A/N: Hey, all. Sorry this hasn't been updated in forever. Also sorry it's lost 3 chapters. Truth is, I wasn't satisfied with what I had before and felt like I'd written myself into a corner. I've done a lot of brainstorming in recent months and come up with a better, more detailed plan for where I'm going with this. Chapter 3's about where I lost it before, so here's the new version. While it starts off mostly the same, it heads in a very different direction in the second half. I hope you enjoy this new version, and I won't make any promises about update speed. I'm still working on some stories with my sister, Shadgirl2, so it'll probably be at least a couple of weeks. I'm going to rotate between the two stories she's got going right now and this one, so once both of them get an update, then I'll work on the next chapter over here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or Xiaolin Chronicles.

Jack laughed evilly as he stashed his stolen Shen Gong Wu. It had been all too easy with Jack Spicer's Evil Teleporter at his disposal. And taking advantage of what he'd learned from his online friend to raid the vault when it was most vulnerable?

"Man, sometimes I'm so evil, I even scare myself!" He laughed again, closing and locking the cabinet where he kept his Shen Gong Wu.

Just then, his laptop beeped at him, notifying him of a new message. He hurried over to check, wondering if WaveRider13 had found the ransacked vault yet. After all, someone had walked in on him.

The message that awaited him was indeed from WaveRider13. It read, "Darkness Absolute, the Shen Gong Wu vault's been pretty much emptied. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Jack snickered (evilly) and typed up his response. "Really? Do you always blame me when things go missing?"

He waited a few seconds before the reply popped up. "Considering the guy who found this out said he heard somebody but never saw anybody, yeah. You've got a teleporter. Look, bud, if I'm going to promise to keep secrets from the rest of the monks, you need to NOT use those kinds of things against us, at least not 5 minutes later!"

"Hey, I'm evil. Shouldn't you expect that?"

"Hey, I'm no saint, either. By the way, you still scream like a girl, Jack."

Jack sweat, nervous. He'd never told WaveRider13 his name.

"Who are you calling Jack? That guy's a loser!"

"That's not a nice thing to say about yourself, Jack."

Thinking quickly, Jack responded, "Look, I'm only going to say this once. Jack Spicer doesn't even have enough brain cells to tie his shoelaces. I'm a thousand times smarter than he is! Don't even think of lumping us together, okay? Besides, I didn't use my teleporter on you! I'm planning on debuting that bad boy in an upcoming battle with your loser warriors!"

"Is that so? Wanna give me some details on that, then? Or explain why Jack, the guy who can't even tie his own shoelaces, was in the temple vault? Did he steal your teleporter or something?"

Jack sweat, thinking. He needed a good excuse. The last thing he really wanted was to be forced into a confession. He needed the anonymity that this relationship provided. Then, an idea dawning on him, he typed, "I guess he might have seen the blueprints. I...kind of posted them online?"

There was a pause, and Jack wondered if WaveRider13 had given up. Finally, he saw the three dots pop up again, indicating that WaveRider13 was typing his response.

"That's... Really? You posted them online?"

"Yeah. I know, stupid, right? I mean, I didn't post them in their entirety, but there was probably enough there that someone smart enough could figure out the rest. I'm taking them down right now."

And, with that, his little fib need never be discovered. Jack could hardly believe his own genius sometimes! Now he, Darkness Absolute, could continue in his anonymity without fear. Granted, he would have to tread more carefully around WaveRider13. Clearly, the guy was smarter than Jack had given him credit for or he wouldn't have come so close to finding out the truth.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best, Darkness Absolute. You know, considering you're getting Jacked. He's totally ripping you off!"

"I know! Man, I should have charged for that blueprint. I mean, it clearly works, right? He wouldn't have been in your temple if it didn't."

"No joke. But it's okay. The Dragon Warriors are on their way over to Jack's place to get back what he stole from us, anyway."

Jack sweat. That was the last thing he wanted to hear—or, rather, read. He typed, "Oh, really? Well, I hope they bring back your Wu."

"Yeah, same here. We don't need Jack having that many Shen Gong Wu, after all. Besides, he took the Orb of Tornami, and Omi's not too happy about that one."

"Isn't that, like, his favorite Shen Gong Wu or something?" Jack responded, hoping that he could disguise himself better by playing a little dumb.

