For those who already read Episode 4: Chapter 8: I redid the chapter to include the description for Cinder's outfit. Thank you to the guest who pointed out that I didn't put it in.

-Stryker

"Uh..." Cinder stammered, furrowing her brow. "I...wasn't briefed on those..."

"Oh, uh," Clay started, losing his strengthened pose. "It's a battle for the Wu. We wager the Shen Gong Wu we have, against the Shen Gong Wu we want. You're new friends didn't tell you that?"

"No...they said something about battling, but they didn't really explain how."

She looked down at her guns.

"And I'm guessing I don't have these Shen Gong Wu things."

"No, you don't," Clay sighed. "How're we gonna do this now?"

The two stood in silence, looking down at the Danger Shoes.

"I'm goin' out on a limb and sayin' that Jack or Stryker have your Wu," Clay said. He gave her a meaningful look through his blonde bangs. "If I let go are you gonna run off with these?"

Cinder thought carefully about that, then slowly shook her head.

"Alright, I'm gonna let go, an' we're gonna find your teammates so you can choose what Wu to fight with."

She tilted her head at this, then her eyes widened as he actually did let go.

"...Okay, so," she started, staring down at the Wu, then searching the trees. "Where do you think they are?"

"No idea," Clay answered honestly.

"Maybe if we follow the sound of bickering, we'll find them," Dojo suggested, hopping onto Clay's shoulder and giving him a quizzical look. "Can't be too hard."

"After you, Miss," Clay said, gesturing for Cinder to go ahead.

******JP******

"So I hate the forest," Jack said, swinging his arms around to ward off the giant mosquitoes.

"Yeah, I hear you," Stryker said, smacking the side of his face, ultimately missing the bug that had stung him. "At least we lost those monks though."

"Sure but we also lost the Wu-"

"Hellloooo?"

Both the boys jumped, then scanned the area for the voice. Stryker caught sight of Omi, hanging upside down in a tangle of vines; he nudged Jack and pointed to the monk, a smirk on his face.

"Hey there, pipsqueak," he said as he and Jack came underneath Omi's head. "You look like someone hung you out to dry."

"How can I?" Omi asked innocently. "I have yet to become wet."

The boys' smirks faded and they sighed.

"You know," Stryker said. "He just-"

"Takes all the fun and smashes it against a wall?"

"Excuse me," Omi interrupted. "I know that we are enemies, but I was hoping that your good natures would shine through and you would help me down."

He flashed a big smile at them, to which Jack and Stryker cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, no," Stryker said instantly.

"Maybe some other good-natured soul will come help you," Jack told him as they started walking away. "Like, maybe, a squirrel."

Omi's eyes bulged out of his skull as the boys high fived each other and snickered to themselves.

"Snakey!"

Stryker yelped as something zipped over and wrapped their arms around him, spinning him around with the impact.

"Enny," he squeaked, pushing his cousin off him. "Stop hugging me."

"It's not my fault," Entropy whined. "I can't get the Komori Sword to stop working! I've been stuck in the shadows waiting for Cinder to come back from her battle with Clay."

"Say what?"

"Okay, with the Wu," Jack started, taking the Sword from her. "If you drop it, it stops working, and you have to call its name to activate it again."

"Oh...right, that makes sense."

She skipped over to the light she hadn't been able to touch and waved her arm in it, finding that the Wu's effect had been released.

"Cool," she said. "Now, let's go find Cinder. She might be having a pretty hard time dealing with the big hick."

"Oh, I can only imagine."

The three hurried down the path. Omi shifted again in an attempt to free himself, but only managed to trap himself more.

"Hey, Chrome Dome!"

The young monk looked down and saw Kimiko and Raimundo jogging up to him.

"You one with the bats or something?" Rai joked.

"I have met no bats today," Omi answered. "Although I believe I am, as one says, 'dangling on the edge of my chain'."

Kimiko and Raimundo rolled their eyes and sighed.

"You know, he-" Kimiko started.

"Takes all the fun and smashes it against a wall?" Raimundo finished.

