It was a miserable day out. Rain poured from the sky as I followed the old monk through the halls of the temple. I had my headphones wrapped around my neck, not wanting to miss any instructions due to my music. Walking beside me were three others who had been chosen to be students. I looked them over out of the corner of my eye. There were two boys and another girl. We were led into a back room and instructed to wait for Master Fung, whoever that was.

I looked around the room lined with potted plants and a fountain toward the front of the room that wasn't running. I sat on the edge of the fountain and looked into the still water at my reflection. I undid my ponytail, trying to fix the stray hairs that had come loose during travel while using the still water as a mirror. I turned back to the other who stood looking around the room. The girl on the other side of the room was chatting away on the phone and I wondered where her friends thought she was or if she had told them the truth about the temple.

"So," I caught the two boys' attention, "I guess we should all get to know each other. I figure we'll be spending a lot of time together."

The Brazilian boy shrugged, "Probably, I'm Raimundo."

"My name's Clay." The tall boy tipped his cowboy hat to me.

"I'm Aria." I introduced myself, then added, "But, my friends call me Ari."

"Kimiko," The Japanese girl introduced herself before turning back to her conversation.

Any other conversation between us was cut short by the doors opening and an old man entering the room. He was tall and wore a blue vest open over a white shirt. He was bald, but had a goatee of white hair. I figured he must have been Master Fung. Behind the old man came a young boy dressed in a similar outfit to the monk who had led us into the room. Instead of the white top, this boy wore red. I pushed myself up from the fountain and joined where the others stood taking a place beside the cowboy, Clay, figuring it was probably best to be near the group.

Master Fung introduced himself as he came to stand in front of us. The young boy stood beside him. "Omi, I would like you to meet Raimundo."

"Sup," Raimundo said confidently before continuing to look around the room.

"Kimiko." Master Fung moved on.

"He said that?" Kimiko continued into the phone, "Hey. No way!" She had barely spared the monk a glance before returning to her phone call.

"Clay."

"Howdy," Clay greeted with another tip of his hat.

"And Aria." Master Fung finished with me.

I waved, "Hi."

Omi frowned as he looked us over, not bothering to address us, he turned to the old man, "Master, where are the new students?"

"Right in front of you, Omi." He motioned to the four of us.

Omi looked back at us still frowning, "They are not what I expected."

I looked at the other three wondering if they were having the same feelings about this conversation. I hated being talked about like I wasn't in the room. Still, I kept my mouth shut, remembering that my mother had warned me to be on my best behavior.

Master Fung's polite smile didn't waver, "The best things in life rarely are."

"You are right, Master." Omi decided, finally he addressed us, "Welcome my new and strangely attired friends."

Master Fung turned away from us, "I must be going, Young Ones. I can see there is much teaching to be done here."

"Yes, Master. Much teaching indeed." Omi mumbled before looking us over.

The four of us shared a look. I shoved my hands into the pocket of my sweatshirt, "Well, why don't we start with a tour? You could show us around the temple."

I could see through one of the small windows that the rain had finally stopped and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. Omi seemed pleased by my suggestion, ready to begin showing us around.

Omi turned and started toward the door, "Oh yes, follow me."

We followed Omi out onto the temple grounds as he chattered on and on about different things we would need to learn. I wondered for a second if anyone had told him that it was actually Omi who was supposed to be learning, but I decided to let it go for now. As we reached the grass he threw himself upside down and began walking on two of his fingers to demonstrate the skill he had insisted we would need to know.

"The key is balance." He instructed. "If you are a beginner, you may want to start with three fingers."

I fought to keep from rolling my eyes, "Fascinating."

"Uh, just curious," Clay started, "When will we need this?"

"Try never." Raimundo answered before Omi even had a chance.

Kimiko finally ended her phone call, "Is there a net connection around here?" She questioned. Before anyone could even think to reply, she continued. "No? No worries, I'll go Wifi."

She pulled out a PDA out of her backpack and Omi rushed past us and leaned over the PDA to read Kimiko's message.