"No 'something' about it! He uses that thing all the time. But it's cool. We'll have it and the other Shen Gong Wu back in the temple vault soon. Then YOU can teleport in and steal them from us!"

"Haha, yeah! Don't worry, though. I promise not to take too many...but I might take the Orb of Tornami if the cue ball really likes it that much!"

WaveRider13 sent him a laughing emoji and nothing else.

"Anyway, WaveRider13, gotta run! I've got some business of my own to take care of if Jack's really stealing my ideas now."

"Good luck and have fun kicking Spicer butt! Later, Darkness Absolute."

Jack logged off the computer and started biting his nail. He hadn't expected the Xiaolin dragons to come breaking down his door—or, more likely, wall—today. He didn't have enough Jackbots, he didn't know how close they were, and he wasn't sure if he should try playing dumb or use their Shen Gong Wu against them.

The more he thought about how he was supposed to take down the Xiaolin dragons, the more panicked he became. He really hoped WaveRider13 was bluffing.

Elsewhere, a Xiaolin monk sat in his room, staring at his computer. He'd been wondering who Darkness Absolute was for a while now, and he'd thought for a moment that he'd finally figured it out.

But Jack wouldn't make fun of himself...would he? I mean, he's always whining when anyone else does it! Still...better not rule this guy out. Maybe he isn't Spicer, but he could be our Dragon of Metal. He seems like a pretty cool dude, even if he is on the wrong side.

He closed his computer, deciding not to tell anyone else, not even Master Fung, about this insane theory of his. After all, that could complicate matters quite a bit, considering he was chatting with the enemy. Just thinking of how Omi would react to that made the monk cringe.

No, no, I'm not telling him. Not unless I really think this could be the guy we're looking for.

With that settled, he put down his computer and headed out of his room. He had other things he needed to do, after all.

"So the Xiaolin dragons are training a new apprentice? Great. That's exactly what we need," Wuya said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the bean's information.

"I couldn't agree more. Why, if they find all of the elements, they might become powerful enough to defeat evil for good! For the sake of evil, I think it's in our best interest to put our differences aside, wouldn't you say?"

Chase Young took a sip of his Lao Mang Long soup, seemingly indifferent to this news. "I am already aware that the Xiaolin warriors are seeking new apprentices and am working on a remedy to the situation. In other words, I don't need your help."

"Come now, Chase. Why must there always be bad blood between us? Why, I made you who you are today."

"You did nothing of the sort. You merely gave me the power. What I did with it was entirely up to me, and I am the one who made me who I am. Now get out. This audience is over." Thus speaking, Chase snapped his fingers, and his wild cats growled at the unwelcome guest.

Hannibal Bean hopped on the Ying-Ying bird, scowling. "I'm warning you, Chase Young, you will regret this. Why, I might just take on my own apprentice and make him stronger than you."

"I find that hard to believe," Chase said with a smug smirk. "Now leave my sight at once!"

Ying-Ying flew away, letting out a screech as it went. Wuya watched the evil bean leave before whirling on Chase and demanding, "Why didn't you hear him out!? The elements balance each other out, meaning that the Xiaolin warriors would be more powerful if they had all of their elements united! We cannot let that happen!"

"As I just finished saying, I already know that they are seeking new apprentices. In fact, I have sent one of my own to infiltrate their search for the Dragon of Wood. She should prove a suitable choice, which will prevent them from finding a Dragon of Wood. As for the Dragon of Metal, I believe it's high time I took on a new apprentice myself."

"Really? And where are you going to find an apprentice with that kind of capability?"

"In the most unlikely of places."

"You don't mean—"

"Unfortunately, yes. I've sensed great potential from him for some time. I tried to ignore it, but it has grown more evident over the last few months. It's only a matter of time before the Xiaolin warriors realize that he is the one they're looking for. If we can recruit him to our side before they do, then they will never complete their team."

"Well, the good news is he's already on the Heylin side. We've got an advantage in this situation." Wuya laughed a bit, pleased that stopping the Xiaolin warriors would be such a simple task.

The Xiaolin Dragons made their way to Jack's house, a place they were well acquainted with after the last few years as his enemies. By this point, breaking into Jack's evil lair was child's play for them.

"Alright, people, you know the drill!" Raimundo said to his three usual teammates. "Bust in, break whatever bots Jack's got this time, kick his tail, and get back our Wu!" To Ping Pong, he added, "Jack claims to be an evil genius, but he's a pushover. Unless he's got back-up—and I mean more than just his robots—this should be like taking candy from a baby."

