Author's Notes:
1. I do not own Xiaolin Showdown, but I do love both of the series. I do own Gloria, who is Jack's daughter in fanfiction; she will be a recurring character throughout the story and I hope you will all like her.
2. Up until now the chapters have been roughly from Jack's point of view, or more like in third person view. This chapter, however, will switch point of views and has changed significantly from its original form.
3. Please be aware that Shadow's voice actress, Jennifer Hale, gave her either an Australian or a New Zealand style accent (Sorry I find it hard to tell the difference just by listening).
This being the case, I'll ask that if anyone reading this is from these two places not be too angry that I attempted to write in Shadow's accent. I have already done my best trying to express both Clay and Raimundo's accents, so I ask for patience and understanding.
5. Yes, I gave Jack's Daughter powers too. I think that doing so not only makes her more interesting, but it also gives Chase another reason to want to keep both her and Jack around later. I don't tell you exactly what her powers are yet but I will later.
I also finally tell you what the acronym Gloria's name stands for and give you the nickname she'll be called through most of the fanfiction now. My apologies if you don't like it, but as she is my character I'm afraid to tell you that I won't be changing her any further.
6. There will be yaoi somewhere in this fanfiction. Therefore, if you don't like yaoi you might not want to read this fanfiction.
Anyway enough with my yapping. Let's move on to the story, shall we? I hope those of you who are reading enjoy it.
Chapter Four:
How exactly the man had managed to get free from being pinned to that tree,Jack wasn't sure. The only reason Jack had noticed at all was the fact that he heard a strange sound coming from that direction and as he looked back over he found himself feeling somewhat shocked to see a gun being pointed at him.
"Wow you really are dumb, aren't you? Jack just had flying metal debris floating around him and you're pointing that at him?" Shadow asked, suddenly popping up from nowhere and holding the wu in her hand.
Of course, the sudden realization that the debris that he'd somehow been controlling had been metal was shocking. Unfortunately, before Jack could really process the information, his thoughts were interrupted.
"Good point, but let's see if he can stop me shooting someone else." The man said with a slight nervous smirk, before aiming the gun at Jack's daughter.
There was no way Jack would have been able to protect his poor daughter in time, even though Kimiko had let go of him. Now that his fury had ebbed slightly, the debris was no longer floating above him anymore, and the pain in his leg and the burn he'd gotten on his back prevented him from moving.
This terrifying realization being the case, Jack felt both shocked and confused as Shadow suddenly threw the Wu at him before teleporting over to grab his daughter and teleport them both away right as the man had fired.
"Wait, I don't understand. Why would you…" Jack started to ask in a confused way as Shadow appeared next to him with his daughter, when suddenly Shadow interrupted by kicking him hard in the chest, which caused him to stumble and ultimately go flying.
The force of being kicked and landing hard cracked Jack's rib and only served to confuse him more, he was about to angrily ask Shadow what the hell she was thinking, when suddenly the challenge world disappeared around him and he realized what she had done.
"What the hell man?! Shadow just gave Jack the Wu and let him win!" Raimundo said, sounding just as shocked and dumbfounded as Jack was feeling.
"I imagine that you must be confused, but there's a method to my madness. I know you must be desperate to get your little girl back, but I think I'll hold onto her for a while. You know where to find me when you get healed up enough to move." Shadow said with a mischievous smirk.
"Wait,what do you mean you mean you're going to hold on to her for a while?! Shadow don't you dare take my…." Jack started to say getting instantly angry again but getting interrupted by Shadow teleporting away.
"No,! Damn it all! I'm going to find that annoying woman and I'm going to…" Jack started to say angrily as he tried to stand but stopped as a jolt of pain coursed through his body.
"You're not going anywhere, Spicer! Well, except with us that is." Wuya said suddenly, plopping in front of Jack as Bean meanwhile, in cold blood, killed the man that had caused Jack so much trouble.
"Wuya is right Jackie, we'll stick together for a short period of time so we can… get to know you a bit better after obviously not doing a very good job at doing so in our earlier years of knowing you." Bean said, licking off the now bloody vine that he'd used to kill the man.
"Sorry ta tell y'all this but Jack aint going with either of ya… he'll be coming with us for a while." Clay said picking him up as gently as possible as Raimundo did the same for Kimiko who had also collapsed.
Before either Bean or Wuya could do anything to stop them the monks borrowed one of the many Shen Gong Wu Jack had won, the Golden Tiger Claws to be specific, and teleported away right as Jack lost consciousness.
