A tap came to Raimundo's shoulder. Lips pursing as it appeared Jack had not gotten the hint about him wanting space, the brunette turned curtly and snapped, "What n-?!"

A flash of light cut him off, and in the next second his eyes were swirling and his posture sagging as he swayed in a dreamy daze. He had no idea what had happened, but his mind was suddenly full of nothing but butterflies and rainbows and happy thoughts all about one single person.

Jack slid up next to Raimundo curiously, not sure what to expect from the mirror he held, but taking inventory of the changes in the other boy's demeanor, the brunette definitely didn't seem grouchy anymore. On Jack's shoulder, Dojo had his eyes covered in dismay, steeled for unpleasantness. He'd warned Jack that using the mirror was a dumb idea, and he felt like that was about all he could have done.

"So. Raimundo," Jack addressed cautiously, waving his hand in front of those spaced-out eyes, "You still upset?"

Raimundo sighed into nothingness, his hands clasping by his cheek. "How can I be upset as long as an angel like Jermaine walks among us~..?"

Proudly, Jack smiled in turn and gestured at the Brazilian's smile, informing Dojo, "There, see? He's happy, and he's admitting his feelings! That should make Jermaine happy too! All better!"

Peeking from between his claws, Dojo watched doubtfully as a drop of drool stretched down from Raimundo's gaping grin. Skeptically, he folded his arms and shot back to Jack, "Assuming that is how he feels...you could've shown him Wuya's reflection and he'd be acting the same way..!"

"Pffff, yeah, but we know this is right. I'm just putting him on the fast track, so now we can focus on the important stuff!" Leaning his elbow on Raimundo's shoulder, he pressed, "Right, Raimundo? How about about we start that tour now? Think that wu might be hiding out in a water park? Ehn? Ehn?" A couple nudges to the vacant boy's side as Jack wheedled for a fun adventure.

Still staring into space, Raimundo just took a flowery inhale and sighed, "Ahh, Jermaine..."

Lips shifting, Jack was already starting to notice a one-note pattern. Still, he ignored it, pressing on with, "And I'm sure we'll find him soon enough. But we're here for a wu, remember? Shen. Gong. Wu?" His other hand bounced with emphasis on each syllable.

Raimundo's head tilted a few more degrees as he registered, "Find..?"

"Yes, find..!" Jack encouraged. "Find wu with Jack?" Both hands now went to his own chest. All he wanted was to have a proper first mission as a good guy. Was that so wrong? Why was it so hard to get rolling?

Raimundo's lips spread into a new, wistful smile. "I wanna find Jermaine..."

Stubby arms still folded, Dojo began, "See? I told y-!"

"Don't even say it, dragon breath!" Jack cut him off, "I can work with this!" Coming to his zombified teammate's side, he thrust a finger proudly into the air and declared, "He's still happier this way, and we are going to have fun on this mission!"

Flatly, Dojo stared once more at the drool spilling from Raimundo's mouth as he sagged to the other side now.

"Oh yeah, he's gonna be loads of fun..."

"Glad you see it my way!" Jack puffed, and began walking toward the nearest tourist attraction.

Raimundo remained perfectly stationary.

Realizing this, lip protruding in a strong pout, Jack backtracked and peeked back where the brainless monk stood, reaching to grab the front of his shirt. Not even moving his legs, Raimundo dragged behind the goth as he carried on smiling into space.

With Raimundo in tow like luggage, Jack began making the most of his time wandering around the beach city. He took pictures with his team at every venue along their search. At a slushy stand. At a dance club. At a standee with head cutouts for a shark attack. Riding a water roller coaster. Out on a surfboard. Trying on the weirdest clothes he could find in the shopping center. Doing scenes at a make your own movie set. Heroically standing at a skyscraper viewing deck to prove they were actually seeking out magical artifacts.

In every picture, Raimundo was a noodle-armed, sagging space cadet who may as well have been asleep. In fact, in the surfing one, he may have been drowning, as he was seen flopped face-first into the water while lying draped over the board behind Jack. And Dojo, while participating in these events, was wearing a doubtful expression in every shot, meanwhile Jack's toothy grins heavily oversold what a great time they were all having.

Davi had led Kimiko and Jermaine to an outside ladder, and taken them to what he informed was a common escape for many – the rooftops. It was much quieter up on top of the buildings than inside them, and often a good way to visit with neighbors, since the rooftops were so close and practically all at the same level. Though for the purposes of a private conversation, they also worked well.

Jermaine joined the younger boy in sitting against the high lip of the roof while Kimiko sat down on an upturned bucket, and Davi pulled out the photo of his older brother again, letting out a weighted sigh.

"It has been a long time since I've talked about my brother..." he told, "I admit I am not even sure where to start." Lifting the photo in gesture, he added, "Even this, I must keep hidden. I don't take it out often. If my mother found it, she would burn it."

Jermaine's brow hardened in concern, and Kimiko leaned forward, unable to prevent prying, "What-? What did he do?!" The way things were sounding, Raimundo had some very shady things to answer for in his past.

Realizing he wasn't making it sound great for his brother, Davi tried to find the most direct way he could put the others' minds at ease. "It is not what he did..!" he insisted, but then faltered. "Or...well, I suppose he...he abandoned us. That is how Mama tells it. That is why." The Brazilian's eyes dropped to the ground when revealing this shame.

Both of the others' lips fell open, and Jermaine hushed a short, "Dawg..." But then he pushed to clarify, "She right, tho'..?"

Davi's eyes closed as he took a long inhale and tried to find the right words. "I do not think it's that simple," he responded honestly, "My earliest memories with him, he was happy. We were happy. He was always a kind brother. He cared for me. He was giving, and protective. Always working to make Mama proud and to fill in for a father who was never truly there. If I may say, with him, he would come, Mama would become pregnant, and he would leave until the next time she wasn't. I think that is the first thing I noticed that made Raimundo angry. I was younger, so I do not remember it specifically, but I remember that eventually I would feel his anger when Papa would visit. And when he left. Now, I believe he had realized that Papa leaving meant he would soon have another sibling to care for." Of course, back then, he had no way of knowing why his older brother seemed darker at certain times. It had simply been something that scared Davi enough to stay quiet and take a step back for a while. But as he'd gotten older, he was sure Raimundo was sparing his younger siblings what he himself had matured into realizing, preferring to internalize it until he could focus on keeping their childhoods happy.

