Chapter 7: Flashback
"Well, there it is!" Clay said.
"Paris," Kimiko whispered dreamily, "the city of love."
Raimundo rolled his eyes, but Omi took a moment to process the thought. "Is this particular city where the 'marriage' ceremony must take place?" he said, confused, "must all marriages take place here?"
Kimiko laughed. "No, Omi, marriages can take place pretty much anywhere."
"Then why is this city the only city of love?"
"That's just a saying. This is a popular spot for romantic things like honeymoons, dates... proposals..." the dreamy look returned in her eyes as she pictured her proposal and sighed.
"And a lot of other 'romantic' things, too..." Raimundo sneered, only to feel the back of Kimiko's hand against his face.
"WHAT'D I DO?!"
Jack parked the ship in a safe place hidden from view. It was one of his best inventions that had taken his own sweat and blood to make literally. The very day he chose to spend working on it, the air conditioning goes out in his home. His palms, wet with sweat, made him drop nearly every sharp tipped object in his hands (Yeah, yeah, that's what she said, we know) and send it crashing to the floor. He had managed to catch a few pieces, but the sharp end cut deeply into his flesh, leaving scars under his gloves.
It's not that he was afraid of people hacking his creation, never. It'd take a crossbreed of Albert Einstein and Bill Gates just to be able to unlock the doors, much less hack the entire system itself. His only concern was vandalism. He didn't want to see anymore graffiti drawings on his ship. Especially not after what those college students drew on the side last year. Jack shivered at the memory. That wasn't the worst part. After hours of trying to awkwardly scrub the horrendous spray-paint "art" off the side, he gave up. He had to replace that section of the ship completely.
Mew-Mew was afraid to leave the ship. All of the people and tall buildings scared her. Jack began to leave, but she didn't know if she should go with him or stay aboard safety. In one quick action, she bolted forward and clung to his right leg. He grabbed a streetlight to avoid falling forward. Uh oh, Wuya thought, He's gonna scare her to death when he tells her off for nearly tripping him.
When he turned around, Wuya waited for his face to turn as red as his hair in anger. She felt her "mouth" drop down when he affectionately patted her head. Fear shone in her eyes and trembled along with her. Wuya watched, clearly surprised, when Jack lifted her up and carried her like a small child. The girl froze. Her pulse raced and her vision grew foggy. She felt something stab her memory, the image of a young boy. Next to that boy's image was Jack's. She was in a daydream. She reached out and pushed the other boy's image away, pulling Jack's closer. She mouthed a word to herself during her trance, but Wuya could've sworn she heard the girl chanting, "You won't take him... I won't let you..." when she hovered beside of her.
"Mew-Mew?"
The boy's voice made her blink the strange dream away. "Mew?"
"Just making sure you didn't fall asleep." he said. "We're almost there."
Wuya abandoned her thoughts about what the girl said and had a new idea. Jack had never used that tone of voice before. You would've thought that the girl was his younger sister, had you not been Wuya. She'd seen many types of bonds formed between two people before. This one seemed to be a brother-sister bond. Jack was the one that looked out for Mew-Mew, while Mew-Mew looked up to him for that. But, what if it grew into something else? What if they're bond strengthened? What if it became... love?
The tall, dark structure came into view. At the top, something glittered and sparkled. A pink, heart-shaped jewel was carefully balanced at the top. "Full speed ahead, Dojo!" Raimundo shouted to the dragon.
"You got it!" he answered.
Jack activated his helipack and changed the girl's position. Instead of resting her head on his shoulder, he decided to carry her bridal style. It would be much easier to hold her that way. Carefully and slowly, trying to keep from scaring Mew-Mew, he hovered to the top of the tower. Wuya followed behind. As they reached the top, they failed to notice the large, green dragon about to ram into them. They had only seconds before they collided, both sides bracing for impact. Dojo waited to crash into the boy and feel the blades dig into his scales, but it never came. Instead, his face was buried in something with thick, fluffy fur.
Jack opened his eyes. He was greeted by a wall of fur, created by Mew-Mew's tails joining together. His heart was still beating fast, as if it were pulsing fear through his veins. He would do anything to repay Mew-Mew for this, for saving his life. Thank whatever makes the magic in Sheng Gong Wu for cat-like reflexes.
The shock of a sudden stop rippled through the dragon's long body, causing those riding to feel a jolt. Everyone looked ahead, the sudden wall of fur confusing them. "What in tarnation is that?" Clay asked.
"Wish I knew." said an equally baffled wind dragon.
"Is that-" Kimiko stopped.
"-Jack Spicer's new Sheng Gong Wu?" Omi finished.
Mew-Mew cleared her wall of tails. Both parties were still a bit pale from the collision the little cat-girl had just prevented. Jack's heavy breathing alarmed her. "Mew?" she mewled with concern.
"I'm fine..." he assured his companion.
The awkward silence was nerve racking. "Hey, Spicer," Raimundo shouted, "who's your girlfriend?"
Jack looked up at him with a threatening face. He was about to respond, but Rai beat him to it. "No, not Wuya, the other one!" he shouted again.
Wuya, hearing the remark about herself and the young boy, peeped out from behind the helipack, where she had to stay to catch her breath. "I'll have you know that his 'girlfriend' is the Sheng Gong Wu you lost to him yesterday!" she growled.
"Shoulda thought that through." Clay whispered in Rai's ear.
As soon as Raimundo turned around to shoot Clay a look that said, "shut up", a pigeon plopped down next to their prized Wu. With a single peck, the precious pink gem went tumbling down. Rai lunged for it, meeting Spicer as he dived down with it. The two continued falling as they spoke. "Jack Spicer, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Raimundo began, "my Sword of the Storm against your Cat of Nine Tails."
"Bring it- wait, what?" Jack was lost, what Sheng Gong Wu was he using?
The Eiffel Tower leaned forward, a rope hanging from it's end with the Heart of Ài dangling above the ground. Water flooded all around, with only a few pieces of debris arranged in the formation of a walkway stretching for seemingly eternity. Mew-Mew was still in his arms. He had figured out that Mew-Mew was a Sheng Gong Wu, but he didn't know the name of that particular one. The Cat of Nine Tales, Raimundo had said. How could she help him in a showdown?
"Gong Yi Tempai!" Raimundo shouted, then quickly used the Sword of the Storm to whip up a wave, pushing him towards the prize. Quickly, Jack hopped from debris to debris, hoping to catch up. He had to stop on one floating piece. As he panted, he suddenly felt himself moving. Mew-Mew was using her tails to paddle them forward. All nine tails harmoniously pushing along set for great speed. "Aw, yeah!" he shouted.
They were catching up to Rai's surfing technique. Now, Jack was close enough to jump for the gem, but Raimundo had the same idea. They both caught the jewel, leaving them to wrestle for it. Mew-Mew, seeing the fight, felt a jerk in her memory. The boy that she had once loved was stabbed I with a sword. Raimundo had the Sword of the Storm in his hand and was holding Jack by the shirt collar. He was about to grab the Wu when something pushed him against the tower wall. Mew-Mew was holding him with one tail, leaving the other eight to dangle above him. But they were no longer fluffy and soft, now they could split a hair down the middle. She had a murderous look in her eyes as she hurled her weapons towards his neck.
