"The game is Warrior. Last one standing gets the Wu."

"Just the Wu?" Jack challenged, tugging on the Scope and grinning at Stryker. "What's the matter? Afraid of high stakes?"

"Come on you guys, don't make this worse than it already is!" Cinder called.

"You want high?" Stryker growled. "Fine; whoever wins gets the team. Loser, aka you, has to leave and never come back!"

The others felt their spines freeze.

"Stryker, what the heck!" Zephyr asked.

"I'm gonna make them both lose if they keep this up!" Entropy added.

"I accept," Jack said with a smirk. "It'll be good to lose a few of our dead weights for once."

Stryker's eyes narrowed at him scornfully.

"Fine...but no Wu."

Jack cringed, then grinned. He'd been waiting for a moment to show off his skills. Their friends had to shake their heads. After their ordeal at the children's hospital, they had thought they'd be inseparable. What was causing these two to fight so viciously?

"Then let's go..." Stryker started.

"Xiaolin Showdown!"

The Scope pulled out of their grasp and swirled around, glowing brighter and brighter until they all had to shield their eyes. When they opened them again Jack and Stryker were in the middle of a coliseum, decked out in armor. They wore the same type of armor, a small chestplate and grieves connected by smaller plates of iron. But while Jack's was silver with a bluish tint to it, Stryker's was black with a green tint. He looked down and scowled in disgust; how like his uncle's it appeared. Jack touched his head to find that his goggles had been shifted to a protective band that stretched across his forehead, pushing his hair down so it was in his eyes.

"Guys?" Entropy called down as she, Zephyr and Cinder watched anxiously from the sidelines. "Can you just make up so we can go home?"

They too had had a costume change. Entropy was in a black toga with one sleeve that draped down her shoulder quite majestically, the cloth tied at her wait with a red cord. Cinder's was white with one sleeve of cloth and the other made with three strips of leather. Hers only came to her knees and was embroidered with the same leather, and she found it surprising that she had a sword strapped to the belt. Zephyr crossed his arms over his bare chest and wondered why he had gotten stuck with the plain white bed sheet and cheesy leaf circlet.

"Gong yi tan pai!" the boys cried.

Jack ran at Stryker with a battle cry and swung at him. Stryker ducked under and out of the way, then threw a punch of his own; Jack did the same, then swung a kick to back him up. Their barage of attacks were slow at first, then sped up as they started getting used to the other's maneuvers. With how often they sparred, it didn't come to much of a surprise. That is, until Jack leapt back and aimed a kick at Stryker's face. The other boy blocked it easily, shoving him back. Jack sloppily flipped away and got back into a fighting stance, a smirk on his face. Stryker did the same, and then they started fighting again. Entropy furrowed her brow; something about their techniques were familiar. She couldn't place her finger on it.

"At this rate, we'll be here for a long time," Cinder sighed.

"This is really weird," Zephyr said, leaning against the railing as their friends fought. "Neither of them have even landed a blow-"

His words were eaten when Stryker swiveled and landed a snap kick on Jack's head, slamming him onto the ground. His friends cringed as the dust flew up from the impact; Stryker took a couple steps back as Jack shakily got to his feet, shaking away the ringing in his ears before stepping into a wide stance, his hands at his belt. This time Stryker ran at him, restarting the trading of blows.

"They're not going to stop, are they?" Cinder asked, feeling rather gray about the whole thing now.

"Not until they get out whatever started this," Zephyr muttered, gripping the railing tightly. "Geez, what happened?"

"It appears that Stryker simply woke up."

The voice made Entropy's blood run cold as they swiveled to see Chase standing on the platform above them, smirking down as he watched Jack and Stryker trade blows.

"...Uncle..." she whimpered.

"Hello, Entropy," Chase greeted, his voice clearly placing her as an afterthought. "You wouldn't happen to be rethinking your choices as well, are you?"

"That's your uncle?" Cinder asked quietly as Zephyr gripped the Notus Hammer strapped to his hip.

"I like where I am," Entropy said, her voice shaking a little. "And Stryker does too. He and Jack are just having a spat."

"Really?" Chase scoffed. "That's not what that little scene says."

The others turned and gasped. Stryker had Jack by the throat, his eyes vicious as he raised him over his head. Jack shouted as Stryker chucked him across the field, smirking when he hit the ground hard and rolled.

"Alright, that's enough you guys!" Zephyr yelled, already halfway over the railing. "You're taking this way too far!"

"Shut up, Zephyr," Stryker snarled as he stalked towards Jack.

Chase chuckled to himself. It seemed as if he would be getting two of the things he wanted: Stryker on his side.

And a dead Jack.