Kimiko's hands had come to her mouth as she listened, brows pinched in sympathy. "I...I don't even know what to say to that..." she shook her head somberly. She didn't blame Raimundo for not wanting to talk about essentially playing stepfather to a line of siblings after him. She had an incredibly close relationship with her father, and could only imagine what it must be like to have one that only stopped by once in a while when his wife needed the least care. It sounded like a relationship with his children wasn't even an interest, either.

Jermaine rubbed heavily at the back of his neck. "Heard a lot of stories like that back home, sadly..." he hemmed, "'course for me, neither of my folks were all that great. Not the same as this, though. But lemme guess. Rai kept gettin' angrier."

Glumly, Davi nodded. The curly-haired stranger was astute.

"It was not just Papa, either," the Brazilian boy carried on, "Mama began taking in the cousins from time to time, too, and still Raimundo would care for them, no matter how many of us. Raimundo always had a strong sense of family, but also justice. He could not enforce it at home, but whether it was that anger or what he would see at school that came first, he would come home beaten very badly often. I knew he was fighting. Sometimes, he would sneak out to go find fighting during the night. I did not want him to get hurt, but he told me it was to keep the neighborhood safe for us. That he needed to do it. Now, I believe it was also a way for him work past his anger. I did not tell his secret, but hiding all of his injuries was hard, so Mama could tell also. He started getting into fights with her too, only with shouting."

Jermaine nodded along, seeming as though he'd expected something along those lines. "Sounds about right..." he granted, "I can relate. I was the main turf justice warrior myself." He'd of course compared home lives with Raimundo before, though the Brazilian had naturally left out these dark spots, but Jermaine had still sensed a very similar vibe in the way Raimundo acted that told him their experiences weren't all that different. It made perfect sense to the New Yorker that his teammate had come from such a history. It was a huge part of what drew him to him as they both made the strive for a better life. It also made Jermaine all the more disheartened that Raimundo could no doubt sense a fellow hood rat too, and despite having shared many deep sentiments because of it, had still decided not to share everything with him. Maybe their bond wasn't as special as Jermaine had thought, after all, even as friends. Maybe Raimundo was too closed off to let anyone actually in that close. That would be sad, but Jermaine could understand it. When you spent your whole life internalizing hardships and projecting strength to protect others, and followed that up with the next piece of the story Jermaine knew was coming, truly getting through that shell became almost impossible.

"Were you also expelled for fighting?" Davi wondered, "Raimundo is the only one of us who has actually been to proper school. The rest of us learn from home."

"Mm-mm." Jermaine had to shake his head there. "I left on my own once I decided the monk life had more to offer."

"I didn't know that..!" Kimiko gasped, "For either of you..! I was in school right up until my element hit me." The Temple still taught them basic skills, but not a whole lot that would be useful in the outside world, if Omi's ignorance was any standard to go by. She would have guessed that all her fellow warriors would have stayed in regular school right up until discovering their calling, like she had.

Jermaine chuckled. "Yeah, naw. I didn't discover no Dragon powers 'til way after I saw y'all last. Pretty much right before I came to stay with you. From what I hear, tho', Rai spent way longer'n that on his own." A glance to Davi. "Right? You said he's been gone four years? That means he left...what...thirteen? Fourteen? One part of his life he definitely spilled all about's been that stretch livin' on the streets in Rio, so..." If he had his timeline straight, that would allot for the year and a half Raimundo proudly touted as his formative 'street smarts' era.

Brow furrowed in some confusion, Davi shook his head. "I only remember I was ten when he left. He was spending so much time fighting and unhappy by then, and I only remember he said something had changed. He would not say what. But he said he had to go for our sake, he hugged me, and he ran with only a small bag of things the night he did. He seemed frustrated, but also almost afraid. I did not know where he was going. From there, I soon understood everything about how he was, though, because I was next in line. I was taking care of everyone under me. But please, what are these elements you speak of? This is part of...monk school?" He had no idea what the strangers were talking about.

Torn between digesting the idea that Raimundo had simply run out on his family one night without word, and answering Davi's question, Kimiko decided to address the latter point. "Do you...know what your brother can do?" she asked first, "Sorry. We're a little used to just...talking about that stuff. It's kind of every day normal where we come from."

Davi blinked. "What he can do? Most of my siblings do not even know he existed, and those who do either hate him or have confused his memories in with me or Papa. Keeping him in my memory is hard enough, so I am not sure what you mean. He did lots of things, I am sure."

A glance between the strangers. Kimiko shook her head lightly. "Not...normal things. If you did know, I'm pretty sure it'd jump out at you, so this is a little awkward...never run into a family member who didn't know...um..." How did one announce tactfully that one's relative was a magical monk warrior destined to save the world?

"What she means is," Jermaine took over, putting on his best calming smile and posture, and making sure to look Davi straight in the eye on his level, "Did you know he can control air and fly?"

Another blink, and Davi stared at Jermaine like trying to process that sentence. Everything about how it was said was perfectly genuine, but the sentence itself sounded...wrong.

"Fly in English...is like bird?" he scrutinized, miming wings flapping with his hands.

"Well, I've never seen him flap..." Jermaine reasoned, finding the mental image amusing but remaining serious, "But yeah. I'm bein' real with you, little bro. Your brother's what we call a Dragon Warrior. He's in charge of us, actually. And we all got an element we're one with. Now before you finish thinkin' that thought about us bein' crazy, I'm-a tell you I thought the saaaame thing before I saw it. So I'm-a show you, a'ight? You just gotta promise you don't freak. We still down to take you to Rai, but I think you best know what kinda world you steppin' in first."

