About an hour later...
Stryker sat at the kitchen table with an icepack pressed against his head. For some reason changing back to normal always gave him a huge headache.
"Want anything?" Jack asked from the fridge.
"Yeah, rich boy," he teased. "How 'bout a lobster, two trays of shrimp, and some of that sparkling grape juice that costs more than a house."
"...Ha ha..." Jack laughed weakly, shoving everything he'd just named into the back of the refrigerator. "Very funny. What do you actually want?"
"Just some water, bud," Stryker answered, setting the ice pack aside and resting his head on the table, staring out the large window that looked out to the garden.
"You okay?" Jack asked as he grabbed a glass. "Sorry about...you know."
"It's not your fault I can't control it."
"Uh...can I ask..."
Stryker turned and accepted the water as Jack scratched the back of his head.
"...Does Chase know?" he asked as Stryker took a sip.
Stryker's throat caught and he gagged on the liquid, putting a hand over his mouth as he coughed. Jack's eyes widened in fear but Stryker put his other hand up to say he was okay.
"Uh..." he started, suppressing another cough. "No, no I don't think so. Pretty sure you're the only one besides..."
He paused, then hurriedly took another drink. Jack sat down beside him and furrowed his brow.
"Besides..." Jack repeated.
"Forget it," Stryker said, staring down at the water. "Uh...please, just forget it..."
"...Okay," Jack said, gazing down at the table.
They were silent for a moment, then Stryker took a deep breath and looked over at Jack.
"Where's your mom?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "I've been here a week already and I've never seen her."
"Working," Jack said. "She has weird hours and stuff so she's rarely home."
"Oh. That stinks."
"Yeah, I guess," he agreed, shrugging. "I'm used to it. Even when Dad was alive she worked you know?"
"...Yeah..."
Nice subject change, Stryker chastised as he went back to staring at his water. You don't want to talk about your own problems so you drudge up his? Great friend you are.
"Hey, they put out a new thing for Goo Zombies at the mall," Jack remembered. "Wanna go check it out?"
"What if a Wu reveals itself?" Stryker asked, even as they stood to leave.
"My tracker's in my bag, I'll just take it with us."
"'Kay, I'll start the jet."
"Uh, Stryker?"
He turned as Jack tossed a set of keys at him, a smirk on his face.
"I'm a rich boy," he said to Stryker's confusion. "If I own a jet, I have a car."
******JP******
"C'mon, guys, pick it up!"
"Raimundo, please!" Kimiko Tohomiko begged, leaning against one of the wooden beams. "We've been at it all morning! Can't we take a break?"
"Yeah, Rai, y'all are actin' like a drill sergeant!" Clay Bailey complained, taking off his hat and fanning himself.
"While I do believe that extra training has never hurt anyone," Omi started, gasping a little. "I feel that, after this session, I could be persuaded otherwise!"
Raimundo Pedrosa sighed and nodded.
"Okay, okay, we can rest," he said, much to the relief of his teammates. "I just don't want to be caught off guard again, you know?"
"We know, Rai, and that's good," Kimiko said, giving him a weary smile. "But if we work like dogs, we'll be too tired to be on guard."
He nodded. It'd been a week since they'd gotten a Shen Gong Wu report, and with a new cat in town that was proving to be trouble, Rai didn't really know what to expect anymore.
"Didn't you and Stryker come to some sorta agreement when he was here last?" Clay asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, don't that mean we can relax a little? If we ain't fightin' 'cause we're enemies-"
"I'd like to believe we aren't," Rai interrupted, furrowing his brow. "But he's a Young. I'm not gonna trust him right away, you know?"
"Most admirable, Raimundo," Omi said. "I believe, if I were Shoku Warrior, I would think the same way."
"Thanks, little dude," Rai said with a smirk.
"Okay, that's enough of the warrior talk for the day," Kimiko decided, pulling out her PDA and pressing some buttons. "There's a new Goo Zombies map coming out at the mall and if we get there fast there'll still be cards for it."
"But-"
"We need some time away, Rai!"
"What if a Wu were to reveal itself?" Omi asked.
"We'll take Dojo," Kimiko reasoned, clasping her hands together. "C'mon, please?"
The boys exchanged glances.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Rai said. The other boys nodded.
"Sweet!" Kimiko said, giving Rai a hug that made him blush. "I'll go get ready!"
She ran towards the temple as Clay and Omi grinned at Rai.
"Hooo-wee!" Clay cried, slapping Rai on the back. "You sure no how to woo 'em, Rai."
"Yes, I believe Kimiko is very offbalance with happiness!" Omi joined in.
"Dizzy with happiness, Crome Dome," Rai corrected, giving him a tap on his large yellow head. "And you're both just jealous."
"Yeah," Clay and Omi said, then laughed.
******JP******
"Dojo?" Kimiko called as she entered the temple.
No one answered. She checked the tiny dragon's tree and found it was empty, then started for M. Fung's sitting room.
"M. Fung, I can't find..."
She was surprised to see that her Master wasn't in his normal place either.
"Hello?" she called, roaming to one of the hallways of the temple.
Kimiko passed by the mural with a lightning blue dragon on it, pausing only to look at it for a second, then turned towards their rooms. The wall disappeared and M. Fung, with Dojo on his shoulder, stepped out into the hallway.
"Kimiko?" he asked, startling her. The mural reappeared behind him when she turned. "You were calling for us?"
"Y-Yes," Kimiko stammered, trying to get her heartrate back to normal. "I was wondering if Dojo could fly us to the mall?"
"The mall?" Dojo asked, putting his claws on his hips. "This is what I get asked for when they become teenagers."
"Are you all done training?" M. Fung asked as Kimiko came closer.
"Yes, Master."
"Then I don't see why not. Dojo, if you feel you can-"
"I guess I could take them for a couple hours. Needed to check out the cooking magazine anyway."
Dojo hopped onto Kimiko's shoulder as she bowed to M. Fung and headed out to get the others. The old monk let the smile on his face fall as he went to the seperate meditation room. His fellow monks were waiting inside, knelt in silence as M. Fung came and knelt with them.
"What did Grand Master Dashi tell you," one of the monks said.
M. Fung sighed.
"He said to keep trying to convince the boy," he told them. "And to pray."
The monks looked taken aback.
"Then, we are on our own," one stated.
"We must have hope," another said, hitting his knee with his fist. "Perhaps more of us should speak to the boy."
"He will not listen very easily to those he does not know," M. Fung told them. "He barely listens to me."
"Then what can we do?"
They were silent for a long moment.
"Do the children know of this, M. Fung?"
"No...no not yet."
"They must know soon. This involves them just as much as anyone else."
"No," M. Fung said. "That is where you are wrong, old friends."
He stood and started for the door, paused, and said:
"It involves them more."