"Oh, what is that?" He moved to her other side for a better view, "Is it… magic?"

"It's a PDA." Kimiko instructed more patiently than I could have managed, "I'm sending a message to a friend in Tokyo."

"A secret message?" Omi questioned.

"Nah," Kimiko looked up from her email at Omi, "I'm just telling her I met a very strange kid who apparently doesn't know about personal space issues."

"Really?" He asked, meaning of her comment was lost on him, "Who? Is it that guy?"

Omi pointed at Clay as he got even closer to Kimiko.

"Not me, Partner." Clay smiled gently.

Raimundo's smirk dropped, "It's you, Chromedome."

I felt a twinge of annoyance at the insult and shot Raimundo a warning look. Raimundo either didn't notice or didn't care about my glare. Omi turned bright red, obviously embarrassed. I decided to let this one slide. Raimundo didn't seem particularly malicious and I wasn't sure I wanted to start problems over this kid I just met.

Omi seemed to recover from his embarrassment and started running around quickly. I sighed and pulled my MP3 player out of my pocket and turned up the volume letting my music play from the headphones still resting around my neck. It was just loud enough to provide a little bit of background noise. I flicked through my music until I found the song I wanted and watched Omi skid to a stop.

"Lesson two! The fierce cheetah method of fighting!" He started moving again, "I defy you to catch me."

I looked over to the other three as Omi kept egging them on, "I'm not chasing him."

"I got it." Clay seemed amused as he pulled a rope out of his pocket and spun it a few times before throwing the lasso. He caught Omi around his ankle, making him fall and cry out.

"I hope I haven't mucked up your lesson too much, Little Feller. I just can't resist a challenge." Clay smiled.

I couldn't help but giggle as Kimiko gave a play-by-play to someone on the other end of the phone. Clay Dragged Omi back over to where we stood, still smiling. Omi pushed himself up off the ground, obviously annoyed with all of us.

"I am the teacher," He shouted, "You are the students! You will give me the respect I deserve!"

"Respect this!" Raimundo reached down and pulled down Omi's pants leaving Omi bright red again.

I bit the inside of my cheek and took a deep breath before I pulled Raimundo to the side and spoke to him quietly so I didn't call attention to him in front of the others, "Hey, come on. That's not cool, let's just all play nice, okay?"

He rolled his eyes, "Oh come on. You can't tell me Chromedome isn't driving you nuts too."

I looked back over to where Omi was continuing to rant about something or other to Clay and Kimiko, "The kid's a lot, but we're supposed to be here to teach him, not humiliate him."

"I am teaching him." Raimundo smirked, "Even you laughed when Clay knocked him over."

I felt my face flush. I hadn't meant to laugh at Omi, "That was different."

Raimundo shook his head, still smirking, "Come on, looks like he's starting our next lesson."

It wasn't long before we were all called into a large room. Master Fung instructed us to sit together in a circle. I sat between Kimiko and Clay and waited for the old man to tell us why we were meeting. He was quick to jump to the point, his face grave.

"Wuya has been unleashed and will be looking for the Shen Gong Wu. If she were to succeed, the world would be thrown into 10,000 years of darkness. It is your most solemn duty as Xiaolin Warriors to find all the Shen Gong Wu before Wuya does."

A number of questions raced through my head, but Raimundo spoke up before I had a chance to get my words together.

"I have a question."

Mater Fung turned to him, "Yes, Raimundo?"

Raimundo frowned deeply and jerked a thumb behind him toward our sleeping quarters., "I saw my room and no bed, just a mat. What the dilly?" We all gawked at him. Seeming to read the room, he backed down, "Um, we can talk later."

"Follow me." Master Fung stood and we followed him down the hallway.

Kimiko looked up at Raimundo, "Really?"

"What?" He shot back quietly so Master Fung couldn't hear.

I shrugged, "Honestly, it's a valid question, just maybe work on your timing."

Raimundo shot a look back at me as Clay held back a laugh. We stopped outside of another room and Master Fung pulled open the door. This room was smaller than most of the other rooms we had been in. Inside there were four torches and a long table, a closed scroll laying undisturbed on top of it.