Shadow's P.O.V.:
He was going to be furious with her, and she knew that as she entered his fortress. Regardless, she was hopeful that she'd be able to calm down when she showed their special guest and explained to him what all had happened.
"This is all so baffling to think about, he's going to be very shocked that he never noticed. He'll also be shocked to see you, little one and learn who you are for that matter." Shadow said, muttering the first part mostly to herself, but then glancing down at the young girl she was currently carrying.
Unsurprisingly, the girl in question said nothing in response to what Shadow had said; though she did stare up at Shadow with a clear intelligence behind her young eyes. Regardless, judging by how Jack had mentioned not seeing her for two years; Shadow could guess that the poor girl she was carrying had been through even more and thus wasn't surprised that, having been taken from her father yet again, she was the last person the girl wanted to speak to.
"Tell you what, little one. If you promise not to immediately run off then I'll put you down and let you follow next to me." Shadow said, trying somewhat to be nice to the young girl.
"That would be nice Miss. I promise to behave." The girl said in a somewhat shy but also serious sounding way.
"There's a good girl." Shadow said with an approving smile as she set the young girl down.
"Follow me. We'll be meeting up with my Master soon, but when we get to where he currently is I want you to hide behind me until I'm ready to introduce you to him. Understand?" Shadow said in a pleased way at first and then became more serious as she said this last part.
"Yes Miss, I understand." The girl said politely before following alongside Shadow.
It didn't take long for Shadow to reach the room her master was in, though as she stopped in front of the door she couldn't help but hesitate to open; feeling somewhat frightened by the thought of what would happen if she couldn't calm the anger she knew was coming.
"Are you okay Miss? You seem scared." The girl asked suddenly, sounding legitimately concerned as she spoke.
"I'm not scared at all, silly girl. Why would I be?" Shadow said somewhat indignantly, trying to hide her surprise at the fact that the girl had noticed her hesitation but also trying not to show weakness in front of someone so young.
"Oh okay, if you say so Miss." The girl said in a polite but clearly skeptical tone.
"Well I do say so, now please shush. I want to keep you a surprise for my Master." Shadow said in a slightly more irritated tone than she intended.
Thankfully for Shadow, the girl didn't seem bothered by her irritation and instead followed behind willingly as Shadow finally opened the door and made her way into the new room. Inside and standing close to the cauldron used to spy on others was her pale and dark haired Master, Chase Young, who's slitted golden eyes narrowed at the sight of her as she entered the room.
"Ah Shadow, so you're back then are you? From the fact that you're not carrying in the Sheng Gong Wu you begged me to let you go retrieve to prove yourself to me, I would say that the challenge didn't go well?" Chase said in a knowing and less than pleased tone.
"I admit, things didn't go how I expected them to, Master. However, if you allow me to then I will be more than willing to explain…" Shadow started to say in a submissive and apologetic tone, but got interrupted before she could finish.
"Oh no, Shadow. There's no need for you to explain. I'm sure you're more than aware that I am very tired of giving you chances to prove that you're actually loyal to me and have you fail me." Chase said in a more openly annoyed sounding tone.
"Yes Master, I know you are. But please, just let me…" Shadow started to say in a more pleading tone, as she backed up somewhat towards the door of the room, but getting interrupted once again.
"Foolish girl! What makes you think that I care about what you have to say?!" Chase asked, instantly teleporting from where he had been standing and appearing in front of the door that Shadow had been backing towards.
"It's time we end this little arrangement. Clearly I never should have created…" Chase started to add in an irritated way, about to strike Shadow but having to quickly doge out of the way as a sparking yellow orb came towards him.
"You leave her alone, you bully!" The girl who had been hiding behind Shadow, but that Chase had unintentionally teleported next to, said angrily as Chase reappeared not far from where he had been.
"And who might you be, young lady? Shadow didn't mention we had a guest." Chase asked in a confused way, actually tilting his head and staring at the girl in intrigue.
"She would have if you had actually taken time to listen to her!" The girl yelled angrily, causing the balls of energy in her hands to spark more as she spoke.
"I'm listening now, aren't I? Are you going to willingly calm down or am I going to have to make you?" Chase said in a still very intrigued but also serious tone.
"That depends, are you going to keep being mean to the lady who brought me here?" The girl asked in a surprisingly brave way.
"I suppose I could at least try to be civil towards her." Chase said with a sigh, doing his best to be patient with the girl, despite still feeling irritated with Shadow.
"I'll be fine, little one. Please just calm down and tell the Master who you are." Shadow said in a clearly stunned but also insistent way, fearing that the girl would push her master's patience too far.
