"So," Wuya started, suppressing a snicker. "Did you kids enjoy your slumber party?"

"Can it, Wuya," Stryker growled before shoving more cereal into his mouth.

It was noon now, and the kids had woken only thirty minutes ago. The second they saw Wuya's smug face they knew she'd seen them. Now they were eating in the kitchen, hoping she would take a hint and leave them alone.

"Oh don't be so embarrassed," Wuya continued. "Kids your age have sleep overs all the time...sprawled all over a small room."

"I had a nightmare about the asylum so they were comforting me," Entropy said calmly, much to her friends' surprise. "Got a problem with that, witch?"

Wuya pursed her lips, feeling that the joke was ruined. Jack sighed gratefully and shot Entropy a thankful gaze, one she winked at.

"Well, I'm gonna watch TV," she said with a decisive yawn. "Let me know when Truth or Dare is on."

The kids rolled their eyes and continued to eat. Once in a while one of them shot a glance at Jack, who was poking at his Fruity Pebbles with his head in his hand.

"You all have hero complexes," he suddenly said, sensing their concerned looks. "That's contradictory if we're the villains."

"We're just making sure you're okay," Cinder told him, making him turn pink. "You seemed pretty beat up this morning."

"It's a girl thing," Stryker said with a smirk. "I ain't worried about you at all."

The others laughed outright at this.

"You have the biggest complex here, Snakey!" Entropy told him. "If you don't come to someone's rescue at least once a day your Mohawk droops for weeks!"

"Your insult makes no sense if I don't make my Mohawk stand up to begin with."

"Doesn't that mean you don't save enough people then?" Jack asked with a grin.

Stryker stared at him in surprise as the girls laughed.

"Dude...you just dissed me!" he said.

"You act like no one's ever done before," Jack laughed.

"I don't know why people don't do it more often," Entropy snickered, ruffling his hair while she stood from the table. "There's a lot to tease you about."

"No there isn't," Stryker growled, shoving her hand away and pushing his bowl at her. "Your turn to do the dishes."

"Oh, come on, Stryke," Jack started as he passed his bowl to Entropy too. "We've all got stuff to make fun of. I can't build to save my life."

"I mess up a lot!" Entropy pitched in.

"I'm a bit of a feminist," Cinder added.

"A bit?" Stryker chuckled.

"Okay, a lot."

They laughed as Lula came into the kitchen, clad in a red silk robe and slippers. She kissed the top of Jack's head and smiled at them.

"How was the slumber party last night?" she asked.

The teens sighed and rolled their eyes. Jack cleared his throat.

"It was my fault," he said quietly. "They were in there 'causa me."

"Well as long as you kids weren't doing anything wrong, it's alright. I thought it was rather sweet to see you all together."

The kids reddened when she giggled. Stryker perked up when he heard a familiar shrieking coming from the basement.

"Wu time," he told everyone, standing up and starting for the stairs.

Entropy shook the water off her hands and flipped off the sink, then she and Cinder followed him. Jack started too, but stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He and the others stopped when they saw his mother was holding his arm. She sighed and turned to Jack's friends.

"I know I've told you kids to leave a lot," she started. "But this time I'm going to ask you. Please, go into the basement, shut the door, and give me and Jack a moment. I'll send him down when we're done."

The teens were a little shocked at this, but then turned and went down the stairs and closed the door, behind it this time. Jack fixed his shirt nervously as his mother ran a hand through her hair and leaned against the counter.

"...I don't want you to be a part of the Shen Gong Wu fight anymore," Lula said to Jack's surprise. "It's too dangerous and you've already been in it long enough."

"But Mom-"

"No. I'm serious. You aren't fighting anymore. I don't care what you or your friends or even Wuya think of it."

"Mom, I...I need to do this!" Jack cried, desperately trying to think of ways to change her mind. "I can't just ignore them, it's what I do-"

"It is not what you do! Not anymore!" Lula shouted. "I will not lose you to inanimate objects!"

"You won't lose me, Mom, I promise-"

"Don't! Just...don't! You are done, Jackson, and that is final! I will not hear another word of it!"

"You can't do this to me!" Jack shouted as Lula turned away from him. "Just because you and Dad got trapped in this doesn't mean I will! It's...fun! It's what I do for kicks! You always told me to find a hobby-"

"Jackson..." Lula hissed threateningly.

"And I did! I found something I enjoy doing and...and you can't take it from me-"

"Jackson..."

"No! No, I'm going to keep fighting! I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and there's...there's nothing you can say to stop me-"

"Shut up!" Lula shieked, whirling around. "Shut! Up!"

Jack stepped back, stunned. His mother had never screamed at him this much before. Lula did the same, apparently as stunned as him. There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other.

"Lula dear, show me how to work the TV," Wuya said, suddenly coming into the kitchen and grabbing her sister's arm. "I accidently made the screen blue."

"Wuya we're talking-" Lula started as Jack glared at her.

"I heard, but this is kind of important. There's this show on called Supernatural and I wanna know what the supermodel men look like in flesh tones."

Jack shook his head in disbelief as Wuya shoved Lula in front of her. He stopped though when the witch turned and motioned for him to go downstairs, then put a finger to her lips and winked. For the first time in...ever, Jack put his hands together and mouthed thank you to her, then raced downstairs before his mother realized what was going on.