Another hard moment of study passed over Jermaine's face from Davi's eyes, before they flicked over to Kimiko for any sign that this was some sort of joke he didn't understand.

She placed her palms together in front of her, pleading, "No, for real. Please don't freak." To prove they were both serious, she made the first move, spreading those pressed palms apart and letting a small, floating flame spring into existence between them. This she tossed back and forth, letting the bright lick flit about animatedly before settling it on one fingertip.

Davi gasped, jerking backward slightly, but not exactly scared as he ogled. It was like a lighter had ignited...but only the flame? And then the way it danced...

As Kimiko's example concluded, Jermaine nodded and moved to swirl his finger overtop the stretch of roof between where he and Davi sat. This would be a lot less easy to pass off as some sort of parlor trick. Underneath where his finger swirled, a crack formed, and up sprouted a nest of roots, climbing to grab around the forming hole before a small sapling rose from the middle. Jermaine lifted his arm to call the thing to grow taller, and then summoned one branch to form strong and reach out toward Davi, a single orange blossom forming as it went, and then turning into a full, ripe orange by the time it stopped at perfect plucking distance.

Jermaine offered his palm toward the fruit. "All real. See for yourself. Safe, I promise. I'm totally organic."

Once more, Davi's gaze flicked between the two, trying to process this. Then, unexpectedly, he gave a strong laugh that rocked him backward as he reached up to take the orange. Shaking it in his fist, he granted, "That is very handy..!" Biting right into it, moving his head to spit out the peel, then going in again for a mouthful of fruit, he nodded in consideration. "And good, yes..! You say Raimundo does this? He is your boss?"

Relieved but unprepared to get such a breezy reaction, Kimiko's lips tugged. "I wouldn't say 'boss'...if he tried to be, he wouldn't be in charge for long, I can tell you that much." Rebellion and forced resignation would be nigh immediate if Raimundo ever got too big for his britches.

Jermaine snorted. "'specially from you, right, hothead?"

"Not sayin' I would, not sayin' I wouldn't burn those big, fat eyebrows of his so hard they'd never grow back." Kimiko crossed her legs and held her knee innocently.

Davi laughed again at this, which was another curiosity.

"You are good friends!" he observed, "I am happy Raimundo has made friends like you." Only good friends made harsh jokes like that.

Kimiko and Jermaine both smiled and let twin breaths out in relief, almost having worried they'd gotten a bit too loose quipping to each other. Davi sounded excited and interested more than anything to hear his brother was part of some magic gang, and had a dark sense of humor to boot.

"I am much more looking forward to seeing him again," Davi grinned, "He is living a very exciting life if he is out there with powers like this. I would like to hear about it." Looking off out over the rooftops, he sighed. "I did sense he longed for freedom..."

There was a short lull as neither warrior had much to offer back to that but their sympathies, wishing they could have known what Raimundo was thinking back then, if only to reassure Davi that he'd been well-meaning.

Before anyone could think of another point of conversation, however, a clatter came from directly below, clear from even several stories up. Almost simultaneously, a piercing child's scream sounded, followed by the commotion of several more voices and moving bodies.

Startling, all three rushed to grab the edge of the roof's perimeter and look down. They were in time to see a figure dressed all in black darting from the ground floor with something slung over their shoulder. As this something let out another shriek and kicked wildly, it became apparent that this was a small girl. Several smaller, white, fluffy bodies followed after the first form, which the monks also now noticed had a tell-tale streak trailing out behind it.

"My family..!" Davi gasped, "What-!"

Suspect already in mind, Jermaine reached into his tunic and pulled out the pair of reading spectacles his team had collected from an arcade a while back. "Wuyao Specs!" Briefly, the lenses glowed, and automatically telescoped outward to adjust themselves, allowing the New Yorker to see across the distance perfectly. His hanging hand formed a fist.

"Katnappe..." he informed Kimiko, whose brow furrowed, "She took the kid we met at the door, yo..!"

Watching the magical glasses continuing to micro-adjust themselves in fascination, Davi then blinked to hear this strange word and sense the sudden extra tension in the atmosphere.

"What is a Katnappe? What has happened? Who did that person take? What are those?"

"This is what we're here for," Kimiko answered, "Sorry, Davi. It was nice talking, and I promise we'll be back later, but right now we've got to stop her from doing other magical stuff we can't explain right now."

As she and Jermaine hopped to stand on the lip of the roof, Davi protested, "Wait! I cannot come with you? You said they took my sister!"

"Right 'tude, dude, and cool you're cool with magic and all," Jermaine granted, "But don't worry. We got her. We're pros." With a flashed peace sign, he followed Kimiko as she took the first leap onto the adjacent rooftop.

"Wait-!" Davi called again, reaching out after the monks, but they did not stop, and within seconds were no more than colored specks like the one they chased after. The young teen watched them, doing an antsy dance in place as he licked his dry mouth. He glanced to the ground several stories below, where he could see a crowd forming to console his crying, bewildered mother, and then back up. He didn't want to wait for them to get back, dammit! Not only were they the only people who knew where his brother was, after he'd already been waiting for so long, but now one of his younger siblings was in danger! He didn't care if there was magic involved, or even if it was dangerous. His brother had not raised him to stand idle while anyone or anything he loved was suffering!

Fists forming, teeth grit, Davi stepped back, ran, and leapt with all his might.

His heart stopped as he left the ground, and for a brief moment, he felt like he himself was flying in a bubble of frozen time. Fear, want, determination.

His feet crashed onto the next rooftop, the world crashing back into motion around him as he gasped to life, and he stumbled, but instead of stopping, he forced himself to correct and refused to slow. He'd done it once, so he was going to keep doing it. Eyes after the others, he took another charging leap, and another, and another, following the path he'd seen them take.

Then, he slipped. He made the leap, but too short. He slipped off the ledge, letting out a short cry and only catching himself from falling entirely by the elbow he managed to hook over the rooftop. Sneakers scraping against the wall, his teeth grit again as he fought to hoist himself up. Heaving, he got his head up high enough to see over the building and get his armpit hooked over the ledge. Those specks in the distance were getting smaller. He couldn't lose them..! He couldn't let harm come to whichever child had been kidnapped! He wasn't going to die before the brother who raised him heard what he deserved to, either, especially not so unceremoniously! Davi was taught to be strong, do what he felt was right, and to pay what he owed!