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." Master Fung instructed as we entered the room behind him.

"The Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu" Omi's voice was reverent as Master Fung pulled open the scroll.

The scroll was a worn yellow. On the page there was a bright blue circle along with some other writing. The words 'Mantis Flip Coin' were written across the bottom and in the corner there was an illustration that I assumed was the coin in question.

"Ah, the Mantis Flip Coin." Master Fung red as the image inside the blue circle changed, "It has revealed itself. Whoever holds the coin will leap with the skill of a mantis."

I gasped as I watched the illustration move again.

"Wild." Kimiko giggled as Master Fung closed the scroll.

I looked up at the teacher, "Wait. How did that happen? The picture moved. Ink isn't supposed to do that."

Master Fung raised an eyebrow at me, "Magic."

"Like Harry Potter?" I questioned and shook my head laughing to myself, "I'm not sure I believe in magic, Sir."

He watched me for a moment, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, "You will."

"And so, our grand quest begins." Omi said determinedly, "Follow me to victory." We watched him rush out of the room before calling back, "I have no idea where I'm going."

"Yeah, how do we find the Shen Gong Wu?" Kimiko asked the question on everyone's mind.

Master Fung turned to the lizard on the ground and I wondered how long it had been there, "Dojo, you helped Master Dashi hide them."

The lizard, Dojo, looked up at the old man. "Yeah, but that was a long time ago. You can't possibly expect me to rem-" He stuttered for a moment before pointing forward, "This way."

"That lizard just spoke." I whispered mostly to myself. Clay patted me on the back, seemingly he wasn't as thrown off by all of this weirdness going on.

Raimundo seemed more skeptical, "Yeah right. Like we're going to take directions from a gecko."

"Gecko!" Dojo spat, insulted. He spun around suddenly growing much larger, filling the room as he did. He breathed fire from his nostrils and glowered intimidatingly over Raimundo, "Don't ever call me a gecko."

I moved back against the wall, glad Dojo's wrath was directed at someone else. Raimundo learned back, staring up at the dragon in front of him. He nodded, obviously just as afraid as me.

"My mistake."

Not willing to argue we all followed the much smaller Dojo outside and he grew back into his large form. "Alright climb on."

The others started to climb on but I hesitated. Kimiko looked down at me, "Come on, Ari. You're not scared of heights are you?"

"Come on, I won't drop you." Dojo assured, obviously wanting to get this over with.

I shook my head, "No, it's not that. I, uh, I get motion sickness. I have a feeling that flying on a dragon won't be the smoothest of rides."

Raimundo snickered and jerked a thumb at the cowboy sitting behind him., "Well, you can always throw up in Clay's hat."

Clay put his hand over his hat protectively. I swallowed hard, "Maybe I should sit this one out until we find a better mode of transportation?"

Omi shook his head annoyed with me, "We do not have time for this. The forces of evil will not wait and we cannot either."

I forced a smile and climbed on, not wanting to delay them any longer, "I'll just do my best to keep it together."

Soon we were high in the air. I tried to focus on my breathing so I wouldn't throw up all over Dojo or anyone else. My stomach lurched dangerously each time Dojo made a turn. I just hoped we would land soon. Dojo didn't seem any more excited about flying us around that I did about being flown.

"I can't believe I went from temple guardian to babysitter in less than a day." He complained.

I watched as Omi and Kimiko messed with her Gamepal for a little bit, but that just made me more nauseous. I closed my eyes and leaned back , my palms resting against Dojo to keep myself mostly upright. It felt like eternity before we landed in a back alley. I swayed a little bit still fighting against my stomach. Clay put a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

"You okay? You're looking a little green around the gills."

Omi turned back and looked at me, "Aria isn't green. And I do not believe she has any gills."

"It's just an expression, Omi." Kimiko clarified.

"I think I'm going to be sick." I warned moving past Dojo in my attempt to find somewhere to throw up that wasn't in front of my new friends.

"Woah." Dojo had moved to the mouth of the alley, "A lot has changed in the last 1500 years."