Omi raised an eyebrow, apparently confused or concerned about the analogy. "Why would we want to take candy from a baby? That would be most—"

"It's a figure of speech, Omi," Raimundo cut him off, slightly impatient. You'd think after three years with us, he'd be figuring this stuff out by now. "Okay, guys, let's go!"

Clay put on the Fist of Tebigong, one of the Shen Gong Wu Jack hadn't managed to get from them, crying, "Fist of Tebigong!" as he took a swing at Jack's wall.

The wall came crumbling down easily, as it so frequently did when the Xiaolin monks came calling. As the debris and smoke settled, they heard Jack scream, shrill as ever.

"Jack Spicer!" Omi cried, leaping onto the rubble that was formerly Jack's wall. "Prepare for a most humiliating defeat!"

"If you hand over the Wu you stole, maybe we'll let you off easy" Kimiko offered.

"Or you can fight back and we can kick your butt, like we always do," Raimundo countered, smirking.

Jack did a quick head count, then looked scandalized, as if they'd broken some unspoken rule. "Hey, no fair! You guys, I get!" he said, pointing to the four Shoku Warriors. "But what are these two doing here!? Who even is that one!?" he demanded of Ping Pong. "Omi's long lost twin brother?"

"Well, y'see, Jack, we're supposed to be training a new apprentice or two," Clay explained, "which means we've got more folks to help out when we need to hog-tie ya."

"Oh, come on!" Jack complained again.

"So? What's it gonna be, Jack? We doing this the easy way or the hard way?" Raimundo asked, getting ready for a fight. He knew already what Jack's answer would be—which, once again, reminded him of the Dragon of Metal. Hadn't Dojo said the Dragon of Metal would be stubborn and unchanging? Those two words described Jack really well.

Raimundo shook those thoughts off for now. This wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Man, you'd think you'd already know how this is gonna go down!" Jack answered, pushing a button on a device strapped to his wrist. "Jackbots! Attack!"

Eight of Jack's signature creations appeared, laser guns coming out of each of their chests, and they began firing at the Xiaolin monks. None of their attacks landed, however, as their targets leaped and flipped out of the way.

Kimiko flipped onto her hands before using her momentum to propel herself up between two of the Jackbots. Once there, she kicked out at each, taking them out with ease. Clay charged one head-on, grabbing it and swinging it around to smash a second one, both of which broke on impact. Omi opted for his tsunami strike, taking out two of his own. Jermaine and Ping Pong worked together, with Jermaine tossing the younger, smaller monk into the air, where he struck one, then another.

Just like that, all of Jack's robots were beaten. He stared, dumbfounded, at the pile of scrap metal before him. "Man, those were my only Jackbots!"

"Evil really doesn't pay that well, does it?" Raimundo asked from behind the self-proclaimed evil genius.

Jack whirled around, unsure when Raimundo had gotten back there. He'd been too busy watching the other five destroy his Jackbots. Yet, when he turned around, Raimundo had something he shouldn't—the Orb of Tornami.

"Hey, give that back!"

"Funny, Jack, I think that should be our line. You know, seeing as this Wu was in our vault until this afternoon?" Raimundo shrugged and continued, "But it's cool, Jack. We won't take all the Wu from you. Just the ones you stole from us. Don't worry. We'll let you keep the Monkey Staff."

"Yeah, you better keep your hands off the Monkey Staff! I didn't even steal that one from you!" As he realized what he was agreeing to, he amended, "And leave the rest, too! They're mine!"

"Not a chance," Kimiko said as she and the others went to raid Jack's Shen Gong Wu stash.

"Not like you can stop us, man," Jermaine pointed out, hitching a thumb at the pile of scraps that had been Jack's entire army moments ago.

Jack looked back at the mess on the floor and, knowing he was beaten, resigned himself to the loss of most of his stolen Wu. Once the Xiaolin warriors had collected all of the Shen Gong Wu Jack had stolen from them, they made for the hole in the wall.

Raimundo stopped on the way out and looked back at Jack, smirking. "It's been real, Jack. We should do it again sometime. I always love a good ol' Heylin slap-down."

With the monks all out of his evil lair, Jack sighed and turned his attention to repairing the wall...again. "I should really start charging them for damages with how many times they've busted open my wall."