"Carregue-me...irmão..!" he prayed to that brother. One last time...carry him, please. If he truly did ride the wind, then let Davi borrow it, please.

In one burst, Davi spilled over the lip of the rooftop and tumbled onto his back. Here he took a few deep inhales, merely taking seconds to appreciate the fact that he was alive, before sitting upright with a freshly-set brow. He stood again, followed the distant strangers with his eyes, and leapt.

Katnappe felt a presence behind her, hissing as she looked back to see it was two of the stinking Xiaolin Losers hot on her tail. Taking a graceful roll onto the next roof, she stood as her high heels then skidded to a stop right at the edge of an elevated industrial AC unit. Now her tail flicked in anticipation as she watched Kimiko and Jermaine join her below. As the Japanese girl landed, she aimed one finger up to the sky and fired a burst of flame from it. This sailed up high and burst harmlessly like a flare. Watching, Katnappe was not sure what kind of signal that must be, but her eyes narrowed as she hummed and made the note to stay alert. Then her eyes dropped back to the arrivals.

"It's mine, losers!" she shot snidely, "So you can leave me-ow alone!" Her voice cracked into an actual yowl as she said this.

"Lame as ever, Furball," Kimiko sniped back, pulling out the Thorn of Thunderbolt she'd been using as a wild hair ornament in readiness for a conflict. "Let the kid go!"

"Hmph! She didn't wanna let the wu go, so she comes with it!" The blonde girl posed coyly in taunt. Looking to Jermaine, she nestled her free paw underneath her chin and condescendingly cooed, "Well hey thewe, Sweepy~! Take any good cat naps wately~?"

Jermaine scowled. "Try me again, Kitty Litter," he challenged, "Your nine lives'll be all up."

"Tsss! Ooo, me-ow!" The girl leaned back and swiped the air with her claws. "Y'know, you'd be cute if you were taller. How about when you hit your next growth spurt, sapling seed?"

Jermaine's eyes narrowed. "On second thought, I'd sooner cough up a hairball."

A harsh smirk. "Hmmmm. 'Fraidy cat~."

"We just want the kid, Katnappe. If you don't let her go, we can still send you home with your tail between your legs," Kimiko pointed out evenly.

"Hey, if you can get her to let go, by all means, take her. Katnappe doesn't do babysitting." It wasn't like the brat was important. Leaning casually on one hip and opening her hand in a bored gesture, the blonde held out her other arm to demonstrate the way the small child clung to the object in hand. Indeed, though Katnappe only held the toy headdress by the rim, the six-year-old clutched the other half of it with her whole body and screamed again as she was shaken.

"Eloa!"

This cry came from behind the monks, and everyone present turned to meet it. The girl in particular finally blinked open the eyes she'd had crushed shut ever since the scary cat lady had come storming into her room and charged her terrifying claws right for her face. Seeing the familiar face, her eye brimmed up all over again and she called back to the boy in a tear-muffled voice, "D-Daviiii...m'ajudeeee..!" She had no idea what was going on, and out of every face here, his was the only one that wasn't terrifying right now. It was all she could to do keep a tight hold of her most prized possession out of a desperate need for security.

A mere rooftop behind the others, panting heavily as he stared tensely at the scene, there was no mistaking it was Eloa in trouble. His youngest sister. Not only did this have to be a terrifying situation for any child, but Eloa couldn't even know these other strangers were trying to help. Desperate to convey this, he called to everyone, "She does not know what you want! She cannot understand English! You are only frightening her!" Following was the right thing, he was now certain. Glancing to the two monks, who smiled in tandem and gave him an approving nod, he could see they were happy he hadn't stayed put either.

Katnappe scoffed and brandished the dangling child forward, prompting another scream. "Well then you tell her to let go!" she ordered, "Ugh, she's so shrill..!"

"I will!" Davi put his palms up peacefully. "Just let me come over." He looked down at the gap between the roofs. He'd exhausted himself chasing after the others. He wasn't sure he'd have actually been able to keep up much longer. Just one more, though. One more was all he needed.

Seeing what he was thinking, Jermaine raised his own hand. "Yo, hold up." Clay would have been much more suited to simply form the rooftops together steadily, but Jermaine glanced around and found a washbucket lying around that would do well enough. Swishing his arms and declaring his element, he sent the bucket to rip itself apart, the planks growing and elongating to form a solid enough platform to cross on.

Watching this in marvel, Davi then sighed with a smile and looked up with a grateful nod Jermaine's way. It was much better than having to jump. As he crossed, Katnappe tracked him intently, snapping her fingers and summoning forward a selection of kitten minions to her side. Seeing these things that had torn her home to shreds in their search, growling and flaring their red eyes once more, Eloa flinched and buried her head in her clinging arms.

Keeping his palms up, Davi approached slowly, making sure to watch Katnappe so that he didn't do anything she disapproved. Once in front if her, he reached a gentle hand out for Eloa's shoulder. She gave a harsh, wavering breath, but glancing up, saw her brother had come for her and whimpered in relief.

Though his heart was pounding, more nervous than he'd ever been under the shrewd gaze of the villainous girl glaring at him, he offered Eloa a soft smile and spoke gently to her. In Portuguese, he hushed for her to focus on him and everything would be fine. That she needed to let go of her toy, as it was all the scary lady wanted.

Across the city, a bright flash and a distant boom had made Jack look up from under the pair of sunglasses he was trying on. Sprawled out in a chair next to him like a ragdoll, Raimundo was sporting about fifty pairs of sunglasses, all over his body.

Standing with a sharp gasp, Jack announced, "It's the Xiaolin Signal! Kimiko's found something! BA na na-na NA-na na-na, BA ba ba-da! BUM-BUM! BUM-BUM!" It wasn't even clear what kind of imaginary instrument he was playing as he sang a made-up theme song for this equally made-up signal name. "Time to roll!"