"Strange," Omi said as they tried to help him out of the vines. "That is exactly what Jack Spicer said before he, Entropy and Stryker started after Clay and the girl with the pretty brown hair."

"The girl with the what?" Rai asked as they paused their assistance.

"I believe her name is Cinder. She is the new member of Jack Spicer's team."

Rai and Kimiko exchanged a glance, then quickly yanked Omi out of the trees and raced down the path.

******JP******

"So you're a real Southern kid then."

"Yessir," Clay said with a smile. "Born n' raised. Till I joined M. Fung and the others I'd never been outside Texas."

"Yeah, I've never been outside of New York," Cinder said as he held a branch out of her way and she stepped over a fallen limb. "At least, not until today."

Dojo sat quietly and studied the two. Even though Cinder was on Jack's side, he felt as if she wasn't threatening. Not as threatening as Stryker or Entropy were.

"If ya don't mind me askin'," Clay continued. "What brought ya'll ta Jack's side anyway?"

"I found his flyer hanging up in my step-sister's gym. Honestly it wasn't what I thought it was going to be."

"What did it say it was?"

"Just that they are a group of outcasts."

Clay chuckled a little as they stepped back onto the path they had originally been on.

"Yep, they're outcasts alright," he said. "But they're like that for good reasons. Jack is thinkin' about dominatin' the world more often than not, Stryker's about as trustworthy as a saber-toothed jackrabbit, and that Entropy girl's as loony as a loon."

"Oh, really?" Cinder asked, furrowing her brow. "They don't seem like that to me."

"Ya haven't hung out with them for long. Look, I ain't gonna try changin' your mind, but I'll suggest you make sure ya'll know who yer hangin' out with."

"...Yeah...I'll make sure of that..."

The two of them heard someone shriek ahead of them. They looked up to see Entropy, Stryker and Jack farther up the path, running towards them.

"Cinder!" Entropy shouted, coming up and wrapping her arms around her. "You're okay!"

She shot a quick glare at Clay as the boys finally caught up and furrowed their brows.

"What're you doing here, cowpoke?" Jack asked.

"The lady needs some Wu," Clay told them, surprising them. "Ya'll didn't think of that before you let her wander on her own?"

The others thought of that as Cinder sheepishly looked down at the Danger Shoes.

"So, what, you're just here to make sure she got here safely?" Stryker asked suspiciously. "Forgive me for not buying that."

"No, I'm here to make sure she gets some Shen Gong Wu so we can battle. We both grabbed them Danger Shoes there, but she don't have nothin' to wager."

"Oh...okay," Jack said, taking off his backpack and rummaging through their Wu.

They waited quietly for him to find something; while Jack, the Youngs, and Cinder felt awkward, Clay seemed absolutely patient, as if he did this all the time.

"Okay, so you can use the Fist of Tebigong," Jack said, handing the Wu to Cinder. "It gives someone powerful punches and stuff."

"You activate it by saying it's name," Stryker informed her.

"Okay," Cinder said, giving the object a once over and then turning to Clay. She held out the Danger Shoes. "So walk me through this again?"

Clay nodded and put his hand on the Wu, bringing its glow out again.

"Wait..."

They stopped and looked over at the others, who were giving Cinder a disbelieving gaze.

"Your...really going to let him challenge you?" Entropy asked. "...You're not going to...you know-"

"Cheat?" Stryker finished bluntly.

"No..." Cinder answered. "Why would I?"

"Because that's how they play," Clay explained before they could. "It's their number one strategy."

"It is not!" Jack growled. "It's plan B!"

"I thought running was plan B..." Stryker mumbled.

"Well, it's not really how I do things, guys..." Cinder said.

"Today's a good day to start," Entropy said. "If Mister Meathead wasn't on the Monk Side he'd be cheating too."

The glare Clay sent her clearly said she was wrong.

"Do whatever you want, Cinder," Jack said with a shrug. He gave her a nervous grin. "Just make sure to win, alright?"