I didn't wait to hear the rest of the conversation before I rushed out of the alley and into the nearest store, barely making it into their bathroom before getting sick. I waited for the pain in my stomach to pass before I stood on shaky legs and flushed the contents of my stomach away. I exited the stall and threw some water on my face before drying it off with a brown paper towel. I still didn't feel great as I stumbled out of the bathroom and back into the store. I lucked out that the store sold some anti-nausea medication. As I walked out of the store I popped the pill in my mouth before downing half of the water bottle I bought. I made my way back to the alley and stopped at the mouth.

There were broken scraps of metal scattered on the ground that I couldn't be entirely sure weren't there before. Omi was shouting at the other three. As his little speech ended, his eyes landed on me at the end of the alley. He narrowed his gaze once more, turning his rage on me.

"And where were you?" Omi scolded me, "We lost the first Shen Gong Wu!"

I blinked at him, "Uh, throwing up. Not sure I would've been much help whether or not I was here. What do you mean you lost it? Where did it go?"

"We'll do better next time," Clay jumped in, apparently trying to appease the shortest member of our team.

Dojo slithered toward us, "Next time is now, I'm sensing another Shen Gong Wu." He tugged on Omi's sleeve.

Kimiko pulled the scroll out of her backpack, "Let's see what we've got."

"The Two-ton Tunic!" Omi read.

Dojo smiled brightly, "I remember that! It was Dashi's invulnerable armor."

I watched the little picture illustrate the tunic's power before Kimiko closed the scroll and dropped it back into her backpack. She seemed excited.

"Excellent! Spicer better watch his back because this round is ours!"

I frowned at them as Dojo grew big. "What did you just say?"

"You gonna be okay to fly, Ari?" Raimundo questioned as he climbed onto Dojo.

I nodded, still not sure I had heard Kimiko right, "Yeah, I took some medicine I found in one of the shops down the street. Kimiko, what did you say just now?"

I climbed onto Dojo and he took off. Kimiko turned around to face me, "I said that this round was ours."

I frowned as we flew, but decided that I wouldn't press it. Spicer wasn't exactly an uncommon last name. I put the thought out of my mind. There was no way it was my Spicer. I thought about the metal that was covering the floor of the alley and wished I had taken a closer look at it.

It wasn't terribly long before we landed between two buildings near a pier in Venice. I felt a lot better after the medicine and was sure I could be more helpful this time around. I followed the team and Dojo's direction but stopped short when I saw who was standing on the pier with the Two-ton Tunic in his hands. His back was to me, but I would have known him anywhere.

"Jack?" I questioned, but he couldn't hear me.

"Not so fast!" Raimundo shouted as he and Clay took the lead.

Clay tackled Jack into one of the gondolas before he even had time to turn around. Raimundo grabbed the tunic Jack had dropped and tossed it farther back so Jack couldn't reach it even if he had gotten back to the dock. I walked with Kimiko to the edge of the dock where Raimundo and Clay stood. Omi picked up the tunic and held it over his head. I watched as Jack sailed away in the gondola.

"Jack Spicer! Today, victory is mine!" Omi celebrated.

Clay turned and his face dropped, "You better not count your chickens before they hatch."

I followed his gaze to see the familiar sight of Jack's robots. I looked from the robots to where Jack was still floating off face down in the little boat. There was no way this was real.

"A fearsome force, but they are not prepared for the awesome might of the Two-ton Tunic!" Once Omi spoke the name of the Shen Gong Wu, the dock began to shake.

I turned back to face the group just in time for us to all fall into the water. I glared at Omi as I resurfaced, sure my makeup was ruined. "Nice going, Omi."

His face went red once again. We all swam back to shore and Dojo grew for us to get on, reassuring us that we could dry off on the way to the next Shen Gong Wu. My mind was reeling, trying to figure out what Jack was doing looking for Shen Gong Wu. This was the last place I expected to see him.

Once we were in the sky, he spoke to us again, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Look, it's not the way Grand Master Dashi would have done it, but hey, you're still learning."

