"H-Hang on!" Zephyr cried as Stryker and his friends circled him. "I-It's not like we're friends or anything!"
"Oh yeah?" Entropy asked.
"Prove it," Stryker growled.
"Uh...well, I'm here alone, and he's at the house," Zephyr spat out quickly. "If we were close, wouldn't he be here? He's been ignoring me since he came back."
They all contemplated this, then Jack shrugged and helped him up.
"Sounds like a good enough answer to me," he said, brushing grass off Zephyr's shirt.
"I guess that makes sense," Cinder agreed.
"'Course it does. It came from a gorgeous Brazilian kid," Entropy muttered to her.
Stryker reluctantly pocketed the Eye of Dashi and grabbed Jack by the arm, dragging him a ways away as the girls started conversing with Zephyr.
"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Stryker questioned.
"Why not?" Jack asked. "He's got a point. If Raimundo really liked him they'd be together. Rai's the type to stick close to friends."
"Yeah, but he also seems like the type to put family ahead of himself. If he gets wind that we're with his brother he'll...what's so funny?"
Jack snickered again.
"'Gets wind'," he laughed. "I didn't know you liked puns so much, Stryke."
Stryker socked him in the arm.
"I'm serious, Jack. You're not thinking of recruiting him, are you?"
"I dunno, maybe," Jack answered as he rubbed his arm. "Wouldn't it be an advantage to have one more person than the monks?"
"But we don't know if he can do anything!"
"He's Raimundo's brother, if Rai can do the moves he does, I'm sure this kid can-"
"You guys are after Rai-Rai aren't you?"
Zephyr startled them when they realized how close he was.
"Rai-Rai?" Jack questioned.
"Oh, he won't live that down," Stryker muttered to himself.
"You guys don't like him too, right?" Zephyr asked. "I want in."
"'In'?" Entropy snorted. "We don't even know what this is!"
"And Stryker has a point," Jack added. "We don't know if you can do anything."
Zephyr's eyes flashed open, then he looked over at a nearby hat rack. The others gave him curious looks when he plucked one up and closed his eyes, tightening his fist around it. Their jaws dropped when the hat glowed a light green, shifting and turning to take on a new form. It had spiral horns jutting out of its metal sides, resembling more of a viking helmet now. Zephyr tossed it up and down before holding it out in front of him. The helmet spun and lifted off his palm, then shot tiny bolts of hot air that shot at each of them, harmlessly ruffling their hair before diminishing.
"It's not very strong," Zephyr started as the helmet landed in his hand again. "But I think this is what my brother calls Shen Gong Wu?"
They could do nothing but stare at him. Stryker's Mohawk was sticking up all over the place, and Jack's goggles had flopped across his right eye, his spikes drooping. Entropy's was standing up on one side and Cinder's was shoved around her face.
"...Yeah..." Jack said. "Yeah, that's a Shen Gong Wu...I think you pass the inspection..."