"My full name is Gloria Izzabella Zena Marie Olivia Spicer, but since that's so long most people just call me…" Gloria started to say in a somewhat more calm way, though was interrupted before she could finish.
"Spicer? As in Jack Spicer?" Chase asked in a surprised way, looking at Shadow in a questioning way.
"Yes Master." Shadow said with a somewhat over eager nod, hoping that her Master's intrigue would get both her and the girl out of trouble.
"Is this Spicer's cousin or something? She's much too young to be that annoying oaf's…" Chase started to ask in a confused way, only to be cut off as he had to dodge out of the way of another sparking energy ball that Gloria angrily threw at him.
"How dare you! My Daddy is not an annoying oaf!" Gloria yelled, her hand's once again sparking with balls of energy.
"Your Father?! Jack Spicer has a daughter?" Chase asked in a legitimately surprised sounding way.
"Apparently so, Master. Though I admit that when I brought her I didn't realize she had Elemental Dragon abilities too." Shadow said, taking a step between Gloria and Chase in an attempt to stop the young girl from throwing more balls of energy at Chase.
"Wait, what do you mean? You're not suggesting that you saw Jack and he showed signs of having Elemental Dragon abilities?!" Chase asked in shock.
"I think it would be easier if you just let me show you, Master. It would be much easier than trying to explain verbally, though I imagine you'll be shocked by what you see either way.." Shadow said, gesturing towards the cauldron in a timid and somewhat hopeful way.
"Very well, show me. As for being shocked, this is Jack Spicer we're talking about; so I highly doubt I'll be shocked." Chase said in a somewhat irritated way, though also rolling his eyes in a skeptical tone as he said this last part.
"Stop insulting my Daddy! You have no idea what he's been through, or me for that matter!" Gloria yelled angrily, clearly feeling frustrated as Shadow continued to stand between both her and Chase.
"You are correct young Miss Gloria, clearly there is a lot about your Father that I don't know. But if you calm down I will allow you to stay in this room while Shadow shows me." Chase said in a surprisingly patient way, seeing that the young girl had frustrated tears in her eye after having yelled at him.
"Just Gizmo is fine. Also fine, I'll calm down. But first, I want you to promise that you won't call my Daddy names anymore. Swear it on something important to you!" Gloria's little voice said in a still frustrated but also surprisingly firm tone as she spoke to Chase.
"Very well… I swear it on my honor. That may not seem important to you, but I can assure you it is important to me." Chase said, earning a shocked gasp from Shadow as he said these words.
"I'll accept that. Now let's show him how much my Daddy has changed." Gloria said first to Chase as the energy balls in her hands dissipated and then looked over to Shadow who was still standing between the two of them.
"Right then, follow me." Shadow said, quickly scooping Gloria into her arms and making her way over to the cauldron.
Gloria wasn't pleased about being picked up again but didn't protest against it, she could tell this was an attempt to keep her safe from the man who had insulted her father. Despite not caring much if she had made him angry, Gloria tried to lay calmly in Shadow's arms; hoping that her master would keep his promise and say more mean things as they watched what had happened earlier that day.
Chase's P.O.V:
Though Chase hadn't expected to see anything worthwhile in the cauldron, he could now only stare into it in shock as he, Shadow, and Gizmo all watched what had happened earlier that day. Not only had Jack aged beautifully from his preteen years, albeit looking very malnourished at the moment, but the fact that Shadow hadn't been lying about him showing elemental dragon abilities was baffling to Chase; especially since the abilities he was showing made so much sense in hindsight.
"To think that the elemental dragon of metal was sitting right under my nose this whole time! I'm a fool for not having noticed until now!" Chase thought to himself, as he stared down at the cauldron and felt frustrated with himself.
"See Mister Meanie, my Daddy has changed." The small voice of Jack's daughter sid suddenly, sounding surprisingly smug.
"My name is Chase Young, Miss Gizmo. Just as you have a title you seem to prefer to be called, so do I." Chase said in a somewhat firm way to the young girl as he turned his slitted gaze towards her.
"Yes well, you'll forgive me if I'm still a bit mad at you for saying mean things about my Daddy earlier." Gizmo said in a surprisingly stubborn tone, staring directly into Chase's eyes without flinching.
Chase had to stop himself from smirking at the horrified expression that came upon Shadow's face as Gizmo said these words to him. She was a fiery little thing with spirit and he had to admire that, though admittedly he was having to remind himself that this was a young child he was talking to so he wouldn't completely lose patience with her.
"How old are you, Miss Gizmo?" Chase asked suddenly, knowing that the sudden change in subject had to be somewhat jarring to the girl.