"I do not wish to speak of the failures of me or my students. I only wish to find the next Shen Gong Wu." Omi said sitting at the front of us, arms crossed.

I rang out my hair and bit back a snide remark as Kimiko opened up the scroll to reveal the Eye of Dashi written under the moving picture. She read aloud the title for all of us.

"The way I figure it," Clay narrated the picture so I didn't have to watch it, "it shoots lighting something fierce."

We followed the trail before landing in a mountain range. We walked through one of the valleys, following Dojo's direction. We had dried off substantially since Venice, which I was grateful for.

Clay took a deep breath and smiled, "Now, this is my kind of place."

Kimiko was playing with her phone, "Are you kidding? I can't even get a signal here."

I looked around, admiring the trees, "It reminds me of a painting we had at my house."

Technically the painting I was thinking of was at Jack's house, but at some point the two places had blurred together in my mind.

Raimundo held out Dojo, swinging him in different directions, "If I were a lightning shooting Shen Gong Wu, where would I be?"

"Close, you'd be close." Dojo assured.

It wasn't even a minute later that Omi stopped suddenly before heading toward a tree, "The eye of Dashi."

I watched as Jack flew down on his heli-pack and grabbed the Shen Gong Wu at the same time as Omi. They struggled over it while it started to glow. My team and I began heading down the hill.

"It is a Xiaolin Showdown." Omi's voice carried over to us.

"It's a what now?" Raimundo asked, his hands on his hips.

Dojo seemed excited, "A Xiaolin Showdown. It's what happens when two warriors reach a stalemate over a Shen Gong Wu. Two words: Free-Key."

I laughed, "I wouldn't really call Jack a warrior."

Kimiko looked at me, "You sound like you know him."

"Huh?" I felt my mouth go dry, not having meant to say it aloud.

"Do you know Spicer?" Raimundo questioned.

I was saved from answering as the ground below us began to shift. Jack and Omi were thrown high into the air on small towers of rock. The rest of us stood on a high mountain looking over the showdown.

I covered my mouth with my hands, terrified. "They can't actually get hurt in this, can they?"

The other three shrugged, just as unfamiliar with a Xiaolin Showdown as I was. I watched as a purple ghost floated near Jack. That was new. I heard Jack shout the name of the first Shen Gong Wu we had missed and then jump off of his pillar. I must have made a noise because Clay put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. I felt a little better as I watched Jack flipped from pillar to pillar with ease. I would never have described Jack as graceful, but using the Shen Gong Wu in his hand I was sure he at least wouldn't fall.

Omi activated his own Shen Gong Wu and fell over as the tunic's weight overpowered him. I flinched. Once he got himself up, he jumped after Jack and fell like a ton of bricks.

"You know what I just realized?" Raimundo said thoughtfully, "Master Fung never answered my question about the bed."

I turned from the showdown, staring at Raimundo, "Again, we need to work on your timing."

Kimiko cheered for Omi as he made his way to the next pillar. My eyes were glued to Jack still trying to figure out why he was here. I watched him pause before two of his Jackbots popped up. They headed toward Omi blades whirling from their arms. I looked from the bots to Jack, who seemed satisfied with himself.

"I didn't know they could do that." I mused, a little impressed.

"So you do know him." Raimundo's voice made me jump.

I looked from Raimundo to where Jack was still flipping ahead of Omi, "Yeah. I know him."

"How do you know Spicer?" Kimiko questioned, surprised.

"This feels like a conversation we can have later." I said, trying to get their attention back on the Showdown.

Omi looked back at us for reassurance. I had none to offer. Clay however tipped his hat to Omi who jumped up and slammed into the robot causing it to explode. He then shed the Two-ton Tunic and caught a ride on the other Jackbot. I couldn't see what he did, but suddenly, the bot turned off and dropped to the earth. I knew he must have flipped the switch on its neck. A switch I had told Jack was a dumb idea to add. Omi jumped back into the tunic and started back on the race.

