come here", leading Jack to pull her over. The water and white, fluffy bubbles frightened her, leaving her to mew piteously in Jack's lap and forcing him to lift her into the tub. The warm water comforted her, she allowed herself to sink into the bubbly waters.
"Well," Jack pulled out a bottle of liquid soap, "let's get this over with."
He poured a generous amount of the watermelon scented soap onto a sponge and began to lightly and carefully scrub her face. She purred in delight as the sponge caressed her skin, especially on her neck. Her ears twitched upon contact, causing her tails to flinch. Jack found this amusing.
She was having so much fun in the water, splashing Jack in the face and blowing a handful of bubbles into his hair. Jack hadn't had anyone around that wanted to have fun for a while. Happiness was a little bit strange to him. This girl could do something no one else was able to do, bring out the good in Jack. No, not the "sunshine, rainbows, and hugs" good Jack, but the Jack that had more of a brighter personality, the fun-loving Jack.
Jack laughed as she tried to wash his face with the sponge. Maybe this girl could be a real friend, not a lousy mentor like Wuya. Maybe this girl could make Jack more than just a weak, scrawny tech nerd rooting for a powerless ghost witch. Maybe she could bring out the best in him, the real Jack Spicer, bottled up in years of loneliness and regret.