Cinder blinked, then smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Alright then," Clay said, going into Showdown mode. "The game is Earthquake. The first to the Shoes wins. I'll be wagerin' my Thorn of Thunderbolt against your Fist of Tebigong."

"Um...alright..."

"Then let's go: Xiaolin Showdown!"

******JP******

Rai, Kimiko and Omi staggered as the earth beneath them shook.

"Oh man," Rai mumbled as they raced towards the trembles.

They came to a drop off instead of a clearing, and caught sight of Jack, Entropy, and Stryker on the other side. Kimiko pointed down and they saw Clay facing a girl with long chestnut hair and the Fist of Tebigong strapped to her thin wrist.

"Who the...?" Kimiko started.

"Her name is Cinder."

The monks turned to see Dojo slinking up to them.

"We know," Raimundo said, letting the little dragon climb onto his shoulder. "Just a little surprised. She looks so normal."

"And very feminine," Omi added, scratching his head. "I am surprised she can even lift the Fist of Tebigong."

Kimiko's eye twitched at this comment.

Down in the chasm Clay and Cinder were examining the stone paths that each were supposed to follow; around the paths were bottomless pits that were spitting up giant boulders every second.

"Just try yer best, alright?" Clay called to Cinder. "Even if ya get hit, it won't hurt. This whole thing is like a hologram."

"Y-Yeah...sure..." Cinder stammered as one of the boulders shot up next to her.

"Gong yi tanpai!" Clay shouted.

He raced off down the path as Cinder stared at him in surprise.

"It means-" Jack started.

"Go, I know!" Cinder finished to everyone's surprised. "I just didn't think he knew Chinese!"

Everyone's jaws dropped a little at her knowledge as she too ran for the Wu. The boulders that were shooting out of the pits were starting to rain down on the path, drilling craters into the stone and breaking down into projectiles. Clay swiftly dodged the rocks, using the Thorn of Thunderbolt to zap the ones he couldn't avoid. Cinder, however, was using only her own abilities to keep herself safe from the stone bombs; if anything, the Fist of Tebigong was proving to be a hindrance.

"Cindy!" Entropy shouted. The sound of Shay's nickname caught Cinder by surprise and caused her to stop and turn around; the Fist of Tebigong instantly dragged her arm to the ground with its weight. "Use the Wu to smash the rocks!"

"Wha? How?"

Their instructions from earlier flashed back to her as one of the raining stones fell towards her.

"F-Fist of Tebigong!" she cried, forcing the Wu in the rock's path.

The stone collided with the Fist and crumbled, the pieces missing her by inches. She sighed as the Fist fell again, then regained herself and started her race again. She could make out the Danger Shoes ahead, but it looked like Clay was closer to them than her. In a last ditch effort she swung the Fist at every rock that came at her; Clay heard all the smashing and saw that Cinder was gaining on him.

"This would be a good time to forget chivalry, Clay!" Raimundo called.

Clay shook his head at this comment. Cinder was close enough to take advantage of the slight distraction; she jumped over one of the raining stones, flipped in the air, and slammed the Fist into the earth, creating a crevasse that zipped to Clay and exploded near his feet; Clay leapt out of the way, ultimately ending up farther from the Danger Shoes than he wanted. He saw Cinder race past him and cringed.

"Seismic Kick: Earth!" he shouted.

He slammed his foot into the ground, sending a wall of stone at Cinder. She heard the smash and shrieked when she saw it. Instinctively she held the Fist out to block it; the wall collided with the Wu and shoved her backwards, even as she attempted to stop it. To everyone's surprise the wall started to glow gold as it slowed to a stop. Cinder gasped and stepped away from it as the others stared at her in shock.

"What in tarnation...?" Clay marveled.

"How?" Rai croaked. "How in the...?"

"Holy crap holy crap holy crap..." Jack repeated as Stryker shook his head silently.

Entropy was the first to snap out of it and notice how close Cinder was to the Shoes.

"Cinder!" she cried, catching the other girl's attention. "Grab the shoes!"

Cinder whipped around and saw the Shoes. Clay had only just woken up when she reached out and grabbed them, returning the terrain to normal.