I watched Jack flip a few more stones ahead, but Omi caught up once Jack stopped to gloat. I shook my head, his ego always did get in the way. I covered my eyes as Omi pulled down Jack's pants. Raimundo was doubled over laughing and Kimiko couldn't help but giggle. Before I knew what had happened, it was over. The world returned to normal. My friends all ran over to Omi but I turned to where Jack was still trying to fix his pants.

"Jack?" I called and he paused. "Jack Spicer."

He turned to me, brow furrowed, "Ari? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

The purple ghost appeared and I stepped back away from Jack, "Interesting. A Xiaolin Dragon, concerned over you?"

"What is that?" I took a step back and forced myself to tear my eyes off of the ghost to Jack.

Jack looked at the ghost, "Oh, this is Wuya. Wuya, this is Aria."

I shook my head, "No, don't introduce me to it. What are you doing here?"

"It's kind of a long story." He looked past me to where I assumed the others were, then back to me, "This is great though! Now that I know where you are, I can take you home!"

"Jack, I can't go home." I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to keep my voice low so that the ghost couldn't overhear me, "Why are you teaming up with Wuya? She's literally evil."

"I know," Jack assured, "She's going to help me take over the world."

I gawked at him for a second, "Please tell me you're joking."

"Aria, come on!" I heard Kimiko's voice call.

I looked back to where they were all waiting with Dojo. I turned back to Jack, "I have to go, but this isn't over. I'm calling you tonight and you better explain what the hell you're doing."

Jack grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me to a stop, "Wait a second, you don't have to go. We can do this together."

I gave his hand a squeeze before pulling mine away, "I will call you tonight. You better answer."

I rushed back to Dojo and Clay gave me a hand up. Omi was the first to turn and point an accusatory finger at me. "Why were you conversing with Jack Spicer?"

I held up my hands in surrender, "Trying to figure out what he was doing. He's not supposed to be here."

"You never did answer how you knew him." Raimundo reminded me.

I bit my lip, I probably should have kept my knowing Jack to myself. At least until I knew what he was doing with Wuya. "I've known Jack basically since birth. We grew up together."

"Really?" Clay asked a nicer than Omi had.

I shrugged, fiddling with the pendant on my necklace. I might as well come out with it now. Next time we saw Jack, they'd probably find out anyway. "He's my best friend. Always has been. I don't think I even have a single memory without him in it." I confessed as Dojo started to descend closer to the temple.

They didn't have time to question me more as Master Fung met us in the courtyard. We were instructed to change into our uniforms that had been left in our rooms before we met him back to the main hall we had been told of our quest in earlier that day. I could feel Omi's eyes on me. I had a feeling he was going to tattle on me to Master Fung about knowing Jack the second he could.

Master Fung turned and faced us, "You have all done exceptionally well. Wouldn't you agree, Dojo?"

Dojo shrugged from where he was relaxing on a hammock spread out between two small branches, "Not bad. For amateurs."

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step." Master Fung mentored.

Dojo sounded exhausted, "Where do you get this stuff?"

"I have a desk calendar." Master Fung said flatly.

Omi spoke up first, "Master Fung, there are so many Shen Gong Wu left to be found."

"Your new friends will help," Master Fung placed a hand on his head reassuringly.

Omi smiled brightly, seeming to forget his concern for the quest we'd be sent on as well as my relationship to Jack. "Oh yes, Master! I have already taught much to Kimiko, Aria, Raimundo, and Clay!"

Master Fung smiled down at the young monk, "But Omi, they're here to teach you."

Omi looked around at us before looking back to our teacher, "But, I am the chosen one."

"You aren't the only chosen one." Master Fung explained, "Someday, your new friends may become Dragons as well. Kimiko: the dragon of fire, Clay: the dragon of earth, Raimundo: the dragon of the wind, and Aria: the dragon of sound."

Omi swayed on his feet slightly, "Is this true, Master?"

Master Fung nodded, "Yes, but I didn't want to tell you until you were ready."

Omi swayed a little more before collapsing. I leaned down to check on him and Clay fanned him a bit with his hat, a smile creeping onto his lips.

"I don't think he was ready."