Leaning to grab Raimundo by his collar for the umpteenth time this afternoon, Jack started dragging him, only for Dojo to scoff, "Oh, for the love of-! No time!" And in a flash, he'd woven himself through both boys' legs and grown to twenty feet, shooting off for the place that had been marked.

As the albino was inescapably lifted hundreds of feet in seconds flat, Jack's fists gripped Dojo's scales in horror, but not from the height, and he was immediately repeating a mantra in ever growing volume of, "...no, no no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!" Anything but dragon travel!

In the isolated brig cabin, Clay leaned back on that solitary metal bench the room offered and bounced a wooden ball he'd carved while waiting off the wall, up to Omi who sat on the ceiling in Lotus Position, trying to make more space by taking the cabin's top half. Omi caught the ball and bounced it off the wall back down to Clay.

Now, while Davi tried to coax his sister into his arms amid the slum rooftops, Katnappe's kittens alerted to an approach and turned to screech and hiss at the incoming bogie. Katnappe scowled to see it was a familiar green dragon, and scowled even harder to recognize a whiny holler accompanying the approach.

Seeing the mean lady not looking and loosening her grip, Eloa took the chance to hop out of her hold, headdress and all. Katnappe hardly got to register that and yell a short "hey" before her attention had to snap back to Dojo's landing, mostly because of Jack.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Undulatiiiing!" the boy warned frantically as Dojo settled and shrank. Jack was already running, brandishing a hand in front of him to move everyone while the other was clamped over his gut. Davi was among those who listened, darting back across the boards to the other roof with his sister. Katnappe was the only one who didn't listen, really, curling her lip and having no qualms with confronting her least favorite person in the universe. She raised a hand to slash at him, but far more focused on a different problem, he slid on his knees under her swipe, stood, turned, and swiftly yanked the backpack she wore down off her shoulders, at which point he truly couldn't hold back anymore. Flipping it open, he bowed and unleashed the full contents of his stomach into that container.

The scene was frozen for a moment. Jack loudly hurled again, and again, until the well was truly empty, at which point he finally lifted his head and flipped the backpack lid closed with a mighty groan of relief. He handed Katnappe's belonging back by the straps with a short, "Uuuugh. Much better...here you go. You can have this back now."

Every hair on Katnappe's body stood on end as she recoiled upon being affronted with the soiled item. A voluminous cat screech escaped her throat and she leapt back to the other side of the roof. Here she did a frenzied hopping shuffle in pure disgust.

"Eeeewww, ew-ew-ew-ew ewwwww! You have got to be kidding me!" she spat vehemently, "Every time I think you can't get any grosser! You're just lucky there weren't any kittens left in that bag!" Jack would be dead on the spot if he dared soil her precious babies.

The boy shrugged flatly. "Well I woulda puked off the side of the building, but somebody didn't wanna take my warning seriously," he accused the girl right back, "When I say no dragon travel, I mean no dragon travel!" A sharp swing of his head now to glare at Dojo. An equally sharp motion pointed to his wristwatch. "I have a transporter now, remember?!"

Taking offense in his own turn, Dojo argued, "Well maybe next time, you'll get the lead out! And will you do something about him already, please?! Just admit he's useless!" The reptile's arms brandished for Raimundo, who had been slowly but steadily shuffling towards Jermaine over the last couple minutes. Jermaine had noticed, and now wrinkled his nose in offense as the taller boy leaned over him with a wide, smarmy beam, arms dangling heavily. Pressing their noses together, Raimundo greeted, "Hiii, Jermaiiiine...you're preeeetty~..."

Eyes flaring, brow downturned, Jermaine couldn't stop the punch that came in the next second. As Raimundo spun in place and collapsed, Jermaine seethed with his fist still out, wrestling a fresh blush as well as an erupting nest of indignation, resentment, betrayal, humiliation, and every other flavor of anger in the book.

"You seriously gonna toy with me right now?!" he burst. Tactless was one thing, but getting all up in his space like that was mocking him! Raimundo didn't take him seriously at all, did he?!

Raimundo just lay there on the floor, dazed from the blow but still grinning.

Jack ran forward, reaching into his vest pocket. "Woah! Woah! Hang on! Time out!" Pulling out the Gushy Glass, he quickly aimed it at Raimundo to deactivate the spell it had over him.

"There. I admit it. Ga-ga Mode Raimundo wasn't great. Maybe using wu to fix your friends isn't the best idea."

On the ground, Raimundo blinked, groaned, and sat up, blushing and grimacing heavily as he avoided looking at Jermaine and growled at Jack. He was very aware of the things he'd been up to all day, and making an absolute fool out of himself by getting in Jermaine's face all of a sudden was the cherry on the unpleasant sundae.

"You did this?!" Jermaine's anger turned toward Jack now. Setting Rai up and manipulating him made it even worse! That meant that punch really should have been Jack's.

The goth boy shrank under the matching snarls he was getting. "Hey, I was trying to help..!" he argued feebly, "And...have a good first mission..." This did not seem to sway the other boys' dour opinions.

Wishing to avoid his teammates' wrath, Jack formed a 'T' with his hands and called, "Speaking of which...time in! Where's the wu, exactly?"

Reminded of her goal, Katnappe's eyes flicked for the boy on the other roof with no escape, and the little girl he held. Her face darkened, and she left her corner, leaping onto that other rooftop and looming down over the siblings with her claws bared.

Following the action, and finally registering the civilian faces present, Raimundo gasped and paused when his eyes locked with that boy's. "No way..." he hushed, his face pinching. Never mind. That unpleasant sundae had just earned sprinkles. How? How was every piece of turmoil Raimundo had bubbling up to the surface at once? His insecurities, his history, his family...it was all here.

Seeing the recognition in his brother's eyes, Davi gripped Eloa tight and turned to protect her as Katnappe pounced. "Raimundo..! I..!"