"I'm four years old, why do you ask?" Gizmo said to Chase in a clearly confused way.
"Because despite the intelligence you clearly possess, your manners appear to be lacking. I am just trying to come up with an excuse for you so I don't lose my temper at that fact." Chase explained, smirking slightly at the indignant expression he was given after saying this.
"My manner's are lacking because you haven't given me a reason to be polite." Gizmo said, folding her tiny arms over her chest as she lay in Shadow's arms.
"Then perhaps you and I could start over. After all, until your father gets here I'm afraid you're stuck with me." Chase said in a slightly more gracious way, though smirking again as he said this last part.
"Yeah, I guess I am. Fine, I'll try to be more polite from now on." Gizmo said with a somewhat frustrated sigh.
"You could start by apologizing for some of your behavior so far." Shadow chimed in, looking down to Gizmo in a somewhat hopeful way.
"Is Mister Young going to apologize for how he treated you? Or apologize for calling my Daddy an annoying oaf?" Gloria asked in a surprisingly blunt sounding way.
"In both cases, no. Shadow is an apprentice who had betrayed me in the past, thus she's lucky I gave her another chance at all." Chase explained, continuing before Gizmo could comment.
"As for your father. While I can admit that he has clearly changed from his preteen days, the Jack Spicer I knew in the past was a brilliant but still very much an annoying oaf. That being said, seeing what I have today has led me to come to the conclusion that I perhaps should have tried to be more patient with him in his youth; as had I done so I might have a more competent and loyal apprentice." Chase added in explanation, glaring slightly at Shadow as he spoke.
"Well I'm glad you weren't patient with him when he was young, if you had been then my Daddy wouldn't have started his company, wouldn't have met my Mommy, and I probably wouldn't have been born. Also, I don't know much about Miss Shadow, but if you were more patient with her as well then maybe she could prove that she wasn't incompetent like you say she is." Gizmo said in a very blunt way, holding back something more rude that she wanted to say due to having promised to try to start over with Chase.
"These are all true facts. However, despite your dislike of me, there are things I could teach both your father and yourself that would serve you both well." Chase said in a logical way, though blatantly ignoring the comment Gizmo had made about Shadow.
"Maybe so, but that's something you'll have to talk to my Daddy about and not me." Gizmo said with a slightly irritated sigh.
"Oh I intend to when he comes for you. In the meantime, I think it's about time we find you a place in the lair to stay." Chase said with an amused nod at first, though quickly becoming more serious.
"I suppose that would be nice. I just hope that my Daddy doesn't take too long." Gizmo said with a more sad sounding sigh.
"If it really has been two years since he last saw you then I'm sure your father will get here as soon as the monks are foolish enough to use their Healing Hands Sheng Gong Wu on him." Chase said in a more gentle tone than he had before, having learned through watching what happened in the challenge that Gizmo had been away from her father for two years but still not knowing the full details about why.
"You really think so?" Gizmo asked softly, clearly trying to prevent herself from crying as she looked at Chase.
"He's Jack Spicer, if he's still anything like I remember then when he has a goal he wants to accomplish then he stubbornly sticks to that goal until he can at least somewhat accomplish it." Chase said with a somewhat reassuring nod.
"Yeah… that sounds like my Daddy." Gizmo said with a soft smile at this comment from Chase.
"Well there you have it, he'll be here in no time." Chase said with a confident nod.
"Anyway, Shadow can take you to one of the empty rooms. As for me, I have other things to do." Chase added in a more serious tone as he gestured towards the door of the room
"Please wait a moment. There's one more thing I want to say." Gizmo said as Shadow made her way back to the door.
"I'm listening." Chase said patiently to Gizmo as Shadow, meanwhile, glanced at him questingly.
"Thank you for telling me that my Daddy will be here soon, but when he does come please don't ask him what happened to my Mommy. If he wants to tell you about it, he will when he's ready." Gizmo said in a more polite way at first, though then sounding more serious.
"I won't make any promises, but I shall keep that in mind." Chase said with a nod of understanding.
"I guess that's the best I can ask for. Anyway, I'll see you later." Gizmo said with a sigh, not protesting as Shadow finally opened the door.
"Yes, we will see each other later when your father gets here." Chase said with a nod before Gizmo was too far out of sight.
Once both Shadow and Gizmo were out of sight Chase couldn't help but stop and consider what the four year old had just asked him. What exactly had happened to her Mother and what did it have to do with Jack suddenly appearing again after seven years?
Chase didn't know the answers to either of these questions and despite his curiosity found himself wondering if he would inevitably end up asking once Jack did in fact arrive.