It all happened in slow motion. Katnappe's claws swiped. Davi called out in pain. Davi, with nowhere to go as he dodged, tumbled headfirst off the rooftop. The ring in Eloa's hands finally slipped from her grasp as she called out in surprise. The other monks gasped, trying to move a distance too far to intervene. Raimundo felt something in him activate with a snap. And he moved.

In a blink, everything suddenly felt like the opposite. In fast forward, Raimundo had shot headfirst down that space between buildings, boosted by a powerful cannon of concentrated air. The kick of the blast behind him sent everyone stumbling, including Katnappe, who fumbled getting ahold of the circlet she was after. This was blown to spin far out of reach overhead. It then bounced, and took a short roll to lie flat atop the boards lying between the roofs. Happy to just take this prize and go, Katnappe opened her arms in reception as her kittens moved to collect it for her. Then another explosion of wind rocked the foundation of the surrounding buildings, slicing upward between the gaps. The boards were knocked asunder in the updrafts, the circlet being tumbled upward anew, along with Katnappe's kittens.

Looking about, gasping, the blonde girl was relieved to see her pets landing safely in various directions and making a break for it when they did, and so gritting her teeth, took one more break for the crown she'd come for.

Then, suddenly, Raimundo was there. Silently, swiftly, like a bullet he was somehow there, arcing in from the right on a graceful gust, snatching the thing at the same time she did. His eyes were flared and unblinking. In his left arm, he supported Davi while he cradled Eloa.

Linked with the villainous catgirl, the two flipped in the air around one another until they were perfectly poised over the main rooftop on which everyone was gathered. Here the lines of wind burst out around Raimundo and stabilized into a gyroscope of menacing power. As he stared down at Katnappe, hair and clothes blustering, but eyes remaining unblinking in a sort of zen rage, he scolded, "So I've had a bad day. I can take a bad day. But let me tell you one thing, Tuna Breath. You only get this warning once. You do not. Hurt. My family."

Ears flat, Katnappe blinked in stun. "Your..?" Looking back and forth between the boy and the younger kids he carried she noted, "Ohhh, yeah, I guess you do look alike, huh?" She hadn't exactly been paying attention to that.

"Yeah. So. We doin' this, or what?" He glanced down to the ring between them, which had been glowing for some time now.

Katnappe's lips fell to realize what he was talking about. "Uck. Or what!" she snapped, and quickly let go of the thing to drop back down to rooftop. The ring stopped glowing. "Get over yourself. I quit!" Dusting her suit, she decided she'd definitely had enough of her job. It was not worth getting blown around and puked on, just so some old witch could have a throne the boy she'd been helping her race against didn't even want anymore.

Looking at Jack now, Katnappe's nose wrinkled as she informed, "I thought this was still going to be worth it because I'd get to whup your sorry kiester, but after what you did? You're even worse on this sorry team than you were on the Heylin side! I never wanna put up with you again!" With a harsh slice of her claws, she took a vengeful swipe at the redhead. She called out in dismayed stun when her own metal claws struck another metal unpleasantly, vibrating through her teeth and spine, and causing her hand to throb as she pulled back and hissed to find the boy coated in silver, clicking his tongue and wagging a finger.

"Ah ah ahh..!" he scolded, "I don't think you'd have much chance of whupping me anymore anyway. Haven't you heard? I've been upgraded to Dragon Warrior!" Proudly, he puffed his chest and curled both arms up in a bold pose. While Katnappe was still processing this, he performed a flashy spin and motioned his pointing index fingers toward the girl, the silvery sheen melting up to and off of those fingertips, flying to form a box around Katnappe as she turned and gaped with apprehension. In seconds, the flying liquid had morphed itself into a human-sized cat carrier.

Mouth still gaping, Katnappe's eyes widened in disbelief as she heard this. "What?!" In demand for an explanation, her head whipped for the other Xiaolins. "You guys let him what?!"

"We didn't 'let him' anything," Kimiko shook her head, "The universe said so. We just went along with it."

Gripping the bars of the carrier door, Katnappe's face fell flat. "Okay, that is just so wrong...now I extra quit." Wuya could never pay her enough to deal with Jack if he was competent now. Him being competent at fighting – or anything – was wrong in and of itself, in her opinion.

"Well, I hope this place has animal control," Jack sniped, "Otherwise you're gonna be stuck in this tree for a very long time." With a short, sharp cackle, just glad to have the last laugh over that girl for once, Jack turned and gestured an offer for someone to lead the way back to wherever this kidnapping victim had come from. Catching Jack's eye, Raimundo gave him a small approving nod and sailed off on a fresh breeze to lead the way. He still remembered.

Finally getting the chance to speak up, Davi beamed up at the boy carrying him and his sister. "You can fly..!" he remarked. He'd been watching every demonstration of magic with rapt attention, fascinated, but the most impressive by far had to be his brother's.

Raimundo's lips fell there, looking at his siblings both sending him gazes filled with wonder and impress, and feeling an intense wave of shame, regret, and pent-up guilt he couldn't even begin to express now after suddenly seeing them. To Eloa, he was basically a stranger, so her curiosity was almost expected, but why didn't Davi look more angry?

"...sure can," was all the eldest sibling managed to come out with. He offered them a small smile.

"Raimundo." Davi's face suddenly turned serious. "Before anything else happens, I want to tell you, I am not upset at you, even after taking your place. In fact, that is why I understand what you must have been feeling most of all."

In stun, Raimundo stopped mid-air. He stared at the younger boy. "Y-You do..? You mean you don't hate me for...well, running out on you..? 'Cause I definitely did that..."

Davi shook his head. "I never did. Your leaving was sudden, but I understand the burden that was on your soul between the seven of us, and our cousins, and Papa..."

Raimundo felt a churn in his gut, guilt eating him stronger, but also a swell of gratitude and amazement hitting him. He felt his eyes brim for a second as he continued to stare, before shutting his eyes to stop them and dipping his head with a tut. "Tch. It wasn't even just that, bro...I need to come clean. The real reason I left that night was well...that's when I found out I had...this." He shrugged loosely and looked down at the way he hovered. "It was like...the last straw. I was confused, afraid, angry; I mighta done some serious damage to this dude after it came out in a fight...I needed to get away. From everything. I'm sorry I left you like I did. It was stupid. But like, I was fourteen..! Everything was so overwhelming. And I never knew how to reach out again, or even if anyone wanted me to, or if I wanted to..! I know it's not really an excuse but..." A glance away in shame.

Davi listened, brow going up as the gaps of the story he knew were filled in. His lips parted in marvel, and when Raimundo trailed off, Davi just smiled again and shook his head. "So that is why..." Looking back up at the other, Davi granted, "Thank you for telling me. I still forgive you. You are the one who raised me, and I owe my strength to you. I will never hate you, my brother."

Once more, Raimundo felt his eyes watering. Unable to stop it this time, he just gave a sniff, smiled, and shifted to hug the younger boy tightly as they floated. Still holding Eloa between them, Davi simply smiled and leaned into the gesture, not minding a bit of mist forming at the corners of his own eyes.

Eloa looked up curiously between the boys warmly sandwiching her, not sure why it was happening, but deciding it was cozy and joining her brother in snuggling up against the flying boy. He had just saved them, after all. Clearly he had earned the affection.

Respectfully, the rest of the team had stopped below to let the siblings have their moment. Jack and Dojo had tears streaming openly down their cheeks as they watched, and simultaneously offered each other a hanky, blowing their noses loudly into the one the other held.

Shifting back to holding his siblings in a better carrying position, Raimundo looked back at the others, only mildly embarrassed, but also offering a tiny smile as they smiled at him, clearly glad he'd come to this resolution. Once more, Raimundo took the lead in escorting them all back to his home.

Soon, the group had arrived at the Pedrosa household, drawing stunned notes and gasps as they flew in from above. But seeing Eloa safely locked in her brother's arms as the boy was let down, this excitement trumped all else. Her mother, who was still outside being consoled by neighbors, gasped the loudest to see the girl, jumping up and calling for her upon sight, but then pausing as, behind the son holding her stolen daughter, she recognized another face.

The air was tense with a swirl of strange emotions. The woman's face was hard. Raimundo's fists tightened in preparation for anything.

"I never thought I would see you here again..." Raimundo's mother said evenly in their native tongue.

Raimundo inhaled deeply. "Well, that makes two of us."

Rushing towards their mother, Davi insisted, "But he saved Eloa, Mama! He saved both of us!"

Jumping from her brother's arms to come and cling at her mother's skirt, Eloa hopped and supported that. "The brave boy did save me..! He brought me home like a bird spirit summoned by cries for help on the wind..!" Turning to Raimundo, she asked, "Are you a bird spirit..?"

Here, the Brazilian boy's lips formed a grimace. Looking back up to his mother, he wasn't even sure how he should answer that. His sister didn't even know who he was? That was as good a sign as any that his mother had written him out of the family tree after he left, wasn't it? Was Davi actually the only one who didn't hold a grudge? Was Davi the only one who even remembered him? Was Raimundo still a part of this family at all?

Silently, a conversation was held in the gazes between the teen boy and the Pedrosa household's matriarch. Imploring, hurt, disbelief, stubbornness, betrayal, injustice. All communicated in an instant. And then, with a touch to Eloa's hand to signal she let go, Mama Pedrosa took a set of long, gliding steps forward. Davi dodged around her path as well, swallowing unsurely at how this interaction might go. Memories of strong-headed screaming matches echoed in his mind as a strong possibility.

Another stony silence as the woman met her son. Then, she spoke, her tone softened ever slightly. "There are many scars left by his absence," she granted, "But no, Eloa. The lost one bringing you back to me, and ensuring I do not lose another child is none other than your brother."

And upon reaching the end of this admission, she reached forward and wrapped her arms snugly around the boy in front of her.

Many short laughs and cheers burst from the surrounding neighbors, many out of relief. A few had thought they recognized the missing Pedrosa boy, but like Davi, were unsure about the sudden reunion, only happy to see it take a turn for the pleasant.

Shocked most of all, Raimundo's brow shot up as he was embraced, but then tears found him yet again and he rushed to grip into the back of the woman's dress, burying his hot face into the crook of her neck. He had no words, only confusion and gratitude.

Like sensing this, the woman hummed, "Forgiveness takes time, but family is forever. You show you know this well, returning when you were most needed. Welcome home, Raimundo."

Hearing that, the tan boy only clutched harder to his mother, finding a wide beam. If his mother could forgive him, then he could forgive her too. He'd been aware of how his departure would have stung to everyone, but just like them, he'd basically chosen the path of forgetting they existed in the public eye. But now that they'd been forced back together, and an olive branch still seemed possible, he was willing to take it. He always had regretted cutting ties. Sometimes, he really was too rash for his own good.

Naturally, the hug separated, and the woman raised an arm and called to everyone that they should come inside. They had to celebrate Eloa's safe return!

In no time, somehow, what had been a disheartening crime scene had become a lively party. Neighbors and monks alike helped to patch up and tidy the walls and furniture Katnappe had destroyed. Food was brought in from other houses, and the kitchen was fired up to supply more. Everyone chatted and danced in a lively manner as they heard the story of Eloa's rescue and reveled in the powers the teen heroes possessed.

And, in one moment, Eloa came to Raimundo and held up her now rather mangled crown, telling him he could have it as a thank you. Most of the feathers and felt she'd decorated it with had fallen off, revealing the true intricate weave and simplistic elegant design underneath. Raimundo was more than glad to accept this, as it was what they'd come here for, and this was much easier than trying to convince her to give it up. When asked why she was willing to part with it now, however, she pouted and said it was ruined. Clearly she'd liked it better as a headdress. This made Raimundo laugh. The last time he'd seen her, Eloa had been two, and she'd clearly grown up to know what she liked. He called her a girl of fine taste, and one after his own heart.

...

Omi and Clay took long stretches at the bottom of a boarding ramp, having been escorted to shore and promptly kicked off the cruise ship they'd crashed a visit onto. Their adventure had been quite lengthy and dull. Omi declared that if that was what cruising was, then he did not like cruises at all. Clay was too tired from being cooped up to care about informing Omi that most people on the ship weren't prisoners.

With their newfound freedom, however, both of the pair felt their lead course of action should be to reunite with their friends. Omi hoped no one had been in grave need of his expert assistance while they were gone.

When they did find a payphone with which to call Kimiko, however, the two remaining monks were stunned to hear they'd missed everything, and in fact arrived at the Pedrosa household to find a party in full swing. Still, deciding that this was much more inviting than the brig they'd been cooped up in all day, they simply shared a large grin and darted right in to make the most of it.

Raimundo sat at his favorite study desk in the Xiaolin Temple, flipping through a photo album his mother had sent him home with. It had turned out, Davi wasn't the only one who had kept mementos of him, and she had lied about burning all of the pictures. He gazed fondly at the new additions he'd just finished putting in. His friends, his family, and himself, all together, beaming, having a good time, acting silly. Davi had many new photos to look at when he missed his brother now, too. Ones that would remind him his sibling was out living the life he'd found purpose in, with people he loved, and that he would one day return. Raimundo had promised to keep in touch this time when he'd left, and he intended to keep this one.

As the Brazilian boy pored over this keepsake, half of a head peeked around the doorway behind him in the small, narrow room, and cleared its throat.

Face falling flat, Raimundo's posture rose and he asked of the obvious owner to that nervous note, "Yes, Jack..?"

Not finding much confidence inspired from that strict tone, Jack decided to go ahead anyway.

"Hey, so like...I just wanted to say...you know how I was so sure it'd be easiest for you to just like Jermaine..?"

Not turning to face the other, Raimundo let an irritated breath out his nose and acknowledged, "Mmm-hmmm..?"

"Well, I basically just wanted to, y'know...apologize." The word tasting weird on his tongue, Jack coughed lightly into his fist. "Like...I realize maybe it was a little selfish to make you stop thinking about it – or, maybe only think about it...anyway – I shouldn't have been so focused on having the perfect first mission with you guys, and I shouldn't have forced you to decide how you felt. I prob'ly shoulda just been there for you if you needed it, even if you were a total grumpus or...whatever. So yeah. Sorry. Empathy is not my strong suit."

Brow quirking, Raimundo turned around to rest an elbow up on the back of his chair and meet the peeking boy's timid gaze. Then he snorted. "Really? You? The evil guy on the team? I never would have guessed."

Groaning lightly, Jack cast his gaze to the side and figured he had to let that one go.

Tilting his head, Raimundo went on, "I kinda didn't expect you to apologize though, much less know what you did wrong, so...thanks. Really."

Looking relieved, Jack perked, but then half shrank again as he tentatively pried, "Does that mean we're good..? Are you gonna need to punch me..?"

Blinking, an involuntary snort slipped out of Raimundo's nose this time. "Uh, I think I'm good. Do anything like that again and I might have to rethink the idea, but if you actually learned something about how being friends is a two-way giving street? I'm in a good enough mood to call us cool." The day had ended rather well for him, so Jack was lucky.

Or maybe not.

Standing properly and coming into the doorway, Jack revealed a heavily swollen black eye as he breathed, "Oh, good. Jermaine wasn't so chill about it, and I only have so many eyes. Though in retrospect, might be obvious why suggesting to Reversing Mirror the Gushy Glass so he wouldn't like you wouldn't go over well."

The others' eyes bulged upon seeing that shiner, but then Raimundo cracked up. "Aw, man..! That's my main monk..!" Of course Jack had been owed a punch. Even if Jermaine had mastered his temperament for the most part, he was still a passionate soul deep down, and fiercely so. If Raimundo had been struck for offending him, of course as the true culprit, Jack deserved the same fate. At least it seemed like after this punishment, Jack appeared to truly absorb his lesson about friendship.

Folding his arms, Jack grumbled, "Yeah, yeah..." He let his fellow monk get it out of his system for a moment before wheedling, "Sooo. Just out of curiosity. Are you guys actually gonna..? You know..?"

Winding down, Raimundo then shifted his lips at the nosy pry. Lifting a conversational hand, he returned, "Not really any of your business. But if you must know, we're workin' on it. I wasn't ready to think about all that with my family already on my mind, and I mighta said some hasty things to get him to shut up, but we're cool now too, and we're talking."

Jack clasped his hands and tilted his head. "Aww! That's so great! You guys are such a feel together. I'm rooting for you, y'know~!"

Feeling awkward about being fawned over for his potential relationship negotiations, the spiky-haired boy just returned shortly, "Uh...thanks?"

...

Later that night, as the monks slumbered heavily with their eventful day behind them, a cluster of large feline forms silently approached the Xiaolin Temple, all with intent looks in their gleaming eyes. Jungle cat tails twitched in anticipation as they approached, the only real obstacle before them being the toga-wearing beast having curled up in the courtyard for his own bedtime.

Slowly, gracefully, the cats slipped around Cyclops as he sniffed, sensing one tail go up his nose and recognizing there was a disturbance, but as his eye fluttered open and he saw a nest of cats perched around him, some kneading gentle massages into his bulky frame while others purred soft lullabies, Cyclops smiled and rolled over, reaching to hug a few of them close like stuffed animals. He knew these cats! They were usually mean and stand-offish, but now were so soft and warm and friendly! Closing his eye tight, the behemoth went right back to sleep, meanwhile the cats in his arms begrudgingly accepted their role for the greater good of the plan.

A second party of cats slipped towards the monks' sleeping chambers with the main guard neutralized, seeking their prize. Like shadows, their paws padded up and down the row of the Xiaolin Warriors' beds, making sure they were all asleep as well, and that their target was present. He was.

Just as silently, leopard fangs sank into the collar of Jack's fuzzy onesie pajamas. A tiger and a panther joined to grab hold of a leg each, and together they dragged the pasty boy from his blankets, from his room, and from his home.